Category Archives: Race Previews

Monza Preview

Posted on February 14, 2020 | Leave a comment

For the SBMRL’s February race, the league heads to Italy to race at the famed Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

Monza

It’s the first time that the SBMRL will race at one of racing’s most famous circuits. Only England’s Brooklands and the United States’ Indianapolis Motor Speedway predate Monza as purpose built motor racing circuits, with Monza being constructed in 1922. In its various forms, the track has hosted more Formula 1 Grand Prix than any other racing circuit. The banked oval is no longer in use.

The pit straight is the longest straight on the track, and leads into the Variante Del Rettifilo Tribune, or Rettifilo for short. Rettifilo slows the field down before the long looping Curva Grande that can be taken at full throttle. It heads into the Variante Della Roggia, which is a quick chicane that can be taken at speed if you can get your line right.

Almost no time at all is between Roggia and the Prima Curva Di Lesmo, which is followed immediately by the Seconda Curva di Lesmo. It’s functionally a wide hairpin that then spits the field out at speed for a nice long run into the track’s third chicane, the Variante Ascari.

The third sector is that chicane followed by a straight, the famous Curva Parbolica, and then the pit straight. Monza is the shortest circuit on the calendar, so there won’t be as many opportunities for cars at the back of the field to catch up or pass.

Starting Grid

The starting grid for Monza will be as follows:

  1. The Stig (SB)
  2. Mario (SM)
  3. Luigi (SM)
  4. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  5. Launch Bornado (FR)
  6. Whiplash (RM)
  7. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  8. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

The Stig and Mario are tied at the bottom of the standings, but Mario finished ahead of the Stig at Laguna Seca so the Stig gets pole.

Launch and Rask are currently tied on 63 points for 4th in the driver standings. With Rask winning the last race, Launch would normally get the higher grid position. However, Launch also caused the Stig to crash out of the race in Laguna Seca, resulting in a 1 slot gird penalty. The end result is that Rask will start 4th, and Launch 5th.

Pit selection is far less complicated, as there are no ties in the team standings:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Force Ravenswood
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Switch Motorsport

Home race bonuses at Monza will go to Mario and Luigi, who are both Italian.

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Laguna Seca Preview

Posted on January 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

The SBMRL has raced numerous times on American soil, but never in Monterey, California.

Laguna Seca

Built in 1957 around a dried out lake bed, Laguna Seca means dry lagoon in Spanish. The track plays host to a wide variety of racing classes, including various 4 wheeled and 2 wheeled ones. It has never hosted a Formula 1 race, having been deemed too remote for the desired crowds.

Running counter-clockwise, the circuit has a long run to the first corner, a sharp left-handed hairpin known as the Andretti Hairpin. A pair of short right handers take the track around a man-made pond, each separated by relatively short straights.

The second sector starts out similar tot he first but with the corners a bit more spread apart. An easy left hander followed by a sharper one lead into one of the longer straights. That straight is then followed by the corner that Monterey is most known for, the Corkscrew. The Corkscrew is a blind left-right chicane like bend that features a significant elevation drop. Drivers who get it right will feel their stomach in their throats as they dip down and hope they have their line right.

The final sector features a trio of corners, left-right-left, all separated by moderately short straights before spitting the field back onto the pit straight. Avoiding the pits can be advantageous due to the long straight, but whether or not the field can run a clean enough lap to not need fresh tires will remain to be seen.

Starting Grid

Mario’s difficult race in Monaco sees him “rewarded” with pole position. The Scandinavian Blitz pair follows, with Regency Motors making up the back of the grid.

  1. Mario (SM)
  2. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  3. The Stig (SB)
  4. Luigi (SM)
  5. Launch Bornado (FR)
  6. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  7. Whiplash (RM)
  8. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

Pit selection in order of team standings is as follows:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Force Ravenswood
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Switch Motorsport

No driver has Laguna Seca as their home race.

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Monaco Preview

Posted on December 12, 2019 | Leave a comment

Another December, another trip to Monaco for one of the league’s two evergreen tracks (Austin has also been raced at every season).

Monaco (D)

Monaco is, of course, nothing new to the SBMRL and nothing new to racing. It’s hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix since 1950 and racing on the famed streets dates back to the 1920’s.

The short start-finish straight always results in tight, wheel bumping action in Sainte Devote on the first lap. The straight that follows lets drivers open it up a bit… more so on the second lap for those who haven’t pitted.

The second sector starts slow and then gets fast in the tunnel. Coming out of the Loews hairpin complex with speed for the tunnel is key, and the Nouveau Chicane is a favorite passing spot.

The final sector is trickier than it looks at first glance. There isn’t a break anywhere. Hardly anything separates one corner from the next. The key here is the exit. If drivers can get Rascasse and Anthony Noghes right, they can fly down the start-finish straight.

Starting Grid

Monaco’s grid will see cars line up in the following order:

  1. Luigi (SM)
  2. Rask Sjofar (SB)
  3. The Stig (SB)
  4. Delilah Whipplefilter (FR)
  5. Mario (SM)
  6. Launch Bornado (FR)
  7. Whiplash (RM)
  8. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)

Luigi had best be on his form at the start. Despite starting on pole position, he’s got two excellent drivers around him in the Stig and Rask. The Scandinavian Blitz pair finished 1-2 here last year, and the Stig has taken 3 of the 4 wins to be had.

Pit selection in order of team standings looks like this:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Force Ravenswood
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Switch Motorsport

Delilah and the Stig both claim Monaco as their home race this year.

Track History

As mentioned above, the Stig has 3 wins and easily the most points. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, either, that Jaap and Launch follow him in that regard, with Jaap taking the remaining win. Whiplash is the only other driver on the grid with more than one start, and he has yet to finish higher than 5th. Rask, who starts 2nd this year, also started 2nd last year when he took 2nd place. In fact, the driver starting in 2nd has never finished lower than 4th.

SBMRL @ Monaco

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