After an eventful qualifier yesterday, our marble racers take the track at the O’Raceway with Wispy of the Midnight Wisps starting at pole, with Billy of the Green Ducks just behind. This marks our first return to a raceway in Marbula One, and perhaps success in season one can bode well for a team; it seems there may be something to it, as the Midnight Wisps claimed pole last time and the Green Ducks walked away with a victory in the race.

Yesterday, a marble’s ability to smoothly navigate the sand portion of the track could make or break their qualifier success; right off the bat we see how the element can affect the run. The risks involved with the off-road section are apparently as Billy enters the sand in first, but allows several marbles to overtake them during their time on the rough track. After the first lap, Cerulean of the Kobalts finds themselves in first place, but the big story is Mimo of Team Momo jumping from fourteenth to second during the first circuit, and then passing Cerulean just off the belt in lap two.

From there, Mimo holds the lead despite challenges from several marbles, including Billy and Tumult of Balls of Chaos. Nonetheless, for most of the middle laps they hold a solid lead, sometimes running as far as four seconds ahead of the pack. Billy, Honey of the Bumblebees, Snowstorm of the Snowballs, Tumult, and Wispy all push for podium spots while Mimo separates in the early going.

But a surprise challenger appears! Red Eye of the Crazy Cat’s Eyes surges from sixth place to second place during a tremendous push in lap fifteen. The jump seems to rattle Billy, Wispy, and Snowstorm, who drop to fifth, seventh, and tenth respectively! By the end of the sixteenth lap, Red Eye has cut Mimo’s lead to less than a second.

But that is as close as anyone will come to taking a gold medal from Mimo. At the final gun, Mimo gets a well-earned win, with Red Eye and Tumult finishing on the podium as well. Billy’s up-and-down performance sees them fall to fifth despite running in the top three for 12/19 laps.

Additional Notes

• Bolt of the Thunderbolts wins fastest lap, despite finishing in ninth. Strange to see fastest lap coming from a racer in the back of the pack moving into the middle of the pack.
• The Host Curse is still alive and well. Orangin of the O’Rangers winds up second to last. But they beat their hated rival, Rapidly of the Savage Speeders. Nothing to be proud of, but those O’Rangers fans probably won’t let the Savage Speeders forget it anytime soon.
• Team Momo and Crazy Cat’s Eyes each have a gold and a silver medal after two races. Team Momo holds first overall, thanks to Momo running the fastest lap last week for the bonus point. Needless to say, this is an impressive start for both teams, as everyone else has a long way to climb to challenge them now.
• Presentation notes: The cameras seemed to be better positioned here. I especially enjoyed the high-angle views of the first turns — a great way to see lots of action on the field. An interesting race though, as Mimo was running so far ahead that often Greg Woods would be surprised when they came back into frame, and would have nothing to say about how that happened… but can’t really blame the camera team for that. No one wants to watch a solo marble traverse the course alone while all the drama is happening three seconds behind them!