Zeltweg, Austria is home of the Red Bull Ring. Originally built in 1969 and known as the Österreichring, it was a purpose built track that replaced and airfield circuit. A renovation in the 1990’s resulted in it being renamed the A1-ring, but when the Formula 1 contract for an Austrian Grand Prix was terminated in the early 2000’s, it was bought by Red Bull. Eventually, they rebuilt it and Formula 1 returned.
The SBMRL has never raced in Austria, so this will be a new experience for all of the teams on the grid.
Zeltweg is characterized by a combination of long straights and very short straights with very little in terms of medium lengths. The first sector consists of just the pit straight, XXXXXX Kurve, now called the Nikki Lauda Turn, and the straight that follows. The starting grid is set a fair amount back from the first turn, so there isn’t much of a grid advantage starting at the front. Expect a lot of congestion trying to get through that first bend.
The Remus Kurve at the end of the straight will slow down a field eager to maintain speed. This one will definitely benefit from slow in-fast out, but it really all comes down to getting the timing just right in order to slough off as little speed as possible.
The longest straight of the circuit leads into the Rauch Kurve that can catch you out if you’re not careful. This where the short, technical portion of the track begins, as the next corner comes soon after and is even tighter to get through. It’s possibly a good place to abuse the tires a bit. The large Lauda Kurve that follows won’t be much of an issue at already reduced speeds, and that will wrap up the second sector.
The first part of the third sector doesn’t look much different than what was just experience in the second. A left-right combination that shouldn’t trouble the field much. The one medium length straight on the circuit then leads to the final two corners. This is a place that will catch people out. The final two corners lead into the pit straight, which can be taken at speed if those corners work out right. Get off rhythm and others will be flying by.
Starting Grid
As always, the starting grid for Road Atlanta will be the reverse order of the driver standings. A number of ties in the standings were broken in Argentina, so no need for any tie breakers this time out:
- Parker Lacroix (SB)
- Max (SM)
- Magnus Rasksen (SB)*
- Ramen Acuna Jr (MnS)*
- Felix (SM)
- Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FP)
- Orzo Albies (MnS)*+
- Liu S. Amil X (FP)*+
- Stoot van Vaart (RM)
- Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)
Pit selection will be in order of team standings.
- Regency Motors
- Fir Splays
- Mac ‘N Speed
- Switch Motorsports
- Scandinavian Blitz
* Magnus starts ahead of Ramen, and Orzo ahead of Liu due to the tie breaker of reverse of last race finish.
+ Orzo and Liu have Zeltweg as their home race, providing them each with a slight advantage.
Race Outlook
With 3 races to go, we’re into the final third of the season. Pieter is looking like he’s going to be hard to catch. Not just because he’s got 14 point and 28 point leads over 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, but because he hasn’t finished lower than 6th yet. Since the strong start to the year from Pieter and Stoot, the remainder of the field has traded strong races, resulting in a tight group of 4 drivers, just 4 points between them. That group consists of Orzo, Liu, Mai, and Felix, any of whom could move into second place with a win and a poor showing from Stoot.
The last four drivers on the grid, Magnus, Ramen, Max, and Parker aren’t that far behind. Parker’s only 20 points behind Orzo and Liu, which seems like a lot but is something that can be made up. Less than 10 points separate these four drivers. If any of them can translate their grid position to a high finish, they’ll be right back in the thick of things.
The team standings have opened up a bit. Regency Motors maintains a healthy lead at the top and are looking hard to catch. The remainder of the field was once within 10 points top to bottom, and now have about 10 points between each of the teams. Even that slight increase in spread makes it harder for a team to make a big move, but there’s still plenty of time. Scandinavian Blitz, with two drivers in the top three grid positions, will be looking for a big result in Austria.