Race Recap: UF1 2018 Winter Series 2018 – Race 2 – Chinese GP | UF1 RC

Post Race Analysis
Round 2 of the 2018 UF1 Winter Series took place at Cal Raceway. This was sure to be an exciting race, bringing the carpet crew to the asphalt to see if they could bring down the blacktop locals.

A Formula 1 practice day was scheduled the Saturday before, but a rare SoCal storm came rolling through and washed things out. Cloudy skies and cool temps on race day also delayed the start of practice, so those unfamiliar with Cal Raceway’s asphalt surface weren’t able to catch much practice time – they were going to have to use their 45 minutes of racing time to sort things out.

Formula 1
With only 12 drivers showing up for Round 2, they were split up into 2 run groups, 6 cars apiece. With lap times hovering around the low to mid 12 seconds, this would certainly spread the cars out enough to allow drivers to put in some solid times.

With track temps on the cool side, we didn’t see many super fast laps in qualifying – it was going to be about consistency. Lee “Leethal” Passehl would lead the way, throwing down 5 good laps with a 12.253 average. “Rocket” Rajan Monteiro, the local Cal Raceway F1 racer, finished 2nd with a 12.290 average, just shy of Lee’s time. Ken Gerberding, another local hero, finished in 3rd with a 12.448 – excellent time considering he’s somewhat new to F1. Mike Rydwell, owner of Exotek Racing, finished 4th with a 12.564 average, just clipping Steven Jackson’s 12.573. On a final note, the Top 10 qualifiers were only separated by 1.1 seconds!

In the mains, it was pretty much an F1 clinic by Lee Passehl. This guy is about as smooth a driver as the come, and he set out right off the bat to prove why he’s a multiple-time UF1 Champion. He took the win in every main, finishing all 3 with 72 laps – consistency. Second place, however, wasn’t so easily decided. Mike Rydwell finished 2nd in Rounds 1 and 2, but a wobbly 3rd Main set him back to 5th for the round. Craig “Cuda” Hammon had a great 3rd place finish in Round 1 and a 2nd in Round 3, but issues struck in Round 2 and he ended up 10th. Rajan had a 4th (R1), 3rd (R2) and 3rd (R3). Chad Rott, Ken Gerberding and Carlos Duarte were also placing well – there were many drivers that had a chance to finish up in the standings.

In the end, Lee would take home the win, earning 302 points for the day (+2 for TQ). Mike Rydwell would squeak by in 2nd (294 points), narrowly edging out Rajan (292 points). Craig Hammon, Ken Gerberding, Carlos Duarte and Chad Rott would finish out the Top 7.

Round 1 winner, Hector Martinez, was in attendance with a different chassis for outdoor use. He was one of the drivers that suffered from the lack of track time, qualifying 10th and finishing up the day in 9th. He’s a heck of a competitor and I’m going to guess we’ll be seeing him alot more at Cal for some test and tune sessions!

Formula 2
Round 1 at TQ Raceway saw Las Vegas driver Boris Tsenov come out on top, but this was going to be his first time on asphalt. A couple of F2 drivers were hoping to gain some ground on him seeing as he had very little practice the day of the event.

Missing Round 1, Carlos Ledezma put together some excellent laps, taking TQ of the Formula 2 class with a 5-lap average of 13.243. Carlos is always in the hunt no matter what car he’s racing, but it was good to see him top the leaderboard going into the mains. But it wasn’t that easy – Tom Aakre finished behind him with a 12.245, barely missing out on TQ! Third went to newcomer Sam Lawson with a 12.265 followed by Trevor Voss, another newcomer to the series. Boris had to settle with a 5th place start on the grid.

With Formula 2 races being only 10 minutes long (and 1 pit stop), drivers didn’t really have the luxury of settling in and pacing themselves – they needed to get the ball going if they wanted to place well. Carlos would take the overall win for the day, but it certainly wasn’t easy. Round 1 saw him pass Tom Aakre on the last lap, winning by less than a second at the line. Round 2 had the opposite happen; he was passed by Boris on the last lap and finished less than a second behind him. Round 3 – another last minute pass and a 1/2 second win over Sam Lawson. A big congrats to Carlos on the hard-earned victory!

If that wasn’t enough excitement, the finishing order for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th was still up for grabs with very close finishes from Sam, Trevor, Boris, Tom and Johnny G (who was lurking in the background in every round). In the end, though, Boris would claim 2nd with 295 points, Tom (3rd) with 291 and Johnny in 4th with 290. Sam and Trevor would both tie with 289 points, the tie breaker being the total number of laps (Sam had 132 laps, Trevor had 131 laps).

Fast Lap Award
Drivers were putting in fast laps all day, but it wasn’t until the final Round that the times really started coming down. The sun was out, the track was hot and everyone had their prime race tires mounted! The CompetitionX Fastest Lap Award for Chinese GP goes to Mike Rydwell with a 11.608! Congrats Mike!

Final Thoughts
While we didn’t see quite as many drivers in Round 2 as we did in Round 1, we did see some new faces show up and have a great time! On top of that, the cool weather and tricky conditions required drivers to put some time and thought into their setups, tire selection and driving lines. Those that got it right had their moment on the track – those that didn’t, well, they’ll have to wait until the next race to redeem themselves.

Thanks to Charlie and Angie from at Cal Raceway for letting us use their facility. A big thanks to Mike Rydwell from Exotek Racing for sponsoring the concrete pit pad, and another HUGE thanks to Ken Gerberding for hashing out some issues we had during the event (another post coming on that very soon).

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

Final Results

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