Race Recap: 2022/2023 UF1 Series – Race 6 – Brazilian GP

Post Race Analysis
With Race 5 raining out, we found ourselves back at Revelation Raceway in Montclair for Race 6 of the 2022/2023 UF1 Series. Since it’s been 2 months since the last race here (January 7th) and the layout was the same, we decided to mix things up a bit and run the track in the opposite direction, leveling the playing field.

The weather was cooperative as well – a bit chilly in the morning but warming up to the low-mid 60’s by mid day. Cloud cover would adjust track temps during and in-between races, making tire selection incredibly important.

Formula 1
Qualifying
F1 qualifying was close, as always. Brian Ruvalcaba once again showed his outdoor prowess, putting in a great time to TQ by just over .1 second to P2 Thad Garner. Mike Rydwell would claim P3 on the grid, followed by Phillip Enriquez and Aaron Lane.

Here’s how it panned out for all 17 F1 drivers.

Mains
With the Top 5 drivers all in contention of the overall Championship win, every point counts. Thad Garner knew that going in and, even though he had a rough first race (if you want to call 4th a rough race), the Factory Team driver came back in the final two races with a vengeance, using his smooth driving and smart use of the pits to net him a P1 in both and securing the overall win for the day. Garner has jumped to 2nd in the Driver’s Championship, just 4 points out of 1st. After a string of just decent races, this is exactly what he needed to boost his confidence going into the final race of the Season!

Brian Ruvalcaba’s Redbull car was on rails all day as well, securing a P1 and P2 in the first 2 races. In Race 3, he’d be in 2nd place while engaged in an epic battle with Rydwell, Enriquez and Lane but would unfortunately make a crucial mistake that dropped him back to P5 where he’d finish the race. Those points potentially cost him the overall win for the day, but his score of 295 was still good enough for Ruvalcaba to take over P1 in the Championship with 1 race to go.

Exotek owner Mike Rydwell had the fastest car on the track and was the man to beat, however uncharacteristic mistakes would delegate him to P3 overall for the day. Mike’s F1ULTRA was on fire, clicking off fast lap after fast lap and eventually punching in a 15.3 second time that would be the quickest lap of the day. While we can’t confirm, speculation was that he might have been running his new double-red rear tires in the cold weather for some super duper grip! He scored 295 points – tied with Ruvalcaba – but his lesser run in Race 3 broke the tie and sent him to P3 overall. The McLaren ULTRA driver drops to 5th in the Championship but can still see the light. Cal is his home track and he usually dominates so he’s still got an outside chance at an overall victory.

The surprise horse once again was Independent driver Phillip Enriquez. The kid posted a consistent 3rd, 3rd and 4th on his way to 293 points and a P4 finish for the day. He was also in the amazing Race 3 scrap that had 4 cars dicing back and forth for 2nd place. The nerves got to him, though, and a last-corner-on-the-last-lap mistake sent him nose-first into the barrier, dropping him from P2 to P4 in a hurry. In the Championship, Enriquez has 1185 points, now tied with Lane for 3rd place. His battle is going to go down to the last race!!!

Keeping his cool and posting some consistent runs, Carlos Duarte scored a P5 and a pair of P6s on his way to a 5th place finish with 286 points. Duarte wasn’t the fastest driver out there (although his 3rd Place fastest lap of 15.582 was pretty stellar), but the Independent driver’s smooth and event-less driving certainly disrupted a few others final scores. Carlos is sitting in 7th overall in the Championship and will need a really good outing in the final race (and some luck) to bring home a podium placement.

Previous Championship leader Aaron Lane was looking to extend his lead in the Championship, but his P11 in Race 1 didn’t help his day. He would go from 3rd in the field to last with a 108 second lap – if we remember correctly, it was a diff issue. He was able to get that sorted and finish off the race but needed the final two races to be near perfect to redeem the day – a follow up P5 and P3 were all he could muster. That left the Factory Team driver 6th overall with 284 points and a drop from 1st to 3rd in the Championship (again, tied with Enriquez). He’s still in it, though, only 5 points out of the lead.

McLaren ULTRA driver Rajan Monteiro would qualify 11th overall, putting him in the second run group for the mains. Things looks a little grim for him but the man made the best of it, posting a P9, a P7 and a P10, slotting him into P7 for the day. One of the more enthusiastic drivers in the field, we love that Raj is there to have a good time, no matter how well he does, and we appreciate that. He’s also one to experiment alot, so we know that even though he sits P8 in the overall at the moment, he’ll be back and ready to take on the top runners at Cal. Good luck bud!

B-Spec Honda driver Brian Marion is having a stellar Rookie year, scoring a P8, a P10 and a P9 for a total of 276 points – 8th overall for the day. Being his first season, he’s been playing well with others while stealthly working his way up the leaderboard, now sitting 8th overall. He’s also attended every race, a smart move to ‘hold on to’ your throwouts for days that just plain suck. As long as he shows up to the next race, he should easily keep a Top 10 finish! Great job in your Rookie year!

Finishing 9th overall on the day with 274 points is driver Steven Jackson. Jackson made the long trip out from Las Vegas once again to play with us and posted a P6, a painful P16 and a P7. That middle race killed a potential great day but the Independent driver was still able to pull off a Top 10 finish. Jackson sits quite comfortably in 6th overall in the Championship – his nearest rival is Duarte only 6 points behind. We could see him jump to 5th with a good final race of the Season – good luck Steve!

Closing out the Top 10 is Team Alfa driver Mark Goldwater. Mark grabbed a P7, P11 and P12 for a grand total of 273 points, just 1 shy of 9th place Jackson. Rev has always been a bit of a tricky track for Mark, but finishing in the Top 10 should be an accomplishment! He sits 10th overall in the Championship as well and is one part of the team that is currently leading the Constructor’s Championship. Let’s end the Season strong Mark!!!

Long time racer Kevin Cole joined us for Race 6 and, even with a few gremlins still lurking around in his car, finished off the day with a strong 11th place finish. Kevin is not new to the UF1 (having finished 3rd overall in the 2014 Winter Series) but made his return appearance at this race (maybe a bit more permanent?). It’s been awhile but when he gets up to speed, he’ll be showing those younger drivers how we old guys do it. We hope to see more of him in the future!

Craig ‘Cuda’ Hammon ended the day in 12th place, posting a 10th, 14th and an 11th. One thing about Hammon, he isn’t there to get his pretty points (AKA Bonus Points) or push the envelope – the guy is there to race. His single color purple F1 is about as basic a paint job as you can get – no frills, just pure business. Sometimes he gets it right, sometimes not, but either way you know he’s there to race. He’s sort of our Kimi Räikkönen. Craig ‘Kimi’ Hammon is sitting in 14th overall in the Championship. There’s definitely a chance for a Top 10 finish if he has a good last race. Good luck man!

Right behind ‘Kimi’ with 265 points is Independent driver Doug Rebal. The ‘Reval’ picked up a 12th place, 12th place and a 14th place on his way to a 13th place overall finish. Doug sits in 13th overall in the Championship with a slight, outside chance of a Top 10 finish if he has a good day. Thankfully, Cal is one of his more lucrative tracks so it just could happen! Good luck Doug!

Good ol’ Joe Hawkins – the Hawk – wrapped up his day with a P14 and a pair of P13s for a grand total of 263 points. That put him in a two-way tie with Ken Gerberding but, as the tie-breaker tells, Joe would come out on top and claim P14 for the day. Joe is also in his Rookie F1 year and has done great, sitting in P16 in the overall. We’re looking forward to seeing him at the final race at Cal where we’re hoping he can push it to the Top 15! Let’s go Hawk!!!

P15 for Ken Gerberding. This day was a rough one for The Gerb. The Team Alfa driver had signs of greatness early on but struggled a bit with parts failure, finishing off the day with a 16th, an 8th and another 16th. Both of the 16th place finishes were DNFs which hurt, but did give him a daily total of 263 points. He’s already had a three-0 throwout day so this is something he really didn’t need – the result dropped him to 12th overall. Ken is only 9 points out of the Top 10 with Cal being his home track – good luck buddy!

Finally, finishing in 16th on the day was B-Spec Honda driver Brian Santos. The Rookie qualified well – 9th place – but a P13/P15/P15 finishing order hurt his daily tally, only 260 points. Santos also lost some points in the Constructor’s, painting up a new body but not having it match his teammate Marion. Honest mistake – we’re sure he’ll get that rectified by the next race. Santos sits in 15th overall in the Driver’s Championship, only 25 points out of the Top 10.

Fast Lap Award
We know the fast guys are fast, but when one fast guy makes the others look, well, not so fast, it’s pretty amazing. Carlos Duarte threw down a stellar 15.582 second lap which, in all honesty, was a really fast lap. Thad Garner narrowly clipped that time with a 15.571. Both were amazing runs – until we heard the blistering 15.340 by Mike Rydwell! That’s a next level lap for sure and certainly one that earns him the extra 1 point for the day.

Great laps boys! Let’s see what you can put down at the next race at Cal!!

Formula 2
Qualifying
With a small field of only 5 drivers, qualifying and racing was going to be much easier for the F2 group since there was a lot less traffic to deal with. That being said, Matt ‘Shipple’ Skipple would put in 3 great laps to nick Gabriel Gonzales for the P1 position. Rev local Chris Condon would slot into P3 with Greg Amendola and Glen Kratz rounding out the Top 5.

Here’s the full standings of the Formula 2 qualifying:

Mains
Starting from pole, Matt Skipple would put on a clinic, posting up triple P1s for a perfect day of 300 points. His car looked great, his driving was on point and this win gives him 1171 points – only 16 points out of 1st! With one race to go, the Shipple is going to need a miracle to pull this off but it’s there if he can do it! Good luck Matt – let’s see if you can bring it to Gonzales at the last race!

Local Chris Condon had a great day as well, driving to a P2, P4 and another P2. He ended the day with 295 points, tying Gonzales but, as the tiebreaker shows, would edge him out and take 2nd place for the day. That’s 3 great runs from someone that has only attended 2 races in the Series (the other was Race 4 at Revelation as well). Chris did ask about future races so we’re hoping to see him at Cal to duke it out for more points. Condon sits 9th in the F2 class at the moment.

Gabriel Gonzales had a 3rd, a 2nd and a 3rd for 295 points and a 3rd place finish. Gonzales has attended every race so far with really good scores, so he’s in the driver’s seat when it comes to the F2 Championship. As mentioned above, he’s 16 points in the lead going into the final race at Cal, one that he did well at (but not quite as good as Skipple). Only a major issue (and some luck from other drivers) is going to prevent Gabriel from capturing the F2 Championship. All eyes will be on this fight at the final race!

Glen Kratz would pick up 291 points on the day with is P5, P3 and P4 finishes. Glen is one of those guys that may not be stellar fast, but consistent and uses attrition to his benefit. He’s scored good points in almost every race, enough that he sits confortably in 3rd in the overall Championship! He’s actually got an outside chance for 2nd, only 19 points behind. That’s a big ask though with the limited amount of drivers in this class.

Bringing home 5th overall for the day was first timer Greg Amendola. Greg’s a big F1 fan and finally made it out to one of our events. He ran Race 1 then had to leave – we’re hoping he had a good time and will be back. In Race 1 he did set a very quick lap, one that rivaled some of the mid-field drivers in the F1 class. It would be great to see what he could do for a full Season! Thanks for coming out bud!

Constructor’s Championship
With B-Spec Honda missing out on full points, Redbull being a 1-man band and BYM a full no show, Team Alfa raked in some good points to keep them on top of the Constructor’s Championship. Factory Team, however, made up another 45 points on them in 2nd, now only 49 points behind. With one race left, that’s a big ask for the FT boys to manage but it is certainly possible.

McLaren ULTRA is still in 3rd with 2539 points where, unfortunately, is where they may end up. That’s quite a large points spread to make up in just one race.

Spec LMP
The LMP class was extremely light with local Mark Brown in attendance as well as Series leader Phillip Enriquez and Glen Kratz. Phillip was super dominant at the last race here (Race 4) but after seeing Marks car in practice, he knew Mr. Brown had stepped things up a notch.

Qualifying
With only 3 drivers in the LMP class, it really didn’t matter how qualifying went – it was going to be a maximum points day for all 3.

Here are the qualifying results for the Spec LMP class!

Mains
Mark Brown was fast – pretty much a blur all day. He took the win in all three races – wire to wire – to score a maximum 300 points. Phillip Enriquez was a minor threat at the beginning of every race but just had nothing for Mark this day. In all fairness, Phillip just had to finish each race – his overall Championship score is over 20 points ahead of 2nd place rival Ed Bohon (who was a no show). Phillip has this Championship easily locked up as long as he attends the final race.

Glen Kratz, however, cruised to a 3rd place finish and inched closer to Bohon – only 8 points behind him! That’s not all that much – a bad day for Bohon, a good one for Kratz and a couple other drivers to steal some points – we could see a shake up in the Top 3! So exciting!

Final Thoughts
We love a good race – we saw some GREAT racing. We love a little drama – there was plenty of that with parts failures and some late race crashes. We also love the competition – and we’re about to really see some of that in the last race.

F1 – the Top 5 (maybe even 6) all have a chance to win the overall Driver’s Championship.
F2 – a possible 3 way shoot out is shaping up as well.
LMP – ok, Enriquez’s got this. 🙂
F1 Constructor’s Championship – Can Factory Team do enough to make up the 49 points spread???

This is what we love about this Series. It’s small. It’s intimitate. It’s downright exciting!

It’s still anyone’s game, and we’re about to see who’s done their homework.

Thanks so much for everyone’s continued support and participation. This is what makes it fun for us!

Thanks to the following sponsors for this year’s UF1 Series:
• 1up Racing
• CompetitionX
• Exotek Racing
• Hitec
• ProTek RC
• PROTOform
• Reedy
• Tamiya
• TrackStar RC

Photo Gallery: Gallery 73 – Round 6 – UF1 2022/2023 Series