The final round of the 2016-17 SBMRL season takes us, once again, to Valencia, Spain. The street circuit situated around the harbor last hosted a Formula 1 grand prix in 2012, but the SBMRL hasn’t abandoned it yet, finishing up each season there.
Valencia
A lap around the Valencia Street Circuit is nothing like the the long open course of Magny-Cours. Instead, the circuit opens with the tight right hander of Principal 1, which is immediately followed by Veles e Vents. There’s little speed to be gained here, which is unfortunate as a bit of speed is exactly what’s needed to transition smoothly into Malvarosa. There are a few options for managing this section of the track and none of them are particularly appealing.
Malvarosa will slow the field down before spitting them out onto the bridge straight, the longest of the circuit. The best chance to open things up a bit is then frustrated by the tricky Nazaret corner at the far end. It’s a corner that really demands some speed both on entry and exit, and that’s not an easy combination to pull off.
The final sector features the long Grao corner and the short Principal 2. Combined with the pit straight and Principal 1, this part of the track is the only spot to put together a nice rhythm and feel like things are really clicking, but it’ll almost certainly be broken up by people diving for the pits. There simply aren’t any easy lines around Valencia, and that’s one of the big appeals of the track. It’s really hard to pull away and stay ahead, so expect a tight race.
Last year’s race saw Nero catch the Stig in the final corner to cement a dramatic win. The only thing preventing that from pulling him up into 2nd place in the driver standings was Launch finishing in 3rd place. The race was marked by passing. The aforementioned pass by Nero was the most notable, but there were also great passes by Captain Slow, who slipstreamed around Danger Wheel on his way across the finish line, and Jaap, who passed three cars in the final sector. The one team that didn’t have a positive ending was the pair of Mater and Danger Wheel, who were on the receiving end of those passes.
Starting Grid
The cars line up in reverse order of the current driver standings, but with a pair of ties, tie breaker goes to the car that finished further back in France. That means Nero gets pole position over Captain Slow, and Launch Bornado is forced to line up next to his teammate on the back row of the grid. This will be Nero’s 6th start from pole this season, as he simply hasn’t been able to dig himself out of the hole of 3 DNF’s in the first 5 races.
- Nero (CO)
- Captain Slow (SB)
- The Stig (SB)
- Ice (CO)
- Mater (RB)
- Danger Wheel (RB)
- Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
- Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)
- Launch Bornado (RM)
- Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
Pit selection is reverse order of average starting grid position, which is easy for the first three teams given that they each have a grid row to themselves. The tie for Scandinavian Blitz and Cobalt is broken by reverse order of team standings, giving the slight edge to the boys in red.
- Regency Motors
- Osito Racing Company
- Red Bull
- Scandinavian Blitz
- Cobalt
Spanish driver Jamonito del Verde gets the home race bonus for this round of the championship, and given how tight the standings are, it can’t come at a better time. Incidentally, he is the only driver on the grid to finish ahead of his teammate more often than not but be lower in the standings. He’s also the only remaining driver on the grid without a victory to his credit.
Final Race Outlook
As previously stated, the standings could scarcely be tighter at the top or the bottom. Any of the four Regency Motors or Osito Racing Company drivers could come away with the driver’s championship. Unlike last year when he had locked up the title prior to Valencia, Jaap has just a 2 point lead over Jaronimus and Launch, with Jamonito sitting 9 points back. Those margins are nothing more than a whisker, and it’s entirely possible we’ll have a tie when all is said and done.
Just a bit off the pace, 13 and 14 points behind Jamonito, are Danger Wheel and Mater, respectively. Either could insert themselves into the top 4 with a victory and some misfortune for their opponents. Danger Wheel actually has a mathematical chance at the title, but things would have to align perfectly.
At the bottom of the grid, Nero and Ice find themselves looking for redemption while the Stig and Captain Slow seek respect. None of them are in the running for anything more than a participation ribbon, but all hope to avoid the ignominy of finishing last.
Regency Motors has a slight edge in the team standings, meaning as long as they can keep up with the green liveried Osito cars, they should be able to bring it home. Red Bull will hope for more, but a solid middle of the pack finish will lock up the 3rd place that they’ve been sitting in for much of the year. It’ll take a minor miracle to vault Scandinavian Blitz into 3rd place, everything would have to go right for them with both Cobalt and Red Bull struggling. Cobalt is slightly better off, but have the advantage that they’re only trying to jump over one team.