WGP2 Season III [Roleplay Thread]

by **Vilita and Turori** » Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:21 pm

WGP2 Pick 'em - Round 3 Recap

Race Leaderboard

1 [29] :: @garbage_time

- [29] :: @RustyIbuna71

3 [25] :: @supervtm

- [25] :: @Light_of_Unity (mostly auto-posted links to Mindspeak)

- [25] :: @NagaiNori

- [25] :: @gofast23

Season Standings

1 [86] :: @RustyIbuna71

2 [79] :: @garbage_time

3 [73] :: @jaqeplanst

4 [58] :: @tropicaltulsi

5 [57] :: @NagaiNori

- [57] :: @supervtm

There were not a lot of points to go around following Round 3 of the V&T Racer World Grand Prix 2 Pick 'em competition as nearly all the points in the event were earned by Tier 2 drivers of which no individual entry could have more than a single Tier 2 driver on their team. Of course, the bulk of the points as a result were earned by participants with the race winner, #3 Olivia Stone of Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing on their roster. To complicate matters even further just one Tier 1 driver earned any points whatsoever on the day and it was #7 Lourdina Westgrens - a driver selected in just 4% of the overall WGP2 Pick 'em rosters.

After Stone and Abdoulaye Goita, the far and away dominant driver in the early season, occupying the top two positions it was Westgrens rounding out the podium before a pair of Tier 3 drivers from the Kaylan Racing Team, Barnabas Mate and Isaia Fanene. Barnabas Mate earned the extra point for having turned the fastest lap in the race. There were no entries that had the so-called perfect roster for the event which would have included 3rd placed finisher Westgrens as the Tier 1 driver, Race winner Olivia Stone from Tier 2 and the Kaylan Racing Team duo of Barnabas Mate and Isaia Fanene from Tier 3 finishing in 4th and 5th. If anyone had the perfect four drivers on their roster they would have been able to score a theoretical maximum of 58 points from the round. However, the best performing entry scored just 29 points and for the second consecutive race it was the celebrity duo of Vilita and Turorian Nikki Kater (@garbage_time) and Filindostan's Rustom Ibuna (@RustyIbuna71) at the top of the charts.

Users can still sign up for V&T Racers WGP2 Pick 'em Regular Season competition though will receive a score of 0 for any races already completed at the time they have signed up. For those users already signed up, changes can now be made to the submitted lineup at an increasing cost per change. Any change submitted to Vilita and Turori Racer will result in the deduction of points from that users total score as a cost for swapping one driver out for another in that same tier.

The WGP2 Race of the Hills at the Akresna Circuit in Auruna was a race to forget for a number of the top drivers in the WGP2 circuit with Tier 1 drivers occupying the bulk of the non-points scorers with Nexus Racing teammates Drake Stevenson and Janne Laukkanen the last to cross the finish line in 20th and 21st place respectively while Vilita and Turori driver and WGP2 veteran Jama'obo Pegasii joining their Naval Corps racing teammate Adriana Kowalski in the garage area having failed to finish the event. The steam-powered duo seemed to be off to a strong start after the first round of the season with Pegasii finishing inside the points and Kowalski having turned fastest lap of the race week. While they didn't have the finishing positions in Round 2 the team still showed the speed with the #37 of Jama'obo Pegasii claiming the point for the fastest lap of the race. There would be no opportunity to show improvement or speed in Auruna, however, as both cars would drop out of the event before 10 laps were complete including Adriana Kowalski who dropped out on the very first circuit of the course.

By comparison, it was a good afternoon at the track for the Vilita and Turori Motorsports Tropicorp Engineering team as both of the teams two drivers were able to complete the entire 29 lap distance of the event. It was perhaps just an expensive day of practice for the two Tropicorp drivers as Cocoabo #23 led the duo with a 14th place finish while Jolyn Caufield, struggling to make a smooth transition between the NSSCRA Stock Car circuit and the World Grand Prix open wheel driving class, finished in 17th position just one car ahead of the final lead lap machine.

The series is now looking ahead to the Raleigh Hill Circuit in Park City, Esmerel. After hosting a tandem even on the NSSCRA Circuit on the South-West corner of the complex, the World Grand Prix 2 circuit will be running on the remainder of the course in the Central and North East segments otherwise known as the Tour Circuit. It is expected to be a good event for the Naval Corps racing team with driver #76 Adriana Kowalski having been fast throughout the practice and qualifying sessions. It remains a struggle for VTM Tropicorp Engineering who are just looking to get their car back up to competitive speeds before the circuit gets to the Cocoabo Forest for the Round 6 event that should be a chance for the team to turn their season around and get back into the competitive range for a second half surge towards the championships.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:51 pm

Akresna Circuit, Auruna
WGP2 Race of the Hills; Post-Race

“Great work out there Olivia! P1! P1! Wonderful! The team's celebrating in the garage.” The voice of Jöna Ekeränna flows, exultant, across the radio. “Ahh... Enjoy your first win!”

Within the cockpit of her rumbling Viska charger, Olivia sags, laughing riotously. Oh, but that feels good to hear! “Thanks – thanks to everyone! Awesome circuit you Aurun have over here!” She grins, giving an obligatory wave to the crowd.

Her eyes soften as she glances across at one of the towering scoreboards. And sixth… “Thank Baxen for me, too. Couldn’t have done it without his support after the safety car.”

Eventually, warmth and euphoria flooding her form, she pulls up before the first-place board, climbs up to stand on the nose of her car, then leaps, stretching forth her hand to clasp at ever-higher heights. She rushes to her team, cheering from the sidelines; brings her hands together on her chest as her eyes sparkle before the lens of a camera; pulls her helmet off, moves to the scales… It all runs together.

And then she collapses on the sofa of the podium cooldown room, immediately before taking her bottle of water and tipping a significant quantity of it directly over her head.

Sighing in relief and wiping her brow, she refocuses her gaze on the room. Of everyone, one person is a little closer than the rest – a man wearing a vaguely familiar set of overalls. “Goita, right?” she asks a touch carefully, squinting through the combination of water and sweat. Reading his body language as affirmation, she proceeds: “Nice run through the field there. Good racing, too – almost had me a couple of times…”

Nexus Racing HQ, Crossbay Circuit, Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
10th of March

“Looking good, Benedi.” Gertrude steps back, examining the half-built Chase Cutter before her.

“Hopefully it works.” Nexus Racing’s primary powertrain expert holds her hands behind her back, the top row of her teeth worrying her lip as she looks over the twin motors embedded in the car’s nose, then those at its rear. “No doubt there will be kinks to work out.”

“Oh, obviously. Just as obvious that you can handle it. It’s what the WGP2’s for, right?” Gertrude’s smile comes easily, rejoined by Benedi’s smirk. “We’ll be ready by the time WGPC 18 happens.”

“Let’s hope.” Benedi nods in affirmation, then turns to head back to the group under her leadership.

Gertrude lowers her hand from her chin and clasps it in the other as she looks back to the car. Mmm… Well, we needed to look at Concept B regardless. Last couple of races have demonstrated precisely how problematic the unsprung weight of eight hub motors is… Success is a process. She sighs, then nods to herself. Success is a process.

And processes need fuel. She looks up to the mezzanine window and the canteen behind it. Yeah, let’s get some lunch.

---

Leaning back and spinning in her office chair, Gertrude taps her feet against the ground. This setup, prototyping in the WGP2… Not the best for morale for half the year. She considers. I mean, if you’re used to it, it’s not so bad, but…

She grimaces, recalling Drake Stevenson as she passed by him on her way to sit with some of her team. The man looked like a tempest, wrinkled lines casting a shadow over his brow and a gaze of lightning burning into his quarter-eaten meal. “Not so different to Ryker back in WGPC 15…” she murmurs. “Different enough to demand different solutions, though. Less ultra-focussed, more emotional.”

Emotions need more care.

Gertrude considers. Best thing to do would be to talk to Valen about it… Gah, but they’re new to each other, even if he is his engineer. Nothing I’m especially focussed on now – can still do a bit of reconnaissance. Hmm.

Emotions need… A flash of recollection: ‘You’re telling me that I need to talk to people who’ – yep, take own advice, got it!

Suddenly leaning forward again in her seat, she grabs at her mouse, tapping at Victoria’s intra-team communications framework and flicking down the contacts to find the most recent entries.

Alright, Team Blue, let’s see if you can help me work this out.

by **Recuecn** » Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:58 pm

“What effect is the recent instability here in Esmerel having on your ability to focus on the upcoming race?”

Abdoulaye seemed a bit surprised by the question, although it should have been an obvious one to expect at a press conference like this right before a race in a nation whose government had made such a vague, but deeply worrisome statement only a few days ago.

“Well,” he mused, “It’s obviously not ideal, and I don’t really have much of an idea what’s going on with that exactly. But the WGPO has promised the drivers their safety while we’re here, so that’s reassuring, and it lets me do what SVJ wants, which is stay totally focused on performance on the track. To be honest I feel bad not being able to answer your question and not really knowing what’s going on with the local situation—I believe international politics is important and everyone should be aware and involved—but SVJ has made it clear what my priorities are supposed to be, and I understand that. I’m here to do my job, and let me tell you that I’m very excited about that, too.”

“Say more about that. What makes this week special?”

“Every week I drive formula cars is another week I get better, and I’d like to think I’m already seeing those results in my consistency. This week, Roman and I are both starting in positions from where we can make serious challenges, which is an improvement on both of the last couple of races. So far we’ve both always been in the points, but the goal is to repeat the first race and be on the podium together again. It’s great for the team, and the celebration is more than twice as fun.”

“Last week you and Lourdina Westgrens made particularly impressive climbs through the field. Why do you think you were able to do that in Auruna but not San Marco?”

“Not to make excuses, but the tracks are totally different. San Marco is a really tight circuit and there’s not really much space to get by anyone. But like I said, I’m not trying to make excuses. I was off my game for that race, it’s true. You have those days, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You just have to hope it’s not a race-day. Unfortunately, it was, but as I keep practicing I’m hoping that I’ll have fewer and fewer days like that.”

“You’re the first Reçuecian to ever drive a car in a WGPO-event.” Abdoulaye’s eyes bugged out a little. Apparently he himself wasn’t aware of that fact. “What do the folks at home make of that?”

“That’s news to me! The WGPO has such a long history I find it hard to believe I’m the first…” He turned his head away from the microphone, and could be indisticntly heard asking someone off to the side, “Is that true?” (A muffled “yeah,” in response.)

“Wow, well I don’t know what to say. I guess the Reçuecian press doesn’t either. I haven’t seen myself on any of the Reçuecian news at all anywhere.”

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:00 pm

WEEK 5
Raleigh Hill Circuit, Esmerel

Conditions:			Dry
Laps:				36
Event:				The Esmerelian Challenger's Prize
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	10, 11, 12, 13, 21, 22
Cars on Grid:			24

Start  		After 9 Laps  		After 18 Laps  		After 27 Laps
 1 ▍AKS		 1 ▍ARJ +0     		 1 ▍ARJ +0     		 1 ▍ARJ +0
 2 ▍LAU		 2 ▍AKS +0.526 		 2 ▍LNA +24.071		 2 ▍AKS +3.201
 3 ▍NER		 3 ▍CRT +10.551		 3 ▍AKS +25.065		 3 ▍GOZ +9.998
 4 ▍ARJ		 4 ▍FIR +15.272		 4 ▍GOZ +29.24 		 4 ▍C23 +11.079
 5 ▍CRT		 5 ▍LNA +26.751		 5 ▍LGM +35.459		 5 ▍LNA +12.21
 6 ▍LGM		 6 ▍LYN +28.498		 6 ▍AUR +37.2  		 6 ▍FAL +13.484
 7 ▍FIR		 7 ▍FAN +30.28 		 7 ▍LYN +38.718		 7 ▍AUR +16.723
 8 ▍LYN		 8 ▍NER +32.357		 8 ▍C23 +42.211		 8 ▍CRT +17.194
 9 ▍GOZ		 9 ▍LGM +33.114		 9 ▍FAN +42.66 		 9 ▍FAN +22.627
10 ▍LNA		10 ▍AUR +45.241		10 ▍FIR +44.685		10 ▍LGM +27.275
11 ▍GTA		11 ▍GOZ +55.068		11 ▍CRT +47.28 		11 ▍NER +31.542
12 ▍ARC		12 ▍C23 +56.374		12 ▍NER +48.891		12 ▍LYN +31.864
13 ▍AUR		13 ▍ARC +59.771		13 ▍ARC +50.774		13 ▍FIR +37.444
14 ▍FAL		14 ▍FAL +59.901		14 ▍FAL +53.906		14 ▍STO +Laps: 1
15 ▍FAN		15 ▍WES +63.792		15 ▍MAT +Laps: 1		15 ▍MAT +Laps: 1
16 ▍MAT		16 ▍JHC +Laps: 1		16 ▍STO +Laps: 1		16 ▍STE +Laps: 1
17 ▍C23		17 ▍MAT +Laps: 1		17 ▍STE +Laps: 1		17 ▍MTV +Laps: 2
18 ▍JHC		18 ▍BAK +Laps: 1		18 ▍MTV +Laps: 1 	
19 ▍WES		19 ▍STE +Laps: 1 	                                        	
20 ▍MTV		20 ▍STO +Laps: 1 	                                        	
21 ▍BAK		21 ▍PEG +Laps: 1 	                                        	
22 ▍STE		22 ▍MTV +Laps: 1 	                                        	
23 ▍PEG		 	                                        	
24 ▍STO

Pos # DRV Name Team Time Pts
1 76 AKS Adriana Kowalski ▍US Navy 01:06:44.251 25
2 19 FAL Dom Falepeau ▍Badai Angin-IGR 00:00:07.512 18
3 85 AUR Baxen Aurora ▍Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing 00:00:10.116 14
4 44 GOZ Rod Gozum ▍Badai Angin-IGR 00:00:15.923 10
5 11 CRT Lane Carter ▍UrGa Motorsports Division 00:00:20.460 8
6 23 C23 Cocoabo #23 ▍VTM Tropicorp Engineering 00:00:20.868 6
7 18 FAN Isaia Fanene ▍Kaylan Racing Team 00:00:26.490 4 Fastest Lap Bonus Point! (1:27:280)
8 73 LGM Lorcan Greanaya-Matthewson ▍Polestar Racing 00:00:26.698 3
9 50 LNA Sara Luna ▍Adelphia-VMR 00:00:36.049 2
10 75 ARJ Roman Arjenko ▍SVJ Racing 00:00:39.843 1
11 33 LYN Laurencia Lynds ▍SinVal Racing 00:01:04.354
12 49 NER Mika Neretti ▍Polestar Racing 00:01:12.951
13 3 STO Olivia Stone ▍Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing 00:01:33.087
14 72 MAT Barnabas Mate ▍Kaylan Racing Team 00:01:40.446
15 81 STE Drake Stevenson ▍Nexus Racing Laps Down: 1
16 21 MTV Taras Matviyenko ▍UrGa Motorsports Division Laps Down: 1
DNF 69 FIR Carmichael Fire ▍Adelphia-VMR Ret. lap 35
DNF 8 ARC William Archer ▍Bitten Heroes Academy Ret. lap 20
DNF 97 BAK Edward Baker ▍SinVal Racing Ret. lap 14
DNF 40 JHC Jolyn Caulfield ▍VTM Tropicorp Engineering Ret. lap 12
DNF 7 WES Lourdina Westgrens ▍Bitten Heroes Academy Ret. lap 11
DNF 37 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii ▍US Navy Ret. lap 10
DNF 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita ▍SVJ Racing Ret. lap 6
DNF 17 LAU Janne Laukkanen ▍Nexus Racing Ret. lap 2

Pos # DRV Name				 Team                          Tyres           Pts
 1 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita                SVJ Racing                    Solymok         43
 2  3 STO Olivia Stone                   Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing     In Motion       38
 3 50 LNA Sara Luna                      Adelphia-VMR                  Phoenician      31
 3 76 AKS Adriana Kowalski               US Navy                       Tropicorp       31
 5 44 GOZ Rod Gozum                      Badai Angin-IGR               Solymok         28
 6 72 MAT Barnabas Mate                  Kaylan Racing Team            Solymok         25
 7 75 ARJ Roman Arjenko                  SVJ Racing                    Solymok         24
 8 19 FAL Dom Falepeau                   Badai Angin-IGR               Solymok         21
 9 85 AUR Baxen Aurora                   Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing     In Motion       20
10  7 WES Lourdina Westgrens             Bitten Heroes Academy         Stellenbosch    18
10 17 LAU Janne Laukkanen                Nexus Racing                  In Motion       18
12 18 FAN Isaia Fanene                   Kaylan Racing Team            Solymok         13
13 23 C23 Cocoabo #23                    VTM Tropicorp Engineering     Tropicorp       12
14 11 CRT Lane Carter                    UrGa Motorsports Division     Tropicorp       11
14 37 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii               US Navy                       Tropicorp       11
16 97 BAK Edward Baker                   SinVal Racing                 Tropicorp       10
16 73 LGM Lorcan Greanaya-Matthewson     Polestar Racing               Cypress G2      10
18 69 FIR Carmichael Fire                Adelphia-VMR                  Phoenician      2
19 21 MTV Taras Matviyenko               UrGa Motorsports Division     Tropicorp       1
19 40 JHC Jolyn Caulfield                VTM Tropicorp Engineering     Tropicorp       1
21  8 ARC William Archer                 Bitten Heroes Academy         Stellenbosch    0
21 33 LYN Laurencia Lynds                SinVal Racing                 Tropicorp       0
21 49 NER Mika Neretti                   Polestar Racing               Cypress G2      0
21 81 STE Drake Stevenson                Nexus Racing                  In Motion       0

Pos NAT Team				Tyres          Pts
  1 SVJ ▍SVJ Racing			Solymok        67
  2 AUR ▍Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing	In Motion      58
  3 FID ▍Badai Angin-IGR  		Solymok        49
  4 SHW ▍US Navy  			Tropicorp      42
  5 TGN ▍Kaylan Racing Team		Solymok        38
  6 STW ▍Adelphia-VMR			Phoenician     33
  7 LIS ▍Bitten Heroes Academy		Stellenbosch   18
  8 NIM ▍Nexus Racing			In Motion      18
  9 V&T ▍VTM Tropicorp Engineering	Tropicorp      13
 10 PDN ▍UrGa Motorsports Division	Tropicorp      12
 11 NEK ▍Polestar Racing  		Cypress G2     10
 12 EFL ▍SinVal Racing			Tropicorp      10

by **Somehow Related to Rarity** » Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:36 am

Carmi

I knew there was something wrong inside of me. It was like a demon had possessed me and slowly changed my personality. I wasn’t the cheery, happy Carmi I used to be. I turned into a bitter, jealous pegasus, angry at myself and that someone else.
I can’t be angry at her. After all, I’d only met her for a few weeks. But, jealousy can lead to someone’s downfall. I seemed to be falling every moment, and nothing could stop my despair.
‘Damn these Diarcesian humans. What do they think they are?’ I vented out my anger on my pillow. Yes, my pillow. What else could I destroy with my rage? I had done some simulation racing, but that wasn’t really helping much. The only thing I could do is cross my hooves and hope that Esmerel goes right...

The whole gang got off the private jet. I had an awful nap, and my neck was hurting me a lot. I was visibly wincing as I took every step. Sara came up to Ma and asked, ‘Did you have a good sleep? You look quite worn out.’ I was touched by her concern, but the inner demon rose up once again.
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ I told her, giving her the realest fake smile I had. Was she just faking it? Was she trying to soften me and then thrash me during the race? God knows. Whatever, I better go to sleep.
Practice went and passed. I put in some really good laps, and the car felt livelier than ever. I was 4th, and only a few hundredths slower than the leader. I couldn’t help but secretly smile as I saw Sara down in 22nd. Being the good-hearted first driver I was, I comforted her, as usual. As happy as I was, I had to be worried as well, because this was just an omen that things would go wrong for me. I knew it, being a WGPC driver and all.
Qualifying was actually the OPPOSITE of what I had expected. I had a great qualifying run, and had placed higher than Sara. I was internally screaming in joy. On the dark side, she was only 3 places down. Nevertheless, I felt hyped up about tomorrow.

As I joined the rest of the drivers, I felt very tense, because I needed to break into the points. That was my main motive.
As the red lights went off, I sped off to probably a normal start. By lap 7 however, Sara had caught up with me. I was strolling along in 4th place. If I tried harder I would be on the podium and I may even win a race. I could just make my nation proud.
The depressing thing was, my boys screwed up during my pit stop, which made it way slower than usual. After they were done, I was so eager to get out of there and regain the places I lost.
My mission proved to be a failure ad I kept dropping places. I had asked the engineer where Sara was. 5th place, where I could've been if my boys didn't fk up. I was visibly pissed.
A lap before the chequered flag came out, I was 9th place, trying to tail a driver who was just ahead. However, I braked too late and my car went flying off the kerb. Obviously, I had to retire.
After the race, I had a talk with my boss Winter. He interrogated me, asking me where the car had gone wrong. I lied and told him that the brakes were faulty. As unconvincing as it sounded, he just nodded. I didn't want to tell him the truth, about how I was building a wall while waging war at the same time. He was very strict about sportsmanship. Now I had broke that and another rule: honesty. I went back to my dorm, distraught. Just then, I heard a name calling me. Guess who? Yea, Sara.
'Carmi, it's okay. You--' she said before my interruption.
'Shut up. I'm not happy, okay?' I snapped.
'But I-'
'I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP, OKAY? HOW CAN YOU, A HUMAN BEING NOT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THESE SIMPLE WORDS?' With that, I stormed back to my bedroom. From the corner of my eye I could see that she wasn't happy with me at all, but what do I care? I shredded my already half-battered pillow into tiny pieces. I lay on my bed and began to sob. What kind of person was I becoming...

by **Nephara** » Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:06 am

"Wait, there's a World Grand Prix 2?"
Kitti Armbruster sighed, rolled her eyes, gave out every human expression of exasperation simultaneously. Her ability to pick people up in bars was seriously handicapped by her inability to shut up about her career, a career that basically nobody in Nephara knew or cared about. "Yeah. It's like, a step beneath, I guess-"
Her swarthy, voluptuous mark perked up, gamely trying to play along. "Like a second division, right? Like the First Division."
Sure. Football analogy. Close enough. "Yeah, sure, like the First Division. The world's First Division. And that," she said, punctuating it by slamming down her pint, "is where I'm gonna make my mark. Hell, Nephara's mark. We're shit at racing. We go hard, not fast. Look at our fuckin' cars. Things are tanks."
The woman who Kitti was pretty sure was called Angela nodded, clearly through sympathy more than understanding. "Well, that's very exciting. I just work in accounts--"
"So I just need this one fucking breakthrough, you know? Just to get seen is the hard part. To get the publicity. For sure I'm good enough."
"Yeah, that's--"
"Best the country's ever produced. Not that there's much competition. But it's a publicity thing, innit? They've got to know I'm there, available... that I'm not gonna wipe out like some have been doing. There's some shit drivers there I could beat standing on my head. I know I could. But they've got the names."
"So I guess that--"
"Not for long though, hey. Not for long." Armbruster flopped back in her seat, gave her neck a good, thunderous crack that echoed throughout the bar. She took another look at probably-Angela's chest. She smiled. "So, hey, tell me more about banking."
"Accounts."
"Yeah, those, too."

She made the call at 8.12 the next morning.
Her agent answered. Wearily. "Kitti, it's eight fucking tw--"
"Yeah, I know that. I know."
The accountant who turned out to be called Anita stirred under the sheets. Kitti patted her waist with her spare hand. "Thing is, this isn't working. I need to get in peoples' face. Get my foot in the door. Make the move, Nikita!"
"Wow, you're saying that drinking and whoring your way through Vermillion didn't somehow make your career breakthrough drop into your lap?"
"Ah, shut up. Nothing else I do here matters. Anything else might just get me injured, and that would be the killer." Kitti slipped out of the bed, threw on a red something - actually, judging from the size, maybe it was Anita's - and evaluated herself in the mirror. Short, compact, but not exactly lean. Boxy might be the right, if unglamourous, word. Inked to hell. Extensive piercings. Something that was once an undercut, and could be again if given the right maintenance. Maybe not exactly an athlete, but she'd not let herself go, either.
"Are you listening, Kitti?"
"I wasn't. What'd you say?"
It's a feat to sigh pointedly, but Nikita managed it. "Short version: I said it couldn't hurt. Bar the plane fare."
"Huh. You reckon I actually should?"
"I mean, if these are the two options we've got, then, yeah. Go there. Do what you do. Get stuck in faces. And I'll be right behind you, pretending you're halfway respectable, like I didn't just grab you off the street somewhere."
Kitti ran her hand through her hair. "Yeah," she said, lightly. "Good luck with that."
"Tha--"
She hung up, and tossed the phone on the bed. It bounced off the lump under the sheets.
"Nn," it said. "What? What's up?"
"Ah, just First Division things," said Kitti cheerfully, clambering back onto the bed. "Hey, speaking of which. When I make it big, I'm gonna need an accountant, right... ?"

by **TJUN-ia** » Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:15 am

Raceday in Esmerel, on the backdrop of political uncertainty, was great (surprisingly) for Lane Carter.

He started strongly in this high attrition race, and finished strongly too. P5 was his best ever finish, a well-earned 8 points in bag. UrGa are now off the foot of the Team's Standings thanks to him. 14th in the Drivers.

1 more race before the mid-season test: the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix in Vilita and Turori, which recently just hosted a race in NSSCRA. Familiar to the TJUN-ian public, but not to Lane...

by **Auruna** » Wed Mar 18, 2020 7:12 am

Raleigh Hill Circuit, Esmerel
Practice

After a great weekend at Akresna, Jöna has high hopes for this weekend at the Raleigh Hill Circuit. It's time to test out something new. Viska has fitted a double-diffuser on both cars trying to gain as much downforce as they can to improve performance for the upcoming races. Designed by VSK, their specialization in aerodynamics will surely help here but the team will test it in practice just to be sure.

After a few laps, the downforce gained is evident. The drivers can now push harder at the turns especially the fast ones.

(OOC Note: Viska is now starting to be like RBR)

Qualifying

Good thing it's another traditional qualifying and as usual with Viska, another tow strat. With the amount of full-throttle straights in this circuit, both cars clearly suffered there so the tow was needed to gain every little bit of straight-line speed but this wasn't enough. Baxen Aurora qualified P13, which was an alright qualifying position for the team but Olivia Stone suffered from a damaged front wing due to running wide at the Observatory and nearly ending her run at the walls. She qualified last, P24, she needs to make it up at the race.

Race

A good start from Baxen and Olivia. Gaining a few places and at the first corner, the Viska cars has an advantage and it shows. Artur, Viska's advisor, is now calling the strategy for this race, and it is a risky one-stop for both drivers. The plan changed when the safety car was out early, Artur expected another safety car after this one so he called in a two-stop, planning to maximise the performance of the softest tire available.

After the four safety car laps, the two drivers are now pushing hard, trying to gain as much places as possible, overtaking at various sections of the circuit. Baxen is now at P6 while Olivia, one lap down, is at P16.

A few laps passed, the safety car is out again. Time for another free pit for Viska. While they lost a few places, they will gain it back soon at the restart. The two safety car laps ended, which was surprisingly quick. The two drivers pounced on their targets, overtaking at every possible moment and for Baxen, a comeback is imminent.

Laps passed without much action and change until the sudden retirement of Adelphia-VMR's Carmichael Fire at Lap 30 promoted Olivia to P13, not enough for points but a good enough position nonetheless.

Post-Race

This race is a great one for the team, not as much as the previous one, but look who finished on the podium this time. Baxen Aurora, started P13 finished P3, his first podium this season, what a comeback.

Incoming radio message from Jöna, and it is a happy one. "P3 Baxen! Congratulations! You drove well! How does it feel being on the podium mate? The team's happy with the result, great job! Great drive!"

With the radio message being broadcasted as well, the fans are cheering at home and at the grandstands. Another celebration in the Viska garage.

by **Diarcesia** » Wed Mar 18, 2020 6:59 pm

After the Race
The only positive for Adelphia-VMR would be the addition of a few points, as Sara exited the Esmerelian Challenger's Prize with a 9^th place finish.

"A big week for us", said Sara afterwards. "We have some points on the board, especially since so many have already called our performance flukish."

"There is a big difference between having two points and 25", said Silver Chariot, the engineer. "We had a real shot of one of you in the podium. It just didn't go our way today. I'm so sorry."

Lap 20
The Adelphia car did well to be on the front, just behind Roman Arjenko. The perwinkle machine sped down after the Wring-out when somehow, in the process of overtaking the lapped William Archer, the car encountered some troubles that caused it to suddenly slow down. Behind her, Archer was forced to swerve to avoid a collision, but ended up with his retirement.

"Sara, you okay?" Chariot asked.

"I dunno what happened. I lost a lot of speed and I'm virtually limping on the track. I'm gonna pit at the next opportunity."

Her car was repaired, but Sara now had to claw her way back up the leaderboard. She's currently at 14^th

"It's nothing. Thanks for salvaging the situation and bringing me back in the race," Sara reassured Chariot. Their conversation was interrupted when she recognized Carmi walking in the distance. He was in a really rough patch, having been taken out of the race at the penultimate lap.

"Carmi."

He recognized her voice.

"It's okay, you—"

"Shut up. I'm not happy, okay?" he snapped.

"But I—"

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP, OKAY? HOW CAN YOU, A HUMAN BEING NOT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THESE SIMPLE WORDS?"

And with these, Carmi left Sara and Chariot stationary and speechless.

Sara looked at her engineer, unsure what to do next. She was unsure if she should feel offended, with the way Carmi lashed out at her. She frowned, open her mouth, about to—

No, not this time, Sara thought, and instead sighed and shook her head. This one hurt. She will have to deal with this.

Later that night, after exhausting all other options, she came up with the simplest solution.

"I think I'll give in to temptation", she said to herself. "I'll take my chances in the dark."

She lit a cigarette with relish and looked at the time. She had a late night snack, happy to pass the time while she waited exhaustion to take her. She was dreaming of a different day, a brighter future. A day when she didn't have to deal with these troubles, instead having to focus on her work.

She got dressed and walked down the hall to the library. She had a small stack of books on her desk. She flipped through them while she thought, wondering what if she took her skills at reading to the next level. She was enjoying the stories and the characters. Sometimes it's great to just sit back and watch a drama unfold, rather than getting involved.

She came across a story she was excited about.

[521 words]

by **Recuecn** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:11 pm

Strange, how a few seconds can change so much; how a few decisive moments can represent the trajectory of one's life at the time. Who would think that a couple hundred meters of racetrack could be an allegory for the whole season so far?

Each lap here in Esmerel, Abdoulaye struggled on turn ten. There wasn’t a constant radius, which meant one had to know one’s way through it—it wasn't instinctual, but neither did one have time to think it out. Ideally, coming down the pipe and around turn ten onto the straight, one would be going flat-out the whole way. But Abdoulaye hadn't quite managed that yet. As he turned onto the straight, he was still a bit shaky. Inconsistent.

The moment the straight began, that changed. Abdoulaye locked things down. He hit the accelerator perfectly, and was off to a good start down the stretch. His positioning hadn't been great, but now he found himself gaining ground.

That didn’t last long. Halfway down the straight he lost his focus. Drifting to the outside, his tires went over the curb, rattling the car, and him with it. He swerved back onto the track, apparently back in control. But he’d already missed his braking point. The track veered sharply away at the beginning of the new sector, and you couldn’t really see what was coming.

Abdoulaye slammed the brakes and threw the wheel all the way over, but he had turned too aggressively—the car’s momentum couldn’t shift so quickly, and he spun out violently. Abdoulaye’s head and neck were thrown about wildly as the car collided, rear right wheel first, with the barrier separating the WGP2 track from the oval section that was sometimes used in different track layouts. The car then bounced all the way back across the racing line and onto the other side of the track as debris flew in different directions. A large section of the rear wing landed on the track and shattered.

Abdoulaye slumped in the cockpit, limp and unmoving as the race marshals threw up yellow flags and rushed to extract him from the car before moving it off the track and attempting to clear the debris. By the time he was being hurried away in an ambulance, Abdoulaye still hadn’t regained consciousness, much to the consternation of viewers and fans.

He awoke groggily in a hospital room a couple hours later. The room was full of nurses and SVJ Racing staff. Somehow Abdoulaye expected someone to rush over and ask if he was okay as soon as they saw him open his eyes, but then, it was evident that he wasn’t okay. His head was pounding, and his neck ached as though it had been wrung like a washcloth. Slowly, painfully, he moved up a hand to feel it, only to find that his head and shoulders were in a brace.

A nurse noticed his surprise. “We ran some X-rays and MRIs while you were unconscious,” he informed Abdoulaye, “and we don’t see any visible damage to your neck or spinal cord. But your neck is probably strained and as a precaution we don’t want you moving your head for a while. So you’ll have to wear this neck brace for at least a week.”

“A week!? I’ve got practice on Friday!”

The nurse was clearly taken aback. “You… you want to keep driving? You can’t even move!”

Abdoulaye hadn’t even thought about it himself yet, but now it seemed obvious. “That’s a rhetorical question, right?”

“It… it wasn’t,” said the nurse, oblivious to the rhetorical nature of Abdoulaye’s own question. “I can call in the doctor, but I’m sure she’ll recommend that you take a short hiatus from racing, if not from the whole season.”

“You don’t need to call the doctor, then,” said Abdoulaye. He felt his resolve solidifying. Perhaps he had missed the bend on the track, but his season had definitely turned the corner.

He stared up at the ceiling. There was no way this would stop him. If the events surrounding the crash were symbolic in any way, then the crash itself could only be self-representative; there was no other setback so big. And now, the accident still only hours behind him, he was deciding that on Thursday, he would be at practice, in his car, even if he was still wearing this damn neck brace.

It didn’t really matter what this season threw at him, he realized. It didn’t matter if he never got in the points again. He’d keep racing. That was why he was here.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Fri Mar 20, 2020 5:00 pm

WEEK 6
Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Forest

Conditions:		Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:52.222
Session Length:		75 minutes

Drivers have 75 minutes to complete as many laps of the track as they like.

POS #   DRIVER                                  FASTEST LAP     GAP TO LEADER		
 1 18 ▍Isaia Fanene                          	00:01:57.869	00:00:00.000
 2 85 ▍Baxen Aurora                          	00:01:57.879	00:00:00.010
 3 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                       	00:01:57.887	00:00:00.018
 4 40 ▍Jolyn Caulfield                       	00:01:57.889	00:00:00.021
 5 37 ▍Jama'obo Pegasii                      	00:01:57.899	00:00:00.030
 6 33 ▍Laurencia Lynds                       	00:01:58.134	00:00:00.265
 7 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                           	00:01:58.155	00:00:00.286
 8  8 ▍William Archer                        	00:01:58.186	00:00:00.317
 9 21 ▍Taras Matviyenko                      	00:01:58.231	00:00:00.362
10 69 ▍Carmichael Fire                       	00:01:58.363	00:00:00.494
11 11 ▍Lane Carter                           	00:01:58.457	00:00:00.588
12 76 ▍Adriana Kowalski                      	00:01:58.507	00:00:00.638
13 50 ▍Sara Luna                             	00:01:58.712	00:00:00.843
14 73 ▍Lorcan Greanaya-Matthewson            	00:01:58.722	00:00:00.853
15 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                       	00:01:58.868	00:00:00.999
16 44 ▍Rod Gozum                             	00:01:59.508	00:00:01.639
17 75 ▍Roman Arjenko                         	00:01:59.548	00:00:01.679
18  3 ▍Olivia Stone                          	00:01:59.592	00:00:01.723
19 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                          	00:02:00.018	00:00:02.149
20 72 ▍Barnabas Mate                         	00:02:00.185	00:00:02.316
21 97 ▍Edward Baker                          	00:02:00.573	00:00:02.704
22 49 ▍Mika Neretti                          	00:02:00.593	00:00:02.724
23  7 ▍Lourdina Westgrens                    	00:02:01.310	00:00:03.441
24 81 ▍Drake Stevenson                       	00:02:02.769	00:00:04.900

Conditions:		Rainy
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:52.222
Qualifying Type:	Two-Tier

POS #   DRIVER                                   FASTEST LAP     GAP TO LEADER    FASTEST LAP     GAP TO LEADER
 1 37 ▍Jama'obo Pegasii                      	00:02:09.883	00:00:00.036	00:02:09.059	00:00:00.000
 2 44 ▍Rod Gozum                             	00:02:09.870	00:00:00.024	00:02:09.148	00:00:00.089
 3 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                       	00:02:09.876	00:00:00.029	00:02:09.327	00:00:00.268
 4  3 ▍Olivia Stone                          	00:02:09.876	00:00:00.030	00:02:09.410	00:00:00.351
 5 33 ▍Laurencia Lynds                       	00:02:09.865	00:00:00.018	00:02:09.621	00:00:00.562
 6 40 ▍Jolyn Caulfield                       	00:02:09.865	00:00:00.019	00:02:10.153	00:00:01.094
 7 85 ▍Baxen Aurora                          	00:02:09.847	00:00:00.000	00:02:10.417	00:00:01.358
 8 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                       	00:02:09.869	00:00:00.023	00:02:10.872	00:00:01.813
 9 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                          	00:02:09.851	00:00:00.004	00:02:11.027	00:00:01.968
10  7 ▍Lourdina Westgrens                    	00:02:09.880	00:00:00.033	00:02:40.243	00:00:31.184
11 72 ▍Barnabas Mate                         	00:02:09.959	00:00:00.112		
12 11 ▍Lane Carter                           	00:02:09.968	00:00:00.122		
13 49 ▍Mika Neretti                          	00:02:10.062	00:00:00.216		
14 69 ▍Carmichael Fire                       	00:02:10.113	00:00:00.267		
15 21 ▍Taras Matviyenko                      	00:02:10.320	00:00:00.473		
16 97 ▍Edward Baker                          	00:02:10.348	00:00:00.502		
17 50 ▍Sara Luna                             	00:02:10.374	00:00:00.527		
18 18 ▍Isaia Fanene                          	00:02:10.491	00:00:00.644		
19 81 ▍Drake Stevenson                       	00:02:11.196	00:00:01.349		
20 73 ▍Lorcan Greanaya-Matthewson            	00:02:11.346	00:00:01.499		
21 76 ▍Adriana Kowalski                      	00:02:11.687	00:00:01.841		
22  8 ▍William Archer                        	00:02:12.738	00:00:02.892		
23 75 ▍Roman Arjenko                         	00:02:14.666	00:00:04.820		
24 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                           	00:02:15.542	00:00:05.695

by **TJUN-ia** » Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:22 am

Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix
Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Forest, Vilita and Turori

OOOOOOOOOOH, WE'RE HALFWAY THERE! OOOOOOOOOH, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!......Sorry, I had to get that out there. Welcome......to Cocoabo Park! Viewers will be familiar with this circuit in the forest from NSSCRA, but now it's WGP2's turn to run in this park.

TJUN-ia's Lane Carter scored his first Top 5 finish last time out, and will be looking to continue the upward momentum at the halfway race.

The halfway race: a time for reflection. For Lane Carter, it has certainly been an interesting season so far. But will he improve or will he struggle. Let's see...

PRACTICE
The Cocoabo Forest is very windy, but it can provide for good running. P11 for #11 is not really that bad and within his standards. Taras was 9th.

QUALIFYING
Saturday used a 2-tiered system: 1 session to determine 11-24, top 10 moving on to Q2 to decide the order of the top 10. Q1 was tight and boths UrGa cars got caught out. Carter in 12th, Taras in 15th. All to play for on Sunday.....

by **Diarcesia** » Sat Mar 21, 2020 7:55 pm

Practice Day at Cocoabo Forest

One of the goals for Adelphia-VMR during the practice was to show they could run fast at a track without straight sections. This meant both drivers putting forth their best effort. Now it was time to put those together and see who could run the fastest lap and who could put the least time into the qualifying.

Sara Luna had a quick, easy practice session. Many expected her to have a big day. One problem though: everyone else also had fantastic practices. Despite her quick laps, 12 others were faster than her. By milliseconds.

Luna P17 at Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix Qualifier
By Steve Bamber

COCOABO FOREST—From the moment Sara Luna pulled up to the Cocoabo Park Circuit's qualifying session, she knew she was in for a hard test. Qualifying started in rainy weather. The course was roughly along the park's east side. The track was slightly wider than the one used in Esmerel.

The three-day event was being held towards the midpoint of the season with a two-tier qualifying format. The race would be held tomorrow. Luna experienced difficulties adapting to the changed track conditions from yesterday's practice and performed relatively poorly at the end of the first round, earning the 17th starting slot.

The top 10 drivers proceeded to another qualifying round, where Barnabas Mate would find himself losing his chance at pole position with a 31-second lap time gap to the leader Jama'obo Pegasii.

"There is a big difference between today and yesterday's practice session", said Luna after her poor qualifying run. "Here, I was not prepared to handle how the car would behave in wet conditions. The team and I are making more precise notes on certain things. In the long run, all is not lost."

Luna and her co-driver, Carmichael Fire, were locked in middling performances throughout the session. Fire was able to pass several high-profile names, including Taras Matviyenko. The Coalition Grand Prix champion limped around the first qualifying session with a patchy 15^th place finish.

"The season is very frustrating", said Fire, of the approaching halfway point of the season. "I was hoping for a decent showing in terms of top 10s. We saw my teammate successfully do it. Perhaps my performance tomorrow will be different."

In an ironic twist, the native Cocoabo #23 finished last in the qualifier with a 2:15.542 fastest lap time. This comes after running 7^th during practice.

[521 + 406 words]

by **Vilita and Turori** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 1:10 am

Event Guide :: Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix

Track Location: Cocoabo Park, Cocoabo Forest, Atlantian Oceania
WGP2 Lap Record: 1:52.216 (Fast Cocoabo, WGP2 S1)
NSSCRA Lap Record: 2:04.182 (Yraaga Gilli'i, NSSCRA S8)
Track Lap Length: 6.63km (Track Layout)

Overview:

The Cocoabo Park Circuit is a picturesque road course cut out of the Cocoabo Forest just a few kilometers from the Cocoabo Park Resort. The course was originally designed for the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project (CEEP) where Cocoabo are trained under the leadership of Tropicorp Scientists and the Cocoabo Preservation Society and continues to be the hub of the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project's driving program.

When the course is not in use by the CEEP or hosting an international race weekend it is occasionally used as part of an extended driving tour of the Cocoabo Park. Freelance Cocoabo can often be seen grazing the hilltops on the Eastern side of the course between turns 1-3 and along the river delta under turns 5 and 6.

During events Shuttles run every 5-30 minutes from the central Cocoabo Park Resort to various locations around the Cocoabo Park Circuit for guests to seamlessly transfer between the Park and the Race Track for the full event weekend.

Access to grandstand seating requires event specific ticketing available at both the Resort Ticket Center and the main track entrance at the Cocoabo Park Circuit. Any guests of the Cocoabo Park Resort without a race ticket can still access the general admission areas of the Cocoabo Park Circuit during race weekend including the complete fanzone and limited race viewing areas. All official WGP2team members with WGP2 Garage Area hot access will be also have reciprocal access to the Cocoabo Park Resort area.

Racing Line:

Drivers will hug the line along the tributary between the hills around turns 1, 2 and 3; speeding out of turn 3 toward the over taking zones at turn 4, 5 and 6. Crossing the river they will bend around to set themselves up for the long, slow turn 8 - another prime opportunity for overtaking. Getting through the 'Esses' will be critical to set up back across the river for the 90 degree turn 12. Sweeping through 13 to set up for the Hairpin Turn 14 and then accelerate back across the line to complete a lap. While the turns are varied a moderately skilled driver will be able to handle them. The biggest challenge for drivers will be maintaining focus as a lack of any truly 'straight' sections means that the driver will always be on the wheel, setting up for the optimum line in every section of the track.

Previous Race Winners at the Cocoabo Park Circuit:

WGP2 S1: 1. Jang Xiopeng (VMR) | 2. Cocoabo #23 | 3. Timo Jänkirinää || Pole: Jannik Markner

WGP2 S2: 1. Cocoabo #23 (TRP) | 2. Jama'obo Pegasii | 3. Karli Schmitt || Pole: Cocoabo #23

NSSCRA8: 1. Yraaga Gilli'i (V&T) | 2. Skip Stiller | 3. Thea Alvarez || Pole: Oberst Eva Kerman

NSSCRA9: 1. Jeremiah Brooke (STK) | 2. Anavella Ariiki | 3. Frank Bronson || Pole: Cocoabo #78

--- End of Standard Event Preview Section / Start of 1000 Word Segment ---

Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix, Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Forest, Atlantian Oceania :: With the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix taking place in the Cocoabo Forest where Turori's National Cocoabo squad train, it has been an easy weekend for the Cocoabo to make an appearance at the track raising awareness for the Cocoabo, posing for photo graphs with fans and getting a chance to mingle with some of their own kind in other disciplines including eventual Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix winner Fast Cocoabo. A handful of the Cocoabo were also signed up for a special competition against their Turori National Citizen Squad counterparts, taking a special tour through the Tiones Lumberjack Challenge and pitting the Citizens against the Cocoabo in a challenge off the pitch sponsored by Tiones Lumber and the Cocoabo Preservation Society.

With the Nationstates Stock Car Racing Association having competed their regular season event at the Cocoabo Park Circuit just two fluid weeks prior to the World Grand Prix 2 teams came into town, many of the major fan zone entertainment displays like the Tiones Lumberjack Challenge remained on site in preparation for the second leg of the Cocoabo Preservation double header instead of moving on to another circuit or returning home for refurbishment.

While Tiones Lumber often travels with a pared-down version of its Lumberjack Challenge to sporting events throughout Atlantian Oceania, with the proximity to their headquarters within the Vilitan Cove, Tiones Lumber is proud to bring the full suite of Lumberjack Challenge to the Cocoabo Park Circuit fanzone. Competition stations in the Lumberjack Challenge which will give drivers, crew members and fans alike the opportunity to test their skill in a number of Lumberjacking disciplines. In fact, the Tiones Lumberjack Challenge has remained open in the Cocoabo Park fanzone since it was set up for the NSSCRA event and since then has served as a unique and challenging change of pace for regular visitors to the park and resort sections of the Cocoabo Forest.

In the Cocoabo Park fan-zone, twii.tur will have a photo booth set up where fans can get behind the cockpit of a number of different racing vehicles including Cocoabo #28's NSSCRA Stock car, Cocoabo #23's World Grand Prix Race Car as well as the #71 twii.tur World Grand Prix car that was driven by Rusty Ibuna for iBen Toralmintii's Race Eelandii Vilita & Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks team during the 17th World Grand Prix Championship season. Twii.tur representatives will instantly post the image to the users twii.tur account. Guests will also have the chance to spin a prize wheel to earn things such as Sunglasses, Socks, Pens and communication device grippers emblazoned with the twii.tur Logo.

In addition to the events major sponsors, a number of additional sponsors and entities will be represented throughout the Cocoabo Park fanzone. Tropicorp Racing Supply will have their NSSCRA Pit Crew Challenge Competition on hand with top performing fans potentially earning themselves a chance to become part of the Team Tropicorp pit crew during the Tropicorp 500 NSSCRA race weekend later in the season. Tropicorp Racing Supply will also have a special display within their fanzone comparing one of VTM Tropicorp's World Grand Prix 2 cars against an NSSCRA caliber stock car so fans can see up close what the differences are between the two as well as appreciating the complexity and time required to complete a pit stop on a stock car when compared with the same functions on a World Grand Prix car. CoCoCo brands will have a Coco-mart pop up location in the fanzone for those in attendance to pick up any essentials for the racing weekend while the Inura Extracts company will have samples of its products which some of said are partially responsible for some amazing things including the ability for the Cocoabo to develop they way they have been trained to in the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project.

The Cocoabo Preservation Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to spreading awareness about Turori's native and endangered Cocoabo species, as well as collecting donations and raising funds to help protect, care for and breed Turorian Cocoabo. The Cocoabo Preservation Society has long been a major player in many aspects of the Turorian way of life. From being the 'go-to' place for high society to mingle and philantropicly dump finances in return for generous tax write-offs, to being an organization that prides itself in bringing educational programs to the children of the Island Emirate, the Cocoabo Preservation Society was a microcosm of an embodiment of everything that it means to be Turorian. However, the Cocoabo Preservation Society had always been an entity. An organizing body responsible for overseeing, for logistically ensuring existing commitments continued and the best interest of the Cocoabo was always at the forefront. A reactionary entity, and an entity charged with maintaining the status quo.

Under the guidance of former Turori National Team player Noa-Isinao Wioauoi, a transformation of the Cocoabo Preservation Society took place. To Wioauoi, there was more to the Cocoabo Preservation Society than counting heads in the flock, hosting benefit events and visiting elementary schools. Wioauoi had a vision of greater things for his beloved Cocoabo, and that Vision would be as grand as they would come. Wioauoi sought the assistance of the regions largest quasi-governmental super corporation, Tropicorp, who had the capital, infrastructure and sheer manpower to implement the new vision for how the Cocoabo Preservation Society could achieve its primary mission. As a result of Wioauoi's vision, The Cocoabo Preservation Society has partnered with Tropicorp to develop to Cocoabo Forest just north of Turori.

The Cocoabo Preservation Society does not pay to associate itself with major sporting events or venues such as the Cocoabo Preservation 300K, however commercial relationships sometimes arise through market sharing arrangements or donations. Examples include donations directly to the Cocoabo Preservation Society but earmarked as only to be used for marketing purposes as there are certain selections a donor can choose; a Donor who may directly donate to an entity and ask to remain anonymous, but instead request that the CPS logo be displayed; Proceeds sharing arrangements where the CPS logo is used on merchandise with a portion of the proceeds going to the CPS and the remaining portion used to cover the costs associated with the Marketing or Sponsorship. The most prominent example has existed with Vilita & Turori Motorsports who have in the past displayed the CPS logo on the vehicles to increase awareness for the Cocoabo Preservation Society but also sells special CPS merchandise with a portion of the proceeds going towards Cocoabo Conservation. The CPS typically are open to all donor or market sharing relationships so long as the official Cocoabo Preservation Society Neutral Color Logo is used to ensure a consistent image. The Cocoabo Preservation Society has a close relationship with the Kionao Locals of the Vilitan League including primary kit sponsorship where a portion of all Kit Sales go back into the preservation efforts. The CPS also offers special donation packages including exclusive corporate tours of Cocoabo Park and the Preservation Society headquarters for selected donors.

At least 10% of the cost of every ticket sold to the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix goes directly back into the Cocoabo Preservation Mission. The remainder of the ticket revenue covers staffing plus ups for race weekend events, temporary seating and infrastructure improvements and maintenance for the racing track section of the park. The Cocoabo Preservation Society will have decals available at the track for any race team that wishes to show their support for preserving the Cocoabo in as natural a habitat and lifestyle as possible by displaying the CPS logo on their cars or pitboxes during this weekends events.

Many expected VTM Tropicorp driver Cocoabo #23 to be the dominant car in both the practice and qualifying sessions but speeds were down all day Friday and Saturday was even worse with the rainy conditions throughout the morning that impacted the qualification. The local favorite Cocoabo #23 who won this very event during the second World Grand Prix 2 Season and has never finished worse than second in any competitive race at the track will certainly be in position to give the fans a great race as the #23 VTM Tropicorp machine will be starting dead last on the field in 24th place after Fast Cocoabo struggled in qualifying. It was very much not the case, however , for Jamaobo Pegasii, runner up in this event last season, who pulled off the fastest lap in the rain using the Tropicorp Storm variant wet tyres to claim Pole Position and put themselves in excellent position to claim their first race victory of the season.

While Cocoabo #23 will have to fight from the very back in order to challenge for the victory on Sunday, one driver we who will be their teammate the Valentian Jolyn Helen Caufield who will roll off the grid in 6th place as they look to turn the season around not only for themselves but also for the Vilita and Turori Motorsports - Tropicorp Enginering team. Caufield is still looking for a signature result to justify their switch from Stock Cars to the open wheel discipline and will be hoping that with some assistance from Cocoabo #23 and a further level of comfort and experience in the seat of a WGP2 machine this could be a big performance for both drivers with the midway point of the season up next.

by **Filindostan** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 5:45 am

Cocoabo Park Circuit
Cocoabo Forest

Rod had a few hours to tour the fan-zones in the Cocoabo Park Circuit prior to the practice session for the WGP2 race weekend. He stood for a while near the Tiones Lumber fanzone to watch different people trying to test their lumberjack skills. As he wanted to avoid any unnecessary injuries, he restrained himself from attempting any activity in the said zone. He watched for fifteen minutes before going to the next one - the twii.tur fanzone where a photo booth is setup.

What he see is that there are several cars on display, and one of them piqued his interest - the same car Rusty Ibuna drove last season. He was so interested in taking a picture of himself in that car, he was willing to take time while being in line just for his opportunity to be pictured for one. One of the representatives asked him if he had a twii.tur account. However, he currently does not have one. He was asked to create one such that the photo can be posted to his account.

He created one that could be easily identified: @Rod44Gozum. He had his first post in the twii.tur app where he posed behind the cockpit of the WGPC car. He was surprised when one user followed him and replied back to his twii:

Rod Gozum
@Rod44Gozum

Future #WGPC driver?

#WGP2 #CocoaboPreservationGP

Hana Bhe #0
@HanBheZero
Replying to @Rod44Gozum

Rod is that you? Why are you in an Eelandii VTGP car?
Good luck in the race there.

It was Hana, one of his closest childhood friends and in certain times, his admirer. Rod was the one who convinced Hana to get into motorsports into first place, and wished that they would go both to open-wheelers. However, Hana was picked up by the Badai Angin driver program and was eventually assigned to their stock car racing operation, while it took a while and a WGP3 championship before he was signed to the same program, albeit in the open-wheel track.

He was obviously inspired by the events as his performance in a rainy qualifying session the next day was enough to nab him a front row appearance with Jama'obo Pegasii.

Meanwhile in the Kaylan garage, a focused Barnabas Mate has not visited any of the fanzones yet, and looks to continue momentum after a near-podium finish in Esmerel and the fastest lap to mount a championship challenge to Abdoulaye Goita and Olivia Stone who are at the top of the championship as of writing. His pace at the dry session is somewhat of a concern, a good two seconds behind his Togoni teammate Isaia Fanene. In the qualifying session ensued the next day, he would have cracked the top 10 and would have gone to Q2, but spun out at the first corner while doing a hot lap at the closing stages of Q1. He would have to start the race, behind Rod Gozum, once again.

by **Savojarna** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:45 am

SVJ Racing Garage, Cocoabo Forest, Turori

Fluorescent, cold light fills the garage of the SVJ Racing team, with the cars throwing long, dark shadows over the floor. In a corner, five men are hunched over a set of computers. Krister Arlund and three of his lead technicians, together with Juri Sandrajev, tried to run every thinkable bit of diagnostics through the car with the number 75. Roman Arjenko had more than just one issue recently, and it seemed to eat at the Russian’s nerve. Two weeks ago, in Esmerel, everything seemed to go right. Arjenko had led the race for the biggest part of it, and it went great. The safety cars played into their strategy, and the restart had gone well. But then the trouble started. The team radio kept repeating in his mind. “Engine sputtering… we have an engine problem in seventh gear”, Arjenko said. Words that haunted Krister’s mind. They had to finish the race on six gears, and had to tone down the electric engine as well to keep it afloat. Ten places were lost, and only one point remained.

And then came other images flashing through. Abdoulaye Goita’s crash in Esmerel. Only five and a half laps could the Recuecian drive before plunging into a wall, thankfully emerging barely hurt. But the car had been battered, and the points were lost completely. The chances for SVJ’s title had gone from incredibly good to a relatively narrow lead within a short time, and now the following track was not necessarily their best thing. The weather was unpredictable. The risk for damage was quite high as a result, and the SVJ had some serious issues with stability. But at least the balanced profile of the track suited their car and drivers, and Goita did quite well. Third place in the grid would be nothing to scoff at, and Krister didn’t worry about his second driver at all. But there was a problem. Arjenko.

His car just didn’t quite work out for some reason. In the training session, they decided to go for a long-run test to push the engine and gearbox to the max, as they suspected the issue in Esmerel there. Better try to not have the gears break again, he thought. The times were not too great, as could be expected, but it wasn’t abhorrent either. At least the car held, and the times were consistent. Then came Saturday, and the rain that they had not entirely expected, but it didn’t quite surprise them. The question was to find the balance, and Arjenko had pushed for a risky setup - which, of course, greatly backfired. The times were slow, but they had room for improvement. Things were looking up, and Arjenko was a full two seconds ahead of his own time when he slipped out in the final sector. The lap was gone, although he could easily finish the lap. The problems came when he wanted to return to the pit. The car stuttered again. Then, the electric engine gave out. Time to return to the pit yet again to ensure that there would not be any further damage - it wasn’t worth it.

And this was how Krister managed to get here so late at night. What was the problem that made this engine die all the time? And why did it only affect Arjenko, but not his teammate? Krister knew that he didn’t really have to care that much by itself. He had to care for the team, and the team was doing well - leading the race for the constructor’s title, and having the leader of the driver’s championship in their team, the team could not complain about anything indeed. But Krister couldn’t help but feel a responsibility for his Savojar driver. The SARA and the public back home expected a good performance - a Savojar winning in a Savojar car, not a Recuecian. The situation made his head hurt. Better get going to bed, Krister thought - but first, we have to fix this engine.

by **USS Monitor** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 1:36 pm

The Navy engineers were happy with the speed they were getting from their algae-powered steam cars. Adriana Kowalski had won a race at Raleigh Hill, and while Adriana was celebrating her victory, the men who had supported hiring her were saying things like, "I told you she was no ordinary woman!" or "Who says women can't drive?" to their more conservative colleagues.

Jama'obo Pegasii's results were also promising. Although he occasionally ran into some difficulties, the laps when everything went smoothly were quite fast. He was able to navigate the rugged Cocoabo Park Circuit with impressive dexterity in qualifying, despite the winding track and the soggy conditions. That was a good sign for the vehicles' military usefulness, since battles were often fought over rugged back roads.

Back home in Brooklyn, production had begun on vehicles for combat use. The designs were built on the same principles as the WGP2 cars, but they carried additional armor and they used some wood and leather parts that were easier to obtain and repair than their high-tech counterparts. The armor and low-tech parts meant the vehicles were not as fast as the WGP2 cars, but Union leaders were still optimistic about their potential to run messages, take Confederate pickets by surprise, or evacuate the wounded from battlefields.

They were still discovering some problems with the vehicles, though. The Atlantean algae left behind a thick sticky green residue that had to be cleaned from the fuel tanks between races, and occasionally started gumming up the engines during the course of a race, causing the cars to shudder. The engineers hypothesized that the stems of the algae contained a higher concentration of sticky gunk and separating the stems and leaves might reduce the amount of residue and engine trouble. The cars also required extensive maintenance work between races because of the strain from driving at such high speeds and the low-quality iron that many of the parts were forged from.

by **Togonistan** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 2:32 pm

Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Forest
Qualifying

''Blegh! I am stupid... I am stupid.'' Isaia Fanene said to the team radio as he crossed the finish line during his quali lap. He ran wide in turn 12. A simple, one could say even minor misjudge, accompanied by not taking the slippery conditions on the track into account, had made him slide a little. Despite holding on to his own and quickly regaining control of the car, the mistake had still cost him a solid second.

''Okay, this lap put you to P18. Engine mode 1, come to the pits.''

''Can't I have another shot? I'm more than confident I can improve on this.''

''Negative. Session ends in 58 seconds, you wouldn't make it.''

Isaia sighed. ''Copy. Coming in.''

''Tough luck there. I'm sorry.''

Tanielu Felafa bit into his lip as he saw another mediocre qualification from Fanene. Felt like Esmerel all over again. Last race, they had problems with finding the right setup for the quali, while in the race, Fanene had managed to hold on to his own and bring home a solid 7th place. Would he be able to do it again? Tanielu wasn't so sure about all this. It seemed to have become a trend for Kaylan to mess up in qualification and bring cars to the top part of the grid during race. While it was definitely more spectacular to watch on the TV, it also meant huge pressure for both the drivers as well as the car's powertrain.

Meanwhile, Barnabas seemed to have a good pace. Tanielu hoped he would break it into top 10 and kick a door open into the second tier. However, that hope quickly faded as he saw Mate spinning out in the first corner while attempting the final hotlap, flushing any hopes for 2nd stint down the drain. Still, could have been worse. P11, if Barnabas would have a solid race, he would definitely have a chance for a solid result.

As the two drivers came in the pits and got out of their cars, Tanielu nod to them and kept it short: ''Okay, the qualification could have went better, but we can still turn it all around during the race.'' He stayed calm and conserved as usual, although his facial expression might have given a slight hint he had actually expected for a better result from the qualification.

Meanwhile, Dom Falepeau had what he would consider a decent qualification. P9 was not a bad starting position at all, and if he would keep his head clear, he believed to have a good chance for another great finish. After the session, he decided to take a few hours for himself and wandered around the fan zones. Some people approached him for autographs and taking pictures with him, something he happily agreed on. In fact, Dom quite enjoyed when things like this happened. It felt relaxing to have an eye-to-eye chat with the fans of the sport and Dom was not skimpy to lend a minute or two for them.

Having lurked around for a good half an hour, a set of racing cars at twii.tur photo booth caught his attention. He went closer to take a look at the NSSCRA stock car. Dom himself had a stock car racing background. Sort of. The term stock car racing itself was rather loose, as the domestic TTRL series he had participated in prior to moving on to WGP2 were quite different to NSSCRA both by it's rules as well as the general structure. It reminded more of what is known as touring car racing in some parts of the world, as driving around an oval track was not really a thing in TTRL.

As he was looking at the NSSCRA car out on display, he was recognised by a man near there, who turned out to be one of the mechanics in Cocoabo #28's team. They greeted each other and started talking. It progressed to be a long chat, with Dom asking a lot of questions about the car's specifics and discussing how it was different from the modified Kaylan Malaga RS road car he had driven in TTRL. In fact, they got so into the zone that eventually, they had to be interrupted by a twii.tur representative, who was about to close down the photo booth due to it getting late and asked if they wanted to get a picture taken or not. Having given it a few thoughts, Dom and the mechanic agreed to get a picture taken in front of the Cocoabo #28 car. They shook their hands and smiled to the camera as they got their photo taken, which also got sent to Dom's twii.tur account. He looked at his watch and decided he should indeed be going, thus he said goodbye and started moving back towards the Badai Angin-IGR area. On his way, Dom took out his phone and shared the picture on his twii.tur account, accompanied by a little comment:

Dom Falepeau
@DomFalepeauOfficial

It was a fun evening hanging around at the fan area of @Cocoabo Park Circuit and meeting a team member of Cocoabo #28. Moments like this is what unites the whole motorsports community.

#WGP2 #NSSCRA #Respect

by **Recuecn** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:46 pm

Before Practice in Cocoabo Forest

"How does that feel?" Markko asked.

Abdoulaye sat in the cockpit of his car, wearing a neck brace specially designed by his team. It was equally something he wore, and a part of the car. He attempted to turn his shoulders, but couldn't. Nor could he rotate from his hips. "Well, I can't move my torso at all."

"Yeah, that's the point. Your neck’s still healing."

Abdoulaye assessed the situation. The way the neck brace attached to the car, he was practically embedded in the vehicle. He couldn't move his head at all, so he had to use his peripheral vision to look sideways or out his mirrors. He opened his mouth to complain about the impossibility of the situation… but stopped himself. He needed to race, neck brace be damned, and he wasn’t going to say anything that might endanger that possibility.

“I can do it."

Markko gave him a look. Clearly he’d already crossed the “doth protest too much” line.

"Abs, we can't have you wrecking two cars in five days. You won’t be able to see what’s happening.”

"Trust me." Abdoulaye tried his best to look his race engineer in the eyes, despite the brace. “I’ll go easy. I’ll be safe. You know the team wants people to see both of us out there after watching that crash Sunday. You don’t have to let me qualify, just let me practice.”

“Fine.”

When Abdoulaye came back in, he’d done everything but go easy. But Krister noticed the results, and the team principal gave him the go-ahead for qualifying, where Abdoulaye gave the exact same performance. He’d be starting third. Maybe he’d finally have a chance to extend his lead.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 4:29 pm

Raleigh Hill Circuit, Park City, Rainier Province, Esmerel
The Esmerelian Challenger's Prize; Lap 2

The Nexus Racing pit wall watches in horrified silence as, in a span of about five seconds, Janne’s front front-left axle snaps in half, the dangling, whirling axle-halves shred the suspension around them, said suspension collapses and the car begins to list towards its front-left corner, capped off by the front-left fairing pressing down against its tyres and those tyres rapidly throwing off the majority of their rubber.

Gertrude puts her head in her hands. First Builders, why didn’t we wait until we could update the ISISU schematics? “Alright,” she intones in a miserable, muffled voice as those others on the wall look to her for guidance, “we’re going to have to bring Janne in again. Drake’s going to have to coast through the corners to avoid stress on the axles. We can still gather data – this is still useful. Keep going.”

A moment, as the team assimilates, processes and executes, the bonds of trust and experience thrumming with the information and support.

They reverb, too. Valen Song, race engineer to Drake Stevenson, leans over to her. “Don’t worry,” he murmurs. “You’ve said yourself: success is a process. We’ll keep going.”

With a long, long sigh, Gertrude uncovers her face. She nods. “We will.” Gotta keep believing that. Pursing her lips, she considers. Drake won’t be happy about this, either…

She furrows her brow. Her conversations with Drake’s network of support and sponsorship had led her to one ‘Marty Lewis’ of Preston Autos, supposedly the primary motive force behind the group of drivers Drake was affiliated with. He, and the others, had been decidedly unhelpful in educating her about Drake’s psychological needs – sure, they’d offered superficialities as easily as anything, but any time she’d tried to steer the conversation to fundamentals of his thought process or ways to offer support, they’d become as slippery as a greased seal on black ice.

That, as she recalled from two years ago in her investigations into Vangazi psionics, meant ulterior motives.

Sitting there, watching the other Chase Cutter drop back through the field, she nods once more – this time with determination. I tried the Venture League approach, didn’t work. Time to switch tactics. Time to try Sentinel tactics.

Just asking him directly.

Hey, at least it’ll do something. More than I can say for the other…

Post-Race

“It feels excellent, I must admit.” Baxen smiles a very self-satisfied smile to himself in the cockpit of his Aurun machine. That feeling occupies the part of his mind not taken up by guiding his car back to the pits, his concern for Olivia’s own failed race and the impact of the result in their overall strategy.

Alright, his overall strategy.

His brain works as he leaves Bone Cliff and the track with it, pulling towards the pit entrance on the right. Both of us have scored points now, which should mean that we are both ingratiated with Viska – not as critical as she being so but I can, at the least, keep supporting her now. Beyond that, considering our dominant performance on In Motion’s tyres, above and beyond their primary customer… He grins. Once more, a force is built of which we are a critical, indispensable part.

Thus, the plan begins to come together. Nexus Racing’s junior team would have been the obvious step for a Nimban driver hoping to ascend beyond regional tournaments, a guaranteed path to the WGPC – but that path is a slow one. Nexus Racing’s WGPC team is full; either Ryker Lane or Jean Mercer-Daly would have to move on or retire to open a slot, and Janne Laukkanen – and now Drake Stevenson – would be favoured to fill it. Little room for a driver hoping to make a mark on the sport here and now. Instead, better to join a new team – like Viska – make themselves integral to their operations, help them rise to prominence, perhaps persuade them to enter WGPC next season… A clearer path.

Olivia’s talent deserves such, after all.

Thus, when Baxen pushes up the HANS device and climbs from his car parked before the board marked ‘3’, he does so in full knowledge of his success.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 5:00 pm

WEEK 6
Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Forest

Conditions:			Rainy
Laps:				28
Event:				Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	7,8
Cars on Grid:			24

Start  		After 7 Laps  		After 14 Laps  		After 21 Laps
 1 ▍PEG		 1 ▍STO +0     		 1 ▍STO +0     		 1 ▍MTV +0
 2 ▍GOZ		 2 ▍C23 +6.933 		 2 ▍FAL +22.131		 2 ▍STO +12.312
 3 ▍GTA		 3 ▍NER +8.32  		 3 ▍PEG +30.899		 3 ▍WES +19.977
 4 ▍STO		 4 ▍LGM +9.706 		 4 ▍MTV +33.193		 4 ▍AUR +32.134
 5 ▍LYN		 5 ▍BAK +11.093		 5 ▍AUR +38.052		 5 ▍AKS +32.965
 6 ▍JHC		 6 ▍AKS +12.48 		 6 ▍LNA +40.378		 6 ▍LNA +42.637
 7 ▍AUR		 7 ▍ARC +13.866		 7 ▍AKS +41.973		 7 ▍GTA +45.131
 8 ▍LAU		 8 ▍LNA +15.253		 8 ▍WES +45.834		 8 ▍ARC +49.084
 9 ▍FAL		 9 ▍MTV +16.639		 9 ▍MAT +48.198		 9 ▍MAT +52.815
10 ▍WES		10 ▍FIR +18.026		10 ▍BAK +54.219		10 ▍FAL +59.632
11 ▍MAT		11 ▍FAN +20.8   		11 ▍GTA +54.72 		11 ▍CRT +60.513
12 ▍CRT		12 ▍WES +22.186		12 ▍FIR +61.311		12 ▍NER +61.939
13 ▍NER		13 ▍MAT +23.573		13 ▍CRT +61.81 		13 ▍BAK +77.456
14 ▍FIR		14 ▍GTA +24.96 		14 ▍C23 +62.615		14 ▍C23 +89.294
15 ▍MTV		15 ▍LYN +26.346		15 ▍ARC +68.387		15 ▍FAN +89.993
16 ▍BAK		16 ▍JHC +27.733		16 ▍LYN +73.345		16 ▍LYN +90.261
17 ▍LNA		17 ▍AUR +29.119		17 ▍FAN +75.398		17 ▍FIR +120.611
18 ▍FAN		18 ▍CRT +30.506		18 ▍NER +85.995		18 ▍LGM +124.42
19 ▍STE		19 ▍FAL +31.893  	  	19 ▍LGM +89.894		19 ▍JHC +Laps: 1
20 ▍LGM		20 ▍PEG +33.28 		20 ▍JHC +Laps: 1		20 ▍ARJ +Laps: 1
21 ▍AKS		21 ▍ARJ +Laps: 1		21 ▍ARJ +Laps: 1		21 ▍STE +Laps: 1
22 ▍ARC		22 ▍STE +Laps: 1		22 ▍STE +Laps: 1
23 ▍ARJ
24 ▍C23

Pos  # DRV Name				Team				Time		Pts
  1  3 STO Olivia Stone			▍Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing	01:12:59.908	25
  2 21 MTV Taras Matviyenko		▍UrGa Motorsports Division	00:00:07.340	18
  3  8 ARC William Archer		▍Bitten Heroes Academy		00:00:10.794	14
  4 85 AUR Baxen Aurora			▍Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing	00:00:13.144	10
  5 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita		▍SVJ Racing			00:00:46.417	8
  6 50 LNA Sara Luna			▍Adelphia-VMR			00:00:47.654	6
  7 76 AKS Adriana Kowalski		▍US Navy  			00:00:47.939	4
  8 11 CRT Lane Carter			▍UrGa Motorsports Division	00:00:48.690	3
  9 19 FAL Dom Falepeau			▍Badai Angin-IGR  		00:00:48.910	2
 10 49 NER Mika Neretti			▍Polestar Racing  		00:00:56.492	1
 11 72 MAT Barnabas Mate		▍Kaylan Racing Team		00:01:11.946	
 12 97 BAK Edward Baker			▍SinVal Racing			00:01:16.721	
 13 33 LYN Laurencia Lynds		▍SinVal Racing			00:01:19.218	
 14 18 FAN Isaia Fanene			▍Kaylan Racing Team		00:01:23.472	Fastest Lap Bonus Point!  (2:15.546)
 15 69 FIR Carmichael Fire		▍Adelphia-VMR			00:01:30.319	
 16 23 C23 Cocoabo #23			▍VTM Tropicorp Engineering	00:01:46.911	
 17 73 LGM Lorcan Greanaya-Matthewson	▍Polestar Racing  		00:01:47.915	
 18 81 STE Drake Stevenson		▍Nexus Racing			Laps Down: 1	
 19 40 JHC Jolyn Caulfield		▍VTM Tropicorp Engineering	Laps Down: 1	
 20 75 ARJ Roman Arjenko		▍SVJ Racing			Laps Down: 1	
DNF  7 WES Lourdina Westgrens		▍Bitten Heroes Academy		Ret. lap 22
DNF 37 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii		▍US Navy  			Ret. lap 18	
DNF 17 LAU Janne Laukkanen		▍Nexus Racing			Ret. lap 4	
DNF 44 GOZ Rod Gozum			▍Badai Angin-IGR  		Ret. lap 1

Pos # DRV Name				 Team                          Tyres           Pts
 1  3 STO Olivia Stone                   Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing     In Motion       63
 2 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita                SVJ Racing                    Solymok         51
 3 50 LNA Sara Luna                      Adelphia-VMR                  Phoenician      37
 4 76 AKS Adriana Kowalski               US Navy                       Tropicorp       35
 5 85 AUR Baxen Aurora                   Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing     In Motion       30
 6 44 GOZ Rod Gozum                      Badai Angin-IGR               Solymok         28
 7 72 MAT Barnabas Mate                  Kaylan Racing Team            Solymok         25
 8 75 ARJ Roman Arjenko                  SVJ Racing                    Solymok         24
 9 19 FAL Dom Falepeau                   Badai Angin-IGR               Solymok         23
10 21 MTV Taras Matviyenko               UrGa Motorsports Division     Tropicorp       19
11  7 WES Lourdina Westgrens             Bitten Heroes Academy         Stellenbosch    18
11 17 LAU Janne Laukkanen                Nexus Racing                  In Motion       18
13  8 ARC William Archer                 Bitten Heroes Academy         Stellenbosch    14
13 11 CRT Lane Carter                    UrGa Motorsports Division     Tropicorp       14
13 18 FAN Isaia Fanene                   Kaylan Racing Team            Solymok         14
16 23 C23 Cocoabo #23                    VTM Tropicorp Engineering     Tropicorp       12
17 37 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii               US Navy                       Tropicorp       11
18 97 BAK Edward Baker                   SinVal Racing                 Tropicorp       10
18 73 LGM Lorcan Greanaya-Matthewson     Polestar Racing               Cypress G2      10
20 69 FIR Carmichael Fire                Adelphia-VMR                  Phoenician      2
21 40 JHC Jolyn Caulfield                VTM Tropicorp Engineering     Tropicorp       1
21 49 NER Mika Neretti                   Polestar Racing               Cypress G2      1
23 33 LYN Laurencia Lynds                SinVal Racing                 Tropicorp       0
23 81 STE Drake Stevenson                Nexus Racing                  In Motion       0

Pos NAT Team				Tyres          Pts
  1 AUR ▍Schkeska-VSK Viska Racing	In Motion      93
  2 SVJ ▍SVJ Racing			Solymok        75
  3 FID ▍Badai Angin-IGR  		Solymok        51
  4 SHW ▍US Navy  			Tropicorp      46
  5 TGN ▍Kaylan Racing Team		Solymok        39
  6 STW ▍Adelphia-VMR			Phoenician     39
  7 PDN ▍UrGa Motorsports Division	Tropicorp      33
  8 LIS ▍Bitten Heroes Academy		Stellenbosch   32
  9 NIM ▍Nexus Racing			In Motion      18
 10 V&T ▍VTM Tropicorp Engineering	Tropicorp      13
 11 NEK ▍Polestar Racing  		Cypress G2     10
 12 EFL ▍SinVal Racing			Tropicorp      10

by **Nephara** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 9:55 pm

For a cornucopia of reasons, Nikita Voegel was not having a good day.
First, most straightforward, it was the morning. Voegel did not enjoy mornings. For her, the morning was something to be navigated with caffeine and endured.
The second was that her charge was still without a job, despite best efforts that had mostly consisted of moving her drinking/whoring operation from Vermillion to abroad.
Her third was; where the fuck was she? And her fourth came up when she called her wayward driver to ask her that question.
It was a long and rambling answer. It involved drinking someone under the table, slipping cash in their pocket, fishing a pair of keys out of it and essentially blackmailing her way into a job for the day. That probably constituted one to several crimes. It definitely constituted a bad career move.
"So let me get this straight. You're in... the safety car right now."
"Uh-huh!"
"While... hungover."
"A little! I'd really appreciate you talking quieter."
"Dare I fucking ask fucking why. I will start screaming."
"Scouting the competition?" Armbruster hazarded. "I know I'm better than some of these clowns. Technically I'm ahead of them now, they're weaving behind me. What do you reckon all the wheels--"
"Holy fucking shit." Voegel pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jesus Christ. No, Kitti, don't do things like this to me. To your friend, the friend trying to make you rich. Think of me. Think of the accountant you picked up. Before you do these things."
"It's fine. Look, you wanted to give me the opportunity to race on the track, and that's what's happening, hey?"
"I hate you."
"Don't say things you don't mean," said Armbruster cheerfully. "Bye."
"What? No--"
Armbruster hung up. Calling while driving probably wasn't the best example for a safety car to set. Besides, her spell outriding was almost up, and she really would look a tit if she missed a turn and kept everyone waiting behind her for the next lap.
Would be funny, but.
She turned off, and the impatient train behind her zoomed past. She reflected on her opposition. A few great drivers here. Great like herself. A few... a few she reckoned she could knock out, replace and improve on right the fuck now, hangover or not. A lot of people were still on track for no points, a month and a half in, including her name-alike Archer.
She turned in, docked the car, sat back in her seat. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if she was found out. Let that be the storyline; her desperation to be involved. Maybe conning someone into being unable to fulfil their job and stealing their property could be spun into a Cinderella story.
It was a cute thought. But when she saw the steward roll up and rap his knuckles on her window, she realised that the pumpkin coach always disappears in the end.

"So you had to bail me, so what." Armbruster shrugged. "It'll all be worth it in the end."
The accountant, Anita Feldspar, sighed. Voegel had flat-out refused to do the job, so it had been left to her to bail out her manic pixie dream girl. "I know."
"I mean it! Even monetarily!"
"We're running out of money. If you're going to get this job, it needs to come soon. We can't afford many more... incidents." Feldspar smirked, despite herself. "You know, maybe you shouldn't have tried to pay that guy back."
"If I hadn't, this would've been a way worse crime. Probably. I do have some morality, you know? I just needed the car, I doubt he cared about anything besides the money. Hell, I even tipped the prick. So why'd he grass me up? Swear to God if I ever see him again-"
"You won't do anything. Will you." Feldspar stared deep and judgementally into Armbruster's eyes. "Because I'd be very, very disappointed."
"And you think that matters to me? High speed, no drag, baby, you know how I roll."
"Of course that matters to you," said Feldspar, figuring she could afford a touch of smugness. "You need me."
"I do?"
"Sure. Tonight I'll remind you why." She smacked Armbruster's rear, making the compact aspiring driver yelp, before her phone rang to cut off further flirting. She clicked her tongue, and ripped the phone out of Armbruster's hand. "Yeah?"
"It's Niki, it's impor-- wait, why the hell are you answering Kitti's phone?"
"That isn't important. What's important for you?"
"It's... I might have found something. Come back to the hotel room. We need to talk."

by **Somehow Related to Rarity** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:04 pm

Carmi

For the whole week I did nothing except hiding in my room and simulation racing. I didn’t dare step out of my room, for fear that Sara would be lurking around, ready to strike when she gets the chance. Not saying that she will of course, but it’s still a possibility.
At first my heart was bitter, but the bitterness changed into guilt and shame as I reviewed my actions. It sounded like those narratives you had to write during school, where the main character has a change of heart.
But, I wasn’t ready to accept the truth yet. The truth that I was inferior to her. I couldn’t face it. I was the first driver for a reason. Or was it just because I was a pony, who had the privilege? I was ready to give it up. It was the only viable choice I could make to save my face. But could I?

All I could say is that Friday and Saturday were probably the worst practice and qualifying sessions of my life. Even though 10th place wasn’t that bad, I had a lot of trouble focusing on the track, which was why I was surprised to be even in the top 10. Qualifying wasn’t any better, because I skidded off the track a bit, which cost me places. 14th was my starting position. I was nerve wracked. It was luck that I would end up lower than my qualifying position, which was what happened to me for the past few races. Was I even good enough for this level?

First 10 laps went by pretty smoothly. I gained 4 places, which was a big improvement from last race. However, by lap 14 I had dropped to 12th. As the race went on I was consistently dropping places. Meanwhile, Sara, as usual, was hovering near the leader in 6th place.
As I moved closer to the chequered flag, I crossed my fingers in hope that today would pass by in a flash.
15th place was my final position. A long drought of no-pointers still had no stop. Meanwhile, Sara gained yet another 6 points to her name.
I wouldn’t talk during the team debrief. My face was all sorts of colours: red from anger and disappointment, green from the poor ventilation, blue because of my sadness. I wouldn’t even look at anyone in their eye. Deep inside, I was wondering if this was karma for what had happened last weekend. After the debrief, I looked at my phone. The number of missed calls I had was surprising. Usually I would answer the person straight away, but it was different this week. I looked through the list. Most of them were from Winter and my relatives. But none of them were from Sara. None of them.
Would she forgive me? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever it was, I had to accept the consequences of my terrible self-control.
After going back to my room, I lay on my bed for a while. My neck was hurting, but as I said, my pillow was basically in pieces. After pondering my thoughts for a while, I whipped out my phone and called Sara.
‘Hello? Carmi speaking. You know, I’m sorry for what happened last week. I hope you would forgive me...’

by **Auruna** » Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:37 pm

Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Forest

The Cocoabo Park Circuit, a circuit with almost no straights. Not a problem for Viska as their car is build for cornering. It is also similar to the old layout of Schyözirena Novinaya back home. Even though the team is pretty consistent, Jöna still feels the pressure but as usual, he tries to keep calm in all situations being a former racing driver, he should know it.

Hopes are high for Viska trying out very risky strategies in the race weekend.

Practice

Both cars are setup for downforce to gain advantage of the near lack of straights in the circuit. The two drivers are sent out at anytime they want, heading back to the garage for a few setup tweaks and trying to gather data about the track and the cars' performance.

At the garage, Jöna suddenly got a call from VSK.

"Oh? What is this about now... I'll be right back guys, I need to answer this call." As Jöna stands up and leaves the garage, behind the pits.

A few minutes late, Jöna returns to the garage.

Artur asks. "Hm? What was it about?"

Jöna sits down then answers. "They said that we should enter WGPC."

This surprised Artur. "Wait what... are they serious here?"

"Ya." Jöna answers. "And they said that we can continue here in WGP2 as well."

"That great to hear! Don't worry mate, you can manage the WGPC one, while I stay here managing the WGP2 team."

A now-relaxed Jöna repsonds. "Good thing we have you here. You always make my job easier."

At the end of the practice session, Kaylan's Isaia Fanene is first in the time sheets, followed by Baxen Aurora, and and SVJ's Abdoulaye Goita. Meanwhile, focused on race pace and data gathering, Olivia is only P18.

Qualifying

A two-tier qualifying is used for this weekend, which is like the usual qualifying setup for AtMA back in Auruna. And now, add in some rain, it will become a tricky qualifying session. Some drivers are sliding off track on their out-laps, others just completely spun. Olivia and Baxen managed to get to Q2 with Baxen posting the fastest time in Q1. The two only finished P4 and P7 respectively at the end. If this rain continues the next day, it will probably be another one of those chaotic races.

Race

It's race day and the rain is still pouring. Setups vary but Viska isn't that prepared with the rain here but with the advice of Artur, they can probably manage this one.

It's lights out and away we go!

With a slow and slippery start, Baxen fell a few places behind but managed to keep it out of danger. Olivia's start was good although she was struggling with the wheelspin, she managed to hold on to P4. Unfortunately for Baxen, he went wide at Turn 6 and lost a couple of places and he's now at P18.

Still, everyone's close to each other and then the first retirement of the race is Badai Angin's Rod Gozum. A few laps later, Nexus Racing's Janne Laukkanen retired but there's no safety car yet.

A few laps later, the safety car is out. Artur is doing the strategy calls again. "Get both a free pit! Let's get a two-stop working here!" After calling both drivers to pit, the mechanics are ready for another double-stack. Even though the two drivers are on completely different strategies, they are both called in for a pit. As the two are almost 30 seconds apart, Artur's plan will work. They changed both for fresh Wets which will help them gain a few places on restart.

On the next lap, the safety car now returns to the pit lane and on restart, Olivia managed to get P1 and Baxen is slowly climbing up the grid using his VIska's downforce advantage to overtake on all corners.

Olivia managed a gap of about 20 seconds from P2, she will pit in the next few laps and hope to still be in the top. Meanwhile, Baxen is now at P5, defending from Adelphia's Sara Luna while hunting down UrGA's Taras Matviyenko.

Lap 19, it's time to pit for fresher tires. Baxen pitted a few laps earlier. Now it's Olivia's turn to pit. Her race engineer, Erik informed her about her next tires. "We'll be taking the risk here, we're going for Inters. Box this lap." Unusual choice, they should be changing to Wets but Artur thinks that this will work.

Olivia lost one place due to the pit but she is determined to take it back. "Alright Olivia, push for the next few laps. Take back P1."

On Lap 25, Olivia finally overtaken UrGA's Taras Matviyenko who was leading for a few laps. Viska secured first again.

Post-Race

Olivia at P1 and Baxen is at P4. Both drivers did well and Jöna is ecstatic. The team is now leading the Constructor's Championship and Olivia is leading the Drivers' Championship. This race has gone well for the drivers and the team.

Jöna grabs the radio headset. "Olivia, this is Jöna. Great performance out there! Another win for you and the team!" Followed by a message for Baxen. "Great drive there. You did great! That's what I like to see. Keep it up, you might get a win."

Another win for the Aurun team. Their performance has been great this first half of the season. But there's still more to come.

Viska is still continuing to upgrade their car, while testing it back home. Now it's time to prepare for the mid-season test.

by **TJUN-ia** » Mon Mar 23, 2020 11:18 am

It wasn't the best race for Lane Carter, but it wasn't the worst either.

After running in the midfield for most of the race, he managed to climb up well to finish a decent 8th. Another 3 points in the bag!

Taras had a very good day, on the other hand. He stared in 15th but skyrocketed up to the lead. He was only pipped by Olivia Stone. Still, first podium for both him and UrGa means the mood is great going into the mid-season test.

Time to relax....for now.

WGP2 Season III [Roleplay Thread]

WGP2 Pickem - Round 3

Lane Carter: The Forgotten Galarian... (pt11-2)

Lane Carter: The Forgotten Galarian... (pt12-1)

Lane Carter: The Forgotten Galarian... (pt12-2)

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