Three months have passed since our favourite Marbula E vehicles have taken to the track, and they’re itching to burn some rubber. Today they’ll be racing in New York City, also known as the “Big Apple.” The moniker is appropriate, because as anyone who has ever dropped fruit at the supermarket can attest, apples can roll, baby.
The New York circuit is a difficult track, with many sharp turns. Raw speed can help on the straightaways, but it means very little if a marble can’t rapidly change direction without careening into the walls. I don’t have high hopes that our favourite speed demons can handle it.
Appropriately, the qualifying times aren’t great. None of them even come close to breaking the 20-second barrier. Porsche has the best attempt and takes pole with a time of 21.72 seconds, while Mahindra languishes all the way in the back with a 25.66 s time.
In the main race, BMW takes an early lead but squanders it to Audi, Techeetah, Porsche, and Jaguar. Those four dominate the race, with Nio 333 and, surprisingly, Envision Virgin entering the mix as well. Mercedes just can’t get anything going and ends up in 10th place. But that’s not as embarrassing as what happens to BMW, who not only squander their lead but end up dead last. In the end, Porsche wins the gold, Audi nabs the silver, and Techeetah earns a bronze.
Stray thoughts:
- Jack Nicholls on Envision Virgin: “They suck at marble racing, don’t they?” Big LOL. Ironically, they managed to turn things around today and finish in a respectable sixth place.
- Huh, Venturi is from Monaco. Good to know.
- Porsche now sit atop the standings with 81 points, while Mercedes are in second with 69. Wait a sec… did Mercedes purposely tank this race for the memes?
Complete stats for Marbula E can be found at the Marble League Wiki.