World Grand Prix Championship Season 15: Roleplay Thread

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

“Fantastic drive, Ryker.” Martin, back on the pit wall, beams with pride. “You have outdone yourself today.”

Ryker is similarly happy inside his Chase Cutter. Despite the Mattijanan rain falling around them, bringing down the likes of Terho in front of the Nimban, he had kept the UHSGV-1 stable and on track throughout the race. The result: a thoroughly deserved second. Maria did brilliantly too - nigh-on a dozen places! Imagination, but she’s good. He grimaces slightly. Pity about Marika, though.

Now Guard is on the radio: “Beautiful, my man! Ryker Lane, that was superb. And you know what? You’re third in the championship now and the team is second overall! You have single-handedly put Nexus Racing back into the picture for the overall WGPC titles!”

I am? We are? I did?

Ryker grins. Awesome.

---

The next hour or so passes quickly. Ryker climbs onto the podium, getting a slightly better view than the last time that he up was there, sprays around carbonated liquid - Lemonade this time; not bad, Mattijiana - speaks at the press conference and then doesn’t head back to the Nexus Racing garage. He has some overdue business to take care of first.

And so it is that Ryker finds himself once more in front of WGPC Kjeligsted’s base of operations. Getting the attention of some of the mechanics inside, he has them inform Asher that he has a visitor waiting for him outside. He focusses his mind while he is waiting. Remember your plan. You don’t want this to turn out badly for Maria. He positions himself next to the wall on the garage’s left, hiding himself from sight inside.

This has the result (an entirely intended one) that when Asher steps out from behind the garage’s threshold he ends up immediately in front of the Nimban. His surprise, combined with Ryker’s firm gaze, means that he is almost paralysed in that first instant - which allows Ryker to launch into his speech, his voice stern but simultaneously calm and without excessive volume.

“I’d like to let you know, Asher, that while I asked Maria for her permission before I came to talk to you, everything that I’m going to say now is what I’ve decided to say. I don’t want you mistakenly pinning blame on her for anything that I do now.”

“I’m going to tell you what I know. Two days ago, after Friday practice, Maria Cattaneo turned up at the Nexus Racing garage upset and wanting to talk to me. She explained that she had woken up the morning of the day before unclothed, in the same bed as Gabriella Olson, surrounded by empty bottles and with no idea of what had happened the previous night.”

“Maria has told me that she had no desire to engage in anything like that with Gabriella and I have no reason to doubt her word. She thinks that Gabriella must have made her drunk in order to take advantage of her mental state. Of course, nobody but Gabriella knows exactly what happened; since you apparently know at least something, I need to understand what information you have about what happened that night.”

“Maria, just so you know, considers you her best friend - and I have no reason to doubt her on that either. She is worried that she might lose that friendship and desperately doesn’t want that to happen. More than that, though, she needs your help, Asher. She is utterly lost in this mess and is terrified that she might lose her place in the team if she does anything wrong. You can help her to navigate that - but only if you understand one another and work together. So,” he concludes, “what is it that Gabriella has told you?”

Ryker stands back and waits for the response.

[The Redvale]

Maria Cattaneo & Asher Rawling
Kranjagrad, Mattijana

Just like qualifying had been a blur, the race seemed to be a blur. Maria was running on fumes and running on instincts, but still managed to be fast enough to compete with the rest of the pack. Or at least, with the mid table. The racers who finished on the podium were far ahead of everyone else, and she found herself a lap behind with the others who were in the middle of the standings, and she had to fight hard to get to fifth place despite a podium being out of the question today.

"Good race, Maria. You could have done some things differently earlier, but you recovered like a champ and did a good job to build off of a bad qualifying session. You can't win them all, sometimes you have to take the points finish and look to build on it next race," Hans Eskildsen told her, as she went across the finish line and switched her engine mode to low as she and the others cruised around the track for the one last lap that they'd spend heading towards the pits.

"If that's a good race to you, then you've never seen one of my actual good races," she said, her voice sounding exhausted. "It wasn't good, it was manageable, don't get the two confused. I didn't do much of note, I only got to fifth because we took some risks on the pit strategy, and I couldn't get near the podium with my teammate. Don't flatter me and tell me that this was a good race-"

"You're selling yourself short, as you have a habit of doing. You started sixteenth and climbed eleven positions to fifth, there isn't going to be anyone within the team complaining about that. Because of you climbing up the standings to get there, we were able to tie Telaris on points in the Constructors Championship. Whatever you may think of your performance, it helped the team to do that. Besides, you've put yourself within striking distance of Ryker Lane and kept yourself in the hunt for the title-"

"Barring an absolute miracle, I'm not going to win the title, not like this," she said, and then she finally reached the pit lane and cut the engine to the car, so the mechanics could push it into the garage. She finally stepped out of the car, taking her helmet off and letting her hair out after pulling her balaclava off too. "Good work, everyone. Really. I'm hard on you guys sometimes, but it's an honor to call myself one of your drivers. Now, if I do as good a job as you've done, maybe you'll see me on the podium."

"Why so self defeating, Maria?" asked the head mechanic, who was moving over to check out the car.

"Because I can do better than this," she said sharply, and with that, she headed out of the garage and to somewhere that the others didn't know. Of course, they didn't know everything that she was going through. To them, it looked like she was just going through one of her moods, and everyone shrugged it off and returned to the work they were doing. If only they knew the real reason why she was in a bad mood and was acting sensitive...

~

"There's so many new faces here that I barely know who is who, now," said Asher Rawling, looking at the man in the black racing suit and black helmet that was at the computers in the garage, analyzing the data from the race. "I guess I can't complain, I'm one of the new guys they brought in to do the same thing that you do, break down data and give advice to the drivers... But, who are you? I don't think we've met. I'm Asher Rawling, but I don't know if you know that already-"

"I go by John," the man told him, in a deep voice with a foreign accent that was indecipherable. "I'm primarily Maria's teacher, but I may do some work to help our other driver... Jean Mercer-Daly. We'll see."

"Her teacher? Since when? She's not the type to listen to teachers-"

"I haven't known her for long, but as a favor to Gabriella, here I am. You could call her a friend of my... My camp," he stated, staring at Asher through his dark shaded visor. "I did work for her in the past, and I was told that she owed Maria a favor... That she wanted me to mentor her. It sounded important, so I came."

"Oh, well, welcome to the team. Though, you might want to take the helmet off indoors-"

"Not a chance."

Asher was about to reply, when someone told him that there was a visitor that wanted to see him. He stepped out of the busy garage, finding that this person wasn't someone that he'd spoken to before, but another driver that had been racing earlier today. Ryker Lane, the one that had gotten onto the podium with Nimbus. And, before Asher could address him, he started talking to him about Maria... Saying that there was more to the thing between Gabriella and Maria than he had thought.

He shifted and leaned against the wall, keeping a steely expression on his face and not giving away much at all about if he believed what Ryker was saying or not. After all, the incident had hurt him more than he wanted to admit, and it wasn't exactly easy to convince him that it had happened differently than he'd heard. "I wasn't 'told' anything," Asher said in a low and rough voice, making air quotes with his fingers. "Two days back, I just got a picture from Gabriella. She was smirking and Maria was sleeping next to her... No context, no explanation, nothing. She left me to figure out what it meant, and it wasn't hard. You sound... You sound naive."

He laughed, though the laugh was bitter and filled with either sadness, animosity, or both. "Let's be real, Ryker. You don't know her. I do. I grew up with her, spent years racing with her in the lower levels and hanging out with her off of the track. Hell, I lived with her for about a year, after she moved out from her parents' place. You're pretty naive, and you want to know how I know that? We're both from Janford, we have high alcohol tolerances. She literally can't get drunk off of beers, even if she wanted to and she drank a whole case of them. Harder stuff makes her tipsy, but I've never seen her get to the point where she can't make decisions, no matter what she drinks."

He finally stood straight, looking Ryker in the eye. "She's going to leave you broken, you know. I tried to tell Gabriella that, but she's too stubborn and headstrong to take my warnings seriously. Just... Be careful with Maria. I don't know about what you're saying, because she doesn't get drunk. Your story doesn't even add up that much. Gabriella is from Troy and Maria is from Janford, she would practically be dead by the time Maria was feeling the effects of whatever they were drinking, if they drank together. I know it sounds cold, but she's not afraid to use people. I've been there, I'd know better than anyone."

[Aboveland]

"Oh shit, Terho," said Edvin, through a stuffy nose, as he loaded the coffee maker early Sunday morning. "Full wet conditions today, it seems."

Terho, still overcome by drowsiness, rubbed his eyes. He opened them to a window blurred by condensation, accompanied by the constant tap tap tap of the rain against it. "Oof" was his initial answer.

"Have you even driven the car in the rain yet?" Edvin asked, leaving the coffee pot back under the machine.

"Hm, no clue. I think I did once, but it wasn't this wet."

"You think you'll adjust to it well?"

"Dunno. I reckon it won't be too hard. The tyres are good, the chassis is good, the setups are good. A few tweaks here and there and we'll be fine, I guess. You're coming to help out today, right?"

"No way," Edvin answered, "I still feel as if I had a soggy cotton ball lodged up my nose."

Slightly disappointed, Terho leaned back and lunged forwards to help himself off the bed with a grunt. He cracked his neck and stretched his arms, heading for the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he came out, succeeded by a cloud of steam, he headed straight for the kitchen to serve himself a mug of coffee and a couple of toasts to go with it. Caffeinated and satisfied he rushed to his room, changed into his team clothes, stuffed his overalls and fireproof garments into his sponsor-clad bag and headed out to the track. As soon as he left, Edvin turned up the heat, switched on the TV and crashed onto the couch. He changed the channel to the race broadcast and got comfortable, donning nothing but his underwear. He was home alone, after all.

***

Axel stared out of his hotel room window, counting the individual taps the rain made on his window. It was his own impromptu concentration session, which he held as he waited for Karl and Sven to knock on his door and tell him to go to the car. As calm as he managed to appear, a creeping sense of fear began to tear at Axel's insides. Rain wasn't expected at all for the race, and Axel hadn't had too much practice in it at all. Sure enough, nobody else had, but it still evoked a mild anxiety in him.

Tap, tap, tap, he counted, trying to make it go away. Still not working.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, knock, knock, knock. The Ruuhimakis had arrived.

"Axel, let's go! Get your poncho on and get ready to tear up the track!" Karl said enthusiastically.

"Coming," was all Axel answered.

---

The five red lights shut off, leaving behind a faint glow. Terho powered off the starting line with tremendous wheelspin, his rear tyres kicking liters of standing water into the air. Anni²'s rear end fishtailed off the grid, narrowly missing iBen Toralmintii's car. Further back, in ninth, Axel got off to a clean start, slingshotting past the slower Wilsons ahead and coming face to face with rookie Jean Mercer-Daly. Both he and Terho were most definitely "in the zone".

But what seemed like a fruitful weekend quickly, and unexpectedly, turned into disaster.

"Axel," called out Sven through the intercom, "you can back off now. The gap to third place is just four seconds. You can leapfrog over him when he pits if you stay out longer."

"I can overtake him in two more laps," he answered, confident.

Two laps later, within touching distance of his nearest opponent, Terho Talvela, disaster struck for both of them. Axel attempted to dive on the inside of turn seven and follow through wide out of it, effectively pushing Terho off the track or behind himself. A factor he hadn't taken into account, however, was the hazardous wet racing line he would take if he attempted such a move. The apex of turn seven had a nasty deep puddle, far too large to be nullified by the full wet tyres on the 37 car. Axel was well aware of the risk, but he wanted the podium too badly to back off, and his tyres were too worn to attempt an overtake at any other chance. It was then or never.

As he lunged on the inside of the corner, coming in hot but with full brakes, his car clipped the side of the sinister puddle, consequently getting sucked into it. The rest of the wheels entered the standing pool of water, causing Axel to aquaplane sideways at over 150 km/h. Terho, who'd taken the slower outside line, was taken by surprise by his compatriot's overly confident move. The howling blur of white and blue appeared in his left rearview mirror, then disappeared with a thud and a subsequent loss of control for himself. Axel's front end had dug into Terho's rear splitter and lifted Anni² onto two wheels, setting her back down harshly and sending her into a spin. The rookie, desperate to regain control of his Telaris machine, slid onto the grass on the outside of the corner and impacted the tyre wall hard. He shook his head, removed his steering wheel, chucked it onto the mud beside him, and trudged out. His race was over.

Terho hadn't taken a small hit, nor had he taken it lightly.

"Vittu perkele saatana!" was his first reaction.

"What is it, Terho?" said the team via the intercom.

"Axel! He lost control and hit me in the fucking rear! Honestly, what was he doing?" he exclaimed.

"Alright, Terho, calm down. Is the car damaged?"

"I think the rear might be damaged heavily. I spun too, but I stayed on the track, so no damage from that." When the yellow flags came out, Terho tried getting underway again from a standstill, a suddenly gargantuan task. "Shit, the clutch is damaged too."

"Do you want to bring it to the pits?"

"No, I'll stay out and see if I can manage."

Following a brief safety car period, the race was underway again on lap 36. But, merely two laps later, Anni² would go no further. With each lap, the gear changes became increasingly more hit or miss, with constant grinding and shaking becoming another liability to deal with. As Terho tried to power out of turn two, right at the start of the beginning of lap 38, the clutch failed. Pressing the paddle before changing gears would do nothing, and trying to get up to fourth gear was a horrible ear-goring endeavor. With the car stuck in third, he pulled over and put his hands on his drenched visor, muttering words of disappointment between sighs. He finally heaved out of the car, dragging his body depleted of joy to the pits. His emotions, a complex cocktail of self-pity and rage. A good steaming in a sauna would help. That is, of course, after he called Frida following her missed calls. The news she had for him would make the sauna session monumentally more vital to his mental wellbeing.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
A hotel in Petrovijanka, Mattijana, the Tuesday after the race
0700 Hours

It was early in the morning. So early that Jean couldn't focus on anything. He always had that sort of problem in the mornings- you get up, you do your morning things, and you don't remember anything else about your life until it all comes flooding back to you. Good thing races don't happen in the early morning, he thought. Or else my driving would be shit- and I'd bet Monies that's true for other people, too.

Suddenly his cellphone rings. It's playing the G-Zero theme, too, so it's from someone important. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jean! Here to congratulate you on that great race on Sunday!" It was Rebecca Darlington, Jean's old teammate in the ESTL.

"Well, umm... Thanks. It certainly was one hell of a ride."

"I know! I watched the entire Grand Prix on playback after I finished my race in Banking. I got third in that race, too! But your race... it was astounding! You were driving in the full wet, and you kept your cool despite almost HALF of the field not finishing! And that crash between the two Abovelandis- you know, Terry and Aran-"

"Terho and Axel, Becca. At least research what the driver names are before using them."

"Sorry. But that crash just sold me on the WGPC. Can I come join too?"

"Heh. Maybe. I don't think you'd get a drive. Plus, you need to stay with Team Obey. You're the last great talent they have at the moment."

"Well, I guess that's true. So how is the new team? Is the car shiny? I like shiny and strong teams that can-"

Suddenly, his phone rings mid-connection.

"Sorry, but this is from Talia. I need to answer."

"Okay. See you soon!" *click*

"Talia? What is it?"

"Jean, I have an important meeting scheduled with you and some other important people. I can't say who they are over the line, but I've worked with them before."

"Okay... Where do you want me?"

"Take a plane to Sonora. We'll have another ready to fly to Point Capaldi. Team Obey Offices. By tomorrow. See you then."

"Got ya. See you then."

Jean was already wondering what this was about. An update? Was his old team pissed he left mid-season? Something about something else? Something random? He couldn't tell.

Well, whatever it was, he'd find out soon enough. He called Darrell.

"Darrell? I need something from you."

"Anything. What is it?"

"Get me a flight from Petrovijanka to Sonora. Now."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Ryker listens to Asher; his initial reaction is disappointment at how little he knows. Still, maybe Maria and I can compare notes, considering that she’s talked to Gabri-

"She left me to figure out what it meant, and it wasn’t hard."

The alarm bells start going off. Well, I was warned of his stubbornness - and apparently he’s bitter, too. Still, don’t make any snap judgements, Ryker.

"We're both from Janford, we have high alcohol tolerances. She literally can't get drunk off of beers, even if she wanted to and she drank a whole case of them. Harder stuff makes her tipsy, but I've never seen her get to the point where she can't make decisions, no matter what she drinks."

That… That isn’t how neurochemistry works, is it? I think I remember some stuff from my biology classes about it - genetic alcohol tolerance only has a small moderating effect, as far as I can remember. Not like I have much personal experience on the matter, though. Anyway, all of that aside, Maria said that she doesn’t remember and I don’t think that she’d lie to me. It might be a good idea to ask her what kind of bottles and how many were on the floor - that could persuade Asher.

"She's going to leave you broken, you know… I know it sounds cold, but she's not afraid to use people. I've been there, I'd know better than anyone."

Whoa, hold on. I might be naïve, but you have just confirmed that you are almost certainly biased - though the tone was quite the clue before. He could be referring to Maria choosing to advance her career rather than stay with him; certainly that’s unfortunate but it’s her decision to make and far from easy to assess morally. Otherwise, I have no way of knowing what he’s talking about unless I ask Maria herself.

Ryker, pushing down his own internal judgements, nods, once. "It’s good to hear someone else’s take on things, Asher - I’ll keep everything that you’ve said in mind." Maybe not in the way that you want me to, but I will. "Thanks for coming out to talk to me; you’ve been helpful. And… Well, keep an open mind. Neither of us knows what new information might come to light." He nods again, then turns to head back to his own garage, new ideas and theories still sparking across his consciousness and subconsciousness.

Imagination, Maria and I are going to have a lot to talk about when she visits the First City…

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
An undisclosed location, Point Capaldi, Corda Dracon, Esmerel
Wednesday, 1500 Hours

"So here I am, Talia. Now what?"

Jean had arrived back in his homeland after Talia had called him for an emergency meeting with some people she had worked with before, but Jean didn't know. True to her word, they were waiting to pick Jean up after his flight from Petrovijanka to Sonora, and he was to attend a special meeting, as she had also said. There were other people as well- Darrell had been requested to come, and so did Rebecca. The people in suits were people Jean did not know at all- they weren't hiding their identities, he just didn't know them. So what was going on?

"First of all, everyone, if this is about a contract, I'm not accepting it."

"Jean, this isn't about a contract. It's about future seasons of the WGPC and Esmerelian involvement. These three men are important spokespersons of Italian car manufacturer Grotti- after your involvement in the Grand Prix Tsa Mattijana, they wanted to form a WGPC team for next season. The thing is, they want to be successors to Team Obey, and have you and Rebecca be their drivers. We also have a purpose-built circuit ready for use by the WGPC-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Way too much information going on here. Let me get this straight- Esmerel will also be entering a team and circuit next year? Great, but let me know the terms."

"We'll handle that, sir." The Grotti spokesperson stood up to present his plan.

"Your name?"

"Can't say. But I'm here to help. So here's the livery for our new team, Scuderia Grotti:"

"Plenty of sponsors already onboard. You must have either done a good job in presentation or-"

"Let's not consider alternatives. We also have selected the Rockford Port Circuit for entry into the next season:"

"This is getting to be too much. Can we take it slower? And I'm unsure of your identities- so I don't know if you're safe yet."

"Just trust us, Mr. Daly. Alright? Thank you for the meeting."

"Meeting? It barely lasted a minute and yet you-"

They were gone already.

"Now, Jean, I understand this was all a lot of information, and I'm not the biggest fan of how the process went either. But it's official. Scuderia Grotti will be attempting to enter into the WGPC next season, and Rockford Port Circuit will be a bid to host the Grand Prix of Esmerel. That is all. You can go about your business.

"Rebecca? You alright?"

"Yeah. This is exciting, in a way. But I really want to stay on Team Obey, despite their recommendations. You should help find a foreign driver to take the second position."

"Well, even I don't want to drive this thing. I'm happy with my Red Lion. Maybe I'll arrange for one of their guys to race with Grotti and I'll keep racing with them. Whatever happens, it'll be alright. You feel me?"

"Sure thing, Jean. Darrell Matherly will always be ready!"

"Alright. I'm flying back to my house. Rebecca, you can come over in a few hours. Talia and Darrell, I'll see you in Nekoni."

"Yes, sir. With you all the way."

"Alright, Jean. See you later."

"Meet you at your house!"

This new information was shocking to Jean. He was happy they weren't angry at him, but he still wondered. What the hell is really going on here?

[United States of Minori]

I will announce that Alinghi are federated with other 3 nation, forming the United States of Minori. The Gran Prix of Gracemeria, will held under the United States of Minori government (trigramme USM)

[WGPC]

Grand Prix of Nekoni - Friday Practice

Drivers had ninety minutes to record up to thirty laps of the track (including in and out laps to and from the pits). Only each driver's fastest time is shown in the table below.
Conditions: Dry

Pos # Driver			Team			Fastest Lap	Behind Leader
 1  1 Terho Talvela                	0:01:45.818	0:00:00.000
 2 99 Maria Cattaneo               	0:01:45.938	0:00:00.120
 3 55 Asao Nadakei                 	0:01:45.943	0:00:00.125
 4 24 Victoria Gardner             	0:01:45.963	0:00:00.145
 5 74 Alexandra Mayari             	0:01:45.995	0:00:00.176
 6 23 Moisés Delgado               	0:01:46.013	0:00:00.195
 7 14 Oliver Bliss                 	0:01:46.030	0:00:00.211
 8 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher           	0:01:46.039	0:00:00.220
 9 42 Alex Dimitrianov             	0:01:46.049	0:00:00.230
10  7 Ethan Ellis                  	0:01:46.052	0:00:00.234
11 51 R.L. Cruisin                 	0:01:46.067	0:00:00.249
12 77 iBen Toralmintii             	0:01:46.070	0:00:00.252
13 37 Axel Novikov                 	0:01:46.084	0:00:00.265
14 29 Esteban Guilhermez           	0:01:46.100	0:00:00.282
15 53 Denholm Kingsley             	0:01:46.108	0:00:00.290
16  5 Juliano Lemos                	0:01:46.124	0:00:00.306
17 18 Louis Krindle                	0:01:46.126	0:00:00.308
18 63 Kurt Censki                  	0:01:46.194	0:00:00.376
19 94 Ryker Lane                   	0:01:46.201	0:00:00.382
20 20 Mick Schramm                 	0:01:46.257	0:00:00.438
21 89 Will Madison                 	0:01:46.307	0:00:00.489
22  6 Marika Pedanovic             	0:01:46.425	0:00:00.607
23 52 Sayono Souzare               	0:01:46.445	0:00:00.627
24  4 Jean Mercer-Daly             	0:01:46.502	0:00:00.684
25 16 Alexander Lund               	0:01:46.504	0:00:00.686
26 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie          	0:01:46.660	0:00:00.842

Cutoff for Saturday's race will be after 11pm UTC.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Nova Valley Circuit, Novareza, Nekoni
Friday Practice

"Sigh... Well, you can't always get what you want."

Before practice Jean had been overcome with a minor sickness that prevented him from going in and practicing Nova Valley in the simulator. He had notified Rebecca of this, and she decided not to come to Jean's house. And that investigation he was to do into Scuderia Grotti? That would have to wait.

"So here we are, Jean, for our second race of our career in the WGPC. You excited? Darrell Matherly's excited!"

"Stop referring to yourself in third-person, Darrell. And no, I-I'm not excited." Jean was still feeling woozy from all of the anti-sickness pills he had to take to quickly cure himself for the race.

"Wait a minute. Jean? What's wrong?"

Jean quickly explained the situation.

"Oh, okay. I can understand that. Just do whatever you can."

Going into practice at Nova Valley, Jean was still upset and somewhat disabled. He knew he could perform well, given he took a podium in Mattijana, though as the Redvali say, "luck evens out." Would his luck turn around by qualifying? Or would this weekend be a poor race and he would do better another time? He didn't know.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

As Jean had feared, he didn't do well in practice. It was 24th fastest for the Esmerelian, despite only being seven tenths slower than the dominating Abovelandi Terho Talvela. He got out of the car feeling horrid inside, and unusually declined all of the interviews.

"So, Jean," Darrell said. "Think you can turn it around?"

"I'm unsure about that," Jean said, still a little woozy. "But you know, as Redvali say, 'luck evens out,' so I'd say we can recover. Let's just hope it's sooner rather than later..."

At least Maria pulled off second...

[West-East Timor]

WET NEWS

Interview with Mick Schramm

After practice for the Grand Prix of Nekoni on Nova Valley Circuit, we have asked Mick Schramm for an interview, talking about the last two races in which he showed some...quite different performances and what to expect for the rest of the season and such stuff.

Mick, first, thank you for wasting your time answering our questions!

Schramm: It's a pleasure. No, actually not. All these interviews are annoying. I'm glad you pay me for this.*

We can understand that, but a recent survey has shown that more people tend to read articles about you than articles about politics, some rubbish singers's newest affaire and even baby animals born in some zoo. So we all make money. Win-win situation*

S.: Nice. Now go ahead, and ask your stupid questions!*

Alright then. First, the most recent stuff: practice in Nekoni. So here. Where we obviously interview you. What do you think about it?

S.: About what? The practice? Just a normal friday practice.

Your result in practice?

S.: 20th.

Yes, we know, what do you think about it?

S.: Well, results in practice don't really matter. I think I've said that some times before, but yeah. You always ask the same stupid questions don't you?

Yes, sometimes we do.*

S.: Anyways. You wanted to know about the practice. In practice I mainly concentrate on getting to know the track. As I've told other people, and I think you people too, thousands of times before.* I quite like the Nova Valley Circuit, it's a great track. Especially that Amphitheater part in turn ten is brilliant, something that makes this track a bit different to most tracks. I hope to have great race here on sunday, and of course get some great results.

Speaking of results, let's talk about your result in Hodori. You have caused lots of parties in West-East Timor, even high politicians like our elected leaders where seen at First West-East Timorian WGPC Podium Parties (FWETWGPCPP)^TM. In fact, one of the FWETWGOCPP^TMs was the first time ever Timo Brandon was seen drunk somewhere (Nick Newman has probably been drunk making decisions on some laws, so that'd be nothing special*). What do you personally think about your podium?

S.: It was great. It was just great. It felt fantastic standing on that podium, with Juliano and Terho Talvela. All the crowds cheering down there... It actually were bigger crowds than at Formula WET1 races. And they were more cheering towards Terho Talvela, but still. I've atleast been on the podium in my first WGPC season, that's not too bad I think. It's just great.

Not just that, you've started 22nd in that race, so you've gained 20 positions! Some people even call it the best race in your entire life...

S.: Maybe it is, yeah. But I hope it's not, I want to have some brilliant races in the future as well. And again, it was just great.

Unlike the race in Mattijana...

S.: Yeah... Starting 22nd and finishing 13th could be considered quite ok, but seeing only two cars finished behind me and I was two laps behind, it's absolutely not ok. I don't know how I was that bad, it just wasn't my best day I guess. For the rest of the season, I'm still gonna give my best. I'll try to get on the podium some more times, so prepare for a Second West-East Timorian WGPC Podium Party (SWETWGPCPP)^TM and hopefully a First West-East Timorian WGPC Win Party (FWETWGPCWP)^TM...

I hope we'll have these! Thanks for the interview.

S.: So I can go now? Thanks.*

*A recent survey has shown that more people tend to read articles in which things are said as they are and what people actually said and think than articles about a baby animal that is ill, a famous, rubbish singer that has died and a politician that said something stupid in which things are changed to make certain people or organizations look better.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Just as last week, Nexus Racing had feigned a lack of pace during practice, deliberately upping the downforce to unimaginable levels and significantly reducing Imagination flow to the converters in order to disguise the car’s newfound sprightliness. Their intention is simple: other teams will think that they are hiding the same speed as they had at the last race when in actual fact they have taken a leap forward that is possibly even greater than that of the introduction of the compressed Imagination tanks the race before. As Ryker pulls back into the garage, therefore, he knows that both he and Marika are well-placed going into qualifying.

He goes through the telemetry with Martin, then waits for Maria to arrive, the two having arranged to meet on Nexus turf in order to avoid oversight by members of what is now Red Lion Racing. She needs to know what Asher said last week. It might hurt her to know how bitter he is - and maybe even has been for a while, by the sounds of it - but that information could go a long way to repairing their friendship if she's careful about it. He smiles wryly. Granted, 'careful' doesn't spring to mind when I think of her... Really, though, she'll do just fine, given how amazing she is.

...

Ryker shakes his head vigorously, trying desperately to return his thinking to something resembling rational objectivity.

[WGPC]

Grand Prix of Nekoni: Saturday Qualifying

Drivers had sixty minutes to record up to ten flying laps of the track. Only the fastest lap is recorded below

Pos # Driver			Team		Fastest Lap
 1 37 Axel Novikov            	0:01:45.912
 2  5 Juliano Lemos           	0:01:45.949
 3 63 Kurt Censki             	0:01:45.957
 4  6 Marika Pedanovic        	0:01:45.999
 5 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher      	0:01:46.004
 6 16 Alexander Lund          	0:01:46.006
 7 51 R.L. Cruisin            	0:01:46.008
 8 52 Sayono Souzare          	0:01:46.009
 9 24 Victoria Gardner        	0:01:46.020
10 55 Asao Nadakei            	0:01:46.034
11 74 Alexandra Mayari        	0:01:46.048
12 18 Louis Krindle           	0:01:46.061
13 20 Mick Schramm            	0:01:46.104
14  1 Terho Talvela           	0:01:46.107
15 99 Maria Cattaneo          	0:01:46.138
16 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie     	0:01:46.156
17  7 Ethan Ellis             	0:01:46.162
18 94 Ryker Lane              	0:01:46.163
19 29 Esteban Guilhermez      	0:01:46.199
20 89 Will Madison            	0:01:46.226
21 14 Oliver Bliss            	0:01:46.300
22 77 iBen Toralmintii        	0:01:46.358
23 42 Alex Dimitrianov        	0:01:46.728
24 23 Moisés Delgado          	0:01:47.043
25 53 Denholm Kingsley        	0:01:47.316
26  4 Jean Mercer-Daly        	0:01:47.691

Cutoff for RPs for tomorrow's race will be after 23.00 UTC tomorrow.

[The Serbian Empire]

At the Grand Prix of Nekoni

A car barrels through Avalero-Solera, the shape of a 6 on it. The car could not be mistaken for any other as it was a Nexus machine. Full tuned for qualifying. The car barrels through Snake Road into the Kink,

"Good time, Marika!" the engineer cheered her on.

The car continues through the Esprit S and then into Montalbani Hairpin.

"Lost a bit of time in the hairpin, just keep the car healthy," the engineer told Marika.

The radio went silent until Marika reached the start-finish line.

"1:45.999, that's what we were looking for!" the engineer said with a bit too much excitement.

Meanwhile at Onyx Marenisko's testing site...

A chassis that looks more like a 1992 Galmer is brought out. It has the 17, a sign that it was an old Dominic Dobson car used in 1993 for two late season races in CART for Pacwest.

"How did you find this car?" one of the engineers, Milan Vrana asked.

"Let's say it wasn't easy to buy this from a collector," the shady looking man replied.

"Secondly, what's with the idea of using a chassis that's 25 years old as a basis of what we're going to be building on?" Vrana asked.

"I'll let Mr. Stefanovic speak about this," the shady looking man said.

"Well, this chassis was strong enough on road courses in 1992 to warrant a bit of reverse engineering along with a few more modern chassis. We want to use this one for aerodynamics research. I believe the nose cone can be utilized on a modern car if WGPC regulations allow us to do so. The suspension will be based on a Sauber C31's. If we marry that to our own proprietary sidepods and rear aerodynamics, we can produce a car capable of running down the longest straights in the WGPC at roughly 340 km/h if we can safely place our desired power plant in the car. I'll show you that next," Stefanovic stated as he reveals an engine block under a red table cloth.

"Is that a Mazda Rotary Engine?" Vrana asked.

"Yes, and it's tuned for a very high horsepower yield. If we revealed how powerful it is, it'd be viewed as the most unfair thing in a long time. The only concern would be can it make the distance without blistering tyres, blowing out oil, or worse. Otherwise, we'll need to put a distinct push-rod engine in there," Stefanovic responded.

"So this is a Frankencar?" Vrana questioned.

"Yes, and it will be a monster on the track. The best car to have ever seen the light of day. The Blackbird SR-71 of the racing world!" Stefanovic proclaimed.

[The Redvale]

Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher
Novareza, Nekoni

Where had things gone wrong for Jeremy? He had started off being the big Redvali star in the competition instead of Maria. He had gotten Gabriella Olson to show interest in him and reward him with gifts for his good performances, and he had gotten on the front pages of the papers back home with his early hot start that saw him hovering around the top five in the standings. He had started dating Nia Beneventi, a hot model that would never have given him the time of day back when he was in college.

And somewhere, it had all gone off the rails. The results hadn't come, for both him and his teammate, and the team was trying to shift the blame on him for his aggressive driving. They tried to say that there was nothing wrong with their engine, while the truth was that both their engine and their reliability needed serious work if they wanted to finish in the top half consistently, let alone win races.

Jeremy had been going through a rough patch where he was trying to figure out who to blame in all of this, himself or the team, but that question was answered for him when his engine quit completely early on and left him with one of the worst times in the session. He'd confronted them about how they were continuing to not give him much to work with in terms of a decent car, and they had replied by blaming some of their failure on his driving style and by telling him that he would have to work with what they gave him.

"Why so upset, babe?" Nia asked as he exited the garage and started walking back towards the outside of the circuit, calling it a day early without even going over the data from the practice session.

"I can't take racing for these idiots anymore... You already know why I'm upset, the engine in this damn car isn't fit for road driving, let along racing. I don't know how I haven't DNFed this season, but you see what happened when I pushed it in practice. I wouldn't be surprised if our engine was the absolute worst in the field," Jeremy replied, keeping his head down as they left and then started walking past a row of press members waiting to see if they could get good pictures or get some questions in.

"Jeremy, can you say anything to us about your frustrations with Fireline during this practice session?" asked one reporter, and he stopped and turned to him.

"Here's what I have to say about that... Fuck Fireline!" he said, a fire to his voice as he berated the team that he had just gotten done arguing with. "Honestly! We have the worst engine on the grid and yet they get upset with me for not getting on podiums. Do you want to know why I can't get on the podium? It's because if I push the engine at all, it breaks. You saw it today in practice and you're going to see it again unless they get their shit together."

"Thank you, Jeremy, we appreciate you taking your time to speak with us."

~

Maria Cattaneo
Novareza, Nekoni

Practice had been a completely different story for Maria, who had been able to push the Olson engine in the newly renamed Red Lion car early and often without any problems, but that didn't mean she didn't have her own things that she was dealing with. Her early encounter with Gabriella had messed up her head, and she hadn't been able to convince herself that it wasn't her fault. Eventually, she decided that she would stop thinking about it and put it behind her, and she wouldn't hold it against Gabriella. Like it or not, Gabriella was still her team owner now, and getting on her bad side would definitely hurt her career.

Still, her life was complicated right now. She was being coached by one of her former lovers, someone who was now tense and unsure about her because of what had went down with her and Gabriella, even though that hadn't been in her control. She couldn't tell if she had real feelings for Ryker Lane, who was far too much of a 'nice guy' for her tastes and who she wasn't sure if she really liked or not, or if she was just tricking herself about that as a defense mechanism from all the bad things going on in her life. The media wanted a Redvali champion, and they were stepping the pressure up for every race. Even her team was in disarray, changing names and owners mid season and changing her teammate at the same time.

So when she went to meet with Ryker, she was understandably very tired looking, exhausted even. She had reddish eyes, messed up hair, and she was still wearing the dirty race suit from earlier. "Before you ask, I'm fine," she said, upon finding him. "So you wanted to talk?"

[Esmerel]

So I was sick (a fever of 39.5°C/103.1°F for gods' sake) and couldn't make as many posts as I wanted, but now I'm better and let's make up for it with a megapost!

Jean Mercer-Daly
Nova Valley Circuit, Novareza, Nekoni
Saturday Qualifying

"Gods. Last on the grid. Where in the hell did we go wrong?"

Earlier

Jean had come into qualifying a nervous man. His performance in practice was subpar at best, scoring 24th. However. it was only seven-tenths off the defending champion and fastest time, so he figured he could at least pull something off. Times in qualifying were always both faster and more spread out from experience, so if he could keep his pace he should be relatively alright.

This entire weekend just feels like a bad time. I should be doing better, Jean thought. Considering he had managed 6th in qualifying and a podium in the race last weekend- in the rain, no less- he knew there was more in him. Then he remembered something he said in an interview in Mattijana:

"P6 is certainly a great starting point for a midseason replacement, and I think things could only get better from here. If I had maintained my great Q1 pace it would've been P3, but I think that's a silver platter being handed to me before being smashed in my face, if you know what I mean. This kind of stuff happens."

Argh. I remember saying that now. I was talking about a better qualifying result, but what if my race podium in Mattijana was a silver platter being handed to me before being smashed in my face this weekend? Deep thoughts, Jean, deep thoughts. All you have to do is survive, focus, and do your absolute best now that you're in perfect health. Things can't get that much worse.

"Alright, Jean," radioed Darrell. "I know practice wasn't your strongest showing, but I think a top 15 result is completely possible from you, not 24th. Gabriella Olson is going to expect more out of you than the Kjeligstedis, so let's make her proud of her new team."

"I will do that, Darrell. Let's put on a show!"

"Feeling better? Because we can return to the pits and recover if we need to-"

"Darrell, I'm fine, thank you. Let's just do some qualifying."

The Flying Lap

Jean set out on his first and what was to be only flying lap. Going around the corners, he felt a lot faster than he did in practice. Surely this could be a fast lap- a high 45, even.

"Jean, those times are looking absolutely beautiful. You've gone purple in the second sector. Bring it home!"

Jean would bring it home. But one tiny mistake ruins anything, and that's what ended up happening. Coming into turn 15, Jean locked up and missed it entirely. His lap wasn't invalidated as the corner cut wasn't intentional, but he lost a lot of time.

"Gods! And that was a good lap, too!"

"Oh, well. We still have another nine laps to get in a good time. Keep it up! We're not out of it yet!"

Jean completed his ruined lap with a time of 1'47''691, nearly two seconds off the pace. Unfortunately for him, it would be the end of his qualifying run. Almost at turn 1, coming in at over 300 km/h, his engine failed. He slammed into the outer pit wall with great force.

"Oh no. No! No! DAMN IT!"

"Jean, what just happened? Why are you going cra- Oh. You alright?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Engine failed. Something must have gotten into it. I guess we're done here. Gods. Last on the grid. Where in the hell did we go wrong?"

"I don't know, Jean. I just don't know. As for the car, we'll be able to get it fixed by the race, but yeah, it looks like we're done for today. Up for a press interview? They're waiting at the Red Lion garages."

"Guess so. Be right there."

The Interview

Interviewer: "Welcome back to qualifying for the Alvareo-Solera Gran Premio di Nékoni, where we're seeing how our WGPC drivers will line up for tomorrow's race. You rejoin with us as the session has been red flagged after an incident with one of the Red Lion cars, Jean Mercer-Daly, crashing out at Avalero-Solera. We have him here after the incident unscathed, and he is ready for a couple of questions. Jean?"

Jean: "Yeah?"

I: "Here's your first question, Mr. Mercer-Daly. What exactly happened this weekend that contributed to your poor performance?"

JMD: "Well.. I'll get straight to the point. I got sick back at home, and thus had no time to practice Nova Valley in my simulator. I took a few anti-sickness pills and I was cured by the next morning, but by then I had to fly here. I was a bit groggy and woozy from lack of sleep and the pills, and I wasn't completely ready for a good practice performance. As for today, my only flying lap I locked up at turn 15 and my engine failed going into Avalero-Solera. I'm unsure, but I think going through the gravel trap at 15 got something into the motor. Whatever happened, I'll be at the very back on the grid tomorrow."

I: "Do you think you can recover tomorrow?"

JMD: "Maybe not enough to get points, but I'd say absolutely. There's an old Redvali saying that goes like this: "Luck evens out." It's a quote I live by, and I think it's come in handy throughout the years. I just hope that luck will even out sooner rather than later, and better late than never. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

I: "What's your overall opinion of the WGPC right now?"

JMD: "Despite this weekend's performance so far, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Sure, it sucks that I didn't do well, but it's great being a part of the big leagues. That's all I have to say for now."

After The Interview

"Don't worry, Jean," Darrell said. "We'll make up for it in the race."

"Who knows if we'll actually deliver on that?" Jean was thoroughly displeased with qualifying.

"Whoa, Jean," Darrell replied. "It's just one bad-"

"But it could end up turning into a f*ckfest! Ugh. I'm going back to the hotel. See you tomorrow."

"Of course, Jean. We'll make up, I promise you."

"Yeah, right," Jean replied hastily.

Of course, Jean wasn't going back to the hotel. He was going to practice more.

A few minutes later

Ah, good. They do have simulators in the garage.

Jean stepped into the full motion simulation room, where you could test a WGPC-spec car without actually driving one. It's like the one I built at home, Jean thought. But not as good.

Oddly enough, there was one other person practicing in the other simulator. They were in a pure black suit and helmet, and paid no attention to Jean's attempts to make him notice.

He had to have gotten past the guy who's right outside of this door, Jean thought. Or else why would he be here?

It didn't matter. Jean stepped into the simulator.

Vehicle: RLR-Olson.

Track: Nova Valley.

Race Distance: 100%.

Ruleset: Realistic.

Competitors: 26.

Qualify or Race: Race Only.

Start Position: Dead last.

There are those races you win.

Those you lose.

There will be no more losing.

Nothing else matters.

Win or lose. Simple.

Five red lights...

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

The ache that Ryker feels upon seeing Maria like this borders on the physical. Oh, Maria, you look… You look broken. That’s the only word for it. I should - Imagination, I can’t even try to support you emotionally, can I? You’ll just react defensively. But with what I wanted to discuss…

Well, I can’t just back out now, can I? Besides, you’re strong enough to weather this. I have to believe that. “Yeah…” Ryker’s tone is still somewhat hesitant and concerned, something which he notices and corrects, marshalling his stoicism. “I wanted to compare notes on what we found out last week so that we can try to understand what’s going on with this whole thing that you’re going through, like we said we would.”

“Asher, well, told me that he knew basically nothing about what happened - only that he got sent a picture of you with Gabriella that night from her, though, since you talked to her, you might know that already. That’s not the useful…” Ryker winces. “Sorry, poor word choice - the important part.”

He shakes his head slightly in resignation, looking down. “He’s bitter, Maria - incredibly bitter. His tone was just… Anyway, he made it very clear that he didn’t believe that you’d actually got drunk, saying that you were basically impervious to the negative effects of alcohol. Then he went onto this long spiel that was one big warning for me to stay away from you, that you used people and would ‘leave me broken’.” He laughs sadly. “I had this idea that we could try to change his mind by working out what you drank that evening but even if we could it wouldn’t do anything; his emotions are way too bound up in this for something like that to work. Maybe he was right when he called me naïve.”

Ryker looks up again at Maria. “I’m sorry that I don’t have any better news for you, but it’s the truth.” He shrugs. “Maybe we can do something with it.”

[The Redvale]

Maria Cattaneo
Novareza, Nekoni

Maria could see the concern on the face of Ryker when she approached him and he looked up, but she didn't want his pity right now. Pity wasn't going to solve her problems, and it also wasn't going to make her feel better. She just listened quietly when he spoke, though in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but keep blaming herself for what had happened. Eventually, she spoke.

"Asher should be bitter. I would be concerned if he wasn't... I did the lowest thing that I could do to him, I left him just so I could advance my career and get a better job that turned out to not be much better at all. And then right when I started to reconcile with him for that, I got in bed with Gabriella behind his back while he still thought that we had a chance to be together again," she sighed, running a hand through her messy hair to smooth it out. "And if he told you that I can't get drunk because I'm from Janford, he's sort of right. It's not that it's impossible, but if I was drinking with Gabriella, she would black out and probably get sick far before I would. He warned you to stay away because he already has experience with me, and it didn't turn out well for him..."

She paused, looking down. "Looking back, I've realized that I'm not a very good person... I pretty much used Asher for his family's money to get into the sport and then ditched him as soon as I made it," she added. "But anyway, I did talk to Gabriella. I asked her some questions, caught her alone, and roughed her up a bit to get my answers. She tried to lie at first, or at least I thought she was lying, and she played off the alcohol part. And then I put a pocket knife to her neck and she was ready to spill everything. She said that we were both drinking and that one thing just led to another. She said she never meant to hurt me, that she never meant to hurt anyone even though she has hurt plenty of people. I don't know how genuine she was being, but she was crying and pretty emotional when she said it. Should I even believe her, or is this all another lie?"

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Ryker takes in everything with the same sympathy that he’s shown before - right up until the words ‘I put a pocket knife to her neck’, at which point his expression morphs to that of slightly fearful shock and he edges away slightly before regaining his composure. If anything, his concern becomes even more pronounced, almost desperately so. If you’re willing to resort to that, Maria… Imagination, how must you be feeling? You really are broken.

And there’s nothing I can do.

Is there?

Ryker sighs. “I can’t answer that; no-one but Gabriella can for certain. She would have been doing anything that she could think of to save her own skin; whether that was telling the truth or constructing the best lie that she could come up with is anyone’s guess.”

At this point, the Nimban turns silent, unsure of how to continue.

…

Is that all you’re going to say, Lane?

…

Maria needs help. Imagination, everyone involved in this mess needs help. It’s not going to get much worse than this, so do something, anything! Act!

There is a pause. “You know, Maria,” Ryker finally begins, tentatively, “back home in the Wardship, we don’t have judges in our legal cases; instead, we have ‘arbiters’, who are trained in psychology as well as law. Their job isn’t to decide upon the type of punishment that a person gets for committing a crime; it’s to decide what courses or programmes they should be given to turn them back into valuable members of society. Stuff like that is a big part of Nimban culture, actually, now that I think about it - helping people to work out their mistakes and learn from them rather than acting in retribution.”

He looks up at her, his face calm, confident and warm. “I’m not going to go into a long argument about whether you’ve done a given thing wrong like last time; some would say you did, others that you didn’t, for anything. The point is that it ultimately doesn’t matter. The past is past, so there’s no point beating yourself up about it now.” He looks upwards and runs a hand through his hair, as if recalling something. “Imagination, I’ve done that enough times to know for certain that there isn’t one.”

“I won’t be able to say all of that to Asher and Gabriella - or maybe I will, I don’t know - but I’m starting to think that we’ve been approaching this the wrong way. Knowing some sort of complete, overarching truth doesn’t actually matter too much; what does matter is that you can make sense of whatever’s happened for yourself and then carry on. How you do that is different for everyone, and I don’t pretend to know how your mind works, Maria, but I will do anything you need, whenever you need and however you need, if you want my help to do it.” He smiles sadly. “That’s the least that I can do after you’ve helped me so much in the same way.”

[Audioslavia]

Halfway through the season, and Lund had finally qualified in the first three rows of the grid.
"In truth, that was a crapshoot" he'd said to his crew, "There's something a little different about Nekoni thats throwing people off. Maybe it's the tarmac, maybe the circuit, maybe the thousands of cat-people in attendance."
There certainly was something in the air. Reigning champion Terho Talvelo, top of the driver's championship, so dominant all season, fastest in practice, had qualified outside of the top ten. Cattaneo, so often a little tense in qualifying, had also failed to make the top ten, while Ryker Lane was 18th and Mercer-Daly, the one he'd had the awkward introduction to last week, the one who'd taken the grid by storm in his first race, was dead last.

At the front, Lund would be joined by Jensen-Fletcher on row three, with Pedanovic, Censki, Lemos and Novikov ahead of them. Even the SFeG cars, on their home circuit, had made the front half of the grid, though still further down the order than is customary for the home teams. Lund's own team-mate, Ethan Ellis, had only managed seventeenth place.

Lund kept his eye on the wing-mirrors as he completed the formation lap, working the tyres, trying to get them as warm as possible in time for the race. Behind him was a who's-who of the past few seasons of WGPC. R.L. Cruisin had been around longer than him, Souzare, Gardner, Nadakei, Mayari and Krindle had about 100 races between them in WGPC. Behind them? That was the future. Lund watched and caught a glimpse of Talvela and Cattaneo as they rolled round the final corner on the way back to the starting grid. Talvela, the World Champion, was favourite to take the title this season too, but the young lass from The Redvale would, at some point, have something to say about it.

Lund brought his car to a stop, on the dirty side of the track, meaning his reactions would have to be perfect to stay ahead of Cruisin into turn one. Perhaps he'd lose that place in the shuffle, perhaps not. What definitely mattered was that he didn't want the McPahan behind him to shufffle in front of him in the mix. McPahan, Lund's home for three seasons, had fallen back into the middle of the pack after two seasons as an elite team. Souzare and Censki hadn't quite been cutting the mustard so far. Could Lund have done a better job in that car so far? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Was Lund even the same driver that he was three years ago? His team certainly weren't sure. The papers certainly weren't sure. There was one way to make them certain.

The lights turned to green.

[The Redvale]

So, Ryker was saying that no matter what happened, they would never know the truth of what had happened and she would never be able to get some kind of justice for herself. Or, she would never even know if something had really happened that meant that she would need to try to do that. That was how she took his words, and she just kept avoiding his eyes and looking down. "I should have ended her right there... I would have, if she wasn't my team owner."

She took a long sigh, turning her back because she couldn't meet his eye. "But we aren't on the Wardship. I'm from Redvale, and we do things differently there. The law is respected because the punishment for breaking it is severe... And Gabriella, she's just going to get off with nothing. Nobody but my inner circle even knows what happens, and it's not like I have enough evidence against her to do anything legally. Even if I could, that would ruin everything for my career."

That had always been the most important thing for her, regrettably. She'd do anything to keep her career, even stay silent and tell no one of what had happened. "You don't have to worry about any of this. I'll get over it. I'll cry and I'll drink and I'll take the anger out on someone else and I'll vent to the few people that understand me, but I'll eventually get over it. You want to know why? Because I have a career to keep, and it's all I have," she continued. "The one thing I'm good at is racing, I have nothing else to fall back on or anything to do if I can't do this anymore. If I want to keep going, I'll have to get over what happened with Gabriella, and since that's what I have to do, I'll do it."

She took a brief pause, starting to head for the door. "I'll see you around sometime, Ryker. You're a nice guy... But I also think that's why I need to keep my distance if I ever want to get back to being myself," she said, and with that, she started to head back to her own camp.

[WGPC]

CUT OFF for the Nekoni Grand Prix.

[WGPC]

Race 5 - Grand Prix of Nekoni

Laps: 53
Conditions: Dry

Pos # Driver               Team				Race Time	Behind Preceding car
 1 37 Axel Novikov               	1:37:10.168	+0:00.000
 2 16 Alexander Lund             	1:37:38.493	+0:28.326
 3 51 R.L. Cruisin               	1:37:43.964	+0:05.470
 4  6 Marika Pedanovic           	1:38:00.606	+0:16.642
 5  1 Terho Talvela              	1:38:01.143	+0:00.537
 6 94 Ryker Lane                 	1:38:09.051	+0:07.908
 7 18 Louis Krindle              	1:38:16.527	+0:07.476
 8  7 Ethan Ellis                	1:38:33.773	+0:17.246
 9 77 iBen Toralmintii           	1:38:39.640	+0:05.868
10 23 Moisés Delgado             	1:38:40.494	+0:00.854
11 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher         	1:38:46.738	+0:06.244
12 14 Oliver Bliss               	1:38:48.317	+0:01.579
13 29 Esteban Guilhermez         	1:38:49.189	+0:00.872
14 63 Kurt Censki                	1:38:52.674	+0:03.485
15 24 Victoria Gardner           	1:38:57.575	+0:04.901
16 55 Asao Nadakei               	+1 Lap		
17  4 Jean Mercer-Daly           	+1 Lap		+0:10.568
18 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie        	+1 Lap		+0:00.385
19 42 Alex Dimitrianov           	+1 Lap		+0:02.521
20 74 Alexandra Mayari           	+1 Lap		+0:05.753
21 89 Will Madison               	+1 Lap		+0:19.266

DNF 99 Maria Cattaneo             	Ret. Lap 46	
DNF 53 Denholm Kingsley           	Ret. Lap 45
DNF 20 Mick Schramm               	Ret. Lap 28
DNF 52 Sayono Souzare             	Ret. Lap 27	
DNF  5 Juliano Lemos              	Ret. Lap 18

Drivers Championship Standings

Pos	#	Name			Team		Pts
1	1	Terho Talvela		MRT		65
2	37	Axel Novikov		Telaris		61
3	94	Ryker Lane		Nexus		48
4	5	Juliano Lemos		Bitten Heroes	47
5	6	Marika Pedanovic	Nexus		43
6	99	Maria Cattaneo		Red Lion Racing	39
7	17	Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie	Telaris		31
8	23	Moisés Delgado		MRT		30
9	16	Alexander Lund		Wilson		26
10	80	J. Jensen-Fletcher	Fireline	22
11	20	Mick Schramm		Bitten Heroes	21
12	55	Asao Nadakei		Arada		18
13	51	R.L. Cruisin		Arada		15
14	4	Jean Mercer-Daly	Red Lion Racing	14
14	91	Ilyas Nurlibaev		Red Lion Racing	14
16	14	Oliver Bliss		RSR		11
17	52	Sayono Souzare		McPahan		8
17	42	Alex Dimitrianov	Fireline	8
19	7	Ethan Ellis		Wilson		7
20	77	iBen Toralmintii	Eelandii WGPC	6
21	18	Louis Krindle		MSA-SinVal	4
21	74	Alexandra Mayari	SFeG		4
23	63	Kurt Censki		McPahan		2
23	53	Denholm Kingsley	Eelandii WGPC	2
25	89	Will Madison		MSA-SinVal	0
25	24	Victoria Gardner	SFeG		0
25	29	Esteban Guilhermez	RSR		0

Constructors Championship Standings

MRT		95
Telaris		92
Nexus		91
Bitten Heroes	68
Red Lion Racing	67
Arada		33
Wilson		33
Fireline	30
RSR		11
McPahan		10
Eelandii WGPC	8
MSA-SinVal	4
SFeG		4

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Ryker stares after Maria as she goes, consumed by despair. She's going to do what I did a month ago. She's going to block everyone else out - maybe in a different way to how I was, but the problem is the same. How could I mess this up so badly?

No, come on! Who pulled you through that situation? The least that you can do is return the favour!

"Maria, wait!" the Nimban calls out. "Listen, I really, really hate everything you just said. You know why? You're closing off your options and committing to self-destruction in the process - and I think you know by now that I'll do anything that I can to prevent that."

He sighs again, screwing his eyes shut. "My plan was to check my facts and be sure that I wasn't giving you false hope and then say something when you visited the First City, but I think that I'm confident enough in what I know to tell you now: you do have other options. Marika, from what she's told the team, plans to leave Nexus Racing to join a Serbian outfit that's currently developing a car for next season's WGPC and with your performance this season, I know that Timothy would sign you in a heartbeat."

"You can get out of this craziness if you can weather it for a month or so, Maria, and I know that you can. We can help you - but we can't do that if you don't let us. Please, please let us."

[Lisander]

In the first row today.

I need to be cautious. I'll start in the dirt, and Alvalero-Solera can be treacherous. Go inside, pass Novikov before the first turn. He is not as good as Talvela. Put the right amount of pressure.

*horn, engines start*

Okay, where's Mick? I hope he isn't getting in my way today.

*second horn, warm-up lap*

Okay, let's do this one more time... Avalero-Solera... Okay... Snake Road and Kink, passed. Esprit S, calm and going... Montalbani... Hold... and turn. Perfect, like music. A long straight now and... Yup, Anfitheatre and under the bridge. Talbene... Let me see how Novikov do this... Umm. Interesting. I can push it later. Turn 12... 13 to Burino, oh man I really like this one, like Montalbani but easier, I can left and enter Lamori straight with everything. WOOOO!!! Okay, turns 15 and 16... And one more to my left.

Okay. Tyres are warm. I'm warm too. Now it's time.

*1 red light*

Okay.

*2 red lights*

Let's go...

*3rd and 4th red lights*

Throttle... now.

*last light lit*

Hear this engine, Juliano. You have the best job in the entire world.

*Lights off*

DNF  5 Juliano Lemos     	Ret. Lap 18

Sometimes this job sucks.

[The Redvale]

"I'm dealing with this in the only way I know how, Ryker, I've survived worse things in the past and gotten over them the same way," Maria said sharply, as he went after her. "And I know you want to help, but I don't think that you know me enough to do much. The best thing I can do right now is focus on the things that are important right now... Namely, my career, and turning this season around."

"I appreciate the offer, but your country isn't like mine and I don't think I'm going to be moving there any time soon. I... I don't think it would work out any better than racing for Red Lion is working out, and even if next season will see me move somewhere else, I'm still dedicated to taking as many points from this one as I can," she added. "Besides, I've always seen myself as being someone that's going to race for one of the real giants. Telaris, Bitten Heroes, MRT. Next season, you're going to see me there. I can already promise you that, unless I renew with Red Lion and decide that the car here is good enough next season to stay."

She paused, before turning to face him again and stopping. "I can also promise you that I'm going to heal from this all. But you need to let me heal in the one way that I know how, and as much as you claim to be helping me by trying to stop me from doing that, you're only hurting me. You don't know me as much as you claim, and maybe if you did, you would know to let me fix things myself."