WGP2 Season 4 – RP/results thread

[Valentine Z]

Post 16 – Somewhere in Neverland.

Stelburgring, a rather unusual looking course, Adriana thought. A sharp angle turn, a somewhat wide hairpin, a few other sharp turns there and there, the usual. She did particularly average on the practice and the qualifications - all the data she needed, she got it. Still, that didn't help as much, seeing how she was unable to get the most optimal timings, and this was without the presence of other cars around. "What would I then be doing wrong?" she thought to herself. Adriana got into her car the next day, all the technicalities sorted and taken care of. All she needed to do was to at least overtake a few vehicles in front of her, even if she was not going to win it yet again.

No safety cars on the course throughout the race this time. On top of that, Adriana at least got herself into 14th place, around 18 seconds behind her Fireline teammate. "From 20th to 14th, not too bad out there!" Percy once again said on the comms to cheer his driver up, "No points this time, don't worry about it. I heard some good things are coming your way with the Sprint Race, we shall have to see."

"Thank you! Ooooh, I sure hope so as well!"

Then came the surprise. It was her starting position for the Sprint Race. 1st, she thought, "Well, if it helps. I certainly hope I will be able to keep that position for long enough throughout the race. But wow, I am not built for short races. Or can I? Hmm." Gripping onto her helmet a little tighter, Adriana attended the briefing and then went back to her lounge, using her phone to give Jane a call. "Hi! Ahh, if you are free now, I was wondering if you can help me out?"

"Ahh, of course I am, Adriana. I am supposed to help you, so just hit me up like right now if you need help."

A few minutes passed, and Jane was once again in Adriana's lounge room, with the sim already set up and ready to go. Adriana provided some extracts of data that she has gotten from today's race - both from her programs and from her own thoughts. This was when the evaluation phase started.

"So, I like to think that I did a bit well for today. Overtook 6 vehicles from my starting point to the end, so it's an overall net positive."

"Yes, I have heard of that from the team! You are doing great, Adriana, don't worry about it. It's good to start with the positives first. Hmm, what else do you think you did right?"

"The course definitely had weird turns, for the lack of a better word. Like, some of them have sharp and unusual angles, and some of the bends and turns looked subtle. They were supposed to be straight roads, but were not exactly so when you approach them. Not exactly a bother for me, fortunately. It also helps that I was able to navigate around and overtake a vehicle here and there."

"Mhm, very nice. I suppose it does seem like you are in need to get faster laps, am I right in saying this? Your overtaking skills are definitely improving, but it would seem like your qualification might play a bigger part in it. I know your first two Feature Races were surprising, but it also helps to begin from the top right from the beginning."

"Yup, that is what seems to be the problem for me. Being unable to go as fast because I was always a little bit afraid. I know, I got the data to pick the best routes, but I kept toning it down because I was fearful that it might have been disastrous."

"I see. So you got the data, that is good, but you are not very confident in it yet, per se. I am not very sure about your exact codes, but I suppose I can make a suggestion to modify your parameters to a lesser extent. Don't worry, Adriana, I am not expecting you to take it out completely, but I think it just might work if you only tone it down a little."

"I can certainly try it for tomorrow. Thank you! ^^"

"Any time! No problem, this isn't over yet. Here now, let me show you a few other techniques I know and I think you can pull off and do. It especially will be fitting for tomorrow's Sprint Race, a somewhat perfect balance of speed and care, and overtaking. But I will show you a bit more on the former first, because I reckon you might not have a lot of opponents to overtake."

Adriana hung back and started taking down notes mentally as she watched Jane pulled off a few moves here and there. "Be a speedy driver, Adriana. You will be fine, trust me. I know you are not a reckless and aggressive driver, but at the same time, it helps if you speed up when you can."

---

850 / 1250 words.

[Trans-Dniesters]

"That's the second time in three weekends that Zoomtwat's retired from the race!" Vasily Gatutin said to Yakov Yurievsky as both men settled into their respective positions in the UrGa garage for the start of the WGP2 race weekend at the Stelburgring in Siovanija and Teusland. "Yes, I know that this retirement wasn't his fault, but still, don't you think it's telling that that's two feature races out of three that Zoomtwat has retired, while Taras Gavrilovich has managed to finish every single race in the calendar so far, both feature and sprint?"

"I'll tell you one thing, Vasily Semyonovich," Yurievsky said back. "You should have pushed harder for WGP2 to adopt our engine instead of that Hapiloppian piece of shit. Then we wouldn't have to deal with these engines dying on us in the middle of a race. Imagine your fucking engine blowing up in the middle of a race, let alone a fucking battlefield. Sure, that Preston Skychief or whatever the fuck they call it has that optimum balance of power and weight bullshit but as you've clearly seen, it is not as reliable as an UrGa. That thing may be good enough for their stock cars but put that engine in a Tiger and let's see how many meters of muddy terrain it can take before it gives up the ghost!"

"Huh," Gatutin muttered. "I think that's the first time that I've actually seen you angry in a very long time, Yakov Leonidovich."

"I'm telling you, reliability is going to be as much of a deciding factor in this series as the skill of the drivers and the speed of their cars," Yurievsky countered.

"And yet you and your fellow directors still insisted on the English loose cannon instead of someone who at least has steadier hands," Gatutin said. "I know that you've already told me that the board has its reasons, but so far you still haven't seen fit to enlighten me of said reasons."

"I don't know what else to say, Vasily Semyonovich," Yurievsky shrugged. "The decisions that the board makes are made on reasons that are on a need-to-know basis. And right now, Semyonich, you don't need to know just yet."

"Obviously," Gatutin snorted. "At the very least, both of our drivers are finally adapting to the new gearbox."

"Ah, yes, the heavier gearbox," Yurievsky nodded. "Seems completely ass-backwards in terms of development, isn't it? Yet it works, or at least it appears to work."

UrGa entered the race weekend at the Stelburgring in decently high hopes thanks to their updated gearbox. Gatutin had also confirmed in the pre-race press conference that they had also started work on a rear suspension package that would hopefully restore even more rear stability to the car that had been lost thanks to the switch to Preston engines. Both Taras Matviyenko and Harry Zoomtwat didn't place very high on the practice session chart, but then again UrGa weren't known for doing well on Fridays. They preferred to do their talking in the races themselves. Of course, doing well on Saturday would also do wonders for Sunday. And, given the current nature of WGP2 this season, doing well on Saturday meant doing well in both qualifying and the feature race.

WGP2 was back to the traditional qualifying format at the Stelburgring, with the drivers having ten laps maximum to set their fastest possible time around the circuit. Harry Zoomtwat, as UrGa's second driver, went out first. He would set his fastest time on his seventh lap, 1:27.933, good enough for 10th place come the end of the session. Taras went out to the track after Zoomtwat, with a few drivers in between them. The Pridnestrovian set his fastest time on his eighth lap, 1:27.880. "That's P7, Taras," race engineer Vladimir Kripchak told him. "I think that's UrGa's highest ever start in a feature race!"

"Haha! Yes! Finally!" Taras said as he clasped Kripchak's shoulder. "We're finally making progress, lads! UrGa will finally be a force to be reckoned with!"

And then in the afternoon, the rain came. Sure, it was just light showers, but the end result was the same: a wet track. And the UrGa GP2-4-2 had been an absolute dog in wet conditions, and nobody knew if the new gearbox would help or hinder the car in these kinds of conditions.

"Vova, help me! I'm falling backwards!" Matviyenko shouted at his race engineer as yet another car overtook him. "The car feels as jittery as before you put the new gearbox in!"

"Understood, Taras," Kripchak replied. "We have your data right now and we don't like what we're seeing. Turn the engine down to mode 15, mode 15. I've been told we're going to gather data about this using your car."

"What!? Why me? Why my car? What's happened to that svoloch Zoomtwat, huh? Don't tell me that he crashed again."

"Taras, this is Vasily Semyonovich," Gatutin interrupted using his personal radio. "We can't use Zoomtwat for data gathering because he is in P2 and challenging Pressley for the lead. You are already out of the points so this is the team just consolidating what we have. I'm sorry."

"Sorry, my ass!" Taras shouted back. "Why am I always the unlucky one? Why am I always the one who has to pay for our mistakes?"

"You are paying for nobody's mistakes, Taras," Kripchak soothed him. "We are only trying to make the most of what has been admittedly a bad situation."

"You better remind me when Zoomtwat's coming to lap me, Vova, because I might just forget I'm being blue flagged!" Taras shouted back. The hinted threat was clear for the whole garage to see.

"That's the first time I've seen Taras Gavrilovich be this angry since we first hired him," Gatutin muttered. "He's never been this angry before. What's come over him?"

"He's clearly not handling the situation between him and Zoomtwat well," Yakov Yurievsky said. "I already sensed the tension in him back in Baker Park. You need to talk to Matviyenko and tell him to rein in his anger or whatever his problem with Zoomtwat is or we might just swap him for that black Fleftic kid, Fitzgerald or whatever his name is."

"And you know what? You were also at Baker Park when Zoomtwat overtook Taras because of that shitty pit stop," Gatutin said. "Maybe you're not going to the next race weekend, Yakov Leonidovich. Maybe next race I'm going to invite Gleb Antonovich or Ivan Glebovich because clearly, your presence at the track is somehow making Zoomtwat lucky."

"You wouldn't dare!" Yurievsky said.

(1101/1250 words, not including these)

[Diarcesia]

Racing Dateline

The feature race of the WGP2 Preis von Teusland brought with it many highs and lows. For the first time in the season, the first two rows were occupied by drivers of the same team: VSK-Maarukanna in the first and Pryfors Bilar-Viska in the second. Charyseine Valkyria of PrismRiver Racing was not able to start due to the application of the 107% qualifying rule. The race did see the Kaylan Racing Team's strength grow as their driver Ted Pressley win from P13 and Alona Melani grab the quickest lap. These were good enough for Kaylan to take the constructors' lead from the GP's hometown team TMW.

Although the VSK cars were heavy favorites to both finish within the top five, they had a difficult time with the light rain which affected polesitter Sakinomi Rikikida and Chiruno Hakusoe quite heavily. PB-Viska's Laura Haukanna in the early laps took the lead while her teammate Indra Vartak fell to P8 in this largely incident-free event. Haukanna eventually had to surrender her lead when she pitted just as both Ted Pressley and Harry Zoomtwat, in fresher tires, overtook the entire field.

With Haukanna earning her first podium and Vartak eventually finishing seventh, PB-Viska added 17 points to currently tie with UrGa.

[536 + 209 words]

[Chromatika]

Post Feature Race
Stelburging, Siovanija and Teusland

As per usual, she'd done the best she could from a bad situation. Starting in twenty-second place, she'd clawed back to ninth and even posted the fastest lap. It wasn't as well as her teammate, Ted Pressley, who'd gone from thirteenth place in Qualifying to winning the whole thing altogether. In one race, Ted had raced ahead of her in the overall standings for drivers. She was briefly annoyed, and then realized that she only had herself to blame; Ted had grabbed the opportunity himself and absolutely deserved the victory. This realization helped her genuinely congratulate him before focusing on the next task at hand.

Of course, she was the defending Champion of the Sprint Race, and had never finished outside of the points in Sprint Racing. It suited her far better - less laps meant less variables which meant that she could stick closer to the script that she and Vladimir had spent so much time on. Which reminded her that she should probably go over the data one more time. Vladimir was a wizard when it came to keeping track of data from not only her race but also the racing of the rest of the field. He was ready to inundate her with how Ted had navigated a particular turn, how Indra Vartak had revved down a straight stretch, the risk that Harry Zoomtwat had gotten away with when he should've crashed. This ability made Vladimir a very good person to have in her corner.

Her thoughts took her back to the very first race that she had won. It was a thirty-lap affair at the small 2km track in Alnio, known by the locals as "The Loop". There were ten other cars in the race, and they were all driving upgraded go-karts that could barely go sixty. Hers had been modified by the duo of her father and herself, of course, and steered much better than the others - which didn't break any rules, as the only rules had to do with speed.

She won that race by more than thirty seconds, Getting every turn perfectly and outpacing the rest of the field. That was the day that she realized that she had an aptitude for this line of work and that she was a racer at heart.

Thinking back to where it all began, she started to refocus on the task at hand. It was just one race that had gone by, and it was just one race that awaited. All that was left was to grab it by the horns.

432+210 words = 742 words.

[Krainin]

Toralmintii International Circuit
Practice

Elise enters the pits after finishing up her practice. She gets out of the car and is visibly not happy.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but you're two seconds off the leader."

"Yea, I know, David. The car is just to tight right now. I feel like I can put a good lap down if it was a little bit looser."

"We'll get that done before qualifying."

"Thanks. Let's go get something to eat." Both head towards the exit.

Qualifying

Elise comes out of turn 17 and heads towards the start finish.

"There you go! Great lap, Elise! Looks like a 1:26.09"

"Holy cow! Can't believe that adjustment worked."

"Yea, looks like you'll be in the top ten."

"Wooo, let's go!"

Elise finishes up her out-lap and enters the pits. The team parks her car and she gets out. She walks over to a computer monitor.

"A 1:26.095. I hope I stay in a top ten. That'll be a nice starting position for the race. Hope we could capitalize."

Feature Race

The start of the race was fine, but as the first lap went on it was clear that Elise didn't have the same pace as the rest of the top ten. A few started to pass her, including a dive-bomb by Ted Pressley in turn 9.

"You're dropping, what's going on?"

"I just don't have the pace to stay in the top ten, hopefully we can stay in the top fifteen."

Lap 31

Going into turn 15 Elise starts to spin. The car goes off the track and slams into the wall, breaking the front tires off. As the dust clears, Elise sees how much damage the car has. She cusses and slams her hand on the steering wheel.

"You alright, Elise?"

"Yea, I'm fine. We're out though."

"I know. Just wait there, EMS will be there shortly."

Sprint Race

Elise is fighting for a top twenty when there suddenly was a loud bang. Her car suddenly went up in smoke.

"I think the engine just blew."

"Alright, just nurse it back."

"Copy."

Elise gets back to the pits and some colorful language is heard around the garage she gets out and kicks the front tire.

"We're not having any luck here. Hopefully my teammate will do a little better.

(387 words)

[Togonistan]

Stelburgring
Feature Race

''No signs of rain toning down. Inters seem the best option still.'' Manu said as he sat next to Xander in the pit garage. Cars were out on the track and Ted was currently amongst the top pack, fighting with Zoomtwat. Xander had a bit of a deja-vu moment as he saw the Tumbran flying around the track. Seemed like last weekend all over again, with drivers having switched their places. No, it wasn't like Anola was sleeping either. In fact, both cars had been posting fastest lap times throughout the race. Once again, somehow, they had found their pace and rhythm and were steadily moving forward through the grid.

''Some cars are boxing for slicks. I fail to understand why though, forecast doesn't hint at the rain toning down? Data doesn't hint at slicks being any faster in current conditions either,'' Manu said as he looked at broadcast.

''Doesn't matter,'' Xander said calmly, ''as long as our drivers are happy with current set, we will let them keep doing what they're doing.''

As expected, any hints of the rain stopping had been misleading. More drops started falling down from the sky as Xander looked at Manu with a smirk on his face: ''Seems like you need to trust our weather station more.''

''Seems so indeed.''

With the pit window opening, drivers came in for a tyre change. A smile appeared on Xander's face as he watched the pit crew do a quick work on both cars. No mistakes, no loitering. Fresh set of tyres and off they went. Just like a clockwork. With focus back on track, most of their eyes were on Ted who started to close down the gap on Laura Haukanna in front.

''Ted's cap to Haukanna is 1.5 seconds. Pace is good, overtaking opportunity should come in two laps.''

The opportunity did come. Loud cheering from the Kaylan pit crew was heard as they saw Ted overtake Laura and speed on, starting to increase the cap with her.

''Ted is lapping faster that Haukanna now. Zoomtwat is closing in on her, still a lot slower than Ted.''

Everyone had their fingers crossed as they watched the laps go by, with Ted increasing his gap with the chasing pack lap after lap. Eventually, chequered flag was waved as the Tumbran was the first to cross the finish line. More loud cheering filled the garage as the team hugged each other, celebrating their second race win in a row. Amongst all this mess, Xander felt a mixture of emotions. Yesterday, he had felt some doubt about the young Tumbran. Today, he brought the team their first feature race win. Perhaps he had judged him too early...

''Guys! Anola just got the fastest lap point! If my calculations are correct, we should be leading the constructors standings with 8 points ahead of TMW now!'' Manu shouted over the crowd, which resulted in another round of cheering in the garage. Amongst all this mess, Xander felt he had to get away for a moment. He made his way out through the back door and moved to a quiet corner, where he lit up a cigarette and took some time to think about what had just happened. Kaylan leading the championship? Who could've thought that would ever happen at the start of the season. ''Our time,'' as Ted had said to Simon via radio. ''Our f******g time indeed.''

[Featherstonehaugh Cholmondeley]

The man with a munificent moustache was flying around the Stelburgring. Not literally – Harry had, finally, located the city of Stelburg and landed his plane in time to take part in practice. He hadn’t done well. But now, in the race itself, Harry was fast. From 10th on the grid, he had moved up a few places with a mixture of carefully plotted, delightfully daring, and downright irresponsible overtakes. But now he had a Ted Pressley-shaped problem.

“By Jehosaphat’s silvery nipple hair, I can’t shake this blighter!” he fumed into the mic.

“What.”

Not for the first time, communications between him and the team had hit a snag.

Pressley surged, trying to overtake on the back straight. Harry kept to the tightest line he could, boxing him out.

“I say, in the name of all that’s good and proper and British and leg before bally wicket, that was close!”

“What.”

Harry sighed and tried again.

“He’s right up my confounded Khyber Pass!”

“What.”

Harry’s rage was muffled in his moustache as he swung the car round the corner, sluicing up water from the sheets settling on the track. Spray speckled Pressley’s car, telling Harry how close they were yet again. Suddenly, the Tumbran driver braked, harder than Harry, who swung wide. His back wheels rattled as they scraped over the gravel and he suffered a momentary flashback to flak-spattered skies in his warplane as the little pebbles pinged off the chassis. He blasted the accelerator and jolted his way back onto the course, but now it his turn to stare into Pressley’s brake lights, whose slick undertake had bumped Harry down.

It was the decisive move of the race in terms of the winning spot, but even as the track dried and skies cleared there was time for a little late drama as Harry battled back past Laura Haukanna. He couldn’t understand a word being said in the pits – but, fortunately, didn’t have time to linger and find out, as once again the team effected great changes.

“Jolly good show, that really buttered my crumpets!” roared Harry with approval into the mic as he swung out after a fast third change back onto dries, the track having cleared enough. There was too much of a gap to Pressley to make up, but he sped past Haukanna – rather than using Pressley’s clever braking strategy, Harry just relied on an aggressive line through the 6-7 hairpin, switching back onto the inside line at the right time to blast past her.

It was his first podium and, though not a win, was to be celebrated with gusto. He upended the bottle of fizzy wine and glugged it down in one, then set down the bottle and hopped off the podium in search of a proper drink.

“Bloody good show, eh Sid old bean?” he said, slapping his manservant on the back with gusto. “Think I should invite old Taras Whathisbananas out to celebrate?”

“I think,” said Sid guardedly, “Perhaps not, sir…”

[Aboveland]

Iskajärvi, Aboveland

Janne shoves open the door to his loft apartment—a recent change of scenery for the previously flat-dwelling Abovian—with his shoulder, stumbling into his kitchen but careful to keep his carry-on upright and on both wheels. He stops in the doorway and pulls his bag towards him to slam the door shut, then kicks his shoes off and dashes to the understated trophy case next to the door leading to his balcony, the carry-on nagging at the shag carpet on the floor along the way. He drops to his knees, careful to soften the blow by landing on the softer pad of flesh under his kneecaps, and drags open the zippers to reveal the sole item he’d cradled home.

Its cold silver metal catches the sunlight seeping into the loft from between the overhead blinds, scattering a smear of brightness around his body. His face, distorted by the curves of its body, comes into focus. He smiles, caressing the object lengthwise with a carefully dried thumb, lest he leave his fingerprints all over the trophy.

After some moments of admiration, he rises to his feet, his knees popping along the way, and turns around to face the trophy box: dingy, dusty, and dark.

He pulls open the magnetic glass door, rattling the glass structure around the sole cup in the middle of the stand: the winner’s trophy for the inaugural WGP2 Race of Savojarna. It no longer glistens, covered in a thin veil of dust with no light overhead to bounce off of its surface. Holding the new prize in one hand by its wooden base, Janne leans into the trophy box, closes his eyes really really hard shut, and blows into his maiden award. Amidst the cloud of dust, still keeping his eyes sealed, he reaches in and pushes the Savojar trophy to the left, and places his second victory prize beside it. Remaining in the dark, he swats to his side to gently close the magnetic door, and crouches down below the box. Then, he opens his eyes, and pokes around under the stand’s base to light up the display. As he rises back up, he gleams with pride. At long last, the living proof, the physical manifestation of the truth: he was not a fluke, after all.

His brief introspective escape is rattled by the shrill ring of his doorbell. Janne briefly panics. Sami said he’d drop by after the race, but he hadn’t had time to shower yet!

But still turned towards the trophy case, his back to the front door, he frowns, then smirks. The doorbell rings again, in two short bursts.

The shower’s big enough, he machinates, as his heart skips and sprints in anticipation of his post-race celebrations.

Stelburg, Teusland

“P20… Not excellent,” confirms Antti through the radio. “But head up poikka, head up.”

“But it makes no fucking sense!” Janne blurts. “This was supposed to be right up our alley.”

“Radio off Janne, we’ll talk once you get back.”

The Abovian rolls into the garage and clambers out of the damp gray machine. Unlike conventional overalls, his hydrophobic, skintight Nexus Racing jumpsuit is entirely dry, but not as much could be said about the inside of his cockpit or the face behind his visor. He flips up the visor on his helmet and trudges towards Antti, crossing paths with Haru Jukkenna along the way—someone with whom he reckons he should try establishing a relationship of some sort.

Antti, his gray hairs already having infested the entirety of his head, walks more determinedly than before towards the garage, his outstretched hand already indicating Janne to stand down. During the off-season, he’d received more in-depth acclimatization to Nexus Racing’s systems and modus operandi, a necessary process for the seasoned ice racing mechanic in a universe far out of his league.

“Poikka, ei… Ei,” he says, his eyebrows scrunching around the sides of his narrow hooded eyes. Janne, despite not having pranced over intending to confront, relaxes his shoulders and drops his head.

“I’m fine,” Janne mutters. “Promise.” He lets out a deep, heavy sigh. “But good God, man.”

Antti nods. “It wasn’t your fault.” He curls his lips inwards and shakes his head. “Something was up with the Imagikinetic converters, for sure.”

“No Antti,” rebukes Janne. “I was just rather shit.”

The two remain silent for a moment, then Antti nods, agreeing.

“Fair,” he admits, crossing his arms, then turning towards the younger Abovian, facing his eyes at the same level as his, staring directly into his pupils. “But tomorrow you have to attack. If nothing else, try aiming at the fastest lap.”

Janne shrugs. “Well yeah, of course, what else can I do?”

His engineer nods once more. “I’m talking balls to the wall. There’s nothing to lose. Hug the inside of turn one, push them out, then lunge turn two. Anything. You have the green light.”

[Liventia]

CUTOFF

for the WGP2 Preis von Teusland - Sprint Race at Stelburgring

[Liventia]

Race Event 4: Race

Conditions:      	Rainy
Laps:              	38
(Drivers retiring on lap 34 or earlier not classified)	
Nation:         	STL
Circuit:        	Stelburgring
Event:                	WGP2 Preis von Teusland - Sprint Race
Safety Car on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:        	28

POS  # ▍DRV Name                                    Team                                   	Time      	Pts	Fastest Lap	
  1 41 ▍ROU Edward Rousseau                         Equipo Telebuenas-BA                    	01:10:52.601	15		
  2  9 ▍TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar                       Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis            	00:00:02.502	13		
  3 15 ▍JUN Heinz-Otto Junker                       Teusbank TMW Rennsport                  	00:00:07.618	11		
  4 92 ▍MAR Alex Márquez                            Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel    	00:00:11.906	9		
  5 11 ▍MEL Anola Melani                            Kaylan Racing Team                      	00:00:20.958	8		
  6 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                            Kaylan Racing Team                      	00:00:32.804	7		
  7  4 ▍LIL Athan Lille                             Bitten Heroes-MW Racing                 	00:00:35.088	6		
  8 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                          Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin        	00:00:35.993	5		
  9 18 ▍JKN Haru Jukkenna                           Nexus Racing                            	00:00:45.162	4 + 1	1:43.371	
 10 40 ▍KOW Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian            Fireline Motorsports                    	00:00:49.817	3		
 11 79 ▍FIC Lukas Fichter                           Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis            	00:00:50.431	2		
 12 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                         Nexus Racing                            	00:01:09.022	1		
 13  3 ▍KUY Sakiteno Kuyara                         Scuderia Orange Cow                     	00:01:26.122			
 14 31 ▍WIN Joy Wingelaar                           Teusbank TMW Rennsport                  	00:01:27.616			
 15  0 ▍AMD Astigar Armendaritze                    Fireline Motorsports                    	00:01:42.986			
 16 66 ▍ZOO Harry Zoomtwat                          Urotovsky-Gatutin                       	00:01:44.722			
 17 87 ▍PEG Jama'obo Pegasii                        VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP           	00:01:50.719		
 18 69 ▍YUM Hoshikari Yume                          Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel    	Ret. lap 38 (classified finish)			
 19 21 ▍HKS Chiruno Hakusoe                         VSK-Maarukanna Racing                   	Laps Down: 1			
 20 91 ▍MTV Taras Matviyenko                        Urotovsky-Gatutin                       	Laps Down: 1			
 21 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                            VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP           	Laps Down: 1			
 22  7 ▍DEV Annelise Devereux                       PrismRiver Racing                       	Laps Down: 1			
 23 44 ▍GOZ Rod Gozum                               Equipo Telebuenas-BA                    	Laps Down: 1			
 24 35 ▍VAR Indra Vartak                            Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin        	Laps Down: 1			
DNF 16 ▍SHW Elise Shaw                              Bitten Heroes-MW Racing                 	Ret. lap 27				
DNF 13 ▍CRB Pedro Carballal                         Scuderia Orange Cow                     	Ret. lap 17			
DNF 23 ▍RIK Sakinomi Rikikida                       VSK-Maarukanna Racing                   	Ret. lap 5			
DNS 72 ▍VAL Charyseine Valkyria                     PrismRiver Racing                       	DNS

Drivers' standings

Pos # ▍DRV Name                                     Team [Engine]                                                  Tyres                                   Pts
 1 15 ▍JUN Heinz-Otto Junker                        Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                   Deyoze                                  59
 2 40 ▍KOW Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian             Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                 Deyoze                                  55
 3 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                             VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                        Deyoze                                  54
 4 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                             Kaylan Racing Team [Kaylan]                                    Deyoze                                  53
 5 11 ▍MEL Anola Melani                             Kaylan Racing Team [Kaylan]                                    Deyoze                                  50
 6 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                          Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                    In Motion                               44
 7  7 ▍DEV Annelise Devereux                        PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  34
 8 92 ▍MAR Alex Márquez                             Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel [Preston]                 Deyoze                                  33
 9 31 ▍WIN Joy Wingelaar                            Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                   Deyoze                                  32
10 66 ▍ZOO Harry Zoomtwat                           Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  31
11 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                           Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                     Phoenician                              28
12 35 ▍VAR Indra Vartak                             Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                     Phoenician                              26
13 87 ▍PEG Jama'obo Pegasii                         VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                        Deyoze                                  24
14 41 ▍ROU Edward Rousseau                          Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                             Deyoze                                  23
15  0 ▍AMD Astigar Armendaritze                     Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                 Deyoze                                  22
16  4 ▍LIL Athan Lille                              Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                              Stellenbosch                            20
17 21 ▍HKS Chiruno Hakusoe                          VSK-Maarukanna Racing [VSK-Rotary]                             Deyoze                                  18
17 91 ▍MTV Taras Matviyenko                         Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  18
19 79 ▍FIC Lukas Fichter                            Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis [Preston]                         Deyoze                                  17
20  9 ▍TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar                        Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis [Preston]                         Deyoze                                  13
21 23 ▍RIK Sakinomi Rikikida                        VSK-Maarukanna Racing [VSK-Rotary]                             Deyoze                                  6
21 72 ▍VAL Charyseine Valkyria                      PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  6
21 69 ▍YUM Hoshikari Yume                           Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel [Preston]                 Deyoze                                  6
24 18 ▍JKN Haru Jukkenna                            Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                    In Motion                               5
25 44 ▍GOZ Rod Gozum                                Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                             Deyoze                                  4
26 13 ▍CRB Pedro Carballal                          Scuderia Orange Cow [Preston]                                  Deyoze                                  2
27  3 ▍KUY Sakiteno Kuyara                          Scuderia Orange Cow [Preston]                                  Deyoze                                  1

Team standings

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                                  Tyres                                   Pts
  1 TGN ▍Kaylan Racing Team [Kaylan]                                    Deyoze                                  103
  2 STL ▍Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                   Deyoze                                  91
  3 VSG ▍VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                        Deyoze                                  78
  4 ETN ▍Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                 Deyoze                                  77
  5 DCS ▍Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                     Phoenician                              54
  6 PDN ▍Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  49
  7 NIM ▍Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                    In Motion                               49
  8 HDR ▍PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  40
  9 SWR ▍Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel [Preston]                 Deyoze                                  39
 10 NYK ▍Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis [Preston]                         Deyoze                                  30
 11 FID ▍Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                             Deyoze                                  27
 12 AUR ▍VSK-Maarukanna Racing [VSK-Rotary]                             Deyoze                                  24
 13 LIS ▍Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                              Stellenbosch                            20
 14 CBP ▍Scuderia Orange Cow [Preston]                                  Deyoze                                  3

[TJUN-ia]

WGP2 S3
Round 4
Grosser Prix von Siowenien und Teusland
Stelburgring, Siovanija and Teusland

After absolute calamity plagued him one more, he headed to an unexpected circuit with the sword of NN pointing straight at his neck. Batu Tüvshinbayar was expecting the 4th round of WGP2 S3 to be at Cumbayá, but a late change to the schedule meant that the Stelburgring in Siovanija and Teusland would be the hosts of Round 4 instead. But that wouldn't matter to Batu overall as the darkness within his head had grown to such magnitude that he felt the hatred everyone had for him every waking moment. After 3 rounds, his teammate in Lukas Fitcher had 7 points and he had none and Batu felt that he was a stone, dragging Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis further down the order than they deserved. He knew that at some point his employers would get tired of this situation and demand a changing of the guard, and he knew that he himself would be the one to go first in that situation. He didn't know what could improve his situation at all and he just began to accept to inevitable: that he wasn't good enough for this series at all...

But someone who didn't feel that way was the current WGPC champion Terho Talvela, an absolute lord of the sport compared to the rocky ground Batu was currently standing on. In some corner of this head, Batu felt he didn't deserve to speak to a legend of the sport like Terho, but the other thought that getting advice or...anything from a 3-time World Champion wasn't something you passed up at all. The talk they would have on that Friday morning before Practice was one that may not have been important to the rest of the grid, but it was a talk that he felt like he desperately needed to happen. He talked to the defending champion about his struggles, about where he was from and the pressure he placed upon himself to prove that his people can be great representatives of TJUN-ia in this sport and beyond. Terho listened to it all and in the end, that was what Batu took the most from that talk: people do listen to him and will be friendly to what he has to say. This empowered him to try his very best to actually do well in this sport for once and he would certainly show some promise on Friday, with 6th in Practice and 12th in Qualifying, only half a second back on the pole time of Sakinomi Rikikida. Things were finally beginning to look up for him in WGP2 and he hoped to show his stuff during racing conditions.

But the light rain that would arrive for Saturday's parade would produce two different Feature Races for the two NN drivers. While Fitcher climbed his way from 15th to finish in 5th, Batu struggled in the conditions and ended up a lap down in 22nd. Ted Pressley shot to the win over Harry Zoomtwat and Laura Haukanna and 3 drivers failed to finish, but that didn't matter to him at all. After the highs of yesterday, he had shot himself in the foot once again and while the team celebrated more points in the standings, Batu was preparing for what he felt could be the final race he ever raced in this season. If he didn't perform in the Sprint Race, then he may as well just walk away and accept defeat right now.

The rain intensified for the Sprint on Sunday but Batu didn't care. He felt like he didn't want to let anyone down anymore and that, if this was his last race, then he would try his best to go down with a bang. He did that...but not in the way he expected. With the wet experience he gained from yesterday, Batu became the Rainmaster in the space of a few laps and would begin his carving of the WPG2 field over these 38 laps. Three drivers would retire from this one and a further 7 more would be off the lead lap, but neither of the NN drivers would be in that position by the end of this race. Fitcher started high but would falter to a low points-finish in 11th, but Batu didn't make that same mistake. With one more lap, he might've taken the win off of Edward Rousseau but he was certainly content with besting Heinz-Otto Junker for 2nd on the podium. No one knew how the hell this happened, but Batu had become the first TJUN-ian on the podium in the WGPO with a performance only bested by someone who started in 5th.

You better believe that he hugged every single engineer after a performance like that. He felt like Pinkie in "Brighton Rock" in that brief moment after he overcame his worst fear: a man who could do no wrong anymore. Special attention would be given to Terho, who he basically bear-hugged for his efforts to revive Batu's career. While it wasn't his anthem playing on that podium, he still cried when he rose that P2 trophy aloft and when he sprayed the champagne on that podium. In 1 race, he has clawed his way to only 5 points back on Fitcher whilst the double-points sent the team up to 10th in the constructors, 3 points clear of ETBA - the team who won this race. Lane Carter's seasons would always gain momentum in the 2nd half, so maybe Batu will do the same. The infamous Hapilopper City Circuit will hold the answer to that question, but Batu would think about that later. Batu Tüvshinbayar finally had a breakthrough and no matter if he ended up in "Oh Crap, There's A Wall" next week, he would still have this moment for the rest of his career...

[Nykipiflugpuu]

During the off week before Siovanija and Teusland, Terho had been ordered by Edvin to stick around with the Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis squad. The WGP2 season had already reached its halfway point—after the diagnosis reached during the weekend at Lintulahti concerning ÆN-1P’s balance issues, blamed in part on the integration of the Preston powerplant into the chassis, Edvin and Kaidi had reasoned the next pillar to attack in the remediation of Noortekoondis’ struggles was the drivers’ lack of confidence.

While Lukas had repeatedly stated his trust in the team in Shutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnlander media (despite an odd few closing remarks in his latest appearance), the driver harkening from TJUN-ia had been struggling massively in the red and blue car, consistently ranking among the bottom six drivers in both qualifying and races and standing outraced against his teammate five to one (despite the qualifying head to head ebbing in Batu’s favor). He’d been repeatedly reported to had lost confidence in his ability, and according to Kaidi, his mental state had been deteriorating quickly. In response, Kaidi had pleaded with Edvin to consider sending Terho their way; with Tropicorp Racing Ælund’s WGPC19 development still steady, the Abovian agreed.

During the off-week between Lintulahti and Stelburg, President Myyrsistõlisysttästäjä of Nykipiflugpuu had demanded Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis’ staff return to Svalbard for a few days, with the excuse of parading the team around Timantirkas and proving, somehow, the government’s efficient use of their limited resources. Terho, dragged along on the journey, was surprised to discover that the (minimal) public perception of Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis was rather positive, and the project viewed with considerable respect among the approximately ten islanders in the know. Myyrsistõlisysttästäjä’s task, it seemed, was to call up the handful of Nykipiks composing the team’s staff to an undisclosed office space in Timantirkas, one by one, in what Terho presumed was a form of auditing each member’s performance. Lukas, Batu and Terho, the three foreigners forced along on the trip, were exempt from the interrogation, and the downtime in frigid Timantirkas was spent in an impromptu coaching session in another undisclosed office space. Though Terho had included both drivers in his project, first going over the general difficulties he’d encountered with ÆN-1P’s handling characteristics and how to remedy them through setup changes, he later focused on the mental aspect of racing. Lukas was seasoned enough for the chat to serve as little more than a pep talk; Terho, knowing this, focused his energy on the young Mongolian. As he spoke, Terho’s mouth curled involuntarily into a grin. Batu was attentive, determined, and passionate. He could see it in his eyes, in how he nodded every five seconds, in the way he cracked his knuckles mid-way through each segment just as he remembered Janne doing.

Batu, as he’d then realized, was like a perfect fusion between him and Janne: fiery and easily frustrated like himself, but mellow, unassuming and committed like Janne. It was plain to see—so plain, in fact, that Lukas seemed to recognize the same—that his pent up frustration was energy waiting to be released, explosively, on the track, in some astonishing, blinding display of sheer driving excellence. All he needed was a little nudge on the back to fall off that ledge and spread his wings.

---

Stelburg, Teusland

Terho and Kaidi stand together at the pit wall, the patter of the rain clattering the hood of the race control desk with satisfying consistency. The Abovian, a head taller than the cross-armed Nykipik, rocks himself between his heels and his metatarsal pads, his hands deep in his pockets and his elbows, pinned to his sides, burrowed in the nook under his ribs. As a chill breeze laps the garage, the Nykipik sniffles and pushes her glasses up on her nose. They exchange a brief look, a single nod, and leg themselves up onto the high stools, pulling their earphones over their heads.

“Okay, can you hear me?” asks Terho, fumbling with the wireless headset. Kaidi nods. “Right. I won’t be intrusive; you do your thing and I’ll step in if needed.” He turns towards the console and checks that both drivers can hear both him and Kaidi as well, receiving a cheery affirmation from Lukas and a slightly dejected one from Batu. Terho smiles.

As the first set of red lights comes on, the Abovian takes a heavy breath. Having tagged along with the nippy outfit for a week, he’s already taken up a slight feeling of responsibility for whatever was about to happen in the sprint race. Though the team is poised for a decent result with Fichter in fifth place on the grid, there’s little hope for Batu climbing anywhere significant from 22nd.

But when the lights fade to black and the roar of the engines lights up the Siovanijan track, his predictions immediately fall apart.

The worsening rain conditions stifle the Schutzenphalian’s start, but the opposite is true for Batu. In a sudden flash of excellence, he’s off the line as if on a dry circuit, rocketing past the three struggling drivers ahead of him—among them, a floundering Janne Laukkanen—with incredible smoothness.

His brilliance doesn’t stop there: as had been the central idea of the pre-race pep talk, the Mongolian looks focused, almost possessed. He keeps his line through the first turn, slowing with the pack and overtaking another driver round the outside of the kink, and sets up his car to lunge down the inside of turn two and cement one further overtake. Out of the hairpin, the Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis machine fishtails a bit, its wheels showering the vehicles behind in a plume of rainwater, but Batu is quick to correct the mistake.

And it’s not even a fluke, or a first lap aversion to caution. Batu remains in control throughout the first half of the race, searching for wetter lines under the guidance of Terho to preserve his wets (a feat with which Lukas, having had the worst of the on-track conditions for his start and dropping a few places before the first turn, had begun to struggle with because of the proximity of the cars ahead of him).

It’s a strategy that pays off, and by the last ten laps, the race becomes a matter of when Batu will take the lead. Running fifth, he picks off the last remaining rungs to victory one by one, and as he reaches second place behind a similarly inspired Edward Rousseau, he’s only got two laps left to close the gap. The margin to the Equipo Telebuenas driver, wavering around two and a half seconds, drops steadily, but not steadily enough to close in the closing stages of the race. As the rain picks up, and the track becomes soaked once more, his 37 lap worn tyres are no longer apt for a full on attack.

Thus, Batu crosses the finish line second by the race’s end, and by then, his drive has managed to spring Terho from his seat, hands gripping his scalp, and has even cracked Kaidi’s tear ducts—no small feat.

If a points finish for Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis had felt like a victory, a podium is like winning a championship. It’s a gasp of oxygen for the drowning Nykipish team, for the self-estranged Batu Tüvshinbayar, and for the floundering Kaidi Enni Saino Iakkyy. At long last, Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis has proved their potential.

And if Terho, Kaidi and Edvin can help it, it is just the beginning.

[Tumbra]

There was no doubting it. When Ted woke up on the morning of the sprint race, the calming sounds of rain lapping at his window, interspersed with the occasional thunder from a long way off, he didn't even need to flip open the windows to confirm it. But he did so anyway, for he so did like rain.

Just as he suspected. The sky was a dark grey, with occasional streaks of lighter grey. Blotches of rain flung themselves against Ted's hotel window, as he mentally prepared himself for a repeat of yesterday's win, except this time he'd be starting from fourteenth and on the blue-walled wet tires instead of the green-walled inters. Was it similar to yesterday's situation? Perhaps. But not quite, either.

Winning the feature race meant that he'd be starting in 14th, which meant that the feature races, effectively, could be summed up as such: if one failed to place in the top seven, better to place between eleventh and fourteenth to try and grab the sprint race win, for there wasn't much point fighting for the bit-part positions. The main challenge, for those in the lower positions, too, was to try and finish fourteenth and no lower; though as many people had proven — Janne and Vartak in Vilita, Matviyenko and Wingelaar at Drummond Vale, Junker and Anola in Aboveland, and himself yesterday; the starting grid didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, with how chaotic the races were proving to be thus far.

The pre-race briefing was short, but to the point; today was all about finishing as high as possible while keeping it out of the walls. The strategy was a one-stop for both of them, with whomever occupied the better track position coming in first; deep down, he knew that he'd be letting Anola go first, if anything. She had the better starting position — she was the team's best chance at taking home even more silverware. He didn't mind, though — with the team holding a slender eight point lead at the top of the table, the team came first. A chance to show up TMW, who were chomping at the bit to try and take the lead of the Constructors' Championship at their home grand prix, would work out just fine for them as well.

The five red lights came and went, and the start essentially took place like yesterday's; a more muted start as the cars gently floated down to the first corner. There was chaos, of course — twenty-seven into one did not go — but he escaped relatively calmly. Once again, the Major was proving to be a major sticking point; however, he snuck up the inside at turn 8, clung on and didn't let go — and he was past.

It was relatively easy runnings from then on, despite the torrid conditions; Fichter was disposed of relatively easily, as was Pegasii; there were inklings of another midtable-to-first run, but as Simon had told him pre-race, he could take it cautiously. Points were all that mattered; a podium would be nice, too, but consistency would be the main thing to look out for.

A nice Sunday afternoon drive, Ted told himself. And he was taking it rather cautiously too. Dad would be more proud of him finishing the race at all, than trying to go all in on a hairy overtake and ending up in the wall with zero points. It was what mattered, after all. Still, that didn't stop him from having fun. Putting the T170 through its paces, as they once again became one, focusing on finishing the race in sixth — that was what mattered.

Eventually, it was the pit window; he knew Anola had gotten the preferential pit strategy, because she was ahead; it was water off a duck's back to him. He knew she valued the Sprint Races a lot, particularly since she'd gotten her maiden win there; and he was all the more happy to oblige her, despite his own championship prospects being in the mix.

Championship? His mind began to wander. That feature race win had brought him to within eight points of Vialiv, who had been leading the Championship; eight points with twelve races to go was certainly a gap that was closeable. The name of the game at this point was consistency, something right up his alley; perhaps he'd have to re-focus on scoring podiums instead of just finishing in the points. With momentum swinging around from race to race, however, nobody really knew which track would suit which car.

"Box, box."
"Roger that."

Another flawless pitstop, another set of blue-walled wets; just in time for a sprint to the finish. He came back about ten seconds down on Melani, but that wasn't his main quarrel; he was more interested in defending his seven points from Athan Lille, who'd displayed at least some semblance of speed in the Bitten Heroes car, which had been somewhat disappointing throughout the first half of the season.

He tried to attack; Pressley held resolute on the hairpin, confident that he wouldn't charge up the inside; and was rewarded with the inside line out of turn 3. He'd spend the rest of the race fending Lille off, though the fellow Esportivan would drop back after a while; the race ended with a three-second gap to Lille.

Satisfied with the result, Ted congratulated Anola on the eight points; their fifteen points compared to TMW's haul of eleven meant that their advantage would be extended to twelve points on the run-up to the midpoint of the season. It wasn't the safest — a few mistakes and it'd all come tumbling down — but they'd take solace in the fact that the T170 was an absolute gem to handle on these types of aggressive circuits. Ted himself would move to within six points of the championship lead; another good race and he'd be out in front, an unthinkable prospect given that just three months ago he'd been contemplating leaving the circuit altogether.

Off to Hapilopper for the fifth race, then; another street circuit, but one that promised a better experience for the T170 than the narrow streets of Alikki-Corra. And for the first time, Ted felt fully in control of his own destiny.

1039

[Togonistan]

Can Kaylan keep up their good form in Hapilopper?


Ted Pressley brought Kaylan their second WGP2 race win at Stelburgring.

Following a spectacular performance at WGP2 Preis von Teusland last weekend, Kaylan Racing Team has climbed from fourth to first in the Team Standings and moves to the next round in Hapilopper 11 points ahead of Teusbank TMW Rennsport. Feature race at Stelburgring saw Tumbran driver Ted Pressley take the top spot at the podium after a spectacular drive, climbing from 13th on the grid to the top in slightly wet track conditions and finishing 10 seconds ahead of UrGa driver Harry Zoomtwat. During his run through the grid, Pressley overtook both Zoomtwat as well as third place finisher Laura Haukanna of PB-Viska.

Pressley's performance saw a follow-up in Sunday's sprint race, where the Tumbran ended up 6th behind his teammate Anola Melani. With a podium of Rousseau, Tüvshinbayar and Junker, the result was enough for Kaylan to retain their top position in the Team Standings and increase the gap with TMW to 11 points. With the season being almost halfway through as WGP2 moves to Hapilopper for the final round before the mid-season break and 3 non-championship races, fans are hopeful to see the Togonistani team retain their spot in the standings and increase the points gap even further.

There is no doubt that the Togonistani car manufacturer's racing division has made a remarkable step forward with nothing but a name and the iconic green-orange colour scheme reminding fans of the struggling team we saw last season. At the start of the year, Kaylan's WGP2 team went through some major changes in personnel, including Xander Mahakipare's appointment as the new team principal to replace Tanielu Felafa. The change was also reflected via Kaylan's driver line-up announcement, with fans and journalists being shocked when the team decided not to promote their academy driver Darian Vilau to a race seat in WGP2, bringing in two new drivers in the form of Anola Melani and Ted Pressley instead. Changes can also be seen in the technical department, with Kaylan having not faced a single DNF yet this season. It seems that the work done on the T-170 chassis design, as well as the new Kaieke 3 engine, has finally managed to find a solution to Kaylan's serious reliability issues they have been facing for the past two seasons. It has also become apparent that the team is focusing more heavily on research and development this season, with experts pointing out various aerodynamical upgrades Kaylan has introduced during last two race weekends. Big part in this is believed to be played by the additional funding secured from Tumbran sponsors Ashburn Industries and Lazarus Bank at the start of the season, allowing Kaylan to work with a lot bigger budget than any of the previous years.

Standing at the top of Team Standings, the Togonistani team moves to Hapilopper as the team to beat. Various sports betting sites put both Anola Melani and Ted Pressley amongst favorites for a race win this weekend, alongside TMW driver Heinz-Otto Junker and Nexus's Janne Laukkanen. Meanwhile, Skiia Vialiv of Montagne GP and Adriana Kowalski of Fireline are also considered as strong candidates amongst the fans. Kowalski started the season with a feature race win at Alikki-Corra and despite a more aggressive nature of the circuit laid out in Hapilopper, Kowalski is widely considered amongst fans as capable to repeat her success on another street course. Amongst all the names, Harry Zoomtwat pops out as kind of a wildcard as well. While The Major had a rough start to the season, his performance at Stelburgring last weekend indicates that the UrGa driver has become more comfortable with his new machinery and his aggressive driving style might bring him another strong finish during the upcoming weekend.

With the ongoing season of WGP2 having brought a good amount of exciting races so far, the next round in Hapilopper is sure not to disappoint. Ultrasports 1 will broadcast the LIVE feed of the full race weekend starting this Friday. Meanwhile, Tgsports will keep you updated about the latest news regarding the current season of WGP2.

READ MORE WGP2 NEWS:
VIDEO: Pressley vs Zoomtwat duel at WGP2 Preis von Teusland!
What happened!? Valkyria first driver to miss a WGP2 race due to 107% rule!
Badai Angin possibly going to pull out of WGP2 by the end of season?

[Diarcesia]

Present Day

The last time he'd driven in the Diarcesian WGP3, Aldauren had been nothing short of amazing. Now, he was looking forward to the next races of the WGP2 as the principal of a team that was not as dominating as he was as a racer. It wouldn't be easy, but he knew that climbing up the points had to be done.

If PB-Viska could become constructors' champions from the midfield, then that is good. If either Laura or Indra could pull in a driver's championship as well, then that is even better. The team had worked so hard this season to get to their current standing at P5. Even though the first part of the season was mired with mechanical issues, Aldauren insisted that they will win at least one race. If they could reach that goal, then there was nothing to fear.

He checked his phone just in time to see the notification: he'd missed his appointment with his psychologist, but he didn't seem to be in any sort of trouble. He didn't think he'd ever have any problems in his career, ever, having gone to study with the pioneers of motoring in the capital city of the Monarchy. He was surprised that he's still very involved in the sport after all these years. He supposed that his instincts helped him steer clear of career-ending crashes or scandals that plagued some of the other drivers. Perhaps he has a knack at identifying them subconsciously.

He raised the champagne cork he was holding and sunk into his seat, closed his eyes, then stretched his legs. The Diarcesian flag was hanging on the wall above a table, flanked by orange-and-green memorabilia with Mr. Taffel's signature.

Recalling a memorable race in Diarcesia decades ago, he remembered how the fans cheered wildly, having witnessed the drivers' sitzfleisch (being persistent enough to complete a tough or big task). It was an event that no one ever forgot, and the many cars that had sat idly in their places were suddenly put to good use. It was a glorious spectacle, and the air of elation was everywhere.

This was it, he thought. Finally, the year he'd longed for.

He opened his eyes, took his glass, and raised it to toast the memory of the elf he called father.

"Ata," he said, smiling. "I wish you were here." He took a step forwards, and put his free hand to his hip with palm outstreched. "This was when I felt I truly had a good beginning. My very first championship at last. I remember dedicating it for you."

Vintage F1 racing at Anderstorp by Stefan Tell, on Flickr

---

Diarcesia
A long time ago

Sister Polus looked up at the young woman, smiling. The latter greeted, "It is so wonderful to see you, Miss Polus. I know you are doing your best to bring home our supplies. I will need to talk with you about this poor stranger."

"Oh, sure. I'm- I'm willing to listen. Don't worry, what do you want me to be up to speed on? Are you all right?"

"We are doing well, yes. This tall person fell ill for three days, but he recovered. He convinced me to bring her along outside, and it helped him. I still think he will need to rest."

Sister Polus nodded. "I understand. I wlll arrange for the doctor to visit. He can check her over and make sure everything is okay. I will get up this afternoon and start preparing our room for tomorrow's party. What's the man's name."

"With ears like knives, he's no man. He says he's called Aldauren."

---

Present Day

Aldauren was filing away the final memo for tomorrow's meeting with his assistant, Parly, when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. "Aldauren," Parly said, "Aldauren, you have a call."

"Thanks, Parly, let me have it... Oh, hi!"

"Hi Aldauren! I have a few meetings this year with some stakeholders, and they left me with some questions. I think you have the answers. In fact, if you can, they want to meet with you someday."

Aldauren didn't immediately reply.

"So... I have this whole new angle on this, but it sounds like they're taking notice of PB-Viska's performance so far. What are they asking?" he replied after a few seconds.

"First, they want to know if their hypothesis is correct: if PB will move up to WGPC, will you become its team principal? Everyone was unsure due to a lack of info, but you are the clear favorite. The second question is, can you come up with a blueprint that will guide the WGP2 team to success? That's the biggie here, they are keen to see how good everyone in there is working together. The last question is, what happens if you don't win anything here?"

"On the first one, I won't be surprised if it was indeed me. I'm well aware of the rumors."

"I'm taking that as a yes. You can send a more detailed answer so I can relay it to them. I promise that they will appreciate it. For now, I'll leave you to deliberate on the other question."

When Aldauren and the stakeholders finally had their meeting in the team's headquarters in Pryfurium, they were impressed on the long-term vision of Pryfors Bilar with regards to the WGPO-sanctioned events. They were surprised that in spite of PB being the last of the Big Three automakers to put up a presence there, they were rising up fast.

FILE PHOTO: Pryfors Bilar headquarters, September 26, 2017. THE CHIYGINIAN PRIME/Chris Melville

By Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73901

---

"So, how is the prospective WGP3 class again?" asked Aldauren.

"Very promising. They're taking to the IS-7 chassis well. In my opinion, it's a flawless machine, from the looks of it. Its turbo runs like a dream. They say it was so much fun to race, so much more than we ever could have expected. The feedback has been amazing, from the beginning to the end, and it shows. If they continue, it won't be long until you have a tough selection of drivers in the WGP2. You will want one, I am sure."

Aldauren shook his head, "For now, I have Haukanna and Vartak for the remainder of the season. They are very skilled drivers and I'm happy that they work with me. The scouts did a fantastic job. I prefer to focus on the next race over who will drive for PB-Viska next season. We are very proud of them."

[1077 words]

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Monday following the Stelburgring weekend, 3:30 pm

Sakite and Helena had established a good rapport, and the PA/media rep had made the Hidori driver's life away from the factory pretty comfortable and relaxed; Mondays after a race weekend were the drivers' day off and Helena had gotten into the habit of taking Kuyara shopping, either up to Georgetown (25 minutes north) or Dalton (about the same distance west) in the afternoon. This was generally something like a therapy session for Sakite, as she could talk about her disappointments, feeling and complaints about the race, team, or car in confidence. Despite missing out on another point in the sprint race in Stelburg, she was generally satisfied with her performance.

“I was thinking last night in bed, I did pretty well under the circumstances, didn't I?” Helena nodded vigorously. “You made the best of a difficult situation, showed a lot of perseverance. Nobody in the team faults either Pedro or you for the way things have gone so far. You know...” She flipped her sunglasses up and made two or three glances, to emphasize she would be looking Sakite in the eye if they weren't doing 76mph on the expressway at that moment.
“There were some whispers even as we came back from Vilita, someone had been told at the track that you had a reputation. As a pilot...” Helena looked again at her passenger, wondering if the subtle twitch of an ear was a signal of discomfort about the topic.

“Saki, we judge people in this country on their merits. On what we experience rather than on what someone else says. While Jill & I were off getting you fitted for your seat, your firesuit, the PR stuff when we got here from the airport, Michael went down to tell the mechanics and the rest of the race team that if he heard anyone say 'Junker' or even tried to allude to that, they would be fired. And you haven't put a scratch on the car over three race weekends. Look what you accomplished at the Vale that Friday; no one in the team has any question about you, your work ethic, dedication, potential. All you lack right now—and Pedro too—is race craft. Experience...and if the car is in the garage retired, those are miles you aren't able to learn. Pedro going out wasn't his fault. Engine failure.”

Helena wasn't just well-versed in motorsport speak as part of her job; she was a fan of racing, and understood the ins & outs. Getting a chance to come to work for SOC was like landing a dream job for her, and she was glad to be a part of the inner workings of the team; she'd been Jordan Crowe's 'handler' in Vilita and felt bad for him after his showing there, being relegated back to test driver.

"I think about how the mechanics must feel after the race is over, all the hours they put in only to see me hanging at the back of field. Getting lapped. And yet the next day, they are happy to see me, ready to get to work. In the Air Force--at least in the Hidori Air Force--there is a bit of separation between the pilot and the ground crew. In this setting, you can sense everyone is putting an effort in because they want you to succeed. And except for that Friday, there's not been much to feel good about. I feel like I need to have talk with Pedro, just to get an idea of his thoughts. I don't think we've been together without another person present since I arrived."

Helena hadn't even thought of that, the two drivers not being able to talk to one another outside of the context of racing; she would go about changing that before the trip to Hapilopper.

Meanwhile, at Pedro's condo in Haskins

His first DNF had put Pedro Carballal into a funk he was still feeling through his day off. Benjamin "Smitty" Smith, who served the same function that Helena did for Sakite, usually phoned around 4 or 5 pm to talk about the upcoming week, with the two men getting together for dinner to unwind and relax.

Smitty sensed that PC was brooding over his retirement in the Sprint race, when his engine lost a cylinder and he was forced to nurse the car back to the pits on lap 17; he arrived on Pedro's doorstep around 6:15 with a pizza and six pack of beer.
"Yeah, the whole weekend was one to forget, but don't blame yourself. I think you and Saki are still close to the top in total laps completed so far."

Instinctively, Pedro knew that Smitty was right, that in spite of the inability to translate practice and qualifying pace into points paying finishes, the miles spent in the car were providing data for the engineers and experience for himself and his teammate.

"Do you she's caught up to me?"
"I think she's made enormous improvement, but no, I think you're still better overall. I'd guess she probably believes that too".

{849)

[Valentine Z]

Post 17 – The DRS Menace.

"Be a speedy driver, Adriana. You will be fine, trust me. I know you are not a reckless and aggressive driver, but at the same time, it helps if you speed up when you can." That was the most recent takeaway that Adriana got from Jane, and she took it to her storage units, making some hyper-parameters out of it. She was sure that she could at least make some impact on a Sprint Race, even if these were not exactly the type of races that she was the strongest at. The pole position should help, she thought, as it would ward off the more aggressive racers off her tail for a while, alongside letting her build up the momentum and the distance.

"Good luck, Ela! You will be fine out there, trust us," Percy told her yet again as Adriana made herself comfortable on the seat of her car on the starting position. Fueled up, tires at optimum pressures, she was ready to go. "Here's to hoping that DNF would be the last one ever, but I would really hate to jinx myself, haha!"

And then they are away! Adriana made the best out of the placement that she got, warding off the more aggressive drivers as aforementioned, but would see herself slowly losing out to them. The personal trainer definitely helped, but it would have taken her some time before she could see favorable results, and immediately winning the Sprint Race would be something that is far-fetched for the time being. Okay, Adriana thought, it certainly could not be worse than that. Just then, she got a weather alert from her background programs; she picked up notifications about the upcoming rain, and it seemed less of a drizzle and more of Fate pouring buckets of water onto the race track. "Well, then," she thought to herself, "Let me just adjust up my parameters. Haha, maybe the others would have a not-so-enjoyable race due to the rain."

As it turns out, she was correct - more or less, that is. While a few drivers have given Adriana a run for her money, and denying her a handful of points, she realised that the rain definitely slowed them down. She remembered picking up from an awful 15th at one point, back to 12th, then to 10th, which she eventually finished with. "3 points, that's not bad at all. You are improving on the Sprint Races!" came in the communications. It was certainly a step-up from all the uncertainty and frustration that both her and the team were getting on WGPC 18. That season was, for the lack of a better word - disastrous. Here, she was competing enough to be getting the 2nd place in terms of Drivers' Standings, and Adriana was hoping that this would carry over to the second half of the season whereby there will be more Technical-heavy courses for her, for the courses that she would feel right at home.

Walking over to the podium and checking the scoreboard in the meantime, Adriana realised that she was sandwiched in-between the two names that were familiar, though not that closely. The two in particular from Nexus Racing. Haru and Janne's names were no stranger to Adriana, given how they have been winning and acing one race after another back in WGPC 18. The winner of this race, however, turned out to be Edward Rousseau, the name that she was ever so familiar with. He was not in Fireline for obvious reasons, but he is definitely from Ethane. As she waited for the celebrations to settle down, Adriana walked up slowly towards Edward and offered to shake his hand, congratulating him. "Very nice, Mr. Rousseau, or Edward, if that is too formal. Please do pardon me, haha! Anyway, you did a great job out there, and I really do hope you will score more victories and points for yourself!"

With the celebrations concluded, Adriana walked back into the garage the two cars inside. Astigar and the rest of the team have been waiting for her for a debrief, which made Adriana a little blush, at least she would if she could. "Ohh dear, sorry I'm late! Just been talking to a few other drivers around. So err, I am ready for the debrief and summary on today's race." As the debrief and note-taking went on, both drivers have been evaluated - Astigar got his own briefing, while Adriana got hers. For herself, she was told about how she is on a step in the right direction and that it has been amazing from her. "Of course, that is not to discount your accomplishments, and you have been doing great, that is for sure. Still, we are confident that with Jane around, you should be able to catch up more and more in these Sprint Races and hey, maybe even win such a race. We don't feel that you are extremely rigid like most robots and AI we have seen; in fact, your flexibility with your coding and systems have been quite a delight, so I hope we can use more of this in the future."

"I certainly will, thank you very much!" Adriana smiled cheerfully, thanking the team yet again and answering their inquiries about herself or the car, "In the meantime, I do hope that the new car after the DNF isn't giving you much trouble. Is there anything that we can do to improve on it?"

"Ahh, not for the time being. It drives well and like the extension of my own arms and legs, thank you!"

As the debrief and feedback session came to an end, Adriana went back to her own room, packing her things and her simulation to her private jet where Angeline and Angela were waiting for. They both seemed rather eager to get to the next destination, and all the more for a good reason.

"The next destination is going to be amazing, and of course, all the more familiar!" Angela squeaked out, barely able to contain that excitement, "We are going to Hapilopper!"

"Home of their NSSCRA drivers, alongside many of their other accomplishments, I am sure!" Angeline added in, helping out Adriana to load her luggage while Angela started the engine and requested takeoff from the airport, "I wonder if they are in their home cities so that we can meet them. Or at least on the circuit itself."

"I would like to meet them as well. Hmm, a couple of names came into my mind. Maybe Drake Stevenson. And Taylor Henderson. Would be amazing if we can get such an opportunity!"

1108 / 1250 words.

[Trans-Dniesters]

When it rains, it pours.

And it would certainly seem as if the heavens were pouring down upon Taras Matviyenko, and not just in the physical sense. The Pridnestrovian driver of the Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division has had more than his fair share of bad luck since the start of the fourth season of WGP2, and just as it seemed as if UrGa had solved their problems, new ones immediately cropped up and delivered a devastating blow to what was supposed to be Matviyenko's best race weekend.

The Pridnestrovian-based WGP2 team has made no secret of their struggles since the start of the season, and they have made it obvious that they attribute these problems to the spec engine from Hapilopper's Preston Autos which they, along with much of the rest of the grid, were forced to adopt before the start of the fourth season. Chief among these problems was the car's apparent lack of rear stability which has afflicted both Matviyenko and his teammate Major Harry Zoomtwat of Featherstonehaugh Cholmondeley from the first preseason test. Team principal Vasily Gatutin claimed to have found a "solution" on the weekend of the WGP2 Race at Lintulahti, but upon encountering changeable conditions in Siovanija and Teusland, it appears as if this "solution" may not have been as good as the engineers in Myrilsk may have thought.

We also seem to have been introduced to a new side of Taras Matviyenko that we have not seen before. Friends of Matviyenko and those within the UrGa factory who are acquainted with him will describe him as being a simple and quiet man with seemingly no quarrels against anyone else, but as evidenced with his team radios in the feature race in Stelburg, it seems as if Matviyenko has developed a temper against his teammate. While Matviyenko was forced into going on what is essentially a two-hour-long practice session to gather data on the car's performance in rainy conditions with their new gearbox, Harry Zoomtwat had somehow found himself engaged in battle against Kaylan's Ted Pressley for the lead of the feature race. Before this race, Matviyenko was known for being a team player, willing to sacrifice his own race if he knew that it would lead to his teammate taking victory or even just a bigger share of the points than he possibly could. He would even be the first to congratulate his teammate should they do better than him in the race. But not this time. With Zoomtwat looming in his rear mirror and the blue flags fluttering in the breeze, Taras Matviyenko all but threatened to end both his and his teammate's race at that moment, team orders be damned.

So what is going on in UrGa? What has happened to the normally mild-mannered, soft-spoken Matviyenko? Why is the man known as the safest driver in the APOC Coalition now suddenly threatening to crash into a fellow driver? Is this merely an isolated problem of its own, or is this possibly a symptom of a deeper lying problem within the team? Gatutin has always been tight-lipped about his team's internal affairs, but it seems as if some of his personnel don't share the same sentiment and are ready and willing to spill, if not all of the beans then at least some of it.

It appears that these troubles started in the week leading up to the Baker Park race weekend, when the team took advantage of Harry Zoomtwat's spectacular DNF in Alikki-Corra to install a new heavier gearbox to compensate for the lighter Preston spec engine and restore some of the rear stability lost due to the aforementioned engine switch. Concerns about the supposed legality of their new gearbox supposedly made the team test it out on their second driver's car, but despite this it appears that Matviyenko has taken this as the team beginning to favor Zoomtwat over him despite his supposed "clear number one" status. Such a move, however, would be in apparent contradiction with Vasily Gatutin's apparent displeasure with having to pick Harry Zoomtwat as the team's second driver. Sources inside UrGa have indicated that Gatutin had a different driver in mind for that second seat, only for the Board of Directors to overrule his decision and make him go for Harry Zoomtwat instead.

Matviyenko has apologized for his words on the radio in the lead-up to the race in Hapilopper, but one gets the feeling that this was merely a PR exercise, something to calm the waters while the team itself dealt with the issue internally. Taras Matviyenko did say that he was working on changing himself as a driver in preparation for WGP2 Season 4. Unfortunately though, instead of a better version of himself, Matviyenko seems to have created a green-eyed monster. And that could be detrimental to UrGa further down the line.

~ Taken from the blog of Yelizaveta Lyashkina

(814 words, not including these)

[Featherstonehaugh Cholmondeley]

In the skies above Atlantian Oceania, a biplane was puttering along, piloted by a man with a jaw-dropping moustache. The plane was hanging low, weighed down by numerous animal carcasses stuffed into the passenger compartment around an ever-uncomplaining Sid. The western shores of the region had seen several races, and several visits from Harry, over the last few weeks, and the ecological impact was beginning to be felt; any more hunting trips and local conservationist groups were going to have him declared an environmental hazard. The plane dipped down Hapilopper City, and Harry squinted into the glare of the sun as he picked out the now familiar sight of a gaggle of reporters assembling on the landing field, ready to congregate around once he put down. The plane landed with a thump, and he cheerily vaulted from the cockpit and strode forth, leaving a blood-spattered Sid to decide which of the hunted animals to prepare for the evening’s dinner (and whether an ’89 Bordeaux or ’92 Côtes du Rhône would pair better with it).

Major Zoomtwat! Major Zoomtwat!

“Steady on old bean, let a chap get his flying togs off, wot wot!”

Major Zoomtwat, can you comment on rumours of disquiet in the UrGa team?

“Rumours of disquiet!? Absolute codswallop and balderbash. Someone’s bowled you a googly there, I’m afraid to say.”

A mechanic was heard calling you a ‘stream of bat’s piss’!

“He merely meant, wot wot, that I shine out while all around me is dark. Quite the compliment I must say, top chap.”

Do you think you can do anything to repair your relationship with Taras Matviyenko?

“Nothing to repair! Now listen here. Mr, erm, Comrade Matviyenko and I are rivals on the course like any other two drivers, same team or not. But there’s certainly no sort of personal enmity involved or any such absolute tosh! This is all just tabloid invention to sell halfpenny rags.”

Harry’s universal translator adjusts for inflation and he snorts in disgust at the price of a newspaper in this universe.

Annoyed by the line of questioning, Harry stomped off, muttering under his breath about the gearbox and where he’d like to stick the damned contraption.

[Auruna]

WGP2 Preis von Teusland
Just as things were going well for VSK, well, something bad had to happen. For the two races of the weekend, the team was hit by a series of unfortunate events causing their weekend to go from good to... oh no.

The feature race started alright, nothing worthy of note from the team as they would be utilising their track position to their advantage. For the first few laps of the race, it was peaceful, they were leading and the PB-Viskas behind couldn't keep up. That is until the first line pit stops. Rikikida was called in first for a change from inters to mediums, as the mechanics start to work on her car, the front-right wheel gun malfunctioned and so they rushed to replace it. Resulted in Rikikida losing a lot of places and ending up outside of the top 10. One unfortunate incident down, there's more to go!

At the end of the next lap, Hakusoe pulled into the pits, in a different strategy than her teammate but it would theoretically work in their favour. Well, there's another issue. The rear wheel nuts were stuck while taking the wheels off. Raiko, witnessing the two incidents occur after each other, managed to punch a hole into his new desk, as usual. Hakusoe then drives off, losing a few places while the mechanics head back inside the garage with their heads down.

Those two weren't the only mistakes the team made in the feature race. Later at Lap 49 while running high within the top 10, Rikikida has spun at the exit of turn 12 due to the wet conditions and was in the barriers, ending her race there. Meanwhile, Hakusoe was running 15th and would be the last of the unlapped.

Then came the sprint race where things kept getting worse for the team where they were supposed to make a comeback from the feature race. In the first five laps, there were noticeable issues on Rikikida's car, and suddenly, she spun and was in the walls again. That's one VSK down. Their focus turned to Hakusoe and they are doing everything to assist her to get some points for the team.

At the end of the race, they could only finish P19 and the last of the lapped.

The end result was not what they were hoping.

---

After a long fight in the feature race, Laura bounced back. Started P4 she showed her pace on track and in the wet, her rally experience finally kicked in and helped her throughout the race. She was set within the top three, staying P3 until the end and after crossing the line, at the chequered flag, she's filled with relief after all the struggles of the previous race weekends, she's finally on the podium.

"Laura, that's P3! P3! Congrats! Great work out there!"

"Yes! Finally! Hahaha. That was a nice race."

"Some nice driving in the wet."

"Yeah, thanks! Aina also did great today."

"You two are doing well recently, anyway, can't wait to see you on the podium."

The next day, spirits are high, she's starting P12 for the sprint race and the conditions worsened. It's nothing special to Laura, she can manage in the wet conditions. While others are struggling, she and a certain few were doing quite well. At the start, she has passed a few drivers, pushing her up to P9. There's a small issue with the tyre temperatures but it wasn't a huge problem like the transmissions before. While she's sliding a bit due to that, she handled them perfectly to not spin randomly. It's now looking like nothing's going to stop her now, even though she's not fighting for the podium, she's still fighting for points.

After 38 laps of wet racing, her race ends with a P8 finish and 5 points. Not a bad result, especially after her P3 finish. This puts her 2 points ahead of her teammate in the standings, who had struggled a bit in the wet. Maybe she can teach him sometime, she thinks. For now, it's time to celebrate this good weekend.

---

Haru feared that he's letting his team down, after doing well in their academy series, it seemed that expectations of him withered as he struggled in the first few races. He only finished P21 in the feature race although this may change as the weather gets worse on track. It's raining like there's no tomorrow, the only time he'd seen something like this was at Kuyonne for a vacation. It was wetter than he anticipated but surely he can manage. Recalling his time in the Schkeska rally team and the E-Series, every wet session there, he's determined to finish in the points in whatever weather nature decided for that day.

"Come on, don't fail on me again."

He struggled a bit at the start but he started to pick up the pace. He was keeping up with the ones ahead of him and it's time for some overtakes. Taking one, two and then three places in the first sector and a few more in the following laps, he was near the top 10. Before pitting, he makes a risky call to inters instead of full wets. What made him decide that it was the best decision for this race? No one knows what's going on in his head during races. All they could do is hope that he made the right call.

As the dry line became more and more prominent on track, his pace suddenly surged and he was running within the top 10 and setting best sector times. Then after a few laps, nearing the end of the race, a radio message from his engineer was transmitted. "You have the fastest lap of the race."

Not content with the 1:43.4, he tries to shave a few milliseconds off of his current fastest lap.

After crossing the line, he finished P9, scoring his first actual points of the season. Time to add another point as he has the fastest lap of the race. There was no time to celebrate it too much but it wasn't a bad finish by his standards, and it's in the wet as well.

At least something good happened to Haru's usually horrible weekend.

[Aboveland]

While at a stoplight on his way to the airport out of Siovanija and Teusland, Janne pulls his phone out from a deep compartment in the center console. There's a new message from Sami:

"You dead? ”

Janne clicks his tongue. Fuck. He hadn't replied for a couple days. That was bad, inconsiderate, and on him. If Sami had done that to him he'd likely have started pulling a cold sweat.

Before the guilt could set in, Janne taps the message box and opens the microphone to start dictating his reply. As he does so, the stoplight turns green.

"Ah shit wait hi Sammy I'm using text to speech so your name might be spelled wrong and it might come out a little bit awkward but I'm driving right now to the airport so I can't really type on my phone. So so so so sorry I didn't reply earlier but the weekend was pretty busy i feel really bad now colon open parentheses but anyway yeah like it wasn't it was a pretty bad weekend like I mean it wasn't bad and I got a point in the end I got I scored one point in the Sprint race but I'm just so exhausted I'm so tired of every like it's literally just every weekend I have to keep my head down like we just can't really capitalize on our Rivals mistakes so yeah it's a little bit frustrating I mean the rainy race was good though because we I started like 22nd and finished 12th so I kind of like 10 places although a lot of the later runners in the race a lot of the drivers further back on the grid they were able we were able to to make up a lot of spots near the end because the rain started the rain was getting harder and also lighter and so we could take better lines through the wet so that was good. The thing is though I think I don't know I haven't really spoken with the team yet but he gets her tires that are kind of holding us back you know the the Nexus raising tires aren't circular they're kind of like, damn, there's this word but I can't remember what it was it's like a triangle but with it's like a cone but with circles on both ends something like that and then they're kind of hard I don't have that good grip so I don't know I think maybe it's our tires but in the what and the wet there sometimes hidden Miss but they work pretty fine in the Sprint race. I won't be able to go home this weekend or this week actually sorry messed up oh I hope it comes across I don't know I don't know how to erase with this Texas beach thing I never use this it's like my grandma is this I've never used Texas speech anyway I won't be able to come home this week I'm heading off to the ward ship this week before we're supposed to do good on oh I don't think it's going to understand happy happy lover Happy lover okay yes the race and happy lover yeah so I'm heading to the warship before the race and happy lover because we want to do some setup work and fine tune the car for the track if the truck so I'm pretty excited but I don't know I'm holding my breath I'm just three periods I wonder if that works no it doesn't work. Anyway I'm a little frustrated but I'm doing fine I'm also kind of sad because we spent all of the last week together and now I don't know when we'll see each other again probably next week probably after half your lover but I don't know I really miss you I wish I could see you and hug you and kiss you on your head and rub your teeth and cuddle you but well next week next week for sure love you Sammy bye period period period close period stop,"

[Liventia]

CUTOFF

for Practice and Qualifying at Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit

[Liventia]

Race Week 5: Practice

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:38.372
Session Length:	75 minutes
Nation:         	HAP
Circuit:        	Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit

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

POS # ▍DRIVER                                          	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian                    	00:01:46.657	00:00:00.000
 2 13 ▍Pedro Carballal                                 	00:01:46.780	00:00:00.123
 3 66 ▍Harry Zoomtwat                                  	00:01:46.815	00:00:00.159
 4  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                               	00:01:46.902	00:00:00.246
 5 69 ▍Hoshikari Yume                                  	00:01:46.930	00:00:00.273
 6 15 ▍Heinz-Otto Junker                               	00:01:46.982	00:00:00.325
 7  4 ▍Athan Lille                                     	00:01:46.995	00:00:00.338
 8 21 ▍Chiruno Hakusoe                                 	00:01:46.999	00:00:00.343
 9  7 ▍Annelise Devereux                               	00:01:47.008	00:00:00.352
10 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                                 	00:01:47.016	00:00:00.360
11  0 ▍Astigar Armendaritze                            	00:01:47.036	00:00:00.380
12 91 ▍Taras Matviyenko                                	00:01:47.056	00:00:00.399
13 79 ▍Lukas Fichter                                   	00:01:47.127	00:00:00.470
14 18 ▍Haru Jukkenna                                   	00:01:47.150	00:00:00.494
15 23 ▍Sakinomi Rikikida                               	00:01:47.413	00:00:00.756
16 11 ▍Anola Melani                                    	00:01:47.472	00:00:00.815
17 44 ▍Rod Gozum                                       	00:01:47.557	00:00:00.901
18 87 ▍Jama'obo Pegasii                                	00:01:47.700	00:00:01.044
19 72 ▍Charyseine Valkyria                             	00:01:47.727	00:00:01.071
20 92 ▍Alex Márquez                                    	00:01:47.834	00:00:01.177
21 41 ▍Edward Rousseau                                 	00:01:48.067	00:00:01.411
22 88 ▍Ted Pressley                                    	00:01:48.083	00:00:01.427
23 31 ▍Joy Wingelaar                                   	00:01:48.253	00:00:01.597
24 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                                    	00:01:48.314	00:00:01.658
25  3 ▍Sakiteno Kuyara                                 	00:01:48.429	00:00:01.772
26 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                                  	00:01:49.274	00:00:02.617
27 35 ▍Indra Vartak                                    	00:01:49.690	00:00:03.034
28 16 ▍Elise Shaw                                      	00:01:51.128	00:00:04.472

Race week 5: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:38.372
Qualifying Type:	Traditional
Nation:         	HAP
Circuit:        	Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit

POS # ▍DRIVER                                          	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 41 ▍Edward Rousseau                                 	00:01:40.583	00:00:00.000
 2 79 ▍Lukas Fichter                                   	00:01:40.586	00:00:00.003
 3 91 ▍Taras Matviyenko                                	00:01:40.663	00:00:00.080
 4 15 ▍Heinz-Otto Junker                               	00:01:40.798	00:00:00.215
 5 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                                  	00:01:40.813	00:00:00.230
 6 11 ▍Anola Melani                                    	00:01:40.822	00:00:00.239
 7 35 ▍Indra Vartak                                    	00:01:40.823	00:00:00.240
 8 92 ▍Alex Márquez                                    	00:01:40.900	00:00:00.317
 9 44 ▍Rod Gozum                                       	00:01:40.957	00:00:00.374
10 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                                 	00:01:41.015	00:00:00.432
11 31 ▍Joy Wingelaar                                   	00:01:41.030	00:00:00.447
12 21 ▍Chiruno Hakusoe                                 	00:01:41.117	00:00:00.533
13 88 ▍Ted Pressley                                    	00:01:41.179	00:00:00.596
14 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                                    	00:01:41.189	00:00:00.606
15  0 ▍Astigar Armendaritze                            	00:01:41.336	00:00:00.752
16 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian                    	00:01:41.374	00:00:00.791
17  4 ▍Athan Lille                                     	00:01:41.413	00:00:00.829
18 87 ▍Jama'obo Pegasii                                	00:01:41.427	00:00:00.844
19 23 ▍Sakinomi Rikikida                               	00:01:41.492	00:00:00.909
20 69 ▍Hoshikari Yume                                  	00:01:41.592	00:00:01.008
21 66 ▍Harry Zoomtwat                                  	00:01:41.932	00:00:01.349
22  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                               	00:01:41.938	00:00:01.354
23  3 ▍Sakiteno Kuyara                                 	00:01:42.109	00:00:01.526
24 72 ▍Charyseine Valkyria                             	00:01:42.121	00:00:01.538
25  7 ▍Annelise Devereux                               	00:01:42.167	00:00:01.584
26 16 ▍Elise Shaw                                      	00:01:42.608	00:00:02.025
27 18 ▍Haru Jukkenna                                   	00:01:43.079	00:00:02.495
28 13 ▍Pedro Carballal                                 	00:01:44.479	00:00:03.896

[Tumbra]

Another weekend, another disappointing Friday session — the difference was that Ted had actively anticipated this, and had spent the 75 minute Practice session setting the car up for the race instead, explaining his 22nd practice spot while some of the backmarkers — Scuderia Orange Cow in particular — had gone on low-fuel glory runs to try and get themselves up the order in Practice. It was always fun seeing the minnows do well, of course. Not like it meant much, mind, but it certainly meant something. He instead chose to go on long runs with race-level fuel loads, attempting to once again slice through the field like he did at the Stelburgring. But that track was aggressive, fast and wide — this was a street circuit. Narrow, bounded by walls...a good qualifying position was key. The only thing that the track had in common with the Stelburgring was the aggressive part.

The car had been good throughout the weekend — it was reliable, fast if a bit twitchy on tight circuits — but Ted put that down to his natural aversion to street circuits. He didn't do badly on them, mind, he just preferred purpose-built tracks. His mind floated back to the infamous Couno street circuit, snaking through the promenade and old city, on the narrow streets — that was where the men and women were separated from the boys and girls. It would be the same here.

Try as he might, the 75 minutes of qualifying proved to be one of inconsistency — he could get one sector bang-on correct on one lap, and the next he'd be three tenths off the pace there. The field, once again, was bunched up — the top 19 qualified within a second of pole, and Lukas Fichter in the Nykipiflugpuun had slammed his car within three thousandths of Edward Rousseau. Ted's best lap was nearly six hundredths off the pace, which landed him 13th on the grid — but he took solace in the fact that he'd be reserving his energy for tomorrow's feature race.

334

[The Licentian Isles]

Stelburgring
After the WGP2 Preis von Teusland Sprint Race

“P14 Joy, P14. Slow mode on please. You were unlucky out there, not far away from the points.” Kaspar wasn’t wrong, but Joy was frustrated with herself. This was TMW’s home race, and with the race on Hessington Island being a non-championship event, this was effectively her own home race too. She had wanted to score points, and instead it had just been a bit rubbish.

“Sorry guys, I was hoping for more too. Well done to Heinz though, very well-deserved.”

As she pulled the car into the garage, she cheered with the rest of the team as Heinz collected his trophy for finishing P3, and sprayed the champagne along with Rousseau and Tüvshinbayar. All that she could look at, however, was the screen that was showing the championship standings. Her Teus teammate remained top of the driver’s standings, but the team had been passed in the standings by Kaylan, after Pressley and Melani had incredibly impressive weekends. It was difficult for her to think about. She’d chosen TMW over Kaylan, and she wanted to repay their faith in her. There had surely been other drivers in the running for her seat, and right now, it felt as if she was pulling the team down, even as Heinz performed at his best.

There would be a lot of thinking to do on the way to Hapilopper.

---

Hapilopper City
Qualifying

This may have been another street circuit, but it hadn’t felt much like one to Joy so far this weekend. It was another track that didn’t really suit her: aggressive driving had never been her strong suit. She, and Ted Pressley, were very aware of that after the struggles earlier in the season.

That didn’t matter though, because there was still work to do. The car felt good, and though her qualifying simulations hadn’t quite gone to plan in practice, she knew from Heinz’s data that the pace was there over one lap. It was just about keeping the tyres in their best operating window, and not getting caught out by other drivers in the narrow corners.

It was a fairly good session in the end. Nothing to write home about, but P11 wasn’t bad. She would either have the opportunity to climb the ranks in the feature, or she would have a good position for the sprint.

It was time to prove why she was in this seat.