Category Archives: Race Previews

Monaco Preview

Posted on December 1, 2018 | 2 comments

The most glamorous race of year is Monaco, and it takes its customary slot in December.

Monaco (D)

For any of the drivers who’ve raced in previous seasons, they’ll be well familiar with Monaco’s layout.  For Delilah and Rask, who are new to the league, it’ll be a unique challenge.

The start-finish straight leads into the first corner, Sainte Devote, and it’s fairly straight forward.  It’s a corner that always gets jammed up at the start of the race, so don’t be surprised to see some damage come out.  The following straight is long enough to get some higher speeds and leads into Massenet and Casino, a pair of fairly easy to navigate corners.  Overall, the first sector is one that drivers should not get wrong.

The second sector features the Loews hairpin and the long tunnel straight.  The combination of bends that precede the tunnel, including Loews, make for an extremely slow section and getting it right with speed for the tunnel is key.  The straight leads into the Nouvelle Chicane, which is there to just throw drivers off their speed heading into sector three.

The final sector is the most technical, featuring Bureau de Tabac and ‘S’ de la Piscine at the start.  Those corners will send speeds back down before heading into the final combination of Rascasses and Anthony Noghes.  Cars that can avoid a pit stop and come out of the final corner with some speed will gain a big advantage and the potential to pull away or make up some places.  Those that don’t can rest assure that the circuit has enough places where things can go wrong that they may still have a shot at catching up.

Starting Grid

This month’s starting grid will be the most complicate the SBMRL has ever seen as there are a number of unusual situations to account for.  According to league rules, the starting grid for the race is always the reverse order of the current driver standings.  Given that the entire field sits just 7 points apart, there are some ties to be broken.  Rask, The Stig, and Jaap all sit at 35 points currently, which ties them all for 5th place.  Launch and Whiplash both sit at 39 points, tied for second.  For drivers who are tied on points, the tie breaker is the order of finish in the last race.  Here’s what the default grid would look like.

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

Now, The Stig and Jaap both have an unusual set of conditions affecting their starting positions.  First, the Stig will recieve a 1-grid place penalty for causing a crash that resulted in the elimination of another driver at our last race.  In his case, this is adding insult to injury since not only was it his teammate Rask that he knocked out of Singapore, but the accident also resulted in the premature end of his own race.

Jaap’s case is an unprecedented one.  Jaap caused the collision that eliminated Delilah in Austin.  However, race stewards failed to assess the penalty for the starting grid in Singapore.  As a result, the league has decided to impose a 2-grid place penalty on Jaap for Monaco.  The first is the result of his on track actions in Austin, while the second is for failing to report the error in Singapore.

The final starting grid then looks like this:

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

Pit selection will then be in order of team standings:

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

Monaco is the Stig’s home race this season.

Track History

Like Austin, Monaco is one of the two tracks that the SBMRL has raced at every season.  The Stig has won twice, both times from pole position.  The other victory was Jaap’s stunning drive from 9th on the grid in 2016.  The Stig crashed in that one.  Other podium positions have come from all over the grid, but in all three races, the driver who started in 2nd finished in the top 4.  Among other drivers on the current grid, Launch, Sheila, and Bubba have all finished in the top 3.

SBMRL @ Monaco

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Singapore Preview

Posted on November 12, 2018 | Leave a comment

The third race of the 2018-19 season takes place at Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.  As the name implies, the track is a street circuit in the heart of the city.  The race takes place at night to reduce the toll on drivers in the tropical heat and, perhaps more importantly, to accommodate television audiences in other parts of the world.

Singapore

Marina Bay Street Circuit isn’t one that’s likely to get the cars running at full throttle much.  It’s far more technical in nature and will likely result in a longer lap time as a result.  The start-finish straight is short and there’s almost no run up at all into the first corner.  A short straight followed by the Republic Boulevard right-hander leads onto the track’s longest straight, and that makes up the first sector.

The second sector of the track is highlighted by a series of sharp 90-degree corners of the type you’d expect to find in a city block, not so much a racing circuit.  Nevertheless, here they are, and they will likely catch someone out.  The Concert Hall and Fullerton Road corners add to the challenge, but at least he bridge is picturesque.  Another moderate straight closes out this section as the field will see the other side of Crossroads.

The third sector may be even slower than the second, but it’ll feel like the end is in sight and it does run along the water.  The Esplanade Theatres corner will slow the field slightly in preparation for the even slower Carlton Millenia section.  The circuit ends with the Marina Promenade and the finish line is in sight.

Starting Grid

As is stated in league rules, the starting grid will be the reverse order of the current driver standings.  That results in the following:

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

Pit selection will then be in order of team standings:

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

As the league isn’t racing in Australia this year, Singapore will be Sheila’s home race.

Track History

The SBMRL raced at Singapore in the inaugural season, but hasn’t been back since that day 3 years ago.  That means that only Jaap, Launch, and the Stig are among drivers on the current grid that have raced there before.

The previous race was won by Captain Slow, who was also the pole sitter that day.  Cobalt’s Nero came in 2nd and Launch took the final podium slot, which may not be all that surprising.  All three of the podium positions were taken by drivers who started on the first two rows.  The two drivers who finished in dramatically different spots than where they started were Jaap, who moved up to 4th after starting at the back, and the Stig, who fell to 5th after starting 2nd.

2015 Singapore Recap

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Austin Preview

Posted on October 19, 2018 | Leave a comment

With one race in the books, the SBMRL stays in the United States but heads south to Austin, Texas to run Circuit of the Americas.  This will be the fourth time in as many seasons that the league competes on this particular track.

Austin

Circuit of the Americas has a little bit of everything, with rhythm sections, a sharp hairpin followed by a long straight, and some technical driving through the final sector.  The starting straight isn’t particularly long and leads into a blind lefthander for turn 1.

Turns 3 and 4 keep everyone close and the field will likely stay together through the first sector.  The exit of Turn 4 is key to a fast lap as it sets up Turn 5 and the track’s long back straight.  In the past, this straight and the approach to Turn 6 have been key overtaking zones.

This is also, of cours, a prime opportunity for drivers to overcook things.  In fact, Jaap’s retirement from last year’s race was largely the result of an overaggressive attempt to catch up that ultimately cost him.

After a first sector that seems relatively straightforward, the second sector feels like the highlight of the lap.  The high risks involved leave the third sector as a bit of an afterthought.  Sure, it looks as simple as the first one, but the reality is that this section of the track has caused more problems than anyone seems to remember.  There’s nothing flashy about it.  Any overtaking that occurs here feels more like one driver’s failure rather than the other’s skill, but that doesn’t mean it won’t play a key role in the race.

Starting Grid

As this is the second race of the year, the starting grid for Austin is the reverse order of finish at Elkhart Lake.

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

As is league policy, pit selection will be in order of team standings, with ties broken by reverse order of average starting position.  That leaves the following:

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

Austin will be Bubba McQueen’s home race.

Track History

Jaap and Launch have both previously won in Austin, while Sheila and Whiplash finished on the podium last year.  Pole-sitter The Stig has fared poorly in his three attempts to handle COTA, finishing no higher than 6th place.  However, all three previous winners have started on the front row, with two of those being on pole.  Mater is the only driver to have multiple podiums.

The previous three races have seen 5 cars fail to finish.  Ironically, it was the 2016 race with 10 cars on the grid, the largest of the three, that saw all cars make it to the checkered flag.  Last year, Jaap and Bubba both retired early.

SBMRL @ Circuit of the Americas

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