World Grand Prix Championship Season 15: Roleplay Thread

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

There is general, muted celebration among those in the Nexus Racing garage. 4th and 12th on the surface are not fantastic results, though they could be possibly considered adequate; for a new team, with two drivers in their rookie season, on awful tyres in the rain, however, they are far, far better than that. There is also a combined sense of relief and shock - the first over the fact that Nexus Racing had got the job done, setting their flag in the ground and marking themselves out as serious competitors for the season, and the second over the same thing: the confirmation that they were serious competitors for the season and actually could do this.

Sure, Guard thought as he gave another of his mechanics a clap on the back, Ryker didn't do so well, but that's only natural - he doesn't have so much single-seater experience in the wet yet. The tyres wouldn't have helped either. Marika, though - he grew a huge, face-spanning grin - well, we knew that she was something, but look at this! Fourth, already, on legs that no driver here would call respectable while its raining! Imagination...

-

Ryker, meanwhile, sat watching the screens while the sounds of the celebration played out around him, deep in thought. So, you dropped the ball slightly here. That's not so good, you know that, that's a given. Still, it isn't the end of the world.

Look, you've got the entire race tomorrow to make up the ground that you lost now and you know that you'll fare better then. Assuming that it's dry, you and Marika will be the fastest cars coming off the grid. Nobody in front of you - no-one at all - is faster and, what with your overtaking ability, you'll easily take places. In fact, tomorrow the weaknesses that you had on the circuit will be strengths: you'll be able to unleash the Imagikinetic converter's full power on those long straights and you won't have to tiptoe around the tight corners. Besides, when Gertrude comes through with that deal with Tigar you won't have to worry about that anyway.

Still need to do more testing on wet surfaces back at base, though.

[Taeshan]

"How do you feel about your qualifying effort Oliver?"

"It wasn't exactly what I thought I could do out there on the track. It will be tough to start so far back in the race and honestly it continues to be a rough start on the track for the team. We looked slower on the track and thus deserved not to have a fast time, but that said we should really be doing better. A second and a half time that really does not put us in a position where we can succeed in the upcoming race. The car isn't fast enough, and really I think we should definitely push to contend, but maybe this is not the track for us to contend at. We'll see there will be a lot of cars to pass in the race, and maybe we'll handle better with contenders pushing us vs a time trial on our own. But really it's not a good sign."

"Any hopes to get the car faster for the race?"

"Of course we hope to get the car faster, what kind of question is that? We need to work together to figure out why we are so slow, some other new teams are out there competing at the top of the grid and we're at the bottom. I need to do better as an owner, Oliver needs to continue to push his car, as does Esteban in the other car. The fact is we shouldn't be outside the top 20, heck we shouldn't be outside of the top 10. With these drivers we should be competing. So really we need to push every minute until each race and get the best quality into the cars, and push each race weekend. We need to be better."

"The fact is an Enrique says there are various other new teams to the track this season, just think last year the first race was won by a new driver. The championship was contended by new teams and drivers. We have veteran drivers and a new team that is ripe for success. We need to push the cars and the drivers to the limit to get them to the victory on each race day. It's not an if we will compete it's a when will we compete this season. We have our goals to be a top team moving forward, and to do that we will need to be better each and every day to fight for each and every second out on the track."

[The Serbian Empire]

Post Qualifying Press Conference to Serbian Sports Media

A journalist from the Beograd Journal was the first to ask a question. "Why did you jump from 4th quick in qualifying while being dead last in practice?"

"I've got to be impressed with my first round qualifying lap under wet conditions, not much slower than a few tenths slower than I am in the dry. If it is to rain tomorrow, go from dry to wet, or turn from wet to dry then this will likely be my race to lose as what few drivers can run as fast in the rain are also more prone to crashes. Given this cars cornering abilities, the ability to produce virtually no wheel spin is a big plus in the wet and likely to produce a contender. As for my poor practice times, I was logging laps in race trim for the entire session as my testing has been limited to about a dozen laps prior to first practice this weekend. The crash which Maria Cattaneo wrecked in that test session was a bit of a hindrance to being quick off the bat in practice, and she did a solid enough job in qualifying for Kjeligsted WGPC today, but I assure that her crash was what assured me this ride. Crashing like that given her reputation for rarely making mistakes herself probably was pushing the car too hard after she bounced off the wall about two laps into the test session. After that, I would suspect that her car became ill-handling in the corners from knocking the toe out bouncing off the wall. From there, she destabilized the car allowing Ryker to gain about ten seconds on her and I was little more than 3 seconds behind him at that point. I was about 8 or 9 seconds back before she struck the wall initially," Marika stated.

A journalist from the Serbian Sporting News was next.
"What is it like to be the first Serbian in the WGPC?" the journalist questioned.

"Well, it's a great honor and I'm excited to admit that this should the first of many good starts in the WGPC. I am proud of my efforts to have gotten me this far into the racing world. Not many drivers have such an opportunity to jump from touring cars to endurance racing to open wheelers and be capable at all of them," Marika responded

A blogger from Racing.rs asked, "I'm here to lighten the mood and provide a bit more a more humorous question, but why do you drive a Lotus Elise for a street car?"

"Well, the Elise is essentially a car that given its lightweight is little more than a F2000 car with a roof and some minor creature comforts. Still weighs less than 1000 kilograms and about 200 brake horsepower," Marika said.

"

[Vilita and Turori]

Mount Salt Raceway, Mount Salt City, Eastfield Lodge :: The skies opened up over Mount Salt Raceway in Eastfield Lodge as Vilita & Turori drivers R.L. Cruisin and iBen Toralmintii prepared for their first qualifying runs of the WGPC 15 campaign.

Toralmintii was on the track first looking to get an early jump in his white and Eelskin brown livery, a stark contrast to the slate black that was the definition of the Vilita & Turori Motorsports livery shared by Toralmintii and Terho Talvela one season prior. Hoping to get an advantage by being one of the first on the track, Toralmintii ended up having the opposite experience, looping the car around after water-planing headed into the hard breaking turn 2.

The Turorian got the WGPC Eelandii ride righted and back on course but the experience made the defending Drivers Championship runner-up a tad hesitant and it would ultimately show in the speed charts.

On the other hand, R.L. Cruisin was able to benefit from being one of the last to hit the course. Many of Cruisin's competitors, much like iBen Toralmintii, had been able to work some of the sitting water out of the racing grooves allowing a more consistent level of grip around the course when Cruisin finally navigated his Arada Motorsport entry off the pit lane and down towards Turn 1.

Cruisin managed to post the 7th fastest time of the opening session, about two tenths of a second behind Axel Novikov, the Abovian rookie looking to follow in the footsteps of Driver Champion Terho Talvela who went from Zero to Hero in the opening round of WGPC 14. Speaking of Talvela, the former Vilita & Turori Motorsports driver struggled on the course with his new MRT chassis nearly 2 seconds off the pace in 22nd place, much to the delight of fans in Vilita & Turori who have already turned against "Traitorous Terho". Their remaining hero on the local team, iBen Toralmintii only managed to place two rows ahead of the struggling Abovian, however, in 18th place. It will be a long road for Toralmintii if he is to christen WGPC Eelandii with a Top 10 finish on what will technically be their Grand Prix debut, despite the fact that they are for the most part an experienced entity from WGPC 14. Entering race day, it appears the best shot for Eelandii to take home points on its incorporated debut will be through Anthorian Denholm Kingsley who surprised by posting the 13th best time - ahead of the entire MSA-SinVal team.

However, the grid was not fully set at that point with the top 10 drivers, including Vilitan driver R.L. Cruisin and his Arada Motorsport teammate Asao Nadakei - the WGPC 13 Runner up, still had another session to determine their place on the Grid. By this time, on-track conditions had started to deteriorate and any puddle clearing that had gone on earlier when the rain was lighter and 26 drivers took to the track had certainly been undone by the deluge that followed. Many experienced drivers took a weighted approach to the final session, not wanting to destroy their primary car just to try to move up a couple of places on the Grid. The inexperienced Abovian - Axel Novikov - didn't get the memo and had some issues falling from fastest to slowest in the second session. Only two drivers managed to put up a lap time in the second session that was even comparable to that they posted in the opening round - Fireline driver Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher and R.L. Cruisin whose time of 1:25.849 was good enough for second place on the grid, an outstanding showing for the Vilitan who at the start of the weekend might have just had his sights on scoring points in his debut for Arada Motorsport - but now could set his sights on something even bigger - such as his 4th ever World Grand Prix Championship race victory.

[West-East Timor]

Mount Salt Raceway, Eastfield Lodge
His mechanics rolled Mick's car back into the garage, shortly before the qualifying ended. No time left for another flying lap now. Mick had gotten along quite ok in the rain. At the beginning, he had driven very slow, but later, when he knew how the car handeled under wet conditions, he got way better.

"On what position am I currently?", Mick asked.

"You're... You're currently 10th. Means currently qualified for second session.", answered Max.

"Is there enough time left to finish another flying lap?"

"No, it isn't. The cars still out can finish one last flying lap. So, you're not 10th yet."

Mick got out of the car, and had a look at the leadersboard. Just as he looked, someone was faster than him.

"Well, I'm out now I guess.", Mick said.

"Oh, yeah. Two cars still on their flying laps.", said Max

One of the two cars still on a flying lap was faster than Mick anyway, and the other one wasn't able to beat his time.

"So... Looks like I'm eleventh.", Mick said. "So close to the second session... It's like, honestly? Eleventh? Can't someone be slower? Like, really? But, well... I guess it's ok. It's my first WGPC qualifying ever, so, I guess it's fine. Hey, Julianos is qualified for session two."

"Yeah, he is.", said Max. "And... Whoah. Have a look at the bottom of the leadersboard."

Mick looked down. "Ha. Really? I'm better than both MRTs? How could they be that bad?"

"I don't know.", Max answered. "I just know we're better than MRT."

"That feels somewhat great...", said Mick.

"You feel great? You can't even qualify for the second session. Julianos Lemos can. Just shut up Mick, you're one of the worst drivers here."

"F*ck off Marek.", Mick said. "Why can't WETmotors or Bitten Heroes fire this [censored]?", he whispered.

Suddenly, Andy Kashnan arrived in the garage. "Mick."

"Andy."

"Several newspapers, journalists, TV news and whatever are hoping for a press conference. So I think we should make one."

"If I have to do it..."

"Yes. Yes, you have to do it."

At the press conference

"Mick, what do you think about your qualifying position?", a journalist asked.

"I think it's ok. It was my first qualifying ever, so yeah. It's ok. About what I expected. I'm neither dissapointed, nor really excited about it. It's jut like... Yeah, eleventh. Eleventh is eleventh. Julianos is fifth, so you can say it's a good result for the team too. Yes, Fireline or Arada, e.g., had a better qualifying, but hey, MRT had the worst qualifying you can imagine. So, it's alright."

"How did the car feel out there? You've never driven this car under wet conditions before, have you?"

"No, I haven't. Shurely you've realized my laptimes were pretty bad at the beginning. That's just that, I've never driven this car under wet conditions before, like you said. I had to get used to it first, find out how fast I can drive, how the car handles and everything. When I got that, I got faster of course. I'd say the practice sessions will be very important for me this season. I still have to get used to the car, even though it is not that different than a Formula WET1 car, and I don't know any of the tracks."

"What do you expect to achieve in the race? What are your goals for tomorrow?"

"Well, as I'm eleventh on the starting grid, I should definetly try to get some points. I have to gain just one place to be in top ten, so I'll give my best to achieve that. Of course, finishing my first race in WGPC is my primary goal, but being in top ten would be even better. So I'll do what I can to gain at least one position."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Once again, the Nexus Racing garage thrums with activity. Before either of the cars go out, Timothy Guard, standing on a workbench, gives a speech to the entire team.

“Friends, Nimbans, countrymen, lend me your ears!” This elicits a chuckle. The Project Manager smiles at his own joke before his visage becomes serious once more.

“We are here today after three years of hard, hard work put into building, testing and rebuilding this car. We started with no experience of designing such a vehicle. That would be enough to make most people give up right away! We did not and, after our endeavours, we have created a racer that is statistically faster than any other in the competition. How very Nimban of us.”

Another chuckle. Guard laughs along with them this time, then continues: “I mean it! When have we as a people ever not been the underdogs? For goodness’ sake, a few decades ago our ‘nation’ was a collection of stone huts! Time and time again we have proven as a nation that we are capable of achieving far more than our size would suggest.”

“How?” He pauses for a moment, looking down. He then looks up, staring intensely at the gathered team. “Diversity. Passion. Determination. Unity. Focus. Creativity.”

“Remember them as we go into this race! You are representing yourselves, your team and your nation here; most importantly, however, you are representing your values, the things that we all hold dearest.”

“Good luck, everyone, and prove it to the world: the underdog always wins!”

[The Redvale]

Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher & Maria Cattaneo
Mount Salt City

It was qualifying day, and before the drivers would take to the track, they had to take questions from the Redvali press members that had traveled so far to see them and talk to them. Jeremy was first up, and this time was the first time that all the bright lights were focused on him. It was the first time that he was standing in a press conference with all of the camera flashes and journalists focused on him and not a teammate or some other more promising driver. The feeling was interesting, at the least. "Jeremy, how do you feel about your chances this season?" someone asked, and the cameras flashed again as he tried to come up with an answer.

"I think our chances are alright. The car this year has got good cornering, and it's known to be pretty reliable... A better engine would've fit my racing style better, but I'll make it work. I think I'm going to surprise some people with how I perform, and I've even surprised myself recently with my own skills," Jeremy said, with a shrug. "I think we're due for at least a top half finish, which is about what the oddsmakers have us at. I don't feel disrespected by it, I think it's a reasonable prediction."

"How are you adjusting to the new stardom that comes with being one of the drivers to represent your country?"

"Eh... I don't think I've fully adjusted yet. That's going to take awhile. I still think of myself as an engineer, really, not as a star driver. But the attention is nice, and it's nice to finally have my work recognized. To tell the truth, I haven't been able to focus much on the stardom because I've been busy working on getting better for the season. I've done a lot of study, and spent a lot of time learning the ins and outs of the Fireline car. Maybe when the offseason is here, I'll be able to look back and admire my popularity."

"Speaking of attention, you've gotten attention from Gabriella Olson recently. Do you have anything to say about that?"

"It is what it is? She's not just a businesswoman, she's always been a fan of our sport too. She stopped by to give me some advice and congratulate me on making the team. I'm pretty glad to have her around, to be honest, because she has far more experience in this business than I do. She's put together some of the most innovative teams that our country has ever seen, so I'm happy to take advice from her."

"Can you tell us if Fireline is going to be rolling out a new car this season? Or if one is in the works?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I'm not sure, actually. We're doing some R&D for sure, and I've been involved in that, but our timetable isn't set in stone yet and we might wait a bit longer to make sure that the car is top quality when it's finally revealed. It could give us a boost midseason if we do decide to release it then."

There were some more questions, and then Jeremy's press conference finished up. He posed for some more pictures in his new team branded clothes, and then he stepped down from the podium and moved towards the side of the room. He didn't want to leave quite yet because Maria's press conference was next, and he wanted to see what she had to say. As someone who had been a star for longer, the questions that she received would likely be harder than the ones that had been given to him. When she stepped up to the podium, the cameras once again began flashing and popping with an intensity that Jeremy didn't know was possible.

"Maria, what do you think about being the first female driver to represent your country internationally?" a reporter asked to start the press conference off.

"I don't think being female has anything to do with it. The only people that have made a big deal of it are you lot in the media. If anyone didn't respect me because I'm female, that disrespect went away as soon as they saw me drive... I don't think it matters, really. I'm more concerned with real problems, not looking to prove myself. I proved myself as a female driver the day I signed for Roja Leo and then for Kjeligsted," Maria said, keeping her tone even and not giving away much either way emotionally.

"Can you tell us what your disputes with Roja Leo management were over?"

"That's just some personal stuff."

"But the fans want to know, and it's clearly affecting your career. Would you like to explain to us why you allegedly argued with Giovani Giordano about off the track matters, or would you like to deny those rumors?"

Maria sighed. "Look, I'm not going to say that nothing happened, but I'm not talking about it here. Next question."

"Maria, the fans need a proper answer," another reporter said. "Can you at least give us some information?"

"I'm done here," Maria sighed, and with that, she walked out of the press conference less than ten minutes after she had walked in. Sometimes, being the face of the country's racing program was rougher than it looked...

[Hodori Motorsports]

INSIDE WGPC
A SUPER OPTION Magazine Online Exclusive
Part 5 - Arada Motorsport
en.super-option.co.hd/art=515193

← Part 4 - Telaris Racing | Part 5 | Part 6 - McPahan →
Table of Contents

In Part 4 of Inside WGPC, we reviewed Telaris Racing’s WGPC history and their lineup for this year. For Part 5, we will now cover the Hodoran entry of Arada Motorsport.

After a troubled second season as a joint venture with rival Tarogama and parting ways at the season’s end, Dekijika Automotive continues its WGPC campaign under the Arada Motorsport banner. Gazanarikeyu Beverage Company, traditionally offering title sponsorship to Tarogama-powered teams, offered reduced support as a secondary sponsor during the pre-season tests, before fully departing with the signing of R. L. Cruisin. PrismRiver Corporation now fills the role of title sponsor, using the opportunity to promote the global release of the English-language version of the LYRICA Virtual Idol software, complete with LYRICA main character Tara An’ue painted on the airbox and engine cover.

As part of the promotional world tour, PrismRiver Corporation will hold concerts at select WGPC venues, using holographic technology to bring the cast of LYRICA to life.

Helmed by team principal Nechiru Seozamo, manager of the factory Arada teams in ENSADRINK GT1 and Formula Hodori, Arada Motorsport with Hodoran driver Asao Nadakei and Vilitan pilot R. L. Cruisin will aim for total victory. World Driver’s Championship runner-up Nadakei in the lead 55 car has nearly two decades worth of driving experience and six Drivers Championship titles in Formula Hodori, while Cruisin in the No.51 car has multiple seasons of experience starting from the 11th World Grand Prix Championship.

Having spent the past two WGPC seasons in development, the NVH/E160K turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 has shown promise in testing. With Tarogama’s departure, Chiruno Reitoude, lead engineer and owner of the current ENSADRINK GT1 champion team, fills the role of maintenance director.

Same as last year, Setadori 7S lubricants are used with Audioslavian petroleum company Hygolye supplying the fuel. KAWASHIRO Industries replaces Infini as ERS supplier, with harvest units paired with A.mu’s Project brake systems.

The Arada Z15 T2 chassis is built from the ground up, discarding the underlying Yemigama HPI FH170T used as the basis for the Z13 T2 and Z14 T2.

New to the project are R-TEC Engineering providing suspension components and Garage 333 producing the forged magnesium alloy wheels. A.mu’s carbon-ceramic ventilated discs and 6-piston calipers provide stopping power. Deyoze again supplies the team’s tyres, providing several grades of their Ikakotas for dry or wet conditions.

As the team remains insistent on carrying onboard a driver coolsuit system, similar to the ones used in domestic Hodoran championships to combat the heat, further weight reductions in the system have been pursued. In place of ice, cold gel packs are used as the heat exchanger medium after promising results in private testing and development in the No.152 GT2 Arada Kaenbyou.

Thanks to several insider sources, we have been able to acquire the car’s technical specifications, reproduced below.

MACHINE
Chassis Name	ARADA Motorsport Z15 T2
Construction	Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer Survival Cell
Weight		Less than 700kg
Drive		MR
Length		4990mm
Width		1800mm
Height		 950mm

Wheelbase	3300mm
Front Overhang	1090mm
Rear Overhang	 600mm

TYRES
Make		Deyoze
Brand		Ikakota
Front (Dry)	350M A660 R330
		350/660R13 Radial steel belt
Rear (Dry)	380M A660 R330
		380/660R13 Radial steel belt

Front (Wet)	350M A670 R330
		350/670R13 Radial steel belt
Rear (Wet)	380M A670 R330
		380/670R13 Radial steel belt

WHEELS
Make		Garage 333
Front		MA12IIGPR MAZ80
		Forged Magnesium Alloy
Rear		PA12IIGPR MAZ80
		Forged Magnesium Alloy

BRAKE
Make		A.mu's Project
Front and Rear	278mm Carbon Ceramic Ventilated Disc + KAWASHIRO Industries Kinetic Energy Recovery System Module
		6-piston Caliper + ERS Harvest Unit

Suspension
Make		R-TEC Engineering
Front and Rear	Double A-Arm

ENGINE
Model		ARADA NVH/E160K + KAWASHIRO Industries KMG120-GP
Tuner		ARADA Motorsport
Lubricant	Setadori 7S
Fuel		Hygolye
Type		Turbocharged V6 + Electric Motor
Displacement	1596cc
	Bore	80.0mm
	Stroke	52.9mm
Power		Over 700PS + 120kW
Transmission	WhiteRock WR8SZ-GP 8-speed sequential DCT, paddle shift

← Part 4 - Telaris Racing | Part 5 | Part 6 - McPahan →

[Lisander]

Juliano went back to the bus. He had achieved a good qualifying result. Sixth place was better than Bitten Heroes could expect, judging by the disastrous preseason. The car was practically the same as the tests, which the WET and Maud teams barely had time to improve.

With a pad of notes in his hand, Lemos noticed and wrote things as he watched the videos of his qualifying laps. He'd seen the same turn about four or five times before picking up the phone and calling.

-Lanza, watch my second lap, please ... The fit of the piece in figure 26, why was it changed? My lap slowed down ... Three seconds up!

* Alberto Lanza, Chief Engineer of the car #5: Natassia's orders. She said, "the configuration needs to be modified and tested." Since we did not have a second round of testing, we'll have to do it during the season itself. *

—Well, for Jah's sake, go back to the previous setting ... I was driving a lot better with that one.

* Very well ... It will be done. We will also receive new tyres for the race. The Ajator engineers have been testing the training, it seems the weather is different than they had imagined. *

—Well, check this fit then send me a photo of those new tyres.

* I can't do this now. Both cars are being painted to the race, tomorrow.*

[WGPC]

Belated CUT OFF for the first race of the season.

[WGPC]

Raceweek 4 - Race One
The Grand Prix of the Imperial Commonwealth

Conditions: Dry
Laps: 70

Pos # Driver               Team			Race Time	Behind Preceding car	Pts
 1  6 Marika Pedanovic           	1:40:14.037	+0:00.000	25
 2 37 Axel Novikov               	1:40:41.843	+0:27.805	18
 3  1 Terho Talvela              	1:40:41.866	+0:00.024	14
 4 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher         	1:40:42.673	+0:00.806	10
 5 55 Asao Nadakei               	1:40:54.071	+0:11.399	8
 6 42 Alex Dimitrianov           	1:41:23.992	+0:29.920	6
 7 14 Oliver Bliss               	1:41:29.550	+0:05.559	4
 8  5 Julianos Lemos             	1:41:33.892	+0:04.342	3
 9 53 Denholm Kingsley           	+1 Lap				2
10 16 Alexander Lund             	+1 Lap		+0:00.138	1
11 89 Will Madison               	+1 Lap		+0:00.355
12 94 Ryker Lane                 	+1 Lap		+0:02.789
13 52 Sayono Souzare             	+1 Lap		+0:00.237
14 91 Ilyas Nurlibaev            	+1 Lap		+0:08.278
15 23 Moisés Delgado             	+1 Lap		+0:00.321
16 18 Louis Krindle              	+1 Lap		+0:00.891
17 77 iBen Toralmintii           	+1 Lap		+0:03.979
18 63 Kurt Censki                	+1 Lap		+0:15.257
19 99 Maria Cattaneo             	+1 Lap		+0:02.708
20 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie        	+1 Lap		+0:15.009
21 24 Victoria Gardner           	+1 Lap		+0:00.166
22 51 R.L. Cruisin               	+1 Lap		+0:00.881
23 20 Mick Schramm               	+1 Lap		+0:05.066
24  7 Ethan Ellis                	+1 Lap		+0:05.322
25 29 Esteban Guilhermez         	+2 Laps		

DF 74 Alexandra Mayari           	Ret. Lap 3

Constructors Championship Standings

Nexus		25
Telaris		18
Fireline	16
MRT		14
Arada		8
RSR		4
Bitten Heroes	3
Eelandii WGPC	2
Wilson		1
MSA-SinVal	0
McPahan		0
SFeG		0
Kjeligsted WGPC	0

[The Serbian Empire]

"The underdog always wins... And given how I drove in the wet with this car, the dry is comparatively easy," Marika said to herself as the lights turned.

Her laps were not particularly faster than any of the others, but rather ran away on Tigar tyres due to their durability allowing her to run laps 20 laps into a run only a half second slower than they were when new. Tyre management allowed her to make one stop when others needed a second or in some cases as with Esteban Guilhermez, a third pit stop. At lap 37, she pitted in to replace the tires briefly giving up the lead to Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher. His aggressive driving however led to him using up his tyres and Marika was able to pass him handily into turn 2 a few laps later. He pitted in a few laps later and fell behind Terho Talvela and Axel Novikov due to staying out too long on worn tyres.

"Marika, be careful... you're about to lap your teammate. Don't take each other out," the team engineer has alerted.

"Roger that, the last thing we need is a crash. How is his tyre wear when compared to mine?" Marika asked.

"Ryker's been a bit rougher on the tyres. Had to pit in about ten laps before you did because his lap times fell off quite severely," the engineer responded.

Marika went into turn 1 and made a cautious but certain pass.
It sure is easier to pass drivers when you're on fresher tyres and they're sliding around a bit.

"How many more of these cars are in close proximity?" Marika asked.

"There's three of them, all of them running similar lap times if the timing and scoring stream is correct," the engineer responded.

"Good, I'll get them a lap down!" Marika exclaimed.

As she proceeded to lap the cars, Marika noticed that she was lapping a Wilson car.
I already lapped one of them, this one must be the second of them.

"What position is the leading Wilson car in?" Marika asked.

"Timing and scoring has Alexander Lund in 10th," the engineer responded.

Now I'm lapping cars in points position. This is impressive to say the least.

"5 laps to go, you're leading by a bit less than 30 seconds," the race engineer alerted Marika.

"That lead is larger than I thought it was. Slow down a bit to not wreck or break down is a good idea with such a large lead," Marika said.

Marika lapped her final car before the checkered flag, an Eelandii WGPC car on lap 68 and won by essentially what was the pit stop time delta.

Never thought I'd win in my WGPC debut, it's incredible to say the least. I can't wait to hear the Serbian anthem play and pop a bottle of champagne.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

"The underdog always wins... And given how I drove in the wet with this car, the dry is comparatively easy," Marika said to herself as the lights turned.

Her laps were not particularly faster than any of the others, but rather ran away on Tigar tyres due to their durability allowing her to run laps 20 laps into a run only a half second slower than they were when new. Tyre management allowed her to make one stop when others needed a second or in some cases as with Esteban Guilhermez, a third pit stop. At lap 37, she pitted in to replace the tires briefly giving up the lead to Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher. His aggressive driving however led to him using up his tyres and Marika was able to pass him handily into turn 2 a few laps later. He pitted in a few laps later and fell behind Terho Talvela and Axel Novikov due to staying out too long on worn tyres.

"Marika, be careful... you're about to lap your teammate. Don't take each other out," the team engineer has alerted.

"Roger that, the last thing we need is a crash. How is his tyre wear when compared to mine?" Marika asked.

"Ryker's been a bit rougher on the tyres. Had to pit in about ten laps before you did because his lap times fell off quite severely," the engineer responded.

Marika went into turn 1 and made a cautious but certain pass.
It sure is easier to pass drivers when you're on fresher tyres and they're sliding around a bit.

"How many more of these cars are in close proximity?" Marika asked.

"There's three of them, all of them running similar lap times if the timing and scoring stream is correct," the engineer responded.

"Good, I'll get them a lap down!" Marika exclaimed.

As she proceeded to lap the cars, Marika noticed that she was lapping a Wilson car.
I already lapped one of them, this one must be the second of them.

"What position is the leading Wilson car in?" Marika asked.

"Timing and scoring has Alexander Lund in 10th," the engineer responded.

Now I'm lapping cars in points position. This is impressive to say the least.

"5 laps to go, you're leading by a bit less than 30 seconds," the race engineer alerted Marika.

"That lead is larger than I thought it was. Slow down a bit to not wreck or break down is a good idea with such a large lead," Marika said.

Marika lapped her final car before the checkered flag, an Eelandii WGPC car on lap 68 and won by essentially what was the pit stop time delta.

Never thought I'd win in my WGPC debut, it's incredible to say the least. I can't wait to hear the Serbian anthem play and pop a bottle of champagne.

The atmosphere in the Nexus Racing garage after qualifying was cheerful. The atmosphere in the Nexus Racing garage now is ecstatic.

A growing sense of delighted and shocked anticipation boils over into whoops of delight that rip through the Nimban camp as Marika rounds the final bend of the course. At the moment that her car crosses the line, this transforms into cheering that seems almost unwarranted given the situation's utter predictability based on the race's events. It doesn't matter to the team in question, though - this is their victory and by Imagination they are going to celebrate it.

Guard tears himself away from those around him as he turns on the radio to Marika. "Now that's a debut! Awesome job, Marika - you literally couldn't have done any better for us. Truly, truly amazing."

[The Redvale]

OOC: The interactions with Ryker Lane were done with permission from Nimbus
Maria Cattaneo
Mount Salt Raceway

It was midway through the race. One of the drivers that was the most speculated about beforehand was Maria Cattaneo, but her horrible qualifying time had forced her into the back of the grid and had made sure that she would have it all to do once the actual race came. There had been plenty of harsh words and anger on her end, directed at her engineering staff about the condition of her car, which she believed wasn't good enough for her to contend for top finishes with, but she had put all of that behind her and put on her usual calm face once she was behind the steering wheel for the actual race. Despite starting so far behind the leaders, Maria's careful handling and calm confidence had boosted her position early in the race and had allowed her to race with the middle of the pack after jumping ahead in lap number one.

She was finding herself going toe to toe with some of the racers that had been hired by teams that had rejected her. Kurt Censki with McPahan, and Ryker Lane with Nexus. She'd been battling with Ryker Lane early and often, and he had owned her in the early part of the race and taken the lead. But Maria wasn't done trying to pass him just yet. His tires were wearing out faster compared to her car that had better cornering, and medium tires, and she used that to her advantage and activated her DRS to try to gain ground on him and overtake him while he was in the pit lane replacing those tires. It didn't work out as well as she had planned. She didn't gain enough ground, and instead of being ahead, she was almost neck and neck with Ryker once he emerged from the pit lane.

They were both going for the same lane, and Maria couldn't have predicted that Ryker's car would slam into hers, because he thought that he could cut her off and overtake her. She was a bit faster than that, and the result was a collision that saw her right front wing get badly damaged in addition to Ryker's car sustaining some damage too. "What the fuck!?" Maria snapped, surprised that Ryker would go for the risky overtake and damage her car in the process. She was forced to slow down and drive defensively to avoid being overtaken by too many of the other middle of the pack cars, but a few of them did manage to pass her.

"Maria, calm down, and tell us how bad you think the damage is," said Hans Eskildsen, trying to keep her from freaking out and losing what position she had left.

"The right front wing looks like it's about to drop off," she replied, her voice shaking because of the adrenaline that was flowing through her body at the moment. "I think the whole area is damaged, I might need a new front wing or some repairs to the nose... I can't say exactly what's wrong, but the whole thing is fucked up right now-"

"Alright, make sure that you box on the next lap. We'll get it fixed up and give you some soft tires to help you make up the ground you're going to lose. Okay?"

"Yeah," Maria said, but she was obviously extremely frustrated. "Ugh! I can't believe Ryker would do that! That overtake was fucking stupid, there was no chance for him to pass me without hitting me. That had to be intentional, and it was dirty as fuck! If this isn't worth a time deduction, I don't what is. Seriously..."

"Calm down-"

"Don't tell me to calm down," Maria snapped, driving as defensively as possible and switching lanes every few moments to try to block off the paths that her opponents could use to overtake her. "If you guys hadn't put me in this outdated piece of shit junker, I wouldn't have been in that position in the first place. You better believe you're going to hear from me about the car and you better believe Ryker is going to get an earful from me about this shit..."

"Okay, Maria," Hans said, keeping a neutral voice and not arguing at the risk of upsetting her even more.

"Ugh... Fuck everything," muttered Maria, frustrated that she would be doomed to the mid table again after working so hard to start coming back from her poor qualifying session. "Like I said. You haven't heard the last of this."

~

"I rest my case!" shouted Maria, as soon as she climbed out of her car. Her body language was completely pissed off, and her crew members looked like they wanted to hide. She was putting the blame for her nineteenth place finish squarely on their shoulders, because in her opinion, the bad result had been because of the car's weaknesses. That applied both to the race and to qualifying, where she had started off in poor position and doomed herself to a mid table finish before things even began. "If you want me to be able to compete with the best, you're going to need to put me in a car that can compete with them!"

She took her helmet off and threw it towards the back of the garage, forcing a mechanic to duck to avoid getting nailed in the head with it. "We'll make sure that everyone at the top of the team knows what your concerns are," Hans told her, as she moved over to the area where the engineers were on their computers. "I get it that you're frustrated, but there's no point in acting angry about it now. What's done is done, and it's time to turn the page and focus on what's up next for us."

"What's next for us is more failure if we keep going at this pace!" shouted Maria, and she picked up one of the computer units and threw it across the garage, smashing it. "Look, you want me to do my job? Then get the engineers to do their job. You guys don't like it when I break your stuff, do you? Well, now you know how I felt when you put me in this weak car that broke apart after one bump! You're not so calm and smug about everything now, are you?"

The crew stood in silence as Maria stared them down, and then she turned her back and started walking out of the garage. "Pathetic," she muttered under her breath, and that was when she bumped into Ryker Lane, the very driver that had damaged her car in the first place and ruined her momentum. "The hell do you want? Came to brag about how you ruined my debut?"

"I came to apologize about that. I didn't mean to wreck your wing like that, I thought I could get past without making contact-"

"Fuck off," Maria snapped, and she stormed away from the garage. This wasn't how the debut for the twenty two year old Redvali star was supposed to go. She was supposed to be on the podium, but now the best finish for a Redvali driver hadn't belonged to her, but had belonged to the boy who hadn't been able to beat her at anything previously in their careers. It was completely humiliating, and as she walked away from that garage, she couldn't help but think more and more about Gabriella Olson's offer to help improve the Kjeligsted car. Now, she caught herself wishing for the team to take her up on that offer.

~

Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher
Mount Salt Raceway

It was the final lap of a hard fought race where Jeremy was sitting in fourth place. Pretty good for a twenty two year old rookie driver. That accomplishment became much better when one considered that Jeremy had pitted twice in the race, because of using soft tires and racing aggressively. It was near the end of the race now and his tires didn't seem like they would last longer, but he had built up a big lead on the car behind him, driven by Asao Nadakei. He was able to let up the pressure, and going into turns thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen, he was pretty sure that he was going to finish in the top five.

As he went down turn fourteen, Jeremy prayed in his mind that the car would stay reliable. It had been reliable for him all race long, and now, he was driving on tires that were far too worn and trying to protect his lead. "Come on... Come on..." he muttered under his breath, decelerating and hoping that he didn't lose too much ground on the final straightaway of the race. But as he grew closer, it became apparent that tire failure wouldn't be a risk. He wasn't going to blow this lead, and as he crossed the finish line, he had even put some pressure on the third place driver, Terho Talvela. "Yeah! You guys didn't think I'd finish this high, did you? Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Getting ten points for his first WGPC race was impressive, especially considering some of the more known drivers that he had finished above. When he coasted around the track one more time before going into pit lane to head to the garage, the atmosphere among the Fireline team was great; both of their drivers had picked up points in the first race of the season, putting the team in decent position going into the next one. They were now third in the Constructor's Champinoship, behind Telaris and Nexus. And while it was extremely early, Jeremy was fourth in the Driver's Championship.

Jeremy stepped out of his car and there were high fives all around from the Fireline crew. "You guys did great on the pit stops," he remarked. "Two pits and I still managed to get to fourth. Brilliant. I'm not going to lie and say this isn't a little sweeter because I finished over Maria, either," he added, before high fiving Chief Engineer Alan Lamble and his race engineer, Andres Hawken. "Let's keep it going in San Jose Guayabal in the next race, alright?"

"Of course," said Andres, and then he pointed to the back of the garage. "Also, there's someone here to see you again."

Gabriella Olson was hanging around the back of the garage, and she approached Jeremy before hugging him and congratulating him. "Hey, you're doing wonders for the country on the international scene. You aren't even one of our top ten prospects and you put on a performance like this. That's going to make people start taking the RMC more seriously," she stated. "You were great out there, I love the aggression. And like I promised, I have more for you now that you're putting on good performances."

"Oh yeah?" asked Jeremy, raising an eyebrow as Gabriella stepped back and reached into her bag for something. "And what would this be? More drachmas?"

"Not quite, but I don't think you're going to be disappointed," she said, before handing him a folded sheet of paper. "Here. For when you have some time off. Like I said, I don't think you're going to be disappointed."

"Uh... Thanks," said Jeremy, not looking at what was written on the paper just yet. "Also, is your company still in the mood to help us with R&D?"

"We'll see about that. If you want to talk about it, give me a call. You know where to find me."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Ryker's car glowed softly as it gently glided down the pit lane under the power of its Imagikinetic converter. He had been running a good race so far, getting a great start off the grid - as expected - and taking three places right away before snatching a fourth from Censki into the second corner. What amazed him was the amount of ground that Maria Cattaneo of all people had managed to make up, taking advantage of an early tangle in the middle of the pack on the third lap that took Alexander Mayari out of the race - she ended up right behind him and began threatening to overtake, though he easily outpaced her on the straights and quickly began to pull out a very substantial lead.

That lead was enough to give him space for a pit stop, which he dearly needed after the hard racing of the early part of the race. His Chase Cutter slid up the slight ramp onto the platform and accompanying apparatus that Nexus Racing had brought in lieu of a pit crew. As he stopped motors underneath the platform adjusted the car's position, allowing a group of eight robotic arms to move into position, remove his old tyres and replace them with a new set with a level of precision and speed that human hands couldn't match.

Ryker smiled as he drove back off the platform. That system was a brilliant example of the sort of process innovation that Nexus Racing did all the time - no other team had brought a mechanised pit crew with them. It gave them just a few tenths' advantage over other teams in the pit lane but a few tenths could make all the -

She's caught up already?

Maria, according to the map in the corner of his steering wheel's display, was tearing down the start/finish straight and closing, fast. Thinking quickly, Ryker pressed the button on the back of his wheel that activated 'Race Start/Overtake' engine mode, letting the Imagikinetic converter run on full capacity to give him as much acceleration as possible, just as he reached the end of the pit lane. Limiter suddenly deactivated, he shot forward under the Chase Cutter's amazing propulsive power almost immediately before Maria caught him, passing him and gaining a bit of ground. Sweeping to the outside in an attempt to wrongfoot her as they entered the corner, Ryker quickly began to reel her with in his car's superior acceleration and speed to the point at which he was already barely ahead under braking coming into the first turn. Okay, you've got this, he thought. Don't take any risks - just keep pace with her around the outside now and you'll easily take the position back on the second straight.

Except it didn't happen like that.

Ryker Lane was not used to racing on the Tigar compounds that Gertrude had finally brought in just earlier this morning - he was used to racing on Nimban compounds with no grip whatsoever. Had he been using the latter, the overtake would have probably proceeded as planned; with the extra grip that the new wheels provided, however, he swerved far more quickly to the right than planned. The car lurched and - BANG!

"No, no, no!" Ryker wrestled with the wheel, trying desperately to extricate himself from the situation. He got the car under control, hanging on for grim death through the corner, then accelerating as normal. Nothing felt so wrong as to be catastrophic with the car, so there was that - looking back at the readout on his steering wheel, which had automatically switched to a damage readout. It was worse, to be fair, than it first appeared - numerous reconfigurable body panels had had their motors taken out of action but, more worryingly, his rear axle had been weakened. Lowering his speed to take the problem into account, he patched the radio through to Gertrude. "NRTech, confirm RA light damage - safe, RP light damage, halted - safe."

"Confirmed," Thompson replied from the pit wall. "Ryker, what was that? You know that you could have held it after the corner!"

"That was the plan." Ryker grimaced. "I underestimated my grip, cornered too quickly."

"Well, the damage is light but it is most certainly there. You can just about stay on track, I think, but you absolutely must drive in mode E1 for the rest of the race for safety's sake - any more stress will shatter the RA. You will drop back."

"Understood." Ryker tapped the screen a few times, selecting the emergency limiter mode. "I just hope that Mar-"

Oh no, she's not. Having glanced down at the map again, Ryker saw his competitor dropping back down the order rapidly. Imagination, Maria, I'm so, so sorry. "I'll go and make a personal apology after the race - that move, whether I meant it or not, wasn't right." He shook his head slightly, keeping the movements within the car's confines. "Right now I need to focus on this. What do the stewards say?"

"Nothing yet." The new voice was that of Guard, whose voice is understanding and sympathetic. "Ah, we have something incoming - 'No further action taken', apparently. They must have decided that your car's state was punishment enough. Listen, Ryker, we'll talk about this after the race ends - for now, fend off those behind you as best you can and, moreover, finish in one piece."

"I hear you." The radio communications shut off.

For the rest of the race, Ryker did just that - he kept engine power Emergency Mode 1 on, drove as smoothly as possible to keep stress off his rear axle and did his best to keep the competition behind him. This last objective he completed with remarkable success, delaying several drivers and keeping Souzare at bay until the race's end, ending up exactly where he started. One prominent thought arose in Ryker's mind as he crossed the line, immediately before he radioed to congratulate Marika on her success:

Well, that could have gone better.

[Taeshan]

"Oliver how do you feel about your showing in today's race."

"Great, 7th might not be worth as many points as a podium finish but with a new team, and a car that hadn't shown as much speed in qualifying and the practices it is definitely a good thing that we did so well in the actual race. We gained almost 15 places throughout the race and passed a lot of cars on the day. It was impressive that we were able to do so well on the track, that said I feel like we can do better moving forward. We need to qualify better, we need to race better, and we need to practice better. I hold my self accountable and moving forward each member of the team needs to do so."

"Enrique anything to say about your team's effort today?"

"Well obviously Oliver did really well in the race. He pushed through the pack so cleanly and got us more points in this one race than any Taeshani team has ever gotten in a previous season. We are proud of that but we need more moving forward. I'm not going to be content with just getting some points this season, I want to win races, and I want to be the top team by the end of the season. Another new team in Nexus went out and won the race. I want to win every race. To do that we expect more from Oliver, and more from Esteban in the second car. He had a tough time out there, but it wasn't just him, it was his team and our 2nd team. We need to work with them so they can succeed. He can't finish as the final competitor not broken down every race, and I don't think he will, but we will need to monitor that situation. I expect him to be as good if not better than Oliver each week and I think the team we have for him should be able to compete."

[Aboveland]

Terho shrieked through the intercom as he crossed the start/finish line at almost the exact same time as Axel. "Yes! We are on the podium!" he hollered. It had been a titanic battle starting from 22nd on the grid after a catastrophic turbo failure for both MRT cars landed them far down the qualifying order with only one recorded lap in spoiled cars. By his own admission, it had been one of the most meaningful results in his entire career.

Terho had been confident going into practice, with his chin up and his hopes high. More concerned with finding proper race and qualifying setups rather than setting fast times, he finished sixth, a pleasing result for him and to Edvin, to whom he'd complained earlier regarding the circuit's "annoying geometric corners".

After a fructiferous practice session in Anni, as he'd called his now beloved car, he began qualifying with an intense desire for pole position, supposing that at his rate he'd definitely get past into qualifying two. However, it couldn't have gone worse. As he shot out of turn 15 en route to the start/finish line, ready to end his first proper qualifying lap, he heard the unmistakable sound of his turbo spooling up, up, up, ready to blow off some pressure as he changed gear, when suddenly it burst. A mighty jolt shook Anni as she entered sixth gear, weeping, sending her into a heavy spin and crossing the line pointing backwards. Terho frantically worked to point the rear of the car away from the sidewalls of the circuit, and just clipped the barrier with his front wing in the recovery process. No serious damage was done to the car, but Terho's qualifying session was over, effectively landing him 22nd. While he walked furiously back to pits, helmet and visor still firmly attached, he spotted his teammate limping through the final three corners with awful crunching mechanical sounds emanating from behind him. MRT was having a nightmare.

---

Axel had an immense grin on his face, a rarely spotted feature. He'd been first in practice, in a car with which he'd felt incredibly comfortable in, and now had taken pole position. The Frida and the Ruuhmakis were jovial, the brothers jumping up and down and pumping their arms and Frida twirling her ballpoint pen in delight.

The rookie had been on a heavy late push at the end of qualifying, wearing his tyres down to near bursting point, to get on pole. While he was a modest man, neither he nor anyone else could argue that he wasn't a natural talent, and every circuit fit his driving style, one way or the other. Right as he was about to grab a chilly sports drink, however, he was met with an unpleasant surprise.

"How was the car?" asked the Telaris engineers.

"Good. I liked it," answered Axel.

"Perfect," they replied. "Get hydrated and get ready for Q2."

Puzzled, Axel inquired. "Q2?"

"Yes, the second round of qualifying. We're going to have to switch out those tyres."

"No no no. Keep the tyres. First, tell me, what the hell is Q2?"

"You didn't know?"

Axel shook his head.

"This race is organized with a two-part qualifying system. Everyone goes out once, and the top ten drivers go out twice."

"Perkele. Lower the downforce but keep the tyres."

Worried, the crew complied. His wingmen thought twice about stepping up to him and yielding some advice for the second session he somehow was unaware was a thing, but shot those ideas out of their heads as Axel turned around sporting a pissy frown.

Axel set off for Q2 with the same anger he'd had for the past hour. Going downhill into turn 11, a sudden gust of wind combined with the low downforce and lack of grip from the tyres lifted Axel's car into the air by a couple of millimeters, enough to land him sideways. His failed attempts at countersteering his way back into a forward facing position backfired even more when the poor Telaris machine snapped left sharply, sliding onto the grass and finally impacting the track wall at high speed with his rear left wheel, knocking the tyre off the rim. Axel eventually got the car restarted, yet as he wrestled with the car's bent suspension he decided to pull into the pits and call it a day, completing his sole lap in the pitlane over 20 seconds behind the pace. While he had a clear grid advantage over Terho, both Abovians had crashed out in qualifying, painting a grim picture with an unfortunate outcome for the fans back at home.

---

The five red lights shut off. The cars screamed, the Nexus engine releasing a turbo-infused grumbling whistle, the Telaris machine letting out a high pitched whirr, and Anni releasing a powerful, imposing growl. Terho was focused. His unfortunate grid position would not hamper his chances of a podium one bit. Being the first race of the season, and located so far down the order, he had nothing at all to lose going into the race. He'd go flat out, all or nothing.

Immediately, Anni entered a severe wheelspin episode, yet Terho managed to keep her planted enough. Right ahead of him, Esteban Guilhermez had stalled without moving a millimeter. Terho squeezed through the tiniest of gaps on his left to avoid the momentarily doomed Guayabalense. Going into turn one, Terho was on the outside, yet he managed to end up 17th with a smooth overtake, finishing next to his ex-teammate iBen Toralmintii, whose national team he'd inadvertently and accidentally doomed. He shot his eyes at him through his helmet and would have waved at him had it not been for a dire kerfuffle ahead of him, yielding two positions. Diving into turn two on the inside, he made up another two positions. He was on the charge of his career.

As Terho became locked in a dogfight with Louis Krindle in 14th, losing both of them time to the people ahead, in the bottom right corner of his rear view mirror materialized a flying fragment of aerodynamic carbon fiber. A full course yellow flag took effect, and a brief safety car period followed. Entangled in a mess, Mayari saw herself come out as the sole victim of the race, the damage incurred in the crash following the incident too great to continue.

By his first pitstop, Terho had escalated to ninth, Dimitrainov and his compatriot Axel Novikov just ahead, in eighth and seventh. Using Anni's superior power, Terho plowed past Dimitrianov on the sweeping downhill turn 10, landing him right behind Novikov.

As the race neared its final stages, the two Abovians were neck and neck, Anni creeping past the Telaris on the straights and corners and Novikov's Telaris machine nimbly taking advantage of Terho's slight aggressive mistakes. The battle that had raged on incessantly for the past tens of laps and would no doubt carry into the remaining two laps had no clear winner, but two clear losers: in spite of all the fun, both the incredible performance of Pedanovic's underdog Nexus ahead and the steady pace of Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher's Fireline behind were both going steadily faster than the pair of Abovians, posing a threat onto the final lap.

Novikov's aggressive position defense was working wonders in terms of keeping the world champion behind, yet his tyres were taking the brunt of the impact, again wearing down to breaking point. Frida had gone on and on via the intercom on how she wanted Axel to back off, hand Terho second place, settle for third and score his first points in the WGPC in third. Annoyed, Axel muted her audio channel without a word with the press of a button. A lap later did he say "somebody shut her up."

Terho was struggling to get past Axel. His own tyres were in their prime, and he most definitely had the power, but good god was Novikov good. He had total dominance of his vehicle and he knew every single trick in the book. Terho had been able to pass him a few times but by no more than a couple of tenths of a second, a margin which Axel managed by slipstreaming through back into second.

Into turn seven on the final lap of the race, Axel was beginning to pull ahead by more than just a couple of fractions of a second, worrying the reigning champion. Behind him, the ever present threat of Jensen-Fletcher spiked a sudden surge of adrenaline as he too closed in within half a second. His pupils dilated and his heartbeat resonating through his head, the former rallying star focused on the road ahead, vowing to keep his podium and to battle Novikov until the very last micrometer before the finish line.

Suddenly, a plume of gray smoke shot out ahead of him, obscuring his sight. Bits of rubber bounced off his visor as he swerved out of the cloud, not even considering backing off. Novikov had overdone the corner and was forced to brake heavily to avoid a crash into the solid track wall ahead of him. Terho slingshotted past with incredible speed, now too having to manage his tyres. At turn 11, in the sheer insanity of the moment, Terho braked late just like his compatriot, allowing him past into the final 90-degree corners of the race. However, the Avsidesliggendevuoretian's own tyres, having struggled for far longer than Terho's, were a humongous liability. The Tetrislopish world champion cut into the inside of his icy frienemy on the final corner going into the pit straight, reducing the gap to just one tenth of a second. Anni's superior power, together with tyres that were in vastly greater condition, proved to be effective, yet not enough. The gap was still far too large for the MRT's impressive power and Terho Talvela's aggressiveness to prevail over the jack-of-all-trades Telaris chassis and Axel Novikov's world title deserving driving. The pair finished almost exactly at the same time, the difference in distance between both cars across the line unmeasurable by conventional methods. Novikov had finished second after a disastrous tenth, but Talvela had made it to the podium from the bottom of the barrel, a truly incredible performance for the world champion which prompted his commonplace radio whooping.

In the paddock, pre-podium, the Abovians congratulated each other, Axel with a smile and Terho with a laugh. Both had enjoyed their battle immensely, which Terho was eager to take to the pedestals of glory, to finish it off with a heavy stream of champagne into Axel's face. This is what both the drivers and their nation's fans needed: a friendly albeit intense rivalry between compatriots.

[San Jose Guayabal]

Mount Salt Raceway, Eastfield Lodge.

Moisés was getting ready for the race, although, he had some vivid thoughts on his mind in regards of the difficulties he had on the turn three braking, he did it excessively although, he did it well on the simulator last practices, but in the real life, things would be more different and complex, since he was starting from the rear, at the penultimate position due to a horrid qualifying session where he had some issues while driving, including a spin in turn three, that turn that was being a nightmare for Delgado, ruining his intentions to perform better in the race, though, it wasn’t the end of the world, he had some chances to progress slowly through the somewhat extensive 70 laps race, in a short circuit like Mount Salt, short, but problematic for Moisés during the practices, he was hoping to see his luck changing before the race or during it and doing something decent, despite the starting position, that had some advantages such as having a clear panorama of what happened with other drivers and dodging them in case of an accident, though, dodging it might be difficult by itself, due to the concentration of other cars that started before him. May have some difficulties to achieve it but he had the chance to attempt, similar thing had to do his teammate Terho Talvela, starting from the rear part of the grid, the MRT drivers were going to have a large day overall, it seemed to be like that, but they were ready to it.

Delgado hop into the MRT machine, gave the warming laps and decided to do a weird ritual or something like that, when he reached turn three, he showed his middle finger to the asphalt and then said “¡Maldita curva!” something that Garrido replied “Whoa whoa! Calm down my friend, we are only warming up!” Delgado replied the message and said “Still, I’m hating this turn and I’m counting the seconds left to start this race and starting to dominate it” Alonso replied and said “Take your time bro, don’t go too fast into the learning/domination curve” Delgado continued driving and said “Okay, I’ll take it, Ricardo” the twenty six drivers finished the warm-up laps with the guidance of the safety car, every car was on the respective grid position, the protocol acts began and the drivers stood quiet while hearing the anthem of Eastfield Lodge’s Commonwealth, then drivers sat on the cars, the five lights changed progressively and turned green, everybody started and there it goes, a somewhat smooth beginning of the race for thr first three laps, until Alexandra Mayari lost traction and went out of control of her machine, going against the wall in turn three, there was some debris on the asphalt, a yellow flag was enabled in all the track, Delgado managed to pass six drivers and he was 18th at that moment, due to a good beginning and some nice overtaking in the downhill section of the racetrack, meanwhile the Telaris drivers were having a nice day for now, EA was 12th and Novikov was second, Gutiérrez looked with some happiness the performance of both drivers, the crew was doing the same and also planning things like when the tyres would be changed? Or suggestions on where to attack other drivers.

The race restarted and the Telaris drivers, along with Terho and Moisés had good beginnings, Terho was on a dogfight for the 14th position, Delgado’s teammate was having a nice day when it comes to overtaking, he passed Delgado with ease just before the yellow flag, EA was peering behind Delgado while Novikov was on fight to take the lead, out of the four, Delgado was having the biggest struggle, since he has a competent machine but some succession of mistakes led him to have unfortunate results on the practice and qualifiers, even after a successful practice on Liventia where he finished second, behind Terho, Delgado was taking some positions in his favour, escalated to 11th at the 8th lap, Garrido called him and told “If you activate the DRS on time for the next lap, you might be able to overtake Lund and Nurlibaev in one shot, so be accurate and do it!” Moisés responded “Tell me five seconds before doing it, okay?” Garrido answered “10 4” Delgado was driving with some confidence on the third sector of the raceway, especially on the downhill zone from turn 12th to 13th, where he made sure to accelerate the most and then braking quite hard to ensure a privilege position on the turn, though Garrido warned him that braking in that way might led to wear and tear faster than projected by the crew, Delgado took the notification and applied it when passing Nurlibaev on the left side and getting behind Lund before the 13th and 14th turn, Delgado put on position to attack and passed Lund on the straightaway, he was placed ninth, the recovery was being good for him, meanwhile EA, the Telaris driver stagnated on 12th place, being unable to overtake Nurlibaev, who defended himself well with a good response when getting out of the turns, provided of a Machine which was being responsive with him.

Delgado had zero complains with MRT’s machine so far, the car was being responsive with him and adding good decisions by the Guayabalense driver, that allowed him to go up on the race and progressing more and more, on the uphill zone before turn 6, Garrido told Delgado to use DRS, he did and passed Lemos, reaching the 8th place in the race, it was the 25th lap at that moment, Delgado was having a good afternoon so far, but wasn’t quite close to the seventh place, he was fifteen seconds behind the next driver, which was Terho, Garrido told Delgado “You’re almost a minute behind the leader, their machine is surprising everybody here, but go for Terho first!” the tyres were going to be replaced in some laps, Delgado had to make sure of discounting more time from the leader in order to avoid being lapped on the pit stop, something that was unavoidable when Delgado had to stop at lap 40, he was lapped by Marika Pedanovic, the Nexus driver with a stunning performance in the afternoon, Delgado’s crew tried to work faster but they weren’t able to do so, he fell down to the 12th place but managed to recover some time, to the point of overtaking Pedanovic and being once again in the leader’s lap, he was 11th at that time, after he passed Nurlibaev once again, while Novikov was edging out Talvela with courage and an nice defensive driving, Gutiérrez talked with a friend nearby him “This boy (Novikov) has an enormous potential, look at how he edges Talvela with class, that driving demonstrates potential” José Gallegos, who is Gutiérrez friend since childhood replied “Indeed, I see that you have developed some good eye to hire drivers, eh?” Gutiérrez nodded as he saw Delgado passing on the straightaway, Gutiérrez answered saying “Yes, I feel proud of this acquisition” but when he finished talking, he saw EA having problems with steering, her car landed on a gravel pit at the end of the straightaway, Gutiérrez crushed his can of soda and said “¡Carajo!”, EA recovered but it was too late, she lost five positions, she fell from 15th to 20th, her day was summarised in some words “A nightmare”, she recovered but she was almost unable to come back, since there were only 15 laps to go.

Delgado had a regular afternoon so far, he managed to recover well after starting from an undesirable position, he was now tenth after passing Alexander Lund for the second time in the race, Delgado throttled his machine more and more in order to reduce the gap with Denholm Kingsley, a five seconds gap with ten to go, Delgado accelerated excessively and braked late on the troublesome turn three, he was close to spin off but recovered nicely, impeding Lund to overtake him, he continued to attempt give some chase to Kingsley but at turn eight, Delgado made the same mistake that he did on turn three some seconds ago, but this time, he wasn’t able to recover and went to the gravel pit, Delgado immediately said “¡Mierda!” while punching his legs, Garrido called by radio and said “Get out of there and try to recover some terrain, you can, Moi” It was late, he fell to the 15th position and had a gap of 10 second with Nurlibaev, the only thing Delgado was able to do was to breathe deep and move on. Delgado resigned himself to the fifteenth position, that mistake left him done for the day, meanwhile Novikov lapped him and then saw Terho on the rear-view, he moved to the right side and let his teammate pass, in order to avoid an accident or ruining his chances to get second place in the race, both compatriots were fighting fiercely but Novikov endured Talvela’s consistent attempts to attack and finished second, Gutiérrez celebrated the result, despite he finished almost half a minute behind the winner, Pedanovic.

---

Telaris Had a mixed up race, EA finishing 20th while Novikov edging out Talvela in the fight for the second place, Gutiérrez was talking with EA for a while before Novikov ended conversations with press and he Ruuhmaki brothers, who were ecstatic, Gutiérrez noticed her angry and tried to be soft in his approach to the Chromatik driver, Gutiérrez said “You’ll progress, this is only the first race” EA nodded and said “I know, what it makes me getting somewhat furious is the mistake I did” Gutiérrez answered “This might be one of the most difficult circuits, a harsh beginning, though, we should be ready for next week” Novikov managed to listen when Gutiérrez said next week, both drivers asked “Where are we going next week?” Gutiérrez said “San José Guayabal, don’t worry, we will have overwhelming support there” Both drivers were somewhat relaxed after hearing that, and started to earn more motivation, especially Novikov, though Gutiérrez said “We should be aware of Delgado, he knows the track really well.” Novikov shrugged and said “Well, that’s him, we are ready to give our best.” EA nodded and said “Indeed” then Novikov left them in order to go to the podium, while Moisés congratulated Novikov and Terho too, did the same with Gutiérrez, with whom had some word exchange.

Delgado started to talk and said “Beware Guti, I’ll go for it on San Salvador” Gutiérrez laughed and shook hands with Delgado and said “We will to, may the best win in front of our people” Delgado agreed and said “Good luck” he left to talk a bit with Talvela, while EA left, Gutiérrez called the engineers and told them some instructions “Let’s focus on speed for the next race in San Salvador, we know the Guayabalense public road asphalt is high-quality, so we might rely on said advantage to focus on speed and leave some acceleration aside.” One of the engineers said “We might focus on cornering, Monterrey U-Turn is a zone where you can go reasonably at 250 km/h without nothing to fear, some drivers might slow themselves since they don’t know the circuit, we do, so let’s take advantage of it.” Gutiérrez said “Indeed, let’s focus on improvements, especially with EA’s car, we must get top 5 with both drivers in San Salvador” an engineer said “When are we leaving here?” Today at night, once when Novikov is done with procedures and all of it.”

---

Both Guayabalense sides of the history have in front of themselves a hard week, in order to give their machines a proper setting for the street circuit configuration of Plaza de Armas Circuit in San Salvador downtown, ambitions were on both sides, since they wanted to do their best in front of their people, who would be supporting massively for this race in San Salvador, weather conditions are expected to be dry for the race, which will have fifty eight laps in the 5.325 kilometres circuit in San Salvador’s centre. Expectations are at the top for Telaris and Delgado, same happens with confidence, this might be a golden chance to make themselves consolidate into WGPC slowly and try to find themselves in a state of confidence and motivation.

[Krytenia]

One light. Two lights. Three...four...five....

The red lights went out, and the Grand Prix of Eastfield Lodge got underway. Alexander Lund accelerated his Wilson car off the line, Tickford V8 engine growling as he shifted up the gears. To his side, he coasted past the Nexus - wait, was that glowing? Alec made a mental note not to get too close to that car in the wet. It probably wasn't Rubidove, but...

As the cars turned into Turn One, Alec was running third. He turned into the corner, hoping to tuck in neatly behind the Arada car.

THUD.

Two of the Wilson's wheels briefly left the ground as the car behind him went for a gap that wasn't quite there. The car righted itself, but the all-too-familiar crunch of carbon-fibre told the Audioslavian that all was not quite OK with his vehicle. He shot his gaze to his right to see who had collided with him.

Souzare. In the McPahan. Because of course it was.

Luckily, the damage was not too bad, a bit of front-wing end panel shearing off but otherwise the only harm done was to his position on the track.

* * * * * * * *

Considering all his hard work had been undone in the first ten seconds of the race, he hadn't done too bad. He'd managed to squeeze himself into the points, and now there was a car in front ready for the taking. (Technically, there were two, but the car in front was being lapped so didn't count.) Lund mashed the throttle around the sweeping Turn Six, but couldn't get quite close enough to the Den Kingsley's Eelandi to effect an overtake. Kingsley, though, was able to get past the lapped car, adding further complication. Turn Ten, though, another flat out corner, saw the Audioslavian get that little issue out of the way, as he passed the painfully uncompetitive Step Guilhermez in the RSR, giving him a little wave as he did so. He didn't see the Krytenian give him the finger in return, though, as by that point Lund had turned to the problem at hand. He knew he had one more chance, and as the cars left the final complex, he went for it. Rich mix, check. ERS boost, check. DRS flap, check. The white-and-sky-blue streak flew down the final straight, pulling alongside the Eelandi, catching, catching...passing...

"P10 Alec. We'll take it, unlucky mate."

The overtake had come fractionally too late, and the team would have to take the single point. Alec looked over at the McPahan garage, where Roger Bunn had just come off the pit wall. He looked at Alec, and gave a non-commital shrug. Alec tilted his head slightly, and turned back to the Wilson garage.

[The Serbian Empire]

"Yes, I ran a good race. I think I won it in qualifying and merely improved it during the race. If I didn't start up front, I had no chance to scrape up a win. I did what I was supposed to do," Marika responded.

The Nexus UHSGV-1 continued the cool down lap and made it back to the garage before going to the podium. Two Abovians on the podium on the lower steps in Terho Talvela and Axel Novikov. Marika on the top step of the podium. The Serbian anthem started to play and the festivities. Then Aboveland's anthem played for the lower podium spots while Marika grabbed a bottle of champagne and started to spray it around. This was a whirlwind for her. The last to officially sign the contract, the first to win. Last in practice, best on race day. It's almost as if she had become Scott Goodyear in 1992, the driver who finished a mere .018 seconds behind Al Unser Jr. in the Indy 500 despite starting with the 25th fastest car in dead last, 33rd place as a sponsor driven substitute. Tears of joy could be seen in her eyes. The dreams had become reality.

The Press Conference

"Marika, what is it like to win in the WGPC?" a journalist from the Nis Chronicle asked.

"I have little more than tears of joy. A dream come true in my very first race in the WGPC no less. There's so much emotion that I'm starting to find it difficult to find the right words to describe what it is like to have a dream come true," Marika stated. Tears of joy continue to appear in her eyes.

"I think the picture speaks a thousand words," one of the journalists in the audience said.

"I do wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to good things," Marika responded.

[West-East Timor]

Before The Race

Mick went into the garage.

"Hi Mick.", Max said.

"Hey. Can I get into the car already? Drive some warm up laps?", Mick asked.

"You can do so. We have prepared the car the best we can. Everything should work nicely."

Mick got into the car and exited the pit. After a few warm up laps, the crew rolled his car to the grid. Looking to his left, Mick could see the Fireline crew rolling Alex Dimitrianov's car onto the grid position right in front of him. Mick would concentrate on that Fireline. If he passes others, he'll try to follow him. If he's slow, Mick should do what he can to overtake him. He got out of the car. Soon, many West-East Timorian camera teams and journalists had gathered around him.

"Mick, how do you feel right now, so short before you first WGPC race?", a WET TV journalist asked.

"How I feel right now? Well, of course, I'm very excited.", Mick answered. "But I have to stay cool as well. Neither do I want to crash at the start of course. I'll concentrate on passing as many cars as I can right at the start. And to concentrate on that, I need to be concentrated. So I don't want to talk too much about first ever West-East Timorian WGPC driver and such stuff, ok?"

After some time, the press had to go.

"Mick, get into the car.", Max said. "As you can see, the race will start soon."

Mick got back into the car. The pit crews had to leave the grid now too.

"Good luck, mate.", said Max.

"I hope I won't need it.", Mick answered.

The Race

The warm up lap started. Mick was warming up his tyres behind Axel Novikov's Telaris. Would he be abel to pass Novikov. He didn't know. Back at the start finish line, he drove back to his 11th grid position. Dimitrianov's Fireline was now standing in front of him again. The lights got red. Now, he'd start his first ever WGPC race. He got to nervous. He tried to concentrate on that Fireline. The lights went out. Axel Novikov had a good start and passed Mick. Mick changed to the inside line, now driving in the slipstream of Novikov's car. In the first corner, he could see a McPahan in the middle. Right of it: Novikov. To the left of it, on the outside of turn one: Dimitrianov. Novikov and Dimitrianov passed the MCPahan. Mick followed Novikov, and having the inside line, he could pass the McPahan as well, while Dimitrianov was to fast for him. For the next three laps, Mick tried to pass the Fireline, but couldn't manage to actually do so.

But in lap three, Mick was very close to Dimitrianov, activated DRS on the way to turn 6, and tried to pass him on the inside. He got more inside than he wanted to and on half of his car was now driving on the grass. Suddenly, Mick lost control of his car. He took his hands off the steering wheel, and crashed hard into the wall. Mick could only see everything spinning around him, and when the spinning stopped, he found himself off track in the grass. On the other side of the track.

For the first moment, he thought his first race was already over. Then he realized the engine was still running. He changed to first gear, and slowly put down the throttle. His Bitten Heroes car started to move.

"Mick, what happended?", Max asked via teamradio. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine", said Mick. "I suddenly lost control, that's all I know. What about the car?"

"Your front wing is very badly damaged. You've got to come to pit immediately. Box Box Box!"

When he got back to the track, Mick was last. Also, he saw that the safety car was out.

"Why is there a safety car?", Mick asked. "I can't have caused it."

"No, you haven't. Looks like Mayari is out of the race. But that's good for us, we'll lose less time with the safety car."

Mick got to the pits and drove to his pitcrew. But something was going wrong.

"Why am I standing so long? It can't take that long to change a front wing!"

"No, and usually it doesn't. And I don't know what it is, but we can't mount the front wing on your car. Keep calm Mick, we'll solve it."

Some time later, they could finally manage to mount the front wing on the car, and Mick could go on racing. When he got back to the track, he was already lapped.

Almost the whole rest of the race, Mick gave his best to catch up with the rest of the field. Soon he caught up to Esteban Guilhermez. Mick didn't know why Guilhermez was that slow, but somehow, he was, and so it was easy for Mick to overtake him. When there were only three laps last, he had caught up with Ethan Ellis, and was now battling for 23rd place. In lap 69, he managed to overtake the Wilson in turn three, and kept this position till the end of the race.

After The Race

Mick drove his car to Parc Fermé and walked back to the garage. Apparently, Marika Pedanovic had won the race. Not bad for finishing last in practice, Mick thought. But he didn't actually care that much.

"What had happened?", Mick asked somewhat angrily. "How can it be that difficult to mount a front wing?"

"I have no idea!", said Emirhan Erznaçon, one of the mechanics who had tried to mont the front wing. "It just didn't work! I really have no idea. I'm sorry Mick. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, I guess it's not your fault...", Mick said. "But... Isn't the guy responsible for aerodynamics responsible for front wings as well?"

"Mick", Max said, "I don't think Marek..."

"Maybe you don't. But I do.", said Mick.

Max sighed.

Of course, there was a press conference after the race.

"Mick, I guess we all have two questions. First, what exactly happend in turn 6 during the third lap?"

"Well, what I can remember, I tries to pass Dimitrianov on the inside line, when I got off the track with two. For what reason ever, was it the grass, or were it the curbs, I lost control of the car, crashed into the wall and lost my front wing. Then the car must have started to spin, and it spun to the other side of the track. Basically, that's it. Nothing happened to me, I'm alright. Luckily the car was still working."

"Okay. And the other question: why did that pitstop take so long?"

"I don't know. Looks like nobody really does. The crew says they had difficulties mounting the front wing to the car. That's all I know, I really can't tell you anthing else."

"Alright then. Are you dissapointed of your result?"

"Yes, I am very dissapointed. I could have shurely finished in top ten, if I hadn't had that accident. And well, I guess it was somewhat my fault, so that's even more dissapointing. Anyway, that's that. I hope I'll be able to get some points in the next race, and I'll do what I can to actually do so..."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

The Bullhorn ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sport News

PEDANOVIC SWEEPS TO ASTOUNDING FIRST RACE WIN
Chief Sports Correspondent Caitlin Morris

World Grand Prix Championships - Standings

Drivers' Championship

M. Pedanovic	25
A. Novikov	18
T. Talvela	14
J. Jensen-Fletcher	10
A. Nadakei	8
A. Dimitrianov	6
O. Bliss	4
J. Lemos	3
D. Kingsley	2
A. Lund	1

Constructors' Championship

Nexus Racing	25
Telaris	18
Fireline	16
MRT	14
Arada	8
RSR	4
Bitten Heroes	3
Eelandii WGPC	2
Wilson	1

Nimban World Grand Prix Championship team Nexus Racing's Marika Pedanovic shocked the world yesterday by taking a dominant victory in the Grand Prix of the Imperial Commonwealth.

The Serbian driver, racing in the WGPC for the first time ever, said in a press conference that the result was 'a dream come true'. The win places Marika at the head of the Drivers' Championship and Nexus Racing in first place in the Constructors' Championship, with twenty-five points apiece.

Timothy Guard, Project Manager of Nexus Racing, told The Bullhorn that the team was 'immensely proud of Marika' and that he hoped that she '[would] stay at and drive for Nexus Racing for a long time to come.'

Pedanovic's victory appeared to result in part from performance gains attributed to a new deal that Nexus Racing has struck with Serbian company Tigar Tyres, which is now supplying the team with racing compounds. Gertrude Thompson, Nexus Racing's Chief Designer, had frequently complained that the Nimban tyres that the team had been using lacked sufficient grip to be competitive.

Nexus Racing's other driver, Nimban former Cityprix racer Ryker Lane, finished twelfth despite a promising start after sustaining damage in a collision with Redvali driver Maria Cattaneo, initiated when Lane cut her off into the first corner after leaving the pit lane. Lane took full responsibility for the accident over the radio, reporting that he had underestimated the distance over which he would be able to turn in.

[Mattijana]

MRT Garage: After the race

Johan Struna stood in the middle of the garage. Most of his team's equipment had been packed up, but some engineers and mechanics were still buzzing around making sure the final checks before the journey home to Mattijana were all completed.

The weekend had been an interesting one, both within and outside the team. The two MRT cars had struggled with gearbox issues in qualifying, despite a clean run of reliability throughout testing, resulting in a much worse than expected performance. Terho had fought fantastically well, making an unlikely podium that showed his and his team's intent for the season. But Moisés had been held up in traffic and an unlucky strategy call around the yellow flag alongside a late mistake as he tried to make up places only compounded his misery.

Johan had been happy with the race in general. Terho's points would be valuable and had sent a clear message to the rest of the field that MRT still meant business. But he admitted himself that this haul would have disappointed him at the start of the weekend.

"Both the cars have got to be sent back to Kopylov before the next weekend." He said to Maria. "They did well in the race, but I don't want the embarrassment of qualifying happening again this season at any point. I want the gearbox looked at, changed if necessary. It has to be tested rigorously. We've got to be on it if we're going to win this thing."

"It's gonna be a short turn around though." Reminded Maria. "I'll see what I can do with the logistical team, but we might have to ride our luck in San Jose..."

"That's gonna go down well with Moisés. We've got to be more competitive over 1 lap next time out. There's a few more proper corners than here, but our performance needs to improve."

"There's one other thing I want to look at though. The tyre data from the race wasn't great. Petrovi did a decent job last season, but I just wonder if their resources are a bit stretched this year."

"You think we should get a new manufacturer?"

"I wouldn't go that far Johan. But Tigar tyres, they're a Serbian company I think, seem to have really got together a good package this year. I was wondering what you thought about giving them a go."

"I suppose it's worth a look. Maybe you should use your email powers again..."

"I'll get onto that then. Thanks."
------------------------------------------------------------

Alex Dimitrianov had had a good race. One of the ones where tou could just cruise round very fast, picking up a few places, but not getting into any trouble.
He got past Kurt Censki at the stsrt as the McPahen made a sluggish start, but Mick Schramm ramained a constant threat from behind. Until lap 6 that was.

The Timoran made a dive diwn the inside into turn 6, but was always holding a tight line and ended up half on the grass. Alex tried to give him some room, but he was always struggling and the difference in resistance, spun him round. Dimitrianov got away, but saw a cloud of carbon confetti in his mirrors as he exited the corner.
The rest was largely uneventful however. He passed Alexander Lund with a straightforward move down the inside into turn 1, got overtaken by Talvela , but things were largely uneventful and yet he had still managed to bundle hsi way into 6th.

He had been beaten by his teammate, but it was otherwise a happy outing in his first race for the team and on his first official outing as well. The team seemed reasonably happy and everything seemed good. Things were looking up after a tumultuous start.

He was still smarting from the double blow at MRT and VMR. But it seemed to have done his race pace no damage and was even perhaps an early improvement on his frankly awful performance last season. He still wanted to take the fight to his countrymen and based on the evidence from week 1. He had the car and driving ability to do so.

[San Jose Guayabal]

Telaris Racing HQs, Moncada, San Salvador - February 10th, 2212 - 9:25 AM

Everybody in Telaris Racing Headquarters was running into a frenzy, there was a lot to do and little time to do the giant list of things to do. Gutiérrez, owner of Telaris Racing decided that the Engineering department would work 24/7 in order to improve their machines for the rest of the WGPC, especially for the Guayabalense Grand Prix, in which, Gutiérrez wanted Telaris taking it all f and starting to consolidate themselves as possible candidates to win both the Drivers’ Championship and the Builders Championship. Gutiérrez was being somewhat ambitious in his plans, which was known by anybody who was on Telaris, but this time, his expectations were quite high, to the point of being an utter annoying perfectionist according to some of the employees on Telaris. Gutiérrez decided to walk to the Engineering department in order to see how the works in a new turbo dispositive were going, he passed the door and some engineers glared at his sight, they were basically begging for some rest. Gutiérrez talked to the leader of them and asked “How is this going?” An Engineer, identified by Marco Fabián asked Gutiérrez to walk further in the laboratory, Fabián told “Here it is, this turbo is powerful enough according to the tests, although, you might want to test it for some laps in the circuit before approving its use.” Gutiérrez said “Are you sure this will help?” Fabián said “So sure of it as I’m sure my name is Marco Fabián.” Gutiérrez laughed and pat Fabián on his shoulders, then called both drivers for a test in La Laguna, a quite similar circuit in terms of speed.

Gutiérrez stepped away from the Engineering department and decided to text EA and Novikov for the test, Gutiérrez took his phone and typed “Guys, I need you two on La Laguna, we will have tests with new turbo systems, much powerful than the current ones, be there in two hours.” Gutiérrez was quite anxious to see the test and how hose results went, he decided to point out the record in La Laguna and bring it with himself for the test. Gutiérrez was being quite blind-optimist for the run, though, he had some sense of reality on his mind, since he thought on the possible outcomes of the test, such thinking like “Will this be successful? “Will this fail miserably?” Gutiérrez was a complete cocktail of thoughts at that moment, but that was going to be slowly dissipated soon. Marco Fabián ordered the rest of engineers to install the turbo systems on the machines before transporting them a couple of hundreds of meters to the circuit of La Laguna, which was nearby Telaris Racing HQs in the picturesque city of Moncada. The turbo systems were put and adjusted without major issue, not without a previous test in a dynamometer and some torque adjustments for the best power possible in the machine, the results were satisfactory, since HPs passed from an already decent amount of 795 HP to 900 HP, making it a really powerful machine, compared to those of Nexus Racing or MRT which were slightly less powerful. The challenge now was to keep reliability in the same standards of what Telaris has been since ever, a machine without major flaws despite having a somewhat powerful engine.

Gutiérrez received via e-mail the results of the dynamometer test, he was quite shocked when he saw 900 HP on the chart, and keeping the same reliability as always, he already felt good vibes for the testing and this consolidated his thoughts even more, Telaris managed to solve their eternal problem with power, bringing now a much more powerful and reliable machine than ever, probably hitting some benchmarks in the season. The Telaris engineers were risking it all, they were utterly decided to not just be part of the milieu, they wanted to excel and this was their golden chance to do so, but the testing would provide good answers in regards of them being in the correct place or not. Both drivers arrived to the circuit facilities before noon, it was a quite cloudy day, hence temperatures were not so high compared to the usual average of February in San José Guayabal, being this month, the middle of austral summer. The Ruuhmaki brothers were with Novikov, EA was with her crew, all of them were discussing details for the test, including the tyre usage and other details, Gutiérrez brought to their attention the fact that CarvedStone, a guayabalense tyre provider was going to deliver them of tyres for all the season and tests, in exchange of support, something that they accepted without hesitation. Gutiérrez also provided each crew a “tyre technician” in order to help them choose the best tyre among the catalogue of seven different compounds.

After some brief discussion, both drivers decided to test the “Super-soft” tyres, in order to have a better grip on the turns, considering that this was a really wet day, hence they decided to take advantage of the opportunities weather gave them. Both sat on their cockpits, activated the machine and Novikov suddenly noticed a different sound and EA accelerated a bit, in that acceleration, she almost drove over one of her crew staff, she got out and hugged the crew staff guy and apologised. EA noticed with that a real change on her machine and said “Woah, this is power for real!” Both drivers went to do some flying laps in the circuit, in order to provide the engineers and Gutiérrez some feedback on the changes made to the machines. The drivers decided to do 23 flying laps, the half they would do on a real grand prix in La Laguna. This meant that they would have to use their tyres until the last gasp of utility, since super-soft tyres tend to wear fast rather than a normal slick tyre. They would be far from the record set by Alexandra Mayari back when the WGPC ran here on first laps, but at the end, it’d be interesting to see how the things developed on, especially for EA’s car, which was modified especially for her within the rules of the WGPC, a lot of modifications that were satisfying her as or now.

The drivers accelerated through the corners and went as fast as they could, like a real WGPC race, EA passed Novikov with ease on the bus stop and that lead remained there, while Novikov was slightly behind her, the difference was only two seconds at the end of the third lap, both drivers had a decent 1:46:510 on the third lap, odds were going on the direction of demolishing the track record, Gutiérrez drank some soda while observing in a camera the race, both drivers decided to keep fighting but not as fierce as a real race, they only tried to overtake themselves in case there was a clean area to do so and avoid a crash. On the fifth lap, EA blocked Novikov overtaking in turn nine, though at the moment, Novikov had the fastest lap, a 1.46:016, only ten milliseconds away from Mayari’s record, while EA had a 1.46:110. At the end of the eighth lap, EA broke Mayari’s record, her crew notified her after she saw five blue lights flashing on the steering wheel “Hey EA, you broke the track record, you got 1:45:897” EA was satisfied but let her guard fall down and Novikov passed her on the corkscrew in a risky and bold move. Novikov was confident and wanted to go into a time fight with EA, at the end of the ninth lap, Novikov obliterated EA time with a 1:45:670, something that gave some entertainment to Telaris owner and pretty much anybody on track, especially the engineers and their satisfaction with the modifications made.

Back to the drivers’ performance, on lap 15, EA set a new record again, a 1:45:666 and the time’s dogfight resumed again, with Novikov breaking her time on the next lap and so on with EA doing the same on lap 17 with a quite difficult to break 1:45:630, Novikov tried by all means to break once again the record but he failed on his attempt, instead, EA improved it to a 1:45:570, which left the team satisfied with it, since she improved the circuit record by half a second. The verdict of the test was unanimous, the changes made in performance were the correct ones, increasing speed without sacrificing a lot of reliability. The engineers were provided of rest for a day due to the result of that, Gutiérrez was like a child when receiving a gift by a family member on Christmas, he told the drivers “You fucking done it right, we are going to make those teams eat some dust in this Grand Prix” Novikov nodded while EA said “Let’s see how this goes on the test in Plaza de Armas.” Both drivers had enough driving, they relaxed some time before resuming simulation duties.

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