SBMRL is Back for 2024-25!

Posted on September 17, 2024 | 1 comment

The Silver Bullet Memorial Racing League had to shutter its doors in March of 2020 as Covid-19 spread around the world. The season was left in the lurch with only 6 of 9 races completed. Now, four years later, the league is back with new teams, a whole new driver lineup, and another 9 race schedule to determine who’s the best of the best.

There are a few teams who survived the long layoff and are returning to contest the constructor’s title. Perennial powerhouse Regency Motors is back, as is Scandinavian Blitz, the 2018-19 season champions. Also returning are Switch Motorsports, who had a superb showing in the Covid shortened campaign. They notched two victories and a second place in those six races.

New to SBMRL are Mac ‘N Speed and Fir Splays. Both teams are expected to be highly competitive. Here’s how the team/driver lineup looks for this year:

Team (Primary Livery Color)Driver
Scandinavian Blitz (Red)Magnus Rasksen
Parker Lacroix
Regency Motors (Orange)Stoot van Vaart
Pieter Pieperpoes
Switch Motorsports (Blue)Max
Felix
Mac ‘N Speed (Black)Orzo Albies
Ramen Acuna Jr.
Fir Splays (Yellow)Liu S. Amil X
Mai “Cashew” Maghur

2024-2025 Schedule

The calendar for the new season includes a mix of return tracks with a few brand new ones thrown in. While the schedule is always subject to last minute changes, here’s what is currently planned for the coming year:

September: Portland International Raceway, Portland, OR USA
October: Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX, USA
November: Estoril, Portugal*
December: Buenos Aires, Argentina
January: Road Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA*
February: Buddh, India
March: Zeltweg, Austria*
April: Magny Cours, France
May: Zandvoort, The Netherlands*
* New circuits for SBMRL

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Monza Preview

Posted on February 14, 2020 | Leave a comment

For the SBMRL’s February race, the league heads to Italy to race at the famed Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

Monza

It’s the first time that the SBMRL will race at one of racing’s most famous circuits. Only England’s Brooklands and the United States’ Indianapolis Motor Speedway predate Monza as purpose built motor racing circuits, with Monza being constructed in 1922. In its various forms, the track has hosted more Formula 1 Grand Prix than any other racing circuit. The banked oval is no longer in use.

The pit straight is the longest straight on the track, and leads into the Variante Del Rettifilo Tribune, or Rettifilo for short. Rettifilo slows the field down before the long looping Curva Grande that can be taken at full throttle. It heads into the Variante Della Roggia, which is a quick chicane that can be taken at speed if you can get your line right.

Almost no time at all is between Roggia and the Prima Curva Di Lesmo, which is followed immediately by the Seconda Curva di Lesmo. It’s functionally a wide hairpin that then spits the field out at speed for a nice long run into the track’s third chicane, the Variante Ascari.

The third sector is that chicane followed by a straight, the famous Curva Parbolica, and then the pit straight. Monza is the shortest circuit on the calendar, so there won’t be as many opportunities for cars at the back of the field to catch up or pass.

Starting Grid

The starting grid for Monza will be as follows:

  1. The Stig (SB)
  2. Mario (SM)
  3. Luigi (SM)
  4. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  5. Launch Bornado (FR)
  6. Whiplash (RM)
  7. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  8. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

The Stig and Mario are tied at the bottom of the standings, but Mario finished ahead of the Stig at Laguna Seca so the Stig gets pole.

Launch and Rask are currently tied on 63 points for 4th in the driver standings. With Rask winning the last race, Launch would normally get the higher grid position. However, Launch also caused the Stig to crash out of the race in Laguna Seca, resulting in a 1 slot gird penalty. The end result is that Rask will start 4th, and Launch 5th.

Pit selection is far less complicated, as there are no ties in the team standings:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Force Ravenswood
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Switch Motorsport

Home race bonuses at Monza will go to Mario and Luigi, who are both Italian.

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Laguna Seca Preview

Posted on January 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

The SBMRL has raced numerous times on American soil, but never in Monterey, California.

Laguna Seca

Built in 1957 around a dried out lake bed, Laguna Seca means dry lagoon in Spanish. The track plays host to a wide variety of racing classes, including various 4 wheeled and 2 wheeled ones. It has never hosted a Formula 1 race, having been deemed too remote for the desired crowds.

Running counter-clockwise, the circuit has a long run to the first corner, a sharp left-handed hairpin known as the Andretti Hairpin. A pair of short right handers take the track around a man-made pond, each separated by relatively short straights.

The second sector starts out similar tot he first but with the corners a bit more spread apart. An easy left hander followed by a sharper one lead into one of the longer straights. That straight is then followed by the corner that Monterey is most known for, the Corkscrew. The Corkscrew is a blind left-right chicane like bend that features a significant elevation drop. Drivers who get it right will feel their stomach in their throats as they dip down and hope they have their line right.

The final sector features a trio of corners, left-right-left, all separated by moderately short straights before spitting the field back onto the pit straight. Avoiding the pits can be advantageous due to the long straight, but whether or not the field can run a clean enough lap to not need fresh tires will remain to be seen.

Starting Grid

Mario’s difficult race in Monaco sees him “rewarded” with pole position. The Scandinavian Blitz pair follows, with Regency Motors making up the back of the grid.

  1. Mario (SM)
  2. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  3. The Stig (SB)
  4. Luigi (SM)
  5. Launch Bornado (FR)
  6. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  7. Whiplash (RM)
  8. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

Pit selection in order of team standings is as follows:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Force Ravenswood
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Switch Motorsport

No driver has Laguna Seca as their home race.

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