--
After a lengthy flight across the pond, and a (seemingly) lengthier trip through the immigration desks at London Heathrow Airport, we have arrived in the picturesque countryside of Shropshire just outside of Newport (two hours northwest of London) for the biggest indoor nitro race there is- NEO '13!
I liken the NEO Race to the Reedy Race, only for nitro. It is the same in that it isn't run by a sanctioning body (one could argue this is the best aspect of both of the aforementioned events). The freedom this allows is extremely refreshing. Like the Reedy Race, the NEO Race is held using a few unorthodox methods, in comparison to large, sanctioned races. Practice is kept to a minimum, only the premiere classes for 1:8 are run, and a "Last Chance Saloon" serves as a last-ditch effort to get the fastest drivers possible into the final event.
Like the Reedy Race, international flair also plays a huge part in making the NEO race unique. Drivers from all over the globe have been known to attend "the indoor worlds," as it as referred to by many of the top professional drivers in the sport.
This year, a portion of the North American drivers that had attended in recent years were not able to make the trip due to the electric worlds being just a few weeks away, but that hasn't hindered the competition much. All of the top European drivers are in attendance, along with the last two IFMAR World Champions- Cody King (2010) and Robert Batlle (2012).
Of course, Jared Tebo is here as well. And if you know anything about the NEO Race, you know that it is close to being renamed the TEBO Race. Tebo has won all four times he has attended.
So tune in all weekend to see if Tebo can continue his dominance, or if current World Champion Robert Batlle; one of the fast Brits like Lee Martin, Neil Cragg, and Darren Bloomfield; top Czech driver Martin Bayer, or Americans Ryan Lutz and Cody King can break the trend and capture the NEO Race crown!
Live video coverage begins tomorrow (Thursday) with our full broadcast presentation lead by Mike Garrison begins on Friday!
A little history, via NeoBuggy.net:
Jared Tebo has won an unprecedented four out of the seven NEO Races. Coincidently, he has also only attended four of them. Will this be the year he is dethroned as NEO Race Champion?
Photos from check-in day
Take a ride through the English countryside until you see Harper Adams. Then hang a left! That is if you survive the narrow two-lane roads that the locals treat like the Autobahn.
Harper Adams University College is an agricultural school that looks and feels more like a traditional university.
The track and pit area is situated inside the campus soil building.
The circuit from the back corner
Pit/vendor area
The staging area is located outside of the semi-enclosed race area.
NeoBuggy has tagged the entrance of Harper Adams in a manner in which only the blindest of R/C racers can miss it!
A blue moon shines upon one of the newer residence halls
Three rounds of practice were run on Thursday, with drivers getting approximately 20 minutes of track time total (26 if a driver is running eBuggy as well). The track is settling in and we are seeing
trademark NEO conditions- smooth, slightly loose, and getting a little bumpier with each passing minute. That's right,
smooth bumps. I'm not a soil engineer, but the surface here tends to evolve into a smooth-bumpy hybrid as the weekend goes on. This doesn't hinder racing conditions at all, though. It just provides suspensions a little extra workload and gives race teams the extra task of coming up with a setup fit to tame the unique conditions.
Like always, the
DXR crew was created a
fantastic layout which should provide us with plenty of head-to-head battles. This year's circuit is
extremely lateral, meaning that a majority of the action is moving from side to side. The track is comprised of four lanes, essentially, with a series of "S" sections, chicanes and doglegs to make things interesting. There are plenty of places on the circuit to open up the carburetor so look for
fuel milage to potentially play a role in some drivers' race programs.
While speed is ever-present, air time is almost just as easy to come by. A good mix of jump sizes and styles litter the infield and straightaway giving racers a constant challenge. The DXR crew builds a very unique track; one that is not typical from a traditional European R/C racing standpoint. The track isn't very "American" either, having a seemingly larger mixture of jumps and bumps in all portions of the track, instead of just in areas that are specifically crafted to be "jump sections." The result is truly a unique blend that is an absolute pleasure to watch being attacked by the pros.
Two more practice rounds will be run tomorrow (Friday) morning before we jump into Q1 later in the afternoon. With the transition into the official race program also comes our transition into our
official broadcast presentation, hosted by Mike Garrison. So don't forget to tune in tomorrow to watch live! We will, of course, be bringing you updates via this Race Blog and on Twitter throughout the weekend as well.
Photos
Curry and woodfired pizza. I'm telling you, the English know how to throw a high-class party.
The dedication they have for their craft knows no bounds.
Marc Rheinard's racing pursuits also know no bounds. The former multi-time IFMAR ISTC WC came out to run a pair of JQ cars on the dirt this weekend.
Current IFMAR 1:8 IC Off-Road World Champion (that's 'nitro buggy' for all of you who haven't taken IFMAR's graduate level class on how to decipher the complex acronyms within their class designations) Robert Batlle prepares his Mugen for the second round of practice.
2010 IFMAR Champ Cody King sits just beyond his Kyosho
This is the first time the LiveRC crew has seen Elliott Boots since his TQ and heartbreaking DNF at the 2012 IFMAR Worlds in Argentina. If you want to watch someone drive a car like they have nothing at all to lose, check out Elliott. Dude is an insane wheelman.
TLR's Darren Bloomfield will be another driver to watch this weekend. Someone needs to get him a can of spray paint for that car caddy!
The Lee Martin Mugen getting final adjustments before its voyage in to the track building
Martin Bayer is going to win a major international race soon. I can feel it. Will this be the week it happens?
American Ryan Lutz always has the speed to win, he just needs some luck and a few things to go his way.
Drivers and mechanics were in a full-on study session around the track all day searching the innermost reaches of their minds to find that next adjustment to make. They will get to see if their strategies pay off tomorrow night during qualifying.
Video of practice
The final two rounds of practice came and went early Friday before the race program launched late in the afternoon here at NEO '13. One solo round of qualifying was run tonight with five more remaining in the best four-of-six "qual-points" schedule.
Early on, Q1 looked similar to other NEO Races of recent years with Jared Tebo stretching out a workable lead over a field of 13 other drivers whom were sorted into heat "A" after practice. However, Tebo got caught up in some traffic which lead to a series of mistakes that caused him to fall through the order and out of contention for an early round win.
Taking his place at the top of the pack was his teammate -- and 2010 World Champion -- Cody King. King wasn't blazing fast, but stayed consistent and drove smooth- a quality that will suite this track and this race format extremely well.
Hot on his tail after the six-minute qualifying heat was the UK's own Elliott Boots, who is known for his incredible ability to attack the track and close in on anyone who may be leading him. With under a minute to go, Boots did just that, closing in considerably on the lead position before time ran out.
Jared Tebo looked more like his "NEO" self in the Vampire Racing eBuggy class. He crushed the field by 11 seconds.
Three rounds of qualifying will be run tomorrow. By then, we should have a much clearer picture of how things will shape up come finals time.
Q1 RESULTS:
OVER 35 FINAL
UNDER 17 FINAL
PHOTOS:
The cowbell has been strapped on! That means it's time to race.
Try to avoid the fumes. They aren't meant for breathing.
Some people raced. Some people played FIFA '13 in the back of a truck. The latter group mainly consisted of Neil Cragg and Marc Rheinard. No word on who won the match.
Meanwhile (in the track building) cars were soaring though the air like majestic birds made out of slabs of milled aluminum and carbon fiber.
The haze and smoke seems a little worse this year than in previous years. We could use some more wind!
World Champion Robert Batlle has finished on the podium at the NEO Race in the past. He finished 4th in Q1. However, he finished first in having bad ass shirts with dice on them.
Four-time NEO race winner Jared Tebo looked like he might run away early in Q1, but a series of crashes sent him tumbling down the order in heat "A."
Elliott Boots looked strong in today's lone qualifying round. It's no surprise that he hot lapped heat "A." The key to him succeeding this weekend will be his ability to stay clean and consistent- especially given the track conditions.
Cody King took home the early round win on Friday after turning in a clean, solid run. A "steady-as-she-goes" strategy will be what wins on this track and Cody definitely displayed that type of driving in Q1.
Saturday was a day of Kyosho domination at NEO '13, starting in
Q2 with
Jared Tebo who quickly regained his from early in Q1 and applied it to the entirety of his first six minute heat today. Tebo crushed the field in Q2 winning by seven seconds, which is close to an eternity on this track but not an uncommon margin to see Tebo to win by at Harper Adams.
It was Tebo again winning in Q3, except with much less of a cushion. Jared looked to check out into 12-lap hyperspace in the early laps of Q3, but had a rough couple of corners and found himself fighting with a pack of cars for the lead. In the end, Tebo was able to stay on four wheels and stretch out a small victory over
World Champion Robert Batlle,
Darren Bloomfield, and
Martin Bayer.
In today's final round of qualifying -- Q4 -- the Kyosho flamethrower was handed off to
Cody King who, paired with teammate
Elliott Boots, did their best to extinguish a challenge from
Neil Cragg in the final laps of the heat. All three drivers were within a half second as they crossed the line and went out for their final lap. King was able to pound just enough speed out of his buggy to take the win, followed by Cragg and Boots.
Cody followed up his Q4 win a few moments later with another win in the Vampire Racing eBuggy class.
Jared Tebo captured the round in Q3 giving the two Kyosho drivers a pair of round sweeps. Brit
Lee Martin TQ'ed Q2 of the eBuggy class.
The best race of the day, however, was the
Dash for Cash. The top 12 drivers in the nitro buggy class participated in the 10-minute sprint with the top three finishers set to split 400 British Pounds (over 600 American Dollars).
The race was a thrill ride and saw multiple cars battle for the lead for almost the entire ten minutes of the race. In the end,
Cody King was able to sneak up to the front of a large pack of cars to take the win.
But don't take my word that it was an exciting race.
Watch it for yourself below!DASH FOR CASH:
BROADCAST RECAP:
OFFICIAL QUAL POINTS via BBK:
NITRO BUGGY (Best TWO rounds)
VAMPIRE RACING eBUGGY RESULTS (Best TWO Rounds)
Drivers from Heat "A" of nitro buggy ascend up the rostrum in Q2
Jared Tebo had a strong day, to say the least. When he stays clean, he is dominant. He won two of the three rounds of qualifying today.
However, Tebo's teammate Cody King also has two round wins. Here, King leads the field out on the track before his TQ of Q4.
Elliott Boots showed gobs of speed sometimes, and inconsistency at others. This has been the trademark of his young career thus far.
Neil Cragg is sitting third overall after four rounds. Here, Cragg is seen practicing up for his rap album cover photoshoot.
The three winners from Saturday night's Dash for Cash race -- (left to right: Jared Tebo, 2nd; Cody King, 1st; Robert Batlle, 3rd)
The Kyosho firestorm that we saw on Saturday ignited yet again in Q5 Sunday morning.
Jared Tebo lead the charge this time around breaking the tie with teammate
Cody King atop the qual points standings by TQ'ing the round.
Tebo was able to win the round despite having a fuel line break midway through the race. We talked with Jared afterward and he said it took a series of on-the-fly radio trim adjustments to dial in enough brakes to drive the car after fuel soaked the braking system. You can bet Jared will be going through his machine with a fine tooth comb tonight to make sure these bugs are the only ones he encounters for the rest of the weekend.
In the Vampire Racing eBuggy class, Tebo was able to snag the top spot in Q5 which secured the overall TQ position for him before the final round even ran. He would choose to sit out Q6 to save his equipment for the finals.
The nitro race program slipped into
round six of qualifying with only
Jared Tebo and
Cody King having a shot at the overall TQ spot. Neither driver would seriously contend for the round win over the course of the final six minute qualifier. Instead,
Mugen's Robert Batlle finally broke the Kyosho TQ streak by slipping into P1 on lap 8 and not looking back. By preventing Cody King from wining the round,
Batlle's TQ in Q6 gave Jared Tebo the overall points TQ for the nitro buggy division.
Q6 of eBuggy started out with
smoke and flames bellowing from underneath the hood of Cody King's MP9e. With the speedo fire taking him out of the race -- and Jared Tebo choosing the sit the round out rather than putting unnecessary extra miles on his equipment -- the door was left wide open for
Ryan Lutz to power his way to the front. Don't let the lack of the top two Kyoshos fool you on Ryan Lutz's performance, though; he was on an absolute mission in Q6. Fully utilizing the extra torque and maneuverability of the electric platform, Ryan was able to take risky (but fast) lines that nobody else had been able to use consistently over the course of the weekend.
The strategy worked and Lutz was able to set the fastest run of the event for the class. Time will tell if Lutz will be able to use similar lines when running amongst a tight field of cars during the finals, though.
Electric Buggy Semi-Finals Update:The semi-finals for the Vampire eBuggy class were run on Sunday night and they weren't completed without almost throwing a wrench into Jared Tebo's plans for NEO domination. Tebo's car mysteriously shut down during his semi dropping him to the back of the pack. His crew was able to get it back on the track, but the deficit he had to overcome looked to be impossible. But -- low and behold -- Tebo was able to get himself into the seventh and final transfer position within the last minute to secure a spot on the final grid tomorrow. Probably not the spot he figured he'd be in, but he will take it nonetheless. Let's put it this way- the Jared Tebo from about the 6 minute mark in the semi is thrilled to just be in the final.
Here is a list of the drivers who have transferred into the eBuggy final event:ODD:Ryan Lutz
Darren Bloomfield
Craig Drescher
Jack Embling
Tony Truman
Guido Ristori
Jared Tebo
EVEN:
Lee Martin
Elliott Boots
Cody King
Joseph Quagraine
Miguel Matias
Richard Taylor
Callum Niblett
Hannes Kaufler
NITRO QUALIFYING ORDER:
Nitro Buggy Semi --
ODD*(Car number indicates starting position)
Nitro Buggy Semi -- EVEN
*(Car number indicates starting position)
VIDEOS:
Q5 Nitro Buggy -- Heat "A"Jared Tebo nurses his wounded Kyosho to a round win that would eventually decide the overall top qualifying award.
Q6 Vampire Racing eBuggy -- Heat "A"Ryan Lutz goes for the quad en route to setting the fastest overall time for the weekend.
Vampire Racing eBuggy ODD Semi-Final:Jared Tebo suffers a setback from the top spot and tries to fight his way back. Ryan Lutz builds upon his moment from Q6.
Vampire Racing eBuggy EVEN Semi-Final:
Lee Martin leads wire-to-wire. Callum Niblett and Hannes Kaufler hold on to the final transfer spots.
End of the day broadcast wrap-up:
Mike Garrison talks about model car racing.
PHOTOS:
Robert Batlle was the first non-Kyosho to TQ a round of Nitro Buggy. We will see if he will be able to stretch his strong run in the final round of qualifying into equally strong runs during the finals on Monday.
Jared Tebo's top qualifying rides. Not much else to say about him -- the man is just "on" here. He will be extremely hard to beat on Monday.
Tebo's Kyosho MP9e TKI
Tebo's Kyosho MP9 TKI3
Durango's Ryan Lutz showcased the full potential of an electric 1:8 buggy in Q6. The last place any of the other drivers will want to see him is at the front of the pack with a clear track...or behind them going over the quad. ;)
If Jared Tebo can covert his dual TQ positions into dual NEO Race wins in 2013, his body of work in the UK will become stuff of legend...if it isn't already.
FINALLY it's FINALS day! The end of a great week of racing finally arrived on Monday after countless heats, laps, and references to Jared Tebo's strong performances. Such is life at the NEO Race when Tebo attends.
Tebo has done his best at making people think NEO Race finals are boring. My answer to that argument would be that many people think dominant sports teams winning year after year can be boring as well, but once a bit of time passes you realize that you witnessed a historic run.
That is very much what we have been witnessing at Harper Adams in recent years.
Jared Tebo's victory in the nitro buggy class today gave him a perfect five wins in five visits to the 8-year-old race -- a feat that is hard to find comparisons to within the sport of R/C racing.
Jared's weekend wasn't perfect, though. He crashed a lot, had some poor qualifying runs, and even had some mechanical problems. However, what was truly impressive is that he was still head and shoulders above the rest of the field in both speed and consistency. This is a true testament to the difficult conditions that presented themselves on this year's circuit. We didn't see many drivers run clean for extended periods of time and most people we talked to around the paddock indicated that this year's track was especially hard on equipment and nerves.
Tebo's loads of confidence within the soil building of Harper Adams may have been his most vital ingredient in coming up with a way to tame the track and keep his equipment rolling around the track relatively well. When other drivers made a mistake, they usually followed up with four or five more. Tebo was able to follow up with only one or two mistakes after the initial fault. It is an odd advantage over the field to have, but one that can almost surely be attributed to the enormous amount of confidence he had going into the weekend.
In the Vampire Racing eBuggy class, the UK's Elliott Boots strung together several minutes of aggressive driving to march his way from 8th to 1st by the half-way mark of the race. Ryan Lutz and Darren Bloomfield also spent time leading the race, but it would be Lutz and Lee Martin accompanying Boots on the podium in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
WATCH HOW IT HAPPENED BELOW!
Vampire Racing eBuggy Final: Nitro Buggy Final:
End of event broadcast wrap-up with Mike Garrison: Thanks for tuning in!
PHOTOS:
The Official NEO '13 Girls!
Vampire Racing eBuggy podium finishers (from left to right: Ryan Lutz, 2nd; Elliott Boots, 1st; Lee Martin, 3rd)
The remnants of the Nitro Buggy podium moments before the champagne started spraying everything in sight. (Well, mostly Bob and I...)
I feel like I've taken this picture a few times before.
Jared Tebo extends his streak of NEO Race wins to three and stays a perfect five-for-five in NEO Races he has attended since the race began.
Thanks to everyone who tuned into our live broadcast, this blog, or any of our social media outlets over the course of the last week! You guys keep us going!
Also, thanks to NeoBuggy.net, Phil Mortstedt, the DXR crew, and Harper Adams University College for all of the hospitality! I've said it before and I'll say it again: this race and this location is a perfect match and I would recommend it to anyone looking to travel to a big race.
For Mike Garrison, Brandon Rohde, Bob Kendall, and Ross Walters; this is Eric Swanson signing off from NEO '13! See you next time!
Eng / Usd
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Recent comments