Silver Bullet Memorial Racing League

Austria Preview

Posted on March 14, 2025 | Leave a comment

Zeltweg, Austria is home of the Red Bull Ring. Originally built in 1969 and known as the Österreichring, it was a purpose built track that replaced and airfield circuit. A renovation in the 1990’s resulted in it being renamed the A1-ring, but when the Formula 1 contract for an Austrian Grand Prix was terminated in the early 2000’s, it was bought by Red Bull. Eventually, they rebuilt it and Formula 1 returned.

The SBMRL has never raced in Austria, so this will be a new experience for all of the teams on the grid.

Zeltweg is characterized by a combination of long straights and very short straights with very little in terms of medium lengths. The first sector consists of just the pit straight, Castrol Kurve, now called the Nikki Lauda Turn, and the straight that follows. The starting grid is set a fair amount back from the first turn, so there isn’t much of a grid advantage starting at the front. Expect a lot of congestion trying to get through that first bend.

The Remus Kurve at the end of the straight will slow down a field eager to maintain speed. This one will definitely benefit from slow in-fast out, but it really all comes down to getting the timing just right in order to slough off as little speed as possible.

The longest straight of the circuit leads into the Rauch Kurve that can catch you out if you’re not careful. This where the short, technical portion of the track begins, as the next corner comes soon after and is even tighter to get through. It’s possibly a good place to abuse the tires a bit. The large Lauda Kurve that follows won’t be much of an issue at already reduced speeds, and that will wrap up the second sector.

The first part of the third sector doesn’t look much different than what was just experience in the second. A left-right combination that shouldn’t trouble the field much. The one medium length straight on the circuit then leads to the final two corners. This is a place that will catch people out. The final two corners lead into the pit straight, which can be taken at speed if those corners work out right. Get off rhythm and others will be flying by.

Starting Grid

As always, the starting grid for Austria will be the reverse order of the driver standings. A number of ties in the standings were broken in Argentina, so no need for any tie breakers this time out:

Parker Lacroix (SB)
Max (SM)
Magnus Rasksen (SB)*
Ramen Acuna Jr (MnS)*
Felix (SM)
Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FP)
Orzo Albies (MnS)*⁺
Liu S. Amil X (FP)*⁺
Stoot van Vaart (RM)
Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)

Pit selection will be in order of team standings.

Regency Motors
Fir Splays
Mac ‘N Speed
Switch Motorsports
Scandinavian Blitz

* Magnus starts ahead of Ramen, and Orzo ahead of Liu due to the tie breaker of reverse of last race finish.
⁺ Orzo and Liu have Zeltweg as their home race, providing them each with a slight advantage.

Race Outlook

With 3 races to go, we’re into the final third of the season. Pieter is looking like he’s going to be hard to catch. Not just because he’s got 14 point and 28 point leads over 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, but because he hasn’t finished lower than 6th yet. Since the strong start to the year from Pieter and Stoot, the remainder of the field has traded strong races, resulting in a tight group of 4 drivers, just 4 points between them. That group consists of Orzo, Liu, Mai, and Felix, any of whom could move into second place with a win and a poor showing from Stoot.

The last four drivers on the grid, Magnus, Ramen, Max, and Parker aren’t that far behind. Parker’s only 20 points behind Orzo and Liu, which seems like a lot but is something that can be made up. Less than 10 points separate these four drivers. If any of them can translate their grid position to a high finish, they’ll be right back in the thick of things.

The team standings have opened up a bit. Regency Motors maintains a healthy lead at the top and are looking hard to catch. The remainder of the field was once within 10 points top to bottom, and now have about 10 points between each of the teams. Even that slight increase in spread makes it harder for a team to make a big move, but there’s still plenty of time. Scandinavian Blitz, with two drivers in the top three grid positions, will be looking for a big result in Austria.

Buddh Recap

Posted on March 12, 2025 | Leave a comment

The SBMRL raced at Buddh International Circuit in February, in what was the league’s 3rd visit to the track in India. The February race would make it two thirds of the season complete. While Pieter entered the race still comfortably in first place, the rest of the standings were still very close.

Here’s how the drivers lined up:

P1 – Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FP)
P2 – Felix (SM)
P3 – Parker Lacroix (SB)
P4 – Max (SM)
P5 – Ramen Acuna Jr (MnS)
P6 – Liu S. Amil X (FP)
P7 – Magnus Rasksen (SB)
P8 – Orzo Albies (MnS)
P9 – Stoot van Vaart (RM)
P10 – Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)

As the lights went out and the cars raced to through the first bend, Parker, Mail, and Felix established an early leading pack. Stoot found early congestion to be to his benefit, as he was able to move up a few places from the back of the grid, insering himself in amongst those who started well ahead of him.

The long back straight between Turns 2 and 3 would be where things started to shake up a bit. Felix was the first one to find a line for Turn 3, and with the rest of the field jockeying for position behind him. Too many cars for too little space on the track made for a field that was literally racing wheel to wheel and bumper to bumper. Only Felix and Orza avoided the fray, although Orzo certainly would’ve liked to have been in there, too.

The technical curves that make up much of the second sector began to spread the field out a bit. Felix maintained his lead, but it was here that Fir Splays and Regency Motors began to form a challenger group. Mai was at the head of it, and Pieter and fought his way all the way up to run as high as 3rd. The trailing group consisted of the rest of the field, with Orzo having been able to join up with them.

The transition between Turn 6 and Turn 7 are where things started to shift at the front. Mai found a rhythm that Felix was unable to defend against. Pieter pulled just ahead of Liu and Stoot, and would find himself battling with Felix for 2nd position by the end of the lap.

Mai had run a clean first lap, sparing his tires enough that he made the decision to skip the pits and fly down the pit straight. The decision worked out tremendously for him as he established a significant lead to start the second lap.

Pieter’s Regency Motors pit crew changed his tires in record time, sending him on his way fast enough that he came out of the pits ahead of Felix, who did not pit. The two would start the second lap as the only ones with any real shot at closing the gap to Mai. The rest of the field all opted to pit, opening up a gap between them and the front runners.

As Mai finished out the first sector of his second lap, those at the back were just coming out of their pit stops. At this point, Pieter was up in second place having gained a small edge on Felix. Stoot was well back, but running in fourth, followed by Magnus and Liu. Parker, Ramen, Max, and Orzo made up the backmarkers.

The top three cars, Mai, Pieter, and Felix, ran comfortably spaced out in that order through the second sector, but there was a fair amount of jockeying for position behind them. Magnus, Liu, and Stoot made up the midfield and found themselves closely aligned through Turn 3.

A few moments later, Ramen, Parker, Max, and Orzo were all in a similar state of mutual contention.

The back of the field was also hotly contested

Mai cruised through the second sector, calmly hitting his lines and making no mistakes. Behind him, Pieter was unsuccessfully trying to keep Mai in his sights. As they drove on through the third sector, the gap between the race leader and second place was getting larger.

In third place, Felix was being pursued by Stoot, Liu, and Magnus. The trio fought neck and neck through the second sector. At they charged into Turn 6, Stoot and Liu finally caught up with Felix, passing him on the inside.

It was at this point, with Pieter in Turn 7 and still having two more turns to go, that Mai won.

Mai crosses the finish well ahead of everyone

With victory out of reach, things were getting interesting further back. Pieter, as already mentioned, was having some struggles that kept him from keeping pace with Mai. Liu, Stoot, and Felix were in a battle for 3rd place, and Orzo, Magnus, and Max were in a 3-way battle of their own. Only Parker was lagging significantly behind.

The trio behind Pieter were having a very different third sector than the driver standings leader. They were hitting the corners in rhythm and Pieter’s inability to do so caught up with him in the final bend.

While Pieter made it to Turn 9 before the others, his inability to cut the inside line at speed left him unable to carry speed down the straight. All three of Felix, Liu, and Stoot passed him on the way to the checkered flag, finishing in that order.

Magnus, Orzo, Max, Ramen, and Parker ended up getting a bit of space between them in the third sector. Running comfortably in 6th place and trying to keep Orzo at bay, Magnus’s engine blew out just as he had the finish line in his sights. It was his second DNF of the season, and particularly difficult after struggling last time out.

Orzo would be the one to capitalize with a finish one higher than he was expecting just moments earlier.

Running behind him was Max, who was having a similar challenge that Pieter did in terms of a struggle to find speed through the final corner. Ramen, on the other hand, was now playing the role that Felix, Liu, and Stoot had done just a few moments earlier.

That burst of speed allowed Ramen to take 7th place just ahead of Max. Parker rounded out the running field, finishing 9th in what was a miserable day for Scandinavian Blitz.

Final Results

Driver	Start	Lap	Finish
Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FS)	1	1	1
Felix (SM)	2	3	2
Liu S. Amil X (FS)	6	5	3
Stoot van Vaart (RM)	9	4	4
Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)	10	2	5
Orzo Albies (MnS)	8	10	6
Ramen Acuna Jr. (MnS)	5	8	7
Max (SM)	4	7	8
Parker Lacroix (SB)	3	9	9
Magnus Rasksen (SB)	7	6	10*

* Did not finish

Mai’s win was a huge redemption for him after struggling for most of the season. Aside from a 2nd place finish in Portugal, he hadn’t finished any higher than 7th place. The dominating performance, particularly his ability to run away with things on the second lap, meant that there really wasn’t anyone close to him in terms of form on the day. The large points haul from the victory lifts him all the way from last to 5th in the driver standings.

Felix’s second place means that he’s now finished in a different position in every race he’s been in. It’s his best showing of the year and while he was passed by Mai in the standings, he’s only 1 point back. Liu’s 3rd place showing means that all three of our podium finishers recorded their second podium of the year. Liu has now moved all the way up into a tie for 3rd place with Orzo. At 63 points, there’s only 4 points between him and Felix.

The double podium for Fir Splays matches Regency Motors early season form for the largest single race points haul of the season. Only a 1-2 finish could score a team more points, and Fir Splays has now leapt into 2nd place in the team standings. They were the only team to gain ground on Regency Motors whose points total was matched by Switch Motorsports. Despite that Mac ‘N Speed remained ahead of Switch in 3rd place. Scandinavian Blitz has now dropped to the bottom.

Race Gallery

Buddh Preview

Posted on February 19, 2025 | Leave a comment

It’s been seven years since the SBMRL went to India to race Buddh International Circuit, but that’s exactly where we’re headed this February. Originally hosting its first Grand Prix in 2011, Formula 1 raced there for only three seasons before tax disputes caused them to end. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won all three races. This year’s SBMRL race will be the third time we’ve visited, albeit spread out across a number of years.

Buddh’s pit straight is one of the shortest you’ll typically see. The starting line is set back just enough to push the back of the grid right up to the exit of the final corner. At the front, the ideal spot may actually be the second row rather than the first due to the sharp right hander that is Turn 1.

Coming out of Turn 2 with speed for the long straight is extremely helpful. Expect a bit more speed through here on lap 2 from those who don’t pit. On lap 1 the field will largely still be building up to their top gears.

Turn 3 will see a lot of braking and tire abuse, as it’s a terrible place to get things wrong. The lead into Turn 4 requires a good run in the previous corner, and it’s much better to downshift agressively at the latter of the two corners.

The second sector isn’t too complicated, with Turn 5 keeping speeds down but otherwise unlikely to cause anyone much trouble. Turn 6 is equally forgiving. The only thing there is that while it may not be a challenging corner, there are chances for passing through it that drivers will be looking to take advantage of.

The final sector is deceptive in its simplicity, its opportunity for high speeds, and its potential for gut wrenching mistakes. It’s really all about rhythm, and those who get it right will be a big advantage. Just don’t overshoot the final corner if you need to enter the pits, as the entrance to pit lane comes immediately out of the final bend.