The sixth season of the marble sand rally is off to a fantastic start. Though there have been more marbles that did not finish (DNFs) than expected over the previous races, the marbles have made full recoveries and were back for another round. (Spoilers for Race 3 below.)
The sand condition was a touch below ideal for Race 3, at a 3/5 condition, with a solid weather condition of 4/5. Notably, there was also a slight headwind during this race, which could have impacted the performances of the marbles. The lineup, from 1-16, has changed slightly for this race, consisting of Ghost Plasma (GHO), Red Number 3 (RN3), Crazy Cat’s Eye (CCE), Blizzard Blaster (BBL), Ducktape (DUC), Amethyst (AME), Slimer (SLI), Grasshopper (GRA), Superball (SUP), Wisp of Darkness (WOD), Pollo Loco (POL), Lollipop (LOP), Reflektor (REF), Cool Moody (CMO), Silver Bolt (SBO) and Cobra (COB).
Going into the third race, overall, SBO is currently in first, SLI in second and POL in third. It may be too early in the season to call a winner at this point, with SBO and SLI one point away from each other. Only time will tell who will win.The race began with a fantastic start, many of the marbles holding steady despite the headwind and the glaring sun bearing down over the course. DUC established a cautious first place lead initially, though seeming a little tentative to push forward so early in the race. This tactic proved faulty, as SLI easily bypassed DUC at 9.26 seconds to take first place.
Though GHO, who DNF-ed last race, was able to maintain a steady third place by 22.54 seconds in, REF and WOD collided off of the track, resulting in two DNFs for this race. This goes to show that you can never be too careful when maneuvering around the sand race courses. The sand can be quite volatile and easy to slip over.
DUC was able to overcome the initial hesitancy by 39.56 seconds, gaining the lead once more over SLI. Newcomer AME had by this point returned to a comfortable third place position, contrasting from the unfortunate DNF from Race 2, and soon gaining and passing SLI to take second place.
POL made the third DNF of the rally, getting caught on one of the obstacles, while GHO moved past AME to take second place by 1:18.20. GHO then surpassed DUC, who once again was getting comfortable in first place, taking first place anyway. DUC tends to struggle in passing the other marbles, shown clearly by the final results: GHO first, DUC second and SBO third. CCE placed at an admirable fourth, with AME fifth and beloved SLI sixth.
AME is a volatile marble for the marble’s first season—coming in first, DNFing and then in fifth. It is hard to say what the marble will do moving forwards. Hopefully, AME will regain some consistency, though not run into the consistency issue that DUC struggles with. (You can watch Race 3 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLRp0uMxjuk.)
