Category Archives: Race Previews

Monaco Preview

Posted on December 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

Our visit to Monaco this year moves forward a month to December after last year’s race was held in January.  Cars will run along the picturesque Monte Carlo harbor and through some of the tightest street corners on the calendar.

Monaco

The starting grid takes up most of the pit straight and leads into an easy right hander before one of the longer straights of the course.  This leads to the forgiving Massenet corner followed by the second Casino corner.  Overall, the first sector is the easiest section of the track, but that also means that getting it wrong through here is simply unacceptable.

The second sector is highlighted by the Loews hairpin and the tunnel straight.  There are many ways to manage the hairpin and most of them are wrong.  The key to this part of the track is gathering enough speed for the tunnel, which represents the longest straight of the track.  Managing the hairpin is key to that approach.  The Tabac corner will slow the field down again but getting there involves properly navigating the chicane.  This is one of the last good spots for passing due to the technical nature of sector three.

The last sector doesn’t feature any long straights and will see the field slow down tremendously.  There will be a high potential for bumping here as the field gets compressed.  The Anthony Noghes corner, last on the track, finishes so close to the pit entry that cars with too much speed may have no option to get into the pits.  For cars that have had a good run through the first lap, that’s not an entirely bad option.

Last year’s race saw The Stig start from pole and lose that spot almost immediately.  That left Ice and Captain Slow battling for the lead most of the race, only to see The Stig come from behind and win it in the second half of lap 2.  Launch Bornado took 2nd and Ice was 3rd.  Jaap and Mater both opted to forego the pits, with Jaap able to use that tactic to pass 4 cars and ultimately finishing in 4th place.  Incidentally, Jaap’s drop from 3rd to 4th over the 2nd lap is, to date, the only time Jaap has lost position over the course of a lap.  As Monaco is the closest race to Italy this season, this will be Jaronimus’ home race.

Starting Grid

The starting grid sees Nero on pole for the second straight race this year.  Jamonito’s crash in Malaysia puts him second, while his teammate’s victory puts Jaronimus last on the grid.  Scandinavian Blitz will be looking for big points having both the Stig and Captain Slow in the top 5.  Regency Motors occupies two of the 3 bottom slots.

  1. Nero (CO)
  2. Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
  3. The Stig (SB)
  4. Danger Wheel (RB)
  5. Captain Slow (SB)
  6. Ice (CO)
  7. Mater (RB)
  8. Launch Bornado (RM)
  9. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  10. Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)

Pit selection is the reverse order of average starting position for each team’s cars.  Usually, that simply comes down to reverse order of team standings, but with the current tie at the top, it makes for a handy tie breaker between Osito Racing Company and Regency Motors.

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Osito Racing Company
  3. Red Bull
  4. Scandinavian Blitz
  5. Cobalt

Cobalt is in dire need of a strong result to avoid falling farther behind the other teams.  Regency Motors and Osito Racing Company will be vying to see who can take command of the team standings, with Jamonito poised near the front of the grid to aid in that quest.

Leave a comment

Posted in Race Previews

Tagged

Malaysia Preview

Posted on November 8, 2016 | Leave a comment

Our third race of the year takes us to the heat and humidity of Malaysia to race Sepang International Circuit.  A purpose built track designed by Hermann Tilke, Sepang was inaugurated in March 1999 and played host to its first Grand Prix in October of that year.

32-sepang

The track is most notable for the two long straights at the start and end of the lap, but much of the track can be raced at high speeds.  The pit straight positions the starting grid towards the back of the straight, leaving plenty of room for the back markers to catch up with those starting higher up.  The first corner will slow everyone down just before the long Langkawi curve that can be taken flat out.

That long stretch leads into the second sector, which starts with a quick right hander followed by a pair of long, slower corners.  Both of these corners feel like they should be able to be taken at higher speeds than they probably should, and there will likely be some drivers caught out in this part of the track.

The final corner of the second sector is a sharp left hander that represents the first taste of what the third sector has to offer.  As the cars weave their way through the track’s final third, they’ll be going left-right-left-right as they try to maximize speed in the run up to the long back straight.  Hit the hairpin just right and they’ll be flying down the pit straight.  Cars that manage a clean first lap will have an advantage if they can opt to forego the pits, but the chances of that will probably be small.

Malaysia takes the place of last year’s night race on the streets of Singapore.  That was an extremely close race with little chance for high speeds due to the tight nature of the circuit.  The two tracks couldn’t be more different despite coming from neighboring countries.

Starting Grid

The starting order will be the reverse order of the individual driver standings, which puts drivers from four different teams on the first two rows.  With Nero at the front and Ice at the back, it’s the first time drivers from the same team have bookended the field.  Nero’s only other start from pole position was in the SBMRL’s inaugural race in Austin in 2015.

  1. Nero (CO)
  2. The Stig (SB)
  3. Captain Slow (SB)
  4. Launch Bornado (RM)
  5. Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)
  6. Danger Wheel (RB)
  7. Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
  8. Mater (RB)
  9. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  10. Ice (CO)

The Stig and Captain Slow start 2nd and third after both starting on the front row in Singapore.  Captain Slow won that race, with Nero close behind.

Pit selection is the reverse order of average start position for the team’s two drivers.  That results in:

  1. Red Bull
  2. Regency Motors
  3. Osito Racing Company
  4. Cobalt
  5. Scandinavian Blitz

Leave a comment

Posted in Race Previews

Tagged ,

Austin Preview

Posted on October 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

It seems like a long time since the first race of the year in Belgium, but our trip to Austin for the United States Grand Prix is just around the corner.  This race will coincide with Formula 1’s trip to the same venue for their 2016 season.

Circuit of the Americas

Circuit of the America’s played host to the SBMRL’s first race last season and it proved to be a tremendous race highlighted by 3 crashes and a few spin outs.  When all was said and done, Jaap Snellrijder took the checkered flag with Mater close behind him.

The track itself has a variety of challenges including sharp hairpins and weaving esses.  The pit straight isn’t particularly long and leads uphill into a quick left hander.  Given that Turn 2 follows closely, cars at the front of the grid will have a distinct advantage here.  Turn 3 is the esses, a fairly forgiving section of track that is unlikely to put anyone out.  Since there shouldn’t be too much trouble through this part of the track, any mistake will cost the driver valuable track position.

The first sector finishes up with the challenging Turn 4, which can really slow cars down.  The momentum that cars can carry out of Turn 4 will dictate not just their approach to Turn 5 but their ultimate speed down the back straight.  Hit this combination just right and there will be ample opportunity to move up the order.  The back straight will see a ton of downshifting on the approach to Turn 6, which can really catch drivers out if they carry too much speed.

Turn 7 will keep the cars in lower gears, but drivers shouldn’t underestimate the potential it holds to set up a car for the final few corners.  Turns 8, 9, and 10 are all spaced apart just right to tempt higher speeds than may be advised, but taking them too slow will allow others to catch up and pass.  This is the part of the track that saw multiple spin outs in last year’s race, including Nero doing it twice on extremely thin tyres.

In last year’s race, every car took advantage of the pits to, at minimum, put on a new set of tyres.  However, a conservative approach through the first lap could see a car able to skip the pits and gain a position or two.  Of course, any car that drives too aggressively through Turn 10 may not be left with a choice.

STARTING GRID

As is league custom, after the first race of the season the starting grid will be the reverse order of the standings.  That puts Belgium winner Ice all the way at the back of the pack.  Mater, who was the first casualty of Spa, gets the coveted pole position.  It’ll be the 4th time that he’s started at the front.  Nero will start in 2nd place.  The only other time he’s started higher than 3rd was last year’s race in Austin, when he started from pole and finished 5th.

  1. Mater (RB)
  2. Nero (CO)
  3. Jaronimus (ORC)
  4. Jamonito (ORC)
  5. The Stig (SB)
  6. Launch Bornado (RM)
  7. Danger Wheel (RB)
  8. Captain Slow (SB)
  9. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  10. Ice (CO)

Pit selection is in reverse order of the team’s average starting position.  That results in selections in this order:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Scandinavian Blitz
  3. Cobalt
  4. Red Bull
  5. Osito Racing Company

Leave a comment

Posted in Race Previews

Tagged ,