Category Archives: Race Previews

Barcelona Preview

Posted on May 26, 2018 | Leave a comment

After a long season, the 2017-18 SBMRL season will wrap up the calendar with a trip to Spain for Barcelona’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.  Built in 1991 and hosting Grand Prix’s as early as that year, the track has become the offseason winter testing track for Formula 1.

Barcelona

Barcelona is a track that features a little bit of everything, and the pit straight is extremely long.  The start-finish line is set well back from the first corner, meaning that cars will have plenty of time to get up to speed before they hit it.  The first corner, Elf, is a right-left combination that wouldn’t pose too much trouble if the field came at it slower and gave each other some space.  That’s unlikely to occur, and coming out of it with speed will be key to getting out front early.

The Renault bend can be taken at full throttle into Repsol, which will only cause trouble for those completely out of whack.  The combination of Seat, Wurth, and Campsa are spaced apart in such a way as to catch drivers between gears, unable to develop a strong rhythm.

That will lead into the third sector, which is the tightest of the three.  La Caixa is preceded by a moderately long straight.  Getting it right is key to the flow through here.  The third sector can be run pretty easily in clear conditions, but if the field gets bunch here, someone may get blocked off the racing line and suffer as a result.  Drivers will be particularly keen to have a clean first lap and a strong push onto the long pit straight so they can be prepared for lap 2.

Starting Grid

Captain Slow will lead the grid for the 5th time this season, with Stevie alongside.  The rest of the field gets shuffled a bit until you reach the Stig at the back.

  1. Captain Slow (SB)
  2. Stevie Wondertyres (SR)
  3. Sheila Dinkum (RM)
  4. Bubba McQueen (FR)
  5. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  6. Launch Bornado (FR)
  7. Whiplash (SR)
  8. The Stig (SB)

Pit selection also gets mixed up after Shanghai’s results:

  1. Force Ravenswood
  2. Scandinavian Blitz
  3. Regency Motors
  4. Sprite Racing

The Stig and Jaap will each get the advantage of Barcelona as their home race.

Championship outlook

The Stig’s podium in Shanghai has left him 12 points ahead of Whiplash in the driver standings.  He can guarantee himself the title with another podium finish in Spain.  At this point, only Whiplash or Launch Bornado have the points to overtake him, and Launch will need to win the race and hope the Stig finishes near the bottom.  Captain Slow sits 7 points behind Stevie.  The two will be fighting to avoid the ignominy of finishing last.

The team standings have never been tighter and it’s entirely possible that whoever wins the race will win the title for their team as well.  Force Ravenswood is 7 points up on Scandinavian Blitz, so they have the lead at the moment.  However, Regency Motors and Sprite Racing are just 2 and 3 points further adrift.  With just 12 points separating all four teams, both cars will be key to bringing home the championship.

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Shanghai Preview

Posted on April 12, 2018 | Leave a comment

For the 8th round of the 2017-18 SBMRL season, the league’s first visit to China is in the cards.  Engineers first broke ground on Shanghai International Circuit in 2003 and the track was already hosting Formula 1 the following year.  It has played host to the Chinese Grand Prix every year since.

The layout of the track was inspired by the Chinese character shang, which means above or ascend.  The start-finish sits just past the midpoint of the lengthy pit straight, meaning that cars will have plenty of time to gather speed before the first corner.  However, the first corner is a long, double apex bend that first goes right and then left.  The entire field will be bunched up pretty tightly through here on the first lap.  Transition from the first to second sectors occurs on the dogleg straight leading into Turn 2.

Turn 2 is another slow corner, sharply routing the field back towards the paddock and it’s likely to be a trouble spot for a number of drivers.  The rest of the second sector is the most forgiving part of the course.  A flowing left leads into Turn 3, which is followed by Turn 4.  There will be enough time to gather speed for the tricky third sector.

The third sector is the most stark.  It opens with Turn 5, which is a mirror image of Turn 1.  The trick here will be carrying enough speed out of the corner to make the best use of the long back straight that follows it.  At nearly double the length of the pit straight it’s one of the highlights of the track.  At the far end is a tight hairpin that will see drivers slamming on the brakes.  The circuit then closes out with one last quick left that leads back on to the pit straight.  Just enough to possibly throw someone off their rhythm as they look to gear up for the next lap.

Expect Shanghai to be incredibly difficult on the first go round, with lots of chances to make a mess of it.  That said, the circuit is undoubtedly charming and a joy to drive.

Starting Grid

The front and back row remain the same from Australia, but the middle two rows got shuffled around a bit.

  1. Captain Slow (SB)
  2. Stevie Wondertyres (SR)
  3. Whiplash (SR)
  4. Bubba McQueen (FR)
  5. Sheila Dinkum (RM)
  6. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  7. Launch Bornado (FR)
  8. The Stig (SB)

As always, pit selection is in order of team standings, which simply results in this:

  1. Regency Motors
  2. Force Ravenswood
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Sprite Racing

No driver has Shanghai as their home race.

Championship outlook

With only 10 points separating first and second in the driver standings, there is still a lot of room for change at the top.  Whiplash, who’s back in 6th place, is only 21 points out of first place.  Should he win in China, he can move up as high as 2nd place if everyone else falls in line.  Heck, from a pure mathematical standpoint, only Captain Slow has been eliminated from the championship.

The Stig, who currently sits at the top, has both the least and most amount of work to do.  The two previous SBMRL champions have him squarely in their sights, and a trio of rookies are wishin striking distance as well.  The Stig needs the fewest points to lock up the title, but he’ll have to do it from the farthest back.

From a team standpoint, it’s clearly going to go down to the wire.  Regency Motors and Force Ravenswood are only a point apart, and Scandinavian Blitz is close enough to catch them both.  They’ll need less Melbourne and more Monaco to pull that off, though.

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Melbourne Preview

Posted on March 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

The final third of the season gets underway with the traditional opening round of the Formula 1 season, Melbourne, Australia.  Located in Albert Park, the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit is a street circuit that has hosted motor races as far back as the early 1950’s.  Formula 1 began racing there in 1996.  This will be the first time the SBMRL races here.

Melbourne

The confines of the city and the contour of the lake contribute to the cramped feeling of the track, but skilled drivers will be able to open it up in the second half.  The pit straight is short, there aren’t any long straights here, and leads into the Jones/Brabham corner.  This shouldn’t cause much trouble, but the Whiteford corner following it will certainly keep speeds in check.

The second sector starts a series of spaced out simple corners, including a right hander around the marina and the Clark Chicane.  This is were speed can be gained and the field will spread out a bit.  A smooth run through here is essential to a good finish.

Sector three has the Waite and Ascari corners, more of the same from the previous sector.  However, it finishes up with the long Stewart-Senna-Prost combination.  This part of the track can be taken slow or slower, and carrying speed onto the pit straight for the next lap will be difficult.

Overall, Melbourne is a relatively short track that won’t see cars getting up to their top speeds often.  Instead, deft handling and gear shifting will be rewarded.

Starting Grid

The top three on the grid start from the exact same slot that they started in last time out.  The Stig’s dominance over the last three races leave him at the opposite end.  In between, the 3-way tie for 2nd place in the standings is broken in reverse order of finish in India.  That leaves the following:

  1. Captain Slow (SB)
  2. Stevie Wondertyres (SR)
  3. Jaap Snellrijder (RM)
  4. Whiplash (SR)
  5. Sheila Dinkum (RM)
  6. Bubba McQueen (FR)
  7. Launch Bornado (FR)
  8. The Stig (SB)

As always, pit selection is in order of team standings, which simply results in this:

  1. Force Ravenswood
  2. Regency Motors
  3. Scandinavian Blitz
  4. Sprite Racing

Both Launch Bornado and Sheila Dinkum come from Australia, making it the home race for both drivers.

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