FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Cavalieri made history with double win at 2011 Worlds [VIDEO]

0 Oct. 26, 2017, 4:55 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Everybody knows that Friday is meant for reminiscing old times. Each week we take you back in time as we flashback to some of R/C racing's greatest moments, products, drivers, and more!

Flashback: 2011

Ryan Cavalieri joins elite company of IFMAR Electric Off-Road World Champions

We're just two weeks away from the 2017 IFMAR Electric Off-Road World Championship in Xiamen, China, and this week's Flashback Friday looks back on the 2011 event. You can check out recent articles about what happened in 2015 for 2WD (click here) and 4WD (click here) as well as 2013 (click here) to re-watch those exciting main events.

The 2011 IFMAR World Championships marked an important turning point for electric off-road and the industry as a whole. RC racing, and especially electric-powered classes, had dipped to scary lows in the late 2000s as NiMH batteries and brushed motors neared the end of their run as the default power source. On an international level, the 2009 World Championships had been a total flop; it was held in South Africa, and the event was boycotted by all the major race teams, with only three international drivers among the 17 total entries - including 20-year-old German Martin Achter, who won both 2WD and 4WD.

Shortly after, though, a wave of short course trucks helped infuse local tracks with new blood, and emerging brushless and LiPo technology rescued the RC community from the endangered species list. By 2011, Team Losi Racing and Team Associated had released their first new 2WD buggy kits in 12 and 8 years, respectively, and were joined by Kyosho, Team Durango, and others in an increasingly competitive segment. The Reedy Off-Road Race of Champions made a roaring comeback to kick off the 2011 season, and all of the major drivers and teams attended the IFMAR Worlds at the Pitkamaki Race Center in Vaasa, Finland. They were greeted by a high-speed, winding dirt track adorned with jumps made of blue carpet.

The 2005 2WD champ, Neil Cragg, scored the front row spot of the grid after five rounds of intense qualifying; in fact, the British driver was fourth with one round remaining! Cragg’s TQ run in the final round catapulted him ahead of teammates Ryan Cavalieri and Ryan Maifield, while Kyosho’s Jared Tebo — the only driver to set the fastest time in two of the five rounds — started fourth ahead of newly-crowned Reedy Race and U.S. national champ Dustin Evans.

This was the starting grid for the 2WD final:

Early mistakes from Cavalieri and Maifield in A1 allowed Tebo an opening into the second position, and from there he was able to pass Cragg for the win. Cavalieri also chased down Cragg by race end and took advantage of a crash by his teammate to finish second, with Cragg third.

Video: FinRC, via YouTube

In the second A-Main, Cragg crashed over a large double jump and never recovered, finishing sixth. Cavalieri finished comfortably ahead of Ryan Maifield, with Jörn Neumann a distant third. A1 winner Tebo was caught in an opening lap pile-up and finished fifth.

Video: FinRC, via YouTube

The title-deciding third main event began before the tone, as Cragg’s car broke in warm-up. Cavalieri led his fellow title contenders Ryan Maifield and Jared Tebo from the grid until Tebo broke on lap ten, and Cavalieri withstood pressure from Maifield to lock up the title. Maifield scored enough points to secure the title with Tebo third.

Video: FinRC, via YouTube

No doubt motivated by coming up short in his quest for the 2WD title, Maifield started off the 4WD portion at a blistering pace in the first round — and then went five seconds faster in the second round. He came within one small mistake of going 3-for-3, but opened the door wide enough for Jörn Neumann to top the charts in Q3.

Tebo, the 4WD champion from 2005, turned in a great time in the fourth round — but then a storm hit.

Even though the track crew was prepared with a large tarp to cover the track surface, the fourth round was unable to be finished — and the fifth round, scheduled to run the morning before the finals, was also cancelled in order to allow the track to be prepared for the finals.

Since two of the three rounds that were completed counted toward the final qualifying order, Maifield’s pair of TQ runs earned him the front row of the grid for the finals.

Maifield led the first five laps of A1 until he crashed on the large quad jump, which promoted Neumann and Tebo to first and second. Tebo crashed one lap later, which moved Cavalieri to second but five seconds behind Neumann. However, with a minute and a half remaining, an electrical problem knocked Neumann out of the race and Cavalieri held off Tebo for the win.

Video: FinRC, via YouTube

In a near-repeat of the first A-Main, Maifield gave up the lead with an early crash and opened the door for Neumann to take a shot at the win. This time, though, Cavalieri closed the gap and Neumann crashed in the washboard section. As the German raced his way back to the third spot, Cavalieri held off Tebo by two seconds to win his second title of the week.

Video: FinRC, via YouTube

In the third A-Main, Neumann took the win with a daring pass on Maifield in the final corner. Hupo Honigl finished third ahead of Lee Martin and Jared Tebo. The results in A3 gave Neumann enough to finishes second ahead of Tebo.

Video: FinRC, via YouTube

Though Achter's two titles in 2009 look like a similar accomplishment in the annals of RC, Cavalieri's double win was just as impressive as Hirosaka's feat back in 1989 — making his incredible finishes in Finland all that much more special.