Category Archives: Announcements

The SBMRL is about to enter its 5th season of racing and is now ready to release the schedule for the coming year. As was the case for the past few seasons, the league will run a 9 month schedule with one race per month.

Despite the late confirmation of the full schedule, teams have known for some time that the opening race would be held in Japan at Suzuka. October is always Austin, and that doesn’t change this year. The first new race on the calendar takes place in November, under the lights in Bahrain.

December asks the question of whether or not the Stig can continue his dominance in Monaco. Will he be able to take home a 4th victory in 5 tries there? The league has to then fly all the way to the west coast of the United States to race in Monterrey, only to have to turn around and fly back to Southern Europe for Monza. That’s not the most logical order from a logistical standpoint.

March sees the SBMRL run up against Formula 1’s season opening race in Melbourne. Staying in the Far East, they head north to China to race at Zhuhai. Finally, the season finale takes a departure from Spain, where all 4 final races were held in the past, and instead moves to the Netherlands to race Zandvoort. There is still an open question about what track configuration that final race will feature, as the circuit can be functionally divided in half, or the track can be run in full.

With 5 tracks on the calendar that are entirely new to the SBMRL this year, it should be make for an extremely interesting season.

2019-20 SCHEDULE*

September 21: Suzuka, Japan
October 19: Austin, USA
November 16: Bahrain
December 14: Monaco
January 18: Laguna Seca/Monterey, USA
February 15: Monza, Italy
March 21: Melbourne, Australia
April 18: Zhuhai, China
May 9: Zandvoort, The Netherlands

*Exact dates subject to change

The fourth season of the SBMRL will take place over the course of the next 9 months, covering the 2018-19 season.  League officials have finally released the race schedule much to the delight of league fans.

The season opens with new track Road America, located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  Cars will have a lot of room to open up the throttle there.  Circuit of the Americas returns for a fourth year in October, as does Formula 1’s most prestigious race, Monaco.  Sandwiched between them will be a return to Singapore, a race Captain Slow won for his only career victory in the SBMRL’s inaugural season.

After the calendar flips over to the new year, the league will head south again, this time to Argentina to race in Buenos Aires.  This will be the league’s first South American race outside of Brazil.  Next on the calendar will be not only a new country but a new continent, as the field will visit Kyalami, located between Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa.

The final third of the season will see a return to France’s Magny-Cours after a one year absence.  The league then visits the United States for a third time, heading to upstate New York and Watkins Glenn.  This marks the fourth new track on the schedule for this season.  Finally, a return to Spain’s Barcelona will finish things off.

2018-19 Schedule*

September 22: Elkhart Lake, USA
October 20: Austin, USA
November 17: Singapore
December 15: Monte Carlo, Monaco
January 19: Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 16: Kyalami, South Africa
March 16: Magny-Cours, France
April 20: Watkins Glenn, USA
May 11: Barcelona, Spain

* Exact dates subject to change

The SBMRL has announced the provisional calendar for the 2017-18 season, although league offices have said that some circuits have not yet signed off on the paperwork.

According to the released schedule, three tracks from last year return.  Monaco, Austin, and Interlagos have all been confirmed for this year.  Austin will host the October race while Monaco retains the December slot.  Those two tracks will be the only ones to have hosted three SBMRL races.  Interlagos returns in the same month, January, that it hosted last year.  The other track to get a second SBMRL race is Buddh in India, which is back on the calendar after a one year hiatus, this time in February.

New circuits to the SBMRL include Suzuka, Melbourne, Shanghai, and Portland.  The latter of which will host the season opener in September.  SBMRL fans appear to be most excited for a chance to explore Suzuka, with its unique figure-8 layout.

The one race that has not been finalized is the season ending race in May.  Despite upheaval in the standings in last year’s final race, the race itself was marred by retirements and relatively little drama near the end.  As a result, the SBMRL is in talks with Barcelona, a move that would keep the season finale in Spain.  However, rumors suggest that other European tracks are eager to get in on the action, with Silverstone and Zandvoort as potential spoilers.

2017-18 Schedule*

September 16: Portland, USA
October 21: Austin, USA
November 18: Suzuka, Japan
December 16: Monte Carlo, Monaco
January 20: Interlagos, Brazil
February 17: Buddh, India
March 17: Melbourne, Australia
April 21: Shanghai, China
May 19: Barcelona, Spain^

* Exact dates subject to change
^ To be confirmed