World Grand Prix Championship 20 [RP/Results Thread]

[Mlima Kijani]

Posted on the In Brief section of KijaniNewsNow.

Stowaway discovered on Air Kijani flight

In a striking reminder of the gulf between the glamorous world of WGPC racing and everyday life in Mlima Kijani, the body of a stowaway has been discovered in the undercarriage of yesterday’s Air Kijani flight from Ntukabanda to Orean. The flight, which was carrying Mlima Kijani’s new superstar racing driver Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir, arrived without incident at Orean, but Náttmörðsdóttir was then delayed catching her connection to Talbott, where the Liventian Grand Prix will open the new WGPC season, when the body was discovered. “It’s absolutely terrible,” said Náttmörðsdóttir. “A 45 minute delay? Totally unacceptable.” Náttmörðsdóttir also complained that she had to drink a “barely chilled” diet soda while waiting. “This is literally the worst thing imaginable,” she said, choking back sobs as she related how she was told there were no ice cubes available. “Could there be a crueller fate?”

There is no suggestion Liventian authorities could have known about the stowaway prior to the plane’s arrival at Orean, with the stowaway believed to have attempted to board via the landing wheel while the plane was at President Chane Njuguna Airport, Ntukabanda. Incidents of Kijanis attempting to stowaway on international flights have increased with the country’s worsening economic plight and increase in internal tensions owing to civil unrest, separatist rebellion, and interfaith conflict. Stowaways rarely survive the trip, however, either falling from the wheel apparatus during flight or passing out owing to depressurization of the hold and then being crushed when the machinery moves. Náttmörðsdóttir suggested “stricter security” at the airport was needed, with “pointier barbed wire” among her recommendations. “That, I think, would completely solve the problem,” she said.

Also in the news:

• Bottled water selection “literally a hate crime”: Náttmörðsdóttir criticizes Grand Prix organizers
• Cholera epidemic passes 50,000 cases in Western Mbinga province of Mlima Kijani

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Zett Hills, Far Peninsula, to the West of the Second City, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
18th of May

A soft whumph as four feet land on the grassy ledge. Loosing herself from the entanglement of her arms clutching Baxen and his her, Olivia lets out a breath she didn’t quite know she was holding. She laughs through the last of it, looking back over the ten-metre gap that they crossed but a few moments ago. “Gets me every time.”

“I would be surprised if it didn’t.”

“Yeah, I know. Our bodies not being fundamentally aligned with Imagination and all.” She wags a finger. “I did learn a few things in my sports science lectures, you know!” A soft chuckle as they gather themselves, jogging up the gentle slope that they’d found together so many years ago. Even through her shoes, the feeling of the loam and grass beneath Olivia’s feat is a comfort after the frenetic energy of the last couple of weeks. The same can be said for the growing ache in her legs and abdomen and the rhythm of feet on the ground, of inhalation and exhalation, as they summit the last metres to reach the pair of trees on the hilltop.

Here, the grass gives way to a lip of half-cracked grey stone, jutting out away from the regular trail. Behind them, the path continues, gently leading to another hilltop of similar height but much gentler grade, about half a kilometre eastward. Ahead, meanwhile, the overlook faces the setting sun, casting the blanket of clouds in fuchsia and the sea in a gorgeous, wine-dark maroon. A pair of great cargo ships glide past the coastal forests, their prows carving opposing chevrons in the water as they slip slowly, slowly towards one another.

Olivia watches them as she leans back against the left-hand oak; Baxen takes his familiar seat to her right. A comfortable silence stretches out, per their custom, as she closes her eyes and takes a moment, for the first time in a long, long while, to simply feel. The bark entwining with her hair, wind and warm light on her face…

She sighs.

“Maelstrom.”

She knows, rather than feels, Baxen’s questioning gaze on her. No need to open her eyes for that.

“UrGa.”

He nods understandingly. She knows this too.

“Would you like me to post something to Mindspeak?”

“Mmm… Maybe. Dangling a seat that’s already taken like that isn’t right. It shouldn’t happen, now or again, but…” Olivia considers. “I don’t know. Don’t know about you but I doubt I’ve got the focus to be managing something like that now.”

“You have a point.” Quiet, for another moment. “If I had comprehended the degree to which public perception was involved in international motorsport, I would have dedicated more time to its study. As of now…”

“As of now, the Cocoabo that Eelandii were going to put in their seat anyway because they needed to demonstrate how well that programme’s going was put there, the one that was never available in the first place wasn’t available and the two outside chances for admittance either got in too late, got lost or just didn’t get through.” Her hand clutches at the grass, then releases it. “The only one I might have had a shot at was Sivaleinen. I underestimated how much driving without your help was going to take out of my focus but what were we supposed to do about that? Besides, we weren’t sure that was going to be good for me anyway.”

Olivia opens her eyes again, the ships coming back into focus, sailing by one another now. “It burns, Baxen. Right in the back of my mind. I hate it. But I had a while to think on the flight back and then out here, and…” And she turns to look at him. “We couldn’t have done anything more. Just need to figure out what comes next.”

Baxen nods. “I did receive something from Cygnus – that new outfit. A suggestion of a position as a reserve.”

“The university team?” She thinks on that. “Might be nostalgic. WGPi days. You could build connections. Wait for opportunities.”

“I could. We would have to stipulate a quick-release clause in case one appears.”

“Right.” She hums. “Maybe.”

Olivia looks out to sea again. The ships have moved on from one another.

She wonders where they’re going.

[Tumbra]

CUTOFF

for Practice and Qualifying at Talbott Autodrome

[Tumbra]

Week 3: Practice

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:37.968
Session Length:	180 minutes
Nation:         	LEN
Circuit:        	Talbott Autodrome

Drivers have 180 minutes to complete as many laps of the track as they like

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                     	00:01:45.984	00:00:00.000
 2 91 ▍Kingston Walcott                 	00:01:45.986	00:00:00.002
 3 50 ▍Sara Luna                        	00:01:45.986	00:00:00.003
 4 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                      	00:01:45.996	00:00:00.013
 5 10 ▍Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir            	00:01:46.006	00:00:00.022
 6 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                  	00:01:46.011	00:00:00.028
 7 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                   	00:01:46.018	00:00:00.034
 8 28 ▍Aaron Deering                    	00:01:46.018	00:00:00.034
 9 71 ▍Brendan Faloe                    	00:01:46.031	00:00:00.047
10 24 ▍Jordan Crowe                     	00:01:46.035	00:00:00.052
11  5 ▍Rudy Edwards                     	00:01:46.036	00:00:00.052
12 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:46.064	00:00:00.080
13 11 ▍Lane Carter                      	00:01:46.068	00:00:00.085
14 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Lilian          	00:01:46.108	00:00:00.124
15 42 ▍Sophie McCreary                  	00:01:46.124	00:00:00.141
16 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:46.142	00:00:00.158
17 94 ▍Ryker Lane                       	00:01:46.149	00:00:00.165
18  1 ▍iBen Toralmintii                 	00:01:46.151	00:00:00.167
19 13 ▍Ji So-Yeong                      	00:01:46.176	00:00:00.192
20 87 ▍Bryce Yannec                     	00:01:46.188	00:00:00.204
21 84 ▍Angela Tan Fang Ling             	00:01:46.220	00:00:00.237
22  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                	00:01:46.269	00:00:00.285
23 33 ▍Sam Blaatschappen                	00:01:46.310	00:00:00.327
24 12 ▍Darian Vilau                     	00:01:46.363	00:00:00.379
25 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                     	00:01:46.399	00:00:00.416
26 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                     	00:01:46.407	00:00:00.423
27  7 ▍Anneliese Devereux               	00:01:46.689	00:00:00.705
28 74 ▍Adonis Fitzpatrick               	00:01:46.838	00:00:00.854

Week 3: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:37.968
Qualifying Type:	Two-Tier
Nation:         	LEN
Circuit:        	Talbott Autodrome

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 12 ▍Darian Vilau                     	00:01:40.010	00:00:00.011	00:01:37.990	00:00:00.000
 2 94 ▍Ryker Lane                       	00:01:40.014	00:00:00.015	00:01:37.995	00:00:00.005
 3 24 ▍Jordan Crowe                     	00:01:40.024	00:00:00.025	00:01:38.004	00:00:00.014
 4 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                     	00:01:40.017	00:00:00.018	00:01:38.009	00:00:00.019
 5  5 ▍Rudy Edwards                     	00:01:40.028	00:00:00.028	00:01:38.023	00:00:00.033
 6 33 ▍Sam Blaatschappen                	00:01:40.002	00:00:00.003	00:01:38.146	00:00:00.156
 7 84 ▍Angela Tan Fang Ling             	00:01:40.001	00:00:00.002	00:01:38.146	00:00:00.156
 8 91 ▍Kingston Walcott                 	00:01:39.999	00:00:00.000	00:01:38.161	00:00:00.171
 9 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                     	00:01:40.003	00:00:00.003	00:01:38.207	00:00:00.217
10 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                   	00:01:40.044	00:00:00.044	00:01:38.257	00:00:00.267
11 74 ▍Adonis Fitzpatrick               	00:01:40.044	00:00:00.045		
12 13 ▍Ji So-Yeong                      	00:01:40.062	00:00:00.063		
13 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:40.070	00:00:00.071		
14  7 ▍Anneliese Devereux               	00:01:40.086	00:00:00.086		
15 10 ▍Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir            	00:01:40.097	00:00:00.098		
16  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                	00:01:40.099	00:00:00.100		
17 11 ▍Lane Carter                      	00:01:40.120	00:00:00.121		
18 71 ▍Brendan Faloe                    	00:01:40.142	00:00:00.143		
19 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                     	00:01:40.149	00:00:00.150		
20 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                  	00:01:40.179	00:00:00.179		
21 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Lilian          	00:01:40.182	00:00:00.183		
22 50 ▍Sara Luna                        	00:01:40.201	00:00:00.202		
23 42 ▍Sophie McCreary                  	00:01:40.203	00:00:00.203		
24 87 ▍Bryce Yannec                     	00:01:40.219	00:00:00.220		
25 28 ▍Aaron Deering                    	00:01:40.319	00:00:00.319		
26  1 ▍iBen Toralmintii                 	00:01:40.339	00:00:00.340		
27 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                      	00:01:40.346	00:00:00.347		
28 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:40.534	00:00:00.534

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

post-qualifying debrief
SOC Motorhome #1 16:45 local
Talbott Autodrome

Paul Valentini rubbed his eyes and ran his finger through his hair.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but this is not what I signed up for. We're in the top tier of open wheel racing, the pinnacle automotive engineering, but so far it's been more like a blind single spec fun series."

The other 15 people gathered around the conference table laughed, understanding the absurdity of the first race weekend on the back of the two open tests; 28 drivers had gone through hundreds of laps in Turori and Mertagne, plus another 50-70 laps here in Liventia before qualifying. When the top 10 from the initial runs were announced for race for the pole, there was only a gap of .534 seconds between Kingston Walcott's time that was the only one to break 1:40, and William Archer in 28th.

Defending series champion iBen Toralmintii and WGPC veterans Sara Luna, Cocoabo #23, Dom Falepeau, and Anneliese Devereux also were excused from further participation, leaving an interesting cross section of the driver class seeking to win the season's first pole position.
_______________________________________________________________________

Jordan had been happy with the balance of the car, especially through the run from turns 7 to 9 which was eerily alike to the similarly numbered stretch at the CoL at the factory; he'd posted the eighth best time in the preliminary round and with the margins so thin, it was really hard for anyone to suggest any changes to the setup. The decision to run one hot lap before the checkered flag was not deemed a risk--he would be starting in the top 10 regardless of whether he set a time or not; the decision to not waste a fresh set of tires underlined how little real emphasis they were placing on the grid spot.

On his way to garage prior of the start of qualifying, Crowe spotted Angela Tan Fang Ling, a fellow debutante who'd come up from WGP2, who was well liked by the SOC team after having tested for them; he gave her a quick pat on the shoulder and handshake. "Let's see one another on the front row tomorrow, Colonel!", which was his nickname for the Lieutenant. Now they both really had a chance to be on the front row after she'd put in the second best prelim time.

Haukanna, Cruisin, Walcott, Edwards and Blaatschapen all set off at the green light, with Vilau out once the first five had began their hot lap. Angela, Lane and Vialiv headed for the pit lane when the first wave came through with times.
Crowe rolled away with 3:35 remaining, only Edwards had hustled around and gotten in and out for a second attempt.
"Edwards is heading down to nine, Vialiv will be through three on her cool down." Sunil Choudhary's calm demeanor was what kept Jordan focused most of the time. You never got too much or too little info relevant to the moment from Sunil.
As he came through turn 19, Sunil coaxed Jordan into a sense of urgency. "Push push push"
Edwards hadn't improved on his time leaving him fourth on the grid, so it was Ryker Lane's 1:37.995 that Crowe unknowingly was being measured against.
"Plus two one hundredths in the first sector"
Into the double apex lefthander at 12.
"Minus one one thousandth"
Into the final hairpin at 18 with just a few hundred yards to go.
"C'mon!"
The garage erupted when the monitor flashed through.
"Well fucking done. P3. P3."
"YEAHH!! YEAHHHHH!" Jordan could hardly believe what he'd just done--second row in his first race.
He'd be starting alongside the veteran C.L. Cruisin.
Unbelievable.

[Fifth harmony harmoniser nation]

Myrilsk, Trans-Dniesters
"I kind of ate that up, Tati," Nini smiled with a beam on her face.

"Of course you did! You always eat everything up!" Tati reciprocated Nini's jolly with a smile, "Aren't you really tired though? Driving a car takes a lot of energy from you I noticed." You could see beads of sweat roll down Nini's forehead. Well, not that you'd want to focus on that in the first place.

"Girl, if I told you boring was an understatement! Okay, to be fair the beginning was fun because I could overtake cars you know? It was giving the 43rd time I won the Mario Kart thing, not gonna lie. But then, it got kinda boring after a while. I was seeing like nothing except for the track! The car was hot as a bitch so I was like wet and shit!" Nini stammered with shock on her face, presumably being unrecovered from the pains of driving with no one.

Upon hearing that, Tati's face contorted to one similar to Nini's. If there was anything Bratz hated, it was being alone! Nini loved company, and driving by herself for 39 minutes was the opposite of having company! Tati wasn't spared either, having to nervously wait for Nini alone. She hated speaking to unfamiliar people, ironically.

"What'd you do then? Talk to yourself?" Tati inquisitively inquired.

"Silly Tati, I talked to the radio!" Nini exclaimed with glee, as if she enjoyed whayever she just said.

"The radio?! Nini, you're 17," Tati said incredulously. Tati had only heard of radios as the things hags listen to once they got bored of technology. She didn't think someone like Nini would interact with radios, let alone enjoy one!

"Yeah, it sounds like bullshit, but I'm not kidding! The guy was like so into whatever I was saying! Like, he didn't interrupt at all! He even said he'd listen to my new song! Call me a Harmoniser!" Nini proclaumed proudly.

"Wow, I didn't know you had that marketing bitch in you!" Tati responded. Proud was an understatement of how she felt. At least she didn't have to carry the marketing part for Nini!

"Anyway, it doesn't seem like UrGa will offer you anything," Tati said with a tinge of disappointment in her voice, "Though, you still have that offer from Race Eelandii!"

"It's okay, the people there were kinda camp. Like old people, but like vibes, you know? Love them for that!" Nini responded much more mellower than expected. Maybe its because her race engineer offered her a fried chicken. Or that he'd promised to listen to her new song. Well, whatever it was, she kinda dug the vibes there.

"So let's see... Race Eelandii is offering a spot in another competition, the AOGP. You're gonna be in their team, RE:AOGP. Seems pretty slay if you asked me," Tati relayed to Nini.

"Hmm, isn't that the team sponsered by the Lumber thing? They ate with that challenge! Had lots of fun, would recommend," Nini said, wistfully recalling when she partook in the Tiones Lumberjack Challenge.

"I'll take that offer!" Nini proclaimed.

---

Danielle Bugatti Johnsilvaturr accepts the offer to drive the RE:AOGP Entry sponsored by Tiones Lumber.
She will be holding off on joining the Race Eelandii Development program until further notice.

[Valentine Z]

Part 4 – Early testing woes are not a bad thing.

Zastępca Strażnika Adriana Krystal Desiree “Cudowny Manipulacja Światłem” Venus Kowalski Faith Stanisława Engelse I. Cherise Krystyna Zaborowska Sztormowska Pamela Alina Re. T. Lillian felt a little bit more tired than the usual on that particular day. The test at Gernache Circuit did not go well as she planned, ending up at 25th and 21st with her timings. Then again, compared to her Valentian friend in Cygnus University, perhaps consistency is the key? After all, her timings were not that different from one another, and it would have seem that she was doing consistently bad (relatively speaking), not being good at one point and then being bad the next. Was it because of her codes, she wondered to herself. After all, being a clone of the original, Adriana was aware (and accepting) of the limitations that she has. Trillions of SQL queries, along with checking and verifying her codes and variables, seems to indicate that there is nothing too wrong on her part. Sure, she does have to improve and adapt the code once again to the intricate nature of open-wheel racing compared to stock car racing. On top of that, once again, she felt that the car wasn’t really built around her, apart from the obvious physical size difference; she can work with that one by shrinking herself, so that is not a problem. No, it was the matter of fact that the tuning feels off and wrong.

Still, she can talk to the Eminent, she know she can. They have always been accommodating, and that has not changed. On top of that, this time, the car came with a couple of surprises, in part thanks to the Eminent team working with Adriana and the rest of the Valentians on who they would like to have on the car, that is, the sponsors on the car. The Valentians leave it to Adriana for the choosing, since it is her car and her spot, and it is only fair that she is able to do the choices. “Well, Harumi Robotics first comes into my mind!” Adriana replied to the Valentians and to the Eminent team members, “They are the ones that do all the robotics things for us, as the name of the company suggests! They mostly do hardware, and are the ones that gave to me the large and extradimensional storage space!” She paused to think for a quick moment before continuing on, “On top of that, maybe Flux Superconductors, as well as Sentinel Gaming! I think they also represent the Valentians quite well in that respect, right? The innovative superconductors, alongside gaming, in ways that they are meant to be played, with reliable and durable controllers. A bit like how I am meant to be durable and can take a lot of forces and punishment! I think it will be suitable as sponsors because in the event that, well, an accident is to happen, I will be more than fine and won’t worry myself!”

Then there’s also the aforementioned problems with the car that she was driving. She has already established that it was not tuned to her liking and to the optimal usage. Other than being not optimal, the car also had problems on the course during the testing, including a breaks issue, a system glitch that needed a hard reboot, among a few other things here and there. Still, Adriana was more than happy and were grateful regarding the development. Sure, she wished that it did not have to happen in the first place, but she was happy that it happened during the practice session itself and not doing the actual qualifications or racing. “This is actually a pretty good opportunity to see and to develop further!” she remarked to the team later, after thanking them for all the effort that they have done for her, “I do hope that we will be able to do better for the actual races ahead of us! I can help too, if you need me.”

1st Cpt. Angela Stella Trista Josephine Natalie Rv. E. Tps. “The Eternal Explorer” Bethany Alyssa Valeska Payton. Mikayla Gosling Josie Rowan Serenity Chelsea Lynette Hannah Tan Fang Ling, on the other hand, felt like she was a bit of a wildcard, and definitely not in a good way. The first practice session in the morning saw her placing 5th in terms of the best timing on that track, then she simply screwed up and placed 28th during the afternoon session. Was it because of lethargy or being tired? Definitely not, Angela thought to herself; this was all not too tiring for her physically, especially considering her astronaut training, one that she has still been doing all those decades, and for many more decades to come. “Was it the car itself?” she thought, not wanting to blame the folks in Cygnus University. She knew that they have been trying her best, and it would not have been fair to them. It is not to blame them, but more of the fact that her car might be not tuned to her liking, and that she merely wanted to suggest it to them politely. She definitely can, she felt right at home, just like with her time in WGP2, but just a different team.

She heard from the grapevine that Dr. Emerson has been defending his choices with Brendan and herself, citing that, “We know our road to the top of the Championship is going to be long. We have every confidence that we will make it there in the end, and we are happy to have two drivers that we are confident will grow their skills in good time. As for the jeers, it’s on them; they should have signed up, or approached me or anyone else in the WGPO, if they wanted to race that badly.” And so the pressure was on her, she thought. Not in a bad way once again, but she simply did not want to disappoint them. She knew that she was chosen by them, but it goes two ways, after all; they are the ones that have the confidence in her, and so she must deliver it. “Best not to think about that one too much, I guess,” she thought and shrugged to herself, going to approach the Cygnus folks for a bit of a feedback.

Fast forward to the very first qualification, Angela felt that she could do a lot of things, and being able to qualify is being one of them. “I am going to be racing against some of the most determined and iron-willed drivers out there, but I’ll be damned if I don’t give them one heck of a challenge myself!” she thought again, “Yes, that’s the way to do it. Don’t worry, Angela, you will be fine, and don’t try to be too scared, or too confident, or too panicky.” With that pep talk done, she walked towards the garage when she came across one of the drivers from Orange Cow, approaching her and giving her a quick pat on the shoulder followed by a handshake. “Let’s see another one on the front row tomorrow, Colonel!” he said. “Oh hey, Jordan Crowe, right?” Angela asked first, before then returning the sentiment and the good vibes, “Thank you very much! Ahh, good luck to you too! You got this as well, yes? And thanks for remembering and everything, I really do appreciate it!” The man was more than polite and friendly enough, that Angela did not want to correct her that she was simply a 1st Captain and not a Colonel. “Here’s to a good season!”

[Delaclava]

OOC: I am slightly behind on what I'm trying to write, sorry for the confusion! Anyway, these events are around the time of Test 2, and I'm going to try to get caught up soon.

By the time the second WGPC test at Gernarche Circuit rolled around, Kingston Walcott was already feeling more comfortable with many aspects of the driving experience. Mertagne was already becoming like a second home to him, and even as the Sivaleinen team continued to make minor adjustments to his car, he felt right at home in the ride. This particularly showed on this day; after his technicians had spent the bulk of Session 1 trying to do some fine-tuning, Walcott was the third-fastest driver in the second session, with his teammate Lilly Náttmörðsdóttir keeping the pace right behind him.

The second session wrapped up, and Walcott was standing around the paddock, alongside his father Sidley, Curtis, and Ashley.

"You're looking good out there. Feeling good?" Sidley asked.

"Yeah," Kingston replied briefly.

"They're treating you right in there?"

"Oh, of course, father. Don't worry, there's nothing that should stop you from making your multinational empire."

"You shouldn't joke about these things, son," Sidley cautioned, although with a twinkle of amusement. "This is serious business."

"Of course."

"Anyway, this shall be excellent." Suddenly, Sidley's head turned slightly, then his face creased with worry. "What is he doing here?"

The rest of their heads to turn around. There was suddenly a crowd of fans, young and old, man and woman, excitedly surrounding someone—a hot, delicious, tan, scruffy specimen of a man that only a caveman would not know by now was Sandro Pérez.

Kingston froze. He hadn't entirely worked out with Sandro how and when they were going to meet, but it hadn't occurred to him that this rendezvous would occur in front of his father, who was very selective about the people he allowed to be around his son. And yet, Sandro—after taking a slip of paper from an attractive Mertagnian woman, presumably her phone number, before smacking her playfully on the ass—was then striding right over to the Sivaleinen section of the paddock, and unmistakably towards Kingston Walcott.

Before Kingston could say or do anything, Curtis strode over towards Pérez, defensively in front of Walcott, and snapped, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Sandro and Kingston both started to speak, but Ashley gratefully intervened. "This is Sandro Pérez, I'm sure you're familiar."

"Yes, Ashley, we know who he is. Why are you here?" Curtis turned back on Sandro.

"Well, Sandro has been around for the Colourworks test and talking with some of the other teams about reserve driver positions, and I thought it would be valuable to have Sandro advise Kingston a little bit."

"You can't be serious?" Sidley bellowed, now catching the attention of surrounding teams.

Kingston looked regretfully at Ashley, but Ashley remained confident. "Curtis, Sid, a word?" He rather insistently pulled them aside.

That left Sandro and Kingston. Bemused, Sandro turned to the blond boy who had gone beet-red with embarrassment during this exchange. "Sandro," he said, extending his hand out.

"Uh, Kingston Walcott," and Kingston fumbled to reach out his own hand, managing to give Sandro an awkward handshake. "Sorry. I should have said—"

Sandro waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not one to worry about these things. I show up where I want."

"Right," Kingsley stammered. They both looked back at Ashley, who looked to be trying to persuade Sidley and Curtis. The three of them turned and walked back over to where the two drivers were standing.

Sandro politely extended his hand out to Sidley now. The magnate looked at it before ignoring it and glaring intensely at Pérez. "If you're here to help, that's fine. But stay in your lane. Kingston is a fine driver. He does not need too much help from you."

"I understand," Sandro replied coolly. Sidley and Curtis now turned and walked away. Ashley quickly turned and whispered to the two of them, "I told them you'd be advising him on some career and PR issues. So just, you know, try to stay within that." Ashley then turned and followed Sidley and Curtis.

Sandro turned to Kingston. "Let's go for a walk."

***

"So, let me get this straight," Sandro asked. "You asked me to come out and advise you on how to talk to girls?"

"Well, I guess," Kingston admitted. "But it's more than that. It's just...well, I gather you know a little about me at this point, but let me fill in some details. I've pretty much only been either home schooled or at all-boys boarding schools. Since the age of about 12, if I wasn't in school, I was in a kart or a race car. I don't have friends, I don't have a social life. I have literally no practice with talking to girls or anything." Kingston swallowed nervously. "Now I'm here, and everyone is just so different from what I'm used to. I want to get better at these things?"

"And you didn't want to ask your daddy about any of this?"

"Well, no... I mean, maybe you've seen that he's on his fourth wife by now. Probably going on to wife number five."

"So? Sounds like he's an expert," Sandro chuckled. "What else you got?"

"Well..." Kingston stammered. "Well, you saw what he was like just then! He's not exactly someone who likes it when I talk to people he doesn't know about."

"No kidding, dude, what was that about?"

"I don't know, but..." Kingston paused. "He can't have eyes on me all the time, right? He can't control everything I do. The paddock is too chaotic for that. So I need to figure out what the hell I'm doing on my own."

"Okay, okay," Sandro said. He spotted a few girls looking curiously at them. "We start now."

"Huh? Wait, no," Kingston protested, but it was futile, and Sandro was leading Kingston over to the three girls. "Ladies," Sandro greeted them with a smirk.

"Oh my god," the first one shrieked. "It's really you, Sandro!"

"The one and only," Sandro cracked.

"Will you sign my breast?"

Kingston was stunned, but Sandro was already pulling out a pen. "Special pen," he quipped. "It'll stay on longer." The girl ecstatically pulled down her blouse so that Sandro could fit his autograph.

"Does this mean you're going to be driving this season?" her friend asked.

"No. But, my friend here is going to be. Ladies, this is Kingston Walcott, he's driving for Sivaleinen this year."

The two girls who were more excited about Sandro briefly acknowledged him, but the third girl piped up, "Your friend's kind of cute... Hi Kingston, I'm Carly."

Kingston froze, absolutely paralyzed. He tried to speak. "Uh...uh..."

Sandro fortunately intervened. "It's been a long day, I'm sure he'll remember his words once he's been out of the car for a bit! We'll catch up with you later?"

The three girls giggled as Sandro and Kingston walked away. Once they were out of earshot, Sandro stopped and turned to Kingston. "Well, that was terrible."

"I know, man! You gotta help me!"

"A pretty girl specifically tells you you're cute and you have no words at all? You might be beyond help."

"No, please..." Kingston pleaded.

"Alright, alright. Well, you at least got to talk to me. Tell me, why are you so scared of talking to girls?"

"I don't know! I just...they seem so foreign to me."

"What's foreign about them? They're just people that you want to have sex with."

"Sex?"

"Well, isn't that what you want at some point?"

"I...hadn't thought that far ahead."

"Look, I've bedded my fair share of women. Actually, more than my fair share. And I've bedded my fair share of guys too. Women are not some mysterious creature. Irrational at times? You bet, but so are we. You have respect women if you want to be able to talk to them."

"I...I don't..." Kingston thought, then sort of blurted," I just wouldn't have thought you respect them. You just... switch between them so much?"

"Look," Sandro got very serious all of a sudden. "There is no greater expression of the individual, no greater exercise of autonomy, than sex. Than love, and courtship, and romance. To do what you want with your body and your heart. And I choose to celebrate that by sharing myself with as many people as I can. And sure, even if I happen to fuck someone who's married or engaged—they're choosing to engage in that autonomy and that freedom because they're not getting that. And out of respect for them, it's not my role to question their individuality, because that only belongs to them. When you go up to a girl and flirt with her, try to have sex with her, that is your personality coming out. And when she flirts back, agrees to have sex with you—that is her personality. It's the purest thing we have as people."

Kingston was entranced. "Wow," he muttered softly. "You think so?"

"Man, I don't know, I'm probably just a dog. But look, next time a girl comes up to you. Just talk to her. I know it's scary, but let her him. Share something about yourself. Learn something about her. Even if it's just with a joke, a smile, a stupid pickup line. For the love of God," Sandro began to roar with laughter, "Do not do what you just did there."

Kingston hung his head, but then chuckled a little bit too.

"Listen," Sandro continued, "I gotta get out of here, but—let me know how it goes, alright? You'll be fine." He reached out his fist. It took Kingston a second to realize he was supposed to bump it with his own fist, but he did, and Sandro walked away.

Kingston watched him walk away admiringly, almost dreamily. That Sandro Pérez really is something, huh...

[Diarcesia]

TT's Peculiar Experience: Phantom State

When the Phoenician Tire company of the Monarchy Diarcesian signed their partnership deal with their Nimban counterpart, In Motion, it was seen as a victory for those who favour Imagination-forged materials. The company's CEO, Elina Raisanen, visited the Nexus Wardship and met with some of their business leaders to discuss ways on how they can collaborate in using Imagination-forged materials for their products.

As a result, the Blackbirds and the In Motion-branded Bluebirds were both borne out of this event. To this end, Phoenician invested heavily into developing techniques and machines that can harness the properties of Imagination-forged material in conventional tyres. Technicians employed by the company were also sent to the In Motion workshops to assist them in sharing new technology and best practices that were known to the Diarcesians...

Théotime Traver, one of the Phoenician employees, was one of those seconded to In Motion. For him, this assignment was a life-changing experience. Having been raised in the Monarchy Diarcesian, he grew up around the factories and machines which produce tyres for cars and motorcycles. He never thought that he would be able to see how tyre manufacturing is done there or how different it is compared to his home country's methods of producing them.

He watched with fascination as In Motion workers use Imagination-forged and imbued materials in their production lines instead of conventional rubber compounds used by his employer back home. While there were some small but important differences between the two sides' tyre production processes—such as In Motion's greater emphasis on the peculiar conservation of Imagination energy at every step along their line—Théotime had learned much from them about improving certain aspects regarding tyres that are made with Imagination-forged materials...

It was there in his tint in the Wardship, as he shared knowledge and experience that his employer could provide to their partners, that he became aware of a strange phenomenon that seemingly only affects Nimbans. He had witnessed it with his own eyes in one of the In Motion workshops where he was observing their production lines: a state of torpor as if they were sleepwalking. It was as if something in the air was affecting their senses and preventing them from being fully aware of what was happening around them.

He had tried to investigate the issue further, but he struggled to find any concrete evidence which could explain this mysterious phenomenon...

He was concerned. If this condition persisted, it could cause serious problems in the future. He had no idea where or when it would strike next, if Diarcesians would be afflicted as well.

---

Burning-Eyed Sara

Amongst the group of those who'd been motorsport veterans, there were drivers like iBen Toralmintii, Sara Luna, and Cocoabo #23; all failed to make it to the top 10 in the first qualifying tier of the Liventia Grand Prix. Toralmintii had been the first driver to go through in the afternoon, but failed to get a lap time under 1:40.310 despite his two stints on track. Luna and #23 also struggled as they got themselves into their cars for the session, with Luna having her best attempt ending up being 1:40.201 and #23 having a few off-tracks during his runs (he was 27^th).

For those who actually made it through, this second group comprised largely of rookie drivers who'd yet to face their first full race like Jordan Crowe, Darian Vilau (who ultimately made pole position), Sam Blaatschapen (6^th) and Angela Tan Fang Ling (7^th). The three rookies all showed signs of competent inexperience as they went out on track; Crowe had an impressive first lap, with a time of 1:38.197; enough to put him on the top half before the others improved their times. Ling and Blaatschapen also performed well as they went out for their runs, but were lacking in speed compared to Crowe's attainments.

But perhaps what was more interesting was nine constructors made it to the first ten grid spots of the season opener. Unusually, none of the two cars from Aboveland-based Tropicorp-Colourworks (with Ji So-Yeong as Toralmintii's new teammate) were in them. The team had teased a good start to the season in the preseason testing, with each of the drivers bagging a fastest lap in either session. Additionally, in this first qualifying session of the season, no Viska car had managed to make it past top 20.

As Luna looked around at her team again after having finished shutting down her car in the garage, she noticed a lot of people had their heads down. There were some murmurs going around the team, but not much more than that.

"It's alright," she said, as she put her hands on top of each other and looked up at everyone with a smile on her face, "that was just qualifying for us. We're still in it." Inwardly, she was simultaneously disappointed with herself that she couldn't match the good relatively standing she achieved in practice.

"I'm going to head out to the briefing room," announced Luna, "...needs to identify what has to be improved or adjusted."

Meanwhile, in another part of the garage area, a group of mechanics were going through their routine after one car had been packed away and another put on the jacks. Amongst them was a fresh-faced new recruit who'd just joined Viska for this season; he was assigned to work with No. 28 driver Aaron Deering. "This is how you cool down the engine," he explained while working on his task at hand. "We also inspect for any damages made by other drivers' cars or ours."

He noticed Deering gazing around the garage, seemingly in a daze. "You okay?" he asked, putting down his tools and looking at the driver. "I know it can be hard to get used to this kind of pressure." The rookie looked back at him with a confused look on his face; drivers can and do have difficulties handling high levels of stress... but then again they're human too! He chuckled nervously as Deering put an arm over his shoulder and began talking.

"Hej."

"Sara," the technician greeted the other Viska driver.

"Have you seen the qualifying results for everyone?"

"Darian Vilau is doing really well so far."

She nodded. "I know." She paused and looked at Aaron with a concerned look on her face: "It's difficult that we were dealt with the kind of hand we have now. The pressure may make you panic and forget what exactly we need to do. I've been there. It can be done."

She looked at the young driver again and put an arm around him as well. "You're doing alright so far but if you want to succeed, then listen carefully: focus on your tasks for now and don't let go until the race is over!"

She let go of Deering and looked at the technician. "I'll be in that briefing room for now." Sara took her leave recalling her mental preparation routines before any high-stakes event. What external factors negatively impacted my own performance? What did I do well? What can I change or improve on to avoid making the same mistakes again?

I am a racer. I'm used to uphill battles like this. I know what I have to do.

As the debriefing commenced, Jöna Ekeränna, dressed in the team's signature colours, took the lead. They took good look at what went on in qualifying. First of all: Sara asked the same question that was on most of the room's minds: "Why did we get released into traffic?"

"I guess it was a cascading sequence of events that started from an oversight," answered Jan.

[Lisander]

<< Previously | Next >>

VIII. It was always the road.

It was not about the destination, it was always the road.

For the last five years, Team Bitten Heroes embodied the dreams of the Garagistes in Lisander. Thanks to these dreamers that Ms Natassia Maud was able to start the team and it was with the support of these dreamers, we could run it for so long. We had five wonderful years. We had ups and lows, sometimes we thought we would die (in more than one sense). We were the entry door of the World Grands Prix to some nice people, like Anneliese Devereux, Darius Castellammare and William Archer. But all things that start, must have an end. And we, L3 Partners, decided that's the time to give Bitten Heroes Grand Prix Engineering name an honourable retirement.

The increase in the search for World Grands Prix licenses makes the future much more unpredictable than we could expect or deal with. It wasn't an easy decision, but it is for the best to leave on a good note instead of going into a route that could guide us to a second bankruptcy. We, as a collective, agreed that is the time to focus on new endeavours and leave the way we paved open for the new ones to walk. As the saying goes: "Passions are like cars. When it starts to give a lot of trouble, the better is to change." It's not like we started to hate motorsports, but considering the state of motorsport in both local and international scenarios, the best is to search for new passions.

Yet, as a long-established company, with contracts to honour, employees to pay, sponsors to display and vehicles to build, we are not stopping. Bitten Heroes Grand Prix Engineering SRL, the proper company, won't be closed before all of the pending affairs are solved. We already started with some changes to the rosters. The remnant instalments of the image rights contracts of Anneliese Devereux, Darius Castellammare, Arturia Nero, Lukas Horsch, and Lianna Rasianoara, which expire in four months, are being duly paid. Most of the contracts will be only restarted with new teams/companies, and our legal and HR team is overseeing the changes in the structure. Our personnel number is already low, so the number of terminations has been and will be minimum. The remaining employees contracted by Bitten Heroes GPE SRL will be re-contracted, over the following months, without losing salaries or labour rights, by the following teams/companies:

• The engineers under Carolina Lasseps and those employees that decided to keep with Eminent WGPC Team, were re-contracted before the start of the season, through Eminent Lisander SRL, a company established to represent Eminent WGPC Team interests in Lisander. The shares of this company belonging to Bitten Heroes GPE are currently on sale. Thanks to the support of those same dreamers, we've already received two offers for them. In due time, with the authorization of the Eminent WGPC Team board of directors, we'll announce the winning bid.
  
• The employees under Filipe Sagnier, in Team Azhaar Pro Racing, will be recontracted by Team Azhaar Limited or by HRMN Ventures srl, depending on their position on the team structure. No contracts will be terminated.
  
• The employees under Ludwika and Marc Wiel, in teams KB Motorsports and MW Academy will be recontracted by W Motorsports Inc. No contracts will be terminated.
  
• The employees under Amy and Mae Graad, in Team DC3 Superbikes, will be contracted by HC Superbike Team Ltd..
  
• For information purposes only, employees of X-PRO, a company held in joint venture by L3 Partners and Motorsport Lisander, continue in their normal duties with no change in working hours or salary.

For the coming seasons, the teams/brands "Team Azhaar" "KB Motorsports", "MW Academy" and "Team DC3" will move to structures more suited to their status in the lower categories. Team DC3, for example, will join the HC Superbike team, specifically dedicated to motorbikes.

As we have said. It was a helluva ride. Thank you for having us.

Juliano Lemos
Bitten Heroes GPE, CEO
L3 Partners, Director

[Abanhfleft]

For some reason, Adonis Fitzpatrick was both nervous and calm when he got behind the wheel of Scuderia Orange Cow’s testing car. He was nervous because this was going to be the first time in his racing career that he was driving a machine that had no support from the Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division at all. Even during his forays into dirt racing at the Berman Brothers Classic in Hapilopper, UrGa had somehow managed to scrounge up a handful of guys who knew how to work on and fix a midget car. But today, there was no one from UrGa to be found. It was all Orange Cow personnel, and Donny was about to try his hand in driving their equipment.

On the other hand, Donny was calm because he knew that even if he didn’t get offered a contract by Orange Cow, he still had UrGa itself to fall back on. It almost seemed like cheating, or at least it did for Donny. From what he understood of WGPC’s rules, the whole reason why every driver was supposed to be a free agent at the beginning of the season was so every team had a fair shot at approaching the best drivers on the grid without fear of being outmuscled by the competition. In practice though, some drivers were already locked down on pre-contracts by the time that preseason began. Some drivers even had contracts ready and waiting for them at the end of the previous season that they could read and review for the offseason before finally making things official at the start of the new season. UrGa wasn’t one of those teams just yet, but there were definitely some teams who were already getting some next season business done before the current one had even concluded.

In any case, Vasily Gatutin himself had promised Donny that he would have a spot ready and waiting for him in UrGa should things not pan out in Orange Cow. And, truth be told, Donny wasn’t really expecting anything out of the Orange Cow test. He saw it more as a chance for him to spread his wings and see what exactly he was capable of when he was taken out of his comfort zone and away from the familiar surroundings of the Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division. After giving a thumbs-up to the engineer, Donny took his machine out onto the track and began taking it through its paces. However, while he was doing that, his thoughts once again turned to him, him being Batu Tüvshinbayar, the TJUN-ian Mongolian driver whom Orange Cow had just confirmed would be driving one of their two cars in WGPC this season. Donny knew that he had just told his friend William Archer that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see Batu so soon after he had just told the other driver that he wasn’t ready for another commitment just yet, but despite that, Donny still found himself looking throughout the Orange Cow facility for any sign of Batu. Donny knew that he shouldn’t be letting Batu or anything else distract him from driving the car, but even then, sometimes he just couldn’t help himself.

Donny went away from that Orange Cow test feeling like he had left behind everything that he ever had in him, and then some. If that was enough to impress Orange Cow then all well and good, but if it wasn’t, then at least he could say that he gave it his best shot. Besides, Donny had the feeling that he wouldn’t really look that good wearing orange, and his feelings were confirmed when Orange Cow announced that they were sticking to their own tried and true formula for capturing both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in WGP2 two years ago by re-signing one of their own, Jordan Crowe. Donny hadn’t really been expecting anything else, but even then, it was still a relief for him that it was now official that he wouldn’t be offered a spot at Orange Cow. Now Donny could actually focus on going back to UrGa and prepping himself for that team’s own style of driving and management.

Donny didn’t expect his return to UrGa to be met with much fanfare and celebration, and in reality, he just went back to the place like the test never happened. However, his plan to meet with Vasily Gatutin met a little roadblock when he was stopped in his tracks by Taras Matviyenko, chief driver relations officer of UrGa and former driver for the team itself. “Adonis! You’re back early,” Matviyenko said.

“Yeah, I know,” Donny replied. “I tried out for Orange Cow, and I felt like I was fast enough for them, but in the end they went back to what was tried and true for them.”

“So now what?” Matviyenko asked. “Are you ready to come back to UrGa?”

“You know, Taras, I really should do that,” Donny replied. “It’s only a few days, maybe a week at most, before the season officially starts. Heck, we’ve already had our first preseason test in Eelandii, and you guys still have to keep that other seat open just in case. But speaking of Eelandii, I’ve heard that they’ve got their own test about to happen right now. And going over to Orange Cow has made me feel like I can’t just confine myself to one team. Like, I gotta spread my wings and challenge myself in other cars. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

“I’m afraid I do,” Taras nodded. “So I take it that your intention is to take part in the Eelandii test, the one being held by the Eelandii team?” When Donny nodded his head, Taras shook his own head and said, “Very well. I will inform Vasily Semyonovich of this. I hope you know what you actually want to do with all of this, Adonis. There isn’t a lot of time left before the start of the new season. I know that Vasily Semyonovich promised you a place in the team, but you still haven’t made your choice by next week then the team will have to make ours.”

So Donny flew to Eelandii when most of the other drivers were already leaving it in preparation for the second preseason test in Mertagne, but a handful of other “free agent” drivers still looking for a ride had also come down to the track which Donny’s friend William Archer had described as “looking like a capital T with a tumor growing out of its side.” Donny got into the car and put it through its paces, first in a qualifying program and then a 20-minute open drive session in which the team took the average of every driver’s six fastest laps. Donny didn’t feel confident at all during his qualifying attempt, although he definitely felt much better by the time that the 20-minute test came around. There were a number of factors that Donny could attribute as to why he was slow in the quali attempt like how he was barely acquainted with the setup of the car, but at the end of the day, Donny knew that those were just excuses, and he wasn’t the type of person to make excuses for the heck of it. The fact of the matter was that Donny didn’t have his head screwed on correctly during testing, and thus he wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t among the frontrunners for that second Race Eelandii seat.

Forty-eight hours after the Race Eelandii test, Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division finally made the announcement that everyone had been expecting them to make and revealed that Adonis Fitzpatrick was going to be their second driver for the 20th season of the World Grand Prix Championship alongside Tropicorp’s Skiia Vialiv. An offer to drive an Eelandii entry in AOGP had arrived in Donny’s inbox just a few hours after Donny had signed his contract with UrGa, but even if Donny had managed to see it before making the deal with Vasily Gatutin, he probably wouldn’t have said yes to it immediately since it was for a drive in AOGP. No offense to the series, but for Donny, who had already driven in WGP2 before, going to AOGP would have felt like a demotion. UrGa may have raised more than a few eyebrows around the paddock when it was revealed that their private test had become nothing more than a glorified audition for the reserve driver role, but Donny was still grateful that they kept their doors open for him for as long as humanly possible. Next season, he resolved not to put the team in such a bind anymore.

There was little that Donny needed to do with UrGa once they had made his signing official. They already had his measurements from when everyone thought that Donny was going to be a surefire signing for the team so he didn’t have to go through all the trouble of getting his seat fitted. And while Donny had not interacted much with Skiia Vialiv before except for the few times that the Tropicorp driver had shown up in Myrilsk to take part in testing back in WGP2, now that they were going to be teammates Donny decided that it was the perfect time for the two of them to get acquainted. Donny was pleasantly surprised to see that Skiia was actually a fun and bubbly person, a somewhat far cry from the Fleftic stereotype of drivers from Tropicorp and Vilita & Turori being aloof, no-nonsense personalities who wouldn’t and didn’t personal and on-track drama distract them from the business of racing cars, no matter if it was open wheel or stock. Donny was aware that most of UrGa’s upper management were quite high on Vialiv and had wanted her to drive for the team ever since their preseason test in Season 4 of WGP2, but backstage politics had meant that she never received an offer from the red and green team until now.

When Donny Fitzpatrick arrived in Mertagne along with Skiia and the rest of UrGa, once he got back behind the wheel of the UrGa GPC20-1, the Pridnestrovian team’s challenger for this season, it was as if he had not even missed the first test day in Eelandii at all. Donny went for glory in the morning testing session, and come lunch time he ended up in fourth place. UrGa reeled Donny back for the afternoon session, but even though they put him through his paces in a number of race simulation programs, his quickest was still enough to put him in P9 at the end of the day, just behind Batu Tüvshinbayar of all people. Batu had finished the morning session in P8, and the Mongolian driver from TJUN-ia finished in exactly the same place at the end of the day. Maybe the universe was trying to tell him something, but once again Donny just brushed it off as a coincidence. One of these days, Donny was going to check up on Batu to see how the other guy felt, but that day wouldn’t be today.

One driver whom Donny went to see and check up on was his fellow Fleftic driver and friend, William Archer. Donny may not have made the first test in Eelandii, but William most certainly did, and he used the morning session in the “T with a tumor” track to slap on the hardest compound of Tropicorp tires onto his Preston PGP-03, put a full load of fuel in his car, and drive around the track until there was almost literally no more rubber left on the tires. Sure, it didn’t give him a flattering time on the board, and he was 2.8 seconds away from the fastest driver in the morning Eelandii session and 2.3 seconds to the second slowest driver. Once Preston put him on a more conventional testing program for the afternoon though, William suddenly jumped up the standings and finished the day in P10, three hundredths of a second away from Ji So-Yeong in P1 and seven thousandths of a second away from the defending WGPC champion iBen Toralmintii. That said, William didn’t know how that was going to convert to actual performance on race day itself, although he considered himself lucky that the Eelandii track wasn’t on the race calendar this season since he had never really performed well here in his two years as a WGPC driver. Sorry not sorry to the people of Eelandii and Vilita & Turori, but William Archer didn’t like the Eelandii Grand Prix Course, plain and simple.

William stayed in the middle of the pack for the other test day in Mertagne, but wasn’t that concerned about the whole thing just yet. It was just testing, and there was still a chance that some teams were not yet unveiling their true potential so as to surprise their competitors once it was finally time to get serious. The field was surprisingly competitive for this season, and William couldn’t remember if it had always been this way or if this was just a recent development. After all, most teams had had basically an entire year to develop their cars unfettered due to the issues that had resulted in WGPC not running any races at all for that one calendar year. There was still no clear pecking order just yet, so drivers finishing in the midfield during test sessions was not something that William concerned himself with. Not overly, anyway.

“So you still ended up in UrGa at the end of the day, huh?” William said to Donny after the end of the afternoon test session in Mertagne. “All of those tests, and you still ended right where you started. Honestly, man, you could have just saved us all the trouble and signed that contract with UrGa right at the start. Now you’ve got some people thinking that you were teasing these other teams before sticking to Gatutin at the end of the day.”

“I know, man,” Donny sighed. “If Orange Cow hadn’t sent out that feeler at the start of preseason though, we wouldn’t even be talking about this. The only reason why I decided to test myself out with different teams in the first place was because Orange Cow asked me if I could. If they didn’t ask, I wouldn’t have even bothered. But they did, and now I saw it as my chance to see if I could be successful away from UrGa. I guess we’ll never know now though, because Orange Cow weren’t that impressed with me when I tested for them, and Race Eelandii was a bust as well. I’m not as good as a bird, but at least I’m good enough to drive for them in AOGP. Imagine that, William. If it hadn’t been for UrGa, I wouldn’t have been good enough to get offered a seat in WGPC.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s the risk that you run if you come into this sport as an actual free agent driver and not someone with a pre-contract from last season,” William said. “Anyway, did you finally get to talk to Batu again while you were in Baker Park?” he asked.

“No, not really,” Donny shook his head. “I heard that Batu was at the track while the test was going on, but I didn’t see him there the whole time that I was out there. So maybe I got things wrong and he never really was there in the first place, or I just wasn’t looking hard enough. So far, I’m evenly split on what really went on over there.”

“You know, Donny, there’s something that I don’t really get about you,” William observed. “A few months ago, you told me that you told Batu that you weren’t ready for a relationship just yet because you were still fresh off of one and didn’t want to treat the poor guy as just a rebound. But now here you are flying all the way to Baker Park just to maybe get a glimpse of him. Level with me, man. What do you feel for Batu, man?”

“That’s the thing, William!” Donny admitted. “I don’t know if I’m attracted to him! The guy was looking for a friend back when we got started in WGP2, and I was more than ready and willing to give him that friendship when he asked for it. Heck, I even gave Batu the guidance that he needed to become WGP2 champion two years ago! But I really have no idea if I’m ready to upgrade this friendship to something else or if I even want to do that in the first place. On one hand, I don’t wanna act like I’m just teasing him and leading him on. But on the other hand, I don’t wanna act like the guy doesn’t freaking exist anymore, because he does exist, and for the next ten weeks, I’m going to be on the same track as him and potentially competing for the same positions and same number of points as him. So there’s my answer for you, William. I’m confused as all hell as to what I really feel about Batu, and I don’t know if talking to him again is going to solve my problem or compound it even further. Is that good enough for you, pare?”

“Oh, wow,” William muttered once he had finally absorbed the gravity of what Donny had just told him. “That bad, huh? To quote my little sister Mackenzie, I literally have no words for you right now. You really are confused about Batu, aren’t you?”

“You think I would be acting like this if I wasn’t confused?” Donny retorted.

“I wouldn’t know,” William shrugged. “I’m not you.” William then looked around for a few seconds before he leaned in closer to Donny and said in a low voice, “I think I’ve got a way for you to finally figure out where you stand in all of this. Last season, which by now is probably two years ago, I decided to form this little ‘young guns club’ for some of WGPC’s young drivers. I made it as a way for us young guys to take the fight to the veteran drivers of the series, guys like Toralmintii, Cruisin, Ibuna; heck, throw in Ryker Lane in there for good measure! Anyway, my thought process about forming this group was that the young guys in the paddock needed to come together and work together if we wanted to not only take the fight to the veterans but also dethrone them when the time comes. I’ve managed to rope Ted Pressley and Lane Carter into it, and I’m thinking about getting together with the guys once again. I tried to invite some other guys into it but I don’t think they’re really interested. Anneliese Devereux wasn’t interested, and Anola Melani practically snubbed me. Speaking of Melani, what the fuck even happened to her? Does anyone know? Do you know anything about what happened to her?”

“I wish I could say yes to that question of yours, man,” Donny shook his head. “But the truth of the matter is that I guess nobody on this paddock really knows.”

“What a shame,” William shrugged again. “Anyway, I’m thinking of getting Ted and Lane to invite some more guys to the club. I might try to get Ted to rope in either Janne Laukkanen or his fellow Tumbran Sophie McCreary to join. As for Lane, three guesses as to who I’m going to ask him to drag along.”

“Why are you telling me this, man?” Donny asked.

“Because I wanted to ask you if you would like to come along and become part of this little club of mine too,” William replied. “You’re my friend, Adonis. Did you really think I was going to leave you out of this? The only reason I didn’t ask you to join last season was because you were still in WGP2, but now that you’re in WGPC, there’s nothing else stopping me from giving you that invitation. And imagine if Lane manages to convince Batu to come as well! There’s your ticket to finally figuring out if you like Batu more than just as a friend or not. Of course, I get it if you don’t want to talk about that in front of everyone else, but if you wanted to take Batu aside for a proper one-on-one then that’s going to be your chance. I don’t know when I’m going to hold that meeting again, but trust me, when I finally make up my mind on that, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Gee, thanks for that, I guess,” Donny muttered, although he only meant it half-heartedly. He himself still wasn’t sure if he wanted to figure out what he really felt for Batu so soon. But then again, maybe that face-to-face meeting might well be the kick up the butt that Donny needed to finally deal with the thing decisively instead of running away from it, much like what he was doing right now.

The rest of the week passed by in a flash, and just like that, it was finally time for the first ever race of the 20th season of the World Grand Prix Championship. For Fleftic, Pridnestrovian, Oontaznik, and Copperite fans of the series, it had been a long and agonizing two-year wait between the season 19 finale in Vilita and the season opener at the Talbott Autodrome in Liventia. Some other countries might have not even noticed the two-year gap between the seasons simply by virtue of the uneven ebb and flow of time across different places in the multiverse, but for everyone in the sphere of influence of the APOC Coalition, those two years of waiting were an unprecedented event. But the wait was finally over. 28 of the multiverse’s best open wheeler drivers and fourteen of the best teams had made their way to Liventia to start off another season of WGPC. This race could very well determine who were going to be the protagonists of the story of the championship chase, both for the drivers’ and constructors’ trophies.

William Archer was determined to put his name in that chase for the championship immediately. He was really sure that he and Preston were both building unbelievable momentum in the championship by virtue of winning the last two races of Season 19. First, William claimed the crown at Preston’s home race in Hapilopper City before he became the second member of the Archer family to take the checkered flag at the Vilitan Mountain Challenge Course to close out the season. If there hadn’t been any delay between Seasons 19 and 20, William was more than reasonably sure that he would have been able to both ride and steer the wave of momentum that Preston had built up in order to take the championship by storm. And he had more than just to feel confident about his chances in Talbott. After all, he was the one who took pole position in that race in front of the likes of both RL Cruisin and iBen Toralmintii. On paper, the Talbott Autodrome was not supposed to fit William Archer’s driving style, but on that drizzly day two years ago, William felt like he knew the entire layout of the autodrome like the back of his own hand. And there was no reason to think why that still shouldn’t hold true after a couple of years away from the track.

But maybe those two years away did have an effect on William because he simply was not feeling the pace on this particular Saturday. His car was still fast, that was undeniable, but what was also undeniable was the fact that William just couldn’t put together a decent lap. There were some places where he would be blistering and other places where he struggled to rotate the car. Sometimes he was understeering, and then he was oversteering. And William knew that it had nothing to do with the car or the setup; it was all in the way that he was attacking the apexes and mounting the curbs. But then again, that was what practice was for. As time went on, William slowly but surely began to remember how he was supposed to attack this track in the first place.

And then it was finally time for qualifying, and William’s confidence was now back in full force. The two-time grand prix winner from last season was back, and he was also looking to go for three consecutive pole positions, never mind the massive gap in between the Vilitan and Liventian Grands Prix on the calendar. Low fuel load, the softest available compound of Tropicorp tires strapped on, and it was time for William Archer to make history. Left turn, right turn, esses, hairpin, straight, kink, another straight, 90 degree right turn, a more flowing left, the back straight, hairpin, straight, even tighter hairpin, chicane, a blast of DRS, technical section, and then some more DRS to the finish line. It all seemed so easy to do on paper, but as with almost everything else, nothing was ever won on paper, except maybe for a game of tic-tac-toe. This time, William knew that he was hitting everything on the track just right, but the delta on his steering wheel just wasn’t showing it. The only time that he had seen the delta flash green was during his first lap; everything else after that was in the red. However, at the time, it didn’t seem so bad. At least he wasn’t a second down from pole position.

“And that’s the checkered flag,” William’s race engineer said. “Great job out there, William. It’s not the best that you’ve ever done at this track but it’s still pretty good nonetheless.”

“What’s my delta to pole?” William asked.

“That’s five tenths of a second, William.”

“So where does that put us?”

His engineer was silent for a moment. “Radio check,” William called out, just to make sure that the thing hadn’t gone on the fritz and cut out his engineer’s reply.

“Five by five, William. I’ve still got you loud and clear.”

“Okay, so where am I gonna start this Sunday?” William asked again with a little more force this time.

“…we are P28, William,” his engineer finally replied after a few more moments of hesitation. “We will be starting this race from the back of the grid.”

“Wait, what?” William asked. “What in the actual fuck?”

It seemed like the most incredible and impossible thing in the world. William Archer, three-time polesitter in the World Grand Prix Championship, aiming for a fourth pole position of his career as well as his second pole in Liventia and third consecutive pole, was going to start the first race of the 20th season of WGPC from the literal back of the grid. It was perhaps the biggest fall from grace that anyone in the series could have ever experienced aside from extracurricular activities. William knew that he was going to have his work cut out for him on Sunday if he wanted to make good on his ambition to become WGPC driver’s champion this season.

Somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind, William thought that he could hear a familiar sneering cackle.

[Hapilopper]

Talbott Autodrome, Talbott, Liventia
Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Liventia
All throughout the day, Rudy Edwards had anxiety running through his mind. He was fearful of what was to come – how bad would he be? Would he be off the pace? Would he be out to lunch when he got out on track? Would Preston be the team that got exposed by the test sessions, or would they turn out to be just fine? Rudy had those thoughts running through his mind as he climbed into his Preston PGP-03. He closed his eyes, took a very deep breath, and got ready to go out to the Talbott Autodrome to qualify. Maybe it was the setting that heightened Rudy’s anxiety. It was here a few years before that Rudy endured the worst accident of his career.
And the day before, as he did a track walk along other members of the Preston Grand Prix crew, his nerves started to heighten as he approached turn 16 – the site of that dreadful accident some time before in qualifying for this race. Where the DRS system on his rear wing failed and flew off, leading Rudy into a devastating accident, piling into a retaining wall just off that corner.

Rudy stared at that wall for a long time, thinking about that accident. He was lucky that day to not get injured. Other members of the Preston crew – understanding why Rudy was standing there – let him have his moment. They had been there too. Marty had remembered that moment, too – he remembered wanting to kick someone’s ass if the wing hadn’t been secured properly. But Rudy got out of the car, and emerged physically unhurt. But for a bit of time, there was some mental scars that had endured.

But time on the track would help Rudy get over those mental scars. Practicing on the track would help him get over it. So by the time it was time for qualifying, Rudy felt he was ready to approach Turn 16 at speed. He felt he could handle the track at speed without any mental hangups associated with that enormous crash.
He sat inside the car, waiting for the start of qualifying. When the time came, a Preston mechanic gave Rudy the signal, Rudy flipped a switch and the car came on. The screen on Rudy’s steering wheel flickered to life, and a voice inside Rudy’s in-helmet radio system, a very welcoming voice, greeted the Hapiloppian driver.

“Good evening, Rudy,” the voice said softly. “Let’s do something great here. Let’s turn a good lap.”

A huge smile came about Rudy’s face as he heard the VERA – Voice-Enhanced Racing Assistant – welcome him inside the Preston. The VERA was an unannounced feature of the Preston PGP-03 and hooked up to Rudy Edwards’ and William Archer’s helmets. This feature helped communicate changes to the car, track conditions and what was going on with other drivers in the race – such as when the leaders were pitting. Rudy hearing VERA in his helmet gave him confidence.

It's time to go.

It’s time to kick ass.

You are Rudy Fucking Edwards.

You can do this.

And that’s just what he did. He ran a slow warmup lap – both to get his nerves calmed and to get the car’s internals, brakes and tires up to temperature, and then it was time to go.

“Next car ahead is 35.1 seconds ahead,” VERA said as Rudy crossed the start-finish line. “You have a clean lap ahead.”

Rudy put his head down and put it out there. It seemed like the rest of the world ceased to exist around him. It was just him and the race track. Nothing else existed, nothing else mattered. Anything going on around his life didn’t matter. All that mattered was turning the perfect lap. Hitting the marks perfect. Hitting the braking point perfect. Rotating the car through the corners perfect. Making sure the car was right in the perfect power band. Getting the Double-DRS system going on all the straights.

1:40.028.

Room for improvement.

Rudy brought his car back into the garage, and as his car cooled down after that hot lap, he figured he’d watch the others turn laps and hope he made it for the second half of the session, the top-10 shootout. Which he did, and that meant it was time to get ready for another hot lap. Another time where he could block out the rest of the world. Another time where he would ignore the rest of the world, the rest of his anxieties, the rest of his personal difficulties, and focus on turning the ultimate lap, the perfect lap.

Finally, he felt the time was right. A few minutes to go in the second half of qualifying. The car had a new set of Tropicorp soft tires on them. The boost was at full blast – 60 inches of boost. The brakes, tires, water and oil were at their optimal temperatures. It was time to go as he came out of turn 19.

GUN IT! GO! GO! GO! HIT THE DRS! BRAKE! MEDIUM LEFT INTO ONE! BRAKE HARD! HARD RIGHT INTO TWO!

BACK ON THE GAS! EASE OFF, RIGHT INTO THREE, BACK ON THE GAS, VEER FLAT OUT INTO FOUR! BACK ON THE GAS! HANG HARD RIGHT INTO FIVE! BACK ON THE GAS!

FLAT FUCKING OUT! VEER LEFT, SEVEN COMING! BRAKE! BRAKE! FUCKING BRAKE! HARD HAIRPIN RIGHT!

BACK ON THE GAS! HARD ON THE GAS! ENGAGE THE DRS! ALL THE WAY TO EIGHT!

HANG A LEFT! FLAT OUT! FLAT THE FUCK OUT! TURN NINE, BRAKE, HARD RIGHT, KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL!

WHEEL IT THROUGH NINE AND TEN, HARD ON THE GAS! ENGAGE THE DRS! FLAT THROUGH 11! BRAKE! BRAKE! FUCKING BRAKE IT FOR 12! HARD THROUGH 12 AND BACK ON THE GAS AGAIN! ANOTHER HAIRPIN, PEDAL THAT MOFO!

BACK ON THE GAS! ENGAGE THE DRS! GET IT! TURN 16! BRAKE! HARD LEFT! GET IT DONE! THROUGH 17! BACK ON THE GAS! HARD ON THE BRAKES FOR 18! THROUGH 19! YOU GOT IT!

1:38.023.

Good enough for 5th on the grid. When Rudy got out of his car, realizing where he would be starting, a huge smile came about his face. He felt a hell of a lot better than he had earlier about the car and about this track. Maybe, just maybe, Liventia would treat him just fine this weekend. And maybe, just maybe, this race would be the kind of start he needed for this World Grand Prix season.

[Togonistan]

ZX-Flow Energy
@zxflowenergy

May 21st, 2023

---

---

Tremendous performance from Darian Vilau of @KaylanRacing who took the pole position on his World Grand Prix Championship debut! The young Togonistani is ready to Go With The Flow and fight for the podium during tomorrow's race! #WGPC #KaylanRacing #GoWithTheFlow

Talbott Autodrome, Liventia
Qualifying

''Wooooooooah! Wooooooooah! Wooooooooooooah! Yes! Yes!'' Darian Vilau shouted into his radio as he finished his final lap of the qualifying session.

''Great work Darian, great work! Magnificent drive, you're on P1! P1!''

''Hahahahah! Amazing!''

''Scenario 1, scenario 1! Bring the car back to the pits!''

Darian smiled as he slowed down for the in lap. That last one had felt perfect. Hitting all the kerbs at the right spot, Darian was more than happy to hear his hard work had paid off.

''And for tomorrow, starting list... You, Ryker Lane, Crowe, Cruisin, Edwards, Blaatchs..blaatschappen, Ling, Walcott. Ted down in... thirteenth.''

Having brought the car back into the pits, Darian climbed out of the cockpit and was immediately greeted by the team running in to embrace him. Xander watched with a smile on his face as pit crew weren't shy with their hugs and pats on Darian's helmet. That was really the start of the season that the whole team needed right now. It was that positive vibe Kaylan needed to wipe the bitterness of the last season off their lips. Of course, the whole race was still ahead and there was no guarantee whatsoever for either of the cars to even finish in the points, but... at the very least, Darian's pole position raised the morale of the whole team.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Mrs. J. Crowe was in her own unknown new environment this first race weekend, trying different things to judge how much of a presence she wanted to be over the course of a WGPC weekend.

The only races she'd attended in person since Jordan had been a full time Orange Cow driver were the BP Grand Prix at Drummond Vale and the season finale in Vilita, both times staying well out of the way by watching from the VIP boxes where the sponsors and team guests took in everything in relative comfort. She'd joined the rest of the team in the garage during the last half of the title clinching win, her first time listening to the communications from the pitwall to the drivers and being right there with the mechanics as they agonized over every lap that afternoon.

Helena had told Steph that usually she stayed in the very back where the telemetry data was watched by the four “techies” assigned to each car, which didn't appeal to the 25 year newlywed very much; the former Miss Landers was a graduate of University of Middletown working for the State of Ezra in the Fiscal Accounting Office for three years during which time she'd met Jordan through mutual friends from the gym where they worked out.

Mentioned previously, she had an acute fear of flying in an aircraft but had vowed when he asked for her hand in marriage that she would do whatever it took to overcome that so that she could support him in his career.

The first year that the team was in existence Jordan was the test driver and 'driving coach' for the team's entrants, both of whom heaped praise for the help he'd provided; Steph wasn't that well known among the team until the last couple of rounds when JC had brought her into the factory to introduce her and show her the inner workings of the team on a couple of days he tested. The reception she got from the mechanics and engineering team made an impression on her of how well liked Jordan was; Saki Kuyara, who was not naturally a kibitzer, spent 20 minutes with Steph one on one in conversation.

Although she wasn't a physical presence at flyaway races once JC got the full time race seat for WGP2 Season 5, she made more drop in visits to the PRL during the season, test days at Drummond Vale post GP, and all of the important team social events (more often than not bringing along snacks, treats and other items for everyone). The female mechanics for both the WGP2 and the AOGP team “inducted” her into their sub-group inside of “The Firm”--the fraternal order of the grease monkeys, gearheads, wrench turners, assembly/disassembly folks—that were understood to be the core of Orange Cow Racing's egalitarian “governance”.

One of the things she and Jordan discussed after arriving in Liventia involved working out how she was going to fit into his “public persona” and what type of presence within the team was appropriate.

“You are well-loved within the raceday team. You are already a good friend to Hella & Batu thinks the world of you as well.
The only thing you need to be other than a WGPC WAG is to be another sister figure to Batu alongside Shell & Hella. And don't make any fashion blunders that the tabs can exploit.” She rolled her eyes then slapped him on the arm as they were propped up bed before the first day on track.

[Mlima Kijani]

Selection of articles from Kijani news media.

Kijani driver 15th on grid for Liventian Grand Prix

Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir pronounced herself “disappointed” with a 15th place in qualifying for the Liventian Grand Prix. The WGPC season opener at the Talbott Autodrome will see Sivaleinen driver Náttmörðsdóttir beginning 8 rows back alongside Batu Tüvshinbayar. Though Náttmörðsdóttir will start ahead of noted names including Lane Carter, Janne Laukkanen, and iBen Toralmintii, she still said she was “not satisfied” with her qualifying drive. Despite that, her best time was within one second of teammate Kingston Walcott, who led the first tier of qualifying with the fastest time before falling to 8th on the grid after the selection. Náttmörðsdóttir described her racing as “gingerly” addressing the two hairpins at Talbott, but said she would be working with the Sivaleinen team to better understand the car’s capability ahead of the race, which will be her first ever Grand Prix start. Team insiders have blamed the performance less on the car – in which Walcott excelled – and more on Náttmörðsdóttir’s dilettante approach to preparation. “I think she spent more time selecting her outfit for her how i serve cunt twii than she did reviewing the race book,” muttered one team mechanic who wished to remain anonymous as he did not wish to be attacked with a lug wrench by a small (but impeccably dressed) blonde woman.

Opposition parties demand free and fair elections

A coalition of opposition political parties have organized demonstrations across Mlima Kijani, culminating in a march to Simba Square in Ntukabanda, demanding the government ensure this winter’s elections are free and fair. The diverse coalition shares little in common politically, including among its members the National Assembly for Liberty, Toleration, and Dignity (best known for sponsoring Mlima Kijani’s notoriously repressive anti-homosexuality law), and Ubwisanzure Uburinganire Ubuvandimwe (left wing libertarians), but appears united in their skepticism of past elections, which have seen the National Resistance Movement (NARM) re-elected by eye watering margins in every year since Chane Njuguna took office as Chair of the Permanent Revolutionary Council. Speaking for the coalition, Kĩragũ Kĩongo of the centrist Radical Liberation party said that the elections would not be trusted unless independent international observers can guarantee the results, a demand President Njuguna has rejected as “a return to colonial subjugation”. A spokesman for the President’s office said he looked forward to “competitive” elections but resisted acceding to any of the coalition demands.

Græntfjaller soldier shot dead in southern Mlima Kijani

The White Winter Queendom of Græntfjall has confirmed the death of a junior officer from the 72nd Mountain Infantry on assignment with forces conducting counterterror operations in southern Mlima Kijani. Local sources report that the officer was shot dead while overseeing distribution of humanitarian rations, though the precise nature of the incident has not been officially confirmed. The el-Masri Network in Mlima Kijani, the Islamist Brotherhood of South Mlima Kijani, and the Southern Kijani Liberation Front have all separately claimed the killing as their own. The death marks the eighth Græntfjaller to have died on assignment on Mlima Kijani and will increase pressure on Prime Minister Kaija Michaelsdóttir to bring to an end Operation Reinkaos, which has seen Græntfjallers deployed alongside Banijan forces in trying to bring to an end the Islamist terror insurgency in the country’s south. A recent review by the Thing identified “mission creep” and oversight issues in prolonging the engagement, which has grown increasingly unpopular with Græntfjall’s domestic public.

Also in the news:

• Náttmörðsdóttir to appear on popular talk show to promote racing career
• Kijani environment minister’s links to logging companies criticized by activist groups
• Kijani Catholic Church leaders warn against rise of “miracle cults”

[Auruna]

Talbott Autodrome
Grand Prix of Liventia
Practice

The first race weekend of the season is now underway at the Talbott Autodrome in Liventia. For Viska, it's going to be a huge and difficult challenge and even though it's just the first race weekend, there's a ton of pressure on the Aurun team that finished at the top-half of the championship. For the Grand Prix of Liventia, they historically performed well here with Goita securing a win for them for the first they raced here in WGPC so it's something that they had to keep up.

Artur headed the practice programmes with an overall goal of seeing if they have improved from a benchmark set from last season, although the circuit layout has changed but it didn't matter. Both drivers were on different programmes based on their preference and after everything has been set, they were sent out to do their laps. So far based on practice, things are looking well with Sara Luna posting the third fastest time of 1:45.986 but the true test would come in qualifying.

Qualifying

It was a strange one for Viska as they were quite behind in qualifying pace and chaos at the garage soon ensued. After being send out too late, an attempt from Aaron to qualify ended up with damage to the front wing and floor as he was pushing too hard. When he returned, the mechanics went on to repair the car as well as perform other checks to see if there are any other unseen damages. Then Sara Luna came in for a change of tyres and to let her car cool down a bit.

Several minutes passed and Sara was ready to go again but after a quick look, Artur delayed her release when he noticed something off with the car. "Oi sÿkkää!" ("Hey, stop!") He exclaimed with his signature stern Akresna (North Veratun) accent which led to eyes on him as he makes his way to Sara's VK-03H.

"Take a closer look, everyone." He said pointing at the tyres. "Check if something's off, this is a test."

The mechanics hesitated for a bit before one takes a closer look and in shock, he reaches for the wheel gun which made the others to re-tighten the nuts but Artur stopped them again.

"Take a closer look again. What's wrong with it?"

The mechanics looked at each other until Artur finally gave away the answer.

"The left and right tyres aren't the same compound, we can't run it like that. Calm down and change it to full Tracs, find the same set then send her out as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, the mechanics are in a slight panic as they immediately removed the Base tyres that were mistakenly put on the right side then they raced toward the tyre racks to find the Tracs of the same set. While this was going on, Aaron Deering was ready to go so he was sent out but was released into traffic as they missed their window for a clear track and now he had to deal with other cars. Back at the #50 side, Sara Luna was soon sent out after the problem was resolved but she was also released into traffic.

Attempt after attempt, the two Viska drivers did their best but they unfortunately didn't make it through with Aaron Deering and Sara Luna just qualifying 25th and 22nd respectively. This event was a speedbump to their anticipated buildup to the race, on a circuit where they have performed well on. It was surly a blow to the team's morale but some still remained optimistic, including Jöna and Artur.

During Aaron's in-lap, Esko took his time to console him on the radio. "We didn't make it through, but that's just qualifying, tomorrow's race is more important. We just need to focus on it. Don't let this put you down, I know you can do it. Alright? You can talk to me later, see you here kid." Before removing his headset and heading to the garage to wait for Aaron's return.

Meanwhile, Artur is at the Viska motorhome with a cup of coffee in hand as he waits with Jöna at the briefing room. He just stares at the monitor displaying the results of practice and qualifying, putting his mind to work on coming up with a strategy that would at least get them close to the top ten. He takes a quick glance at Jöna who is seemingly doing the same, staring down a monitor full of data. Artur takes a sip from his coffee before returning his attention to his work.

This is just a minor setback, I know we can recover. I know it. I trust this team and so I have to make this work.

And about earlier... it looks like my time with Aldauren influenced me a bit.

"Heh."

He smirks subtly as the briefing room get filled with several important staff as well as the two drivers and their race engineers. He quickly finishes his coffee then debriefing soon commenced.

O kuhunnaa neän lukkua...
Kota aurii, kota mikaa, je kota kinaa...
Oppua neän maitkaa...
Ihmaisin, kiretäriinäsin...
Je velku Väälehättäinäsan...
Nee täitäku.

Oh hear their story...
Of the eagle, the wolf, and the fox...
Learn of their journey...
From the world of humans, of spirits...
And even into hell...
They fought on.

---

Qualifying
Q2

After just barely missing out on Q2, just beating Adonis Fitzpatrick for P10, Laura suspected something different with her as she prepares for the second qualifying session. While the mechanics are working on her PF-2, she is sitting at the back, reviewing the qualifying results while feeling a little more exhausted than usual. Not just a little exhausted, she felt uncomfortable, she was feeling hot. It wasn't alarming as she have dealt with fevers before while racing but she had to make sure. She enters her assigned prep room to take a small digital thermometer that she always carries from inside her bag. She places the back of her hand on her neck to feel a burning sensation before putting the thermometer at her armpit to check her temperature.

"38.1 C... that's... manageable." She says after seeing her temperature. Just a mild fever. She thought as she prepares to go out. Disappointed that is affected her performance, she was surprised as she managed to keep up after realising it. And hopefully this time, she could at least improve upon her current result.

Back at the garage, her car is fully prepared, the Sidus engine started up and it was ready to go. Laura hops into the car after putting on her gear. Securing herself in the cockpit, she waits for the signal to head out and in the meantime, Erik gets on the radio to chat for a bit.

"Radio check Laura."

"Loud and clear."

"Great, now. track is expected to be dry so when you are sent out, just go for it. We're putting you on Hi-Tracs for this session and good luck."

"Heh, thanks Erik."

"By the way, I noticed you went back to your room, what's up?"

"Nothing too spectacular, just checked for a mild fever."

"Ah, hope you get well soon. Can you do it? We can call it off for you."

"It's manageable, I just hope it doesn't get worse for tomorrow's race."

"Copy that, it's your choice."

...

"Pit lane clear, you're ready to go."

"Alright."

The signal was given and the car was lowered from the stands and Laura drives off to start her qualifying. She gently works on the tyre and brake temps during her out-lap. She continues on as normal, building it up until she reaches the start/finish straight.

"Come on Aina, you can do this. I'm with you here." She says at the exit of Turn 19, willing her car on as she opens up the taps at the straight. Letting the engine reach the rev limits before swinging around the outside then braking for the first corner. Even though she's feeling uncomfortable, she still manages to get through the first couple of corners, navigating through them with precision while dealing with a minor illness. She can let her arms rest for a bit upon reaching the straight after Turn 7, taking Turn 8 flat-out but she eventually locked up while braking for Turn 9.

"Breathe normally... come on."

She recovers from her mistake but it costed her valuable seconds off her time. After letting out an expletive off-radio, she tries to compose herself at the exit of Turn 10. Reaching the end of the sector, she was informed by Erik that it was a "yellow sector" for her. At the third and final sector of the circuit, she was on par with her teammate's sector time. After rounding the final corner, she activates her DRS and crosses the line to set a 1:38.257 and qualifying P10, last of the second qualifying session.

She releases a disappointed sigh in her cooldown lap. "Not good... not good enough." She says staying off radio for the moment. "It's not your fault Aina, don't worry. I'll just get you back now."

"That's P10, do you want another go?"

"Give me a new set of tyres and I'll have another go at it. I locked up badly back at 9."

"Copy that, I'll let them know."

After her return, she lets her car cool down for a while as the mechanics change the tyres for a new, fresh set of Hi-Tracs. Moments later, she was out on track again trying to improve her time. After two attempts, she couldn't shave off a few milliseconds off of her fastest time. Everything she did in those two attempts was futile and it was with a fresher set of tyres.

Laura returns to the garage for one final time, accepting the results. She climbs out of her car and stretches before taking her helmet and balaclava off followed by another disappointed sigh as she walks to the back of the garage to have a seat. She takes a quick looks at one of the monitors mounted inside the garage to see the results. Tenth... that was the best she could do for this session. If only I didn't lock up back then... but it already happened so it doesn't matter anymore.

But it's not good enough.

Her cold thoughts remained with her as she rests at the back, taking a few sips of water from time to time until she finishes an entire bottle. Several scenarios play in her head of what could've been. She groans, annoyed with what her mind is playing, it was teasing her in a way and she couldn't avoid it. It worsened her condition a bit. She places her arm on her forehead, feeling the heat coming off her entire body as she sits there.

"Feeling alright?" Erik asked Laura as he sat beside her.

"I might need to sleep early."

"You'll recover soon, so don't worry about it." He said, trying to comfort Laura. "Don't even worry about qualifying, you're still starting tenth and there's a lot that could happen. I know you made a mistake but it doesn't matter anymore. Got it?"

Laura responded weakly. "Yeah, I know..."

Erik gives Laura a look of concern. "You don't sound good. Now, you just need to go through debriefing then you can go back to the hotel to rest. I'll handle everything else, just make sure you can drive tomorrow. Understood?"

"Yeah, understood."

"I'll let you know when it starts."

"Thanks Erik."

"Don't worry, I'm with you here."

Hearing that phrase, that distinct phrase that came from her mother comforted her greatly. Even if she heard it a million times over, she felt relief and she knew, she had to continue on. You're right. You're with me... always.

[Trans-Dniesters]

“Sir, I’m afraid that we have a bit of a problem going on right now,” said Marina Vladislavovna Smirnitskaya, chief public relations officer of the Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division.

“Oh? What kind of problem are we talking about?” asked team principal Vasily Semyonovich Gatutin. “Is it going to be out there on the track? I don’t remember any issues popping up for either Adonis or Skiia earlier today.”

“It’s not an on-track issue, Vasily Semyonovich,” Smirnitskaya replied. “It’s about the test that we held before the start of the season. The one that was supposed to be for our second seat before Adonis returned.”

“Is that so?” Gatutin asked. “What is the issue supposed to be?”

“Some people and some drivers are criticizing our decision to hold a test session claiming that it is to decide who’s going to be in our second seat when in fact, it was only for a reserve role,” Smirnitskaya explained as she handed over a tablet computer for Gatutin to read. “Nepö Kinder stated in her email to Taras Gavrilovich that she was extremely disappointed in our decision not to be upfront as to the true purpose of the test, but I am not sure if she has made this opinion of hers known to anyone else. However, I do have some unconfirmed rumors that Olivia Stone was not particularly appreciative of our tactic either. Once again though, these are just rumors, and I have no way of knowing if she’s actually said this to someone else or if she even actually thinks it in the first place.”

“Of course she’s bloody thinking it, Marina Vladislavovna, don’t be naive,” a gruff old voice said from the other corner of the room. It was Yakov Leonidovich Yurievsky, “financial advisor” of the UrGa Motorsports Division and someone who could cause even only one person to hold completely opposing views on him. Yurievsky was reading a physical newspaper when Smirnitskaya had come in to report the latest developments to Gatutin. “Think about it for a moment. Step into their shoes just for a minute. You’ve been told by this new upstart WGPC team that they’re holding a test session to determine who’s going to occupy their second seat for the coming season. You go out there and show the team that you’re actually fast in their equipment. You think that means that you’re a shoe-in for that seat, but then the team drops a bombshell and announces that they’ve already had someone else lined up for said seat, and the test was now actually to determine who gets to be a reserve driver for that new team. Now, I say, wouldn’t that piss you off as well?”

“What’s your point in all of this, Yakov Leonidovich?” Gatutin asked, more rhetorically than anything else. He knew exactly what point Yurievsky was trying to make, but Vasily Gatutin would be damned if he ever acknowledged it.

“You shouldn’t have jumped the gun and offered Vialiv that other seat in our team when you knew full well that Fitzpatrick was going to come back despite all of those other test sessions he took part in,” Yurievsky replied. “You should have conducted the test before you made the contract offer, Vasily Semyonovich, not the other way around. That’s how we’ve done it when we got into WGP2 for the first time, and that’s the way that we should have done it when we moved up to WGPC itself. Remember that time when you said to imagine the prospect of someone like Olivia Stone or Kinu Luminna driving for UrGa? Well, guess what, Vasily Semyonovich? Keep imagining, keep dreaming because I highly doubt that they would entertain another testing offer from us in the near future after that stunt you pulled!”

“Yakov Leonidovich, why are you so vehemently against the idea of UrGa signing Skiia Vialiv as a driver?” Gatutin asked. “As far as I am aware, she does not have any issues at all working for us. It’s not even a matter of differing political ideologies! For all we know, she might be a more ardent communist than Kaloyan Todorenko, although I personally highly doubt that to be the case. In any case, despite appearing to be the completely opposite kind of driver to what our design philosophy prefers, Skiia Vialiv has shown us all that she is capable of taking our machine to the necessary heights to succeed in this series. And besides, hasn’t that always been how we do things, even way back in the Coalition series? We have one driver that fits our philosophy to a T and another that is the complete antithesis. Adonis is the team driver, and Skiia is the one who will take our design to the limits and maybe beyond.”

“Sure, that may be the case,” Yurievsky nodded as he folded up his newspaper. “Vialiv might indeed be a good hand inside our car. But what else does she bring to the table aside from that? I’m not just talking about her own skills here. I’m talking about opportunities beyond just that of racing. What can Pridnestrovia hope to gain from Tropicorp by virtue of our team signing one of their drivers? Tires? We already have plenty of those, and I haven’t even gotten to those TRS tires. Birds capable of driving cars by themselves? I would rather have my six-year-old granddaughter drive me around the Tiraspol Ring Road during rush hour, thank you very much.”

“If not Vialiv then who do you think we should have gone for, Yakov Leonidovich?” Gatutin asked.

“If you hadn’t delayed that test for as long as you did, I truly believe that we could have had a chance to take Lilly Nattmordsdottir before Sivaleinen got their hands on her,” Yurievsky replied as he picked up his newspaper again. “Now that is a driver who can offer a lot of things, not just to our team but to Pridnestrovia itself.”

Gatutin had to laugh at Yurievsky’s choice. “Nattmordsdottir? Are you kidding me?” he asked in disbelief. “Based on the information that we’ve gathered in preparation for the test, Nattmordsdottir would not have been interested at all in driving for us! She thinks we’re representing a bloody communist state on the top level of open wheel racing. The chances of Nattmordsdottir signing for us are slimmer than my own chances of winning the WGPC by myself!”

“Be that as it may, Vasily Semyonovich, there are ways of dealing with that,” Yurievsky said confidently. “I remember her home country having some sort of Communist or Islamist insurgency, and I don’t think their local forces and their Graintfjaller allies or overlords, whatever you want to call them, have been dealing with that well enough. Offer up the services of one of our private military companies to help them out with that. And if she doesn’t like that, offer medicines and aid to deal with that VODAIS epidemic of theirs. Surely even she wouldn’t be heartless enough to refuse medical aid.”

“You’ve really had this all planned out in your head, haven’t you?” Gatutin muttered. “And let me guess: you would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for your meddling boss and his meddling driver relations officer.”

"You just had to go for Vialiv, Vasily Semyonovich," Yurievsky said back. "You just had to go over my head and the entire board of directors to finally get what you wanted."

"Funny that you should mention that, Yakov Leonidovich," Gatutin said. "From what I recall, the board was unanimous in their approval of my choice when I revealed it to them. Frankly speaking, it would appear that you are the only person in this entire team, this entire corporation even, who is adamantly against UrGa signing Skiia Vialiv."

Before Yurievsky could say anything more, a staffer knocked on the door of the office and said to Gatutin, "His Majesty is here."

"How about Taras Gavrilovich? Where is he?" Gatutin asked.

"He's with the Prince, sir."

"Very well," Gatutin nodded. He stood up from his chair and made to leave, but just before he went through the door, he turned to Yurievsky and said, "We will continue this conversation later, Yakov Leonidovich. Right now though, I do not want to keep His Majesty waiting."

The staffer led Gatutin across UrGa's mobile headquarters inside the paddock area of the Talbott Autodrome and into a conference room with a glass wall looking out towards the rest of the paddock. Inside the conference room were Taras Gavrilovich Matviyenko, chief driver relations officer of UrGa Motorsports, and the team's most important guest, HRH Prince Bismillah bin Kudarat al-Untas, second son of Sultan Kudarat of the Sultanate of Oontaz. It appeared that Matviyenko and the Prince were in the middle of a conversation about their respective racing careers when Gatutin walked in, as he was able to hear the last parts of the Prince's sentence. "...and all the while, I was praying and saying to myself, 'I hope he doesn't outbrake himself!'" the Prince said, eliciting genuine laughter from Matviyenko.

It was Prince Bismillah who first saw Gatutin coming into the room. "Salaam alaykum, Vasily Semyonovich," the Prince said as he and Matviyenko stood up to greet the UrGa team principal.

"Alaykum al-salam, Your Majesty," Gatutin said back, and then the two of them shook hands. Once they were done, Gatutin turned to Matviyenko and said, "I hope His Majesty hasn't talked your ears off, Taras Gavrilovich."

"On the contrary, sir," Matviyenko replied, "we were both just reliving our best moments out on the track."

"I would like to think that you're reminiscing about the good times rather than the bad," Gatutin said as he sat down in between Matviyenko and the Prince. "So, Your Majesty, what shall we talk about now?"

"It's a conversation that we have had more than a few times before, Vasily Semyonovich," Prince Bismillah replied. "It's a possibilty that both of us saw happening should UrGa finally become part of WGPC and not just WGP2. You've wondered if it was feasible for your organization to operate a team in both the top tier and second tier of the premier open wheeler competition in the multiverse, and you've come to the conclusion that it might not be possible for you to run a team in both WGPC and WGP2 at the same time. And you offered to give me your WGP2 team once UrGa was accepted in WGPC. Well, now I am here to make it official. I am offering to buy a sixty percent stake in Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division's WGP2 team. 51 percent is for me to become the outright majority owner of the team, and the extra nine percent is insurance in case something happens that would reduce my ownership stake below the 51 percent required. Of course, the team will still operate under the UrGa banner but now it will also have Oonaftco as its title sponsor. Our accountants will take care of the actual amounts that we need to see this transfer through, but as for the two of us, all we need to do is come to an agreement. Do you find my terms acceptable, Vasily Semyonovich?"

"I do indeed find them most acceptable, your Majesty," Gatutin said with a smile. "Now, your Majesty, just between the two of us—and Taras Gavrilovich over there," he added, gesturing at Matviyenko, "if you were literally any other person offering to buy the team then I would have had second thoughts about it. But I know that you are as devoted and dedicated to motorsports as I am, so I find no qualms in you taking over the ownership stake of the WGP2 team. Our teams already work together closely in CGPRA, NSSCRA, and AOGP, and so it only makes sense that we extend this relationship to WGP2 as well."

Gatutin and Prince Bismillah then shook hands, making the deal official in all but name. But their legal departments were already hard at work taking care of the paperwork that would make the transfer of ownership legally binding and as airtight as possible with regards to the rules and regulations of the WGPO. "A toast to the Oonaftco Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports WGP2 Team!" Gatutin called out.

"A toast," the Prince repeated. "However, if it's all the same to you, I will toast our deal with water. You two can take care of the vodka and alcohol."

"Of course, your Majesty," Gatutin nodded as Matviyenko pulled out a bottle of vodka and poured its contents into two shot glasses. A pitcher of water had already been set aside for the Prince, and he poured himself a glass which he raised in a toast alongside the two Pridnestrovians.

"You Majesty," Taras Matviyenko called out. "There's something else that I would like to talk about with you while we've still got you here."

"Of course, Taras Gavrilovich," Prince Bismillah said. "What is it all about?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know how credible these rumors that I've been hearing lately are true," Matviyenko said. "But apparently, you're having some difficulty picking which of the drivers from your academy are going to replace you and your friend Edmundo in your AOGP team, is that correct?"

"Unfortunately for me, Taras, yes, it's all true," Prince Bismillah nodded sadly.

"Well, your Majesty, believe it or not, but I think I might have a solution to your problem," Matviyenko said. "At the very least, it will help you fill one of your team's vacant seats."

"I'm listening," the Prince said.

"The team has just signed a new reserve driver," Matviyenko said. "Nepö Kinder, from Hülkenberg. She was understandably pissed at the whole team after we had offered her only a reserve role even though she went into our test thinking that our second seat was the one on offer. In any case, Kinder agreed to become our test driver, but the team thinks that she deserves to have more than just some track time under her belt for this season. That, your Majesty, is where you come in. Would it be all right with you if we were to let Kinder drive for your AOGP team and solve one half of the problem of filling your seats in time for this season?"

"Mashallah, you and your team are a godsend, Taras Gavrilovich," Prince Bismillaj said, the relief evident in both his voice and his face. "Of course we will gladly have Kinder join our team for the entirety of this season. However, now the question becomes, is she willing to join our team for this season? Have you asked her about this yet?"

"Not yet, your Majesty," Matviyenko shook his head. "But I expect that we will get a reply from her within the next few days."

"I see," the Prince nodded. "I look forward to hearing Fraulein Kinder's response sooner rather than later."

[Tumbra]

Liventia

"So what the fuck happened? We spend pre-season looking promising, and then...twenty-third and twenty-fourth?" came the rough-hewn voice of Charlie Pressley, who evidently hadn't heard of Liventian smoking laws. Or Pressley Racing's smoking rules while in the motorhome, for that matter.

"Well, it was just two tenths..." started Jack Brook, team principal.

"If it's going to be two-tenths determining whether we start on pole or on the twelfth fucking row, we'd better make sure that we make up those two-tenths, then." Charlie snarled. "All those ideas I flung at the team, all the little things I told you, Patel," he said, turning his ire toward chief designer, Kelly Patel, "Kallenmeyer, Chew, and all the others back at home base. You ignored them, didn't you?"

"Charlie, we simply didn't have time to implement all the ideas you wanted. Dual-axis steering and all the driver aids - active suspension, traction control, anti-lock brakes - they're in the pipeline for the 024, or even the 023B if you're willing to push it that quick, but getting the tuned mass damper onto the car was itself an achievement already," said Jack. "That we're here is a bit of a miracle in itself, Charlie. We only started planning for this two years ago, and the fact that we're able to be only two-tenths off the pace is already a miracle in itself. We were frankly expecting to be plum last, alongside the Eminents or the Sivaleinens."

Pressley sat there in silence, as a bit of ash dropped onto the maroon and gold ashtray he had on his table. "And yet the little pretty-boy in the silver car got first in the first bit of qualifying."

"Well, much like pre-season, there's not much to separate the teams at this part of the season. Early days," said Jack.

"We're the team with the worst average qualifying position this weekend, Jack," replied Charlie gruffly. He grabbed a piece of paper. "Sophie was disappointing. I thought my order to give more support to her was clear." On it were the telemetry readings from Sophie and Bryce's fastest laps. There was almost nothing separating the two.

"We did follow your orders. She's getting the first upgrades that will be here after Togonistan," Jack exhaled. "We just need time, Charlie. I get that you're stressed, but so are we. We're all doing our best."

Charlie looked up, a bit of annoyance in his voice. "Well, this project...it's what I've been looking towards since the WGPC first started. I've always wanted a team in this series, and now I just want it to go well."

"We all do," said Jack. "Believe me, Charlie, we all do. We'll see improvements across the season, I'm sure, especially now that we've got Dario with us. He's good, steady, experienced. He'll get in the miles and let us know how to improve the car."

"Rest of you can go," Charlie said, waving his hand dismissively. "Jack, you stay." The rest of the team who'd been summoned to receive Charlie Pressley's dressing down filed out of the room. Once the door had been shut, Jack sat down on the chair opposite of the desk without being prompted.

"Don't fuckin' know what to do."

"Charlie, it's early days. You flying off the handle at every opportunity isn't good for morale."

"Yeah, but the fuckin' Kaylans - the Darian kid got pole, and...well...thirteenth. And here we are, twenty-third and twenty-fourth."

"To be fair, they do have an extra year of experience on us." Jack shrugged. "We're a customer team of theirs, too. Wouldn't exactly be surprised if the engines we got were a tad down on power of something. I've heard whispers, too, that they're not exactly as flush with cash as we hoped."

"Best hope they get their shit solved, then."

"No, Charlie. I'm saying we should plan for if they pull back further, or even pull out. Take things in-house —"

"Haven't got the cash."

" — or buy it and sell it to someone like Thomas Kim, the fucker's crazy for cars. He'd probably insist we put some pink on the car or some bollocks, but he'd be good for funding. But the greater point I'm trying to make is that there are bigger things to worry about than our cars occupying the twelfth row of the grid in our first-ever race weekend. You're the big man, you're meant to make the big decisions. Let me worry about the day-to-day running of the team." Jack said. "We'll be fine. I'd personally recommend that you come to less races after this season. Someone's needed at the factory, after all."

"Maybe you're right." Charlie took another puff of the cigar. "Maybe you're right."

[Aboveland]

Talbott Autodrome
Talbott, Liventia

Janne's long awaited return to the Chase Cutter had already bore fruit during practice. The team had decided to focus on the race setup during Friday's session, but even then, he'd landed himself comfortably sixth overall on the standings. Things bode well for Saturday, even though, as per usual, he had found himself struggling in the twister sections of the circuit.

His former team's home venue is particularly hostile to the Chase Cutter, especially all the way to turn 7, but the longer the first tier of qualifying went on the more apparent it seemed that it was his own struggles that were leaving him out of advancement; Ryker was comfortably in the top 10.

Lap after lap after lap, it was always one corner in the first sector that tripped him up; not that the Chase Cutter ever lost grip, or that his mind and the thrust vectoring in the Imagikinetic converters were ever at odds with the general direction he wanted to launch himself into, but his car was a dog to steer, as per usual — and returning to such a machine after a year away in conventional and more nimble machinery had forced him to alter his driving style to what it had always been: point and squirt.

And finally, he's nailed the first sector, wide into turn three, hugging the apex at four, dabbing the brakes before five and launching off towards seven. For the first time all session, his delta is purple by the time he reaches turn nine. He slips past turn 11 with relative ease and slows down through 12, but as he reaches turn 14, the excitement of bettering his time dazes him for an instant. He's late into the hairpin, the Chase Cutter whirring ungraciously as it lumbers through the tight right corner; with the gaps as small as they've proven so far, the lapse in concentration is a death sentence. There's no time to make up the damage: 20th in his first qualifying session for Nexus at the big leagues. A shambles next to his — admittedly more experienced , and former world champion— teammate in second.

As soon as he's back in the paddock, he clambers lazily out of his Chase Cutter, stretching his legs and cracking his neck as he frees himself from the monocoque. He heads for the back of the garage to seek out a wide, cushy arm chair onto which to flop down, suit unzipped and cozy team coat wrapped tightly around himself to relax. On the way, he's stopped by his new race engineer, Max; there's words of encouragement, a grab of his shoulder, a pat on the back — he's very professional, encouraging, and understanding about the session; "we can try new tricks for tomorrow," he reassures.

As Janne is about to walk out towards the back of the paddock, he spots an obnoxious green from across the dividing walls. That hyperactive, sickly, unnatural shade of Uranium isotope green. He hadn't realized it earlier, and it takes a moment to sink in: by virtue — or as a result of — finishing third-last among all of last year's teams, Nexus Racing had landed themselves squarely next to the paddock of the team just one better than them.

Kaylan.

Unlike his countrymen six or so garages away, his qualm isn't nationality-based. It's their driver in green — the returnee in the team — that's on his mind; the he'd promised himself he'd try to avoid as much as possible. Bless him: it isn't his fault, not necessarily, and to an extent, Janne isn't quite sure why he wants to avoid him, either — or maybe, he does, and doesn't want to admit it. Truthfully, the Tumbran's an... okay person. Quiet, reserved, a bit awkward to talk to, and definitely moody from the outside (and yes, he was sure he was thinking about Ted Pressley and not actually describing himself). He'd also been a breakout star himself, and them promptly struggled in his transition to the top tier of World Grand Prix in much the same way he had...

Janne shakes his head in frustration, rubbing his eyes and walking back into the garage towards his closet, where his caps and helmet lay when disused. He heads to grab one of the coats hung up on the rack — adjacent to the Kaylan garage through the wall, a simple task to orient his mind elsewhere. He takes a moment to reboot his sprawling mind — he's not about to repeat all the mistakes of the previous season, surely? He'd done much the same thing in Liventia the previous year: 'look at this cute little twink; he's just like me, for real; maybe we'll have a lot in common; maybe I should go start a conversation!'. It'd been a fucking disaster!

He groans softly under his breath. He'd dipped his toes where they didn't belong last year, and he got his legs cut off in the end. His teenage angst and rabid touch starvation had gotten him nowhere good — nowhere meaningful, at least, and in his wake he'd left a humongous, bloody mess which he hadn't yet thought — and didn't plan on thinking — about. It's quite clear to him: he must avoid the Tumbran; so long as he averts direct confrontation, everything will be fine. New season, new Janne: WGPC20 would be all about the driving, the training, the testing, the focus, and the team.

He takes a deep breath as he reaches for his coat; as he pulls it off the hanger, a sliver of green and orange seeps in through the gaps in the wall. Even at the sight of nothing, of nobody, his heart races.

[TJUN-ia]

WGPC20
InfoInternet Grand Prix of Liventia presented by Liventia Airways
Talbott Autodrome
Talbott, Liventia

The weekend had finally arrived...and everyone in the WGPC circles back in TJUN-ia could finally breathe a sigh of relief. After all of this waiting and all of the debate, it was finally time for the WGPC to return...and TJUN-ia's contribution to the series to go up from one to two. 28 of the world's very best drivers across 14 teams - old, new and NEW new - will soon fight it out across 10 rounds in rider to determine the new champion of the world. The hype certainly abounded as the processes that kickstarted the season got underway, with both practice and qualifying seen as appetizers for the main course on Sunday - but who would claim the earliest of advantages heading into the race?

Practice
Considering how tight testing has been over the 2 Days of Testing everyone got, no one really knew what to expect from a proper race weekend - apart from the fact that many expected things to be tight during Friday Practice. That was exactly what we got in this session as it would end up being R.L. Cruisin who led another tight session over Kingston Walcott and Sara Luna - while those in the TJUN linked teams would be all over the place in a session which saw everyone separated by only 8 tenths of a second. Cocoabo #23 was only 0.013 down in P4 and Jordan Crowe was half a tenth down in 10th while both the TJUN-ians were further back...with Lane Carter 0.085 down in P13 and Batu Tüvshinbayar a quarter of a second down in P22. It still felt crazy to both of them that being a quarter of a second off the lead could mean being outside the Top 20 entirely...but both of them knew that the real test would be coming in Qualifying the next day.

Qualifying
In the past, tracks got to choose from a multitude of formats for their qualifying procedures, and it would appear as though that format is back for this season of WGPC action. Liventia opted to go for a 2-Tier system for this opening weekend, in which the Top 10 would advance into a Q2 that would ultimately decide pole. Q1 would be tight as hell, the regulations and the equal nature now fully apparent meaning that the entire field was separated by just over half a second. William Archer was the guy in last being half a second down, with iBen Toralmintii and Cocoabo #23 being over 3 tenths down on the time set by Kingston Walcott but ending up in the bottom 3 - a clear sign that qualifying pace between the 14 teams is pretty much a crapshoot. Crowe would make it through with the 8th fasted time but the TJUN-ians were caught in the struggle, with Batu a tenth down in P16 and Carter 0.121 down in P17 - while Donny Fitzpatrick missed out by a whisker against Laura Haukanna. Q2 would end up with Darian Vilau claiming the first pole position of the season by 0.005 over Ryker Lane with Crowe 0.014 behind in 3rd. the rest of the Top 10 consisted of R.L. Cruisin, Rudy Edwards, Sam Blaatschappen, Angela Tan Fang Ling, Kingston Walcott, Skiia Vialiv and Laura Haukanna.

Overall, this entire process has been very interesting - with no one really a cut above the rest or a clear backmarker at that. What this means is that practically no one on this grid or following this series has a surefire clue as to what may occur when those 5 red lights go out tomorrow. Batu and Lane would comment on that during post-Q1 interviews, echoing the sentiment that they hoped that their "true pace" would show itself tomorrow though they truly had no clue how things would go down. Tomorrow may end up being the most open in the history of the sport. And that makes it all the more thrilling.

---

A passage from Lane Carter's personal diary, written the night before Race Day.

Tomorrow will be a big day, for both me and especially for Batu.
Your first race at this level is always a different experience from anything you've experienced before, so I just hope he is prepared for what is to come.

I also hope that he can do things properly with Donny.
He needs to treat him as a friend first before things can go further...as you must walk before you run in situations like this.

...It is wrong of me to feel jealous of Batu?
Not because he is a Champion...but because he has his heart set on someone...reachable?

I hope Mizu is doing OK...doing whatever he's doing over in Squidroidia.
But I have to move on...for better or for worse.

Still, I do feel a bit...empty sometimes.
Fast Cocaobo is more social than I thought, but it still feels...different.
Maybe I can meet up with Ted Pressley and Will Archer again...maybe that will help me in that regard.

One day, I may find...someone else to fill the secret space within my heart...but I'm not sure who that might be.
Not in terms of personality or anything else like that...but in terms of gender.

---

A text message from Batu to Donny, sent the night before the race.

Hey there! How are you?
Sorry it has been a while since my last message, but you can understand my occupation with other matters.

So...Qualifying was very tight, wasn't it? Like I can't fucking believe that William will start from last despite being only half a second down.
Like I knew things would be different up here, but this? It's incredible.

I heard you were over in Baker Park for a test with SOC. I'm sorry I couldn't say hello, I was back home in Shinebaishin trying to sort out my contract and I only knew you were there the day after your session.
If I knew you were there, I would've wished you good luck...but oh well.

I hope things are doing OK on your side of things.
I know things have been...interesting between us this offseason.
But until things change, you are still my good friend Donny...and I hope everything goes well tomorrow.

Things may end up being chaotic tomorrow, but we have to remember one thing.
We made it. We're in the big time. And nobody can take that away from us now.

Amjilt Khüsiye. Good luck. And I'll see you out there tomorrow.

Hanggang sa muli!

[Chromatika]

Ji So-Yeong would never admit it to anyone, but there was one thing that she dreaded the most out of anything else when it came to this WGPC. It wasn't finishing in last place, or not finishing, or being considered a failure. It wasn't even the pressures of being the second Chromatik driver to reach this level, especially given what had befallen Anola Melani. Neither was it the grueling hours and days to come, the expectations being put on her, nor the competition that she was about to be embroiled in.

No, it was far more basic than that. A primal fear. An instinct to avoid the most uncomfortable, awkward conversation awaiting her. She'd guessed from when she signed up that this would be the hardest thing for her. The situation wasn't even resolved, after all... There were so many variables, so many unpredictable outcomes...

When the Qualifying results came out for the InforInternet Grand Prix of Liventia, Ji's blood froze and her face paled. She'd secured 12th place, which wasn't bad in a field of 28.

Below her, though?

Ted Pressley, of Kaylan Racing.

Melani's old team. The team that Anola had won the WGP2 championship with. Anola's friend, still involved in the same team that had brought them both together.

Like it or not, she was going to have to interact with Ted, interact with Kaylan, and, one day, have to address the elephant in the room.

What had happened to Anola Melani? Why wasn't she here?

For only the fifth time since the fateful day, Ji So-Yeong wished that along with a country of twenty-six million people, she also didn't know the truth.

[Lisander]

<< Previously | Next >>

IX. Inspiregram

---

anne7iese • 40m
Talbott, Liventia

---

♥ 208 liked
anne7iese Repost @eminent_grandprix There's a long way to go. #eminent #wgpc #liventia#joryjory

[Vilita and Turori]

How much Racing is Too Much Racing?

Grand Prix of Liventia, Talbott Autodrome, Talbott, Liventia :: While many of the World Grand Prix Championship drivers arrived early to Liventia to get ready for the first official race of the 20th World Grand Prix Championship season, there was one driver who was notably absent from media availability on the first day the track was opened for crews to set up their pit areas and start unloading their cars. Reigning World Grand Prix Champion iBen Toralmintii was not at the track - and not in the country at all. After briefly dipping their toes into retirement, Toralmintii's resurgence has been fierce finishing in the Top 2 of the World Grand Prix Drivers Standings for three consecutive seasons. Ever since Terho Talvela left the sport - and the title reign in the hands of their teammate, however, Toralmintii has sought out much more than just another World Grand Prix Championship. In the weeks before the start of the 20th World Grand Prix Championship season, when most drivers were spending their time shooting marketing material and advertisements for the upcoming season, Toralmintii was busy driving in another racing discipline, the NSSCRA Multiversal Cup Series.

After Team Tropicorp's Cassadaiguan driver Jenna Logan missed out on the Multiversal Chase for the Cup, her seat opened up and Toralmintii swooped in to take another shot at victory in the Challenge at the Rocks, the longest running event on the NSSCRA calendar which takes place at the Vilitan Mountain Challenge Course. When the race was over many expected Toralmintii to head back to prepare for the World Grand Prix Season. Instead, Toralmintii stayed in the car for races in Sajnur and Valentine Z - improving to a 13th place finish in the most recent NSSCRA event.

Now, however, Toralmintii has a decision to make. Are they all in, focusing on defending their World Grand Prix Championship title? Or has that box been checked on their bucket list already, unlike in NSSCRA, the only major Motorsports discipline that iBen Toralmintii has competed without winning a single race.

Of course, no one would suggest that a successful driver such as iBen Toralmintii would be unable to adapt who stay focused when needed. Toralmintii has already demonstrated the ability to balance multiple different racing disciplines at once this season winning the first race of the iROS season on the same weekend as World Grand Prix Championship pre-season testing began. At current, Toralmintii is balancing competition in three different racing series. Thus far, there have been no conflicts in scheduling that prevented Toralmintii from competing in each of the full-time series they have been. With the World Grand Prix Championship season getting started in Liventia, Team Tropicorp is expected to name a new driver for the remainder of the NSSCRA Season. However, they were also expected to do so after Toralmintii made one start for the team at the Vilitan Mountain Challenge Course, and no announcements are pending. Toralmintii traditionally runs the Rumble in the Rice Fields, an event held in the Sherpa Empire that is expected to run roughly around the second week of the World Grand Prix Championship season, when the series heads to the Hwoarang Racing Circuit in Togonistan The logistics of competing in both could be challenging for Toralmintii, but with Imagination powered race cars and robot clones competing in multiple concurrent sporting events throughout the multiverse, if iBen Toralmintii really wants to keep racing, there is likely nothing that could stop them from doing so. Just so long as it keeps being fun, and the results are still there as well.

iBen Toralmintii has gone all in with the Colourworks theme for this Racing Season, carrying over the design which can best be described as "bold" and "abstract" onto his NSSCRA Hybrid Dart stock car. In typical NSSCRA fashion, the car has a handful of additional sponsors compared with Toralmintii's World Grand Prix Championship ride including hood sponsor twii.tur, sponsor of Race Eelandii! VTGP who were previously sponsoring Jenna Logan at Team Tropicorp before Toralmintii inherited the ride. However, in deference to the potential distraction the extra races may have been causing, Toralmintii also brought some of Tropicorp Colourworks unique sponsors onto the design of their NSSCRA Stock Car including Abvoian entity Nor.Tek.

VILITA & TURORI RACER ✓

@VTRacer

Can @iBen77 balance participation in #IROS and the #NSSCRA Multiversal Cup Series as they look to defend their World Grand Prix Drivers Championship? We'll find out when the season gets kicked off in Liventia.

#WGPC :: #NSSCRA :: #GPLiventia

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
InfoInternet Grand Prix of Liventia presented by Liventia Airways; shortly before Qualifying

The cavern isn’t empty when he arrives. That much he expected; his mind told him that things had fallen into a state of disrepair during his slumber. Where he remembers in his mind’s eye the order of everything here, now the space is cluttered. He catches sight of a banner fallen to the floor as he passes beyond the small tunnel he had carved a few metres down the cliff face years ago, part of it hanging over a small rack of staves that had become a perch for a long-abandoned birds’ nest.

Catches sight only, of course. Far more important to the cavern’s lack of emptiness is the person standing at its centre.

“Hey, Ryker.”

Victoria Light’s voice resonates across the dolostone walls. Her posture and body language are awkward. Gone is that cascade of blonde that she had tended for so long, in its place a far more practical bob cut that still doesn’t quite seem right on her. She meets Ryker’s startled gaze, just about.

“Sorry to… Well, jump in here.” Victoria raises a tentative smile, one that he meets with his own.

“You managed the drop?”

“I have been here before. You were the one who showed me!”

“Oh, of course, of course.” Silence, before Ryker speaks again. “So… I don’t mind you being here at all, of course I don’t, but you seem like you wanted to…” He struggles for words. They don’t come as easily as they normally do with her – his mind rebels when he tries to form them.

“Yeah. I…” Victoria reaches up to where her hair would have been. She settles for the side of her face instead, pressing a clenched knuckle into her cheek. “This is about the worst timing, I know, and I’m sorry I haven’t found you sooner, I…” She lets out a huff of frustration. “Imagination, I’m not good at this! I…”

She takes a second. “I wanted to tell you way before now, but I never managed, so I’m doing it now. Maybe at least you won’t be thinking about it in Qualifying, because I know I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.”

Ryker nods. “If you don’t want to say anything now, ‘Toria,” – and even distracted with all of this, he still notices something shift in her expression at the name – “you don’t have to. We can talk about this afterwards, it’s alright.”

“No, it wouldn’t be, Ryker, because you’d definitely have it on your mind then.” Victoria shakes her head with a smile. “Listen, I… I just want to say that I don’t remember exactly what happened last year, or what went wrong with us and why, and that… That scares me.” She takes a shuddering breath. “That scares me really badly. But I still want to try.” She looks up, face now resolute despite it all. “We had too much of a wonderful, wonderful thing for me not to want to. So I’m here to tell you that, and ask if… If you want to as well.”

It takes a few moments for Ryker to process her words. It doesn’t take any for him to nod, then open his arms to offer an embrace.

“Well,” Victoria says, a few moments later, “that’s me doing what I needed to do.” She releases her iron grip, a reluctance in her backward step. “I can leave you to your preparation, if you want – Imagination knows my own team probably could…” She tails off to Ryker shaking his head.

“Stay, Victoria. If you want. Please.”

“… That sounds good too.”


Talbott Autodrome, Talbott, Liventia
InfoInternet Grand Prix of Liventia presented by Liventia Airways; shortly before Qualifying

“Stations, everyone! Got something to say, so be quick about it!”

Gertrude leans back away from the microphone at her console, laughing quietly at the cheer that echoes across Nexus Racing’s pit garage at that, the beautifully synchronised chaos of pre-track preparations suddenly whirling faster at her command. She hopes that this familiar little Nexus Racing touchstone will be good to manage the anxiety that no doubt everyone is feeling a little of. It’s not an unfounded idea: everything feels familiar now, from the faint scent of petrol in the air from the other garages (dislikeable in its scent and meaning but at least confirmation that she is in the right place – and awake) to the intermittent cheering and quiet of anticipation from the crowd seated along the start/finish straight (which she can get behind without any ambiguity).

Well. Not quite everything.

As the garage begins to settle in anticipation of its own, Gertrude feels it again – the decisions and opportunities, the ones she took or dismissed without her being there to make them. The weight of them pulls at her, drawing her to a void that she ought not feel. She can recall all of them, when she tries – can even just about conceive of why she made them – and she knows that in her state, in everyone else’s state, there was nothing more she could have done. Still – the feeling of lost potential, a gravity towards that emptiness. The weight of the team on her shoulders. Every one of those decisions poorly made cost something, created fractures and weaknesses. Were Nexus Racing not as well-supported as they are –

But we are. We have the room to breathe, to think, and it’s our duty to use it. And we can. Hold to faith.

She screws her eyes shut, then opens them again. Takes a breath. Looks to Lucia beside her, as ever the picture of focused composure; she notices out of the corner of her eye, gives a small nod and the tiniest hint of a smile. More than enough to draw strength from.

Leans forward again, towards the microphone.

“Today, our two cars are going to go out onto a track and race. First of all, I want to make clear: given the state we were in not even a month ago, half of us still asleep and barely any preparations made for a new season, that’s an achievement in itself.” Gertrude grins at a lone whoop that she thinks is Benedi. “Yeah, I think that does merit another cheer, everyone, come on!”

Laughter, clapping and more hollering answer her, much to her satisfaction. Another breath, pausing to let the energy flow. “I also know just how hard everyone’s worked to get here. I’ve seen you putting hour after hour in back at the headquarters, felt the energy from everyone. It was hard to miss, and I am grateful and thankful for it. And we’re going to need every bit.”

“This season’s going to be hard. We all know that. We’ve lost about a year in a sport that doesn’t allow you to stay still. Other teams will have projects in the works, upgrades planned, development done, and we won’t have kept up. Even if it’s not showing now, there will be moments that we’re going to curse that fact.”

“In those moments,” and Gertrude places in her voice all of the sincerity and determination that she can channel, “I want us to remember that there is nothing we can do about the past and everything we can do about the future. I’ll say it again: success is a process. I want to win this weekend, we all do, and we’re going to do everything we can to, but even if we don’t, we can always lay the groundwork.”

“When I joined the New Nexus Force a decade ago, even working in Imagination convertors and vehicular systems, I wouldn’t have imagined being where I am now. It took so many twists of fate to bring me here – the same for every one of us. And with all of the skills and talents that we learned on those twisting paths, we have together a capability that I am beyond proud of. So even with everything that’s happened these past two years, I can say that there is no garage up and down this grid I would rather be in!”

“Trust in that! Trust in each other! The fight ahead is going to be hard, no doubt about it, but I also have no doubt in us! I cannot tell you when, but if we take the opportunities that we couldn’t, build on what we laid out for ourselves and then on that in turn, we will succeed!”

---

There is no grand ceremony to reveal Nexus Racing’s Chase Cutters for WGPC 20. Time doesn’t allow it – even at the tests in Turori and Mertagne, the team ran a blank slate grey scheme so as to buy more of it until the last possible moment. The car had to speak for itself at that moment.

Now, as those of Janne Laukkanen and Ryker Lane glide into the pit lane, gleaming bodywork reflecting the blue of Imagination, it is understood. Gone the elaborate, ornate symbolism of the UHSGV-3 and UHSGV-4’s liveries; in its place something altogether simpler, silver echoing into sky with the driver’s colours between. It need not stand out – such is the statement.

That is for the cars themselves, and for their drivers, to do.

[Aboveland]

CUTOFF

for the InfoInternet Grand Prix of Liventia presented by Liventia Airways at Talbott Autodrome