The third day of 2wd, and it was going to be one to remember. Our reporters were ready to investigate, and find out exactly what the big stories would be. The day began with the last round of qualifying. Below is a rundown of the top 10's performances
Round 5
1. Davide Ongaro - We told you this already yesterday. He reduced his toe in, and went faster. But can he win?
2. Yusuke Sugiura - We still don't know what this man looks like, but like we said, he is the driver of the event. He was on TQ pace just 2 laps from the end, but TQing would be too arrogant for the humble Japanese.
3. Jared Tebo - Tebo approached one of our field reporters present at the event, and was disappointed that he had not featured in our articles. He was told that he needs to do something worth reporting on for that to happen. A 3rd place was enough to land him a spot in our post. Congratulations
4. Jorn Neumann - Jorn also had words with the very same field reporter, and said that "I am personally offended by you writing that the Schumacher car is not good on dirt. I will show you!". At one point it almost looked like he was going to raise his voice, but the cool calm and collected German kept it under control.
5. Broc Champlin - Broc just wanted to be yet another AE driver to post a top 5 result. More AE top 5's in this event than any other brand, with 17 drivers posting at least one top 5 result.
6. Dustin Evans - Denied by Broc.
7. Spencer Rivkin - Icecream burps held him back.
8. Neil Cragg - Unlike him, RCNews UnLtd believed in his chances. You can never count out a World Champion. Neil Continues to be AE's best investment to date.
9. Ryan Maifield - Everyone is worried now, because Maifield is really mad at the track after that last round, where the fastest heat swept the track for the later ones. He will be a health and safety threat in the mains.
10. David Ronnefalk - See below
After the 5th round, the grid was set for the A Finals, and it was as follows:
Overall Qualifying: 1. Spencer Rivkin 0pts 2. Davide Ongaro 6pts 3. Yusuke Sugiura 8pts 4. Bruno Coelho 9pts 5. Martin Bayer 13pts 6. Ryan Maifield 16pts 7. Ty Tessmann 18pts 8. Ryan Cavalieri 25pts (not washed up) 9. Neil Cragg 25pts 10. Joona Haatanen RC 26pts
BQ: Jared Tebo (2nd mention) Congratulations
A Final Predictions by RCNews UnLtd:
Rivkin and Ongaro are the favorites, after the Team Xray implosion. The communication between the different team factions is still fully severed, and any hope of reconciliation was gone after this morning, when Gord Tessmann was caught attempting to unplug Coelho's transponder. (see images attached). Team Xray is done as far as 2wd is concerned, and the team backup Martin Bayer will be top Xray.
Rivkin and Ongaro will be the favorites as said, but neither of them will win, because the man of the hour, the driver of the event, Yusuke Sugiura will break through. We had a word with team Japan's team manager Suzuki Kawasaki, and he mentioned that he had a long talk with Sugiura-san. He explained to him, that this is a HUDY World Championship, and as such, he is permitted to not be overly polite and humble, and that he can now proceed to beat his competition to a pulp, figuratively speaking of course. Sugiura-san accepted this advice, and will proceed to do so, becoming the 2019 HUDY World Champion.
Ryan Maifield will become even more angry, after 3 mains, and 12 racing incidents with Ty Tessmann. All attention and cameras will be following this, and as such, we still may not find out who Sugiura-san is, or what he looks like.
A MAIN #1
https://youtu.be/mzmXqPM7Pd8?t=13096
What a show. The crowd favorite Sugiura had a shaky start, but got it together on lap two, finishing strong. Rivkin clips a corner on lap one to let Ongaro thru. That was it. You do not let Ongaro lead. In the back there was pandemonium breaking loose. Drivers who are used to racing for the win, were racing for 6th place. Insanity! Maifield and Tessmann are now 3 racing incidents deep.
A MAIN #2
Rivkin got a good start and first lap this time and pulled away. Coelho ran over the fan favorite Sugiura to the dismay of the entire Japanese Nation. Japans Emperor Naruhito began drafting a declaration of war for the head of state of Portugal, but was reminded by his advisers to wait, because there was still a 3rd main later on.
Out front Rivkin got distracted, and started thinking about icecream, and crashed. Now Ongaro and Maifield were right on him. Maifield? Yes, the crafty American had weaved his way through traffic, either due to talent, or the beers he had after the first main event. Either way, it was working, he was feeling good.
With a minute left to go, Ongaro activated OnGYRO mode, his DNA powered traction control, the power of which the world has not quite understood completely to this day. He caught up to Rivkin, but decided not to overtake. He is that good. He is a man of the people, and wanted it to go to the last leg.
A MAIN #3
The final 5 minute battle was set to be a thriller. A Fantastic race that just deserves to be watched. There are no more words to write. Spencer Rivkin wins a very much deserved Hudy World Championship!
Below you can find a breakdown of all the A main finalists.
1. Spencer Rivkin – Spencer thinks he is Maifield now. The transformation seems to be complete. It began a decade ago, and now it it is complete. The student is now the master.
2. Davide Ongaro – The Italian talent has won so many wrong championships that it just didn't make sense to win any more. He is supposed to win the 1:8th Nitro Buggy European Championships, but seems to be winning everything else instead. We spoke with his mechanic Luigi Linguini and he told us that Davide didn't want to win because he knew how important this was for Rivkin. He was just here to have fun and he was ok with letting Rivkin win, who takes it seriously.
3. The man, the myth, the orange wheel guy – Yusuke Sugiura – What in the world? After two bad starts, he still managed to get 4th and a 5th from them, and then in the last main held off Coelho for 3rd. The Japanese team manager, Suzuki Kawasaki who is by now a close friend, was in tears. ”This is the best thing to happen since Hara” he exclaimed!
4. Bruno Coelho – It's all about 4wd
5. Ryan Maifield – Ryan has never been this mad at an RC race. After the 3rd main, he actually had Jason drive him to a local psychiatric clinic, to perform a deep cleanse of his brain, followed by three hours of deep meditation.
6. Joona Haatanen – The most inconsistently fast driver told us that ”--------” nothing, he didn't say anything, just like Kimi.
7. Martin Bayer – It's all about 4wd
8. Ty Tessmann – It's all about 4wd (and finding a new team)
9. Ryan Cavalieri – The first time Cavalieri has been in a Worlds main without anyone noticing.
10. Neil Cragg – Another Worlds main for the northern gentleman.
And let's take a moment of silence for Schumacher and TLR.
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