3rd Victory In Three Weeks For Ryan Cavalieri

Wednesday, Dec 21, 2011 at 12:00am UTC

The 2WD Buggy World Champion has been busy these past three weeks. Starting with the Spektrum Off-Road Challenge at Trackside Hobbies in Brookfield, WI, Ryan Cavalieri found his groove with his B4.1 by taking the top qualifying position and overall victory ahead of some stiff competition. Then the next weekend after a back-and-forth trip to California, Cavalieri again TQ'd and won at the Northern Nationals at the Proving Grounds Raceway in Jenison, MI. Returning home to California and the West Coast R/C Raceway, Cavalieri was greeted again by world class competition for the KO PROPO Off-Road Championship.

With 190+ entries for the two-day race at West Coast R/C Raceway, the facility was packed with racing all day long. There were three rounds of qualifying on Saturday with the single fastest time setting the grid for the main events on Sunday. A unique bump-up and triple A-Main format was used to maximize track time for all participants along with permanent turn marshals. In 2WD Modified, Team Associated's Ryan Cavalieri set the pace with his Factory Team B4.1 for the third straight weekend and took the top qualifying position. In 4WD Modified, Team Manager Brent Thielke put together a solid run with his Reedy-powered Factory Team B44.1 to sit first on the grid ahead of some of the world's best drivers.

When the main events went off, Cavalieri was on form. Winning A1 and A2 of 2WD Modified gave him the overall championship and a third title in as many weeks. In 4WD he had to work for the victory, finishing second in A1 and taking the victory in A2 and A3. Taking third overall in both classes was Brent Thielke with his Reedy/LRP-powered vehicles. With fewer entries, the Truck Modified class had only a single A-Main event. Team Associated's Brian Kinwald qualified second in this class and stalked the TQ Cody Turner for the first half of the race. With a mistake from Turner, Kinwald inherited the lead and never looked back. This was the second victory for Kinwald with his T4.1 after his TQ and win at the Clash the previous weekend.

Thanks to KO PROPO and WCRC for putting on a great race, and thanks to all the racers who came out to support the event.