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.
Mario (SM)
Rask Sjofar (SB)
The Stig (SB)
Luigi (SM)
Launch Bornado (FR)
Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
Whiplash (RM)
Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
Pit selection in order of team standings is as follows:
The penultimate race of the 2018-19 season took place in upstate New York at Watkins Glen. A first time visit from the SBMRL meant that there was some question over how the race would play out. The first order of business was determining the track configuration, and the league decided to include both the Inner Loop chicane and the Boot.
Bubba had a fast start with the rest of the field getting off the line cleanly, but soon found himself bumping into other cars as he jockeyed for position. The front four fought wheel to wheel through the first few corners until Sheila was able to pull ahead slightly. As she did so, the back half was right on their tails with the lone exception of Jaap.
Wheel to wheel in pursuit of Sheila
The Inner Loop chicane was where Bubba and Rask caught up with Sheila again, and the three of them battled back and forth throughout the second sector. Delilah and the Stig also started to make a move on Launch, with Whiplash and Jaap falling behind the others.
Into the Boot they went, with Sheila finding herself unable to keep up with Bubba and Rask. The Force Ravenswood pair continued to push, and caught up with Sheila at the Toe. The Stig, meanwhile, found his car responsive and flew down the sole of the Boot with such speed that he caught up with the front runners at the Heel.
The Stig crashes Bubba and Rask’s party
Delilah wasn’t far behind, making a move of her own at the Heel. She managed to get by both red cars and take the fight directly to Bubba. Like Stig in the Boot, Delilah found speed through the final two corners and then flew down the pit straight.
Jaap was the other big mover in the third sector. He pulled off a similar feat to the Stig’s and earned a few places as a result. The difference was that the Stig went through the third sector slowly while Jaap pulled off the same feat that Delilah did, flying down the pit straight. In the span of half a lap, Jaap went from last to second.
Delilah about to leave Bubba behind
Despite getting passed by several cars while pitting, Launch was able to catch up with them shortly. Delilah was in the lead, with Jaap in a solid second place, but behind them, Launch, the Stig, Rask, and Bubba all pursued.
Coming through the Esses
As the field came out of the Esses and into the back straight, a few drivers were able to change things up. First was Rask, who found enough speed on the straight to catch Jaap at the Inner Loop. The other driver to make a strong move was Whiplash, who hit the Esses just right and was up to fourth place after the straight.
Delilah was able to pull away in the second sector, putting a couple of corners between herself and the battle for second place. Jaap and Rask fought back and forth through the Boot with neither able to get an advantage, while Whiplash settled into 4th place. His teammate, Bubba, was less fortunate. Having fallen to the back of the pack, he made a hard charge through the chicane and was heading through the Outer Loop when Launch bumped him. The collision was enough to know Bubba out of the race.
Launch ends Bubba’s race
Delilah continued her charge through the third sector and no one would get close as she easily took home her second win of the season. Jaap and Rask fought neck and neck until the final corner, where Jaap was able to take advantage of fresher tires and pull away.
The other four cars were well behind Rask, led by Launch and Whiplash. The Stig and Sheila were right behind them, however, and just like in the battle between Jaap and Rask, the final order would come down largely to tire freshness. Sheila, having pitted for new rubber, was able to take the most advantage, followed by the Stig.
Sheila gets ahead to take 4th place
While Whiplash was able to come out of the corner ahead of Launch, his engine wouldn’t respond to the need for speed. This allowed Launch to finish just ahead of him in 6th place.
Final Results
Driver
Start
Lap
Finish
Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
6
1
1
Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
7
4
2
Rask Sjofar (SB)
3
5
3
Sheila Dinkum (RM)
1
7
4
The Stig (SB)
5
3
5
Launch Bornado (FR)
2
6
6
Whiplash (SR)
8
8
7
Bubba McQueen (SR)
4
2
8, def
Delilah’s victory is her second in three races and the second of the year for Force Ravenswood. It’s her fourth podium of the year and puts her just 5 points behind Whiplash for the driver championship lead.
Jaap’s second place finish makes it 3 consecutive runner-ups for him and 5 podiums on the year. He sits 7 points back of Delilah. Rask’s 3rd place finish moves him up to 5th place in the driver standings. He has 3 podiums this year, with one appearance on each step.
Bubba’s DNF means that he’s now in danger of finishing last, a position currently held jointly by Launch and Sheila.
At a team level Sprite Racing couldn’t have had a worse result. They had a very healthy lead that has now dwindled to 10 points over Force Ravenswood. Largely propelled by Delilah’s strong form of late, the white, green, and orange cars sit 7 points ahead of Scandinavian Blitz and Regency Motors, who are tied.
Race 8 of the 2018-19 SBMRL season takes us to upstate New York and Watkins Glen. It’s the 5th different track the league has raced at in the United States.
Watkins Glen
The Glen, as it’s known, was purpose built for racing in the 1950’s after several years of racing on public roads prior to that. The track was designed by aerospace engineer Bill Milliken in conjunction with engineers from Cornell University. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was host to Forumula 1’s United States Grand Prix.
The track features a couple of configuration choices. The first is the Inner Loop chicane designed to slow speeds heading into the big bend of the Outer Loop. The second is the large boot section. The SBMRL has decided to include both the Inner Loop and the Boot.
The front straight isn’t particularly long and heads right into the aptly named first corner: The 90. The short straight then leads into a trio of corners known as the Esses. The Esses are spaced in such a way that drivers who get it right should be able to gradually accelerate through them on their way to the back straight.
The back straight features the Inner Loop chicane that will slow the field before the sweeping right hander known as the Outer Loop. Even with the chicane, the Back Straight is one of the longer straights on the track… don’t expect the high speeds of Magny-Cours here.
The Outer Loop leads into the Boot, which features a number of larger corners. None of them are as big as the Outer Loop itself, but the Chute, Toe, and Heel, are all perfectly comfortable corners. Someone will probably get this section wrong, but the race leaders will fly through here.
Coming out of the Boot is fairly easy left hander before a couple of shorter turns spit the field back onto the pit straight. It should be noted that pit entry comes almost immediately after the final corner, so anyone who’s struggled on the first lap will need to be careful to control their speed coming out of it.
Starting Grid
Whiplash extended his lead while the rest of the field got shuffled up. With Jaap and Delilah tied in the standings, Delilah will start closer to the front since she finished behind Jaap in France.
Sheila Dinkum (RM)
Launch Bornado (FR)
Rask Sjofar (SB)
Bubba McQueen (SR)
The Stig (SB)
Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
Whiplash (SR)
The order of pit selection is the same as last race, as the order of the team standings hasn’t changed. However, Sprite Racing has pulled out a significant lead over the other three, who are all within 5 points of each other:
Sprite Racing
Scandinavian Blitz
Force Ravenswood
Regency Motors
Watkins Glen is the home race for Whiplash and Launch.
