This weekend Gulf Coast RC Raceway just north of Houston, Texas hosts the 2013 ROAR Gas Offroad nationals – the question on everyones’ lips – can anyone unseat the all-conquering Pro-Line Driver Ty Tessmann – at last year’s nationals he took the double victory, and goes into this event high on confidence after his double at the 1/10th Offroad Pre-Worlds last weekend in Chico, CA. One racer who left unfinished business was double runner up TLR and Pro-Line’s Dakotah Phend – very much the TLR protege, the reserved ace Dakotah isn’t one to lose his nerve with a bright future ahead of him.
The track is pretty unique in that it has a low roof, but no sides – making it resistant to some weather, although the track looks like it has a good flow and some tough sections, the lanes look a little small from the drivers’ POV on the rostrum, in fact some of the outspoken racers that attended the 1/10 Pre Worlds in Chico commented that that track was suited for 1/8th whilst this one would be ideal for 1/10th scale… Can’t please ‘em all!
Truggy Q1
Ty Tessmann continued to set the pace in the truggy class as his HB truck effortlessly raced its way around the short lap Gulf Coast RC Raceway track, going into the last heat Ryan Lutz had set the pace with a 16 lapper 7:20 – good enough for 5th overall, Cody King was initially on pace in the last round but mistakes cost him places, 4th place seed from practice Ryan Maifield claimed ‘best of the rest’ as he held off Adam Drake who took 3rd. TLR team mate Dakotah Phend was 1/10th faster than Lutz whilst A Main driver Dylan Rodriguez would finish up 6th, Kyosho’s Jared Tebo had a poor quali run by his standards, ending up down in 16th.
Buggy Q1
In a complete repeat of Thursday’s practice pacesetters and continuing the tone of the developing Phend & Tessmann showdown this weekend Dakotah Phend showed he was the man in control of 1/8 buggy setting a time no one came close to even despite a mistake which cost him about 2 seconds. The young Phenom excelling round the high bite Gulf Coast RC Raceway track. Jared Tebo overcame a subpar truggy qualifier and put his MP9 in P2, complete with ‘F1 style quali tyres‘ – almost looking like slicks after only 7mins + warm up on track – Ty Tessmann recovered to P3 after a crash which cost him any shot at a dual TQ.
1 Dakotah Phend – 16/7:12.706
2 Jared Tebo – 16/7:17.573
3 Ty Tessmann – 16/7:18.635
Truggy Q2
Dakotah Phend broke the Tessmann truggy trend by setting the pace in the 2nd qualifier at the 2013 Gas offroad nationals – going into the final heat, Ryan Lutz had set a fast benchmark time, a time which would see him through to 3rd overall, Q1 TQ Ty Tessmann was running a fast pace at the start of the 7 min run however a mistake saw him lose ground to Tebo and eventually Truhe would point his TLR truggy into 2nd making it a TLR/Pro-Line 1,2. Emphasising the fast nature of the track are the 4th-7th times – 7/10ths of difference.
1 Dakotah Phend -16/7:10.833
2 Mike Truhe – 16/7:12.616
3 Ryan Lutz – 16/7:13.356
Buggy Q2
Day two of qualifying witnessed two rounds of qualifying, proceedings dominated by two drivers – 2012 runner up Dakotah Phend and 2012 Double Champion Ty Tessmann. First blood went to Ty Tessmann as he cruised his seemless way to TQ in Q1 of truggy, P2 man Maifield cruely disqualified for his car being underweight – an even more cruel déjà vu with the same thing happening at last year’s nats. In the buggy class Phend set the pace, with clear daylight behind him on such a fast tight track, Tebo taking a strong 2nd and Tessmann waiting in the wings with 3rd. Q2 of truggy and Ty suffered a mistake which at this level and intensity cost a shot at TQ, he recovered well to claim 5th, but with half an eye on Sunday evening, starting position is sure to be EVERYTHING here… Dakotah stepped up his game in truggy and put his TLR top o’ the pile backed up with the ever smiley face Mike Truhe.
With the sun slowly setting on an eventful day of quali, the final heat – race 22 and it’s enviable lineup of talent positioned themselves on the drivers stand – countless Championships won between them already, and many more in the future. Starting out as the pacesetter was once again Canadian superstar Ty Tessmann, perhaps with renewed vigour to end the day on a high, he was cruising like a missile reeling off fast laps until lap 9 when he lost a bit of time. The opposite was the case for Phend as he got a pretty poor start – running very close to Austin Blair – getting past only for Blair to muscle his way robustly on Phend’s inside – a good racing move if there ever was one, a bit forceful but fair – it wasn’t long before Phend recovered and knuckled down, squeezing out those extra percentage points of overdrive within him – the 16 year-old spurred on by his straight A report card received earlier that day perhaps… We predicted a Phend / Tessmann showdown yesterday and Q2 of buggy went Dakotah’s way – he polished it off in style though as both himself and Ty set their respective fastest laps on lap 14 – Ty with a 26.32 and Dakotah with a blistering 25.903 which caused a bit of a stir and a few goosebumps no doubt. Ty would finish just over 5 secs down on Dakotah, after a poor last lap, but perhaps with a cheeky experienced eye on the prize on Sunday.
1 Dakotah Phend – 16/7:09.112
2 Ty Tessmann – 16/7:15.163
3 Adam Drake – 16/7:16.403
Truggy Q3
TLR’s Mike Truhe made it three different top qualifiers from three rounds in the truggy class as he just held off a late charge by team mate Dakotah Phend – who had a bit of a slow start, another familiar name in 3rd – Ty Tessmann, 2.5 secs back from Phend. Day three of the nationals is shaping up to be a super humid one as large areas of track are cracking up but not breaking apart, Jared Tebo would end up 6th overall having run in the top 3 for the majority of the top heat, only to have two poor last laps, dropping him down a couple of places. Outside of the top 5 its evident how close the resuts are on time.
1 Mike Truhe – 16/7:12.319
2 Dakotah Phend – 16/7:13.638
3 Ty Tessmann – 1 16/7:16.231
Buggy Q3
The penultimate buggy qualifier saw Dakotah Phend complete his hat trick of TQs, this time using all the grip that was out there and seemingly more as his TLR buggy lapped at a steady 26 sec pace that no one came close to matching consistently. During the 7mins Dakotah had one major moment in the woops, riding the pipe sideways and somehow managed to rescue it, whilst still being on gas – the kid has talent… He did have a crash just on entry to the triple double section however it lost him nothing in terms of position, immediately back on pace, with Adam Drake taking P2, showing us that the TLR/Pro-Line combo seems to be working.
The word round the pits as the track continues to get gripier and gripier is Pro-Line’s rubber – the multiple compound combos and the ION tyres seem to be the golden ticket – powering Phend to a triple TQ. Ty Tessmann would end up 3rd, whilst the youngsters Steven Hartson and Carson Wernimont showed some great speed in 4th and 5th. Whilst Phend sits on top he spoke to us before his run conceding he was very keen on TQ’ing Q3 – which would allow him to get a few laps experience on the Blockade tyre – likely to be used for the finals. No such laid back racing for Ryan Maifield – suffering major problems in multiple rounds.
1 Dakotah Phend – 16/7:10.981
2 Adam Drake – 16/7:14.361
3 Ty Tessmann – 16/7:16.298
Truggy Q4
Adam Drake put in a stonking last lap to deny Tessmann his second TQ of truggy qualifying and thus also setting up a four-way tie on qual points between Ty, Dakotah, Adam and Truhe – Ty eventually edging it. For the latter stages of the last heat Jared Tebo had the lead and was lapping consistently fast, however a crashed Maifield on the triple double infront of the drivers stand saw Tebo land into his car and tangle in the win, this cost Jared heaps of time and will see him start 6th for the main.
1 Adam Drake 16/7:07.947
2 Ty Tessmann 16/7:08.334
3 Mike Truhe 16/7:10.820
Buggy Q4
The final heat of qualifying at the 2013 ROAR Gas Offroad nats saw a surprise TQ in the form of Mike Truhe – taking the top spot by just over a tenth of a second as Ty Tessmann had a slightly slow last lap, Cody King would go third for the round whilst Jared Tebo would take P4 – cheered on by his wife Megan and cutie Rosalynn – watching daddy steer his MP9 around a track showing signs of extreme grip now. Dakotah Phend – pacesetter from the word go in quali didn’t even make the start as his car rolled to a stop on the outlap – cue frantic actions to try and restart him before conceding defeat – whilst bad luck struck Phend (he’ll be glad to get it out of the way before finals), Ryan Maifield managed to have a largely hassle-free run putting in a time good enough for 6th overall. The result should see him back the semis after a drama-filled ROAR Nats.
1 Mike Truhe – 16/7:12.939
2 Ty Tessmann – 16/7:13.094
3 Cody King – 16/7:16.217
Phend dominates Buggy Qualifying
Whilst P1 for buggy qualifying concluded at the end of Q3, the rest of the spots in the semi and start order were all up for grabs – Truhe nabbing Q4 in a last lap dash effort, although on tiebreak Tessmann came out on top and will start in first in the other semi final. One of the most noteworthy items to discuss is the same top 4 as the Truggy class (different order though) – looking at the equipment it does again point to tyres, in particular the TLR & Pro-Line combo – seems to work particularly well on this high bite track of Gulf Coast RC Raceway. That said, Phend dominated Q1 to Q3 and had a pretty dire Q4, not making it more than three corners before his car expired – it’s never good as a racer to have a poor run and then suffer a long wait before hitting the track again – having said that, Phend is probably young and carefree enough to put on his rather iconic shades and ‘its on’.
The question on most peoples’ lips… Phend or Tessmann ?
Tessman TQ in Truggy
Defending Truggy Champion Ty Tessmann successfully held off potential challengers over four rounds of qualifying lasting two days here at the 2013 ROAR Gas Offroad nats outside Houston Texas, he leads an unprecedented 1,2,3,4 for Pro-Line, whose tyres are excelling on the high bite indoor-style conditions, likewise the TLR cars both in truggy and buggy seem to have a pace many others find tough to live with. Tessmann claimed TQ with a trait he is best known for – consistency, he TQ’d the opening qualifier and then made sure he drove at a pace which consistently saw him finish at the top,the result – P1 for the A main on Sunday (A,B,C mains for truggy and ROAR ladder for buggy).
ROAR Truggy A Main
Ty Tessmann used his P1 start position to its fullest extent as he completed a dominant lights to flag victory amidst the humid Texas conditions. Tessmann led away from the start, followed by Dakotah Phend, although it was apparent Tessmann immediately floored the gas pedal – pulling away at the start, Sebastian Vettel-style. After a couple of laps Phend began to fall back and soon suffered from problems, this promoted Mike Truhe whose TLR truggy looked fast and the only potential challenger, Ryan Lutz had a decent start but tagging Adam Drake badly he had to do a stop and go which dropped him back a bit into the pack .During the first half of the final Mike Truhe tried in vain to keep up with Tessmann’s relentless pace and awe-inspiring consistency which saw him churn out lap after lap of near perfection. However by the 30 minute mark Tessmann had a lap on everyone in the field – Ryan Maifield had briefly been running second, in a three-way battle for the position with Truhe and Tebo, but the Kyosho and Associated drivers expired within a few laps of each other, promoting Ryan Lutz, to third, Truhe looked to have a fairly comfortable 2nd but was caught and passed by Ryan Lutz on lap 77, Lutz stuck behind Tessmann towards the end and the field watched as Ty deservedly crossed the line as 2x consecutive ROAR National Truggy Champion.
ROAR Buggy Semi Finals
The first semi saw only five of thirteen drivers cross the finishing line, Ryan Lopez ending up 6th one corner from the finishing line, the biggest upset came when Cavalieri, running comfortably 4th flamed out, he would make it out a few seconds behind Drew Moller with a slim chance of making it in retrospective but another engine cut a lap later saw a very disappointed 4x World Champion walk off the drivers stand and head for the pits – an end to a weekend to forget for Cavalieri having missed out on the truggy main, the nature of the track and some bad luck costing him.
The second semi if anything was even more dramatic as Phend made it to lap 2 before his throttle servo expired on the step up jump – Top Qualifier: OUT. Despite this massive disappointment Dakotah handled it very maturely, composing himself before watching the rest of the semi unfold. Unfold it did as Dylan Rodriguez was the next to retire, he’d make it back out later on but to no great gain, after the palpable gasps of ‘No Phend in the final’ had died down, Tebo who was in hot pursuit with Maifield and Truhe flamed out, pitman Joe Pillars helplessly trying to resuscitate the stricken buggy in pitlane. A long lonely early walk back to the pits is how his 2013 nationals campaign ended, the track and hard landings appears to be taking a huge toll on cars, the one-hour final is sure to test the cars to their limits and beyond.
Final Buggy Starting Grid:
1. Ty Tessmann
2. Adam Drake
3. Ryan Lutz
4. Ryan Maifield
5. Mike Truhe
6. Cody King
7. Billy Fischer
8. Josh Wheeler
9. Drew Moller
10. Carson Wernimont
11. Tyler Vik
12. Mark Pavidis
13. Jake Dellinger
ROAR Buggy A Main
The final race of the day, the grand finale – the big finish – different names but Adam Drake can now call himself a worthy three-time ROAR National Buggy Champion – a feat no other driver has managed in 1/8 offroad.
The final started out with Tessmann on pole after a mighty semi performance – the newly crowned back-to-back truggy Champion sending shivers through his competitiors spines. Tessmann led them out, a tiny bobble on the first lap ensured that Drake was on his tail, but never really close enough to send one down the inside ‘Austin Blair style!’ – anyway, Tessmann built a lead of around 6-7 secs, it became apparent that Drake had kept pretty quiet about his fuel mileage advantage, with Tessmann pitting around the 7:30 – 8 min mark, Truhe 9 and Drake going 10mins setting up an old school final.
For much of the final Tessmann had a fairly comfortable gap – Drake assuming the role that some thought impossible – reeling him in, indeed it didn’t come down to on track racing or in the pits but Tessmann losing a rear center driveshaft pin on the back straight, cue a collective gasp amongst the crowd (perhaps even a few drivers), Gord and Leann, pitting for their son tried in vain to fix the problem but Ty was soon sadly walking down boulevard of broken dreams – managing to win truggy and coming close to doing the same in buggy.
Meanwhile upfront, Drake’s pace meant he had a pretty good half a lap’s worth of lead of the fighting Truhe, Maifield and King, Truhe soon managed to drive his way into a brilliant second place, whilst the last podium spot went to Cody King – Billy Fischer with 10 to go was in contention but broke his car with 1:30 left, Maifield limped around on the last lap to claim 4th and a great 5th for Drew Moller, evergreen AKAman Mark Pavidis chose the adage of ‘first you must finish’. All in all a sad end to Tessmann’s title defense, not to mention the dramatic semis but it came down making sure your car could finish, Drake – a wily fox made his pit strategy work wonders for him as well as a complete podium lock out for Pro-Line – the tyres to beat this weekend.
-Thanks to our friends over at www.neobuggy.net for the great write up
