Race Report – UF1 2013/2014 Series

Well, the 2013/2014 UF1 Season is finally over – a 4 race Series that travelled to some of the best onroad tracks in Southern California!

This was the first time running in the UF1 since 2011 – the year I actually took over as ‘commissioner’. At that time, I figured it was going to be alot of work running in it as well as racing in it, so I decided to put the radio away and pick up the camera. However, it wasn’t until this Season that I realized how much I missed it!

As mentioned above, the race hit 4 SoCal tracks – R1 at Cal Raceway, R2 at BWS, R3 at The Lap Factory and R4 back at Cal.

My Season started off well, netting me enough points at Cal for a 3-way tie! That was quite surprising to me as, over the past few years, the talent pool in the F1 class had been constantly rising. Honestly, I was just happy to be competitive! I had been driving a bit timid, working more for maximum points for the Constructor’s Championship than an individual win (I had teamed up with fellow driver Ken Gerberding on Team Martini Racing). Ken finished in the tie as well (as did eventual Championship winner Thad Garner), so we were well on our way for a good Team finish.

Round 2 – BWS. It was a chilly, dusty event that not only required you to be easy on the throttle, but also keep off the very damaging track boards. I had a good day there as well, picking up the P1 position after a P1 and a pair of P2 finishes. The Constructor’s was looking a bit more solid as well with Ken finishing 3rd overall. It was also at this point that I thought I actually might have a chance to win this thing…

…until Round 3. R3 was at The Lap Factory and, well, I struggled quite a bit trying to manage the car. A not-so-great P5, P5, P6 finish was all I could muster and, at this point, was the worst race finishes I’d had. It’s not bad, the competitors that were in the running (namely Thad, Ken and now Mike Rydwell), had all done well and captured some much needed points. Both Ken and I finished 3rd and 4th respectively, so at least our Constructor’s Championship was still alive.

The final Round was back at Cal and I was feeling pretty good seeing as Round 1 went. However, instead of going out there and running my race, I tried to play it safe and hope Thad (who was now leading the Championship by just a couple points) would have an issue and have to retire from (at least) one race. I should have known better, though, as Thad is a pretty seasoned racer and knows what he needs to do to win a race. I finished off the day with a P3, P3, P6 (P4 overall) which pretty much ended my chase of the top podium spot.

However, I did finish 2nd overall in the Individual F1 class and, with Ken’s excellent finishes, captured the F1 Constructor’s Championship! I’m pretty stoked about both finishes but, of course, will be gunning for the top podium spot next season!

I’d like to thank the following companies for supplying the parts to continue racing hard in my elderly age:

Chassis: Exotek F1ULTRA
Servo: Hitec RCD
ESC: Tekin RS GEN3
Motor: Reedy Sonic 540 25.5T
Battery: GENS ACE Redline Series HV 6000mAh Shorty LiPo
Radio: Futaba 10PX
Tires: Exotek Tires (Full Selection)

I’d also like to give a shout out the following:
Aaron Lane: Picked up the UF1 and ran with it. It ain’t easy, as you soon figured out, but you did a great job. Looking forward to racing in future seasons.
Ken Gerberding: Excellent teammate my friend. Loved how we worked together to both get faster. Congrats on your 3rd place individual as well!
Thad Garner: Fun racing with you again my friend. Seems Team T&T is making a comeback…
Mike Rydwell: Not sure I’d be doing this if it weren’t for your amazing car and tire selection. You, single-handedly, made F1 racing amazing again (for me, at least). Keep all that killer F1 stuff coming man!

Ok, time to get back at it. New car, new racing. Pumped for next season.