The SBMRL raced at Buddh International Circuit in February, in what was the league’s 3rd visit to the track in India. The February race would make it two thirds of the season complete. While Pieter entered the race still comfortably in first place, the rest of the standings were still very close.
Here’s how the drivers lined up:
P1 – Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FP)
P2 – Felix (SM)
P3 – Parker Lacroix (SB)
P4 – Max (SM)
P5 – Ramen Acuna Jr (MnS)
P6 – Liu S. Amil X (FP)
P7 – Magnus Rasksen (SB)
P8 – Orzo Albies (MnS)
P9 – Stoot van Vaart (RM)
P10 – Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)
As the lights went out and the cars raced to through the first bend, Parker, Mail, and Felix established an early leading pack. Stoot found early congestion to be to his benefit, as he was able to move up a few places from the back of the grid, insering himself in amongst those who started well ahead of him.
The long back straight between Turns 2 and 3 would be where things started to shake up a bit. Felix was the first one to find a line for Turn 3, and with the rest of the field jockeying for position behind him. Too many cars for too little space on the track made for a field that was literally racing wheel to wheel and bumper to bumper. Only Felix and Orza avoided the fray, although Orzo certainly would’ve liked to have been in there, too.
The technical curves that make up much of the second sector began to spread the field out a bit. Felix maintained his lead, but it was here that Fir Splays and Regency Motors began to form a challenger group. Mai was at the head of it, and Pieter and fought his way all the way up to run as high as 3rd. The trailing group consisted of the rest of the field, with Orzo having been able to join up with them.
The transition between Turn 6 and Turn 7 are where things started to shift at the front. Mai found a rhythm that Felix was unable to defend against. Pieter pulled just ahead of Liu and Stoot, and would find himself battling with Felix for 2nd position by the end of the lap.
Mai had run a clean first lap, sparing his tires enough that he made the decision to skip the pits and fly down the pit straight. The decision worked out tremendously for him as he established a significant lead to start the second lap.
Pieter’s Regency Motors pit crew changed his tires in record time, sending him on his way fast enough that he came out of the pits ahead of Felix, who did not pit. The two would start the second lap as the only ones with any real shot at closing the gap to Mai. The rest of the field all opted to pit, opening up a gap between them and the front runners.
As Mai finished out the first sector of his second lap, those at the back were just coming out of their pit stops. At this point, Pieter was up in second place having gained a small edge on Felix. Stoot was well back, but running in fourth, followed by Magnus and Liu. Parker, Ramen, Max, and Orzo made up the backmarkers.
The top three cars, Mai, Pieter, and Felix, ran comfortably spaced out in that order through the second sector, but there was a fair amount of jockeying for position behind them. Magnus, Liu, and Stoot made up the midfield and found themselves closely aligned through Turn 3.
A few moments later, Ramen, Parker, Max, and Orzo were all in a similar state of mutual contention.
Mai cruised through the second sector, calmly hitting his lines and making no mistakes. Behind him, Pieter was unsuccessfully trying to keep Mai in his sights. As they drove on through the third sector, the gap between the race leader and second place was getting larger.
In third place, Felix was being pursued by Stoot, Liu, and Magnus. The trio fought neck and neck through the second sector. At they charged into Turn 6, Stoot and Liu finally caught up with Felix, passing him on the inside.
It was at this point, with Pieter in Turn 7 and still having two more turns to go, that Mai won.
With victory out of reach, things were getting interesting further back. Pieter, as already mentioned, was having some struggles that kept him from keeping pace with Mai. Liu, Stoot, and Felix were in a battle for 3rd place, and Orzo, Magnus, and Max were in a 3-way battle of their own. Only Parker was lagging significantly behind.
The trio behind Pieter were having a very different third sector than the driver standings leader. They were hitting the corners in rhythm and Pieter’s inability to do so caught up with him in the final bend.
While Pieter made it to Turn 9 before the others, his inability to cut the inside line at speed left him unable to carry speed down the straight. All three of Felix, Liu, and Stoot passed him on the way to the checkered flag, finishing in that order.
Magnus, Orzo, Max, Ramen, and Parker ended up getting a bit of space between them in the third sector. Running comfortably in 6th place and trying to keep Orzo at bay, Magnus’s engine blew out just as he had the finish line in his sights. It was his second DNF of the season, and particularly difficult after struggling last time out.
Orzo would be the one to capitalize with a finish one higher than he was expecting just moments earlier.
Running behind him was Max, who was having a similar challenge that Pieter did in terms of a struggle to find speed through the final corner. Ramen, on the other hand, was now playing the role that Felix, Liu, and Stoot had done just a few moments earlier.
That burst of speed allowed Ramen to take 7th place just ahead of Max. Parker rounded out the running field, finishing 9th in what was a miserable day for Scandinavian Blitz.
Final Results
| Driver | Start | Lap | Finish | |
| Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Felix (SM) | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| Liu S. Amil X (FS) | 6 | 5 | 3 | |
| Stoot van Vaart (RM) | 9 | 4 | 4 | |
| Pieter Pieperpoes (RM) | 10 | 2 | 5 | |
| Orzo Albies (MnS) | 8 | 10 | 6 | |
| Ramen Acuna Jr. (MnS) | 5 | 8 | 7 | |
| Max (SM) | 4 | 7 | 8 | |
| Parker Lacroix (SB) | 3 | 9 | 9 | |
| Magnus Rasksen (SB) | 7 | 6 | 10* | |
* Did not finish
Mai’s win was a huge redemption for him after struggling for most of the season. Aside from a 2nd place finish in Portugal, he hadn’t finished any higher than 7th place. The dominating performance, particularly his ability to run away with things on the second lap, meant that there really wasn’t anyone close to him in terms of form on the day. The large points haul from the victory lifts him all the way from last to 5th in the driver standings.
Felix’s second place means that he’s now finished in a different position in every race he’s been in. It’s his best showing of the year and while he was passed by Mai in the standings, he’s only 1 point back. Liu’s 3rd place showing means that all three of our podium finishers recorded their second podium of the year. Liu has now moved all the way up into a tie for 3rd place with Orzo. At 63 points, there’s only 4 points between him and Felix.
The double podium for Fir Splays matches Regency Motors early season form for the largest single race points haul of the season. Only a 1-2 finish could score a team more points, and Fir Splays has now leapt into 2nd place in the team standings. They were the only team to gain ground on Regency Motors whose points total was matched by Switch Motorsports. Despite that Mac ‘N Speed remained ahead of Switch in 3rd place. Scandinavian Blitz has now dropped to the bottom.
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