Category Archives: Announcements

The SBMRL has announced the provisional calendar for the 2017-18 season, although league offices have said that some circuits have not yet signed off on the paperwork.

According to the released schedule, three tracks from last year return.  Monaco, Austin, and Interlagos have all been confirmed for this year.  Austin will host the October race while Monaco retains the December slot.  Those two tracks will be the only ones to have hosted three SBMRL races.  Interlagos returns in the same month, January, that it hosted last year.  The other track to get a second SBMRL race is Buddh in India, which is back on the calendar after a one year hiatus, this time in February.

New circuits to the SBMRL include Suzuka, Melbourne, Shanghai, and Portland.  The latter of which will host the season opener in September.  SBMRL fans appear to be most excited for a chance to explore Suzuka, with its unique figure-8 layout.

The one race that has not been finalized is the season ending race in May.  Despite upheaval in the standings in last year’s final race, the race itself was marred by retirements and relatively little drama near the end.  As a result, the SBMRL is in talks with Barcelona, a move that would keep the season finale in Spain.  However, rumors suggest that other European tracks are eager to get in on the action, with Silverstone and Zandvoort as potential spoilers.

2017-18 Schedule*

September 16: Portland, USA
October 21: Austin, USA
November 18: Suzuka, Japan
December 16: Monte Carlo, Monaco
January 20: Interlagos, Brazil
February 17: Buddh, India
March 17: Melbourne, Australia
April 21: Shanghai, China
May 19: Barcelona, Spain^

* Exact dates subject to change
^ To be confirmed

The SBMRL schedule for 2016-17 has now been made available to the public.  As has been rumored, the league has expanded the schedule from 8 to 9 races, starting a month earlier.  There will be four repeat tracks from last year and 5 new ones on the docket.

The famed Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps has been tipped as the season opener.  A new track for the league, Spa is one of the most challenging tracks in the world.  The American Grand Prix held in Austin will repeat its October slot on the schedule.  The southeast Asian race moves from Singapore to Malaysia before a trip to Monaco, which moves up a month to December.

After the league’s first South American stop in Brazil, the league finishes with 4 races in Europe.  The German Grand Prix moves from Hockenheim to the Nurburgring.  Sochi precedes Mangy-Cours in France, with the season’s final race once again being held in Valencia.

2016-17 Schedule*

September 16: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
October 21: Austin, USA
November 18: Sepang, Malaysia
December 16: Monte Carlo, Monaco
January 20: Interlagos, Brazil
February 17: Nurburgring, Germany
March 17: Sochi, Russia
April 21: Magny-Cours, France
May 19: Valencia, Spain

*Exact dates subject to change

After three races it has become clear that there are some changes to the rules that could make the experience in the pits a bit more satisfying.

The various concerns to address are as follows:

• The order of the pits is always the same.  Although occasionally reversed the pattern is always Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, White.
• Quick pit stops have only a 50/50 chance of success.
• Quick pit stops don’t get you out of the pits very quickly.

To address the first issue of the pits always being in the same order, we will be implementing a pit selection process prior to the start of the race.  In reverse order of the starting grid, each team will be allowed to choose the pit stall pair of their choice.

With regards to quick pit stops, it has been decided that we’d like to make these more commonly successful.  As such, we will continue to roll the black 20-sided die to determine if a quick stop is successful or not.  Success will be deemed as rolling a 15 or lower, and the number of spaces to be moved will be the number rolled divided by 3.

Additionally, for review will be the rules governing passing in the pit lane.  Officially, passing is not allowed in the pit lane.  In our races, we have played it such that passing is permitted.  However, we may want to consider using the official rules, or even using it only in spaces past your pit stall.  The latter would allow drivers to get to their pits quickly, but allow those who pitted first to exit pit lane first.