Last season, the SBMRL race in Germany at Hockenheim, but this year the event moves from there to the Nurburgring.
Originally built in the 1920’s the Nurburgring is best known for the Nordschleife, which orginally was over 28 km long. It has since been shortened significantly, but still proved too dangerous for the fastest cars in motorsport. Formula 1 grand prix racing ended on that course in the 1970’s after Nikki Lauda nearly lost his life there. Instead, the GP-Strecke was built and designed with modern F1 in mind, and that is the course that we will race.
The run up from the pit straight isn’t particularly long before heading into the slow right-left combination of the Castrol S. Cars toward the back of the grid will be at a severe disadvantage heading into this corner as the temptation to catch up with the front runners early on will likely lead to some hard braking on approach. Those at the front will hope to gain an early lead and avoid the mess behind them.
A short straight leads into the second corner, a short left hander, which is then followed very quickly by another sharp right, the Ford Kurve. There is then a moderate straight followed by the Dunlop hairpin. This second sector will have some of the better opportunities for overtaking so getting the right line through this area will be key. The kink on the way to the RTL Kurve can almost be ignored, but only if in the right gear and without traffic in the way.
Sector three starts just after the Bit Kurve and opens with the longest straight on the course followed by the tricky Veedol S and Coca-Cola Kurve. High speeds into this last series of corners will certainly make coming out of them at pace even more challenging.
Overall, the Nurburgring will be quite a different experience than Interlagos was. There aren’t any particularly long straights which will allow drivers to open it up. Instead, the course will require technical agility in managing the ebb and flow of corner and straight combinations. Whether or not this means the field will stay tightly compressed or spread out remains to be seen. While it appears that passing opportunities will be hard to come by, there are some key spots where a mistake will likely mean losing several positions.
Starting Grid
The top 6 positions on the grid remain unchanged from Brazil in large part due to the bottom three drivers in the standings all failing to complete the race. The bottom four see the Osito Racing Company and Regency Motors drivers swap slots. In practice, this probably won’t mean much since they’ll still be in the same row. Launch Bornado and Jamonito del Verde are the only two current drivers never to have won a race, and will start alongside each other.
- Nero (CO)
- The Stig (SB)
- Captain Slow (SB)
- Ice (CO)
- Mater (RB)
- Danger Wheel (RB)
- Launch Bornado (RM)
- Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
- Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
- Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)
As there is no race in Finland, The Stig opted for Germany as his home race this year, so he’ll have a slight advantage in addition to starting on the front row.
Osito Racing Company taking over the top slot of the team standings means they get first choice of pits. Scandinavian Blitz and Cobalt are no longer tied in the standings, which breaks the tie for average start position between the two teams.
- Osito Racing Company
- Regency Motors
- Red Bull
- Cobalt
- Scandinavian Blitz
Nurburgring should favor those at the front of the grid, so this will be a good opportunity for Scandinavian Blitz and Cobalt to try to crawl back into the hunt. Red Bull have been consistently the 3rd best team, but Regency Motors and Osito will be charging hard from the back of the grid.