Silver Bullet Memorial Racing League

India Recap

Posted on December 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

Buddh International Circuit was the ideal setting for the third contest of the SBMRL season. With sunny skies and temperatures around 70 degrees, the stage was set for an action packed race with cars getting pushed to the limit. This race delivered on its high speed promise and then some.

Danger Wheel sat on the pole followed by the Stig and Launch Bornado, who started 2nd and 3rd, respectively, for the second race in a row. The only other driver to start in the same position as in Singapore was Jaap Snellrijder, at the back of the grid.

P1 – Danger Wheel (Ryan)
P2 – The Stig (Jason)
P3 – Launch Bornado (Barb)
P4 – Mater (Ryan)
P5 – Ice (Lonny)
P6 – Captain Slow (Jason)
P7 – Nero (Lonny)
P8 – Jaap Snellrijder (Frank)

A clean start saw the field gunning for the first corner right away, with Danger Wheel and the Stig battling each other right off the bat. Despite a fair amount of jockeying for position and wheel to wheel racing, the cars came through cleanly and began to set their sights on the long front straight.

Several cars were able to take advantage of their engine’s full potential, pushing all the way into 6th gear. What was a bit less forgiving was the need to downshift at the end of that straight for the corner that awaited. The cars that hit it just right found themselves passing the less accurate drivers.

Coupled with the more technical turns of the second sector, the original starting order was already starting to shake up. Danger Wheel dropped all the way to 5th, where he battled it out with the charging Nero who could do no wrong. That left the Stig and Launch Bornado at the front, with Mater hot on their heels. The Cobalt duo, Danger Wheel, and Captain Slow made up the challenging group, while Jaap Snellrijder languished in last place.

In the third sector, the Stig and Launch pulled away from the field while Captain Slow struggled, allowing Jaap to pass for 7th. Between those two pairs, the Green Team and Cobalt battled. After what had been a relatively clean lap for most cars, the pits would play a more significant role in this race than any that had preceded it.

Launch had managed to eke ahead of the Stig, but wore out some tires to do so. Despite a clean lap, Launch opted for a quick pit to change tires in anticipation of a hard fought second tour. For the Stig, this is where everything went wrong. Needing to downshift in the final curve, he was unable to carry momentum into the pits. It didn’t help much that his pit was the farthest along pit lane or that he needed a technical stop for minor repairs.

As Launch crossed the starting line first in preparation for a second go around, the trailing pack was just coming through the final corner. Ice and Danger Wheel were the first to get there, and each took a different tack. While Danger Wheel need to stop, Ice had run a clean first lap and decided to stay out, gunning it down the front straight in 5th gear. Behind him, his teammate Nero went in. The most significant move, however, was Mater’s decision not to pit. Mater hit the final corner just right and blew past the pits in 6th gear, jumping all the way into 2nd and hot on the heels of Launch Bornado.

With Launch and Mater well ahead, and Ice forgoing the pits, the Stig found himself in 4th place to start the second lap. Danger Wheel’s quick pit stop had him close behind, while Nero pushed to catch up in the first two turns. The Stig struggled with his car, which was unresponsive to his commands. Conversely, Danger Wheel managed to reel in the front runners to take the lead he’d lost on the first lap. Mater also passed Launch on the long front straight, but his gambit came at the expense of his brakes and gearbox. The Cobalt cars, meanwhile, were able to join the front pack with the pedal to the floor. After babying his tires on the first lap, Ice wore his tires heavily rounding Turn 3 in a desperate effort.

Danger Wheel and Launch found separation in Turn 4 as the challengers worked to keep their more heavily abused cars on the track. The two front runners found perfect lines through turns 5 and 6 and it quickly became clear that only a disaster would see either car finish lower than third. Meanwhile, Nero managed to find an edge on Ice, who looked far better poised to take 4th than Mater given the conditions of both cars. Behind them, the Stig marched along steadily with Captain Slow and Jaap both living up to the Captain’s name.

At the front, Danger Wheel and Launch charged hard into the final two turns. Danger Wheel had the edge and chose a tight line in turn 9. Launch, who’d run a clean second lap and had tires to burn, simply couldn’t match it. Despite coming in faster, Danger Wheel’s edge was too great as he took the checkered flag. Launch was left to settle for second. Behind them, Nero established a comfortable 3rd position that would not be relinquished. The rest of the field, however, was nowhere near set.

Ice, who was comfortably enough ahead of Mater and looked destined for 4th place, suddenly lost all feel for his car. Captain Slow and Jaap, who had been so far behind over the first two sectors, suddenly started finding their lines. They sped past the Stig and looked to add more. Ice and Mater, both forced to drive cautiously, were no longer well in the distance.

Jaap managed to catch Ice in Turn 8, which Captain Slow was also able to take at a much higher speed than Ice’s all blue Cobalt. Mater, meanwhile, wasn’t able to take speed into turn 9, and it was there that Jaap and Captain Slow passed him as well. Jaap took the inside line that Danger Wheel had taken earlier to stymie Launch’s attempt for a pass, and this time Captain Slow was the victim. Despite coming in at higher speed, he was forced to the slower, outside line. Jaap took 4th and the Captain 5th. Mater was able to limp home behind them.

At the back, the Stig did finally catch Ice, whose third sector can only be described as disastrous.

Buddh represented the first time this season that a car chose not to pit, with both Ice and Mater forgoing the chance to improve their vehicles. Despite Ice’s last place finish, one can’t point to his pit decision as impacting the final result. His tires were pristine and he had taken minimal damage. It was really a combination of pushing hard on the second lap and simply not being able to maximize his car’s potential. Mater, on the other hand, found himself in rather dire straights and having to drive conservatively. He may regret his decision not to pit, but it was an understandable choice at the time. Despite this, Buddh also represented the first race where all cars crossed the finish line.

Final Results

Driver	Start	Lap	Finish
Danger Wheel (GT)	1	5	1
Launch Bornado (RM)	3	1	2
Nero (CO)	7	6	3
Jaap Snellrijder (RM)	8	7	4
Captain Slow (WT)	6	8	5
Mater (GT)	4	2	6
The Stig (WT)	2	4	7
Ice (CO)	5	3	8

Danger Wheel earned the Green Team’s first victory of the year, while Launch and Nero both claimed their second podium in as many races. Jaap’s amazing comeback, from last place in sector two to 4th place at the flag, keeps him atop the driver standings, but Nero continued to close the gap. Like Captain Slow’s victory in Singapore did for him, Danger Wheel’s victory catapults him into 3rd.

From a team perspective, Regency Motors maintains a comfortable lead over the field.

Race Gallery

India Preview

Posted on December 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

The third race of the inaugural SBMRL season will take us to the Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Circuit.

As a purpose built track, Buddh represents a stark contrast from the sharp corners of the city based circuit in Singapore. Instead, cars will have the opportunity to push their engines to the limit. Long straights and forgiving corners should make for some of the fastest laps we’ve seen. With high speeds come high risks, and it will be interesting to see how the various drivers manage.

The track starts off with what is the least forgiving corner, a sharp right hander that drivers will have to hit just right. After that, though, comes a moderate straight into a far more forgiving bend before the lengthy stretch that characterizes the first sector. The highest speeds of the track will be found here, and rapid downshifting should be expected for those that aren’t able to get the most out of their engines.

The second sector contains the only two multistop corners on the track, and is highlighted by the long, high speed turn 6. Despite the fact that this will be the most technical portion of the track, drivers who take the best line could sail right through. The track finishes up with three forgiving corners in the third sector before dumping cars back on the starting straight. While it wasn’t uncommon for cars to need to shift all the way down to 2nd gear in Singapore, any car that gets that low in India has clearly missed the mark.

With no starting grid penalties due coming out of Singapore, the starting grid will simply be a reverse of the current driver standings:

Stanley Washington (YT)
Danger Wheel (GT)
The Stig (WT)
Launch Bornado (RM)
Mater (GT)
Ice (CO)
Captain Slow (WT)
Nero (CO)
Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

After an extremely trying race in Singapore, the Green Team will be looking to take advantage of their strong starting position to move up the standings ladder. Conversely, Cobalt’s strong showing in Singapore has them starting towards the back of the pack. Captain Slow’s wire-to-wire run has him starting 7th, but the Stig will start high up the grid thanks to late passes by both Regency Motors drivers in Singapore. Jaap will start at the very back for the second race in a row. That didn’t prove to be a problem in Singapore, but it may be a lot harder on a more forgiving course where mistakes will be fewer. The team will hope that Launch can challenge from the front to keep the team at the top of the leaderboard.

Slip Streaming

We’ll introduce the slip streaming rule for the high speeds of Buddh! Slip streaming allows a car trailing another car to take advantage of the leading car’s aerodynamic footprint in order to pass that car.

In short, slip streaming allows a car to move 3 additional spaces after ending their normal movement in the space immediately behind a car in the same or lower gear, provided both cars are at least in 4th gear.

Slip Streaming Rules:

Slip streaming is optional
A car must finish its normal movement in the space immediately behind another car in order to slip stream. You cannot brake in order to take advantage of a slip stream.
Both cars must be in 4th gear or higher.
The slip streaming car must be in the same or higher gear than the car it is going to slip stream.
If a car uses a slip streaming maneuver to enter a corner, that car will consume 1 Brake wear point, without moving back one space.
All 3 spaces of the slip stream must be consumed unless Brake wear points are used.

Singapore Recap

Posted on November 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

The second race of the SBMRL took place in Singapore on November 20th. Each driver had the opportunity to customize their car configuration, and three drivers took the opportunity to do so. Nero (CO) and Jaap (RM) each moved an engine point to tires, while the Stig did the same but also took a point from body to tires. Clearly, the large number of corners, including several sharp, 90 degree bends, influenced these drivers’ decision. The Yellow Team went unrepresented, but everyone else was there resulting in an 8 car starting grid as follows:

P1 – Captain Slow (Jason)
P2 – The Stig (Jason)
P3 – Launch Bornado (Barb)
P4 – Nero (Lonny)
P5 – Danger Wheel (Ryan)
P6 – Ice (Lonny)
P7 – Mater (Ryan)
P8 – Jaap Snellrijder (Frank)

With the track brilliantly lit for the night race, the green flag was taken with no major incidents. No one managed a fast start or suffered from a starting grid stall. Captain Slow was quick into the first corner and it became clear early on that the cars at the back of the grid would have a lot of catching up to do. Captain Slow proceeded to make quick work of the Republic Boulevard corner and took the long straight at speed.

For most of the first lap, the cars found themselves in three groups, all aiming to catch Captain Slow. Launch Bornado and the Stig battled for second place while Nero and Danger Wheel followed. The remaining three cars jockeyed in the back. Cars went heavy on the tires and there was a lot of heavy downshifting into the corners. A few minor scrapes but no one in serious danger of wrecking their cars meant that almost everyone opted for a technical pit stop. The key changes heading into the second lap were that Launch and Nero had closed the gap on Captain Slow, and that Jaap had created some separation from Mater and Ice. Danger Wheel and Mater had, essentially, flipped positions. In all, however, the mid group was closer together and that would result in some extremely tight racing to come.

The first indication that the second lap would not be at all similar to the first was the fact that Captain Slow actually found himself as far back as 3rd place in the long straight heading into the Suntec City corner. Unfortunately for Nero and Launch, the two cars level with the Captain, that was essentially the last they’d see of him. He would take the next two corners perfectly and that was the last of it. He was, so to speak, off to the races. Only a couple of major mistakes would see him lose the race, and he delivered the goods.

That wasn’t the only problem Nero and Launch were facing, however. In their failures to keep up with Captain Slow, they were caught from behind by the Stig, Mater, and Jaap. All five cars found themselves bunched up in Crossroads. Stig had come in a bit too hot and had to slow down for City Hall. He could only watch from behind as the tightest 4 car bunch possible plowed towards the 2-stop Concert Hall corner. Despite the distance, Stig kept the others in his sights.

It was on the return side of Crossroads that the fortune of two of the five changed dramatically. First, Nero managed to hit the corner just right and soon found himself well ahead of the contending pack. Second place now looked far more secure. Secondly, the two Regency Motors cars and the Stig, already into the Crossroads corner, left little room for Mater to work with. Pushing hard to get around on the outside, Mater cut things just a little to tight and clipped the back of Launch Bornado. Launch rolled on no worse for the wear, but Mater found himself in the barrier and out of the race.

This left Launch, Jaap, and the Stig battling it out for 3rd to 5th place. While they were able to catch Nero for a moment in Carlton Millenia, Nero was always one step ahead and they never really challenged him for 2nd. The final position for those three was ultimately determined by the final, Marina Promenade, corner. While the Stig was able to get to the corner first, Launch found the inside line and was able to get the jump there. Jaap took the opposite tack. He went around the outside, and while the Stig was ahead, Jaap found 5th gear more responsive and was able to just edge himself into 4th place. Ice was able to take the 3rd sector in better form than Danger Wheel to come in a distant 6th.