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Event Name: IFMAR 2WD Off-Road World Championships
Event Location: Yatabe Arena, Tsukuba, Japan
Event Date(s): October 4, 2015 to October 6, 2015
Team Associated / Reedy driver Spencer Rivkin boldly announced his presence at his first-ever I.F.M.A.R. world championships in style . . . by WINNING!
Spencer used his modified Team Associated B5M powered by Reedy electronics to take on an unfamiliar, high-traction, AstroTurf track surface at Yatabe Arena in Japan. The competition was high, with all the best drivers in the world vying for the title of World Champion. At the age of 16, Spencer looked like a veteran, driving fast and consistent to finish at the top of the podium for the 2015 I.F.M.A.R. 2WD Off-Road World Championships.
With the Team Associated B5Ms modified to keep the center of gravity as low as possible and using the ultra-smooth FOX® Shocks with genuine Kashima coat to tame the rubber rumble strips on track, the drivers used the engineering advantages that Team Associated's Area 51 provided for the race.
Also making the A Main for Team Associated were: Ryan Cavalieri finishing on the podium in 3rd, Neil Cragg finishing 4th, and Kody Numendahl finishing 8th.
Spencer's victory adds to the Team Associated total of I.F.M.A.R. World Championships, which now stands at an unparalleled 28! Perhaps even more impressive is that with this win, EVERY version of Team Associated's long lineage of 2WD cars has now won at least one world championship title!
Congratulations to Spencer Rivkin for winning the 2015 2WD Off-Road I.F.M.A.R. World Championships!
Products used
#90003 Team Associated RC10B5M Team Kit (modified)
#27001 Reedy Blackbox 410R 1S-2S Competition ESC w/PROgrammer
#241 Reedy Sonic 540 Mach 2 6.0T motor
#319 Reedy LiPo 3900mAh 70c 7.4V LP Shorty battery
#27100 Reedy RS1206 Digital HV Hi-Speed Competition Servo
Check out the pic of the underside of Spencer’s front bumper, those are chunks taken out from screw heads on the jump faces and rumble strips. Spencer went through #six bumpers during the week.
While much of the buggy was custom made, the front end is pretty close to stock. Note the modified front bumper and removed front hinge pin brace. Front end clearance is key, especially when the vehicles are running this low (17-19mm).
One of the first things that was clear to us when we returned from the #WorldsWarmUp, was that we needed to spend a great deal of time working on the weight distribution and overall CG of the car.
The man-at-the-mill #CurtisHusting (Yeah, that Curtis, the same guy who hand formed the original RC10 chassis and the machinist behind most of the prototype components we have used for the last 30 years!) took some stock chassis and pocketed them to fit #Six custom machined brass screw-in weights.
Having proper weight distribution is key to chassis performance however, the front to rear balance we typically shoot for on ?#?dirt? was not optimal for the SUPER high grip conditions of carpet/turf.
With the servo and speed control locations pretty much fixed, the next heavy items to relocate would be the motor and transmission.
Finally we arrive at the transmission, the thing that most people have asked about since the event took place back in October of 2015. Once again we called on the machining expertise of #CurtisHusting to hand make #six custom #LoPro transmissions fitted with gear diffs. The transmission was dropped down to the chassis, pushing the motor forward. This shifted the weight more forward on the chassis while drastically lowering the vehicles overall CG.
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