January brought the SBMRL to Road Atlanta for the first time in league history. Excitement was high after Orzo’s victory in Argentina had broken Regency Motors’ run. Parker’s late race engine failure left him resolute to have a better outcome this time around.
P1 – Parker Lacroix (SB)
P2 – Max (SM)
P3 – Ramen Acuna Jr (MnS)
P4 – Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FP)
P5 – Felix (SM)
P6 – Liu S. Amil X (FP)
P7 – Orzo Albies (MnS)
P8 – Magnus Rasksen (SB)
P9 – Stoot van Vaart (RM)
P10 – Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)
As the lights went out and the cars pulled away, the short run up to the first corner gave an immediate edge to the front row cars of Parker and Max. Ramen also pulled away well, with the rest of the field getting all bunched up behind them. Despite a lot of jostling for position in the first sector, no one was really able to gain any sort of real advantage.
The second sector saw Parker and Ramen pull a bit ahead as Max fell back in with the rest of the field. Mai gradually emerged as one of the stronger contenders among them. Pieter also found speed down the back straight, setting himself up for a strong third sector on the first lap.
As Parker and Ramen went into the pits for fresh tires, Pieter sat in 3rd place, just coming around the final bend. Most of the rest of the field was still navigating Turn 5, with all but Liu and Magnus with a few car lengths of each other. Magnus was well back, even of Liu, and having what can only be described as a dreadful first lap.
The second lap began with a minor bump between our front runners. Ramen’s path through Turn 1 caught Parker off guard and he suffered a bit of minor front wing damage, potentially compromising the rest of his lap.
Felix, who was near the back of the trailing pack, was the first driver to choose not to pit in hopes of getting a leg up on the group. The gamble did pay off, as he was able to form a smaller challenging pack with Pieter and Orzo.
The field really was spreading out by this point. Front to back, Ramen and Parker were in Turn 3 as Magnus was still in the pit lane, but others were also struggling to keep up. Shoot and Liu, in particular were falling behind the the group.
Coming out of Turn 4, Ramon and Parker were starting to get reeled in by Orzo and Felix. Max and Pieter were just a little behind them, with Stoot and Mai trying to catch up. Ramen, however, found his speed in the higher gears giving himself a slight advantage. Parker was caught up by Orzo on the back straight, although Felix couldn’t quite keep up. Peter and Mai were able to find speed, too, leaving Stoot behind with Liu beginning to press him for position.
The final corner was where the winner would be decided. Ramen took the inside line, but suffered minor body damage as Parker tried to press him from the outside. The two raced side by side down the finish straight with next to nothing between them. In the end, Ramen, who had led since the middle of the first lap, found himself just eked out by Parker, who took home a thrilling win with that last second pass.
It’s at this point that it should be noted what a tremendous second lap that Max was putting together. Max had been running down in 7th early in the lap, but a good back straight and finding the perfect rhythm in the corners had him neck and neck with Orzo in the final turn. Just like Parker and Ramen before them, the difference between Max and Orzo would be who could find speed out of the final bend. Once again, it was the Mac ’N Speed driver who lost out to a last second pass from a rival.
The next group to charge hard toward the finish was the trio of Mai, Pieter, and Felix. They finished in the order just listed, all of them finding similar speed around the final corner and finishing with just fractions of a second between the three of them.
Stoot had a rough second and third sector, eventually being reeled in by Liu. Magnus finished last in a performance he’ll be happy to put behind him.
Final Results
| Driver | Start | Lap | Finish | |
| Parker Lacroix (SB) | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Ramen Acuna Jr. (MnS) | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| Max (SM) | 2 | 6 | 3 | |
| Orzo Albies (MnS) | 4 | 7 | 4 | |
| Liu S. Amil X (FS) | 6 | 5 | 5 | |
| Pieter Pieperpoes (RM) | 10 | 3 | 6 | |
| Felix (SM) | 5 | 4 | 7 | |
| Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FS) | 4 | 9 | 8 | |
| Stoot van Vaart (RM) | 9 | 8 | 9 | |
| Magnus Rasksen (SB) | 8 | 10 | 10 | |
The win for Parker was a joyous turnaround after Argentina’s engine blow out, and gives him two races in a row where he’s performed extremely well. It’s a shame he wasn’t rewarded for it last time out. It’s also the first win of the year for Scandinavian Blitz.
Ramen’s 2nd place after leading a huge part of the race is slightly disappointing for that reason, but it’s a great result for him as his first podium. He certainly deserved it. Max’s 3rd place is also his first podium of the year. Together, our three podium finishers were also the cars that started top 3 on the grid, the first time that has happened this year.
Pieter remains atop the driver standings, increasing his lead over Stoot slightly. Orzo’s fourth pace finish puts him up in 3rd, with Magnus falling down a spot. At the other end of the standings, Mai’s 8th place finish has him dropping down to last place.
For the first time this year, Regency Motors scored the fewest points. Magnus’s struggles means that Scandinavian Blitz were actually outscored by Mac ‘N Speed despite Parker’s win. The pasta powered performance moves their team up to 2nd in the team standings. Switch Motorsports scored 21 points to tie up with Firs Splays at the back end of the standings.
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