Race Recap: UF1 2018 Winter Series 2018 – Race 4 – Canadian GP | UF1 RC

Post Race Analysis
First off, round 4 of the 2018 UF1 Winter Series should have been rained out but, with incredible gratitude I’d like to thank Sean Park from TQ RC Raceway. We were able to switch venues at the last moment and put this race on! Some social media posts and a last minute newsletter pointed everyone in the right direction and, thankfully, we had a great day with 12 F1 drivers and 16 F2 drivers! We even saw a couple new faces pop up in the F2 class!

It was quite cold at TQ – like a meat locker once the day started. Not only did this make car and tire setup more crucial, it also took a mental toll on drivers.

Formula 1
With the swap to TQ, this once again gave the racing advantage to the carpet guys. Hector Martinez put on another clinic, putting in some solid laps in Qualifying to TQ, then setting a blistering pace in all 3 mains to take the overall for the day with a maximum possible 302 points. This puts him firmly in the lead in F1, however with the next two races being at Cal Raceway (we swapped R4 and R5), we’ll see how much he’s learned about asphalt to see if he can keep his points lead.

Second overall for the day was Charles Lightfoot. Not surprising as this guy is always super consistent from track to track. He may not always see the top podium spot, but a solid string of Top 5 placings keeps him in the hunt – look for him to make up a few points at the next two Cal Raceway events.

Charles was dicing all day with 3rd place finisher Craig “Cuda” Hammon. In fact, it was undecided, going into the 3rd main, who would come out on top. Charles needed to place at least 1 spot ahead of Cuda to take 2nd; Cuda needed to place 2 spots ahead of Charles to nip the spot. Almost the entire 3rd main, Charles and Cuda were dicing back and forth – it was really pretty awesome to watch. A late race crash by Cuda dropped him about a straightaway behind Charles and the nail was in the coffin – Cuda would have to settle for 3rd overall.

It almost wasn’t a done deal, though. Alex M, Ken Gerberding and Mark Goldwater were all right there to capture the last spot on the podium – Alex had 290 points, Gerb with 289 and Goldwater with 286. The daily total points really keeps drivers pushing throughout the entire day!

Down the leaderboards a bit we saw a lot of the asphalt guys struggling. Raj Monteiro, Carlos Duarte, Chad Rott and Brent Reichert all post great times off the rug, but I think the cold weather, cold track and (possibly) cold hands really made it a bit more tricky than normal. I expect to see these guys laying it down again back outside.

We’d like to welcome Brian Rutherford to the UF1. While he didn’t typically qualify for this class, we did watch him put a ton of laps in the day before and he was right on pace with the Top 3 drivers. Because of that, we allowed him to run in the F1 class. That, though, wouldn’t necessarily help him as a qualifying warm up crash sickened his car with gremlins all day. There were moments of genius, but the car was quite ill and difficult to drive. I’ve known this guy forever and know this type of thing only elevates his game, so look for him to hit the asphalt with a vengeance.

Missing from this race was Lee Passehl and Mike Rydwell. This will probably be their throwout for the season.

Formula 2
The purpose of the F2 class was to allow beginning UF1 participants a chance to run with drivers of similar experience. It’s a slower class (25.5 motors), allowing drivers to focus more on driving skill and setup rather than all out speed. I was really hoping this would be the bigger of the two classes; I’d like more entry-level drivers to come out and see how fun this Series is!

That being said, we had a 16 F2 drivers in attendance – 6 of them making Round 4 their first event! We’d like to welcome Phillip Enriquez, Brian Ruvalcaba, Allan Alvord, Vernon Newburn, Julian Campbell and Bruce Hickman to the UF1! Hope you guys had a great time!

Ok, on to racing! The typical guys were out in force and putting in great lap times in qualifying. Boris Tsenov (and the 702 crew) were in from Las Vegas and, as usual, this guy is super fast. Matt Siu, Johnny G, Carlos Ledezma and Trever Voss were also putting in great times, but the surprise came from two of the newcomers – Phillip Enriquez and Brian Ruvalcaba. These two battled back and forth in qualifying with Brian taking the TQ by mere tenths!

What’s not surprising, after a little investigation, was the Ruvalcaba was pitting with Hector Martinez. I think Martinez was giving him a few pointers on how it’s done in F1, and I’ll have to say that Ruvalcaba is a great listener. His car looks almost exactly like the Hector-mobile, gliding around the track, right on every corner. He took the win in Main 1 and a 2nd in Main 2, but a stripped spur gear in Main 3 dropped him out of the running for the daily overall. I had a short discussion with Brian and he’s pumped about this series – we’ll be seeing more of him I’m sure. Good thing for the rest of the drivers he came in during Round 4 and not from the beginning! Will be good to see what he’s got for the outdoor guys as well.

Fellow newcomer Phillip Enriquez looked fantastic on track the whole day as well. While only finishing 2nd in Main 1, he battled back in Main 2 to take the class win. Main 3 saw him trailing Ruvalcaba by a couple turns but, after Ruvalcaba’s spur gear failed, he drove past Brian’s crippled car and took the class win again. This gave him enough points to take the daily overall – not bad for his first time out. I’m sure that’s not how he would have wanted to win, but that’s racing. I have to mention, as well, that Phillip’s car was absolutely beautiful – one of the best Ferrari liveries I’ve seen so far this season!

Matt Siu put in a stellar run, finishing 2nd by only 6 points. He barely beat current points leader Boris (by 1 point), a feat that isn’t very easy considering Tsenov’s history on the black carpet. Carlos Ledezma took home 5th position followed by Joe Hawkins III, Allan Avord, Trever Voss, Vernon Newburn and John Cary in 10th.

The Dee’s (Jerermy and Jacob) both had great days as well, with Jacob putting in his best race yet in Main 3. It’s great to see this father/son duo out here mixing it up – however I’m sure dad would like keep his son behind him on the track!

We were glad to see the other 702 boys (Dwayne Battie and Julian Campbell) come out to support the UF1. Dwayne is the owner of 702 Raceway in Vegas, so he’s got some time on this carpet. Julian was looking fast in practice, but he had some issues with his car all day. Great to see these guys come out, but sucks to see them running around so much trying to get their cars under control. I’ll bet their next visit will be a much more positive one!

We were also graced by the 1998 TCS F1 Class Winner, Bruce Hickman! Bruce’s car looked great all day, however after weighing his car after his Main 2 victory, we found it was underweight – almost 10g. This would, unfortunately, give him a DQ for the round (meaning zero points) and relegating him to last place for the day. Hate to see that happen – wind-out-of-the-sails type of thing. We will be looking into changing this rule for next season but, because this has been enforced a couple times so far, this rule has to stand for now. Sorry Bruce.

Allan Avord and Vernon Newburn were also quite fast for their first time out. There is a little bit of a learning curve for the UF1 (understanding pits, 10-minute races, etc) but these guys caught on fast – I expect to see them vying for a podium finish in upcoming races as well.

Fast Lap Award

Hector Martinez was posting sub-11 second laps all day, but his fast lap of 10.668 is simply blistering. His car doesn’t look fast by any means, it’s just super smooth and carries a lot of cornerspeed. Right behind him, though was Ken Gerberding with a 10.777 and Alex M with a 10.843. Guys are getting privy to this carpet thing – waiting to see who’s going to dethrone King Hector from the Fastest Lap Award!

Final Thoughts
With any series, they always seem to start off strong and then slowly dwindle as they progress. However, since you had to qualify for F1, it’s good to see a strong 12 consistently show up (out of a possible 19). This class is going to constantly get tougher, especially with the addition of the F2 winner at the end of the season.

In F2, we’ve had 25 drivers that have participated, 16 of which hit the carpet in Round 4. On top of that, 6 new drivers are on board for what has to be one of the best RC racing formats around. Would love the F2 class to continue to grow – more F1 drivers in the making!

A HUGE thanks to Sean Park and TQ RC Racing for accepting Round 4 on such short notice. We could have run at Cal but with the rain the day before (and a little drizzle the day of), it would probably not have been a fun experience.

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