Tebo to defend World title as Top Qualifier

Jared Tebo will defend his 2WD Offroad World title from the front of the grid after a dramatic finish in the final round of qualifying at the Yatabe Arena.  Going into the fifth qualifier only Tebo and Neil Cragg were left in contention for the overall TQ and with both making mistakes it looked like star of the event Spencer Rivkin would post his first TQ run.  Such a result would have led to a double celebration at Team Associated as it would mean 2005 champion Cragg with take the overall TQ due to previous results.  It was not to be however as Rivkin would have issues passing Naoto Matsukura with the resulting rollover enough to allow a recovering Tebo snatch the round and a second consecutive overall World’s TQ.  Lining up behind the Kyosho driver will be a trio of Associateds with 2011 Top Qualifier Cragg 2nd, Rivkin an very impressive 3rd and Ryan Cavalieri fourth.  Interestingly for an event that created a lot debate when it was announced it would be run on astro turf, with home advantage one of the big arguments against the artificial surface, no Japanese driver has made the final, most notably Naoto Matsukura, with the 10 car line up a split of five from offroad racing powerhouse nation American and five Europeans.

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