DNC: Ronnefalk takes round three, Tessmann earns overall TQ

The battle for the overall TQ came down to the final heat of Pro Buggy, on a treacherous track that was the loosest and roughest it had been all week. And while some drivers improved under these conditions, others struggled - leaving the door open for the qualifying order to change dramatically. Now with the main events set up for Sunday, including the 60-minute final to determine the biggest championship of the Dirt Nitro Challenge, there’s nothing left but heads-up racing.

 

 

 

David Ronnefalk was understandably excited to set the fastest time in the final round, which moved him all the way up to fourth on the grid - which he felt would be good enough to give him a solid shot at the final. “It was already good in the second round, I just chose the wrong tires,” said the Swede, who switched to Super Soft Typos and felt that they made his HB D815 easy to drive. “I’m still learning the car so it’s nice to already be doing well with it. To have a TQ in each class, I’m really happy where I’m at with the cars.” Ronnefalk wasn’t sure what to run yet in the main event.

 

 

“The car was still good, and the M3 LockDowns had good grip, it was just squirmy,” said Ty Tessmann, who said he overdrove in the beginning and made a mistake in the whoops that required a turn marshal. The Canadian only changed shock oil in his HB D815 to suit the colder temperatures. Tessmann walked onto the drivers’ stand unaware of what he needed to do in order to earn TQ, “but once I heard that I was in third I figured I needed to push harder because a 3 or a 4 wouldn’t do any good.” The defending champion said that coming in as a favorite added a little bit of pressure, but no more than any other race. When asked if it was nice to go from HB’s only driver last year to an integral part of one of the largest teams at the race, Ty said, “It’s good to have teammates. Other people can try things and give feedback, but it makes the competition that much harder to beat. Like David, he’s going to be harder to beat now. But it makes the car a lot better, and that’s good for HB.”

 

 

Jared Tebo had his best run of the day in the final round, scoring a third place finish and moving into the final where he’ll start ninth. Running Super Soft ChainLinks, Tebo copied teammate Elliott Boots’ setup and will likely consult with fellow AKA driver David Ronnefalk for tire ideas for the final. Visibly relieved but still frustrated with the long day, Jared said, “I’m just over it. Ready to go (to the hotel).”

 

 

“It was good considering I changed my whole car,” said Drew Moller, whose fourth place finish in the third round moved up up to eighth on the grid. “It was definitely an improvement from what I had,” said the SoCal native of his HB D815 after changing shock oil, caster, bump steer, and camber. “It was a clean run, no crashes, no wrecks, no traffic,” said Moller, who added, “I’m definitely glad to get it off my back. It’s the first big race of the year, so it’s nice to get it out of the way.”

 

 

“Tek-YEAH!” said Ryan Lutz, who improved to a top-five starting spot by finishing fifth in the final round. “I had a good start, a good middle, got caught in a little bit of traffic, and just kind of got too conservative at the end,” said the Arizona transplant, who continued making changes to his Tekno RC NB48 as he had done all week. This time, Lutz fitted CVD’s in the rear instead of universals to help support the rear end on corner exit, and filled all three diffs with heavier fluid. “It seems like they’re super free, for some reason - I probably should’ve gone even heavier.” Lutz ran Super Soft ChainLinks but will consider the conditions when choosing a tire for the main event - either Soft or Super Soft Chainlinks, or perhaps Soft Impacts if it’s during a warm part of the day. When asked if he was excited to qualify so well, Ryan said, “Top five is good for qualifying, but I need a podium in the main to keep my streak alive. It will be hard, though. For the first showing at a major race [with Tekno RC] it has been pretty good so far.

 

Here are the top twenty drivers from round three:

 

 

Here is the overall result for Pro Buggy qualifying: