WGP2 Season 4 – RP/results thread

[Liventia]

Event 17: Practice

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:19.867
Session Length:	75 minutes
Nation:         	DCS
Circuit:        	Elbej Historic Site Circuit

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

POS # ▍DRIVER                                          	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                                  	00:01:26.650	00:00:00.000
 2 15 ▍Heinz-Otto Junker                               	00:01:26.689	00:00:00.039
 3 16 ▍Elise Shaw                                      	00:01:26.707	00:00:00.057
 4 88 ▍Ted Pressley                                    	00:01:26.748	00:00:00.097
 5 23 ▍Sakinomi Rikikida                               	00:01:26.751	00:00:00.101
 6 66 ▍Harry Zoomtwat                                  	00:01:26.769	00:00:00.119
 7 44 ▍Rod Gozum                                       	00:01:26.827	00:00:00.177
 8 87 ▍Jama'obo Pegasii                                	00:01:26.849	00:00:00.199
 9 79 ▍Lukas Fichter                                   	00:01:26.850	00:00:00.200
10  3 ▍Sakiteno Kuyara                                 	00:01:26.896	00:00:00.246
11 69 ▍Hoshikari Yume                                  	00:01:26.912	00:00:00.262
12 18 ▍Haru Jukkenna                                   	00:01:26.917	00:00:00.267
13  7 ▍Annelise Devereux                               	00:01:26.925	00:00:00.275
14 21 ▍Chiruno Hakusoe                                 	00:01:26.952	00:00:00.301
15 72 ▍Charyseine Valkyria                             	00:01:26.963	00:00:00.312
16 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian                    	00:01:26.984	00:00:00.334
17 11 ▍Anola Melani                                    	00:01:27.024	00:00:00.374
18 31 ▍Joy Wingelaar                                   	00:01:27.091	00:00:00.441
19 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                                    	00:01:27.327	00:00:00.677
20 35 ▍Indra Vartak                                    	00:01:27.354	00:00:00.704
21 91 ▍Taras Matviyenko                                	00:01:27.414	00:00:00.764
22  4 ▍Athan Lille                                     	00:01:28.021	00:00:01.371
23 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                                 	00:01:28.067	00:00:01.416
24 92 ▍Alex Márquez                                    	00:01:28.120	00:00:01.470
25 41 ▍Edward Rousseau                                 	00:01:28.692	00:00:02.042
26  0 ▍Astigar Armendaritze                            	00:01:28.956	00:00:02.305
27 13 ▍Pedro Carballal                                 	00:01:30.060	00:00:03.410
28  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                               	00:01:30.266	00:00:03.616

---

Event 17: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:19.867
Qualifying Type:	One Shot
Nation:         	DCS
Circuit:        	Elbej Historic Site Circuit

POS # ▍DRIVER                                          	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1  3 ▍Sakiteno Kuyara                                 	00:01:20.750	00:00:00.000
 2 23 ▍Sakinomi Rikikida                               	00:01:20.798	00:00:00.048
 3 15 ▍Heinz-Otto Junker                               	00:01:20.925	00:00:00.175
 4 31 ▍Joy Wingelaar                                   	00:01:20.930	00:00:00.180
 5 87 ▍Jama'obo Pegasii                                	00:01:20.993	00:00:00.242
 6 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                                  	00:01:21.061	00:00:00.310
 7 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                                    	00:01:21.098	00:00:00.348
 8 21 ▍Chiruno Hakusoe                                 	00:01:21.128	00:00:00.377
 9 88 ▍Ted Pressley                                    	00:01:21.145	00:00:00.394
10  0 ▍Astigar Armendaritze                            	00:01:21.203	00:00:00.452
11 79 ▍Lukas Fichter                                   	00:01:21.311	00:00:00.560
12 66 ▍Harry Zoomtwat                                  	00:01:21.321	00:00:00.571
13 41 ▍Edward Rousseau                                 	00:01:21.468	00:00:00.717
14 44 ▍Rod Gozum                                       	00:01:21.555	00:00:00.804
15 18 ▍Haru Jukkenna                                   	00:01:21.614	00:00:00.864
16  4 ▍Athan Lille                                     	00:01:21.738	00:00:00.988
17 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                                 	00:01:21.964	00:00:01.214
18 13 ▍Pedro Carballal                                 	00:01:21.967	00:00:01.216
19 16 ▍Elise Shaw                                      	00:01:21.996	00:00:01.246
20  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                               	00:01:22.044	00:00:01.293
21 11 ▍Anola Melani                                    	00:01:22.127	00:00:01.377
22 92 ▍Alex Márquez                                    	00:01:22.419	00:00:01.669
23 91 ▍Taras Matviyenko                                	00:01:22.481	00:00:01.731
24 72 ▍Charyseine Valkyria                             	00:01:22.949	00:00:02.199
25  7 ▍Annelise Devereux                               	00:01:23.162	00:00:02.411
26 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian                    	00:01:23.168	00:00:02.418
27 35 ▍Indra Vartak                                    	00:01:23.909	00:00:03.159
28 69 ▍Hoshikari Yume                                  	00:01:24.093	00:00:03.342

[Tumbra]

After the snowbanks of Nykipiflugpuu, the Odrioyan Desert might have been the furthest thing away from the ice-covered snowbanks. Hot, arid and altogether uncomfortable, Ted found himself regretting his complaints about the Nykipiflugpuu chills. The dry heat and the sand would be bad for the cars, too. But at least it was as far away from Tumbra as humanly possible.

Ted managed to get the car in tune with him again during Practice, not pushing too hard while getting the correct setup (or as close to it) for the track. The Kaylan, being an aggressive car, would be at a slight disadvantage on this slightly more technical track — but he hoped he'd be able to make up for it with his own innate prowess for technicality as a driver. Setting the fourth fastest time was promising, but Junker had set second — and now he felt just a bit more pressure to do one better.

For all his claims about denying being in a championship battle, Ted had been paying lots of attention to the other three drivers atop the standings — Anola, Junker and Laukkanen. He wasn't worried about Anola — not in the sense of fear, but more of the sense that he'd support her if push came to shove and he dropped out of the fight — but was more scared of the latter two, who'd each performed spectacularly in the last few races.

Qualifying followed, and he went out 18th, managing to set a decent enough lap to place himself in the top 5. By the end of the session, he'd dropped down to 9th — while his championship competitors were all over the field. The field was still extremely bunched up, however — so it would be anyone's race. 3rd, 9th, 17th and 21st — those would be the positions most people would be looking out for as the season heated up.

310

[Bollonich]

Vreton City Journal

Team Signing Rumours on the rise
Parveen Kulkarni wad the first Bollonichian ever to take part in the WGP2. However her signup in the middle of the season meant that the chances of a team signing her up was rare. However a few weeks after her signing up reports have emerged connecting Parveen Kulkarni to the racing team, Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel or for short EHF. The rumours surrounding this points to a possible singing for Parveen, as the EHF are looking for a new driver to add to their roster. The rumours state that members from the EHF team had actually travelled to Bollonich to meet with Parveen, which is still not to be confirmed. When Parveen’s coach Toruto was asked whether these rumours were true or not, he said that the these are merely rumours and paying heed to these would be beating up the wrong bush. Even though this was outrightly denied by him the probability of this is still extremely high as with the signing still not official, speaking about it would be a fool’s play. If Parveen is able to secure the signing by the team, this will be a great opportunity for her to get some experience, before the next season and other tournaments, and will also be a great step forward in her career and for Bollonischian Racing.

[The Licentian Isles]

What a way to restart the championship after a mixed mid-season break.

Joy found herself running later on in qualifying, which meant that she benefitted from this one-shot format of qualifying for once. Practice had been frustrating, as she placed much further down the order than she knew herself to be capable of, but it all came down to her laps around Elbej in the afternoon. She had found herself much more confident than usual though. Perhaps it was a combination of reaching the podium on Hessington Island, as well as the positive nature of her conversation with Jorn back in Stelburg.

In the end, it had been perhaps her best performance in qualifying since the step-up to WGP2. She felt very comfortable on her flying lap, and it was clear that earlier drivers in the order had really cleared the racing line of sand for her to speed around much of the track. Thanks to that, it would be a second row lock-out in the sprint race for TMW: she’d posted a time only five thousandths behind her teammate Heinz.

With Heinz having qualified in the top three, she watched as, once again, the Teus driver was interviewed by the multiverse’s media while she waited in the garage. She found herself wanting to have a word with him and catch up. They’d had their conversations while doing runs in the simulator back at home base, but with both on the second row for a feature race, and honestly in a good position to improve the team’s record in this part of the weekend, she felt like a chat would benefit the both of them.

“Hey Heinz, good run out there today! I almost had you at the end.” She chuckled, and he responded in kind, as they fist bumped. She could see similarities between the two of them, and that had definitely helped in their positive relationship.

“Yeah, we were pretty close together!” He smiled and sat down in front of the garage where Joy had taken a seat, keeping an eye on any work that was going on on her car before the feature race tomorrow. “Just Kuyara and Rikikida ahead of us right?”

“Aye, looks that way.” She couldn’t remember coming up against either driver a huge amount so far, and it would be strange to be battling it out with the SOC and VSK drivers at the start of the race. “How are you feeling now that we’re back to championship races?”

“There’s a lot to do isn’t there!” She nodded as Heinz continued. “I think we’re in a good position for both the driver and team championships really: let’s just keep up what we’re doing.”

“For sure.” She tapped on her helmet, placed next to her on the wall. “I mean, if push comes to shove and there’s something I can do to help you in the driver’s standings, then I’ll be right there to do it. I won’t take anyone out obviously!” She laughed, realising she’d stated the obvious a little.

“I appreciate that: I doubt the crashing will be needed!” A chuckle again. “Getting some wins would really help draw Pressley back in, but that’s down to me, not you.”

“True. We both know the car is good enough: let’s just make sure that our fathers stay out of the way eh?” She didn’t know if a joke was the right way to broach this potentially sensitive topic: she’d seen the negative side of Heinz and Gotthard’s relationship a couple of times since joining the team. She only realised it after the comment had left her lips though.

Dammit Joy.

[Diarcesia]

WGP2 Race of the Desert
Qualifying

The weather

Qualifying begins for the first championship event of the second half of WGP2 Season Four.

Positive vibes flow through the air as the opening ceremony gets underway in the Elbej Historic Site circuit. Meanwhile, Aldauren, clad in black, stands before the assembled team members, with Artur at his side. He addresses them in the garage.

"Good morning, everyone," he begins cordially, "It is a pleasure to be here with you today in Diarcesia. I should have brought this up earlier, but the subject matter of what we want to do next was broached yesterday, after practice. We have some items that need to be taken in mind, and I believe that these are very important. Pay close attention to each others' feedback given the unusual conditions of the track here. This I say as someone who raced here many times successfully."

Later, before the drivers go out for the qualifying session, the team principal gets to have a few minutes to meet with Indra. The Pratapghadi news outlet FIRESPORTS.COM puts out a piece regarding him and his apparent difficulty in putting a consistent performance in PB-Viska. Aldauren has read the piece and makes it known to Indra that he has the team's full confidence in his abilities. Notwithstanding that, he also recognizes that Indra appears to be bottled up and has been unusually quiet recently. Aldauren quickly asks, "Indra, is something bothering you? Don't hesitate to let us know. We'll help to the best of our abilities. Or are you thinking about what happens in the next races? If this is the case, try not to overthink. You are well-versed in the fundamentals of driving, try to give your instincts a chance to react to split-second decisions."

Will Indra agree with him? All Aldauren can do is make an educated guess. Maybe it is some personal problems he is dealing with. Or probably it is just that he needs some sleep.

"My office door is open, don't hesitate to reach out anytime," Aldauren continues.

---

To: Laura Haukanna <...>; Indra Vartak <...>
From: Aldauren Ginintella <aldauren.ginintella@pryforsbilar.dc>

---

Dear Laura, Indra,
I am writing to you to wish you a happy day. We have now reached the halfway point of the season, and I am very glad that we all learn new things from one another, just like the rest of the members of the team.

Overall have had a great season so far, and the success that has exceeded expectations is a great achievement. I sincerely thank you for being a part of it, for your hard work, dedication, and passion.

After all the events in the Elbej Historic Site circuit conclude, I will linger a bit in the headquarters in Pryfurium. I will try to be back just before the practice session in Crossbay. I might bring some news with me. For now, I must of course, focus on doing my part in helping you grab the most points as you can.

Sincerely,
Aldauren

[500 words]

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Elbej, Diarcesia

“It was a great session for the team, we’re all really excited, and the hard work continues this weekend. I think we’re in great position for a strong result here.”

Heinz-Otto Junker stepped away from the media scrum after the qualifying session at the Elbej Historic Site Circuit quite satisfied with himself. Second in free practice, and now starting third on the grid - one of his best qualifying sessions to date.

The Elbej circuit was one that was difficult to overtake on, too, meaning that the high qualifying position was even more valuable. And with a second-row lockout for TMW, and rivals in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships starting further down the grid, it was a great set-up for the weekend’s race. Having teammate Joy Wingelaar start beside him gave the team more strategy options, and meant the two would be fighting together for those steps on the podium.

This was going to be one of the biggest races of the season - if TMW, and Heinz himself, were really going to take the championship fight down the stretch, they needed as many points as possible out of this weekend.

Speaking of which, here was Joy now. The two had developed a friendly relationship over the course of the season, and Heinz had been happy to see her up on the podium at her home race the week before.

The two chatted a bit, talking about their qualifying laps - the pair had been separated by only five thousandths, a virtually negligible difference between them. Joy joked that she could help Heinz in the drivers’ championship race, he laughed and said that crashing wouldn’t be necessary.

Heinz was beginning to feel a bit of the pressure of being involved in the title race - he knew he was the underdog, with Ted Pressley a decent margin ahead of him. But at the same time, he knew he needed to get this second half of the season off to a strong start to have any hope of reeling the Tumbran in.

“True. We both know the car is good enough: let’s just make sure that our fathers stay out of the way eh?” Heinz could sense a bit of nerves from Joy after she made a little joke here. Heinz didn’t know quite how to react at first.

It was obvious to everyone that Gotthard Junker could be… a presence. Heinz certainly knew that, and wasn’t going to hide it. He chuckled to himself before answering: “Haha, that might be our biggest challenge of all! It’s good to know they care, but doesn’t make it any easier!”

He smiled again as he looked down at his phone. “Speaking of, here’s mine now. I’ll catch you later Joy, excited for tomorrow!”

Heinz walked over to the back of the TMW garage, in his room, and took the phone call from his father. Before he could get a word, his father began to speak.

“Heinz, amazing lap today, really good performance.”

“Thanks dad, I-”

“You need that win tomorrow, Heinz.”

“We’re giving it our best, I think it’s definitely possible.”

“It is possible, and that’s why it has to happen. Look, I was never involved in too many championship fights back in my day - but one thing I do know, is you can’t throw away points when you have a shot at them. This might be your best - and only - opportunity to really gain on Pressley.”

“Yep.”

“Get it done.”

With that, the call hung up. Heinz appreciated his father’s directness. But he didn’t feel like he needed any more pressure on him before what was shaping up to be the biggest race of the season. Just have to channel it into the car tomorrow, he thought.

[Togonistan]

Elbej Historic Site Circuit
Qualifying

Following the mid-season break, the show went on. Over the course of the three non-championship races, Kaylan's engineers had acquired a lot of valuable data and the team went on to the race in Diarcesia with some minor upgrades on the car's suspension. Simulations indicated that the upgrades should give drivers a little bit more smoothness as they hit the kerbs in corners, thus allowing for smoother corner exits. Feedback given by Ted and Anola during free practice, which the team had spent focusing on race simulations as usually, had been positive and hopes were high as the team was ready for qualifying.

Once again, one-shot qualifying was in order, meaning that it was hit or miss situation for the drivers. Xander and Manu had their eyes on the pit monitors as they watched Anola head out for her flying lap. The start was promising, however, as the Chromatik entered the third corner, ironically named Nasty Right, a slight misjudgement had caused her brakes lock up, thus costing valuable time for her. Despite her quick recovery, it wasn't enough to recover the one-second gap that had formed with drivers on top of the timings. Perhaps it had been Anola's time off that had made it hard for her to get back into the rhythm?

Next up, it was Ted heading out for his run. The Tumbran had a decent run around the track and finished a few hundredths behind Junker. With both cars back in the garage, it was time to wait and see the rest of cars having their flying laps. With the late runners Kuyara and Rikikida managing to use the rubbered-in track to their advantage and managing to knock Junker down from the top spot, it was eventually decided. Ted would start the tomorrow's race from P9, Anola from P21. After the qualifying, Kaylan's team gathered for another one of their team meetings.

Xander waited for everyone to take their seats, before he started: ''Okay, listen up! Before I start talking about tomorrow's race, I have an old story for you all.'' He made a brief pause and looked at everyone's faces, before continuing: ''Once upon a time, there was a fisherman living in a tiny village. Every morning, he would go out, take a seat on a river bank and cast his rod. At first, he managed to catch nothing but small fish. But he stood determined and as the time went on, he learnt during the process. He started carefully adjusting his bait each time before casting his rod. One day, he caught a big fish. Next day, he caught a bigger one. And then, he caught the biggest fish anyone in the village had ever seen. He was praised as a hero. But, the fisherman got blinded by his success. He started thinking of nothing but the biggest fish out there. It halved his decision-making and he became clumsy. He didn't properly adjust his bait anymore, he lost his focus. As a result, the fisherman never caught a big fish anymore and over time, everyone in the village forgot about him again.''

Xander made another pause, before continuing: ''What I'm trying to say is, we're currently top of the standings. It has been a continuous process of determination, and it has come due to calm and consistent performances we have done both on and off track. And if we want to keep it up through the second half of the season, we must stay true to what has brought us that far. During tomorrow's race, I want to see the same attitude we have show so far. Ted, Anola, stay true to your calm and consistent driving style. I know you both are capable of doing that. Wait for opportunities to open, then strike. If there is a clear chance for a podium, we will take it. But the goal is, and always must be, to bring the car home. If that results in a good spot for the sprint race, that's great. If that results in points, even better. Pit crew, let's keep up the stellar performances we have shown. Any questions? Excellent. Let's keep adjusting our baits for the rest of the season.''

[Chromatika]

After Elbej Historic Site Circuit Qualifying
Kaylan Hotel Rooms

Moments after the team meeting post qualifying, Anola found herself in a small conference room with Vladimir, her race engineer. It had been a while since they'd worked together again, and she was visibly upset after the dismal qualifying that had seen her in twenty-first place.

"It was your first race back," Vladimir tried to console her, "One slight miscalculation in a very crowded field. I wouldn't read too much into it."

"You don't understand," she stammered, "I misjudged how much strain I could put on the elbow and had to correct halfway through the turn. If it wasn't for the injury, I would've been fine."

"Spilled water now," corrected Vladimir, "No use thinking about what could've gone differently or what should've happened, we can still make the best of this. We just need to get you in prime position for sprint, which we know you're really good at. Don't count yourself out yet."

"You don't get it, do you?" she yelled, heat flushing her cheeks. Vladimir turned around fervently to see if there was anyone else in the room, but they were thankfully alone.

"Darian (Vilau) did extremely well in the non-championship races. There's talk in Togonistan about why I should return at all when Darian is doing so well. To have my first race back be so dismal is not the way to pay back Xander's trust in me!"

Vladimir looked at the young Chromatik. To be so young with so much responsibility on her shoulders... Anola had carried it well but the injury and the break had managed to shake her. He had to help.

Trusting that they had made enough of a connection, he put a hand on her shoulder.

"No, you listen to me," he stated calmly, getting her to look at him, "I've worked with Xander for a while now. Is he a nice guy? Yes. However, he's also a businessman, and he doesn't invest in people he doesn't believe in. Why do you think Darian didn't get a spot on the team to begin with? It's because Xander decided that you had more of an upside, more potential than Darian, as bright as he is. Why do you think that we welcomed you back with open arms after your break? It's because we believe in your driving."

She seemed to simmer down a bit, and he decided to press his advantage.

"I'm not saying it will be easy to juggle your injury with the intensity of the drives. I'm not saying we're going to be successful or that we will win the season. I'm just asking you to trust that everyone else will do their job. Trust that Xander will approach you if your driving falls off. Trust that the pit crew has your back. Trust that your physical therapist will do her best to keep the elbow from being a factor. Trust that you and I will be able to compensate and work together as a team like we have done all season long. Trust that you are a driver who can make adjustments on the fly. Can you do that for me?" he implored.

Anola held his gaze for a few more seconds, and then relented, pressure easing off her shoulders.

"I... think I can do that," she acquiesced.

"Good," he answered, and gave her a smile that she returned.

"Now, let's go ahead and look at that data from Practice and Qualifying," he began, putting forth a clipboard. The best thing to do now was to get her mind on other things, things that she could control.

Vladimir knew as well as anyone that racing was a sport in which confidence was everything. He sincerely hoped that he had helped Anola keep some of hers. Otherwise, they were in bigger trouble than what one injured elbow could cause.

And it was his job to head that off for everyone.

650 words.

[TJUN-ia]

WGP2, Season 3
Round 6
Elbej Historic Site Circuit
The Odrioyan Desert, Diarcesia

The season returned in a desert as the hot seat under Batu Tüvshinbayar returned to its normal temperature. He certainly built up a little bit of confidence after good performances in the non-championship races, but he knew that the return of the regular season would be the true test as to if he can even manage a point or two for NN. The Elbej Historic Site Circuit was the sight of a big battle in a war and today, Batu would fight a war as well: against his own mind.

The practice session would be unacceptable, simple as that. He could get used to The Outcrops at all and had to settle for last of the pack, 3.6 seconds back on Laura Haukanna and 3.3 back on teammate Lukas Fitcher in 9th. One-shot qualifying would chaos to the wind as Sakiteno Kuyara beat Sakinomi Rikikida and Heinz-Otto Junker to pole and NN would find themselves in an interesting situation, with Lukas in 11th and Batu in 20th. His pace was certainly better than in the morning, but he knew he still had work to do. He always seemed to have work to do in this series and it was certainly taking a toll, but he had to push on for the sake of Shinebaishin and his entire career. No way he was giving up, not at all...

[Trans-Dniesters]

(OOC: A continuation of the RP posted before the current cutoff.)

Meanwhile, Gatutin walked back towards the conference room which he had just departed when he received word of Matviyenko's arrival. Inside the conference room were his sister Olga Semyonovna Gatutina, and two members of the board of directors of the Urotovsky-Gatutin Machine Building Enterprise: Yakov Leonidovich Yurievsky and Gleb Antonovich Marinov. "The prodigal son has returned, I assume?" Yurievsky asked.

"You assume right," Vasily nodded. "Now, where were we?"

"You were talking about protesting those tank treads that Nexus slapped onto their eight wheelers for the Iskohtirinkyy race," Marinov reminded him.

"Ah, yes, of course," Vasily said as he retook his seat at the head of the table. "Well, the legal department is still going through just which exact part of the rules that those things are breaking, but we've already lodged our formal complaint with the WGPC over the matter, just so Nexus won't be able to pull the same shit again should Iskohtirinkyy become part of the next season's calendar as a points-paying race."

"I still don't know why we're bothering to complain about this," Yurievsky said with a shake of his head. "So they put on treads while everyone else was on wets with chains. So what? Nexus didn't win this race or anything, did they?"

"Both their cars managed to finish the race, didn't they?" Olga asked back. "And one of them almost got on to the podium as well. I'd say that that was a pretty successful exploitation of a loophole."

"My sister's right," Vasily said. "And since nobody else seems to be concerned with neutering this potential advantage, I've decided that we should be doing it ourselves. And now we move on to the second matter at hand: driver moves."

"Oh, please, not again!" Yurievsky cried out, raising his hands above his head theatrically. "How many times will I have to tell you this, Vasily Semyonovich? Major Zoomtwat holds that second seat for this season. No ifs, no buts. It's final."

"I haven't even said anything yet!" Vasily said equally defensively. "However, I do like to point out that given the sponsorship problems that seem to be hovering around MontagneF1 at the moment, it seems like it would be a good opportunity to, perhaps, make an offer to them about a certain driver?"

"We are not going after Vialiv, Vasily!" Yurievsky shouted. "Aside from the fact that Major Zoomtwat already has that seat locked down for the entirety of the season, trying to sign Vialiv now, with her results, will not look good upon us as a team."

"We're not approaching her because of her results," Vasily retorted. "We're approaching Vialiv because she performed well during our pre-preseason tests and will be a better long term prospect than the Major."

"Why are you so determined in getting a new driver in this team quickly? Is it because Zoomtwat is proving such a distraction to your 'first driver'?" Yurievsky asked.

"And why are you so determined in keeping the major in that seat for as long as you can?" Vasily shot back. "What's so important about this man? What does he provide us that makes it so vital that you overrule me in the driver signing and that he remain here for the whole season? I'm sorry, Yakov Leonidovich, but I just don't understand what is happening to this team now."

For once it seemed as if Yurievsky had no reply or retort ready for Vasily's question. He looked at the cigarette in his hand and then placed it on the ashtray in front of him. "I guess now is probably as good a time as any to inform you of this," he said softly. "It's the middle of the season now, after all. Beyond it now, probably. Anyway, enough waffling from this old man. Have any of you heard of the Scepter of Saint Bogdan?" he asked.

"Isn't that the thing that Saint Bogdan made the Hatays kiss when he first tried to convert them to Orthodoxy?" Olga Gatutina asked back. "But then again, isn't all that supposed to be just a legend?"

"Indeed," Vasily nodded. "And what does this have to do with WGP2?"

"It appears that there may be a grain of truth inside of the legend," Yurievsky replied. "A friend of a friend of a friend who works in a very reputable organization claims that not only is the Scepter of Saint Bogdan real, but that it also could be in the possession of one Major Harry Zoomtwat."

(747 words, not including the OOC notes)

[Aboveland]

Elbej Historic Site Circuit
Almur, Diarcesia

Janne sits idly in his Chase Cutter, conscious of the sound of his breathing. A light billow of wind blows a hazy handful of snow across the pit lane, with some of the particles curling back into the garage and landing on the nose of his Nexus Racing machine. With his back to him, against the pit wall and sheltered with a light polyethylene poncho against the tiny swirling projectiles, sits Antti, receiving the last of the briefing from Gertrude before the one-shot qualifying session gets underway. He’s slotted to get out onto the track after Ted Pressley, the current championship leader, and by the looks of it, the championship contenders so far are rather spread out on the timetable.

And Janne sighs, then clearing his throat and bringing his hands up to his helmet, to slap his head from side to side. With the rise of Kaylan and TMW, the Nimban team’s sole title contender in himself had somewhat fallen off the radar of his rivals. He’d already fallen quite a way behind the Tumbran in the standings, and both TMW’s lead home driver and Pressley’s teammate, Anola Melani, were better positioned to strike at the sharp end of the title fight than himself. Though in practice it did seem like a four way battle, any further slumps or slip-ups would make quick work to get rid of his bid to take his maiden title.

He sighs again, deeper than before, as if trapped in his own body and unable to escape from that sinking feeling that, sometimes, feels tied to his feet. The closing races of the season, bar Elbej, do give him a sliver of hope. Next race in the Wardship would surely be his to lose; then Yakumicha had proved successful in the past for Aboveland, and both the tracks at Nekoni and Liventia looked to be balanced in his favor, too. And yet, though all isn’t lost, he feels as if he’s already peeled away from the title race—as if dismissed and cosnidered a long shot.

But before he can delve into, and drown in, his thoughts, however, Antti turns around from the pitwall and waves him out of the garage. “You’re up, poika,” he says, redundantly. Another sandy gust of wind blows into his headset, and he spits a couple of times before cutting his microphone and visibly retching a fat cough to his side, his back against the wind.

His Chase Cutter flutters to life in an instant, and with a feather’s touch he gracefully wafts out onto the asphalt.

“Okay,” continues Antti, once Janne has exited the pitlane and begins to warm his tyres. The Abovian spots a clear, clean, rubbered-in line on the track as he begins his outlap. To its sides, wisps of sand and dust litter the track.

“We have some wind blowing east which you have to be weary about, okay?” Janne hums his acknowledgement of the message, swerving side to side while sticking to the clean line as he runs down to turn three. “It’ll be headwind between turns three and twelve and tailwind between thirteen and two. Watch the car around the bits where the wind crosses you—Imagination should keep you steady but you never know.”
Janne audibly affirms the information again. He briefly snaps out of his mechanical replies—be more rude!

“Perfect,” Janne vocalizes. Better. “How are the tyres?”

Antti waits a moment before replying. He hums into his message. “Hot. Lay off the tire warming.” A gust of wind muffles his voice, and as it subsides, he continues. “This place is hellish.”

Janne agrees, as drops of sweat run down his eyebrows and shoot off towards his visor as he slows for turn twelve. Slow and steadily, he circumvents the final three corners of the track, and maximizes his exit speed towards the main straight to start his run.

He barrels down to turn one, and the speed on his HUD—in deliciously Nimban fashion, printed in value and both lateral and longitudinal components—shows him rocketing down the straight a couple kilometers an hour quicker than he’d gotten used to during practice. Perhaps the wind has picked up, he reckons.

For Welcome to Elbej, all he has to do is let off the accelerator pedal, and let the regenerative braking slow the Chase Cutter down just enough. He’s delicate on entry but violent on exit, though it’s not such a huge deal: Imagination keeps him planted and on the clean line towards turn two, his lateral speed component reading practically zero.

The braking for turn two is stronger than before, and he pants as the force of the eight wheels’ stopping power throws him against his harness. Again, a couple sweat drops fly onto the visor, the teal fighter-jet display condensed into the superficial area of his salty heat juice.

Braking for turn three, the lateral winds bear their teeth for the first time. As he presses the brake pedal, his lateral speed component picks up for an instant. Though his speed, and stability, is ultimately unaffected—God save Imagination—it sets a nasty precedent.

The Abovian starts his charge past turn four and into the twistier bit of the racetrack, where he grunts as he begins to slow for turn five. His first time differential comes through; not from Antti, whom Janne had asked to remain quiet through the hot lap, but on his screen, in a contrasting orange. He’s eight hundredths from provisional pole. Not great.

Past turn five, Janne weaves the Chase Cutter through the Outercrops. The scenery beside him is staggering, but that he’s had the time to take in the sights bodes badly for his pace. In effect, despite the assisted steering being light, though not without feel, the car feels cumbersome around the contorted turns six, seven, eight and nine. He can’t shake his head, as his full neck strength is dedicated to keeping his eyes on the road, but he’s not super happy. The extra unsprung weight from the four extra wheels hits him like an anvil on the more technical tracks of the season.

Despite his worries, however, he brakes late for turn ten and checks his time differential for sector two. His gap ahead has remained steady, and while he rounds turn eleven he quips into the intercom.

“Antti, how’s the wind?”

The elder, still quiet, beams the information onto his screen. Minimal. Good.

The still air breathes some confidence into Janne’s chest. Rocketing out towards turn twelve, he brakes late around the quasi-hairpin, and sticks religiously to the inside of the Crater Rim, committed to turning turn thirteen into a square right, and not a sharp hairpin. But as he brakes for the pen-pen-penultimate corner, his lateral speed component spiking at first, then stabilising, the wind reading picks up. The gust blows the car back as he starts to turn into the apex, stopping him just early of the turn-in point, and his line is shoddy through and out towards turn fourteen. As the wind, now of the tail variety, picks up, he overshoots his next braking, and drifts off onto the dirty line through the corner and up to turn fifteen. With just a single corner left, he grips his steering wheel harder and bites the insides of his cheeks, and crosses the line with a plume of dust in his wake.

Antti remains silent. Janne does the same, an unholy batch of expletives brewing in his stomach.

[Liventia]

CUTOFF

for the WGP2 Race of the Desert - Feature Race at Elbej Historic Site Circuit

[Featherstonehaugh Cholmondeley]

Sid wasn’t sure why his magnificently-moustached master was in such a foul mood. He was tromping about in his boots – and a man of Harry’s girth, when he put his foot down, made himself heard. The ceiling in Sid’s room was shaking. Of course, the ceiling beneath Harry’s room was frequently shaking for different reasons – but this time, it was to the unmistakeable of Harry’s determined pacing.

Sid, wearing a faintly ridiculous nightgown and a less-than-faintly ridiculous nightcap, rolled from bed with a sigh, and prepared to change and dress so he could attend to Harry. His master needed a good night’s sleep before the race, given his middle-rank starting position, and the likelihood of his being stuck behind that dull plodder Fichter if he didn’t, as Harry would doubtless put it, give him a thorough whoopsie up the jacksie out of the starter grid.

Having changed, Sid prepared a tonic – a splash and a half of water, two splashes and two halves of whisky – and glided up to attend to Harry. He rapped firmly on the door and then entered.

Harry – stark naked as the day he was born (if with a slightly less impressive moustache) except for a pair of boots – was marching around the room. Sid’s eyebrow quivered one eighth of an inch before he processed to the table to set down the drink. “Sir, I thought a sleeping draft might…”

“No time for that, old bean. Lost the damned thing, didn’t I?”

“The race, sire? I would hardly say ‘lost’; rather, that you have adroitly positioned yourself to give yourself the element of surprise over unwary…”

“Oh, stuff it, Sid. You know what I mean. My bat.”

Sid honestly did not know what his master meant, but would of course never admit to such a lapse. After a moment’s pause: “I’m sure the kitchen would be willing to prepare an alternative…”

“My cricket bat, you confounded nincompoop, damn and blast it! Fell into the sea over the… thingy.” Harry’s tenuous grasp of geography meant he wasn’t quite sure into which churning seas said cricket bat had tumbled, only that it had been midway through recounting the story of his dashing hundred in the match at Ladies’. Sid, to his shame, had fallen asleep, and failed to notice.

“Ah. And sir wishes to now engage in batting practice.” A sly glance at the wall clock. “At this hour?”

“Yes I bloody well do, Sid.”

“I shall endeavour to find a suitable replacement,” said Sid calmly.

---

Sid had been rooting around in the hold of the biplane for the best part of an hour. Walrus tusks, bottles of assorted spirits, scrolls of parchment, rifles… but no cricket bats. Sid sighed. He hated the damnable game. Blamed it for the state of the Raj, puffed up administrators wilting in their ridiculous white clothes and chasing around little balls like children while cobras coiled in the long grass, ready to strike.

His hand brushed an object that resembled the handle of a bat. He gave it a tug and wrenched it clear of a pile of furs. A long, heavy pole. No, he shook his head, maybe a baseball bat, or rounders if he chopped the sparkly bit with the bird on it off the top. But no good for cricket. He carelessly tossed the stick back into the hold with a thump, and resumed searching for a suitable replacement…

[Liventia]

Event 17: Race

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	55
(Drivers retiring on lap 49 or earlier not classified)	
Nation:         	DCS
Circuit:        	Elbej Historic Site Circuit
Event:                	WGP2 Race of the Desert - Feature Race
Safety Car on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:        	28

POS  # ▍DRV Name                                    Team                                   	Time      	Pts	Fastest Lap	
  1 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                          Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin        	01:24:53.419	25		
  2 23 ▍RIK Sakinomi Rikikida                       VSK-Maarukanna Racing                   	00:00:04.411	18		
  3 15 ▍JUN Heinz-Otto Junker                       Teusbank TMW Rennsport                  	00:00:57.219	14		
  4 66 ▍ZOO Harry Zoomtwat                          Urotovsky-Gatutin                       	00:00:58.985	11		
  5 87 ▍PEG Jama'obo Pegasii                        VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP           	00:01:06.250	8		
  6 31 ▍WIN Joy Wingelaar                           Teusbank TMW Rennsport                  	00:01:09.369	5		
  7 13 ▍CRB Pedro Carballal                         Scuderia Orange Cow                     	00:01:15.265	3		
  8 41 ▍ROU Edward Rousseau                         Equipo Telebuenas-BA                    	Laps Down: 1	1		
  9 35 ▍VAR Indra Vartak                            Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin        	Laps Down: 1			
 10 79 ▍FIC Lukas Fichter                           Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis            	Laps Down: 1			
 11 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                            Kaylan Racing Team                      	Laps Down: 1			
 12 18 ▍JKN Haru Jukkenna                           Nexus Racing                            	Laps Down: 1			
 13 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                         Nexus Racing                            	Laps Down: 1			
 14 11 ▍MEL Anola Melani                            Kaylan Racing Team                      	Laps Down: 1			
 15 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                            VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP           	Laps Down: 1			
 16 21 ▍HKS Chiruno Hakusoe                         VSK-Maarukanna Racing                   	Laps Down: 1			
 17 91 ▍MTV Taras Matviyenko                        Urotovsky-Gatutin                       	Laps Down: 2			
 18 44 ▍GOZ Rod Gozum                               Equipo Telebuenas-BA                    	Laps Down: 2			
 19  4 ▍LIL Athan Lille                             Bitten Heroes-MW Racing                 	Laps Down: 2			
 20  9 ▍TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar                       Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis            	Laps Down: 2			
 21 69 ▍YUM Hoshikari Yume                          Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel    	Laps Down: 2			
 22 40 ▍KOW Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian            Fireline Motorsports                    	Laps Down: 2			
 23 72 ▍VAL Charyseine Valkyria                     PrismRiver Racing                       	Laps Down: 2	 + 1	1:23.867	
 24 92 ▍MAR Alex Márquez                            Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel    	Laps Down: 3			
 25  7 ▍DEV Annelise Devereux                       PrismRiver Racing                       	Laps Down: 3			
 26 16 ▍SHW Elise Shaw                              Bitten Heroes-MW Racing                 	Laps Down: 3			
DNF  3 ▍KUY Sakiteno Kuyara                         Scuderia Orange Cow                     	Ret. lap 44			
DNF  0 ▍AMD Astigar Armendaritze                    Fireline Motorsports                    	Ret. lap 26

Drivers' standings

Pos # ▍DRV Name                                     Team [Engine]                                                  Tyres                                   Pts
 1 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                             Kaylan Racing Team [Kaylan]                                    Deyoze                                  87
 2 15 ▍JUN Heinz-Otto Junker                        Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                   Deyoze                                  85
 3 11 ▍MEL Anola Melani                             Kaylan Racing Team [Kaylan]                                    Deyoze                                  65
 4 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                          Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                    In Motion                               60
 5 40 ▍KOW Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian             Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                 Deyoze                                  55
 6 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                             VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                        Deyoze                                  54
 7 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                           Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                     Phoenician                              53
 8 35 ▍VAR Indra Vartak                             Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                     Phoenician                              49
 9  7 ▍DEV Annelise Devereux                        PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  43
10 66 ▍ZOO Harry Zoomtwat                           Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  42
11 31 ▍WIN Joy Wingelaar                            Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                   Deyoze                                  40
12 21 ▍HKS Chiruno Hakusoe                          VSK-Maarukanna Racing [VSK-Rotary]                             Deyoze                                  39
13 92 ▍MAR Alex Márquez                             Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel [Preston]                 Deyoze                                  35
14 87 ▍PEG Jama'obo Pegasii                         VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                        Deyoze                                  32
15  0 ▍AMD Astigar Armendaritze                     Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                 Deyoze                                  28
16 23 ▍RIK Sakinomi Rikikida                        VSK-Maarukanna Racing [VSK-Rotary]                             Deyoze                                  24
16 41 ▍ROU Edward Rousseau                          Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                             Deyoze                                  24
18 79 ▍FIC Lukas Fichter                            Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis [Preston]                         Deyoze                                  22
19 91 ▍MTV Taras Matviyenko                         Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  21
20  4 ▍LIL Athan Lille                              Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                              Stellenbosch                            20
21 44 ▍GOZ Rod Gozum                                Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                             Deyoze                                  19
22 72 ▍VAL Charyseine Valkyria                      PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  14
23  9 ▍TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar                        Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis [Preston]                         Deyoze                                  13
24 69 ▍YUM Hoshikari Yume                           Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel [Preston]                 Deyoze                                  6
25 18 ▍JKN Haru Jukkenna                            Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                    In Motion                               5
25 13 ▍CRB Pedro Carballal                          Scuderia Orange Cow [Preston]                                  Deyoze                                  5
27  3 ▍KUY Sakiteno Kuyara                          Scuderia Orange Cow [Preston]                                  Deyoze                                  1
28 16 ▍SHW Elise Shaw                               Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                              Stellenbosch                            0

Team standings

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                                  Tyres                                   Pts
  1 TGN ▍Kaylan Racing Team [Kaylan]                                    Deyoze                                  152
  2 STL ▍Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                   Deyoze                                  125
  3 DCS ▍Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                     Phoenician                              102
  4 VSG ▍VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                        Deyoze                                  86
  5 ETN ▍Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                 Deyoze                                  83
  6 NIM ▍Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                    In Motion                               65
  7 AUR ▍VSK-Maarukanna Racing [VSK-Rotary]                             Deyoze                                  63
  8 PDN ▍Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  63
  9 HDR ▍PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                    Deyoze                                  57
 10 FID ▍Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                             Deyoze                                  43
 11 SWR ▍Erkuns-Hohnschich-Furzeine-Motospiel [Preston]                 Deyoze                                  41
 12 NYK ▍Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis [Preston]                         Deyoze                                  35
 13 LIS ▍Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                              Stellenbosch                            20
 14 CBP ▍Scuderia Orange Cow [Preston]                                  Deyoze                                  6

Sprint race starting grid
 1  MEL
 2  LAU
 3  JKN
 4  PRE
 5  FIC
 6  VAR
 7  ROU
 8  CRB
 9  WIN
10  PEG
11  ZOO
12  JUN
13  RIK
14  HAU
15  VIA
16  HKS
17  MTV
18  GOZ
19  LIL
20  TUV
21  YUM
22  KOW
23  VAL
24  MAR
25  DEV
26  SHW
27  KUY
28  AMD

[Chromatika]

After Elbej Historic Site Circuit Feature Race

As Anola got out of her #11 vehicle after the Feature Race and headed toward the Kaylan area, she caught a glimpse of Vladimir with a smirk on his face. Before he could say anything, she went up to him and lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"You get one I told you so, all right?" she quipped jokingly.

He took the comment in stride and smiled warmly.

"You passed seven drivers and got in position for what you do best. I'd call that a success given where you started," he stated flatly.

She nodded, gathering her thoughts, before replying, "You're right. Also, what Bella decided to try out seems to have worked - I barely felt the elbow at all today. Hopefully it will hold up for the rest of the season. I'm hardly going to fret over that, though - like you suggested, I'll count on everyone else to do their jobs and focus on doing mine, which is racing to the best of my ability."

Vladimir held her gaze for a few seconds before slowly nodding, "Good choice. Besides, you have a heck of a crew behind you, you know."

She smiled back at him before acquiescing, "True that, true that. So, how do you think I'll be able to make up for this race with a better showing on the Sprint Race, hm?"

The two of them headed toward the conference room where they would meet with Xander, Ted, and Simon. They'd discuss what had gone right, what had gone wrong, and what the plan was for the next race. With Heinz-Otto Junker getting third place, the gap between him and Ted had shrunk to only two points; team standings were down to a lead of twenty-seven over Teusbank TMW Rennsport. She couldn't help Ted with his personal fight, but she was their best best when it came to Sprint Races to make sure that Kaylan wouldn't leave Diarcesia without scoring a point.

This new purpose gave her focus, and focus was what she needed. It was time to get back to doing what she did best.

350 words + 650 words = 1,000 words

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

From the very first day the team showed up at the Elbej Historic Site track, it seemed like it was going to be another one of those weekends; the setup was going to brutal--half the track at full throttle, the other half a series of increasingly tightened radii corners. With a changeable wind and the added element of sand on the track, off the track, in the air, in the equipment, there were plenty of things that needed to be considered.

"Number one", Paul Valentini began the Thursday night engineering meeting to go through what would need to be done for the following day, "Two sets of the softest tires in held reserve during practice, one for quali, one for the race. Get with the Deyoze boys about how low they will allow pressures on the options. This is one lap quali, so minimal airflow to the brakes and radiators. Let's spend 20 minutes in practice on how much rear wing we can trim out for a bit less drag down the straight. Front end grip and mid gear cornering is what we want to focus on."

Saki was feeling extremely confident during the morning, and was happy overall with the car's balance on this track; for Pedro, it seemed like a continuation of the last couple of races before the break--he was having a hard time finding time to squeeze out of the car, and he was still getting used to the changes that had been made to the rear wing while he was away.

For the afternoon, they added a bit more downforce to the front end and along with the tires and he put in a pretty decent time; Saki went out near the very end and knocked Rikikida off the pole, which held up as the final couple of drivers couldn't manage to break under 1:21. Pedro was happier than he'd been earlier, starting 17th, and if the team opted for a short first stint and a longer middle in a two stop race, he could find himself in good shape with fresh tires for the end.

It appeared as though the momentum from the previous non-points was going to bring the Scuderia home with two points paying positions, until Kuyara was forced to retire from 2nd place with 11 laps to go, a loss of oil pressure denying her a podium for the third straight outing. Pedro got the strategy perfect, lifting him to 7th at the flag, the last car on the lead lap. The sprint races had been a bit of a mixed bag for the team through the season, but the midseason program had been run at the sprint distance, so optimism was high in the garage at the end of the day.

463

[Tumbra]

Eleventh on the grid. He'd won from lower on the grid, but the struggle to keep it on the tricky, technically demanding circuit would be huge. He'd have it all to do today — Anola wouldn't be able to help him lest she managed to leapfrog the entire field, if he even made it up there. Today, as always, would be about trying to scoop up as many points as possible and trying to jostle himself into a decent position for the Sprint Race. With Vialiv in front of him and Armendaritze next to him, it was all about the start on this track — the twisty corners made it difficult to follow a car through, what with the dirty air and all.

But for the second time in two races, the start was less than ideal — and as the field bunched up at the Vicious Right, he felt himself getting boxed in. The run down to the esses wouldn't do him many favours either, as the straight ended before the Kaylan could really stretch its legs — perhaps a consequences of the slightly longer gear ratios he'd gone with before the season began. Ted silently cursed himself for doing that, but it was all too late now, and he'd have to fight his way forward.

As the field crossed the line for the second lap, Ted made up some positions on the main straight. It'd be the main overtaking opportunity he'd be getting all race, and he ruminated as much over the radio. The team knew it was always going to be a tough ask to make up many positions on this circuit, but all he could do was knuckle down and try as hard as he could.

Alas, he couldn't stop both Rousseau and his one-time dogfighting opponent, Major Harry Zoomtwat, from getting past him; the Major seemed to get past the frustrated Tumbran with little difficulty, while almost forcing him off the track — forcing a stream of expletives from his helmet as his off-track excursion kicked up dust into his helmet visor. Ultimately, it was a fruitless race — and Ted could only watch as eventual race winner Haukanna, closely pursued by Rikikida and Junker, passed him. A sense of intense jealousy overwhelmed Ted as Junker sailed past, Ted unable to fight back as the blue flags were waved in his face. He couldn't afford to mess up now, not with Junker pursuing him in the Drivers' Championship and his fears of not living up to his father's expectations.

For as much as he'd told his father that he wouldn't be going outright for the championship, his feelings were still mixed on the matter. For one, the team came first — it always did, and always would so long as he was a Kaylan driver. They had given him a seat when things were looking at their bleakest, after all. But on the other hand, personal glory was oh-so-tempting...

He brought home the car in eleventh — two places down from where he started, but two closer to the start of the grid for the Sprint Race. It'd be an extraordinary battle in it, one that promised far more excitement than the Feature Race as far as the Driver's Championships stood; but he was also on the look-out for any new potential joiners, and Laura Haukanna was looking to be one of them. Anola would be lining up on pole, Janne on third. Ted would be on the wrong side of the second row.

The strategy would be simple — both of them would be trying their absolute hardest to deny the mercurial Aboveian track position in his futuristic Chase Cutter. Bar that, they'd be able to race — and could only hope the TMWs of Wingelaar and Junker, from 9th and 12th on the grid respectively, weren't able to spoil their day. With the gap down to two points for Ted and twenty-seven for Kaylan, this would be a crucial weekend for the marque as they sought to hold on to their thin advantage at the top of both tables.

But there was a sense of confidence amongst the gathered bunch of Anola, Xander, Simon, Vladimir and Ted. They'd come this far now — four wins (five with the win in Xanneria) — and the team atmosphere was good, even if Ted's own personal problems were being masked from the other four. He could only hope they'd recover from the double no-pointer in the Feature Race, and go hell for leather in the Sprint — after all, it was where their run of form began.

It was, however, still anyone's race.

764 + 310 = 1074

[The Licentian Isles]

“That’s P6 Joy, P6, well done. Slow mode on. Heinz P3, so that’s a good points haul for the team.”

She couldn’t help but smile at hearing that the team were in a good position after the first race at Elbej. Ever since her conversation with Jorn back in Stelburg, where it seemed like the desire for her to stay with the team in the long term was mutual, she had become more and more comfortable with the idea that, for this season at least, she could keep her focus on being a team player. Of course, in an ideal world she’d be competing for the drivers’ title too. At this point though, with just under half the season to go, she was 37 points behind Ted Pressley, the leader, and 35 behind her teammate. Her priorities would lie elsewhere for now, with boosting the team as much as she could.

As she watched her teammate lift another bottle of champagne on the podium, she thanked the gods that he had taken her comments after qualifying in good humour. She did have a habit of putting her foot in it from time to time, and even with the positivity in the team at the minute, she figured pissing Heinz off would not be the best way to secure a place in the team going forward. That seemed especially true with just how much noise his father seemed to make around here at times.

She did wonder a little about their relationship. Deep down, she suspected that Gotthard’s gruff way of talking to his son was his own way of motivating him, and he had certainly seemed supportive of Heinz’s successes this season. She considered Heinz a friend at this point though, and she couldn’t help but ponder if this was really the best way to motivate him.

Maybe it was something to do with her own father’s mentality in raising and motivating Joy. He had always been incredibly supportive, not just in practical ways but mentally as well. He was always looking for the silver lining amongst the clouds, to the point that it frustrated Joy. She knew however that when it came down to it, if she had had a father like Gotthard, she may not have made it to the point she was at today.

Was it something to raise, more seriously, with Heinz at some point? She had seen the positive impact that everyone said that Petrus had had on the mentality of the team, and she suspected that Heinz appreciated his positivity too. As much as she’d made jokes about it, maybe it was time to check in on her teammate properly, especially with the pressure that a championship race might be causing.

On the other hand, whatever decision she came to on that front, now was not the time for her to begin plunging into Heinz’s feelings about his father. There were things much closer on the horizon that would challenge the pair of them: namely, the sprint race tomorrow. As much as Kaylan had scored no points today, the sprint would be a different story. Melani was on pole, and Pressley would be on the second row. That meant that her and Heinz would have their work cut out in the shorter race around this desert circuit.

Maybe she would address it on their way to the next race of the season. For now, it was time to get her head down and try and score some more points to keep the team in the fight.

[Trans-Dniesters]

Everyone in UrGa had been told to expect hot conditions in Elbej, but Taras Matviyenko didn't expect things to get this hot.

The circuit was located in the Odrioyan Desert, and temperatures there typically ranged between 25 to 40 degrees Celsius. At least that was what the circuit guide had said. But Taras could swear that things felt even hotter than that. The track temperatures were definitely an obscene number way above the norm. Taras thought he could actually feel the heat from the tarmac radiating through the chassis and right into his rear end. And for someone like him who had spent almost the whole of his life in the cold climate of Pridnestrovia, he felt that the current temperatures were more than enough to make him melt into liquid.

Of course, a high track temperature meant that the tyres were going to be affected as well. The soft compound tyres were almost literally melting as soon as Taras took them out for an out lap. If that was how bad the tire degradation was on just an out lap, Taras didn't even want to imagine the damage an actual flying lap would cause. He managed to do well enough in the first sector, but everything else after that was basically being in no grip central. The medium tyres were hardly any better. To his surprise, it seemed as if it was the hard tyre that looked like it was the best compound to use for the coming one-shot qualification. "I mean, why not? It's worth a gamble, isn't it?" Taras told his engineer.

"If you say so, Taras," the engineer shrugged.

The gamble would turn out to be not worth it. As afternoon arrived over the track and the setting sun allowed the track to cool a little bit, tire management became somewhat easier, and some drivers started slapping on medium and even soft compound tyres to take advantage of the conditions. Unfortunately for UrGa, Taras Matviyenko was not one of those drivers. Perhaps it was because of his internal temperature being thrown out of whack by the heat in Elbej that made him decide to stick with the hards. But what everyone knows happened was that Taras Matviyenko set a pretty poor lap that very much ended his race before it had even begun. And the mood in his side of the garage was pretty subdued as the checkered flag waved with Harry Zoomtwat having lapped him for the second time in the race.

"We'll just try again in the sprint race, Taras," his engineer told him.

"Taras, this is Vasily Semyonovich," Vasily Gatutin said on the radio. "I know that this race has not gone the way you would have wanted once again, so I would like to invite to talk with me after the race. One on one."

"Copy," Taras acknowledged. He didn't know what Gatutin wanted to talk to him about, but it had to be serious if he was willing to say that over the radio.

(503 words + 747 = 1250)

[TJUN-ia]

The Feature Race of the WGP2 Race of the Desert would be a hot and dry affair, where the main aim was both points and managing to get through the race without getting heat exhaustion. Batu Tüvshinbayar thought he was ready for the heat as he made sure his drink supply was as high as possible in time for this hellscape of an event in Diarcesia, but he also knew that he had to perform to his very best despite the heat in order to improve his current situation. Everyone was suffering under the same sun, so blaming it for inaction would impossible today.

In a race where the main enemy was the sun, only 7 drivers would finish on the same lap as the winner, a sign of just how brutal it was out here in Elbej. Laura Haukanna took the flag ahead of Sakinomi Rikikida and Heinz-Otto Junker while Zoomtwat, Pegasii, Wingelaar and Carballal were the others who finished on the lead lap. Edward Rousseau got the final point at a lap down and while Charyseine Valkyria was two laps down in 23rd, he was the one who ended up with the fastest lap overall. Lukas Fitcher gained one spot overall to finish a lap down in 10th while Batu ended up two laps down in 20th, the same place he started an hour or so ago. Considering only two drivers failed to make the end, this race could've been a lot worse for Batu...but it certainly could've been a lot better.

He could feel the weight of expectation still weighing heavily on his shoulders. He will start from 20th again tomorrow, with Fitcher up in P5, and he knew he had to do something at some point before his career exploded into the realms of "no chance in hell". How could he change this course of action before he fell into the racing abyss? He wasn't exactly sure how...

[Togonistan]

ZX-Flow Energy
@zxflowenergy

May 15th, 2021

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Anola Melani of @KaylanRacing is starting from pole position at WGP2 Race of the Desert Sprint. She is ready to go with the flow, how about you? #KaylanRacing #GoWithTheFlow

ZX-Flow Energy
@zxflowenergy

May 15th, 2021

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From the cold ice banks of Nykipiflugpuu to the hot deserts of Diarcesia. ZX-Flow is always there, packed with extra kick to keep you going! #KaylanRacing #GoWithTheFlow

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Elbej, Diarcesia

Lap 44

“Heinz, we’re getting word that Kuyara has a problem, Kuyara with a problem.”

The TeusBank TMW Rennsport driver continued his race, not responding to race engineer Oliver Werich’s comments on the car ahead. For Heinz-Otto Junker, it hadn’t been a very eventful race - other than a battle for position with Laura Hakkana, who had fought her way through the field, he’d mostly not had to deal with any other cars.

“Heinz, can confirm that Kuyara is retiring, Kuyara retiring. You are P3.”

Back in the podium places. It was a jolt for Heinz, who had been a little frustrated that he hadn’t been able to do more in the opening laps. The gap ahead was around 50 seconds to the car in P2, and it was mostly going to be a straightforward race to the finish. Getting a podium, however, would be an important moment - and would be important points for him in the championship fight.

Lap 49

“Ok Heinz, we are quite far from the car ahead, we’d like you to give everything, try and get the fastest lap. We expect you will need something in the 1:23.800 range to pick up the point.”

“Are the tyres going to make it if I push? I think we’re coming to the end on this set. Box maybe?”

“Not safe behind, not safe behind. We believe you can give it one lap before having to return to preservation.”

Heinz pushed hard on the next lap, trying everything to get that fastest lap point. He crossed the line, feeling pretty confident - but perhaps he was a bit overconfident.

“1:24.123, good but not quite enough mate, bring us home now for the podium.”

Lap 52

“Heinz, car behind is Zoomtwat, gaining on you and the gap is now about 3 seconds. Need you to improve your current pace on the last few laps.”

“Mate, the tyres are really struggling here, I can barely keep what I have now, I can’t push.”

“Heinz, we believe if you can force Zoomtwat to push as much as possible his tyres will be not enough for an overtake, again, need you to try everything here.”

“3 laps ago you wanted me to push to try for the fastest lap, now the tyres are fading and I need to push again.”

Heinz clearly wasn’t too happy about the situation he found himself in, but he needed to find just a little bit more pace to keep Zoomtwat behind. He’d been gifted a podium position, and he wasn’t about to throw it away just now.

Lap 55

“Great job Heinz, great job, that’s P3. Back on the podium, and you’re only 2 points back in the championship fight. Great race mate. Joy P6, more good points for the team. See you up on the podium mate.”

Heinz was all smiles as he got out of the car - he still felt he could’ve got more from the race, but who in their right mind would turn down a podium? It was always a special feeling to walk up those steps and spray the champagne.

The Podium

Said champagne tasted particularly sweet on this day, as Heinz celebrated another strong podium finish and the intention to take the fight down the stretch in both championships for himself and the TMW team.

Tomorrow, however, would be a difficult challenge - starting in P12 on a track that was quite difficult to get ahead. Getting back into his room after the race, he saw a text that summed up what he needed to do.

From his father, of course: “We fight again tomorrow.”

[Diarcesia]

The race progression at first had been tentative for PB-Viska, as the teams largely went off to a great start as the lights went out. Tentative, but fairly unhampered. For Indra, having to start second-last required his strategy to have him through a painful march up to a sprint-race pole, as quick as he could. His sheer perseverance did not daunt him. Artur made the call that Indra should maintain P12-P14, but the latter, being a racer at heart, did not have any of it. Both his and Laura's PF-1s handled impressively in the technically-demanding Elbej Historic Site Circuit, a place that offers overtaking opportunities in only two sports. Sensing that more performance could be extracted from the car, Indra pushed ahead to overtake Haru Jukkenna, Ted Pressley, and Lukas Fichter in his bid for points. He would have succeeded if he had one more lap to allow him to overtake Edward Rousseau as well.

"Indra, blue flags ahead, let the car behind you pass," Creusa radioed to him and he copied.

The passing car was the race leader. It was another PF-1, that of his teammate, Laura Haukanna.

Aldauren couldn't be any more happier with this development. However, while she hadn't crossed the finish line, he didn't celebrate out of fear of jinxing it, that it would end up like Sara Luna's shocking retirement in the previous WGP2 race in Diarcesian soil. The pressure to perform was definitely present as well. A premature celebration would present bad optics, given that PB CEO Siv Ingesson was in the same room as Aldauren.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Aldauren asked casually to Siv.

"I'll take care of the business side of things. Aldauren, you gathered yourself an amazing group of people here. I have a feeling the sprint race will be similarly lucrative."

Local Commentary

From the looks of it, it's looking pretty stacked in TMW's favor at the beginning. We've got ourselves a formidable field, impressive even. Laura was denied a pole in the qualifying.

To be honest, the racing here has been rather clean so far. We are witnessing pure driving in the Elbej Historic Site circuit. I don't know how exactly they managed to acclimatize to the hot and dry air; they've been in Nykipiflugpuu just several races ago!

Like what was mentioned, TMW was in a prime spot for a double podium. Was. Zoomtwat and Pegasii was able to get ahead of Wingelaar with great help from the well-timed pit stops.

And is that Kuyara? She is pulling over, something's wrong with her car! This is a very disappointing turn of events from Scuderia Orange Cow. Starting from pole, she had a much-needed points haul up for grabs, only to be stolen from them! Heinz-Otto Junker has just gone back to the podium places!

And speaking of the podium, it's not just the weather that's hot here. Battling for first is PB-Viska's Haukanna and VSK-Maarukanna's Rikikida. This rivalry goes beyond the drivers and to the team! To the uninitiated, the Aurun companies Viska, VSK, and Schkeska have a gentleman's agreement to only have one of them competing in a series. Viska managed to work around this limitation by partnering with Pryfors Bilar. It is no secret that the team has benefited greatly from Viska's expertise.

Back to our drivers, Haukanna seems to be getting the upper hand in her defending her lead. This is in many ways a Viska-VSK rematch where Chiruno Hakusoe bested Indra Vartak in Alikki-Corra. We might just be seeing the very first win of PB-Viska in WGP2, in a home race at that!

[500 + 603 words]

[Auruna]

Elbej Historic Site Circuit
Feature Race

Alright, calm down Laura, don't get too pressured.
It's a big day but it'll be alright.
Focus.
Täitä.
Täitä hevä.

She opens her eyes as the formation lap is about to start, down in P6, she has a lot of work to do to impress the home crowd. The voice of Erik is transmitted through the radio. "Radio check, Laura."

She replies. "All good here, Erik."

The formation lap starts, going around the circuit at a slow pace, she couldn't wait for the race to start. It's her team's home race, the home crowd wanting to see their team perform well here. The pressure is building up until this relatively quiet moment on track. Halfway around, hearing Erik's voice calms her down enough. "Alright, all systems good. Race hard, fight hard, I'm with you here. Good luck." Those words certainly helped set her mind straight for this race. While the worries are there, pure optimism took over. As they round up the final corner and line up on the grid. She whispers to herself.

Täitä Laura, täitä.

Then, it's lights out. The start of a 55 lap journey to the end. As the desert heat caused despair on the cars, drivers, and especially the tyres. It wasn't the ideal conditions to some but somehow, both PB-Viskas were doing quite well. It was expected as they were preparing well during the non-championship races for their home race. And this momentum up kept going.

A few laps before her scheduled stop, Erik gets on the radio. "Laura, mediums or softs. What do you think?"

And without hesitation, she replies. "I think I'm confident with the softs. We'll see if we need to switch later on."

"Copy, soft tyres."

She still has time to torture her current set. Making up ground to the frontrunners, blazing through the desert scenery under immense heat. Laps go by quick and it's time for her to pit. It's now the mechanics' turn to test themselves in their home race. Focus, come on. They quickly work on the car, changing the tyres and such. Remarkably, they are faster than before and have enough time to service Indra's car that's just close behind, entering the pit lane.

So far, things are going quite well.

It's on the latter half of the race where Laura starts to shine. Now up to P1 at the end of lap 36, running longer than usual on the softs she makes her switch to mediums at the following lap. Timed perfectly shoe she'd be just behind RIkikida in the VSK. Then, it's a fight to the end.

---

Seeing this, VSK reacts accordingly by pitting Rikikida the following lap, switching to softs after watching the PB-VIskas with them, it's a huge gamble but Raiko thinks it'll all be worth it. He senses a win here, especially with Rikikida's comeback drive after previous events. She's going to redeem herself on track.

"Go get her, we can win this." Raiko says to encourage Rikikida.

Rikikida comes out behind Haukanna, on the softs, she was allowed to push as much she wants. She complies and starts pushing to close the gap between the two. Haukanna breaks the tow as the two come up to the outcrops, slightly unsettling the VSK car. Rikikida recovers to attempt an overtake on Haukanna as they maneuver through the corners and the backmarkers. Their battles intensify. The screams of both the Preston V6 and the VSK Rotary surround the two. It was until VSK's soft gamble didn't pay off as the tyres lost their will to live after all that constant battling for first. VSK had to concede and settle with P2.

---

The PB-VIska garage rejoiced as the VSK starts to fall four seconds behind Laura but the race isn't over yet. There's still a few more laps to go before they could celebrate. Laura passes backmarker after backmarker, and is keeping a close eye on the others, wanting to keep her lead. She couldn't afford any mistakes as the VSK of Rikikida, while exhausted, is still capable of closing the gap when the time is right.

"Alright Laura, keep her going. Rikikida is 4 seconds behind. Four seconds. You got this"

Laura continues, completely focused on what's ahead. She can feel that win, she just needs to nail it in. Hoping that there will be no misfortune encountered along the way. She guides Aina through the heat, willing her on to continue, to reach the end.

Come on Aina, you can do it. I'm with you here.

And at the final lap, the chequered flag is waved. Laura crosses the line first. Her first win, and it's an extra special win for her and for the team. In the cooldown lap, she couldn't contain the surge of emotion that followed.

"P1 Laura, P1! That's a win!"

"YES! YES! LET'S GO!"

"Haha! Well done out there!"

"Ah... thanks guys! This win is for the team! Great work!"

"You got our guys at the garage and the grandstands cheering."

"Haha, yeah! I can see that!"

"Can't wait to see you on the podium, that top step is yours."

"Again, thank you all. This is the best day. Ah.. that was intense. Great work to us all."

And you too, Aina.

Laura parks her car at the P1 board, as Rikikida and Junker parks beside her. She gets out quick and goes to celebrate with her team. While there's more work to do the next day, it doesn't hurt to celebrate a feature race win.

Täitä PB-Viska, täitä!

[Valentine Z]

Post 21 – One Too Many.

"To be very honest with you guys, it's not you all, I really do think that way," Adriana said, her voice a bit on the low side of things in terms of emotions, "It's me... I think. I actually have no idea what is happening."

And she has all the right to feel confused about the whole ordeal. There she was at Elbej Historic Site Circuit, thinking that she would be able to take it on and do her very best. After all, technical tracks are the reason as to why she got those wins, but those wins were in the past. Adriana knew full well that if she was not going to get any more points, or win any more races at this point, she was going to be getting the increasingly shorter end of the stick, and it was going to be problematic for her, and towards the team and her other fans that have all vouched for her.

As she climbed into her that day, she knew that it was going to be an uphill battle. The qualifications were not playing in her favor, and the so-called Valentian Effect ran out. Already bad with overtaking other vehicles, Adriana found herself being unable to do so for most of the race. The Outcrops (Turns 5-9) were tricky - not necessarily because Adriana could not handle it but because of the other drivers. It always was because of the other drivers, though she knows that one can only blame the others for so long. On the bright side, weather-wise, not a lot of bad things happened; Adriana managed to keep herself cool, while the car itself was not giving any heat or oil temperature problems.

"Nie," she said to herself, "I know what exactly I need. I probably can't use it for this season anymore, possibly because of the rules, but I just might try it for the next one," she took out her phone and started dialing one of her many Valentian friends.

-----

Somewhere in the Valentian ship, the World Cup participants of Valentine Z have just finished their usual run and session. While it was not exactly the best of results, having heartbreaking losses, they still have their hopes up in the sense that this was just a slew of bad luck, combined with the fact that they were competing with the very best. Maybe they just might collect autographs later.

Going back to WGP2, the phone of one Jenny Claudia Lena Joy Hoshiko Radiance rang, the resident tech-whiz and gray hat hacker. "Arigato, Adriana! How are you doing in WGP2? ... Hmm, yes, what? Aha, I know what you mean. Hmm, I can try whipping up some codes, but I am not sure if they will be ready for this season. I reckon you can't do it too, right? Yeah, mhm. I will see if I can get this done, but I can draft up some concepts if you are going to proceed with it. So now you have three options."

Taking a page out of Nexus Academy, Adriana now has upgrades/downgrades to the way she runs and performs on the fields. This might not help her anymore for WGP2 4, but it sure as heck was going to be beneficial for the upcoming events.

Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian: 4.6 R, 2.4 A, 5.0 T

Option A: Do Nothing (±0 R, ±0 A, ±0 T)

---

With the upgrade of absolutely nothing and to do nothing with the code, perhaps other than to do some optimization, this "upgrade" will simply let Adriana perform a little faster on the field in terms of calculations. But if you are already a supercomputer in human form factor, would you still want to be faster just to get that extra 5% edge?

Option B: Intuition (-0.7 R, +0.7 A, ±0 T)

---

The very first suggestion from both Jenny and Angela, this would modify and reprogram Adriana's WGP-centric codes to make her rely on her human mind more. "When in doubt, your mind should be able to take over more and to not be too rigid about the most optimal solution," Jenny stated to her on the phone, "After all, the racetrack is not exactly the most static environment, and it is up to some intuition to be able to get that edge over your opponents." This, of course, would sacrifice Adriana being reliable, which in turn might have higher chances of a DNF.

Option C: Reckless Abandonment (-0.2 R, +0.7 A, -0.5 T)

---

This would modify Adriana's codes to prioritize speed and overtaking over anything else, especially course correction and calculation. In layman's terms, this will sacrifice Adriana being technically capable of being able to handle a race course's most demanding of turns and curves, to divert that CPU power into calculating the fastest speeds one can get, as well as more frequent and demanding on-the-fly programs that are dedicated to overtake and tackle other opponents. Also affects reliability by a small amount, the overtaking programs overwhelming everything else.

"I will have to think through that, thank you!" Adriana said, after exchanging a few more pleasantries and wishing Jenny a goodbye and a good luck with her World Cup technicalities.

"Yeah, don't worry about it! You got until next season to think about it, haha!"

888 / 1250 Words.
OOC: Credits to Nimbus for their Nexus Racing Academy's Upgrade System.