Team Orion Dominates Annual TGH Spring Shootout

By Matt On May 22, 2013 · Add Comment

The first annual Top Gear Hobbies Spring Shootout was held this past weekend in Clackamas, OR. This is the home track of Team Orion USA Team Manager Joe Pillars. Making the trip out for this event was Team Orion’s current 2WD and 4WD IFMAR World Champion Ryan Cavalieri. The North West’s fastest racers would all be in attendance to test their skills against the four-time World Champ.
The Invitational Class would consist of 30 racers that were divided up into four heats of eight in random order. All drivers would use 2WD Modified Buggies for all eight rounds. Four rounds of heads up racing were ran on Saturday and another four rounds on Sunday. Each driver was given two throw-outs, using their best six finishes. Tie-breakers were determined by the number of first place finishes, second place finishes, and on using the six counted points. If still a tie, each drivers two fastest runs would be combined by laps and times to decide the higher finisher.
For all other classes, three rounds of qualifying were ran on Saturday and one last chance qualifier on Sunday. The rocket round format was used to determine the overall qualifying order by taking each drivers single fastest run. Then triple leg A finals were ran to determine the champion in each class.

Invitational 2WD Buggy
Team Orion/AE factory driver Ryan Cavalieri took the overall Win by finishing first in all eight heats earning him a perfect score of six points. Finishing second overall was Team Orion USA Team Manager Joe Pillars with four wins and two seconds with a score of eight. Third overall went to Washington’s Mike Brown. Mike ran fast and consistent all weekend and earned the third spot on the podium.

Invitational 4WD Buggy
Team Orion/AE’s Ryan Cavalieri went on to TQ all four rounds of qualifying to take the overall TQ for the class. Cavalieri then went on to win legs one and two in convincing fashion to take the overall win.

4WD Modified SC
Team Orion/X Factory’s Chris Gould went onto qualify second overall only one second behind the TQ. Gould made it happen by winning legs one and three to take the overall win.