The SBMRL’s March race took place at Zeltweg, Austria, aka the Österreichring, A1 Ring, or Red Bull Ring. The first race of the final third of the season was therefore in the Austrian hills.
The starting grid looked as follows:
P1 – Parker Lacroix (SB)
P2 – Max (SM)
P3 – Magnus Rasksen (SB)
P4 – Ramen Acuna Jr (MnS)
P5 – Felix (SM)
P6 – Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FP)
P7 – Orzo Albies (MnS)
P8 – Liu S. Amil X (FP)
P9 – Stoot van Vaart (RM)
P10 – Pieter Pieperpoes (RM)
The cars lined up and the lights went out and the field began racing for the first corner. Liu had a bit of difficulty getting up to speed, but everyone sort of filed right into the Castrol Kurve. The lengthy straight that follows then saw a lot of cars changing positions as drivers were able to find ways around each other.
Felix, who had starting 5th place, found a way to the front, but wasn’t able to keep momentum up through the Remus Kurve. Additionally making a big move from the back by virtue of having been able to keep his speed up through both of the first two corners was driver standings leader Pieter. The long back straight saw Mai take the race lead, and virtually no one was racing in their staring position any longer.
The Scandinavian Blitz pair of Parker and Magnus had gone from 1st and 3rd at the start to 9th and 10th, but the reality was that everyone was so close together it looked as though anyone could swap positions with anyone else. Normally, the field begins to separate into a few different packs of racers, and that began to take shape with the more technical part of the second sector.
Ramen, Pieter, Mia, and Felix hit the Gosser Kurve first at the end of the straight and started to work on through the closer together corners as a group. Orzo, Max, and Stoot were in the trailing pack. That left Liu and the two red liveried cars at the back.
This section of the circuit proved to be more of a challenge than some may have expected. Unfortunately for those hoping to catch him in the standings, Pieter handled it just fine and began to establish a lead over those who were right there with him just moments earlier.
Aside from Pieter’s advantage, the other packs weren’t exactly static. Cars began to swap between them as they either hit their marks or missed them. The Mac ‘N Speed duo of Ramen and Orzo joined the Switch Motorsports pair of Max and Felix as the challengers hoping to catch up with Pieter. Parker, Mai, and Stoot grouped up behind them.
As the field rounded the final bends of the first lap, Pieter’s clean lap meant that his tires were in good shape and he could barrel on down the pit straight without stopping for fresh rubber. Already in the lead, this gave him a strong advantage to the start of the second lap.
Orzo made the same call, skipping the pits while the other challengers got new tires. Ramen’s pit stop was quick enough that he was up with his teammate in short order. The car that really made a move by staying out on track was Stoot. He went from the latter half of the field to running up with the Mac ‘N Speed pair by tearing down the pit straight.
Stoot’s move soon had the Regency Motors drivers running one, two, with Ramen and Orzo not quite able to keep up. That gave the opportunity for Max to being to make a move to join them. Parker and Felix were also on the move in an effort to charge forward. Magnus was the one getting caught out at the back, but Liu was right there with him.
Max surprised everyone by throwing himself right in the mix with Pieter and Stoot around the Gosser Kurve at the end of the long back straight. As was the case on the first lap, the long straight proved a significant venue for position changes, with Magnus also making up for a poor first sector. Max’s strong run through the first half of the lap failed him a bit at the Nikki Lauda Kurve.
Stoot finally hauled in Pieter at the start of the third sector, and what once looked like another win for Pieter now looked quite in doubt. Max, Ramen, and Orzo continued to fight just behind them, ready to make a move if either of the orange cars faltered. Preferably both. Mai, Parker, and Magnus formed the trailing pack, while Felix and Liu began to lag farther behind.
With everything looking fairly static annd only three corners to go, the field looked stratified into tiers. Those tiers were about to get completely shaken up. First, Pieter wasn’t able to get any sort of traction out of the Gerhard Berger Kurve. This gave Stoot a momentary advantage. Furthermore, Max, Ramen, and Orzo found themselves breathing down Pieter’s neck.
Into the penultimate Jochen Rindt corner they went, but here it was Stoot who faltered for speed. That allowed Ramena and Max to nearly catch up with him. The battle for victory was suddenly a 3-way, wheel to wheel drag race. Orzo was in the process of passing Pieter, who had fallen all the way from first to fifth in the span of 3 corners.
While all this had been going on, Parker, Magnus, and Mai had been in a tense 3-way fight of their own. Mai’s tires, however, were shot. He spun out in turn 7 and that left Scandinavian Blitz to run in their own little bubble. Felix and Liu, still far back, suddenly were wondering if they had a shot to gain a few precious points off of the Mai’s mistake.
The drag race to the finish would see Stoot edge out Ramen with Max coming in 3rd in one of the closest finishes of the season.
Pieter found more speed around the final corner than Orzo to claim fourth place. While Magnus and Parker didn’t ultimately finish that far behind Orzo, they slotted in comfortably behind him. Magnus just barely eked past Parker by a nose.
The final three cars finished well behind the rest of the field, but they weren’t without some surprises, either. Felix did ultimately catch Mai before he even made it to Jochen Rindt Kurve. Liu used a strong series of corners to catch up with the both of them. Mai, already having suffered significant from tires that were past their sell by date then spun around again at the final corner.
Despite having to swerve around Mai’s vehicle, Felix was able to get ahead of Liu for 8th place. Mai would limp home to mark the 3rd time this season that all cars crossed the finish line.
Final Results
| Driver | Start | Lap | Finish | |
| Stoot van Vaart (RM) | 9 | 4 | 1 | |
| Ramen Acuna Jr. (MnS) | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| Max (SM) | 2 | 5 | 3 | |
| Pieter Pieperpoes (RM) | 10 | 1 | 4 | |
| Orzo Albies (MnS) | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| Magnus Rasksen (SB) | 3 | 8 | 6 | |
| Parker Lacroix (SB) | 1 | 6 | 7 | |
| Felix (SM) | 5 | 7 | 8 | |
| Liu S. Amil X (FS) | 8 | 10 | 9 | |
| Mai “Cashew” Maghur (FS) | 6 | 9 | 10 | |
Stoot’s victory is his second of the season and his 4th time on the podium. However, it’s also his first podium in 4 races. He raced only in the bottom 5 positions in the first lap and only the top 4 positions in the second lap, having produced a stellar second lap after his big move on the pit straight.
In contrast, Ramen’s race was strong from start to finish. The Mac ‘N Speed driver spent most of the race in 3rd or 4th position on track, barely dipping down to 5th and never below it. He snatched up second right at the end in the final two corners. It’s his second podium and second 2nd place finish in the past 3 races. Max scored his second podium as well, matching the 3rd place finish in Road Atlanta when he also stood one step below Ramen.
With Pieter having been at the top of the driver standings all season, it’s a bit jarring to see that Stoot is now just one point behind him. Orzo is 30 points back of Pieter in 3rd place, and while that’s more than a race victory away, it’s not impossible. Most of the others are within 13 points of Orzo. That’s almost nothing between them and plenty to play for. Parker is currently at the back and while he looks quite distant, he’s one victory’s worth of points behind Orzo in 3rd. There’s plenty of room to move up the standings still.
Regency Motors’ 4th victory on the year make them almost impossible to catch in the final two races, even if it isn’t mathematically impossible. Mac ‘N Speed currently sit 62 points back in second place. This despite them having just scored their 3rd podium, which is the fewest of the teams other than Regency Motors. Fir Splays’ dismal performance means that they’ve almost been caught up by Switch Motorsports. The 3rd and 4th place teams are just 2 points apart. Scandinavian Blitz round out the field, but are well within reach of 2nd place if they perform well over the final two races.
Race Gallery
