World Grand Prix Championship Season 15: Roleplay Thread

by **WGPC** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:15 pm

Midseason Practice

Uberzoomingsplatz, Bräufels, Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland

Drivers had ninety minutes to record up to thirty laps of the track (including in and out laps to and from the pits). Only each driver's fastest time is shown in the table below.
Conditions: DRY

Pos # Driver			Team			Fastest Lap	Behind Leader
 1 23 Moisés Delgado               	0:01:09.185	0:00:00.000
 2  1 Terho Talvela                	0:01:09.190	0:00:00.005
 3 63 Kurt Censki                  	0:01:09.243	0:00:00.057
 4 20 Mick Schramm                 	0:01:09.271	0:00:00.086
 5 37 Axel Novikov                 	0:01:09.284	0:00:00.099
 6 55 Asao Nadakei                 	0:01:09.287	0:00:00.102
 7 53 Denholm Kingsley             	0:01:09.335	0:00:00.150
 8 14 Oliver Bliss                 	0:01:09.350	0:00:00.164
 9 18 Louis Krindle                	0:01:09.355	0:00:00.169
10  7 Ethan Ellis                  	0:01:09.391	0:00:00.206
11 52 Sayono Souzare               	0:01:09.392	0:00:00.206
12 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie          	0:01:09.392	0:00:00.207
13 99 Maria Cattaneo               	0:01:09.408	0:00:00.223
14 16 Alexander Lund               	0:01:09.426	0:00:00.241
15 51 R.L. Cruisin                 	0:01:09.438	0:00:00.253
16 77 iBen Toralmintii             	0:01:09.469	0:00:00.283
17  5 Julianos Lemos               	0:01:09.487	0:00:00.302
18 29 Esteban Guilhermez           	0:01:09.496	0:00:00.311
19 94 Ryker Lane                   	0:01:09.509	0:00:00.323
20 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher           	0:01:09.527	0:00:00.342
21  6 Marika Pedanovic             	0:01:09.538	0:00:00.353
22 74 Alexandra Mayari             	0:01:09.585	0:00:00.399
23 89 Will Madison                 	0:01:09.624	0:00:00.439
24 91 Ilyas Nurlibaev              	0:01:09.710	0:00:00.524
25 42 Alex Dimitrianov             	0:01:09.712	0:00:00.526
26 24 Victoria Gardner             	0:01:09.853	0:00:00.667

The next event is the Grand Prix of Hodori. Pre-qualifying practice will be scorinated on Friday evening, with the cutoff at around 11pm UTC.

by **The Serbian Empire** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:12 pm

Post-GP discussion

"Well, that was alright. Finishing 5th is a solid day's work. It's not every day that I can finish up in the points without some kind of non-routine strategy to make ground where my grip can't. Of course, it seems like it could have only been done from my qualifying run in the rain. I'm 2 for 2 in points finishes when it's rained. And most importantly, that nice average finish of 3rd when it does. However, what do I do when it doesn't rain? Oh yes, I'm prone to blistering tyres trying to push this car where it belongs. I just wish it could rain every week," Marika said before giggling.

"Oh my, we might have the best driver in the rain in our midst in quite some time," Predrag joked around.

"Well, if I could only drive better when the track is dry without risking crashing, blistering, and other bad stuff," Marika lamented.

"Alright, I've got to rest. We're in very different time zones," Predrag said.

At the Uberzoomingsplatz in Bräufels, Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland

"Marika, your job is to click down 30 good laps. That's all. We're just seeking some good tyre test data of the super hard hardness compound with your driving style. It's unknown if we can replicate the data at Eastfield Lodge. If we can replicate, the super hard tyres will be utilized in Hodori in hopes of cutting a pit stop from the race," the race engineer said.

"Understood, and there's a weird turn on the track map called "Penis Spraypainted on Track". When compared to turns such as Horkheimer, Schmidt, and Grossman there's something off about that turn before the Wellmer Bend. Do you have anything about turn 14?" Marika asked.

"Well, that turn is barely a turn in the first place. Secondly, the name is advertising what the track's feature is in the small turn. You can go flat out through there," the engineer responded.

"Alright, I'm heading out to do more tyre wear testing," Marika said.

The UHSGV-1 had made a turn into the pit lane and continued off towards Adorno Bend. The long straightaway to Horkheimer Bend wasn't more than a flash of time.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sat Mar 11, 2017 5:28 am

Nexus Racing Log - Developmental Testing Results
Circuit: Uberzöömingsplatz
Car Designation: UHSGV-1 94

Imagination Translocators
Purpose: Transfer Imagination from tank to converters; replace pipes.
Outcome: Success
Notes: These things work absolutely perfectly - no change needed. Modern Imagitech is advancing so quickly.

Improved CS-TCCL Programming
Purpose: Control chassis on micro level; replace old programming
Outcome: Success
Notes: Have to thank Vic for this one - her coding is First-like. She seems to have made it her pet project to design a strong AI just to put in the car, though. Not sure how I feel about that.

Compressed Imagination
Purpose: Store more Imagination in tank
Outcome: Limited Failure
Notes: Relatively little gain in available Imagination plus noticeable cracking on the tank itself; needs reinforcement if this is going to work.

by **Lisander** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:34 am

Your meep.ls feed

@team05 Hey, guys, Juliano here (not Julianos, as that stupid WGPC web site insists in saying). We gave all of us, today, Lisander. Thank you for your massive presence in Circuit de Grandeville. Sorry if I wasn't able to make all of you hear our national anthem but I only have to thank all of you, who made this possible, not only for me, but for all of Lisander autosports fans!

@natassia_maud Be proud, Juliano and @team05! You were in podium today. Second isn't the first of the losers. Second is a great win for us! Time to motivate! We are now 5th in constructors championship! #bittenheroes

@lanza_and Congratulations @team05! I'm pround of being part of this dream. Let's keep it great! #bittenheroes #grandprixdelisander

by **Aboveland** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 6:01 pm

It had been a frustrating mid season test for Terho. Not that anything had gone wrong: Anni² was working spectacularly well, as well as ever, and he'd set the second fastest time, with a gap of just five thousandths of a second slower than his teammate. MRT had dominated the session, and that was the most frustrating point of all.

The same phenomenon had occurred in the pre season testing runs. MRT was clearly the dominant force in the tests, and Terho's masterful car control was unrivaled. As the season started, though, nothing was the same. Moises had been consistently low in the standings and Terho had been charging at the front but never scored a win. This surprise inconsistency had put MRT fourth in the overall team standings. It was by no means a bad place to be, but they'd let a jack of all trades, a WGPC newcomer and a team meant for the drivers unfortunate enough to not net a drive for the season ahead. Terho, while he had enjoyed a brief stay in the limelight at the top of the WDC standings, was now third overall in the title race. It was merely by two points (any finish ahead of tenth and Novikov and Pedanovic would plop him right back at the top) but it was frustrating. Anni had acted up in the previous race, and God knows what happened to Moises' car. His drop in points hadn't been his fault. The gearbox gremlins had struck again. A comeback for the team in the WCC would require an extreme change in form for Moises and a reliability check for both chassis. His performance in the test was the final nail in the coffin. How come that after the first set of races in the championship, which bore tasteless fruit, they were doing so well? It felt unfair and untimely.

Terho pulled into the paddock at the end of the session feeling confident yet gloomy. Moments later, the team notified him that the gearbox upgrade on his new chassis, Anni² (Anni the First had to be scrapped following the accident in Lisander), had exceeded expectations. He could not only expect the rapid gear changes he experienced during the test in future races, but a hefty increase in reliability and a nicer whirr to the engine. Words of consolation, however, weren't enough. He needed results to prove it. His goal for the next race was simple: finish ahead of everyone ahead of him in the championship. His overdue win could wait one extra weekend.

As for Axel, the test had gone very well. He'd tried an evolution of his aggressive driving style, which involved braking late as he'd always done but with precision, so as to care for his tyres. Tyre management was his biggest setback in his entire career of all forms of racing, and while he had been successful, his reckless, improvised, imprecise style had always been a double edged sword. As his title chances became ever brighter, he decided it was time to sit back for a few seconds, reflect on his style, and refine it to that of a true champion.

by **Aboveland** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:20 pm

Terho climbed out of the Project AGP prototype 1 chassis with a gleaming smile on his face. Axel, who'd been patiently waiting for his compatriot to finish his testing laps at the Pine Hill Circuit in Pæhkinoot, nodded back at him with another similar smile. Frida, Axel and Novikov Racing's PR manager, pumped her fist in celebration. Everything had gone accordingly to plan: all they needed now were sponsors.

The pair left the circuit together to begin their trip to the next round of the WGPC, while Frida stayed behind to have a chat with the engineers and do some more administrative work. The project, regardless of their lack of experience being a world class team, was working splendidly.

by **Hodori Motorsports** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 4:34 pm

Welcome to Yakumicha Circuit

Yakumicha, Toudekan, Eshigoa, Hodori
Lap Length: 5257m
Circuit Width: 12.0m - 15.0m
Main Straight/Longest Straight: 750m
DRS zones: Two
Number of Corners: 22 (10 left, 12 right)
Grand Prix Length: 59 Laps (310.163km)
Start/Finish Line Elevation: 173 meters AMSL
Highest Point: 179 meters AMSL
Lowest Point: 112 meters AMSL
Seating Capacity: Approximately 90,000 on-site
Main Pit Garage: 7m×22m×47 Pits (330 meter pit)

Nestled in a scenic valley in southern Eshigoa, Yakumicha Circuit consists of a 3.257km National Circuit and a 1.962km Junior Circuit, conjoined to form the 5.257km Grand Prix Circuit. With its elevation range of 67 meters, this rollercoaster of a circuit will send drivers through 22 marked corners per lap.

Gravel pits line the National Circuit and the Junior Circuit’s 55R-25R-45R sequence, with the Junior Circuit otherwise lined with coarse asphalt runoff zones.

With the combination of a technical circuit and Hodori’s tropical heat and humidity, this Grand Prix will test the limits of a driver’s ability to maintain focus and combat the elements and other drivers.

A Lap of the Grand Prix Circuit
Starting from the grid, drivers will first climb six meters from the starting line and pit exit to the crest at the entry of First Corner, before dropping 52 meters through the downhill First, Esses, and WhiteRock Corners. Taking the Shameimaru Chicane, the track will descend another 3 meters to join the Junior Circuit at the exit of 50R.

Climbing over 16 meters from 85R to the peak at the middle of 90R, drivers will then drop 14 meters as they run down the Junior Back Straight to the chicane of 55R, 25R, and 45R. Racing down the Junior Grid Straight at a slight downward grade, the track starts to dive more sharply past the Junior Pit Exit into the Valley Corner, with its middle third – and the lowest point of the circuit – 6 meters below the corner entry.

Climbing out of Valley to 30R, drivers will take the hairpin to rejoin the National Circuit at Turn 17. From Turn 17, drivers will climb over 50 meters through the back stretch and the new DRS zone, the Hairpin, Prismriver, TIREIPALACE Chicane, and Final Corners. From Final Corner and the second DRS zone of the lap, drivers will have returned to the starting elevation as they pass pit entry.

Essentials
Language: Hodoran (統一群島語ホウドリネ Hōdorine)
Currency: Kerai (K)
Exchange Rate: Approx. 35K = $1 NSD / Approx. $0.0286 NSD = 1K
Time Zone: AOTC +11
WGPC Session Start Time: 14:00 Hodoran Time (03:00 AOTC)
Support Session Start Time: 12:00 Hodoran Time (01:00 AOTC)
Yakumicha Annual Average Climate Data:

Annual Average High: 32.8°C
Annual Average Low: 24.2°C
Annual Mean Temperature: 28.5°C
Record High: 36.4°C
Record Low: 23.1°C
Annual Average Total Precipitation: 2483mm
Annual Average Relative Humidity: 80%

Accessing the Circuit
ARRIVING IN HODORI
By air, one will arrive in Hodori through either Kizagama or Tarogama International Airports. By sea, the most likely points of entry will be Tarogama Port in northeast Hodori or the Yemigama or Ezagama Ports in Eshigoa. Once in Hodori, one can take the high-speed Super-Express to Yakumicha (Super-Express 46 from Yemigama) or Jechiru (Super-Express 36 from Tarogama via Kizagama), or by taking connecting flights from either Kizagama or Tarogama to Yakumicha Regional Airport.

PUBLIC TRANSIT
Yakumicha Circuit can be accessed by rail, with a dedicated station built along the Yakumicha-Jechiru section of National Rail Line 514. From Yegitou, one must first travel to Yakumicha or Jechiru by either rail or bus. Shuttle buses also run from Yakumicha to the circuit.

PERSONAL VEHICLE
Regardless of the starting point, the circuit is accessed through National Route 896, connecting Yakumicha and Jechiru, or National Route 890 linking Yakumicha with Yegitou and bypassing the twisting mountain roads of Historic Route 1093.

For those renting a car or importing their own, Hodori drives on the left with all domestic market and the majority of imported vehicles configured for right-hand drive. Left-hand drive imports are permitted, with some rental services having a small number of LHD cars in inventory.

Within urban areas and the winding mountain roads, the speed limit is 40km/h. Outside built-up areas and on most other roads, the speed limit tends to vary from 60km/h to 80km/h. On National Route expressways, the speed limit can be as high as 120km/h in areas.

Entertainment and Accommodations
LODGING
In Yakumicha and Jechiru, there are numerous hotels to stay at for the Grand Prix weekend. In Yegitou, one can find lodging at the inn and bathhouse the town grew around or the various chain hotels that have sprung up recently, but aside from loanwords from the language and on Hodori Transit Authority road signs, English is not used. The larger luxury hotels in Yakumicha and Jechiru – Tireipalace, Smyth Hall, or Forum – tend to have English-speaking staff to accommodate tourists and foreign teams choosing to stay at those locations.

In terms of transit time to the Circuit, lodging in Yakumicha is considered ideal, with Jechiru second.

EVENTS
In addition to the Grand Prix, Yakumicha Circuit will host a non-championship exhibition race for the Sakite Junior Formula Championship. This one-make support race, with qualifying before the WGPC Friday Practice and a 60km sprint Saturday, will feature eleven up-and-coming future stars in Hodoran open wheel racing.

Further Grand Prix support events include demonstration runs of Arada’s machines in both GT classes on Sunday, and nightly concerts from Thursday to Sunday organised by PrismRiver Corporation.

The demonstration runs will consist of the three Yasaka running in the top GT1 class (No.1 Arada IZAYOI Yaska, No.55 Arada PrismRiver Yasaka, and No.111 Arada SUPER OPTION Yasaka) and new models in the lower GT2 class. The GT2 machines showcased are the No.63 Reitoude IZAYOI Kaenbyou, No.152 Arada PrismRiver Kaenbyou, No.193 Taozare NAGAE Celaeno Kochiya, and No.222 SUPER OPTION Kochiya. The demonstration runs will consist of multiple solo laps as well as combined runs to showcase the speed differential between the two classes.

Featuring a track list drawn from popular community-created Hodoran songs and a selection of default examples created for the English-language version, the cast of LYRICA makes the jump from the computer screen to the sound stage for their home visit. The concerts from Thursday to Saturday night are open to Grand Prix attendees, while the Sunday night concert is exclusively for Grand Prix drivers and team personnel.

Aside from the Grand Prix events, the nearby cities and towns will be holding their own festivals and events. If going to smaller towns and villages such as Yegitou for entertainment, one should keep in mind that unlike in places like Yakumicha or Jechiru, signs will be almost entirely in Hodoran and spoken English rare.

by **WGPC** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:19 pm

Friday Qualifying - Race 5

Grand Prix of Hodori - Yakumicha, Hodori

Drivers had ninety minutes to record up to thirty laps of the track (including in and out laps to and from the pits). Only each driver's fastest time is shown in the table below.
Conditions: DRY

Pos # Driver			Team			Fastest Lap	Behind Leader
 1 55 Asao Nadakei                 	0:01:27.069	0:00:00.000
 2  1 Terho Talvela                	0:01:27.072	0:00:00.004
 3 51 R.L. Cruisin                 	0:01:27.077	0:00:00.009
 4 37 Axel Novikov                 	0:01:27.184	0:00:00.115
 5 63 Kurt Censki                  	0:01:27.254	0:00:00.185
 6 20 Mick Schramm                 	0:01:27.264	0:00:00.195
 7 77 iBen Toralmintii             	0:01:27.273	0:00:00.204
 8  5 Julianos Lemos               	0:01:27.283	0:00:00.214
 9 52 Sayono Souzare               	0:01:27.306	0:00:00.237
10 99 Maria Cattaneo               	0:01:27.338	0:00:00.269
11 42 Alex Dimitrianov             	0:01:27.371	0:00:00.302
12 53 Denholm Kingsley             	0:01:27.388	0:00:00.319
13 16 Alexander Lund               	0:01:27.418	0:00:00.349
14 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie          	0:01:27.435	0:00:00.366
15 14 Oliver Bliss                 	0:01:27.468	0:00:00.399
16  6 Marika Pedanovic             	0:01:27.474	0:00:00.405
17 23 Moisés Delgado               	0:01:27.493	0:00:00.424
18 89 Will Madison                 	0:01:27.516	0:00:00.447
19 94 Ryker Lane                   	0:01:27.522	0:00:00.453
20 24 Victoria Gardner             	0:01:27.526	0:00:00.457
21 91 Ilyas Nurlibaev              	0:01:27.533	0:00:00.464
22  7 Ethan Ellis                  	0:01:27.536	0:00:00.467
23 18 Louis Krindle                	0:01:27.724	0:00:00.655
24 74 Alexandra Mayari             	0:01:27.801	0:00:00.732
25 29 Esteban Guilhermez           	0:01:27.843	0:00:00.774
26 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher           	0:01:28.041	0:00:00.972

Saturday's qualifying event should be scorinated on or around midnight tomorrow.

by **Mattijana** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 2:07 am

Mid-Season Test: Überzoomingsplatz

"How's the gearbox?" Shouted a race engineer over an engine induced din from the garage next door.
Following the disasterous race in Lisander, featuring a crash and a gearbox capitulation, MRT had been forced to have a serious rethink over the mid-season break. The initial gearbox upgrade had been heaviky updated and would be tested rigorously during the test, whilst the rebuilding of Terho's chassis left the engineers with massive scope for performance-enhancing tweaks to the engine and aerodynamics, with a few mini-turbines also fitted to generate an even bigger electrical boost than before.
After a somewhat shakey start to the test, with both drivers adapting to the setup changes, Moisès and Terho were hitting their stride and beginning to post some impressive lap times. Another 1-2 was kn the cards as Moisès found a couple of tenths to take the lead, but as positive a result as it was, the whole team knew they couldn't celebrate until those finishes started to translate into points.

"It's getting a lot smoother now" replied Moisès over his own source of deafening noise. "It was kind of clunky over the first few laps, but it's better than a 15 year old Rießling now."

"Good to hear. Nice lap too, that's the fastest of the session so far...just"

Driver competitiveness was always important for the drivers, but the MRT staff were more concerned about pure reliability and performance than which of their drivers would turn out top. Of course, having them 1-2 was a pleasant bonus.

"Who else is looking good?" Asked Terho at the end of the stint.
" Mick Schramm's currently third, he's set a decent time, but I think he did it on his softest compund. Novikov's up there, as always, and Censki in the McPahen is on a good lap at the moment. That one could be tight."

A collective sigh of relief was exhaled as Censki leaked some time in the final sector to go third overall.

"I like the updates." Said Terho. "The gearbox is definitely better, it was sweet as a nut after the warm up laps and it felt like I could run forever without it breaking."

"Good good... We're getting a result in the next race Terho, the car's looking a lot stronger."

------------------------------------------------------

Alex Dimitrianov was not abke to show such optimism. The Firelime team, after a promising start, had fallen back somewhat, and his performances had given rise to some serious self-doubt.

The incidents at the start of the season still haunted him. Those who accused him of being too placid would have been put right back in their place if he had put in some good early results, but he hadn't, and now he himself was one of those questioning his style.
Mental health and fitness was something that had beckme increasingly important in the professional sports workd over the course of his career in motorsport, particularly in the WGPC, the pinnacle of World racing. A crisis of confidence now would be a huge setback.

He decided to spend some time in the simulator, practicing the ultra-sweeping Yakumicha circuit. The Kopylov aside, it was probably his favourite track of the lot, and certainly contained some of the best corner sequences in the world.
With overtaking the focus, he picked his spots. Turn one had an awkward breaking zone and had the potential to result in some squeaky moments, but had a long enough straight before to present itself as a very good spot. The Junior pit straight was shorter, and would require serious nerve through the 180° corner afterwards, but also had potential. His favourite however, was the dash to the turn 18 hairpin.
The corner before had a nice looking exit, whilst the two kinks woukd allow him to hide and dummy potential overtaking lines. He would need practice though, and that was what he would do. He had the skill, but was doing everything to proove otherwise. Race day would be massive.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 3:15 pm

Ryker walks down the now-empty pit lane, his mind moving even faster than he was in the practice session a couple of hours ago. The post-practice de-brief had concluded moments ago, leaving the Nimban free to go where he willed. Where he willed was, in this case, the current location of Maria Cattaneo, which he assumed was her team’s garage.

Stay cool. All you’re doing is going to talk to a beautiful, bold woman who may or may not like you and ask her out. That’s it.

Oh, Imagination help me.

No, stop that! Thinking yourself into a corner isn’t going to be of any help here. Remain calm and say exactly what you’ve been planning to say. It's not as -

The garage is closed; Kjeligsted WGPC have obviously decided to call it a day.

Maria, then, will be in her team’s motorhome. Where he isn’t allowed.

Damnation.

Fortunately, he had come prepared. Ryker takes a small envelope, on which is simply written ‘Maria’, from his pocket; he stares at it for a moment before holding it to his chest and then securing it with a piece of tape to the garage door before hurrying away lest anyone spot him.

I just hope that she accepts it for what it is. I’m not sure that I could handle the alternative.

by **The Serbian Empire** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 3:27 pm

"The super hards at the Uberzoomingsplatz have yielded useful data. Data suitable for the development of an improved hard compound that is almost as durable as the super hard tyre but with grip comparable to the medium hardness tyre," the Tigar tyre representative stated about the most recent test session.

"So this is the compound that we're using this weekend?" Marika asked the representative.

"Yes, I'll be delivering the tyres to Hodori in time for open practice," the representative responded.

"Good, maybe this will lead to better results," Marika said.

Post Practice Press Conference in Hodori

Marika Pedanovic

The times for us seem better than the super hards, the wear looks almost as good even 30 laps in. I have to be impressed by what the guys back in Serbia have done for us. I don't know if the weather will cooperate for me to get into the points, but it sure looks good enough to contend for at least 10th. Maybe more if attrition was like last week's race. I bet 1000 Kerai that it'll rain at some point in the weekend given how humid it is. If that happens, I'll probably be on pole if not a race winner. Rain is always welcome. I've heard of some upgrades in the #94 which might be on board my car, but I don't have a full understanding of what an Imagination Translocator does. There's a few other upgrades, but I don't know how much of that is tyre compound changes and how much is other upgrades.

by **The Redvale** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 5:45 pm

Maria Cattaneo
Yakumicha, Hodori

There was a lot on Maria's mind. WGPC Kjeligsted was being taken over by someone that she thought of as a snake, Gabriella Olson. Gabriella had forced one of Maria's friends out of the sport back home in retaliation for not signing with Olson Motorsports for a new contract and helping the team move into the top tier competition, and now she would be the effective owner of Maria's team. As Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher's luck evened out and his results went from surprising to exactly the mid table results that had been expected from him at the beginning, more pressure fell on Maria to win and represent her country well. She had responded well before, by winning her last race, but her momentum had been interrupted by testing and she didn't know how long she could keep it up.

It was all exhausting, and that was what she was thinking as she was walking through the pit lane, after everyone had wrapped up for the day. She was coming here to go over some data that had been collected from practice, with the new 'analyst' that had been brought in by Gabriella and Magnus Olson. Of course, he was more than just an analyst, and anyone that was Redvali would know that. His name was Asher Rawling, and he was the twenty two year old son of former Redvali champion Logan Rawling, and a current racer in the developmental series for Rawling Racing. He was more significant than that to Maria, though, because their pasts would forever be intertwined. Now, they were back together with him coming to help out with coaching the Kjeligsted drivers, because of his friendship with the Olson family.

They knew each other from before, however, and Maria wasn't sure if Gabriella and Magnus knew how deep their connections went. He had gotten her into the sport, after all. They'd grown up in the same part of Janford, and went to the same school. One day, she had made a bet that she could beat him in a wrestling match, and when she did, he had to hand over the keys to one of his karts. Well, they never expected anything to come from that, but it turned out Maria was fast. Back in those days, she was faster than him. They'd build a friendship on the backs of their racing careers, and they both rose through the ranks at the local level and became known as Janford's best rising talents, and as some of the top risers in the Redvale overall.

And then, years after Maria won her first kart in a bet with that rich kid who would become one of her best friends, he would use his dad's money to buy her first GT car for her, so she could compete in some of the big time local level races on the Southern Coast without having a sponsor to pay for the car, and Maria would later become one of the few to challenge him at that level. They had come from vastly different backgrounds, with Maria coming from a middle class family that didn't meet the stereotype that Janfordians were rich, and Asher coming from a family that had everything and gave him everything, but their differences made them an interesting duo on and off of the track. They were on the path to becoming major stars, together, and they had made plans together.

Eventually, their mutual like for each other would turn into something more, which would lead to Maria flirting with the chance to sign for Rawling and give them what they needed to get over the top and make it into the Redvali Motor Championship. But, that hadn't happened. The cash and the glory offered by Alex Passos and Roja Leo, and by the chance of racing internationally, won out over her desire to race on the same team as Asher, which she didn't quite think would be as good of an idea as he thought it would be. Their relationship became strained, and then-

"Maria, you have to check this out," said Asher, as she stepped inside the garage, interrupting her thoughts. "Seriously, come get a look at this. I don't know whether I should laugh or get angry or-"

"The hell are you talking about?" Maria asked, agitated as she looked inside, slammed the garage door behind her, and then moved to the table where Asher was staring at a piece of paper that was resting there. She was definitely prone to taking her agitation out on him, unfortunately. "Dammi che," she commanded, snatching the piece of paper and reading the writing on it. As she did, she let out a long and slow sigh and her face changed as she finished reading it. It was from Ryker. Of course it was from Ryker. And of course, it was about what had happened between them before. "Dove diavolo hai trovato questo?"

"I found it on the door when I got here. Looks like someone has a crush on you, Mar-Mar..." muttered Asher, not sure what to think of the whole thing.

"Yeah, so? You have a problem with that? We're not dating now-"

"Whose fault is that?"

"Let's not get into that, okay?" Maria snapped, losing her cool and looking back down at the note. On one hand, leaving a note like this wasn't a good look, at least in Maria's mind. On the other hand, she was still intrigued. She wasn't ready to give up on Ryker, even if this would make some friction with someone that she was now supposed to be working with. "I'll talk to him after qualifying, tomorrow. And that's none of your business-"

Asher put his hands up in defeat. "No need to snap about it. That's cool. I'm happy that you're finding someone else, Mar-Mar-"

"Call me that one more time and I'm going to wrestle you to the ground like we did when we were kids," she said, turning to hide her blush. "Let's get to this data. And no talking about anything that's not about that. I might have to work with you now, Asher, but don't let that make you think that I changed from what I said before... We're colleagues and rivals, nothing more. Now, are we going to look at the numbers or not?"

by **WGPC** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:01 pm

Drivers had fifty minutes to record up to six flying laps of the circuit. The slowest drivers occupy spots 11-through-26 on the grid. The ten fastest drivers are then entered into a second twenty-minute qualifying session to decide the order of the top ten for Sunday's race. Each driver in the second session has a maximum of three flying laps.

Conditions: DRY

FIRST SESSION

1 51 R.L. Cruisin        Arada			1:27.089
 2  1 Terho Talvela       MRT			1:27.111
 3 23 Moisés Delgado      MRT			1:27.182
 4 63 Kurt Censki         McPahan		1:27.253
 5 52 Sayono Souzare      McPahan		1:27.279
 6 14 Oliver Bliss        RSR			1:27.319
 7 77 iBen Toralmintii    Eelandii WGPC		1:27.341
 8  5 Julianos Lemos      Bitten Heroes		1:27.343
 9 42 Alex Dimitrianov    Fireline		1:27.387
10 55 Asao Nadakei        Arada			1:27.406
11 37 Axel Novikov        Telaris		1:27.410
12 99 Maria Cattaneo      Kjeligsted WGPC	1:27.486
13 89 Will Madison        MSA-SinVal		1:27.491
14 29 Esteban Guilhermez  RSR			1:27.506
15  6 Marika Pedanovic    Nexus			1:27.524
16 74 Alexandra Mayari    SFeG			1:27.656
17  7 Ethan Ellis         Wilson		1:27.691
18 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie Telaris		1:27.749
19 91 Ilyas Nurlibaev     Kjeligsted WGPC	1:27.772
20 24 Victoria Gardner    SFeG			1:27.869
21 94 Ryker Lane          Nexus			1:28.234
22 20 Mick Schramm        Bitten Heroes		1:28.276
23 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher  Fireline		1:28.489
24 16 Alexander Lund      Wilson		1:28.492
25 53 Denholm Kingsley    Eelandii WGPC		1:28.710
26 18 Louis Krindle       MSA-SinVal		1:30.129

SECOND SESSION

1 23 Moisés Delgado      MRT			1:27.086
 2 51 R.L. Cruisin        Arada			1:27.114
 3 42 Alex Dimitrianov    Fireline		1:27.477
 4 77 iBen Toralmintii    Eelandii WGPC		1:27.541
 5  1 Terho Talvela       MRT			1:27.660
 6  5 Julianos Lemos      Bitten Heroes		1:27.850
 7 14 Oliver Bliss        RSR			1:28.926
 8 52 Sayono Souzare      McPahan		1:29.268
 9 55 Asao Nadakei        Arada			1:30.940
10 63 Kurt Censki         McPahan		1:32.469

STARTING GRID

Pos # Driver			Team
 1 23 Moisés Delgado          	
 2 51 R.L. Cruisin            	
 3 42 Alex Dimitrianov        	
 4 77 iBen Toralmintii        	
 5  1 Terho Talvela           	
 6  5 Julianos Lemos          	
 7 14 Oliver Bliss            	
 8 52 Sayono Souzare          	
 9 55 Asao Nadakei            	
10 63 Kurt Censki             	
11 37 Axel Novikov            	
12 99 Maria Cattaneo          	
13 89 Will Madison            	
14 29 Esteban Guilhermez      	
15  6 Marika Pedanovic        	
16 74 Alexandra Mayari        	
17  7 Ethan Ellis             	
18 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie     	
19 91 Ilyas Nurlibaev         	
20 24 Victoria Gardner        	
21 94 Ryker Lane              	
22 20 Mick Schramm            	
23 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher      	
24 16 Alexander Lund          	
25 53 Denholm Kingsley        	
26 18 Louis Krindle

Cutoff for tomorrow's race will be after 11pm UTC.

by **Taeshan** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:50 pm

The team was rather excited with their work in the practice the day before and qualifying. Esteban was 14th in one of his best performances so far on the speed side of things so far in the season. As for the main car Oliver Bliss continued to get better as he got used to the tracks and the racing throughout the season. He had learned to drive better with the equipment and was working with the team so that they would all get quicker and he was really working hard to be faster. In the first part of qualifying he had been 6th fastest and advanced to push for a top qualifying spot. His speed was a little slower than before and he would start 7th on sunday. Enrique was rather elated with the continued success of the team, and he couldn't help but feel that this race in Hodori might be the first time a podium finish would happen for his race team.

"How do you think you will do in the race coming up in Yakumicha, Hodori?"

"I think we will do well in this race. Oliver has been fast in practice. He attained even more speed in the qualifying sessions and really pushed for success. Esteban pushed himself as well and really did well to get a 14th place starting spot for the race. He could have done better but really he has perhaps his fastest speed of all season. We hope he can continue to gain and hope he can get the team some quality points in this race and races to come. Oliver of course is expected to get a win by the end of the season, and we hope that he can push to get a podium here if not get the first win in the history of the WGPC for Taeshan, both as a team and a driver."

"Oliver what do you feel about your teams expectations?"

"It is great to see the team have expectations for me, and for me to win races and for the team to win races. I expect to win races and I come out each week wanting to push for the points and push for the wins. You don't go down in history as a person who competed in races, you go down in history as a winner and as a champion. I want to be in the history books as a contender at least and you can't do that if you don't succeed. I will succeed and will push to make it so. We can contend as a team, and I can contend as a racer and we will do so."

by **West-East Timor** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:59 am

In the last race, Mick had to retire after his engine had burst into flames in the first lap. So now, he would have to get a good result. Sadly, he didn't in qualifying after spinning in his fastest lap and not managing to drive fast enoigh again.

"22nd... Well... Sh*t.", Mick said.

"Yeah, you're sh*t", replied Marek.

"Maybe you made my car spin?"

"How should I have done that?"

"Don't know..."

"Could you two stop being that childish?", Max asked.

"Sorry", Marek said.

"Right Mick, Andy told me you got a press conference, so I guess you should go there", Max told to Mick.

"Mick, what do you think of your result today?"

"It's not a good result. I could have been so much better, I know that... But well, I spun in my best lap, and then yeah... I wish I could have done better, especially after my last race."

"What do you think you can achieve tomorrow?"

"Not much if I'm honest... I hope to gain some positions, but I don't really think I'll get some points or something. As always, I'll do my best, of course, but I'm not very optimistic..."

by **Lisander** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 3:23 pm

FIRST SESSION

8  5 Julianos Lemos      Bitten Heroes		1:27.343
22 20 Mick Schramm        Bitten Heroes		1:28.276

SECOND SESSION

6  5 Julianos Lemos      Bitten Heroes		1:27.850

—WHY IN THE HELL THIS STUPID SCREEN STILL HAVE "JULIANOS" IN IT? WGPC officials, if you can hear me through this headphone, please fix it. Or I'll keep asking. A tone louder next time!

Natassia Maud was angry with that problem in the screen. She was upset because it was the only thing she really bothered. Everything else for that Saturday was no longer in her hands.

JULIANO LEMOS AND BITTEN HEROES KEEP THE GOOD WORK UP!
Alayne Basinger, for the LAB blog

5th in the Constructors Championship, the lisanderian WGPC team, Bitten Heroes Grand Prix Engineering had another good presentation yesterday, in Hodori GP qualifiers. Juliano Lemos, the lisanderian driver, is making a good championship, currently in 7th place in drivers classification. After a pole-position and a great second place in GP de Lisander, his #5 Car will start in the 8th place in the Hodoran race.

Hodori is a speed-lover country, a Mecca to any racing fan. Between the video idols, the GT cars and the party ambient, all of us, in Lisander Autosports Boars, have high hopes in Bitten Heroes crew.

by **Audioslavia** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:27 pm

Tazz Araji had just about had time to give herself the Sheik treatment before getting into work. It was a small price to pay for the massively inflated wages she was paid by the multi-billionaire. The hair was straightened into a bob, the dark makeup with cyan tints had been applied, and the small white dress just about shuffled into. She, along with seven of her identically-outfitted colleagues, were riding the first of the four elevators up to Yamin's top-floor office-cum-penthouse suite, 100 stories up in the Burj Burg.

Yamin, who had made so much of his money in the oil and sand industries, was now two days into his tilt into politics. This meant that, not only were there redundancies, but that the formula one team would be, so she hard, closing down and moving away. Was she out of a job? Not yet, not according to the reports coming from upstairs (though 'upstairs' would be a bit of a misnomer, seeing as everyone except Edmund Hilary would die of exhaustion on attempt to climb from the ground floor to the top). Tazz would probably be moving sideways at some point, though quite when and where was hard to predict.

The eight girls marched out of one elevator and round the corner into another, wordlessly tip-tapping on their smartpads as they did so. Only Nura, a recent arrival from another arabic country in AO, said anything, a quick 'thanks' and a flashed smile as Tazz kept the elevator door open for her. The new lift showed a view of the city of Kjeligsted outside the glass window. Tazz remembered her first meeting with a handsome man in the very same lift. The same man she'd recently gone for a date with down in Cosumar. Things had gone well, if you forgot the times when he'd seemed completely in awe of her. When he'd relaxed, and wasn't trying too hard to impress her, he'd been more than good company. A keeper? Perhaps.

The lift stopped, suddenly. The bright white lights dimmed and flickered and then switched off completely. Tazz frowned, and looked around, just in time to see Nura fall to the floor in a heap.

Tazz was first to the ground, putting her hand under the girl's head and saying her name, but to no avail. Instinctively, she felt the girl's neck for an artery where she could find a pulse.

Nothing.

Well.. that didn't prove anything, did it? For all she knew, she just sucked at finding pulses.

"Does anyone know..." was as far as she got into her next question before another girl leant down and put her finger on the girl's neck, and then, as far as Tazz could tell, on the girl's thumb.

In the murky evening background, the only light was from a lightning strike a mile away. After that, the darkness remained.

"Shit.." came the girl's voice. Three of the other occupants of the lift jumped back, startled. One screamed. Tazz wanted to quieten her with a glare, but truth be told she wasn't even sure where the sound had come from, so dark was the elevator.

"I've got a pulse" said the girl, quietly, before she too screamed and jumped back.

The lights flickered on.

The seven girls, including Tazz, moved to the perimeter of the elevator, in shock at what they saw on the ground before them.

Slowly, the stricken girl got to her feet. She was tall and blonde.

"Wh.. where am I?"
"Who.. who are you?" came Tazz's response. The girl eyed her quizzically.
"You first" said the girl.
"I'm Tazz. This is the Burj Berg in Kjeligsted..."
"I'm Olga" said the girl. "I'm supposed to be making dinner for my husband. He's a whaler"
"A what"
"A whaler"
"A whaler, where?"
"In Polar Islandstates" said the girl.
"Never heard of it" said another, slightly younger girl, in the other corner.
"What the hell is going on?"

---

A day after the news broke that Polar Islandstates had miraculously appeared from nowhere, and that the island of Amnarei-asud had disappeared, taking with it a small part of Sheik Abdul Yamin's fortune from his dealings in the sand industry, Alexander Lund was going through a flood of texts on his phone. Some from old Polarian friends, some from confused Polarians who he'd never met, that were admanant that they were never the gorgeous 5'7-or-so arabic girl he'd met in a cafe a few years previous, but were actually a Polarian sheet-herder or policeman or somesuch.

"You ready?" came a voice in a Krytenian accent.
"I was born ready" replied Alex, stuffing his phone into his overalls.
"Is that.. is that your mobile" came the voice. Alex frowned and looked up.
"What? Sorry, I can't hear you over all this noise"
Behind him, a car revved its engines.
"We're twenty minutes from the start of the race. We need you to be focused. Are you texting?"
"Me? No. No of course not"
"Right" said the Krytenian. "Give you a hand with your helmet?" he said.
"Got it" replied Alex, bringing it out from under his arm and forcing it over his head. Silently, he took his phone from his overall pocket and threw it over the side of the track, into the pits.

by **The Redvale** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:38 pm

Maria Cattaneo
Yakumicha, Hodori

Twelfth place. That was where Maria Cattaneo would be starting for the Hodori Grand Prix. She'd assumed that she had put on a good performance in practice, at least when it came to learning the different turns and learning how to corner well on this circuit, but her assumptions hadn't been that close to the truth. This time, though, she could only blame herself and not the car or the pit crew. When she was headed into the last turn before the finish line, she had run too close to the wall and lost part of her front wing as well as giving up precious seconds.

That had made her drop from about fifth or sixth to... Twelfth. Another poor start that wouldn't be doing her any good when the actual race came and she had to make up all of this ground instead of being able to chase the lead. And for someone that took great pride in her cornering and her ability to handle a car like a master, she was disappointed that this was the way she would do poor in qualifying. When there were other cars, it was easier to justify hitting the wall. Her team was trying to be supportive after that, but it wasn't much help.

Maria was her own worst critic, and against the advice to Hans Eskildsen, her race engineer, she said that she was going to go for a walk instead of looking at the data from her run. She didn't want to see it at all, because her instincts were good enough that she already knew where she'd gone wrong. She had tried to be too aggressive, and that wasn't her forte. And because she had stepped out of her comfort zone too much, she was starting in twelfth. She knew it wasn't doing any good, but she kept repeating that in her head. She couldn't stop thinking about how far she'd dropped and how far she'd be from the front of the grid, and she couldn't believe how stupid she had been to save her best performance for the last lap.

She had to get her mind off of this, she thought, and she made her way from the WGPC Kjeligsted garage to the Nexus one. There were weird looks, of course, because she was heading to another team's garage, and those looks were both from the fans and from the pit crew members who were paranoid that she was there to steal their data. "Relax," she said, putting her hands up and standing in the doorway. "I'm not here to spy on you guys, I just want to talk to Ryker Lane. I believe he wanted to see me."

There was some talk amongst the others, and then Maria was allowed to step inside, and the pit crew shut the door behind her, much to the annoyance of the fans seated around the pit lane who wanted to catch a glimpse at the popular Redvali. "I didn't expect to see you so soon," Ryker stated upon seeing her, sounding less confident than he typically was. That confidence was something that Maria read as arrogance, but it wasn't really here, and she could sense that.

"Yeah, and I didn't expect to get a note from you," Maria replied quickly, in a low voice. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the back of the garage, where they were out of earshot of the others. "Anyway, I can say now that... Things are complicated right now. Things are more complicated than they were when I hugged you that day. Maybe if you moved sooner, things would be different, but... There's someone else, and even though I'm still technically single, I don't want to complicate things by hanging out with you now."

She could see the uncertainty on his face, but she continued. "Look, I'm not saying that nothing will ever happen between us, but I'm saying... I'm saying we can't be seen together. No more leaving notes where other people might see them," she said, her own voice not sounding too confident. "You're going to mess things up with my... My friend, Asher Rawling, at least until I can talk to him about how he shouldn't be jealous when we're not dating anymore."

"That's fine-"

"Look, I know you're saying it's fine, but you don't really think that. And, uh, I think you need to know the reason why I don't want to get on Asher's bad side by hanging out with you. I wasn't going to bring this stuff up, but while we're here, let me tell you my story..."

~

They had been talking for about half an hour, even after some of the pit crew members started to leave and after all of the other drivers were back in their garages and finishing up for the day after qualifying had concluded, and during those talks, Maria had explained herself. Explained how she went way back with another guy and how she didn't want to mess up the chance of a friendship with him by dating and hanging out with someone else too soon after their relationship had ended on bad terms because of her. She explained how she and Asher had grown up together and explained how Gabriella Olson had brought them back together, and how Asher had gotten her into racing.

And she'd explained how she wasn't ready to date someone until she could figure out how to do it without causing Asher to stop speaking with her again, and she explained how what she had started was also becoming a distraction for her. "Yeah, I understand," said Ryker, when she eventually finished her half hour long apology and started to stand to catch up with her own team.

"Well, I should be going for now, Hans is going to want to talk to me about how I messed up in qualifying," she stated. "I'll see you around... Just not as a boyfriend or anything like that-"

"That's fine-"

"But that doesn't mean there's nothing between us," she said, and then she wrapped him up in another tight hug like the one before and she planted a quick kiss on his lips before stepping away and turning to move towards the door. Fortunately, the Nexus pit crew hadn't seen that, and she didn't even turn to look back and see Ryker's reaction. She knew she was playing with fire here, and there was a potential for this to become a big distraction for her, but... She hadn't been lying when she said there was something between them, and that was worth taking a risk for.

Even if she did end up crashing into a wall because she was thinking about her personal dramas.

by **Hodori Motorsports** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:42 pm

Friday
As the practice session drew to a close, Hakusa waited outside her wife’s motorhome. With Sayono’s continued poor grand prix results, she had become increasingly withdrawn, shutting out everything unrelated to the championship. To Hakusa’s irritation, she was included in this category. She shook the empty aluminium can, sighed, and made her way to the nearest vending machine for more coffee.

Saturday
After the second consecutive evening of Sayono profusely apologising to her wife, the two made plans for how they would spend tomorrow night.
“We’re going to my hometown,” Hakusa declared. Yegitou, a town to the southeast of Yakumicha and where Hakusa had spent the first ten years of her life. Its most notable features were the bathhouse and inn run by the shrine that had served as Hakusa’s childhood home. “It’s been too long, so since we’re nearby I want to see how things are going at the shrine before we head for the next round.”
“Ah, I haven’t made arrangements with the team to have you tag along.”
“An’ue’s working that out. Besides, I don’t want to miss the Nekoni round this time.”

by **WGPC** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:45 pm

CUT OFF for the Grand Prix of Hodori

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:59 pm

Ryker blinks, twice.

Well, that just happened.

This actually worked out almost perfectly. Certainly, he would be happier with a response from Maria that was more affirmative in outlook; that response, however, would have carried a ton of complications with it. As it was, she had been positive about their chances - more of an 'on hold', a period of waiting before entering into something official, than an outright rejection. That left him with time to play with.

I'm going to need that time. She thinks that she messed up in qualifying?

21st, he had qualified. Okay, so the course isn't perfect for the car, nor had Marika done much better, but 21st? I'm a major title contender at this point - I can't afford to start from 21st on the grid, not when everyone ahead of me in the Championship is also starting from further up the road.

I've lost focus. Sending love letters? Throwing around bats and discs with your mind? You are a racer, Ryker Lane - so why aren't you racing, for Imagination's sake? Get yourself together, man! You've spent less time in the simulator these past two weeks than you have any race week before then.

He clenches one fist, raising his other hand to his head.

You've got complacent. Put those other things out of your mind completely. Obliterate them. Utterly. You are a racer, nothing else. Your job isn't to feel, it's to learn circuits and drive as quickly as you can around them.

What are you doing thinking about this? Go! Go!

With that, he turns angrily, heading towards the portal at the back of the garage and, eventually, the simulator room back at headquarters.

He doesn't emerge until two hours before the race begins on the following day.

by **WGPC** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:04 pm

Raceweek 8 - Race Four

Grand Prix of Hodori

Conditions: Dry
Laps: 59

Pos # Driver               Team			Race Time	Behind Preceding car
 1  1 Terho Talvela              	1:30:02.648	+0:00.000
 2 20 Mick Schramm               	1:30:42.478	+0:39.829
 3  5 Juliano Lemos              	1:30:43.072	+0:00.594
 4 55 Asao Nadakei               	1:30:45.544	+0:02.472
 5 52 Sayono Souzare             	1:30:57.130	+0:11.586
 6 99 Maria Cattaneo             	1:30:58.246	+0:01.116
 7  7 Ethan Ellis                	1:31:06.813	+0:08.567
 8 74 Alexandra Mayari           	1:31:10.603	+0:03.790
 9 37 Axel Novikov               	1:31:15.527	+0:04.924
10 14 Oliver Bliss               	1:31:17.000	+0:01.474
11 18 Louis Krindle              	1:31:17.617	+0:00.617
12 94 Ryker Lane                 	1:31:17.846	+0:00.229
13 89 Will Madison               	1:31:22.805	+0:04.959
14 53 Denholm Kingsley           	1:31:29.210	+0:06.405
15 29 Esteban Guilhermez         	+1 Lap		
16 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher         	+1 Lap		+0:29.036
17 51 R.L. Cruisin               	Ret. Lap 58
18 91 Ilyas Nurlibaev            	Ret. Lap 56

DNF 63 Kurt Censki                	Ret. Lap 50
DNF 23 Moisés Delgado             	Ret. Lap 49	
DNF 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie        	Ret. Lap 42	
DNF 77 iBen Toralmintii           	Ret. Lap 37
DNF 24 Victoria Gardner           	Ret. Lap 35	
DNF  6 Marika Pedanovic           	Ret. Lap 18	
DNF 16 Alexander Lund             	Ret. Lap 17	
DNF 42 Alex Dimitrianov           	Ret. Lap 16

Drivers' Championship

Pos	#	Name			Team		Pts
1	1	Terho Talvela		MRT		57
2	5	Juliano Lemos		Bitten Heroes	37
3	37	Axel Novikov		Telaris		36
4	6	Marika Pedanovic	Nexus		33
5	99	Maria Cattaneo		Kjeligsted WGPC	31
6	17	Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie	Telaris		25
7	94	Ryker Lane		Nexus		24
8	20	Mick Schramm		Bitten Heroes	21
9	80	J. Jensen-Fletcher	Fireline	19
10	55	Asao Nadakei		Arada		18
11	91	Ilyas Nurlibaev		Kjeligsted WGPC	14
12	14	Oliver Bliss		RSR		11
13	52	Sayono Souzare		McPahan		8
14	42	Alex Dimitrianov	Fireline	6
15	23	Moisés Delgado		MRT		4
15	16	Alexander Lund		Wilson		4
15	7	Ethan Ellis		Wilson		4
15	77	iBen Toralmintii	Eelandii WGPC	4
19	74	Alexandra Mayari	SFeG		3
20	63	Kurt Censki		McPahan		2
20	53	Denholm Kingsley	Eelandii WGPC	2
22	51	R.L. Cruisin		Arada		1
23	89	Will Madison		MSA-SinVal	0
23	18	Louis Krindle		MSA-SinVal	0
23	24	Victoria Gardner	SFeG		0
23	29	Esteban Guilhermez	RSR		0

Constructor's Championship

MRT		61
Telaris		61
Bitten Heroes	58
Nexus		57
Kjeligsted WGPC	45
Fireline	25
Arada		19
RSR		11
McPahan		10
Wilson		8
Eelandii WGPC	6
SFeG		3
MSA-SinVal	0

by **Lisander** » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:56 pm

"AWESOME! AWESOME! YOU ARE COMPLETELY AWESOME!"
Alayne Basinger, for the LAB blog

This was another dream race to Bitten Heroes. The Lisanderian team fill the podium, together with the unstoppaple Terho Talvela. The white and dark purple car was fantastic. Both BH cars fought for the second place until last lap, until last Chicane. The outstanding performance of Mick Schramm, who started 22nd and finished 2nd, could be remembered maybe as the best race of its entire life.

Maybe the Bitten Heroes incredible sunday can be described with two radio communications, the first from Andrea Lanza, Chief Engineer, in lap 51, when Juliano Lemos took the third place:

"Nadakei is behind both of you now. Forget about team. Fight for the second place between yourselves, we will not interfere."

What did you see afterwards? A historic, electrifying, awesome dispute. Juliano was attacking, Mick was closing the way. Juliano passed, Mick was already ahead in the next corner. Two fantastic riders in two identical cars. Talvela, 40 seconds ahead, did not need to worry, but in the last few laps he was just a supporting actor. All the eyes are turned on Bitten Heroes.

It was not yet this time that Bitten Heroes climbed to the top of the podium. But it should not be long if it depends on these guys.

PS.: I think you are asking what were the second radio communication who describes this race. Or maybe not. I used it as a title of this post.

EDIT: I forgot to say because this race was incredible. Bitten Heroes is now the 3rd in the Constructors championship, and Juliano Lemos is the 2nd in the Drivers championship, only behind the unbeatable Terho Talvela.

by **Aboveland** » Wed Mar 22, 2017 4:06 pm

As the red lights faded, Anni² roared off the starting line with a soft squeal from the rear tyres. Terho was set on victory, and would take no less.

After the reliability check the team had done in the mid season testing, both MRT machines were working like a charm. They felt more rigid, more solid, and faster. And finally, for once, the cars performed well in actual competitive racing too, mirroring its testing pace. Second in practice and fifth overall in qualifying were enough to lift Terho's spirits and really give him the extra oomph.

And then, there was the track. Oh, the joy! Terho adored this kind of racetrack: turn after turn after turn, interrupted with the occasional abruptly ending straight. It was a high speed, high G track, and he was having a blast. If his first win of the season didn't come here, it wouldn't be a stretch to claim he wouldn't win at all.

Back in the race, Terho swiftly overtook his ex-teammate iBen Toralmintii going into turn one. He'd gotten a spectacular start, and third place was not far off. By the end of his first tyre stint, he was trailing second by two seconds. It's said that races are won in the pits, and this was no exception.

Coming out of the pits after his first stint, now down in fifth again, he hatched a plan. Using his slightly harder compound, he'd push the car as much as he'd need to maintain a steady gain on the car ahead, and then use the power of slipstreaming to rush ahead. He'd wait for the drivers in front to pit and then he'd go in for one last hard stint, really taking a gamble with the loss of performance compared to everyone else. The gamble, however, worked tremendously. While the frontrunners pit for their final stints, Terho shot past with a commanding lead, and despite the dangerous levels of tire wear on his set going into the final five laps his gap to second continued to increase by two tenths of a second per lap. After a masterful drive, Terho crossed the finish line with a grin on his face and a fist in the air, letting the joy of his first win of the season flood him.

"WE DID IT AGAIN, EDVIN! YEEEEES!" he shrieked.

"Nice job, Terho! Get ready for an almighty champagne shower," replied Johan Struna, clearly pleased judging by his tone of voice.

Rolling into the paddock, Terho removed his helmet, slapped his gloves off, and leaped out of Anni². He kissed her bug dotted snout, put on his podium cap, and ran up the stairs to face the crowds. Turning to his right to bathe his second best opponent in beige elixir, he took note of the color of his overalls. It was Bitten Heroes, second and third! He let out a jovial chuckle, and let every last drop of wine drizzle onto his face and into his racing suit. With his win, he'd leapfrogged himself and MRT to the top of the championship standings. What a stellar year for racing, he thought.

Axel's weekend had progressively worsened since he'd arrived. Even though he had had considerably more time in the Project AGP chassis than Terho, a fact his compatriot was unaware of, it didn't hamper his ability to get used to the Telaris car again. It was slightly less powerful than Project AGP, but it's cornering speed was better, and it felt more solid. According to Frida, the aero was the least developed aspect of the car so far, owing to the newness of the whole project.

The reason Axel was struggling so hard in Hodori was his health. On Friday night, after his good showing in practice, he went out with the Ruuhmakis and Frida to grab a bite of the local cusine. A particular sashimi variant he'd been the only poor soul to experience was unfortunately contaminated, and it promptly left him queasy. His qualifying results were less than ideal, finishing down in eleventh, and going into the race he was at his worst. A high fever had struck him early in the morning and his midsection began to emit all kinds of croaking, growling noises. Sven suggested he should perhaps take the race off, in case his condition worsened, but Axel would have none of it. As he trudged into his car, clad in fireproof garments and his Telaris overall, he asked the team to have a pill ready just in case his condition turned dire in the heat of competition.

As the lights went out, Axel released the clutch late, dropping as low as 15th due to his lapse in concentration. The rumble of the engine shook his insides, and he promptly relieved himself of the constricting pain in his bowels. That should do for a few laps, he reckoned.

It was a shame that he was feeling so awful at the race: the track was one of his favorites on the calendar for the same reasons as Terho. It was fast, technical and flowing all at the same time, with plenty of overtaking opportunities not exclusive to long straights or hairpins.

By his final pit stop, then up in seventh with a sizeable gap to the guys behind, his symptoms had worsened. He radioed the team right before he stopped at the garage for his tyre swap and advised them to have the pill ready. He rolled into position, got his tyres changed, swiped his visor up quickly, and jammed the pill into his mouth between his helmet and his lips. He tried drinking some water he'd been given, but it was hopeless. The gap was too small and his chest was starting to get soggy. Frustrated, he let out a "fuck this" and screeched away, making do with the little water he had on board that he could sip through a pipe.

Regardless of his lost time putting him in tenth, he was able to claw back an additional spot from Oliver Bliss, whose tyres were beginning to grain towards the end, and managed to close in within five seconds of fourth. There would be nothing to celebrate in the paddock, though. A possibly brilliant result for himself ruined, Telaris' championship lead shared, and his own driver's standings gap nullified, all thanks to that damn sashimi. He vowed to eat only cheesy rice for the next three days, and promised Frida he'd hold back from coffee until the next race.

by **The Redvale** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 1:14 pm

Maria Catteneo
???

The rain was pouring down far too hard for anyone to be out there, but Maria wasn't the type of person that only raced in fair weather. Most of the group had headed inside for the rest of the day, choosing to warm up in the Rawling family mansion instead of continuing to race on their expansive private track, but there were still a few brave teenagers that wanted to test their skill at wet racing out. Maria, Asher, Jeremy, and Lauri Maximovic. Four future Redvali racing stars, before the world would know their names and their faces.

Now, they weren't racing for the fame or for the money. This was back when they could say their motives were pure and all they had was their love of the sport... Well, Asher had his father's legacy to think about, but even with that, he was still an amateur in every way at the time. There had been many races like this between the four teenagers, and they were always very competitive. This one especially was, because each one wanted to be able to say that they were able to win a full length race in the rain. Not just the rain, but a downpour.

It was still coming down hard as they entered the penultimate lap, and Maria was in third. Ahead of Lauri, but behind Jeremy and Asher, who were fighting for the lead. She'd have to speed up if she wanted to win this thing, but she really just wanted to finish above Jeremy more than she wanted to win the whole thing. "Come on," she told herself, reaching up to wipe the drops of rain from her visor before putting on speed going into the next corner and gaining ground on Jeremy at the risk of spinning.

But she had always been an ace at handling, and she kept the wheel under control as the kart started to fishtail coming out of the corner. Jeremy was in sight, and there was a straight, where she was picking up ground on him... Asher looked back too and realized that she was catching up, but he didn't reply by picking up his own speed. He actually slowed down some, and Maria realized that he was blocking Jeremy's line so she could overtake him. "You don't have to do that for me!" she shouted, cutting to the outside to make the overtake.

"I don't know how you still say you aren't in love with Mar," sighed Jeremy, as he was forced to slow his own pace because of Asher backing him up. He finally thought he'd get one over on her, but he was forced to watch as she overtook him and then Asher sped up again to battle for first place with her. They were headed into the last lap, and the race was still close. Lauri and Jeremy were battling, and Maria and Asher also had quite a competitive battle for first going on up front.

That is, until Maria pushed her kart too far and couldn't bring it back under control like last time. She tried to overtake Asher by slamming the throttle while he slowed for turn two, and going outside of him, but she was forced to overcompensate in steering to make up for taking the turn at speed. She lost the back end, spun out wildly, and then crashed through the nearest barrier and landed upside down in the ditch that was next to the turn. If it wasn't pouring rain, the kart probably would have caught fire. "Merda!" she shouted, barely keeping herself from gasping in pain as she felt the heavy kart break something in her lower body. Maybe something in her foot... She was pinned under it, and she had to pull her face out of the mud to keep from choking.

She could hear the other engines zooming by as the race continued, except... Except for one. She couldn't believe it, but she could hear Asher's kart pulling over at the side of the road, and she could hear him cutting the engine. He jumped out, and dirtied his white race suit by sliding down into the ditch to help her. "You okay, Mar-Mar?"

"You just cost yourself the win, idiota..." she muttered, though she couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she said it. "And no, I don't think so, I think I broke something in my foot. It hurts like you wouldn't believe..."

"I don't care about wins, I care about you," Asher replied, raising the kart up enough that she could slide her body out from under it. "Lemme get you back to the house, and then I'll get my dad to call the family doctor to check you out. He does way better work than anyone you'll find in a public hospital. Can you walk, or no?"

She tried to stand, before dropping back to the ground with a groan. "Gods... That fucking hurts," she muttered, breathing heavily to control the pain that was coming from her foot. She was wondering how she was going to get back to the house, because they had to walk quite a while to get out of the ditch, but she found the answer to her problem when Asher picked her up with surprising strength to carry her back. "I know I mess around and insult you all the time, but honestly... Thanks. I don't think I ever told you that you're a better guy than I thought you were when we met..."

~

The sound of the alarm woke Maria right up, but she awoke slowly. Very slowly. It took her a few minutes to get her bearings, to remember where she was and what had gone on last night. Something didn't feel right. Or rather, something definitely felt off. She couldn't put a finger on what it was exactly, until... She went to move her arm and realized that there was someone else pressed up against her, in one of the small bedrooms of the WGPC Kjeligsted motorhome. Someone with long blonde hair that was currently obscuring their face, someone female, someone that was still sleeping but that was clinging to Maria like a vice grip... No. It can't be. This can't be.

Maria pushed the other person until they rolled over, and saw that she was indeed waking up next to Gabriella Olson, the new team owner and the one that was paying out of pocket to keep WGPC Kjeligsted afloat after they started off vastly overmatched by some of the other teams. "How the fuck is this happening?" she muttered, thinking back to her history with Gabriella and how the billionaire had been a thorn in her side at times, dealing with one of Maria's friends dirtily when all three of them were major players in the lower level racing scene. When Gabriella first showed up at Kjeligsted, Maria had hated her guts. Then, as the season continued and she personally paid to get Maria into a good car, so she didn't keep losing despite being one of two Redvali drivers in the competition, Maria's hate had turned into a milder form of distrust. But now, their relationship had apparently changed again.

She looked to the other side, to the rest of the room, and saw that there were bottles lying around. Great... She realized now that last night, she had been blackout drunk, and that was why she had a headache now and could barely remember what had happened. She didn't know, however, whether she had gotten drunk and done this on her own accord, or if Gabriella had taken advantage of her. The young head of Olson Industries always seemed far too interested in the athletes that she managed, after all. And she didn't trust Gabriella one bit, even if she was thankful for her rescuing the team midseason and bringing in new investment.

Her phone buzzed from the table next to them, and she unlocked it and scrolled through her messages. There were some new ones from Asher, some passive aggressive ones about their relationship status. He was congratulating her on being with Gabriella, but it was written in a sarcastic and passive aggressive way, not a genuine one. She typed back a quick reply saying that she didn't even know what had happened, but Asher clearly didn't believe her. He sent back a reply that wasn't that long, but was still cutting; "Don't worry about it, Mar. I'd want to be with the billionaire, too. I'm fine being just friends... Again."

She sent a reply back saying that they really needed to talk about their relationship status. He sent something back to her saying the opposite; "No, we don't. Let's just stay friends. I'm busy right now but we can talk before the practice."

That was what she wanted, wasn't it? To just be friends with him and for things not to be awkward because of their past relationship... But now that she had what she wanted, she wasn't happy. This wasn't how she wanted it to be, she didn't want him to back off and just be friends with her because he was assuming that she was with someone else. "Damn you, Gabriella. You ruin everything," she muttered under her breath, before pushing the smaller and slimmer woman off of her and rolling out of bed. Why was Gabriella even here? Maria knew that there were only two ways to explain it. She could have gotten stressed from her career troubles, gotten drunk, and finally acted on the tension between the two... Or something much darker had happened and Gabriella had taken advantage of her extreme stress to convince her to get drunk and then get in bed with her. Maria didn't know which timeline was the right one, yet, and she also didn't know how Asher apparently knew about what had happened.

She threw her clothes on quickly, and ran out of the room to get to the bottom of this. Everything was fucked up right now with Asher, because even though he was backing off like she wanted, she had also hurt him without intending to. And Ryker... She would have to talk to him again. Things had changed after all, and she probably wouldn't have to worry about ruining a friendship with Asher that was already ruined by last night. But first, there was one person that could give her some advice, someone that hadn't been as lucky as she had this season, and someone else from her past who might complicate things: Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher.

World Grand Prix Championship Season 15: Roleplay Thread

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