World Grand Prix Championship Season 14: Roleplay Thread

[Deiorus]

Spupuo was in the sight of the podium with his palm on his face, covering up his slight grimace thinking what caused him to end up 4Th place again, “What caused this? The choke in second round of qualifying and ending up 10th on the starting line? Would have I held up more than half of the drivers up at lap 37 with a shoddy taken corner, blocking the narrow straight, which lead to a big gap opening between me and 1st place if I had pole position instead in the second qualifiers as well? I need to improve on my nerves, can't have errors like this happening, I could have end up worse than 4th today. At least I didn't end up like Vic, feel bad for him with being dead last-” His thoughts was interrupted by a photographer's shutter sound as he took a picture with Spupuo in the frame of the podium, while he was annoyed at least he was in the spotlight in a way.

Nothotad put his hand on Spupuo's shoulder, and said “I see the media picked more on you after your small outburst, enjoying the attention” in a light tone. “At least you placed 4th, after a dozen of those, you should trigger your bonus at least, maybe you could start your own motor-car company with it, agricultural export doesn't pay much anyway.” in a joking manner.

Spupuo didn't realize the fact that it was a joke and responded in a serious manner, “Well, I'm sure I could get a few nice grants for bringing more industrial lines to Deiorus, besides my father was never supportive of my jockey career due me disrupting the family name's successful entrepreneurs tradition with running a stable, you know what, maybe I will have my own brand, any my own team but let's not carried away now, I need to get ready for Grand Prix of Aels to make that idea come to fruition.”

[Audioslavia]

Alec Lund followed Terho Tavela up the stairs to the podium, about two steps back from the young Abovian. It figured. He'd been about two steps behind him and the Vilita and Turori Motorsports team from the very start of the weekend.

A hundredth of a second behind him in qualifying, wide and to the rear of him through turn one and turn two, and eventually behind the other VTM driver iBen Toralmintii by the time lap ten came around, with Lund's McPahan unable to match the black VTM car for pace down the Yakumicha circuit's long straights. It would take an engine malfunction and a slow pit-stop for Lund's McPahan to overtake first Toralmintii, then the ENSADRINK GP car of Asao Nadakei to go second, but there were no mistakes coming from Tavela. It was only the lad's first race and here he was, faultlessly gliding round the track ahead of a former world champion to take the spoils in his first ever WGPC race.

Coming out onto the podium, squinting in the hot afternoon sun, Lund allowed himself a few brief moments to take the moment in. A second-placed showing in the first race of the season was not a bad feat. A tall blonde supermodel was about to give him a bottle of champagne bigger than his head. Missing out on a race victory wasn't nice, but as far as the team were concerned he had fulfilled his duty in bringing the car round in second, and Reni Sanderson's ninth place, and two points, in the Schiavone's first race in WGPC completed a satisfactory weekend of racing.

[Ethane]

After First Race.

Damn. I was not expecting that. When I signed up to this, I never expected to be so high. To go out there, from a 7th place grid position, which is surprising in itself, and finish in 5th, in what is my first Grand Prix ever, it is just... unbelievable. The feeling of driving around a track, at such fast speeds, much faster than I ever would get at home, is remarkable. The wind on rushing into you, the sharp corners, the exhilaration from fending off drivers that are supposed to be far ahead of you, but cannot keep up, it is honestly one of the best things I have ever experienced in my life.

The emotions as well. I just felt so overwhelmed when I knew I had done so well, not only for myself, the feeling of proving myself, success at the highest level, boosting my standings in the standings for the best driver in the world, not only that, but the knowledge that I did so well for my team, the team that took me, as a new driver, fostered me and helped me grow throughout this period of build-up to the first grand prix, and just let me become what I am today, in such a short amount of time. I am dumbfounded by the amount of support they have given me, just a ordinary Ethanian driver, and how far they have allowed me to come, even as a new driver.

It is just a dream come true. I never expected it, never in my lifetime did I expect to finish so high in a grand prix race.

I'm just so glad of one thing though. It may sound a bit harsh, and I'm sorry for having to put you through this diary, but I just don't like him. I beat R.L Cruisin. I have this burning desire to beat him at everything. He is such a horrible person, I really honestly wish he was on a different team. He accuses me of stuff, such as the sponsorship money not coming in to the team, but I do everything right. He just doesn't like me. He thinks he's better. He think's because he has a number 1 driver, which makes no difference at all, makes him a more important person in the team than me, that he deserves better team support than me. If I'm honest, I just want to prove him wrong. I just want to beat him at every race, not allow him to come anywhere near me in the standings, and just laugh in his face when he has a pathetic tantrum and goes to the Ethanian media and the global media, saying that I am sabotaging all his prospects, and ruining his season, when in actual fact I am just better than him, and he needs to get over his big head and get on with racing rather than complaining about non-existing things. Does he even realise how annoying he is? He lost the race. He didn't even pick up points for the team. I picked up 8 points for the team, from a 5th place finishing position in the team. If anything, I deserve better treatment than him, and he should just shove off already and leave me alone. I hate him.

At least I have my mum to talk about this with. She is always so understanding. I tell you know diary, if I haven't killed R.L Cruisin by the end of the year by running him over or something, she will be the reason why. I just love talking with her, and the rest of the family. I do miss them though. All this racing takes me away from home a lot, time away from the family, and it is sad, you know, to leave them all behind for months on end. I mean, I do still phone them every night, and skype them a few times a week, but it just isn't the same, is it? Its not the same level of contact, I can't give them a nice big bear hug. I can't wait for that again.

All I can think about is next week though now. No more conflicts. No more discussions about pathetic childish things. I just have to focus on what is in hand, take the races day by day, focus on the next race and the next race. Make sure I qualify as high as I can. Get the best practice I can in. Continue to impress everyone. It is all I can do, in this competitive, cut throat sport. Focus.

[WGPC]

Grand Prix of Aels
Friday Practice

* Drivers had 90 minutes to record up to thirty laps of the track.
* Only the fastest lap per driver is recorded here.
* Conditions: Dry

Pos	Car	Name			Team
1	51	R.L. Crusin		    	1:26.175
2	77	iBen Toralmintii	    	1:26.272
3	56	Terho Tavela		    	1:26.283
4	8	Igne Spupuo		    	1:26.303
5	7	Ethan Ellis		    	1:26.390
6	89	Will Madison		    	1:26.406
7	6	Alexander Lund		    	1:26.444
8	12	Vic Convarion		    	1:26.480
9	10	Lauren Ashburton	    	1:26.593
10	18	Louis Krindle		    	1:26.617
11	1	Alexandra Mayari	    	1:26.656
12	55	Asao Nadakei		    	1:26.745
13	20	Marcus Melton		    	1:26.779
14	35	Jac-Irlo Val		    	1:26.850
15	14	Oliver Bliss		    	1:26.854
16	46	Reni Sanderson		    	1:26.855
17	52	Sayono Souzare		    	1:26.869
18	23	Moisés Delgado		    	1:26.869
19	24	Victoria Gardner	    	1:26.941
20	13	Gunnar Lindstrom	    	1:27.120
21	17	Oliver Bachmann		    	1:27.314
22	29	Esteban Guilhermez	    	1:27.401
23	21	Alexander Kohlon	    	1:27.681
24	42	Alex Dimitrianov	    	1:27.827
25	3	Mateo Oket		    	1:28.434

NOTE: Saturday qualifying should be at the typical time of 11pm UTC on Saturday. Sunday's race should be at 11pm UTC on Sunday. If the former is delayed by more than a few hours, then the latter will be put back to Monday.

[Deiorus]

Spupuo was silently sitting over a stack of tyres after the practice, contemplating over his practice results while Nothotad rushed towards him, “You have to hear about this!”, Spupuo responded with a quiet “What?”, Nothotad still excited “King Len is attending this event! The ancestor of the unified, master of wyverns! Can you believe that?”, Spupuo responded with “WHAT?” again with a more louder and afraid voice, “Why this event? What's the occasion?”

Nothotad responded with “I don't have much details but I guess it's due to him having invested almost 1% of the GDP to you and didn't want the luxury boxes go to waste” in a calm manner, “Anyway, I was informed that he wasn't impressed by that run and expects you to do better, an athlete of your caliber should do much better he thinks”.

Spupuo turned flush with that statement ”Oh by the gods! 4Th place isn't good enough IN THE PRACTICE? I mean it isn't but I don't need him to do the judgement!” in a trembling tone, “Do you realize what him being in this event means? If he isn't impressed by the result here, I'm going to have a career ending guillotine execution by the mid-season break and I'm guess you are going to have the same!” Nothotad wasn't affected by Spupuo's fears and keep his calm “Oh, I don't think Len is that arbitrary to send his multi-million investment to an executioner, you are just exaggerating.” Spupuo was still in his trembling and got in a loud tone “YOU AREN'T THE ONE THAT HAS TO DEAL WITH HIM AND HIS FAMILY REGULARLY!”, “I almost lost the family trading business because I gave one of his far-cousins a weak handshake! That's the type of person he is” Nothotad's tone became more assertive as he continued to talk “Well, you insulted royal blood in that case with your handsh-” before being quickly interrupted by Spupuo “WHAT WAS I EXPECTED DO WITH TWO HANDS BROKEN? Besides that, why did you have to tell me about his presence? I would have been much better and calmer without this news!”

Nothotad quickly moved away from Spupuo who was becoming ever so worried from the news, “I thought you'd appreciate it but I didn't know that you would take it like this, I'll leave you to clear your mind.”

[Ceni]

"That fucking Tavela..." Owen Keteris muttered to himself. "Why does he always have to do so well..." he complained. Lily, his secretary, said, "Do you expect anyone to answer that?" "No, not really," Owen replied. Just then, his phone rang; he saw that it was Vic. "Hola, como estas?" he asked Vic. "What's that you say?" Vic replied. "Hello, how are you. I thought you signed a contract that said you were working on your Spanish..." "Well, I don't really want to revisit it at this time. I haven't touched it much since high school, and this refresher course is really long." "They teaching you the subjunctive?" Owen chucked. "Yeah, they're going deep into the grammar of it. Did you know I hate grammar? I was glad for it when we stopped studying it in English class." "Anyway, what's up? You see your time in the practice?" "Yeah, much better than before. I did kind of want to talk about that contract, actually." "What about it?" "It's just that... they're paying me quite a bit of money." "You came to me to brag about it?" Owen again chuckled about teenagers. They love to brag.... "You brag about it to Jac-Irlo yet?" "Nah, I didn't want to make him feel bad after that poor practice session." Owen revised his opinion of the boy a bit. He was more mature than he had admitted. "So, anything else?" "Just wanted to know how much progress they were making on the engine." "The modifications are coming along but I don't want to bore you with a lot of technical details." "Yeah. You going to watch the Hamilton International, Owen?" "I don't know, maybe, maybe not. The Dovans are from here, though. Anyhow, business calls. Talk to you soon." "Yeah, bye." Owen hung up.

The practice wasn't too horrible for the Fornax team, although it seemed the upstanding players and some of the more aggravating new drivers were doing better than the team. Cruisin came in first, he was a regular of the circuit, while Toralmintii and the annoying Tavela came in second and third, respectively. Spupuo wasn't half bad, although everyone was waiting for his temperamental car to back down; Ellis of Carvenlo-Franklin was doing surprisingly well . And then there was Will Madison, still Fornax's number one racer, in sixth, and ahead of Alexander Lund and the defending world champion, Alexandra Mayari. Vic Convarion was eighth, while Jac-Irlo Val was about in the middle of the pack, at fourteenth. It was a disappointing start to the season for Fornax, for sure.

But Keteris knew his team would come back to do well. The Selaphoros team was working around the clock to fix the engine and the cars, and the team offices were busy coordinating practice times for Will and Jac-Irlo. There were a couple of fans that came by to browse at the offices, but not too many. Owen hoped that Fornax would help to popularize racing in Ceni - and he hoped that a good performance by one of his drivers, like a first place finish for instance, would raise Ceni's racing profile, not only on the international circuit but also within Ceni. That was his ultimate goal for Fornax in the first place - he wanted other people to love racing as much as he did. Still, all of that was hopes for now. Owen saw a sign on Lily's wall as he was heading out: "Turn your can'ts into cans, and your dreams into plans." Owen sure hoped to do that, and as he thought about that motivational saying, he started to make plans about how to do better with Fornax...

[Ethane]

I am still surprised by my results. Even after my 5th position race finish position last weekend, I didn't think that I would be able to keep up the great form coming into the practice session this week. If I'm honest, 1:26.390 is a fairly good time, especially when you consider where I came from. I am a rookie in this tournament, never having participated in it before, but if you look at me, my racing skills, I am still doing incredibly well in the races, and the qualifiers, something that I never expected to be able to do this early in the season. It is remarkable, considering how much racing I have done at this level, and being able to keep this up going into the second weekend, while amongst drivers who have much higher prestige at this, and much higher experience levels, it just dumbfounds me.

I mean, it isn't the best result in the world, but all considering, I do believe it is fairly impressive. There is only 1 thing wrong with these results, and that is R.L Cruisin. He beat me. I know this may seem a bit pathetic and childish, but I want to be beating him. Well, actually, is it really childish, wanting to beat everyone else, considering that is the main aim of this sport, and any sport for that matter - to beat the opponent? Anyway, that is not the bit that I apologise for being slightly childish on, the childish part is the reason why I do wish to beat him. It is, in all honesty, because he is a horrible guy to work with. I know that may seem a bit unfair to those who haven't had to put up with working with him, but I can assure you, he is not a very friendly guy to work with, or at least from my experience. Now, I know that some people may complain about how I am 'lambasting' the number 1 driver of the team that I am racing for, but seriously, if last weekend proves anything, it is that I am a better driver than him.

Oh and yes, there is an argument against that - and he would probably use that if we came into conflict over this - which is that he has beaten me in this practice, but if I recall correctly, he beat me in the pre-season tests and qualifying, but when it came to the actual practice, qualifying and racing of the last grand prix, I beat him in all 3, while he didn't get the team a single point. I know this may seem a bit harsh considering it was the first grand prix of the season, but does he have a lack of confidence in himself, and tries to hide it by bigging himself up towards me? I don't honestly know, but I hope for the teams sake that he doesn't. Yes, I know that my thinking so far has been rather selfish and focused on me, and me thinking about the team doesn't mean that I don't want to beat him still - that is what this sport is about after all - but what it does mean is that I want him to do better. No matter how much I may hate him, I still want the team to do well in the constructors, and with Cruisin on as such poor form as we saw last weekend, the team would not have the best of years. That is why I want him to do better. I just hope that the signs he has shown in this practice question are nothing to go by. For all means, he can do better. He can get a load of points for the team in the races, if he races as well as he did in practice today. The only thing that I completely want to happen is for him to be behind my car when we cross the finish line. I don't care what position I am in throughout the race, I just want the ability to be able to continue beating him, just as long as the team does well too.

[Dunpa]

"That was some good freeze tag. I think I won." Alex said to Mike. "Yeah, you won, 5-4."

We cut to after Friday's practice

"22nd. At this rate, I won't qualify for any race." Alex said. "Always remember the number 1 rule in racing: Always never give up. Besides, we aren't trying to get pole, we're just trying to beat one of our teammates. Anyway, Alexander, get some rest so we can get ready for qualification." Mike spoken to Alex.

Alex is seen near a hotel

"Um, hello, I would like to rent a hotel room." Alex told a hotel worker. "Ok, do you have the money?"
"Ok, your room is over there. Here, let me get your bags." The hotel worker said to Alex without stopping.

[WGPC]

Saturday Qualifying

ROUND ONE

* Drivers have 45 minutes to record up to six flying laps.
* Fastest lap is recorded
* Top ten drivers move to round two of qualifying
* Remaining 15 drivers are eliminated

POS	#	NAME			TEAM				TIME
1	35	Jac-Irlo Val		Fornax Racing			1:26.255
2	55	Asao Nadakei		ENSADRINK GP			1:26.517
3	51	R.L. Crusin		Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	1:26.531
4	1	Alexandra Mayari	SFeG				1:26.597
5	24	Victoria Gardner	SFeG				1:26.602
6	7	Ethan Ellis		Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	1:26.629
7	77	iBen Toralmintii	VTM				1:26.632
8	6	Alexander Lund		McPahan Racing			1:26.639
9	12	Vic Convarion		Telaris Racing			1:26.813
10	42	Alex Dimitrianov	MRT				1:26.840
11	8	Igne Spupuo		Telaris Racing			1:26.845
12	13	Gunnar Lindstrom	WGPC Motorworks			1:26.876
13	10	Lauren Ashburton	ENSADRINK GP			1:26.914
14	52	Sayono Souzare		Archer Motorsports		1:26.983
15	29	Esteban Guilhermez	Cygnus ATR			1:27.165
16	14	Oliver Bliss		MSA-Sinval			1:27.224
17	89	Will Madison		Fornax Racing			1:27.289
18	21	Alexander Kohlon	WGPC Motorworks			1:27.342
19	18	Louis Krindle		MSA-SinVal			1:27.385
20	17	Oliver Bachmann		MRT				1:27.418
21	23	Moisés Delgado		Cygnus ATR			1:27.434
22	46	Reni Sanderson		McPahan Racing			1:27.541
23	56	Terho Tavela		VTM				1:28.005
24	20	Marcus Melton		WGPC Motorworks			1:29.018
25	3	Mateo Oket		Archer Motorsports		1:37.617

ROUND TWO

* Top ten drivers are given 30 minutes to record up to four flying laps
* Fastest lap of this period is recorded

POS	#	NAME			TEAM				TIME
1	51	R.L. Crusin		Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	1:25.987
2	77	iBen Toralmintii	VTM				1:26.054
3	55	Asao Nadakei		ENSADRINK GP			1:26.315
4	35	Jac-Irlo Val		Fornax Racing			1:26.608
5	12	Vic Convarion		Telaris Racing			1:26.754
6	24	Victoria Gardner	SFeG				1:27.463
7	42	Alex Dimitrianov	MRT				1:27.551
8	7	Ethan Ellis		Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	1:27.790
9	1	Alexandra Mayari	SFeG				1:28.930
10	6	Alexander Lund		McPahan Racing			1:31.712

FINAL GRID

* Lowest finishing WGPC Motorworks driver is removed from starting grid
* Drivers eliminated in round one of qualifying line up in the order in which they finished in that session.

Pos	Car	Name	Team
1	51	R.L. Crusin		    
2	77	iBen Toralmintii	    
3	55	Asao Nadakei		    
4	35	Jac-Irlo Val		    
5	12	Vic Convarion		    
6	24	Victoria Gardner	    
7	42	Alex Dimitrianov	    
8	7	Ethan Ellis		    
9	1	Alexandra Mayari	    
10	6	Alexander Lund		    
11	8	Igne Spupuo		    
12	13	Gunnar Lindstrom	    
13	10	Lauren Ashburton	    
14	52	Sayono Souzare		    
15	29	Esteban Guilhermez	    
16	14	Oliver Bliss		    
17	89	Will Madison		    
18	21	Alexander Kohlon	    
19	18	Louis Krindle		    
20	17	Oliver Bachmann		    
21	23	Moisés Delgado		    
22	46	Reni Sanderson		    
23	56	Terho Tavela		    
24	20	Marcus Melton		   
25	3	Mateo Oket		

Starting Grid

[Aboveland]

A drop of sweat dripped into Terho's mouth as he whispered "yes!" to himself. After some time back home in Aboveland, he was back in action in Aels. He'd never been near Aels, but he felt at ease with the track. He absolutely adored it. The chicanes and long flowing turns, including the long hairpins, were his favorites. He never quite got the perfect feel of turns 5 through 9, but it had been faster than almost the whole rest of the drivers.

As he drove back to the paddock at the end of the session, he couldn't help but feel a tad guilty with his performance. He was a nobody internationally until a month ago, and he barged into the WGPC to win the first race of the season. No doubt, other drivers were either annoyed or surprised, or both. Still, he didn't let the thought bother him. On the contrary, it made him feel a bit more confident, the fact he could intimidate some of the better drivers on the track with years of experience in circuit racing.

When he parked the car and took his helmet off, he waved to iBen and congratulated him for his second place, and then waved to R.L. Cruisin from across the room. Later, he splashed some water on his face and sat down to have a chat with his fellow competitors. The climate was calm and friendly, but he knew that out on the tarmac, everyone had the same objective: win.

[Dunpa]

In the hotel

"Alex, you need to wake up!" Mike told Alex.

After Qualifying

"Let's see if I didn't well. 18th. I did better than one of my teammates!" Alex excitedly told Mike. "I need to win this race so I can get points. When WGPC leaves this circuit, the only name all will hear is Kohlon. Especially cause I want to beat Ellis."

""Hey Ellis, what are you thinking? We have the same sponsor, yet you act like a big jerk. Well, I'm going to make sure you don't finish this race. OK. I'm going to win this race." Alex had called out Ethan Ellis and proceeded to shove him.

[Aboveland]

It happened on the apex into turn 9 on the first qualifying lap. Terho had sloppily gone around the previous hairpin and was in a bad position to flow into the next corner. He tried to turn away and then into the corner to gain some momentum around it, but his plan backfired. He went too wide around the hairpin and struck the outside wall, ripping off the front wing. He yelled some expletives into his microphone and carried on, hoping that the damage wouldn't cause too much of a performance hit. However, on his second lap, the car began to feel unstable at high speeds, and would pull to the left. He managed a lap time two seconds behind the pace and returned to the paddock, furious, hoping the car could be repaired in time.

Unfortunately, the front right suspension arm had taken a hit and had bent, enough to warrant his withdrawal from the qualifying session.

He sat on a stack of tires, put his head on his hands, and wondered how he'd managed to screw up so badly. He wasn't going to cry or whine, but he felt it was appropriate to contemplate what had happened and feel a bit down. How stupid his rallying maneuver had been, he thought, in a futile attempt to make up time, on his first lap.

When iBen rolled into the paddock, he smiled and shook his hand, happy for him and for the team. He turned to R.L. Cruisin a paddock away and did the same. Some small talk with the drivers and apologies to the team, which disregarded the incident and were glad it didn't turn out worse, followed.

After all the commotion post qualifying, Edvin approached him:

"Hey Terho..."

"Hi... I fucked up, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I guess a little, but hey, it's only the second race of the season. You won your debut grand prix, for goodness' sake! Don't feel crappy about this. Tomorrow, all you have to do is focus on the race. Car mended, well rested, and relaxed. That's what it's gonna be."

"Well, but it's not a minor thing. It's my first major cock up."

"Terho, first of many, I'm sure. You think R.L. didn't cock it up lots of times before he became as good as he is? Or iBen? You're learning in this sport, Terho, remember that."

"Good point. I'm still tense though."

"Fine, tell you what: we'll go get you a cup of relaxing tea or something non alcoholic and I'll go with you to the local sauna. We'll unwind, let the steam soak our skin, relax, and have a laugh. Tomorrow your tense muscles and nervous mind will. be renewed. Plus, I know you can't say no to a good sauna."

"Alright then, let's go."

The two men waved goodbye to the rest of the grid and set off to their hotel room in Watersedge, to grab a few things before going out for the night. Edvin was right; everyone messes up once in their life. Therefore, Terho was determined to leave Saturday behind and focus on the Sunday race. He couldn't say no to a good sauna, which would surely get him focused and relaxed for the main show.

[Vilita and Turori]

Western Route Circuit, Watersedge, Aels :: It was a moment of vindication for R.L. Cruisin. After pacing the field in the pre-season practice session, Cruisin's first outing with his new team, Carvenlo-Franklin Racing, had been utterly disappointing. Cruisin was off the pace all weekend in Hodori and was overshadowed by his pay-for-drive teammate Ethan Ellis.

But Cruisin climbed back to the top of the leaderboard in Friday practice in Aels, and backed it up in qualifying, advancing to round two and not only claiming pole position, but doing so by setting a new track record time of 1:25.987 - Just cracking the One-Minute and Twenty-Five second barrier.

It was high fives all around in the Carvenlo-Franklin garage area. This was the driver they hired. Hodori was just a bump in the road. Team principal Fred Helmarsson and Carvenlo chief executive Matt Marsh were finally in good spirits. They had set their sights on Cruisin throughout the offseason for a reason. Cruisin had been overcome adversity in an underpowered Frontiere machine during WGPC 13 and they saw that the Vilitan driver still had untapped potential to compete for a WGPC championship. Any doubts that started festering in Hodori were quickly forgotten - and would be entirely distant memories if Cruisin could finish the job on Sunday.

Alongside Cruisin on the grid would be none other than iBen Toralmintii. With Vilita & Turori Motorsports atop the constructor standings after Terho Talvela's upset triumph in Hodori, the season was already going ahead of expectations for the Atlantian Oceanian outfit. Toralmintii and Talvela, however, proved that their performance was for real placing 2nd and 3rd fastest in the hoping practice in Aels - behind only Cruisin who had been setting the bar for the entire weekend.

Terho Talvela struggled in the opening round of qualifying - having misjudged a corner on his first flying lap and made contact with a retaining barrier, putting a kink in his front suspension and ruining his qualifying run. The team decided to call Talvela back to the pits after seeing the time for his first lap - knowing that with a damaged car they were not going to get any faster, and not wanting to risk any further damage to Chassis Y ahead of the race. Despite the adversity for Talvela, it was still smiles all around in the Vilita & Turori Motorsports paddock as they had the speed right off the truck and backed it up with the second fastest qualifying speed through Toralmintii's Chassis X platform.

Of course, with his teammate Talvela having already visited victory lane in the opening round, and his rival and friend agonizingly inching ahead of him by one place in every session thus far - Turorian driver iBen Toralmintii certainly had his eye on something more. Sure, a podium finish in Aels would be more than satisfying for the Turorian driver; iBen Toralmintii did not come from a place where you were satisfied with not winning. He would have to come up with a strategy - a way to out-think, out-maneuver - outlast his colleague in the next garage stall and beat him to the line.

Toralmintii knew it was only the second race of a long season. But he also didn't know what the rest of the season would hold. So many fresh faces in the field. New equipment driven by inexperienced drivers. The longer the season went on, the more experience the newer drivers would have - the more the experienced edge of drivers like himself and R.L. Cruisin as former WGPC competitors would wear off. Sure, he could fall in behind R.L. Cruisin and follow the Vilitan driver around the track for 57 laps - barring any equipment malfunctions and barring any challenges from behind, a podium finish would await both drivers.

But he had something to prove. R.L. Cruisin was already a multi-time Grand Prix winner. iBen Toralmintii wanted to be one too.

---

[Liventia]

Mark Marsh (marsh.m.ceo@carvenlo.len)
To: Ethan Ellis (ethanellis@cf-racing.com)
cc: Fredrik Helmarsson (helmarsson.f@carvenlo.len); Darren Franklin (darrenfranklin@cf-racing.com)

Pay driver status
Ethan,
I'd like to start by quickly emphasising in writing how impressed everyone at both Carvenlo and Franklin Racing have been with your smooth transition into our car. We were delighted that you were able to secure a points-paying finish in the first race at Hodori and have continued your fine form into the second weekend.

This is our first season in the World GP Championship in our current entity as a joint enterprise, and admittedly we were worried at the start of the season that this was going to compromise the reliability of our car this year. We all saw what happened to R.L.'s machine at Yakumicha and while we hope it was a one-off, it's hard to say -- though his second weekend's performance has put a lot of our worries at ease. I just want to assure you that our team are constantly researching upgrades to the car and we hope to have the first improvement by the time we reach our home race.

Anyway, that brings me on to the main point of this email, to which both Fred and Darren -- Franklin Racing's director of motorsport, who you will know as Carvenlo–Franklin's head of strategic affairs -- are copied in. We're aware that you're currently on a pay driver scheme, and your sponsors do indeed pay for you to drive for us.

Your opening performances have stood out to us, and you're clearly a very good driver in a car that you seem to be grasping fine. So we've resolved to have a second look at your pay driver status ahead of the season's fifth race in Mattijana. Keep up the standards, including in the in-season test, and give us a reason to take you off the pay driver scheme. It would be unprecedented midway through a season for a WGPC team to start paying a pay-driver -- but you've got the ability to make it happen.

Keep up the hard work and you'll succeed here.

Regards,
Mark

Mark Marsh
Chief Executive Officer
Carvenlo Motoring Company
Carvenlo–Franklin Racing

[Eastfield Lodge]

"Now that was more like it," Victoria said, to no-one in particular. She had just weighed in and went back to the team garage, looking at the full breakdown of the qualifying session results. Sixth on the grid was a good place to start, especially given what had happened at the last race and even more pertinent after Friday's horror of a practice session - 19th was not where she wanted to be, and she could feel Patrice's eyes boring into the back of her head from across the garage; she hadn't forgotten his outburst in Hodori, and vowed never to get on the wrong side of it again.

She did enjoy the track here in Watersedge, a nice mix of taxing technical sections coupled with long, faster sections, and she decided to push from the first lap of quali in case the brakes did fail again. It did pay off, and as she came through the pit straight on her first flying lap, she put up a 1:26.811, good enough to put her third for the time being. That was about ten minutes into the session, and she pulled in after her second flying lap, which was a little slower at 1:27.035 as the tyres were slightly less fresh, and she'd slid wide a little on turn 15. The team did wait nervously in the garage to see if that mark would be enough to get to the next round, and with a quarter of an hour to go, it looked like she wouldn't need the second run, as she was still sixth, with a buffer of four tenths to 11th. But then, three drivers in the next minute posted times under 1:27, and that triggered the pit crew to ready the car for another push, just to try and clear the chasing pack.

Lap number three was ever so slightly faster at 1:26.792, but she still needed to be braver and push herself, and that she did, riding ever so closer to the kerbs at 10 and 11 and higher speeds, lining up all the little kinks in the road as straight as possible to keep full throttle, and it paid off as her fourth lap shaved nearly two tenths of her time, taking Victoria to 4th with a time 1:26.602. Her next two laps weren't as fast as the tyres faded away, but it was enough in the end to see her through to the top ten shootout, which was her aim after Friday practice. Mayari would end up beating her time to snatch fourth, and push Victoria down to fifth, but that didn't matter.

The second half didn't go as smoothly as the first, as both the air and the track temperature increased substantially, away from the car's optimal window. And both drivers obviously suffered for it as the cars stopped behaving properly - the tyres had so much less grip than she wanted, and that meant that Victoria couldn't attack the technical section as much as she wanted to. Her first lap was just full of errors, as the car just wouldn't stick to the line she wanted. 1:28.212 was the result, an abysmal time by all accounts. She gathered it together for her second run, posting a time of 1:27.659 to take provisional 5th, before a huge mistake on the next lap meant she had to pit to replace the ruined tyre. A few adjustments to the wing were made and a new set of tyres put on the car, and Victoria went back out to try and rectify her earlier errors. She managed to do so, eventually posting her final quali time of 1:27.463 to go 6th, where she stayed.

At least she'd outqualified Krindle...

---

The mood over in the MSA-SinVal garage was despondent, to say the least. Despite the promising practice session where Louis had finished tenth, and Oliver 15th, the qualifying session was just short of a disaster. Louis was the one of the first out, and despite registering a first lap time of 1:27.385, his engine suddenly dropped a lot of power and Louis was forced to spend to rest of the first session in the pits as the team scrambled to fix the engine output problem, to no avail. Louis refused to believe that was the end of his session though, and hovered around the car and technicians trying to help them fix things. They managed to isolate the issue as a glitch in the engine management software, and managed to patch it up before the curfew, so Louis would make the race, albeit starting from row 10 in 19th. And with Oli starting 16th, they had it all to do to come away with anything from this weekend.

[Mattijana]

MRT Motorhome, Watersedge

Nice one Alex, another top 10 grid position!

Johann Struna was in good spirits after the final qualifying session had ended. Dimitrianov had finished 7th, but what probably pleased Struna the most was the fact that Dimitrianov was outpacing his less experienced teammate, Oliver Bachmann. What did still irk him was that Bachmann had more points on the board after the opening weekend.

So far, the middle sector had proved the most awkward for the MRT car. It was by far the slowest and most fiddly and none of the engineers had found a setup that would give the optimum comprimise between straight line pace through the 1st and 3rd sectors and low-speed pace in the middle sector. In the end, they had gone with the race in mind, sacrificing pace in the middle sector for speed down the long straights which should make general overtaking and defending easier.

"What do you think of the track Alex?"

"I like it apart from that middle sector. The first sector has a nice flow to it and the last sector's just crazy. The final corner makes you feel alive doesn't it!"

"I'm sure it does", replied Struna. "It could get expensive if you come off there though, so be careful."

"I will. We used that as our indicator corner on Friday, so if the car feels happy there, it'll feel happy anywhere...and we've still managed to chop a fair bit of wing off. Barring any mishaps, we should be in a good place tomorrow."

"Indeed. One thing though", Struna said in a softer, but more serious tone. "Keep it on the island. Nothing stupid for the glory. If some inexperienced idiot hits you because he decided not to brake, that's not your fault, but try and keep some distance between you and everyone else. Good luck tomorrow and lets get ourselves up the standings."

[Ceni]

Jac-Irlo Val called up Owen Keteris on the phone just after he had finished qualifying at the Western Route Circuit for the Grand Prix of Aels. "Got some exciting news for you, Owen." "What is it, kiddo?" "Don't call me that, I don't like it." "Alright, kiddo." "Stop that." Owen then resolved to stop calling Jac-Irlo that, but he might taunt him with it in the future.... "Anyway, what's the news?" "Qualifying just finished. In the first round, I was first, with a good margin in front of all those drivers who've done that before. Then I secured fourth grid position in the second qualifications - although those Vilitans just are pretty good at this type of event..." "Well, congrats, Jac-Irlo. Any other news you should tell me? What happened to Will? " "Yeah. Vic ended up placing in the fifth grid position with Telaris racing. But Will didn't do so hot in the qualification - only seventeenth overall." "Ah, well, that's a shame, but good for Vic though. Keep your hopes up, Jac-Irlo, this could be a groundbreaking race for Fornax. See you on TV at the medal podium!" "I got to be careful, Owen, can't be too cocky coming into this race if we don't want the Vilitans winning it all. "We certainly shouldn't be cocky, but we shouldn't be moping around all day. Let's keep our spirits up. Anyway, see you later. Business calls."

Jac-Irlo then called up Vic on the phone. "Hey, Vic, you want to come to the local pub to celebrate our good qualification performances?" "Sure, Jac, but root beers only. We don't want a hangover tomorrow to damage our progress. And it has to be short - my team wants us to do some more practice before tomorrow's race." "Alright, Vic, root beers only. But I still think they taste good. Any food allowed?" "Yeah, the local specialties. Whatever they have at their pubs, I've heard they have quite good pub food. Bangers and mash sounds yum, I heard they have good mutton too." "I don't like Mutton, but sausage sounds yummy right now. I'm actually quite hungry." "Alright, see you there."

The two arrived at the pub within a couple of minutes of each other, and sat down. They were quite inconspicuous - just a pair of friends out for a drink and a bite to eat. Their food arrived, and they dug in with gusto. "This place has pretty good food." "I actually like Cavalier a bit better." "Someone ought to start a Cavalier chain abroad, then. I think they could learn from us about what pub food can do." Vic took a little sip of his root beer. "Although this food is actually pretty decent." "Well, eat up. This hearty meal should prepare us better for tomorrow's race. We can't be racing on an empty stomach." "Hear hear." The waiter came by and filled up the two's root beer glasses, and they raised a toast. "To good times tomorrow!" said Vic. "To twenty-five points!" toasted Jac-Irlo. And they drank, and dug in to the rest of their food. Then they went walking around in the night, and back at the hotel they saw Will Madison. He congratulated them, and they wished him best of luck in the race for Fornax the next day. Will was truly a likeable guy, and a good race too. Jac-Irlo was confident that the two of them could win the team title for Fornax...

[Drawkland]

"Maybe everyone just doesn't try as hard in practice," Will thought aloud as he watched the other racers take their runs around the track from the paddocks. He could tell a lot of racers were going faster than they were the day before, even by the few second they were. It gave Will a sense of foreboding as he suited up to get racing. Of course he didn't care that much, but it was enough to plant a seed of doubt in his mind as he pulled out onto the track to start his laps.

On his first lap he mentally went through his checklist of what he had to better. The chicane in turns 10 and 11 had killed him in practice (figuratively). That, and turn 13 pretty much sucked. But, try as he might, he never got them down in the 6 laps he had. He had the same curses in his mind when he pulled back in that he had the first lap. And inwardly, he knew that was not enough to get a good spot for the starting grid.

His fears were realized when he went to inspect the board when the first round concluded. Yet again, he didn't even make it to second cuts for qualifying. Even worse, the time he had in practice would've been good enough to get second position in qualifying. He clenched his fists as that fact surfaced in his mind. He then shook it off and looked closer at the names on the board (out of habit, he never looked at any other names, he looked at numbers until he found his. Mannar had once told him it would help him from being discouraged by reading a long list of names). He was ecstatic to find his teammate Jac-Irlo was the one capping the list. The thought about his practice time surfaced again when he realized they could've been right next to each other on the top of the list, going into the second round. He read the names on the top 10, nodding at each once, having recognized them all. However, he only vaguely recognized Vic Convarion's name. Then it hit him - he recognized the name from a conversation he'd had with Jac. Vic was the other Cenian racer.
Good for him then. A good day for Ceni I suppose, Will thought as he eyed Dimitrianov's name. He had some satisfaction in seeing Spupuo didn't make the cut. Horse racing indeed. But something itched him ... there was a name missing from there he felt should've been on there. When he looked at the rest of the list, he found out who. Terho Tavela was not only in the top 10, He was nearly dead last, at 23rd position. Of course, Will couldn't gloat much, he himself had only eeked out a meager 17th position due to his inability to work out chicanes without going loose.

He pondered the implications of how the race would inevitably end up as he walked back to his stall to think. Just then, he passed by Tavela himself, sitting at the V&T stalls.
"Payback, huh?" Will grinned and shot a smirk at the other racer. Will had beaten him by one spot at the preseason practice in Proluvia, and Tavela had beaten Will in practice for Hodori. Of course, that ceased to matter once Will dropped in qualifying similar to what happened an hour early, and when Tavela went on to win the whole damn race. Because of this, Will felt a sort of rivalry to the racer, even though they hadn't been at each other's necks any time that mattered. Maybe that'd change tomorrow.

When Will got back to the hotel, he saw Jac-Irlo walking in next to the other Cenian, Vic. He ran up to his teammate and gave him a heartfelt high-five. He congratulated him, feeling pretty satisfied that his teammate had crawled up the rankings for the race, even if Will had fallen behind.
"Look man, you gotta hit them hard in the race," Will told Jac-Irlo, "I'll try my best to get into points range, and hopefully we can pull off a huge win for Fornax tomorrow. Oh yeah, and good luck to you too," he hastily added, remembering Vic was also standing right there.

---

Will checked the starting grid positions. Jac had only managed 4th in the second round, but hell, that's better than where Will was currently positioned. Jumping 4 spots into a win isn't the hardest thing to do, especially when Terho Tavela is out of the picture. The only ones in his teammate's way were both the Vilitan and Turorian racers, Cruisin and Toralmintii, and Nadakei from ENSADRINK, who'd finished 3rd in Hodori. He had a chance.

Will, however, was sitting in a pile of dung, to be frank. He was firmly in 17th to start the race. While he did jump 6 spots in Hodori, he'd have to jump 7 or more to give Fornax - and himself - any worthwhile show of points. Luckily, he may have a chance at just that. Left and forward of Will on the starting grid was Oliver Bliss of MSA-Sinval, who'd finished a lap behind in Hodori. Then were 3 racers: Guilhermez, Souzare, and Ashburton, all 3 of which didn't even finish in Hodori. Now, that didn't mean much, since Toralmintii, a talented racer, and Val, Will's teammate, also didn't finish, but still. They'd probably be cold after not having fully finished a race yet. Will just hoped that same logic wouldn't apply to Jac-Irlo. Gunnar Lindstrom from the WGPC team was starting ahead of all those DNF racers, and he'd also ended a lap behind in Hodori.

They all had poor performances in Hodori, Will noted, Hopefully they'll do badly here and I can profit from that.
After that crowd was Alec Lund from McPahan, and the rest of the top 10. Will just needed to slide through the 6 racers in his way and spearhead into the top 10.
At this point, that's all I'm asking for. If I can break into a point position and Jac-Irlo stays firmly in top spots, it'll be a fantastic day for both of us.
Will was done thinking about it, now all he had to do is actually do it, dammit. This was the thought that circulated through his mind as he fell asleep, ready for the next day's excitement.

[Nekoni]

Alex didn't want to talk about the Hodori race. She was completely out of focus and the boss knew it. And even though a fourth place qualification at today's race was Aels was a noticeable improvement, sure, but she still had little to smile about. Not after that message from Fatali. Alex was no stranger to negative comments, particularly regarding the start of her last two seasons, but none felt as personally directed at her. Fatali had left his mark on her, quite literally, and knowing that he was out for revenge and blamed his outburst and downfall squarely on her shoulders made her afraid. A feeling she hadn't felt since she was a child. She had a bully, and even though she hadn't seen him in person for nearly a year, he had psychologically got into her head.

She had spent the entire Hodori race, both on and off the track, constantly watching her back. He could strike anywhere, and do whatever he could. Could he try to kill her mid-race? It wasn't beyond the bounds of reason: he unintenionally almost did exactly that in Vilita last year when his "work" caused her wheel to seperate from the rest of the car mid-turn. Imagine what could happen if it repeated at 200mph. After the race, she had gone through the expected Minna bollocking, but the moment that Alex showed him her phone with the message on it in private, his mood completely changed. It wasn't a prank, it was Christian's number.

Alexandra currently sat at her desk in her trailer, drinking a heavily milked-down coffee. She needed a good night's sleep, but she couldn't stop thinking about Fatali. Since the Hodori race, she had received two more messages from him, reveling in her failure to score a point, telling her that he was going to be following her, telling her that 'the net was closing'.

---

*knock knock*

Her heart froze. 'Could this be him!?' she thought, in fear. A long, drawn out silence filled the night air. The knocking repeated a second time, this time with a voice:

"Alex, it's Patrice. We need to talk. Let me in, mate." She felt a huge, huge relief as she recognised that it was Minna. She was safe, for now.

Alex walked over to the door with her coffee, opened the door and invited Patrice in. He looked a whole lot calmer than when he flew off the handle in Hodori. "I've just been off the phone from the police in Nekoni. They've traced the messages, and got Fatali."

"They caught him?"

"He lied when he said he was following you. They got his IP address locked at a café in Varea, went through the footage and tracked him down. He kept going to the same café to send you the messages. Police gave him a talking to, he reacted badly, and long story short, he straight up did to one of them what he did to you. He's in a drunk tank right now."

"He assaulted a police officer? He's going to jail, then?"

"We aren't sure yet. He's not been in work since the suspension, but he's got a LOT of money in the bank. Doubtless they'll come to an agreement with that, you know what the police are like. Even considering the assault charge from last year won't force a sentence. Point is, until this matter is sorted, he can't leave the country. He can't reach you."

"What about when we go back to Nekoni? What happens then?"

"He's blacklisted, he'll get turned away at the door if he tried to enter the paddock. Point is, you are safe. You don't need to worry about him any more."

Alex uncharacteristically hugged Patrice and broke down in tears. "Thank you, Patrice. Thank you so much for telling me."

"It's alright, Alex. I know how much he got into your head. It affected us all too, and now we know he's not going to hurt you or us again, we can now get back to work." Patrice patted her back mid-embrace, then stood up to go. "Now you can focus on racing, you can bury his name. You're in fourth. You can get on the podium, easy. I'll not tell the others what happened, either. It's not my news to give, you may tell them when you're ready, if you even want to, that is."

As Patrice left, Alex finished her coffee, and checked her mail. Seeing the new messages counter display as zero for the first time in a while made her feel relieved. Patrice was right. They got Fatali, and he couldn't get to her any more.

[Audioslavia]

A spin on the first flying lap, wide two corners on the second, blocked by traffic on the third and a general poor performance on the final attempt in round two of qualifying, Alec had blown it in terms of having a realistic crack at a second podium in two races. The Grand Prix of Aels would be an excersise in bringing home a sprightly but unpredictable car in as high a points position as possible. Johan Johanson was explaining as much.

"As far as this weekend goes, we can't truly challenge with what we have. The VTMs have been nigh on unstoppable, especially with Toralmintii's form this weekend, while ENSADRINK, SFeG and the Carvenlo-Franklin boys seem to be getting grip and acceleration in places were we really aren't. We're working on the problems. In the mean time, we need you to bring the car round into a points finish. You reckon you can do that?"

"Aye boss" replied Alec, nodding. The lack of power from the engine at McPahan was no secret, though in actual fact Alec was relishing the challenge. Mayari, up ahead of him, was the reigning drivers' champion, but her throne had looked a little wobbly in recent weeks. Acceleration be damned: Alec was gunning for his rival into the first corner, by fair means or foul. After that, who knew what could happen? The VTMs looked as fast as they'd ever been, but McPahan would be able to close the gap soon enough. Alec would be damned if he was letting a Vilitan / Turorian whatever get in the way of him and a second championship.

Elsewhere in the McPahan garage, things weren't quite so rosy. After a strong start to the season, Sanderson's nerve had gone a little in qualifying, putting the young Schiavone on the last rows of the grid for race two. It was to him to whom Johan turned his attention while Lund day-dreamed as many ways as possible of passing Mayari into turn one.

"Reni, I know it's difficult out there, but I've had a word with Stan and we're agreed: This race is a write-off for you. We're here to change tyres for you during the race, on a two-stop strategy again, but other than that you're out there on your own. Stay out of trouble and try to enjoy yourself. We've already liked what we've seen from you, so you don't need to go out of your way to impress us, and the money we've taken in from Visit Schiavone has more than paid your way past a couple of shoddy qualifying performances. Have a good time out there, and be lucky. Oh, and that reminds me. Alec.."

Lund was snapped out of his day dream.

"..yeah?"
"No jumping on Mayari's back wing into turn one. That's an order from upon high. We want you clean round the first lap. No mistakes, no stupidity. Got that?"
"I can take her"
"I know, Alec, I know, but all the same"
Alec sighed. He tried to make his 'yes boss' as sincere-sounding as possible.

[WGPC]

ONE HOUR UNTIL CUT-OFF

Get hyped. Race two is on the way.

[Hodori Motorsports]

The evening after qualifying, Souzare gave her notes another review. Most of her free time since arriving in Aels had been spent trying to make sense of her uncle’s poor handwriting. She was pretty sure Nadakei’s bad penmanship wasn’t intentional; she had never known his handwriting to be decent.

With two sessions down and a good idea of ideal braking and clipping points, she was almost confident she could scrape some points out of the weekend. All she had to do was improve at least four positions in the underpowered Archer tomorrow. In a track that didn’t particularly suit it. Easy.

She leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “Easier job than Oket,” she said to herself. With a best lap over eleven seconds off pole, her teammate was starting from last place. Something had to have broken in his car.

Souzare returned to her notes, readjusting her grip on the pencil in her left hand before making final adjustments to the corner diagrams she had sketched on some blank pages. One more look-through, a satisfied nod to nobody, then she closed the binder and readied for bed.

[WGPC]

RACE TWO
The Grand Prix of Aels

Laps: 57
Conditions: WET

Pos	Car	Name			Team		OVERALL TIME	TIME GAP
1	77	iBen Toralmintii	    	1:25:48.780	0:00:00.000
2	12	Vic Convarion		    	1:26:28.200	0:00:39.420
3	24	Victoria Gardner	    	1:26:53.441	0:00:25.241
4	10	Lauren Ashburton	    	1:26:54.305	0:00:00.864
5	7	Ethan Ellis		    	1:27:03.161	0:00:08.856
6	1	Alexandra Mayari	    	1:27:12.431	0:00:09.270
7	18	Louis Krindle		    	1:27:16.220	0:00:03.789
8	6	Alexander Lund		    	1:27:18.965	0:00:02.745
9	42	Alex Dimitrianov	    	+1 Lap		0:00:08.152
10	23	Moisés Delgado		    	+1 Lap		0:00:05.953
11	55	Asao Nadakei		    	+1 Lap		0:00:06.072
12	52	Sayono Souzare		    	+1 Lap		0:00:08.780
13	17	Oliver Bachmann		    	+1 Lap		0:00:05.866
14	14	Oliver Bliss		    	+1 Lap		0:00:03.684

DNF	35	Jac-Irlo Val		    	Ret. Lap 42	
DNF	89	Will Madison		    	Ret. Lap 35
DNF	3	Mateo Oket		    	Ret. Lap 34	
DNF	56	Terho Tavela		    	Ret. Lap 14	
DNF	46	Reni Sanderson		    	Ret. Lap 12	
DNF	8	Igne Spupuo		    	Ret. Lap 12	
DNF	13	Gunnar Lindstrom		Ret. Lap 12
DNF	29	Esteban Guilhermez	    	Ret. Lap 12
DNF	51	R.L. Crusin		    	Ret. Lap 3	
DNF	21	Alexander Kohlon	    	Ret. Lap 2

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Pos	#	Name			Team				Pts
1	77	iBen Toralmintii	VTM				25
1	56	Terho Tavela		VTM				25
3	6	Alexander Lund		McPahan Racing			21
4	12	Vic Convarion		Telaris Racing			18
5	7	Ethan Ellis		Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	16
6	55	Asao Nadakei		ENSADRINK GP			14
6	24	Victoria Gardner	SFeG				14
8	10	Lauren Ashburton	ENSADRINK GP			10
8	18	Louis Krindle		MSA-SinVal			10
8	8	Igne Spupuo		Telaris Racing			10
11	1	Alexandra Mayari	SFeG				6
12	89	Will Madison		Fornax Racing			4
13	17	Oliver Bachmann		MRT				3
14	46	Reni Sanderson		McPahan Racing			2
14	42	Alex Dimitrianov	MRT				2
16	3	Mateo Oket		Archer Motorsports		1
16	23	Moisés Delgado		Cygnus ATR			1
18	52	Sayono Souzare		Archer Motorsports		0
18	51	R.L. Crusin		Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	0
18	29	Esteban Guilhermez	Cygnus ATR			0
18	35	Jac-Irlo Val		Fornax Racing			0
18	14	Oliver Bliss		MSA-SinVal			0
18	20	Marcus Melton		WGPC Motorworks			0
18	21	Alexander Kohlon	WGPC Motorworks			0
18	13	Gunnar Lindstrom	WGPC Motorworks			0

CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

VTM				50
Telaris Racing			28
ENSADRINK GP			24
McPahan Racing			23
SFeG				20
Carvenlo-Franklin Racing	16
MSA-Sinval			10
MRT				5
Fornax Racing			4
Archer Motorsports		1
Cygnus ATR			1
WGPC Motorsports		0

[Dunpa]

Commentary on The WGPC Network on Dunpan TV

"Hello and welcome to WGPC on the WGPC Network. Today is the Grand Prix of Aels." The first announcer, Dan Gurmble said. "Today, at raining condition, drivers will take to the circuit." The second announcer, Estevan Jenkins said. "I think that Cruisin has a chance to win. After all, He got pole."

At lap 2

"It seems that Alexander is losing time." Dan Gurmble said. "He is at the pits and this can't be good." "The team has reported that he has retired from the race."

At lap 3

"The polesitter is losing time. I think he also has a submission problem." Gurmble said. "Ok, He's going to the pits and we have another retirement."

Lap 57

"And iBen Toralmintii wins at Eals! (Onscreen graphics show his face) And Vic Convarion finishes second!" Jenkins said.

Alex and Mike: After the Race

"Two last place finishes- why does this happen. I'm a championship-caliber driver but I keep getting bad finishes." Alex said to Mike. "Come on, you've got lots of races to improve. Let's go to Eastfield Lodge with our pit crew. " Mike said.

[Aboveland]

It was the twelfth lap of the Grand Prix of Aels. Terho had managed to climb up to 13th from 23rd place in the torrential downpour that damned the competitors. Qualifying position aside, the race so far had gone well, with losses of grip favoring the Abovian driver and his fellow drivers' mistakes propelling him upwards.

As he entered the apex into turn 13, he heard the cry of bending metal and screeching, aquaplaning tires. A cloud of mist shot up from the epicenter of the action, which blinded and disoriented Terho. As he emerged from the fog of war mere centimeters from the third driver involved in the accident, Gunnar Lindstrom, he inadvertently collided with Esteban Guilhermez, whom he was unable to see in his soaked wing mirrors. The Cygnus driver shot up into the air after rubbing Terho's rear right tire and disappeared into the storm, further away in the gravel traps. Petrified, Terho parked his car on the gravel pit and rushed to Esteban's attention, who didn't speak a word to him as he got out of his car and walked to the inside of the track. Turning his attention behind him to the apex of the turn, he could see Gunnar struggling out of his car, placed under Igne Spupo's and beside Reni Sanderson's. Under a yellow flag, he crossed the track towards the trio of crashed cars and checked to see if everyone was okay. From what Terho gathered, he could see everyone was fine, yet he saw fingers pointed at the jockey and angry hand motions from the other two drivers. He then crossed over to the gravel pit where his car was and resumed his race.

In the crash the rear right suspension arm had been bent again and the rear spoiler and DRS flap damaged. Holes and punctures in the chassis were also present, and worried Terho regarding the performance of the car in the rest of the race and how the incident would go down with the team.

Two laps later, up in 15th place (but just barely), he felt the rear right suspension arm buckle and become loose, letting out a terrifying hiss and crack. As Terho pulled over to the side of the track cautiously avoiding other drivers nearby, the axle was sheared off, and the aspiring rookie's hopes of increasing his championship lead lost. He yanked his gloves off and threw them at the mud below Chassis Y, kicking them into the safety barrier. He looked back at his ruined car and yelled in mental agony. How could he, winner of his first ever race, have such a catastrophe of an event? How could he have fallen so low in so little time? He had practiced in Aboveland, spoken to the team, and refined the car to his liking.

When Terho walked into the paddock littered with engineers reviewing his car's data and staring at a live monitor of his teammates' performance, he removed his helmet and let it drop onto the smooth concrete floor with a bang. He went to where his car would be parked and sat on the damp tarp, making it muddy with his feet. He grasped his head tightly and thought about the weekend. He felt the team principal approaching, and his first reaction was to apologize dearly for what had happened, for how he'd destroyed Chassis Y, and for how he felt he'd let the team down. Finally, Terho thought it was best for everyone that he calm down and put the incident and the weekend behind him, so he took a hot shower, got dressed in his team clothes, and joined the rest of the crew in the paddock watching the race.

As iBen crossed the finish line Terho got extremely happy. He hadn't finished the race, but his teammate hadn't finished the last one either. Now look at him, he thought, winning again.

At the slightly less wet podium ceremony Terho gazed at his mentor on the top spot, grinning with pleasure. He'd heard that even though he'd not finished the race, iBen's win got the VTM team into the top spot of the team standings with almost double the points of Telaris Racing, the second placed team. Even better, he hadn't lost his championship lead; sure, he shared it now, but regardless he was still in the championship bid.

After some thought sharing with Edvin, including a relaxing and motivating pep talk, and a press conference, the Abovians headed to their hotel room in Watersedge to remain in Aels one more day, just to make sure that everything that had to be done had been taken care of, and readied their things for the return to Aboveland. This time, it wouldn't be a leisurely stay: he'd keep his eye on the prize and practice dusk till dawn, until he was sure Aels was a tragic story that wouldn't repeat itself.