Race Recap: 2019/2020 UF1 Series – Race 6 – Japanese GP | UF1 RC

Post Race Analysis
To give drivers a the full Las Vegas 702 RC Raceway experience, we held Round 5 and 6 on the same weekend. We talked a little bit about this during the Round 5 Race Recap, however to make sure no one had an advantage going from Round 5 to Round 6, we took a short 2-hour break (or practice session) and ran the track in reverse direction! Ya, it was challenging for sure!

Most drivers had their setups pretty well figured out, but with the reversed direction they not only had to sort out the track, they had to sort out acceleration zones, braking zones and the pits – all while powering through the day and into the evening! Age and conditioning were certainly going to play a part in this marathon UF1 day!

Formula 1
Qualifying
Qualifying on a reverse direction track with only a short practice session (most drivers only got about 2-3 runs in) was not all that bad. Drivers already had their setups close, it was just learning the fastest way around the track. In similar fashion, it was the Ruvalcaba/Enriquez battle once again for the lead spot on the grid. This time, though, we split the F1 drivers up into two heats – they found it easier to qualify with less cars on the track.

After the session, I got to thinking about it. You’re all F1 drivers. You’ve all qualified to be a part of this class, which means you all have certain skills that present themselves at different times. However wanting to be split to ‘make it easier’, well, I’m not so sure I agree with that. Sure, less cars mean less chances of a slow lap, but that goes for everyone. Ken Gerberding and I have been going over a few rule ideas for qualifying that should leave the ‘cars on track’ completely up to you. Change is good – seemed to work well with the new hands-off pit lane…

Alrighty, on to the qualifying results:

Mains
The reverse layout, in my eyes, had a better flow to it. Round 5 was down the straight and into a couple fast switchbacks followed by the slower section of the track. This had guys trying to power through the back half, missing the apex in the corners. The reverse direction had cars running off the straight and into the slower section first with the build up into the faster section. Seemed more natural, seemed more beneficial. Drivers seemed to like it better.

Everyone seemed to be going faster in this direction, including Team Renault driver Brian Ruvalcaba. He was simply cruising, dropping 13-second lap times with ease. To just give you an idea about how fast he was going, he posted a 60-lap run in Race 1 (1 lap faster than 2nd place), a 61-lap run in Race 2 (3 laps faster than 2nd place) and another 61-lap run in Race 3 (only 2-laps faster than 2nd place). The only other time we’ve seen such dominance on the rug is last season, when Hector Martinez joined the UF1 at TQ Raceway. Would have been an amazing race between these two! Oh ya, and they’re teammates. Ruvalcaba is now tied for 4th place in the overall with Carlos Duarte, both having 1452 points. Crazy, right?

Locking in 2nd for the day was Rajan Monteiro. The Silver Arrows driver put in a great Race 6, finally getting his car sorted after Round 5. Smooth driving on his end coupled with some minor issues with other competitors, Raj posted 295 points. This keeps him in 2nd place in the overall, but not by much. The biggest pull from the day was being able to chip away at Monaghan’s Championship lead, now down to 40 points. It’s a stretch but, as we’ve seen so far, anything can happen. Teammate Carlos Duarte had a bit of a rough Round 6, finishing the day with a 6th, 5th and 8th. This was good for 284 points – a 6th place overall. This does keep him in the Top 5, tied with Ruvalcaba (as I mentioned above). Good points for the Constructor’s Championship as well.

Michael Monaghan lands a podium spot in Round 6, finishing the day with 290 points. He actually tied Chad Rott but, thanks to his higher placing in Race 1, gets a trophy and a picture. Monaghan had a pair of 3rds and a 7th – his last round being a tough one. He had great pace but a couple un-characteristic crashes sent him tumbling down the leaderboards in Race 3; I’m sure he’ll be wanting to forget that race quick enough (sorry for the reminder). Even so, he still holds a comfortable lead in the Series; 40 points. Bruce Hickman’s day was getting progressively better, finishing Race 1 in 7th, followed by a 6th and then a 5th. The AMG Motorsport’s driver posted 285 points, only good enough for 6th place. He has unfortunately dropped to 6th position in the Championship, however it’s a pretty tight fight all the way up to 2nd. Still plenty of time to crawl back up the leaderboard.

As mentioned above, Chad Rott tied Monaghan for 3rd place. He finished the day out with 290 points as well, but had to settle for 4th after the tie-breaker. Chad had a 5th and 2 4th place finishes, a good solid day for the Independent driver. Speed and consistency are key to winning in the UF1 – he’s got the consistency thing in check. I’m sure we’ll be seeing him vie for a top podium finish pretty soon. That said, Chad has moved himself up to 3rd in the Championship. He’s coming guys – watch out.

Behind Rott, in 5th position, was Phillip Enriquez. Enriquez had two good finishes – a 2nd in Race 1 and a 3rd in Race 3 – but it was his 9th place finish in Race 2 that killed his attempt for a podium. We’ll see if he can regroup before the last two outdoor races. He sits 8th overall in the Championship.

Team Alfa driver Mark Goldwater added 282 points to his Championship score, finishing the day in 8th. He would have liked to have a little more practice in the reverse direction, but I think his main goal was practice and points. Goldwater is in 7th place in the Championship, 17 points behind the close groups of drivers ahead of him. Historically he does well at Cal Raceway, so we should see him pick up some good points during Round 7.

Finishing in 9th place for the day was Doug Rebal. Rebal was posting very similar lap times in the reverse direction, showing good adaptation to the track. His car, however, was just not cooperating at all. Drivetrain issues in all 3 races had him in the pits more than on the track, but the Team 11 driver stuck with it, fixing his issues and getting his car back into the racing arena. Not sure how many of us would have continued the day. There is some good news – points are points, and he’s successfully pushed himself into the Top 10 in the Championship – currently 9th! Kudos to you, Doug, for sticking it out.

Fast Lap Award
It was no surprise to see Brian Ruvalcaba’s name at the top of the Fast Lap Award again. I mean, really, this guy is a master on carpet. While he posted quite a few sub-14 second laps, it was on lap 17 he hit his fastest – a 13.909. Right behind him – again, not surprising – was Phillip Enriquez. Enriquez was able to drop down into the 13s as well; a 13.970 as his fastest. Rajan Monteiro hit the 3rd fastest lap of Round 6, a 14.076. I expected to see results similar to this on carpet; next stop, though, is Cal Raceway. There I expect to see these results flipped. Guess we’ll see in a couple weeks.

Formula 2
Qualifying
Like the F1 group, qualifying times in the F2 were similar to those in Round 5. North, however, was able to put in some slightly quicker laps, getting down into the 14 second 5-lap average. The grid behind had a bit of a shake up, with Hickman in P2, Hawk in P3 and Montes in P4. Goldstom was able to out-qualify both Hinkley, Battie and Campbell. Julian had issues at the start of qualifying and didn’t get to post a time. Luckily it was a small group so he didn’t have to start too far back at the beginning of Race 1.

Here’s the full qualifying order for Round 6:

Mains
It was obvious that North was in control of the day, taking the win in all 3 races. His perfect day of 300 points shows he’s a tough cookie to crack on the rug. He currently sits 7th in the Championship, however a ways out of first (about 530 points). North isn’t completely out of it yet – if he shows up and finishes well, he’d have to hope a couple of the front runners don’t, or maybe even miss an Round. Let’s see if he really wants this win – his last outdoor race was Round 2 at Revelation. He had 2 1st place finishes and a 5th. He’s got game outdoors – come on North. Finish this thing strong!

Julian Campbell’s last place grid start in Race 1 didn’t seem to affect his performance. He had 3 2nd place finishes, posting 297 points for the day. Campbell has moved up to 8th place in the overall, only 12 points behind North. He, too, could pull off a Top 3 finish if he attends the rest of the Series. It might be tough, but it’s doable. Road trip for these two Vegas guys!

Rounding out the Top 3 for the day was Mike Montes. He scored a 3rd, 4th and 3rd, good enough to finish just behind Campbell with 294 points. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him at the final 2 races – he’s sitting comfortably in 3rd overall in the Championship.

Right behind Montes is the Hawk – Joe Hawkins III. Joe had a great day on the carpet, posting a 4th, 3rd and 4th. That gave him 292 points and slots him into 4th overall in the Championship – only 2 points behind Montes. I know, for a fact, we’ll see Joe at the final 2 races at Cal and Rev. Keep at it Joe – Top 3 finish in the Series is within reach!

Virginia-visitor Steve Hickman scored 286 points, actually tying Mark Hinkley for 5th. Steve had the better Race 1, so he gets the 5th place finish over Hinkley. Steve could have placed higher in the points – his driving was certainly there – but it was once again the no-touch pit stops that caused a little bit of grief. Steve does sit 2nd in the Championship and, after chatting with him, he said he will for sure be here for Round 7. Hoping we’ll get him here for Round 8 as well. He could pull off an overall victory with 2 strong finishes.

Mark Hinkley, current Championship leader, finished 6th in Round 6. Mark seems to be a pretty consistent driver and has shown up to all but 1 event – probably why he’s sitting atop the leaderboards. If he simply shows up to the final 2 races, he could take the overall victory in the Championship! Only 2 more races, Mark. Hang in there buddy!

Settling for 7th overall was Mark Goldstrom. Mark ran Race 1, finishing 6th, but had to leave and missed the final 2 races. He ended the day with 283 points – just too bad he had to leave.

Rounding out the class was Dwayne Battie. Dwayne qualified but didn’t get to participate in any of the races. He unfortunately had to announce and watch the store. That’s too bad, it would have been nice to seen Battie finish his runs. But, business first, and the UF1 appreciates his efforts!

Constructor’s Championship
With the debacle in Round 5, Round 6 shows The Silver Arrows still in P1 in the Constructor’s Championship by 47 points. Not an impossible feat for AMG Motorsport, but there will need to be some major issues for them to recover the position. Team Alfa, even with their solo attempt in both Vegas rounds, sits in P3 with 2794 points. That might change, though, if both Team 11 members show up to the next 2 races. Team Renault will probably have to settle for 5th overall; they’ve missed to many races to gain enough points to recover. Maybe next year guys…

Final Thoughts
Whew. While it was a long day racing 2 complete Rounds, it was pretty exciting to see who was up to the challenge. After 4 rounds on asphalt, it did certainly show that there are masters on the rug. It bums me out that we don’t have a local carpet track to include in the Series, so I guess we’ll have to figure out another way to try and even the playing field.

Again, a HUGE thanks to those that make the trek to 702 for Rounds 5 and 6. It was cold, it was long and it was a little taxing (and I didn’t even race), but I’m glad we did it. I’m happy some of you went out of your comfort zone to support the UF1. Much appreciation.

Only 2 more rounds to go – Round 7 at Cal Raceway on February 9th and Round 8 at Revelation on March 8th. See everyone there!

Thanks to the following sponsors for this year’s UF1 Series:
ActivRC
Fenix Racing Shop
PROTOform
Tamiya
Team Associated
VBC Racing

Photo Gallery: Gallery 66 – Round 5 & 6 – UF1 2019/2020 Series