Category Archives: Race Previews

Magny-Cours Preview

Posted on March 13, 2019 | 2 comments

Race 7 on the 2018-19 SBMRL calendar takes us to Magny-Cours, France.

Magny-Cours

The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was originally constructed in the 1960’s and saw Formula 1 race there in the 1990’s and 2000’s. It has played host to the SBMRL once previously, which took place two seasons ago.

A clockwise circuit, Magny-Cours is known for its extremely high speed stretches. It will certainly tax the engines as they rev to full throttle.

The pit straight is fairly short, with a quick left hander called Grande Courbe to open things up. From there, a smooth right by the name of Estoril can be taken pretty much as fast as the cars are able to push. The long Golf straight that follows is one of the longest we’ll see this year, and the cars will be flying down it as fast as they possibly can.

The Golf straight ends at the sharp Adelaide hairpin, one of the hardest braking corners this season. Expect some cars to get it wrong here, but it may be a case of fast in slow out as a preference over the norm. The straight that follows isn’t particularly short, but the Nurburgring corner is more of a slight shuffle than the chicane it is officially listed as.

The next corner is a 180 degree bend to the left. Were it sharper, it’d be a hairpin, and were it less sharp, it would resemble the Estoril corner from the first sector. As it is, it’s basically the inside line of that corner heading back in the other direction, and it falls between the two extremes. It’s followed by a relatively lengthy straight before the Imola chicane, a bend similar to the Nurburgring corner seen earlier.

Chateua D’Eau follows Imola in quick succession, one of the only real rhythm combinations on the track. A moderate straight and the Complexe du Lycée is all that stands remaining before the pits.

Starting Grid

There’s a new leader atop the driver standings and a bit of a shuffle in the ranks after South Africa. The result is that the grid for Magny-Cours shapes up as follows:

  1. Launch Bornado (FR)
  2. Sheila Dinkum (RM)
  3. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  4. Bubba McQueen (SR)
  5. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  6. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  7. The Stig (SB)
  8. Whiplash (SR)

Each team sports a driver in the top 4 and each team has one in the bottom four, highlighting how evenly matched things are this year.

The order of pit selection is the order of team standings:

  1. Sprite Racing
  2. Scandinavian Blitz
  3. Force Ravenswood
  4. Regency Motors

Magny-Cours is the home race for both Jaap and Rask.

Track History

While Magny-Cours has only held one SBMRL event, it was an eventful one. Launch took the victory after starting in 6th place on the grid, so it’s clearly a track where every driver has a legitimate shot at victory. Only Launch, Jaap, and the Stig participated the last time out. The Stig finished 7th and Jaap crashed out, so they’ll be looking for some redemption. Jamonito del Verde and Mater were the other two drivers on the podium.

SBMRL @ Magny-Cours

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South Africa Preview

Posted on February 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

After a first visit to the South American nation of Argentina, the SBMRL makes its first stop on the African continent, racing at South Africa’s Kyalami Racing Circuit.

Kyalami

The circuit hosted Formula 1 Grand Prix from the 1960’s till the 1980’s, at which point there was a break in the racing due to escalated concerns around apartheid. The track saw two Grand Prix in the early 1990’s, but financial challenges prevented its use for the highest level of motorsport from continuing.

The track runs anti-clockwise, with a very short run up to the first corner, Total Curve. Cars at the front of the grid should have some advantage here as a result. A short straight then leads into Nashua, a big, slow left hander, and on to the Old Pit Straight.

The second sector starts with the high speed Goodyear Sweep. This corner shouldn’t really slow anyone down too much, and with a short straight before the similarly named Goodyear Corner, there will be plenty of chances for close racing through here.

Another short straight leads to the Rothmans Esses, and it’s here that Kyalami starts to get a bit tricky. The Rothmans Esses can very well catch a driver out, and with a longer straight following that leads into the sharp Wesbank corner, expect to see some passing.

Wesbank marks the start of the third sector, and is essentially the mirror image of Nashua in the first sector. It leads into the track’s longest straight, followed by the sharpest bend, Continental. If Wesbank didn’t trip the field up, Continental almost certainly will. The track closes with another moderately long straight and relatively sharp left back on to the pit straight. It’s worth pointing out that the pit straight is so short that a full grid of 10 cars would see the back of the field lining up in the final corner.

Starting Grid

As always, the starting grid is in reverse order of the current team standings. With Argentina’s results in the books, any ties that we previously had have now vanished as the standings have spread out a bit. Jaap’s elimination at the hands of Whiplash result in the latter getting a 1 place grid penalty, dropping him to the back of the grid. The resulting field lines up as follows:

  1. Launch Bornado (FR)
  2. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  3. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  4. Bubba McQueen (SR)
  5. Sheila Dinkum (RM)
  6. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  7. The Stig (SB)
  8. Whiplash (SR)

With Launch and Jaap at the bottom of the standings, and the Stig in front, we’ve come a long way since 2015. The team standings determine the order of pit selection.

  1. Scandinavian Blitz
  2. Sprite Racing
  3. Regency Motors
  4. Force Ravenswood

South Africa is not the home race for any driver.

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Argentina Preview

Posted on January 15, 2019 | Leave a comment

After a longer break due to the holidays, the SBMRL is gearing up for the first race of the new year. This will be the league’s first visit to Argentina to race Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has hosted motor racing events since the early 1930’s, but Formula 1 raced the first Argentine Grand Prix in 1953. The country has had an on-again off-again relationship with the world’s top racing category ever since, last racing there in 1998.

The current track is capable of running in two different configurations, and the SBMRL will take the longer one that includes the arena section and the Senna “S” rather than the flat out lake run.

The pit straight is extremely long, with the starting grid smack in the middle of it. That will give the field a decent run up to the aptly named Curva Numero Uno. It’s a smooth right hand bend that will keep speeds down but shouldn’t be too much trouble.

The circuit curves in on itself into Curva de la Confiteria, which is essentially the reverse of the previous corner. A smooth left then takes the field to be big sweeping right that leads into the back straight.

In the configuration to be raced, this is then the longest straight aside from the pit straight, and it’s only about half as long. Still, drivers who managed to get the rhythm right to this point will be well positioned to fly down the straight at top speed. It ends at the high speed Curve de Ascari, which should present little trouble to the drivers.

It’s hear that the track will finally force a reduction in speed. The next corner is a sharp hairpin that marks the entry to the arena section. This is one of those unusual corners that fast in, slow out is the optimal approach, as the arena section is slow. Viborita can’t be taken quickly, and the Curva del Ombu is one of the sharpest.

A moderate straight then leads into the Senna “S”, which rejoins the arena to the rest of the circuit. This is likely an area that will catch some people out, and a great spot for overtaking. From here, there’s a long straight to Horquilla and the home stretch.

Starting Grid

Unlike the last race, this race’s starting grid is fairly straight forward. The usual, reverse order of driver standings conditions apply. Only Bubba and Whiplash, who are tied on 49 points, require additional thought. Since Whiplash finished ahead of Bubba in Monaco, he starts behind him here.

  1. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  2. Launch Bornado (FR)
  3. Sheila Dinkum (RM)
  4. Bubba McQueen (SR)
  5. Whiplash (SR)
  6. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  7. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  8. The Stig (SB)

Pit selection is then in order of team standings, but we currently have a tie with Regency Motors and Sprite Racing. The tie is broken by points scored in the last race since they have the same average starting position.

  1. Scandinavian Blitz
  2. Regency Motors
  3. Sprite Racing
  4. Force Ravenswood

Argentina is not the home race for any driver.

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