Category Archives: Race Previews

Nurburgring Preview

Posted on February 16, 2017 | Leave a comment

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.

  1. Nero (CO)
  2. The Stig (SB)
  3. Captain Slow (SB)
  4. Ice (CO)
  5. Mater (RB)
  6. Danger Wheel (RB)
  7. Launch Bornado (RM)
  8. Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
  9. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  10. 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.

  1. Osito Racing Company
  2. Regency Motors
  3. Red Bull
  4. Cobalt
  5. 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.

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Brazil Preview

Posted on January 7, 2017 | Leave a comment

The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, commonly known as Interlagos, will be our host for the 5th SBMRL race this season.  The track was built in Sao Paolo and inaugurated in May of 1940, with the first Formula 1 Championshiop Grand Prix being held in 1973 and won by local Emerson Fittipaldi.  Sao Paolo is also the birthplace of Ayrton Senna and current driver Felipe Massa.

10-interlagos

The purpose built Brazillian circuit will be a sharp departure from our most recent outing in Monaco.  In contrast to the cramped city streets and sharp turns, Interlagos features long, wide straights and big, sweeping curves.

The starting grid is set back from the first corner, the Senna ‘S’, which means that there will be plenty of time for cars to get up to speed before they have to slam on the brakes for the left handed entry into the ‘S’.  Getting the correct entry to this corner is significant as coming out of it is an extremely long sweeping curve and straight.  Cars will be tempted into 6th gear here.  The risk of coming up short on the Descida do Lago corner at the end of it will come into play, but it’s also easy to overshoot.

The run up to Ferradura, the third corner, is about half the distance of the previous straight but still not short.  In comparison, it’s nearly as long as Monaco’s tunnel straight.  A mistake here, though, isn’t quite as costly as at the previous bend.  The remainder of the second sector is the more technical infield section of the track, with tight corners and extremely short straights between them.  It’s here that the field will look a lot more compressed than may actually be the case, particularly by the second lap.

The third sector is simply the final Juncao corner followed by the sweeping bends that lead back to the pit straight.  There’s no need for caution here and it’ll be full throttle the rest of the way.  Expect some particularly tight finishes for any cars that come drag racing at the end.

Overall, Interlagos is an extremely fast, yet unforgiving track.  There are few opportunities to catch up once falling behind other than hoping for a rival’s mistake.  Any driver who finds themselves shifting below 4th gear in the wrong spot will be at a disadvantage, and even that isn’t fast enough in many places.  Expect a lot of tyre wear and gear box abuse.  While unlikely, a clean first lap will put a car in superb position for lap 2, as those in the pits will be watching the others fly by.

Starting Grid

A disappointing first half of the season has Nero in last place and the bittersweet joy of starting on pole position for the 3rd consecutive race.  Interlagos, however, is a track with similar characteristics to Sebring, where he recorded his first victory last year, so perhaps this is his chance to turn things around.  He’ll be joined in the front row by the Stig, and then their respective teammates will make up row 2.  Despite being currently tied for 4th in the standings, Danger Wheel gets the qualifying nod ahead of Jamonito del Verde due to having finished behind him in Monaco.  The allows Red Bull to lock out row 3.

  1. Nero (CO)
  2. The Stig (SB)
  3. Captain Slow (SB)
  4. Ice (CO)
  5. Mater (RB)
  6. Danger Wheel (RB)
  7. Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
  8. Launch Bornado (RM)
  9. Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)
  10. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

Pit selection is reverse order of average starting position, followed by reverse order of team standings.  Since Cobalt and Scandinavian Blitz are tied in both categories, the tie will be broken by roll of the black die on race day.

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Osito Racing Company
  3. Red Bull
  4. Cobalt/Scandinavian Blitz
  5. Cobalt/Scandinavian Blitz

Cobalt and Scandinavian Blitz each need a strong showing at Interlagos in order to close the gap with the front running teams.  However, even if everyone finishes in starting grid order, they’ll still trail the others with the Nurburgring on the horizon.  First things first, though, they’ll need to do well in Brazil.

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Monaco Preview

Posted on December 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

Our visit to Monaco this year moves forward a month to December after last year’s race was held in January.  Cars will run along the picturesque Monte Carlo harbor and through some of the tightest street corners on the calendar.

Monaco

The starting grid takes up most of the pit straight and leads into an easy right hander before one of the longer straights of the course.  This leads to the forgiving Massenet corner followed by the second Casino corner.  Overall, the first sector is the easiest section of the track, but that also means that getting it wrong through here is simply unacceptable.

The second sector is highlighted by the Loews hairpin and the tunnel straight.  There are many ways to manage the hairpin and most of them are wrong.  The key to this part of the track is gathering enough speed for the tunnel, which represents the longest straight of the track.  Managing the hairpin is key to that approach.  The Tabac corner will slow the field down again but getting there involves properly navigating the chicane.  This is one of the last good spots for passing due to the technical nature of sector three.

The last sector doesn’t feature any long straights and will see the field slow down tremendously.  There will be a high potential for bumping here as the field gets compressed.  The Anthony Noghes corner, last on the track, finishes so close to the pit entry that cars with too much speed may have no option to get into the pits.  For cars that have had a good run through the first lap, that’s not an entirely bad option.

Last year’s race saw The Stig start from pole and lose that spot almost immediately.  That left Ice and Captain Slow battling for the lead most of the race, only to see The Stig come from behind and win it in the second half of lap 2.  Launch Bornado took 2nd and Ice was 3rd.  Jaap and Mater both opted to forego the pits, with Jaap able to use that tactic to pass 4 cars and ultimately finishing in 4th place.  Incidentally, Jaap’s drop from 3rd to 4th over the 2nd lap is, to date, the only time Jaap has lost position over the course of a lap.  As Monaco is the closest race to Italy this season, this will be Jaronimus’ home race.

Starting Grid

The starting grid sees Nero on pole for the second straight race this year.  Jamonito’s crash in Malaysia puts him second, while his teammate’s victory puts Jaronimus last on the grid.  Scandinavian Blitz will be looking for big points having both the Stig and Captain Slow in the top 5.  Regency Motors occupies two of the 3 bottom slots.

  1. Nero (CO)
  2. Jamonito del Verde (ORC)
  3. The Stig (SB)
  4. Danger Wheel (RB)
  5. Captain Slow (SB)
  6. Ice (CO)
  7. Mater (RB)
  8. Launch Bornado (RM)
  9. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  10. Jaronimus Maximus (ORC)

Pit selection is the reverse order of average starting position for each team’s cars.  Usually, that simply comes down to reverse order of team standings, but with the current tie at the top, it makes for a handy tie breaker between Osito Racing Company and Regency Motors.

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Osito Racing Company
  3. Red Bull
  4. Scandinavian Blitz
  5. Cobalt

Cobalt is in dire need of a strong result to avoid falling farther behind the other teams.  Regency Motors and Osito Racing Company will be vying to see who can take command of the team standings, with Jamonito poised near the front of the grid to aid in that quest.

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