With two of three rounds counting, every driver knows there is little room for error - placing even more importance on putting together solid runs early in the program rather than relying on performing when the pressure is on. Many of the usual suspects finished toward the front of the pack in the second round, including a few that suffered from bad luck in the first round, but there were still a few surprises among the top twenty.
LiveRC YouTube account -- RVA (Race Video Archive) recordings of all races available to Bonus Lap members
“It was good!” said an excited Ty Tessmann of his HB D815, equipped for the first time with Pro-Line’s LockDowns in M3 compound which the defending champion said made his car much easier to drive. Ty also went to thicker shock oil for the warmer conditions and may go lighter for the third round to be run late at night. “I didn’t make any mistakes this time,” said Ty, as a crash had cost him a shot at winning the first round - in fact, he changed his line over the rolling left turn where he needed turn marshal assistance. “It might have been a little bit faster going around that bump,” said Ty, “but it was definitely safer. You just can’t turn until you’re right against the pipe.” Tessmann also benefitted from a lack of traffic, escaping a few close calls without incident. Any changes for the third round will depend on track conditions, whether the track improves or blows out.
Elliott Boots improved by about fifteen seconds despite not making any changes to the car. “It was good in the first one, I just made a few mistakes” said the Brit, “so I drove it smoother this time.” Running M3 Blockades, the only notable issue with traffic was when David Ronnefalk let him by and then followed behind him, which he said threw off his rhythm. “It just came together, really,” he continued, and Boots will head into the third round with no big changes planned to his Kyosho MP9 TKI3. “I just drove better, basically,” he said.
Ryan Maifield left his 8IGHT 3.0 alone after setting the fastest time in the first round, and the cooler conditions made his car feel a bit different - so he’s going to soften up the suspension for the final round. “It was a little skatey,” said the former champion, “but it was still really good. I ran my fastest lap at the end of the race again.” A clean run with only little bobbles here and there, Maifield didn’t suffer any traffic problems either. “Nothing that altered my race,” he said, “I had a very clean run.”
Dakotah Phend’s race started off with his slowest lap of the heat, but he quickly improved from there - eventually missing out on joining the top three drivers with twelve laps by a mere .999 seconds. Crossing the line for the first time in 11th out of the 15 drivers in his heat, it took Phend half the race to climb to fourth - which is where he finished for the round.
After a rough run landed former champion Ryan Cavalieri in 40th in the first round, he was much happier finishing fifth. “It went well,” he said, “I started off really good, had a mistake in the whoops, and a couple little errors, but it was good.” Since the drivers were resorted after the first round, in which he had problems, Cavalieri is in the C heat but made the best of it - getting through traffic cleanly and taking advantage of the open track. “I had a guy crash going by the line and had to go wide. Billy [Fischer] got by, but I was able to get him back. It really wasn’t that bad,” said Ryan. The IFMAR Worlds runner-up from a year ago ran his Team Associated RC8B2 prototype with no changes from the first round, but may trade his Super Soft Chain Links for a set of Rasps made from the same compound.
Here are the top twenty drivers from round two:
Here are the top twenty drivers overall with one round left to go:
Here are replays of the four fastest heats from slowest to fastest:
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