Race Recap: UF1 2018 Winter Series 2018 – Race 3 – Spanish GP | UF1 RC

Post Race Analysis
We headed back to TQ RC Raceway for Round 3 of the 2018 UF1 Winter Series. The daily temps are starting to drop, meaning track temps will be cooler than usual as well. While not such a big deal since TQ is an indoor track, this will affect the way driver’s prep their tires as well as how much heat they will produce when out racing.

Formula 1
The F1 class had a great turnout during Round 3 – 15 drivers strong! While we expect to see the normal rug guys showing up, it’s great to see the asphalt burners coming and putting in some very respectable times!

Qualifying was quite fierce this time around with local driver Hector Martinez showing us why he’s atop the current leaderboard. This guy is super smooth – his car doesn’t look fast at all but the cornerspeed – nailed it! He took the TQ with a 5-lap average of 10.913 seconds, narrowly progressing past Alex M (10.935), Ken G (10.969) and UF1 founder Charles Lightfoot (10.994). All these guys were looking super fast – it was going to be a fantastic race!

A fantastic race if, of course, you could keep up with Hector for a full 15 minutes! Once the horn sounded, this guy put it in cruise control and drove off into the sunset, leaving everyone behind in all 3 mains. The only driver that had a chance to catch him was F1 newcomer Edgar Fiallos in Round 2. He put the pressure on Hector during the last half of the race, but a slight bobble near the end dropped him about 5 seconds behind. Hector would finish that round with a 79 lap 15:00.124, Edgar a 79 lap 15:05.389.

Further back in the pack, we saw some asphalt drivers coming up through the ranks to place well in the mains. Charles Lightfoot would have 3 great rounds to finish 3rd overall. Charles is one of the more consistent drivers on both surfaces; he’s been doing this the beginning and is fantastic at getting his car dialed in to track conditions.

Another face near the front was Ken Gerberding! Ken is great on the asphalt but has admitted the rug is a whole different animal. That being said, I think he’s found the right combination – Ken finished 4th overall and was only a couple tenths off the CompetitionX Fast Lap of the Day award.

Craig Hammon put in another good showing, finishing 5th overall for the day. Alex M placed 6th overall, however he was looking exceptionally fast in both qualifying and the mains. His consistency was a little off, but if he gathers that together he’s going to be a major threat to the top guys!

Mark G put in a great run to finish 7th overall, followed by Doug Rebal in 8th, Lee Passehl in 9th and Rajan Monteiro in 10th.

Current points show Hector in first followed by Passehl, Hammon, Rydwell and Gerberding to round out the Top 5. The points are not calculated with the throwout, so this could shuffle them up a little bit.

Formula 2
Qualifying in the F2 class was also extremely close. Calvin Simmons, running his first UF1 race this series, took the TQ over current points leader Boris Tsenov by about 2/10th of a second. We know that Boris is another smooth operator on track, so it was going to be a good showdown to see if he had the ability to take down Calvin on his home track.

In the mains, it was Calvin Simmons leading the way in Round 1 over Boris. Both were extremely fast (as was 3rd place finished Matt Siu), but Calvin played the smart game, took his pit stop at the most opportune time and worked his way through traffic like a pro.

In Round 2, however, Boris would come out swinging and take the top spot away from Calvin with a fantastic run. Tom Aakre would come home third for the round, but an unfortunate mistake on his part would get him DQ’ed. A fan on Tom’s car broke in the previous race, requiring him to remove it for Round 2. After posting a great run, his car failed weight inspection and, well … we JUST had that discussion in the driver’s meeting! So, that moved 4th place Matt Siu up and, after a successful tech inspection, he was awarded 3th place points. Sorry Tom. 🙁

Boris would also take the win in Round 3 and was looking at an overall victory for the day, but Calvin would finish 2th and, once awarded his 2 points for the TQ, would top Boris by 1 point. It appears the TQ points are extremely valuable – this isn’t the first time Boris has lost the 1st place points because of the TQ!

So, looking at the Top 10 in F2, it was Calvin Simmons followed by Boris Tsenov, Matt Siu, Joe Hawkins III, Carlos Ledezma, Johnny G, Dwayne Battie (GO 702), Trevor Voss, Jacob Dee and Jerermy Dee.

Fast Lap Award
You can always count on the fastest laps coming from the local heroes – they have way more laps on the track and have their cars really tuned in. That said, it wasn’t a surprise to see Hector Martinez up top with a stellar 10.760 lap time! It was, however, awesome to see a pair of asphalt doods in tow; Craig Hammon busted out a 10.781 and Ken Gerberding with a 10.795. Great job guys!

Final Thoughts
Having 2 completely different track conditions is really leveling the playing field; the carpet guys are struggling on asphalt and vice versa. However, as the series progresses, it’s really cool to see each driver learning their cars, tuning their cars, trying this and trying that. It’s not just a club race, it’s a series and to win, you have to put in the work. Every driver is doing that, and both car and driver are getting better with each race.

Thanks to Sean Park and TQ RC Racing for giving the driver’s a great place to race complete with the new, technical layout. This surely tested both driver skill and vehicle setup!

I would also like to thank the following companies for supporting the UF1 – good to see drivers and spectators getting a chance to get their hands on some of the best Formula 1 cars on the market!

– Fenix Racing Shop
– PROTOform
– Tamiya
– Team Associated
– VBC Racing
– Cal Raceway
– TQ RC Raceway

Final Results

Overall Standings – Formula 1 – UF1 2018 Winter Series
Overall Standings – Formula 2 – UF1 2018 Winter Series