[badger5]

Originally Posted by buggy#0

The 5-Spice was placed there to stop cars being dropped to the floor completely, which would've only fueled the "if it's not on dirt it's not off road" debate. A horrible way to do it, but it was a section that really did reward precision. At least everyone was in the same boat. As far as the rest of the track goes, I love it. Fast, flowing, no mickey mouse corners to be found.

Rivkin winning with such an incredible story is absolutely superb. I think it's an event that many will look back upon as a classic - unpredictability everywhere, a massive fight between superstars at the front, and a young underdog coming through to snatch it. It has everything you could wish for - and we're only halfway through it all.

In terms of manufacturer performance, I've been keeping tabs on a few things:

Associated - The A-team cars have a pre-production gearbox from the AE factory, whilst the B-team are running a slightly tweaked Reds gearbox - hence why we won't be seeing any off-body shots of the winning car. Even though they're a team steeped in success with a superb lineup, I don't think anyone was expecting such dominance. It surprised me, at least.

Kyosho - The RZ6 looks nice. Very DB2-esque, but some American Kyosho fans on social media have been horrified by it - it's worth stepping back and realising that cars we're used to in the UK look completely alien in most other countries.

Durango - Another 2WD front/4WD rear hybrid. Didn't set the world on fire, but I doubt it will for a while. Getting faster, one to watch.

Serpent - A similar story to Durango - wasn't amazing to start with, but started to find its feet as the event went on. Another one to watch very closely.

Schumacher - Strong showing from all, but just a bit unlucky in the end. I don't think there was anything left on the table overall. The K2 should be an interesting one to keep tabs on as we go into 4WD though.

Team C - A nice showing. Considering they don't have a star-studded international line up like some of the other teams, I think they bagged some exceptionally good results.

Hot Bodies - The D2 is clearly a very dirt-focused car, so without any kind of low gearbox it was always going to struggle. Still needs a lot of work to bring it up to pace.

Yokomo - As surprising as AE's dominance was Yokomo's complete lack of pace. Lee did a stunning job to drag himself into such a tight A Final.

The Serpent guys weren't even running Serpent cars! Jorn and Hupo were running Durangos! Will there be a complete change in their cars now?