Race Recap: UF1 2018/2019 Winter Series 2018 – Race 1 – Australian GP | UF1 RC

Post Race Analysis
The opening round of the 2018/2019 UF1 Winter Series was quite a success! 32 drivers showed up to do battle on the new, high grip carpet at TQ RC Raceway and boy, it surely didn’t disappoint!

While most of the rules have stayed in place, one of the biggest changes was the addition of Formula 2 (F2). We wanted Formula 1 to be the prestigious class, so you couldn’t just sign up for it – you had to qualify for it! Those that weren’t quite fast enough were relegated to F2, or a ‘sportsman’ class. This actually worked out well as F1 and F2 were split evenly, 16 drivers per class. With drivers now competing against competitors of an equal skill level, the racing was extremely close! This was great to watch and hopefully will continue throughout the rest of the series!

Formula 1
Qualifying was the normal 3-minute session with drivers trying to put in as many fast laps as possible. The scoring system would then take the drivers 5 fastest laps (non-consecutive), average them, and then spit out their final qualifying time. Craig “Cuda” Hammon was the surprise horse, setting the top 5 average time with an 11.174, edging out out-of-towner Steven Jackson (11.230) and home-track hero Hector Martinez (11.243). This was no easy feat as the field was very fast, but Cuda was out to show that he is still as fast as he was when he won the inaugural UF1 Championship back in 2010. It was shaping up to be a great race!

In A-Session 1, Hector Martinez wowed the crowd with some smooth, tight driving lines. This guy is going to be tough to beat on the rug, putting in a final time of 77 laps, almost an entire lap faster than 2nd place finisher Alex Navarrete. Craig put in a respectable 75-lap run, with Panda and Charles Lightfoot both finishing with 74 laps. Lee Passehl, Mark Goldwater, Mike Rydwell and Alex M finished out the Top 10.

Even though the 16 F1 drivers split into two different run groups, they are all scored together. That means that, even though Alex Navarrete was in the “B” run group, his time of 76 laps was good enough for him to finish 2nd overall in the class. He may have had it a bit easier running with some of the slower cars, but we’ll be addressing that in upcoming races.

Formula 2
The inclusion of the Formula 2 class seemed to be a well-accepted change as it gave sportsman-level racers a chance gto compete against each other. Most of the local guys did quite well, but it was a pair of Las Vegas boys that stole the show. Both of them, Boris and North, race at 702 RC Raceway in Vegas and have a great understanding of their F1 cars on the black carpet. During qualifying, Boris put in a great 5-lap run of 12.123 (taking TQ), just edging out North with his 12.150. Jason Huang would start in P3 with a 5-lap average of 12.216.

Come race time, both Boris and North put on a great display of driving, swapping the lead multiple times all while having complete respect for one another with their clean driving. Boris would take the win of the first main with North in second. North would come back and win the next 2, leaving Boris to settle for 2nd in both. While this would seem to dictate who won the overall for the day, it’s not quite that clear … more on that in second.

Joe Hawkins III put in three 3-place runs, positioning himself for a 3rd place overall for the day. John Christensen started off a little slow in Round 1, but pulled things together to put in two more solid runs to take 4th overall. Dwayne Battie, owner of 702 RC Raceway, pulled off a Top 5 finish followed by John Cary, Frank Sanchez and Matt Siu. Jason Huang and Tim Ruwe would round out the Top 10.

So, who took first place? Well, as it scored, Boris had a 1st, 2nd and 2nd – a total of 298 points. North had a 2nd, 1st and 1st – a total of 299 points. That would make North the winner, however Boris took the TQ which is good for 2 extra points, moving his score to 300 for the day. That placed Boris as the overall winner by 1 point. That TQ does make a difference!

Final Thoughts
I’m happy the UF1 is making a comeback, but even more stoked that it went so smoothly. And, even better, there was an excitement in the air about the future of this racing series. It’s a killer format that not only gives you maximum track time, it requires a bit of strategy both in pit stops and driving style. Fifteen minutes is a long time to race (10 for F2), so you need to keep calm and focus on your driving. Not as easy as it sounds…

Thanks to Sean at TQ RC Racing for letting us invade his track, another HUGE thanks to Ken Gerberding for letting me bug him with ideas and issues and, of course, the following sponsors for donating cars and equipment for display at the event. These are the guys that make F1 Racing happen and it’s great to see them supporting the UF1!

Fenix Racing Shop
PROTOform
Tamiya
Team Associated

Ok, time to get ready for Round 2!