Haatanen goes fastest in 2WD as Phend maintains 4WD pace

Day 1 of the Reedy Offroad Race of Champions is complete with Joona Haatanen mixing things up in the final run of the day to go fastest in 2WD while early pace setter Dakotah Phend maintain his status as the quickest driver in 4WD when he topped the third of the day’s three practice rounds. Behind Haatanen, Dustin Evans made it a 1-2 for Team Associated as both managed for the first time to outpace Phend who had set the early pace for both classes.  In 4WD, which will open the racing action tomorrow at OCRC Raceway, the closest on pace to Phend was Ty Tessmann with Yusuke Sugiura making it three different manufacturers in the Top 3 ahead of his Yokomo team-mate Ryan Maifield.  While the Reedy Race’s unique heads up race format means not too much should be read into the practice times, for defending Champion Jared Tebo the day ended with him setting the 7th fastest 2WD time and 8th fastest 4WD time.

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