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V. V is for Vetinari
"This story started more than 40 years ago. When most of the things on the car were, in fact, mechanic. There were no thermic energy recovering panels, Carbon Fibre, Imagination, Eco-Fuels, nothing like this. The things were much less expensive. At the time, we didn't need that much money to run a team, and tyres had a longer life. Well, on the other side, we had much less opportunities to drive, in fact. AstyF1 has more than 20 races each year. WGPC more than 10, if we include the test and non-championship events. Back in the time, we had three big races in Lisander. The Mil Milhas in the Soria Circuit was the biggest one. Circuit de Soria was a victim of real estate speculation in the 1980s, much to the chagrin of thousands of fans."
Paolo Vetinari, a man in its late 70s, had a kind of satisfaction in showing people his memories and memorabilia. He walked side to side with Anneliese Devereux around his "second garage", a small building in the back of his mansion in Soria. The place was filled with car parts hanging in the walls and above countertops, sharing space with newspaper clippings and framed photos. In the center of the room, a dark blue formula car, from the days when racing cars didn't even have front and back wings yet. It was very clean, with no sign of dust. Paolo had always been very proud of his past as a racing driver.
"The thousand miles race was the big event of a time before the racing circuits. We started by night, and ended in the following day. And it was pretty much a madness, because there were all kinds of cars competing. By that time, the single-seates were just starting. The Grande Prêmio in the Kasandora Basses was the most prestigious one, made to be the Lisanderian equivalent to the Grand Prix of Monsa. This one was the dream race. Just imagine. 1 million Lis. That was a lot of money in those days! Later in the sixties, Camden Automobile bought a big chunk of land near to their then-factory and built the Circuit de Sirenia, and only fifteen years later, Brax Circuit and Circuit de Grandeville made into life. Here, Look at this. This is a photo of when I won the first Grand Prix de Sirenia. I'm the one in the right. I can't remember in what lap this was, probably it wasn't in the race even, because the other drivers here, Pedro Belluno, Mário Vargas, both were driving SGA Commodores, and back in the time, Camdens were so much better."
Anneliese followed patiently the stories of Paolo, partly because he was her sponsor, but partly because she had a genuine interest in cars, since the first time she saw them in action with her own eyes. She looked back at the car in the small platform, but then she noticed something a little bit different. There was a racing simulator in that warehouse. It wasn't uncommon for her friends to have bought structures to training and Sim Racing. In fact, she had one. But what made that case a little different were the details. It was mounted inside a period car, in a corner. Paolo Vetinari was an elder, and despite looking like having the somewhat slow and frail body most elders have, using a walking cane here and there, his bearing was still haughty. She wondered if that cane wasn't just for show.
"So, Anneliese. We expect you to keep our legacy from now on, within team Eminent. I started a beautiful story decades ago. My son took a different way in life, choosing the books instead of the wheels, and I'm proud for him. It seems like each generation is the opposite of the next. I'm happy that he could find you to be our first driver on this new era. My old feet can't push a real throttle as before, but thanks to the technology, maybe could we drive classic cars together some day in the Simulator, what do you think?"
Anneliese Devereux accepts the Eminent offer.
