Marble Rally 2019 - Race 8

Marble Rally 2019Race A8 (Final)
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The podium finishers on the podium
Date	28 December 2019
Track	Doornse Gat (119 meter)
Weather	Sunny, 13 ˚C
Wind	Gentle breeze (7 knots)
Sand Condition	Wet with dry top layer
Top 5 Overtakes	48
Lead Changes	7
Link	Sand Marble Rally 2019 Race 8 (FINAL) - Jelle’s Marble Runs
Podium
1st	Summer Sky
2nd	Comet
3rd	Marbly McMarbleface

The eighth and final race of Marble Rally 2019 was held on 28th December 2019 at Doornse Gat. 20 marbles participated in the race.

Race

Championship permutations

Coming into the race, three marbles were still mathematically eligible to win the championship: Red Number 3 with 82 points, Ghost Plasma with 74 and Superball with 64. Mathematically Red Number 3 would clinch the championship by finishing in the top eight regardless of where the other two would have placed. For Ghost Plasma to clinch the championship, they would have needed to finish on the podium and optimally hope for a DNF for the championship leader. For Superball to take the title, they would under all circumstances need to win the race with Ghost Plasma out of the top six and Red Number 3 out of the points.

Report

There was a small delay to the start of the race due to a frog entering the track. Down the long opening straight Summer Sky charged into the lead followed by Marbly McMarbleface, Quicksilver, Comet, Blizzard Blaster, Phoenix, Crazy Cat's Eye, Cool Moody, Reflektor and others. Off the start, Superball was the highest-placed of the championship contenders and already knocking on the doors of the top ten. Red Number 3 and Ghost Plasma were more conservative, running in the bottom four for the time being. Quicksilver advanced into second and then attacked Summer Sky after a speed boost. They moved to block them aggressively on the right-hand side, allowing Marbly McMarbleface to draw alongside them on the left. Summer Sky then immediately switched to that side, trying to block off both of their rivals at once.

Blizzard Blaster moved into fourth ahead of Comet who was trying to break the draft from Crazy Cat's Eye. H2 Blue managed to move up into seventh ahead of Phoenix and Cool Moody. Superball was up into tenth and fighting with Reflektor. Red Number 3, not wanting to give up their points lead due to a stupid mistake or accident, was much calmer than usually and only moved up to fourteenth so far. It was still advantage for them as Ghost Plasma apparently dropped down into dead-last several moments before this. Quicksilver eventually managed to take over the lead. As the field moved through a couple of quick swinging left-right chicanes, Comet re-passed Blizzard Blaster to hold down fourth. Crazy Cat's Eye stayed in sixth, with Superball running several lengths behind them having moved up to seventh. Cool Moody lost several positions in quick succession to drop out of the top ten. Cobra was now into the top ten and fighting back and forth with Phoenix and H2 Blue ahead of them. Comet passed Marbly McMarbleface for third, with Blizzard Blaster quick to capitalize and also move ahead of Marbly McMarbleface into fourth. Through a set of esses, Marbly McMarbleface moved back into fourth and tried a lunge for the lead.

Comet took the lead while Summer Sky fell to fourth and Blizzard Blaster dropped out of the lead battle when several marbles blew past them in quick succession. Summer Sky continued to drop back as Crazy Cat's Eye attacked and wrestled fourth place away from them, only for Summer Sky to shot back into second position shortly afterwards. Red Number 3 was still trundling along the pack somewhere between tenth and fifteenth place having not done any progress, but staying ahead of Ghost Plasma all the time. Progress was not made by Superball either as they were still seventh and drafting Phoenix. Eventually, they were able to pass Phoenix and grab sixth place in the process. Unfortunately for Blizzard Blaster, they continued to fade and dropped out of the top ten, while Cool Moody was back into the top ten. Moments later, Superball advanced into the top five with a move on Crazy Cat's Eye. Through another set of esses, Summer Sky re-took the lead. For the first time in the race, Red Number 3 was actively attacking the runners in front of them, moving up to eleventh. Crazy Cat's Eye was able to move back into the top five ahead of Superball.

With Red Number 3 up into the top ten after passing a fading Cobra and fighting off a recovering Blizzard Blaster, the two championship contenders were only separated by Phoenix, Cool Moody and Pollo Loco. The top four pulled away from the pursuing pack as they approached the final section of the course; Comet having snatched the lead from Summer Sky once again at some point and Marbly McMarbleface having moved up into third ahead of Quicksilver. In fact moves were being made all throughout the field, with Superball moving into the top five once more but largely out of time to catch the escaping top four. Pollo Loco and Red Number 3 both passed Cool Moody to move up into eighth and ninth respectively. Coming off the final speed boost, Summer Sky charged into the lead once again. They would not be passed again and rolled across the line first ahead of Comet, Marbly McMarbleface, Quicksilver and Superball. Phoenix passed Crazy Cat's Eye for sixth place on the final stretch, while Red Number 3 took eighth from Pollo Loco at the last possible moment and clinched a second consecutive championship. All marbles finished the course with Cool Moody rounding out the top ten. El Capitan, H2 Blue, Blizzard Blaster, Ghost Plasma, Slimer, Cobra, Black Knight, Dragon's Egg and Reflektor finished eleventh through twentieth.

Classification

Pos.	Marble	Time	Delta	Starting Pos.	Points
1st	Summer Sky	2:31.36	-	P7	20p
2nd	Comet	2:31.66	+00.30	P8	17p
3rd	Marbly McMarbleface	2:32.11	+00.75	P6	14p
4th	Quicksilver	2:32.55	+01.19	P9	12p
5th	Superball	2:33.86	+02.50	P19	11p
6th	Phoenix	2:34.28	+02.92	P4	10p
7th	Crazy Cat's Eye	2:34.34	+02.98	P14	9p
8th	Red Number 3	2:34.37	+03.01	P20	8p
9th	Pollo Loco	2:34.45	+03.09	P17	7p
10th	Cool Moody	2:35.22	+03.86	P16	6p
11th	El Capitan	2:35.75	+04.39	P13	5p
12th	H2 Blue	2:35.81	+04.45	P5	4p
13th	Blizzard Blaster	2:36.70	+05.34	P18	3p
14th	Ghost Plasma	2:36.92	+05.56	P11	2p
15th	Slimer	2:37.03	+05.67	P15	1p
16th	Cobra	2:37.15	+05.79	P2	0p
17th	Black Knight	2:37.35	+05.99	P3
18th	Silver Bolt	2:37.51	+06.15	P1
19th	Dragon's Egg	2:37.85	+06.49	P12
20th	Reflektor	2:38.52	+07.16	P10
-	GHOST	2:38.88	+07.52	N/A

• Note:
  • P1–P10 is on the front row
  • P11–P20 is on the second row

Championship standings after the race

	Pos.	Marble	G	S	B	Total	DNFs	Points
00	1st	Red Number 3	2	0	0	2	1	90p
00	2nd	Ghost Plasma	0	0	1	1	0	76p
00	3rd	Superball	0	0	1	1	0	75p
00	4th	Crazy Cat's Eye	2	0	1	3	1	70p
00	5th	El Capitan	1	0	1	2	0	65p
00	6th	Blizzard Blaster	1	1	0	2	0	62p
01	7th	Pollo Loco	0	1	0	1	2	61p
01	8th	Cool Moody	0	1	0	1	1	59p
02	9th	Dragon's Egg	1	0	0	1	1	54p
05	10th	Comet	0	1	0	1	1	51p
01	11th	Quicksilver	0	0	1	1	2	50p
05	12th	Summer Sky	1	0	0	1	0	49p
03	13th	Slimer	0	1	0	1	0	48p
03	14th	Black Knight	0	2	0	2	3	42p
02	15th	Silver Bolt	0	0	0	0	0	36p
02	16th	Reflektor	0	1	1	2	1	34p
01	17th	Cobra	0	0	1	1	1	32p
02		Marbly McMarbleface	0	0	1	1	1	32p
01	19th	Phoenix	0	0	0	0	1	29p
00	20th	H2 Blue	0	0	0	0	3	14p

Trivia

• With Summer Sky's race victory, they recorded their second instance of winning the final race of a season, having won the first race in the inaugural season.