JConcepts founder Jason Ruona interviews multiple World Champion Jared Tebo and talks about racing, life, retirement, and his relationship with Speed RC owner, former Formula 1 & Nascar racer Scott Speed.
Jared Tebo completed the buggy double at Speed RC in North Carolina as the track played host to the JConcepts Indoor National Series Finals for the first time. Winning 4WD with relative ease, sewing up the overall win in A2 earlier in the day, in 2WD it was to go down to the wire. With Rivkin taking an easy win in A1, in A2 things really hotted up with the pair clashing a number of times and it was Daimon Borkowicz came away with the win ahead of Tebo and Brent Thielke with Rivkin fourth. This set the stage for a three way showdown and while all three led the decider it was Tebo who was at the front at the finish-line to take the win. Finishing third behind Alex Kosciuszek in A3, Rivkin was less than impressed by the Kyosho ace’s driving. With Rivkin ending up second overall it was Thielke who completed the podium as Borkowicz struggled towards the end of the leg going from leading to finishing with a P6.
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Jared Tebo claimed the 4WD Buggy win at the JConcepts Indoor National Series, the Kyosho driver completing a perfect weekend when, like in qualifying he wrapped things up early, by securing the overall victory with another win in A2. Having dominated the opening A-Main, it looked like he was going to repeat the performance in the second of the three encounters but riding the curbing he rolled his ZX6.6 allowing Spencer Rivkin to the front. Rivkin however would make a carbon copy of Tebo’s mistake and with his Associated on its roof letting Tebo resume the lead where he would stay to the finish for the win. Going on to take A3, Rivkin would get second in North Carolina which was enough to secure him the overall JConcepts INS title. Daimon Borkowicz would complete the race podium on the series’ first visit to Speed RC.
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Coming for a range of Serpent 1/8th kits are the new Xceed titanium screw sets. Available for the 977 Evo, 977 E, SRX8 and GT 3.0 the sets lower the weight of the cars while improving looks and durability compared to the standard steel fasteners.
The third round of the Essex Winter Series championship took place this weekend. As the last major event of 2016, everyone wanted to end on a high, but also take the opportunity to stand out as a championship contender. In the Modified Class, Elliott Harper was heading the standings with two perfect scores from the two rounds so far. The first round of qualifying showed that his run of success was possibly about to end, after an incredibly close round saw Elliott only just snatching the fastest time on the final lap, pipping young Harley Eldridge to the top spot by three-hundredths of a second. Kyle Branson took third in the round ahead of Chris Grainger, but the top eight were covered by less than four seconds.
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The second round of the XRS Poland was held this past weekend in Lodz. In the opening 2WD and 4WD qualifiers, Xray’s Kaja Novotny would lead the way but two messed-up rounds meant that the decision for the overall TQs would be shifted to Sunday as Bartek Zambrzycky was hot on the heels of Kaja. On Sunday morning a leaking shock absorber of one of the competitors left the usually high grip carpet greasy as soap meaning the remaining qualifiers would be held in very difficult conditions. Especially the 2WD buggies were sliding a lot but some last-minute setup changes on Kaja’s buggy allowed him to snatch the overall TQ and also in the 4WD class the young man would excel on the unusually slippery track.
Round three of the popular Lestr Cup saw Milan Mudra taking the TQ in the 2WD Buggy class while Xray teammate Max Götzl came out fastest in the 4WD qualifiers. In the 2WD finals Milan continued to be on top, ending the day with a first overall win from Max in second and Zdenek Miksovsky (Xray) in third. In the 4WD finals Max wasn’t able to fend off Milan who took his second win of the day, making the 4WD results a blueprint of the 2WD class with Max in second and Zdenek in third.
Following a first wave of departures and new sponsorship announcements things got a bit more quiet the recent days but the silly season is still in full swing with many high-class drivers jumping ships weather it be chassis, engines or fuel. The latest Pro to announce a change in his sponsorship package is HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk. The 2016 IFMAR Gas Buggy World Champion has just announced his departure from long-term tyre sponsors AKA. So far there are no words on his new deal but in the meantime he had the following to say:
To all friends, fans and followers that have supported my racing, earlier this year I decided 2016 would be my last year with AKA. I’ve been with AKA since the start and just felt like it was the right time for something new after 8 happy years racing together. I will forever be thankful for everything the guys at AKA have done for me and to my racing career. Big thanks to Joel, Mark and Gil for always supporting me to the fullest with great products that made us win those titles together. I would also like to thank Greg, Pres, Jeremy and Brent for their hard work during these years together. I’m delighted that I was able to win the big one a second time for AKA, as well as the 2 Euro titles and many other accolades together as a team in my racing career. I wish them the best in the future and also look forward to a fresh start in 2017!
