![](\"http:\/\/www.rhinopeel.com\/sbmrl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_1799.jpg\")
<\/a>The long first straight<\/p><\/div>\n
The long straight between turns 1 and 2 meant high speeds.\u00a0 Ice and Captain Slow found their lines, leaving the Stig trailing.\u00a0 Jaronimus strained his engine but didn\u2019t lose position as a result.\u00a0 The two leader\u2019s suffered similar engine trouble on the approach to turn 3, Ferradura.\u00a0 Launch Bornado and Mater both were perfect in this section, joining the leaders at the front.\u00a0 In contrast, while Jaap was able to do some catching up through here, Jamonito found himself struggling to keep up.<\/p>\n
Throughout the second sector, there was a lot of shifting in the relative positions.\u00a0 Captain Slow who had been leading found himself falling back to 4th place, behind the Cobalt drivers and Mater.\u00a0 The Stig went from hanging with the top three to running in 9th.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Jockeying at the end of lap 1<\/p><\/div>\n
As the cars hit the final corner and plowed onto the long pit straight, Nero led Ice and Captain Slow by less than a car length.\u00a0 Mater\u2019s approach to that final corner left him wanting, allowing Jaap to pass him by.\u00a0 Launch and the Stig bumped in their efforts to pass the suddenly slow Red Bull car, leaving the Stig with minor body damage, and Jaronimus was hot on their heels.<\/p>\n
The three front runners dove for the pits and were soon followed by Jaap, Jaronimus, and the Stig.\u00a0 Launch took a temporary race lead by skipping the pits entirely, but he couldn\u2019t find the proper approach into turn one at that speed.\u00a0 Mater was caught up by the two backmarkers, Danger Wheel and Jamonito.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Tightly packed in the Senna ‘S’<\/p><\/div>\n
The entire field was tightly packed going into the second lap, but it was Nero who got the advantage.\u00a0 He carried speed from the Senna \u201cS\u201d onto the long straight to turn 2, but his tyres paid the price. \u00a0As he was pulling away, the Scandinavian Blitz cars battled with Ice and Regency Motors while the cars from the other two teams did their best to keep up.<\/p>\n
Nero’s engine suffered a hit into the third turn, forcing him to lose some speed there. \u00a0Behind him, the Stig couldn’t quite find his line in Turn 2 and had to slow as well. \u00a0In contrast, the yellow liveries of Jaap and Launch were smooth through the bend, with Ice just ahead of them. \u00a0The big move, however, was from Jamonito and Jaronimus. \u00a0Not only did they hit the second corner just right, but they sped past everyone and right on by in Ferradura. \u00a0This put them in spitting distance of Nero.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Osito on the move<\/p><\/div>\n
As the leaders charged forward, the first casualty of the race was Captain Slow. \u00a0On his efforts to get past Red Bull and keep up with the middle pack, he hit debris left on the track earlier in the race. He lost a wheel and was forced to retire.<\/p>\n
Danger Wheel and Mater pushed on and soon found themselves caught up with Jaap and the Stig. \u00a0At this point, Launch and Ice had pulled slightly ahead of that group and were doing their darnedest to keep up with Jamonito and Jaronimus. Instead, it would be the boys in green that made the next move. \u00a0With Nero nursing home some badly worn tyres, they managed to catch him in the final corner and then pass him on the pit straight.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Nero is caught!<\/p><\/div>\n
Jaronimus charged home with his teammate close behind him. \u00a0Nero, on the other hand, was suddenly finding himself having to watch out for Launch in his mirrors. \u00a0 \u00a0Fighting to avoid losing out on a podium after having been so far ahead earlier in the lap, his Cobalt engine gave out and he was forced to pull off the track with the finish line in sight. \u00a0Launch cruised home uncontested.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Stig crashes out<\/p><\/div>\n
That left the other five cars still on the track all with a shot at 4th place. \u00a0Ice took the last corner first, but was slow through it. \u00a0Jaap found himself in a similar place. \u00a0Mater had speed and carried it through onto the straight. \u00a0The Stig attempted\u00a0to do the same, but was unfortunately blocked off by the rest of the traffic already in the corner. \u00a0He carried a bit too much speed through the corner and clipped the back of Mater, sending him off the track. \u00a0Danger Wheel was close behind and narrowly missed crashing into him.<\/p>\n
From there, it was simply a drag race to the finish. \u00a0Danger Wheel had the speed to scoot past his teammate, while Ice wasn’t quite up to the task of keeping pace. \u00a0With poor judgement through the final corner slowing him down, Jaap was the last to cross the line, but at least he could be thankful that he crossed it.<\/p>\n
Final Results<\/h3>\n
| Driver<\/th>\n | Start<\/th>\n | Lap<\/th>\n | Finish<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)<\/td>\n | 9<\/td>\n | 7<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jamonito del Verde (ORC)<\/td>\n | 7<\/td>\n | 9<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Launch Bornado (RM)<\/td>\n | 8<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Danger Wheel\u00a0(RB)<\/td>\n | 6<\/td>\n | 10<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Mater (RB)<\/td>\n | 5<\/td>\n | 8<\/td>\n | 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ice\u00a0(CO)<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n | 5<\/td>\n | 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jaap Snellrijder (RM)<\/td>\n | 10<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Nero (CO)<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | 8, dnf<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| The Stig (SB)<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n | 6<\/td>\n | 9, dnf<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Captain Slow (SB)<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n | 10, dnf<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Jaronimus’ victory is his second in the past three races and puts him solidly in front of Jaap at the top of the driver’s standings. \u00a0Jamonito’s runner up finish has him up to 3rd place and marks the third time in the last four races that he’s stood on the second podium step. \u00a0Launch rounds out the podium for the second time in three races as well.<\/p>\n At the other end of the grid, Jaap had his worst finish ever, after suffering a miserable second lap. \u00a0However, that isn’t nearly as troubling as the trio of Nero, the Stig, and Captain Slow. \u00a0All three failed to complete the race for the second consecutive race.<\/p>\n Also of note for this race was the amount of passing that took place. \u00a0Mater, who finished in 5th place, actually held every position, 1 to 10, at some point. \u00a0Launch and the Stig were nearly as diverse. \u00a0Both drivers held all positions except 10th. \u00a0Seven different drivers all held the lead, even if only briefly, and that includes all three of the cars that didn’t finish.<\/p>\n At the team level, Osito Racing Company recorded the SBMRL’s second 1-2 finish to take back the team standings lead. \u00a0Cobalt is the only other team to have taken the top two steps, accomplishing that at Sebring last year. \u00a0Unfortunately, their struggles this year leave them with about half the points of ORC, and Scandinavian Blitz is even further behind.<\/p>\n RaceGallery<\/h3>\n\n\t\t |