The 2018 Sand Marble Rally started on the 18th August 2018 after being delayed by extremely hot and dry weather, followed with heavy rain showers in early August. This was the third annual season of the Sand Marble Rally. Unlike previous seasons of the competition, the 2018 season did not take place in two halves either side of the Marble League, the standard format is due to be reinstated for the 2019 competition. 2018 was also the first season that the field of marbles was split into two different divisions (A and B).
Throughout the season, there were 8 races in the A division (which contains 20 marbles), and 4 races in the lower B division.
The top 4 (Dragon's Egg, Red Number 3, Slimer, and Quicksilver) are prequalified for the rally. Everyone else needs to qualify.
A preliminary qualification stage decided which of the two divisions each marble entered.
Dragon's Egg was the defending champion.
Changes in 2018[]
Starting Grid[]
The old starting gate.
The new starting gate.
The starting block changed from 2017, where it existed out of 3 row of marbles (7-6-7). The new starting block is wider, and wide enough for putting 2 rows of marbles (10-10). The new starting gate is also designed in a way that the Ghost Marble isn't meant to get out, it goes down the tower and bumps against the little metal every so-often, making it "countdown" before releasing the marbles.
Because of this, ghost marble will not be shown on the results list anymore when it crosses the finish line.
General Changes[]
- Obstacles are removed for "fairer" racing.
- The points system changed (again) were the winner now gets 25 points compared to 2017 season's 20 points. Also different is how this time that 16th-20th place all earn 1 point for finishing. When a marble fails to finish a race, no points will be contributed to that marble for that particular race; this hasn't changed.
Qualification[]
- Main article: Sand Marble Rally 2018 - Qualifiers
The Qualifiers were released on 19 May, 2018. There were 4 races consisting of seven marbles each. Slimer accidentally entered the Qualifiers, despite having prequalified. The rules regarding their qualifier race had to be modified due to this.
Qualifier 1[]
| Pos. | Marble | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Comet | 0:41.04 | Qualified |
| 2nd | Crazy Cat's Eye | 0:41.35 | Qualified |
| 3rd | Marbly McMarbleface | 0:41.50 | Qualified |
| 4th | Summer Sky | 0:41.63 | Qualified |
| 5th | Wisp of Darkness | 0:41.73 | Not qualified |
| 6th | El Capitan | 0:42.00 | Not qualified |
| 7th | Blizzard Blaster | 0:42.70 | Not qualified |
Qualifier 2[]
| Pos. | Marble | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Big Pearl | 0:40.91 | Qualified |
| 2nd | Deep Ocean | 0:40.93 | Qualified |
| 3rd | Ghost Plasma | 0:41.69 | Qualified |
| 4th | Rastafarian | 0:42.14 | Qualified |
| 5th | Reflektor | 0:42.56 | Not qualified |
| 6th | Blazing Fireball | 0:42.73 | Not qualified |
| 7th | Cobra | Did not finish | Not qualified |
Qualifier 3[]
| Pos. | Marble | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Grasshopper | 0:39.80 | Qualified |
| 2nd | Ducktape | 0:39.91 | Qualified |
| 3rd | Black Knight | 0:40.36 | Qualified |
| 4th | Nemo | 0:40.55 | Qualified |
| 5th | H2 Blue | 0:40.64 | Not qualified |
| 6th | Pollo Loco | 0:40.70 | Not qualified |
| 7th | Silver Bolt | 0:40.91 | Not qualified |
Qualifier 4[]
| Pos. | Marble | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Phoenix | 0:41.32 | Qualified |
| 2nd | Slimer | 0:41.38 | Qualified* |
| 3rd | Lollipop | 0:41.70 | Qualified |
| 4th | Superball | 0:41.99 | Qualified |
| 5th | Blue Moon | 0:42.21 | Qualified |
| 6th | White Widow | 0:42.36 | Not qualified |
| 7th | Green Turtle | 0:43.21 | Not qualified |
*Slimer already prequalified. New rules were added. If Slimer finished in the Top 4, then the 5th place marble would qualify. If Slimer had finished 5th or lower, then the top 4 and Slimer would advance.
Competitors[]
Qualified Marbles[]
- Big Pearl
- Black Knight
- Blue Moon
- Comet
- Crazy Cat's Eye
- Deep Ocean
- Dragon's Egg
- Ducktape
- Ghost Plasma
- Grasshopper
- Lollipop
- Marbly McMarbleface
- Nemo
- Phoenix
- Quicksilver
- Rastafarian
- Red Number 3
- Slimer
- Summer Sky
- Superball
Non-Qualified Marbles[]
- Blazing Fireball
- Blizzard Blaster
- Cobra
- El Capitan
- Green Turtle (renamed from Super Turtle)
- H2 Blue
- Pollo Loco
- Reflektor
- Silver Bolt
- White Widow
- Wisp of Darkness
Retired Marbles[]
- Blue Smoke
- Fantasy (replaced by Phoenix)
- Glassy (replaced by Grasshopper)
- Mocha Madness
- Snake's Tub
- Starman
- Tarantula
- The Flash
Newcomers[]
Venues[]
The Races are held on tall sand dunes or sand hills in the Netherlands.
Main Tournament:[]
- 't Peeske Montferland
- Located 22 km east southeast of Arnhem near the village "Beek Montferland"
- Race 1 and 2
- Height difference: 20 meters
- Klimduin Brechtdorp (or Dopersduin) (Koningsweg)
- Located along the Oorsprongweg north of Schoorl, a small town north of Alkmaar, the Netherlands. This is an alternative more quite location compared with the "famous" and overcrowded klimduin located at Schoorl itself.
- Race 3, 4, 7 and 8
- Height difference: 45 meters
- Doornse Gat
- Located east of "Doorn", a village located in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, 15 km south of Amersfoort
- Race 5 and 6
- Height difference: 25 meters
Cancellation[]
On 28 June 2018, it was announced that the Sand Marble Rally has been cancelled because the weather is too hot and dry in the Netherlands, creating unfavorable to create sand tracks. It was replaced with another Marble Rally filled with alternate courses with dirt, street, and water. The replacement rally, and the 2018 Marble Rally in general, was cancelled on 2 July due to inconvenient scheduling, hot dry weather lasting for weeks, and a lot of interruptions while test recording.[1]
Reinstatement[]
On 14 August 2018, it was announced that the 2018 Sand Marble Rally was reinstated and that Jelle was able to record two A division races and one B division race. The first video released on 18 August 2018 and it was announced that the tournament would consist of 8 Division A races and 4 Division B races. After the main races, a race-off was planned for promotion and relegation.
Divisions[]
The 2018 Sand Marble Rally is divided in 2 divisions: the A Division containing 20 marbles and a B Division containing 11 marbles.
After the last race in each division, the qualifying for the next season was as following:
A-league:
- Best 6 marbles remained in the A Division
- 7th to 14th places were sent to the Qualifiers
- 15th to 20th places were sent to the "Wildcard Race"
B-league:
- Best 2 marbles were promoted directly to the A Division
- 3rd to 9th places were sent to the Qualifiers
- 10th and 11th places were sent to the "Wildcard Race"
Race-off[]
A race-off was planned to replace the qualification for the 2019 season and was expected to occur sometime in april. In the race-off, 16 marbles (including a newcomer) would battle for the remaining 8 spots in the A Division. However, due to time restrictions, this did not occur.
Standings[]
| Rank | Marble | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Points: |
| 1st | Red Number 3 | DNF | 10 | 18 | 18 | 3 | 25 | 15 | 18 | 107 |
| 2nd | Phoenix | 12 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 25 | 85 |
| 3rd | Superball | 8 | 5 | 12 | 25 | 10 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 82 |
| 4th | Black Knight | 18 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 25 | DNF | 75 |
| 5th | Summer Sky | 25 | 4 | DNF | 8 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 59 |
| 6th | Quicksilver | 9 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 58 |
| 7th | Dragon's Egg | 1 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 55 |
| 8th | Crazy Cat's Eye | 5 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 55 |
| 9th | Big Pearl | 3* | 1 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 54 |
| 10th | Grasshopper | 11 | DNF | 8 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 53 |
| 11th | Comet | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 25 | DNF | 2 | 7 | 52 |
| 12th | Marbly McMarbleface | 1 | DNF | 25 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 51 |
| 13th | Lollipop | 6 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 51 |
| 14th | Slimer | 7 | 11 | 11 | 1 | DNF | 9 | 8 | 1 | 48 |
| 15th | Nemo | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 46 |
| 16th | Ducktape | 1 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 43 |
| 17th | Deep Ocean | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 41 |
| 18th | Blue Moon | 10 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 38 |
| 19th | Ghost Plasma | 3* | 1 | 6 | 1 | 18 | DNF | 1 | 5 | 35 |
| 20th | Rastafarian | 1 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 33 |
*tied
Point System[]
- 1st: 25pts
- 2nd: 18pts
- 3rd: 15pts
- 4th: 12pts
- 5th: 11pts
- 6th: 10pts
- 7th: 9pts
- 8th: 8pts
- 9th: 7pts
- 10th: 6pts
- 11th: 5pts
- 12th: 4pts
- 13th: 3pts
- 14th: 2pts
- 15th and lower: 1pt
- DNF: 0pts
Winners[]
| Race | Winner | Time | Margin | Starting position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Summer Sky | 1:20.19 | +1.33 | P2 |
| R2 | Dragon's Egg | 1:20.93 | +0.29 | P3 |
| R3 | Marbly McMarbleface | 1:26.10 | +0.13 | P5 |
| R4 | Superball | 1:21.20 | +0.66 | P16 |
| R5 | Comet | 2:20.44 | +0.02 | P4 |
| R6 | Red Number 3 | 2:18.37 | +4.98 | P6 |
| R7 | Black Knight | 2:05.80 | +0.36 | P6 |
| R8 | Phoenix | 2:57.26 | +1.11 | P17 |
- Note:
- P1–P10 is on the front row
- P11–P20 is on the back row
Hashtags[]
Like Marble League 2018, Sand Marble Rally 2018 uses hashtags for each individual marble.
- Big Pearl - #BPL
- Black Knight - #BLA
- Blazing Fireball - #BFB
- Blizzard Blaster - #BBL
- Blue Moon - #BLU
- Cobra - #COB
- Comet - #COM
- Crazy Cat's Eye - #CCE
- Deep Ocean - #DPO
- Dragon's Egg - #DRA
- Ducktape - #DUC
- El Capitan - #ELC
- Ghost Plasma - #GHO
- Grasshopper- #GRA
- Green Turtle - #GTU
- H2 Blue - #H2B
- Lollipop - #LOL
- Marbly McMarbleface - #MMM
- Nemo - #NEM
- Phoenix - #PHX
- Pollo Loco - #POL
- Quicksilver- #QUI
- Rastafarian - #RAS
- Red Number 3 - #RN3
- Reflektor - #REF
- Silver Bolt - #SBO
- Slimer - #SLI
- Summer Sky - #SUM
- Superball - #SUP
- White Widow - #WWD
- Wisp of Darkness - #WOD
See Also[]
- Sand Marble Rally 2016
- Sand Marble Rally 2017
- Sand Marble Rally 2019
- List of Sand Marble Rally Records
References[]
| All Marble Rally races | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016: Q · R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 · R9 · R10 · R11 · R12 | ||||
| 2017: Q · R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 · R9 · R10 · R11 · R12 · F | ||||
| 2018: Q · R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 | ||||
| 2019: Q · R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 | ||||
| S5: R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 · R9 · R10 · R11 · R12 | ||||
| S6: Q · R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 · R9 · R10 | ||||
| S7: Q · R1 · R2 · R3 · R4 · R5 · R6 · R7 · R8 · R9 · R10 | ||||
| Miscellaneous: 750-Foot Race · 500-Foot Race · Extra Race · Giant Funnel Race · Patreon Marble Rally · MR22 Practice Round · Billiards Race | ||||