Hello everyone and welcome to the home for all of LiveRC's coverage of the 1:8 IFMAR Off-Road Worlds! . . . otherwise known as the "race blog."
Here you will find links to all of our content that is posted during the worlds, as well as results, recaps, and other semi-informal tidbits.
First, let me explain a few details regarding our broadcast. As many of you may have heard, travel to Argentina has the potential to be problematic for many travelers, especially ones from America. Reports on the Argentina entry process from racers travelling to the warm up race a month and a half ago ranged anywhere from "very difficult" to "absolute nightmare." Considering the amount of expensive equipment we bring to races, along with increased chances for theft and burglary that are present, it became clear that coming with our normal operation would not be possible.
Luckily, we were able to brainstorm a bit and come up with a way to not only carry less equipment to the event, but to hopefully improve certain aspects of it. For users, these changes won't be seen -- except for one, which is why I am explaining this. Scotty and Charlie are not at the event. They are calling the race remotely from LiveRC Headquarters in the United States. This set-up also means that our main broadcasting device is located in a controlled environment with top-shelf internet.
OK, enough of that technical non-sense.
Upon arriving to Argentina on Saturday, we were greeted by, perhaps, the easiest entry into a country we have ever experienced. We aren't sure what changed between the warm up race and now, but whatever it was, it made customs a breeze. Go figure.
The next thing we were greeted with was warmth. With a majority of the LRC crew residing near the 45th north parallel, stepping out of the airport and into summery South America was a welcome feeling. That feeling went a way as the day wore on and the dust began to fly. By mid-way through round of of controlled practice, sweat was pouring, skin was fried and everything was dirty.
On the track, cars in the initial heats of practice were used more as track-preparing devices for the the latter heats. The track took in a considerable amount of water in the day prior and had a layer of wood chips on it to dry it out.
Today (Sunday) we saw three rounds of practice run with considerably better track conditions. As the drivers became more accustomed to the layout, the track surface became more accustomed to race-grade rubber, and we got a glimpse of what we might see it look like on main day. In between now and then, however, is very much up in the air.
Just like Charlotte in '08, this year's worlds may be defined by rain. The forecast is looking quite wet from Tuesday to Thursday, which, with this track's history of flooding, will not be pretty if the meteorologists are correct. Either way, there should be enough dry time to settle the score under green flag racing at some point, but the trip from here to then may be an interesting one.
Tomorrow we kick off yet ANOTHER day of practice (If you want my thoughts on the amount of practice run at IFMAR events, let me know. I will write you quite a lengthy manifesto). We will be kicking off our full broadcast with MC Charlie Suangka and Grandmaster Scotty Ernst, so stay tuned for that. Also, don't forget "The Reverend" David Church, who will be preaching sermons from the sidelines all week long!
The Track -- "Speed Passion" -- Buenos Aires, Argentina
From my understanding, this whole facility was a field just a short time ago. Lots of works has been done to turn this place into a top-notch spot for the worlds.
Many drivers were in Lumberjack Mode for P1.
Once the track dried out, dust masks became a hot commodity.
The track was definitely more akin to what Americans like Ryan Cavalieri are used to on day two.
Ever the modifier, Ty Tessmann is doing his best to make aero packages the latest craze in 1:8 tuning.
Carson Wernimont's special "Machineshop Edition" Durango. We weren't allowed to get any closer than this.
Pit lane. Truly the jail cell of the R/C world.
That will do it for today! Stay tuned to LiveRC for coverage all throughout the week!
Monday was a day defined by delays. Both from the weather and the Internet. The results of which impacted just about everything we do at LiveRC.
First, for those who missed coverage today, we would like to offer you our sincerest apologies. We assure you that every measure humanly possibly will be examined and executed in order to provide the best broadcast possible.
As you can imagine, our product begins and ends with the Internet. The first measure we take when traveling to races is determining if there will be Internet available, or if we need to bring some in. Many times, tracks that R/C races are held at are in remote locations where Internet service is not readily available. Other times, tracks are right in the middle of metropolitan areas, but bandwidth is low due to traffic and signal interference. Sometimes, Internet is said to be of a certain speed or specification, but ends up being something entirely different. This is the problem we (and the rest of the media) have encountered.
As anyone can imagine, connection to the Internet is easily the most imperative cog in the LiveRC “Machine.” Without it, we have nothing. Because of this, we made sure to pay for a dedicated Internet line to be brought into the facility here in Buenos Aries. Unfortunately, the line was not nearly up to the spec. While the track and Internet Service Provider has been working feverishly to fix the problem, they have been unable to do so as of yet, which resulted in down-time during the last round of practice. We have been assured that new equipment will be on-site tomorrow morning that will hopefully cure the problem.
--
As for the other delay -- the track being inundated by a freak rainstorm in the wee-hours of the night ended up causing a four-hour delay in today’s program. After a heavy dose of wood-chip spreading, things resumed and drivers once again re-acclimated themselves to “Lumberjack Mode” as they fought their way through mud and dirt the likes of which their machines were in no way intended for. While the hope is that these conditions will be temporary, the talk around the pits is that we may have to get used to mud and wood chips in the upcoming days.
During our downtime, I spent a lot of time watching practice heats. Usually this is something I do not get to do. I watched a fair amount of the top drivers runs (a few of them twice) and came to the following conclusions – forget laps times or overall laps and time, this is just my opinion from my own naked eye; no metrics were used: Dakotah Phend is the guy to beat. He is showing the best mixture of confidence, speed, and aggressiveness. Nobody else had as much command of their vehicle as he did. Sections of the track where others tip-toed around, Phend powered through inches from the barrier without flinching.
Second best, in my opinion, was Elliott Boots. Boots was just as aggressive as Phend (if not more), but wasn’t as precise and solid. His car wasn’t quite dripping in its pilots’ confidence the way Phend’s was.
Atsushi Hara does not look blazing fast to the naked eye, but that has never been Hara’s game. He earns his paycheck by being consistent, and that is what he did today. If he ends up in front at the end of the final, it will be because of consistency and fuel strategy (a classic and lethal Hara combo).
Ryan Maifield looks like he has plenty of command of his vehicle, it just isn’t getting through sections as fast as Phend’s and Boots’ machines. It doesn't look as "set" into the track. If his team can make some adjustments to get his car through bumps a little better, he will be as strong as anyone.
Ty Tessmann was very similar to Maifield; fast, but his car just isn’t allowing him to do what Phend is doing. From what I saw today, his car looks very edgy and hard to drive.
In reality, the field is fairly open. There are a lot of driver’s who can make a push to the front. But to reiterate, Phend looked (at least to me) like the strongest car in the field today. The question is: will that translate to the variety of track conditions we are bound to see this week?
Tuesday was a day that was not supposed to happen! Apparently, meteorology in Argentina is about as reliable as it is in the United States.
Track workers battled bugs and darkness yesterday in order to cover the track for the rain that was forecasted to fall through the night. The rain never came and racing started on schedule.
In Q1, Robert Batlle picked up where he left off at the Worlds Warm-Up in September and drove to the front of an antsy qualifying heat “A.” The Spaniard out-dueled youngsters Dakotah Phend, Elliott Boots and Ty Tessmann to take the heat and the overall fast time from Q1. Elsewhere, the Czech Republic’s Martin Bayer came out of heat three to get third for the round, proving that he has more speed than he was able to clock in practice.
Round One Results
Q2 looked like a replay of the ROAR nationals for Hot Bodies’ Ty Tessmann. The Canadian commanded much of heat “A,” while showing that he got a little more comfortable with his machine in day one of qualifying than he was in practice.
Q1 winner Robert Batlle didn’t miss a beat finishing second in heat “A” and third overall for the round after a rejuvenated Jared Tebo charged through heat “B.” Tebo had been “laying in the weeds” so far this week and was clearly happy to put in a solid run. I would watch Tebo closely tomorrow to see how his Q2 run translates into round three and four. He tends to get faster and faster if he has good runs that build his confidence. I know, that sounds like it's probably true for everyone. But in my opinion, it is more true for him. If he strings a few together, he will be a very dangerous man.
Martin "The Iceman" Bayer had a hell of a day for being in heat "C."
And when the Internet came back, we were all so happy!
Well, another day has passed without as much as a single rain drop in the middle of this stretch of days that seemed destined for washout earlier in the week. The resulting track conditions were quite favorable to most of the upper level drivers earlier in the day. Many drivers were excited to tackle the track which had now baked in the hot Argentinian sun for two straight days.
However, as the day wore on, the (relatively) smooth track surface broke apart and gave way to a much more difficult beast to slay. Ruts opened up, jump faces began to wear, and cars began to get thrown around with little their drivers could do about it. That is, everyone except Elliott Boots who, in Q5, seemed to hover just far enough above the blown apart racing surface to wax the entire field by 13 seconds. Boots put on quite an impressive display in Q5 -- often counter steering and "whipping" his car in a multitude of ways in order to avoid certain distaster. More than a few times I witnessed him fling and manipulate the weight of his car around to right it from a sure crash. This type of confidence wasn't quite there in practice but was undeniable in Q5. If he can replicate even a portion of that combination of skill, confidence and luck in the semi and final, he will be next to impossible to beat. However, as Ryan Maifield pointed out to us on the JConcepts Pit Cam this afternoon, it may be hard for Boots to keep up that style of driving up for an entire hour.
The biggest surprise of the day belonged to Josh Wheeler. Josh is always sneaky fast. You may not see him winning nationals or being the star of endless new product videos, but the dude is always in the mix -- and VERY capable of going fast at any given time. Today he proved that by TQ'ing Q4 from the "E" qualifier. . .
Elsewhere, Ryan Maifield and Jared Tebo are looking like they are regaining bits of what made them favorites in every nitro race they entered for years up until, perhaps, this summer. Both of them have steadily improved since practice and know what it takes to win an hour long main. "Veterans" in their mid-twenties, these two guys have been in this situation more than most of the other "contenders" have been. While I would like to say this experience is extremely important, Cody King went and ruined that ideology two years ago in Thailand.
Scheduled for tomorrow is the 6th and final round of qualifying only. That is, if it doesn't rain.
Everyone took a break to watch a re-run of Jersey Shore.
Quiz: is this a picture of Richard Saxton looking in a mirror, or Richard Saxton looking at Josh Pain?
Gerd has had enough of this s***.
Maifield is steadily improving.
Worlds Warm-Up winner Robert Batlle is looking like he has a good chance of breaking the "Warm-Up-Winner Curse." He is currently 2nd overall in qual-points.
Elliott Boots was on another planet this evening. As the track deteriorated and caused trouble for many drivers, the Brit pretty much had his way with the track and the entire field in Q5. As of right now, he has to be the favorite on Saturday.
Well, after flirting with us relentlessly, Mother Nature finally decided to seal the deal today. As drivers and mechanics arrived at the track this morning they were greeted by a few puddles, but nothing too terrible. Many folks eyed things over and pondered why we weren't attempting to ready the track for racing.
The pondering came to a quick halt around 9:30 when the skies opened up and let loose on the poor little track situated on a flood plain in Buenos Aires. After a few more hours of drizzle, another down pour struck and effectively put an end to qualifying for the event.
So with the sixth and final round being cancelled, the qualifying program became a "best-three-of-five" format and gave the UK's Elliott Boots Top Qualifying honors.
The young Brit has been on rails all week, slipping in and out of short spells of inconsistency. For the most part, his raw speed allowed him to overcome a few bobbles here and there. And of course, his ballistic run in Q5 was nothing short of an embarrassment for the rest of the field.
Tomorrow we move on to finals. Well, that is if the track crew can clear the water off the racing surface. Judging by the fact that it is still raining eight hours after the initial downpour this morning, the task cannot be getting any easier.
The tentative start time for race No. 1 tomorrow is 12:00 PM local time. (If you can't figure out what this time is for where you are, try "www.google.com." I hear you can find out a lot of stuff on that site!)
Here are the qualifying results (using each driver's best three-of-five rounds), and the semi-final heat set-up:
The curse is over! Someone has finally converted a worlds warm-up victory into a world championship! (OK, I guess it really isn't a curse unless it has been decades). Spaniard Robert Batlle checked out early in today's final enroute to becoming the newest IFMAR World Champion.
Batlle trailed Ty Tessman early on as the two created an advantage for themselves over third and fourth place Ryan Maifield and Atsushi Hara. Around the ten minute mark, Tessmann faltered and Batlle was able to sneak by. Minute after minute, Batlle stockpiled fractions of seconds to create an almost 20 second lead by the half-way point. The race was pretty much over by then. Batlle never looked back and Tessmann was never challenged for second.
Eng / Usd
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Recent comments