A race through the streets of Monaco is always an adventure and the SBMRL’s fourth race of the season had plenty of ups and downs accordingly. Before the race began, there were two notable announcements. First, the White Team decided to officially rebrand themselves as Scandinavian Blitz, much to the delight of fans who found the previous name to be exceedingly bland. Second, Ryan was unable to attend, so Jason and Frank took the reins for the Green Team.
The race began with a Scandinavian Blitz driver in pole position for the second time this year. The Stig began in 2nd place in India but utimately finished in 7th. Would he struggle again or be the third consecutive winner from pole? Nero and Jaap were at the back of the pack for the second consecutive race with the rest of the field slotted in reverse order of the standings as usual.
P1 – The Stig (Jason)
P2 – Ice (Lonny)
P3 – Mater (Frank)
P4 – Captain Slow (Jason)
P5 – Launch Bornado (Barbara)
P6 – Danger Wheel (Jason)
P7 – Nero (Lonny)
P8 – Jaap Snellrijder (Frank)
The excitement began from the get go as the race got off to a grinding halt for Mater, who was the first driver to suffer a stall on race start. His inability to get off the line forced Launch Bornado to the inside and a minor collision before Launch even crossed the starting line. At the front, Ice managed to beat the Stig to the first corner while Captain Slow was similarly quick.
Unlike previous races, where the first corner caused a decent amount of stratification between cars, Monaco saw two groups emerge with a 3 car leading pack and a 5 car trailer. Mater was among the followers even in the back pack and his lack of pace would haunt him throughout the entire race.
The Mirabeau turn was where Captain Slow began to create some separation at the front. Ice and the Stig found themselves struggling to keep up, with Danger Wheel and Launch Bornado suddenly hot on their heels. The slowdown in the Loews hairpin gave a false sense of tightening of the cars at the lower speeds.
However, as cars began to come out of it, there was quite a bit of space that developed between them. Separation would grow quickly as cars went from their lowest speeds of the track to their fastest through the tunnel.
Captain Slow extended his lead by expertly navigating the Chicane and Bureau de Tabac. He found himself well ahead of Ice, the Stig, and Danger Wheel, who represented the race for 2nd place. The remaining four cars remained close until Mater found his engine wanting again. He was unable to keep up with others and drifting off the pace in a lonely last place.
As the first driver around the final turn, Captain Slow had done a fine job preserving his tires, but his high speed aggression left him needing gearbox maintenance and a trip to the pits. It was here that things started to turn for a number of drivers. While the good Captain was making his way towards Sainte Devote, Ice and Stig each went in for quick pit stops to replace tires. They were both on their way quickly. Danger Wheel also went to pit, but was blocked from leaving by the others, and so forced into a technical stop (see the pit rule comments for details).
Launch Bornado and Nero also went in for pit stops. Nero being the only car to lose ground on entering as he didn’t carry enough pace out of the final turn. Jaap, however, having been sparing on his first lap, opted not to pit. His gambit suddenly found him surging past the others all the way into third place, behind Captain Slow and Ice. The Stig and Danger Wheel were hot on his tail, and Launch Bornado was closing. While Nero languished, Mater chose to follow Jaap’s lead and forego the pits in a desperate move to catch up. Unfortunately, his car simply would not respond to his efforts and he was unable to use the front straight to catch even Nero.
At the front, Ice had taken a small lead over Captain Slow into Loews, but the big move was further back. Launch Bornado charged hard into the Casino turns, passing Danger Wheel for 5th place. Ice and Captain Slow couldn’t find their speed heading towards the tunnel, and suddenly the Stig and Jaap were right up there with them. Only the Stig was able to find the right line through the Chicane, though, and like his teammate on the first lap, this was able to give him a fairly comfortable lead heading into the third sector.
Launch, meanwhile, absolutely screamed through the tunnel and was suddenly right in amongst Ice, Captain Slow, and Jaap. As that group of four cars moved on to the marina district, Nero found his speed wanting while Mater suddenly found a bit of hope. The two would battle to the end for the final two slots.
The Stig coolly navigated the third sector to take a bit of the drama out of the winner’s race, but behind him fierce battles raged. Captain Slow had fallen off the pace at Bureau de Tabac, the very section of the track that saw him take a large lead during the first lap. However, at various points in sector 3, Ice, Jaap, and Launch all found themselves leading the incredibly tight group of three cars vying for second. First it was Ice in front, then Launch, then Jaap, then Ice again. In the end, Launch carried the most speed through the final turn and was able to cruise down the front straight ahead of the other two. Ice managed to pip Jaap for 3rd place.
The back half of the drivers saw Captain Slow narrowly hang on to a 5th place finish ahead of Danger Wheel. Mater, meanwhile, came from incredibly far back to edge ahead of Nero for 7th, thanks to a more aggressive line through the final two turns.
Final Results
| Driver | Start | Lap | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Stig (SB) | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Launch Bornado (RM) | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Ice (CO) | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Jaap Snellrijder (RM) | 8 | 3 | 4 |
| Captain Slow (SB) | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Danger Wheel (GT) | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Mater(GT) | 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Nero (CO) | 7 | 7 | 8 |
The Stig became the third consecutive driver to win a race from pole position and that leaves Scandinavian Blitz as the only team to have won two races this year. Those wins account for all of the team’s podium appearances. As stated earlier, Mater became the first driver to stall on race start, a mistake from which he never recovered. Jaap went from 8th to 4th place for the 3rd straight race. Mater’s drop from 3rd to 7th ties the second worst showing after the Stig went from 2nd to 7th in India. This leaves the Regency Motors drivers 1-2 in the standings, with 4 drivers all tied for 3rd place with 47 points each.
At the team level, Scandinavian Blitz’s performance sees them jump into second place, leapfrogging both Cobalt and the Green Team.
