World Grand Prix Championship Season 15: Roleplay Thread

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Ryker raises a hand and opens his mouth to say something, anything, to answer Maria. Then he stops. An expression of internal conflict manifests itself upon his face; resignedness wins out, though the pain of the battle remains written across his features. The Nimban closes his eyes, bows his head, then turns, deathly silent, and walks without another word back into the garage. His only additional motion is to raise a hand to his face, three fingers on his forehead and one on his jawbone.

That doesn’t stop him from thinking, however.

You idiot! Now she’s going to go off and slowly cannibalise herself trying to deal with this on her own! You could have stopped that!

You have failed, Ryker Lane. You have fail- He stops himself as he realises what he is doing. And that’s exactly the mindset as what did the same to you before. You really can’t do anything if you paralyse yourself. Get a grip and work through the problem - think and feel.

Ryker, head now up, wanders back through his team’s temporary base of operations, towards the portal back to the HQ. Okay, first things first. Maria said that you didn’t know her - let’s see if you can prove her wrong. Try to get inside her head. What is she at her most fundamental?

He stops just before the portal assembly, then sits down on its steps, thinking. Well, she wants to win. That’s the same for me, and for every other driver on the grid, but there’s more to it, isn’t there? Something clicks. She doesn’t just want to win - that’s her primary, overriding motivation. With what both she and Asher have said about her past actions and what she told me just now about her desire to drive for one of the teams traditionally considered to be racewinners, not to mention everything about her career… Maria is determined to succeed, for her own sake, at almost any cost.

Ryker suddenly nods, firmly, to himself. He knows that he has hit upon something. Okay, so there’s that, but that’s still not enough. What does that say about who she is as a person? He frowns. Well, what does my desire to win say about me?

When I cut myself off a month ago, that was what was driving it… What did I want to do back then? The answer comes almost immediately. I wanted to prove myself, somehow - to show myself, the team, everyone what I was capable of - and turned myself into a robot in the process. He taps himself on the forehead in a mocking sort of way. Look how well that worked. But that’s clearly not what Maria’s doing.

Ryker shakes his head. Come on, you had something just now. She wants to win above everything else…

And then, clarity. Pride. That’s what it is. Determined pride. The way she dismissed joining up with the team…

Something else strikes him. What was it she said? ‘if you did, you would know to let me fix things myself’… She doesn’t want help, because… Because that would lessen her, somehow? The thoughts are practically alien to Ryker. With the influence of Nimban culture, the values of teamwork and unity in diversity, reinforced through years of schooling, have been utterly solidified in his mind. In that case… Oh, Imagination.

Ryker puts one hand to his forehead as he stares at the ground, aghast. With the way I phrased it, it must have sounded like I basically want to solve her problems for her, which would have been insulting her ability to do that for herself. Imagination, that’s not good. He shakes his head and almost - almost - runs back to try to find Maria, apologise and explain, before he stops himself. How do you think that would go down? Think this through - I thought that you were getting good at that!

Look, you can’t go after her now. Let her calm down for a bit, then apologise. The best time will probably be when she comes to visit the First City. Though, with everything that’s happened just now, will she even… The question goes unfinished as Ryker bows his head once more, closing his eyes. You can hope. Head for shelter when the storm comes.

He gets up and performs the necessary checks before wandering through the portal, sadder, yes, but a little bit wiser too.

---

Ryker shoots through the start/finish line, his closest threat, Krindle, a comfortable distance behind him. You know, I think I needed that, he muses, smiling slightly to himself.

His race engineer is a little more direct. “That was a brilliant drive, Ryker - twelve places made up in all, two thirds of those as a direct result of your driving. Fantastic job, as always.”

“Thanks, Martin. Tell the garage that I’m really happy with how the race went - you’re right, this is a good, solid result.” He smiles more widely. “Oh, and relay to Marika how awesome that fight with Terho looked from back here. Fantastic driving all round and kudos to her for keeping him behind.”

“I’ll be sure to.”

Ryker smiles, relaxing for a moment more before he lets his mind turn to Maria again. He looks down at his steering wheel’s display to confirm his fears. Yep, Lap 46. It’s taking its toll on her already. He grimaces. Please, don’t lock yourself away, Maria. I care about you too much for that.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Nova Valley Circuit, Novareza, Nekoni
The Race

Before The Race

Jean was paying attention to everything. This race would be his biggest climb yet. He had never started from dead last before, and he still wanted some sweet points.

"Well, Jean, to get points you'll need to climb at least 16 positions, and with a field this competitive you'd need about a third of them to crash to reach your goal. Judging by Cattaneo's tyre wear telemetry, the best pit strategy would be a three-stop. SS to M to SS to SS."

"I'd think with the right tyre manangement we could make it a two-stop and leave out that last set of supersofts. We'll have to decide in the race."

"Today's race- not how you wanted it to start, huh?"

"In no way possible. An engine failure after only one bad flying lap? This entire weekend is ridiculous! I wouldn't be surprised if we finish the parade and then can't get off the grid."

"Plus, it's the first under our new name- Red Lion Racing. The boss will not be happy in the slightest," Darrell warned everyone in the garage.

"I am feeling a little bit, better, though," Jean said. "About the race, anyways. I don't see it turning into a f*ckfest anymore. But it will be a steep slope."

"It just feels like everything this weekend has just turned around for the sport. We are in the end of the first half of the season."

"Well, it's time to shine, Darrell. And I just hope we didn't join up at the tail end of the good side of Red Lion...

The Race Begins

Here we go onto the formation lap. Can't screw this up, right?

Jean nearly rear-ends an Eelandii at that moment.

Well, can't screw up majorly, anyways.

His teammate, Maria, was looking far better than he was, much like she did compared to Ilyas early in the season, before Jean was involved.

"Remember to keep a cool head and go for every overtake we can, Jean. We need to be the strongest we ever have been if we want points. See you at Lap 11."

"Yeah. I'll be seeing you soon. Hopefully not too soon."

Jean brings up the rear of the grid as the lights come on.

One winner. The winner will not be me.

One light.

25 losers. I will be one of them.

Two lights.

Feel this machine. This new Olson power. Be sad to not see it up front.

Three lights.

You've got a country to represent. To impress. To demonstrate our great power. Nothing else matters.

Four lights.

Just like the simulator last night. Win or lose. Simple.

Five lights.

Today... today will be a good day. Because I will make it. And Maria... I am number two, but today I will be number one.

Lights... out. And a pack of slow cars in front of Jean weren't far behind.

Lap 11- First Stop

"Jean, you'll be coming in for your first stop at the end of this lap. More supersofts or the mediums?"

"We'll go with mediums. I want my fast tyres to be at the end when it matters."

"Need any repairs to the car? I can see a bit of your endplate is loose-"

"It'll be fine, Darrell. That'll just cost us time."

"Your call. And your funeral."


"That stop felt good, Darrell. Timing?"

"2.331. Not the fastest, but pretty good."


Lap 26

"Five laps left in this stint, Jean."

"Got it. Provide me with a status update."

"Alrighty... Now, let's see... Lemos is out, Schramm is reporting problems, Lund is currently leading, and Lane is moving up the pack quickly. Speaking of him, he's right behind you."

"Oh, crap!"

Jean started pulling off every defensive move he could.

"You should let him go, Jean. He's much faster than you, and your defending is going to get one of you punted off."

"Fine. There he goes. Ugh... If only we had a car like that one..."

"Maybe someday, Jean. Someday."


Lap 46

Jean gets a message out of Channel 2, the commentator feed.

There's been an incident at the Montalbani hairpin. One of the Red Lions has gone flying into the barrier. It's Cattaneo! Unfortunately that damage will be too much to continue. It'll be the end of her race.

Oh, no. Now this weekend's gone wrong for both of us. And she was doing so well... Gods. I wanted to beat her, but not with her spinning off the track. Gabriella is going to kill someone for this.


Lap 52- Chequered Flag

"Jean, that wasn't the best of drives, but you fought well. P17. We'll have to take it for now."

"Wasn't the best of drives" would be an understatement. Gods, that was a bad race. And Maria didn't even finish.

"Jean, if you're wanting an interview, they're not offering one. I guess we were too boring."

"Nekoni is too boring for me. Pack up the stuff and get me a flight to Esmerel immediately."

Jean steps out of his healthy Red Lion a wreck inside. I did everything I could have done- how did it all go so shit?

And then he almost gets it.

I- I... No, that can't be it. Or can it? Sigh... I need to take a break. Oh, Charles Richmond. What did I do to you to get myself here?

[The Redvale]

Two days after Maria talked with Ryker, she had to find a way to improve from her fifteenth place start that had been a product of her distractions. She wasn't aggressive enough, she knew, and that was what was making it so hard for her to get good results in qualifying, she was sure. Even when she did good in a race, it was never as good as she could have been, because a bad qualifying result seemed to hurt her every time. Instead of contending for podiums, she was usually fighting to get into the upper mid table.

"Don't go out there and race if you aren't feeling up to it," Asher told her in the garage, because for as much distrust that he had for her right now, he didn't want to see her go out and risk her life by racing when she was distracted and not feeling good. "I know things are a mess right now, we wouldn't blame you if you took a day off-"

"Maybe someone that's at the bottom of the standings can take a day off, but I can't. I'm playing for a championship and champions can't just skip races because their feelings are hurt over the team owner pissing them off," Maria snapped, staring Asher down as they both stood in the garage while the crew got the car ready.

"I just don't want to see you go out there distracted and then get hurt, or worse. You're risking your life, you know-"

"If I don't lay everything on the line and risk everything, I'm never going to catch the others in the standings," she replied, and after a few more moments of silence, she pulled him close into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezed tight, and drove him back a few steps as she hugged him. When they broke apart, she put her arms back on his shoulders and gave him a kiss. "There... If something happens to me out there, you can say I went out on good terms with you."

"Right. Good luck, and let's make sure that nothing actually happens. I'll be at the radios and ready to give you any advice that you need."

Maria nodded, and put her helmet on and started towards the car that was now ready for her to climb into. This was it, her chance to move up after another poor qualifying start. It wouldn't doom her this time, she told herself. But she hadn't known just how wrong she was.

~

"You're showing too much fear. Stop it. You talk so much about your instincts, but here you are right now, not trusting those instincts that you claim to rely on. Stop taking the safe route. Stop going for the safest option at the expense of taking risks and going for bigger gains. That's why you never do good in qualifying, and that's why you only have one win so far," said John, the man in the black race suit that was teaching Maria and speaking into her ear as she drove in the simulator that Red Lion used for training. "You hold back too much. You need to allow your instincts to take over your driving-"

"I'm trying, but when you're driving at a few hundred miles per hour, it's not easy! I just don't want to crash, because if I crash in an actual race, I finish with nothing. It's better to just take the points where I can and wait for chances to move up with no risk-"

"And that's why you aren't going to win the title. That kind of thinking, minimizing risk and maximizing reward, isn't going to help you in racing. Investing maybe, but not in this sport. Not in this series, which features the best in the world. You don't have the best car on the grid, so you need to excel in other ways, and that takes risk."

"Fine, then, what am I supposed to do? Just go for overtakes at any chance and push the car to the max? That strategy hasn't worked great for me, but-"

"It goes deeper than that, Maria, you need to really let go of your habits of holding back and focus on driving based on your instincts and your instincts alone. Don't even listen to your radio when you're in an actual race... Just let your gut decisions be the ones that you make, and don't be afraid to try things that are considered dangerous or unconventional."

~

Maria's mind went back to that lesson during the race, when she was heading into lap forty six. She was holding onto fourth place, she'd been pushing hard all race, and the wear was starting to show on the car... But she was still able to hold on in fourth and she was getting closer and closer to the Arada car that was in third. She remembered what John, that mysterious driver that claimed to know from experience overseas how she should improve, had told her. He'd said to take huge risks and trust her instincts, and her instincts told her to keep pushing despite her car wearing down and her engineer telling her to be careful.

"I think I'm doing fine," she said when Hans Eskildsen asked her again if she was going to be able to hold on like this until the end of the race, and she accelerated again as she headed towards the hairpin in turn nine. She was going to try to make the overtake here, and she thought she could come in faster than everyone else and use her great handling to keep from crashing, but she didn't count on the car failing on her.

The breaks completely failed when she tried to slow down, and she panicked and lost the back end as she swerved into the turn at way too much speed. She did a three sixty degree spin before hitting the wall front first, completely crushing the front wing and compacting the suspension into the front of the car. She felt the suspension come close to piercing the cockpit and impacting her, but it all happened too fast for her to realize that she had nearly died because of that. She had felt her head snap forward violently, though, and that wasn't good.

She felt herself blacking out as the car came to a stop, and even though she apparently wasn't seriously hurt, she was slumped forward unconscious as it skidded to a halt and the caution flags came out... When John had told her to take risks, he surely hadn't meant for this to be the result. Red Lion would have to excel to have a chance of recovering in the standings from this weekend, which looked like a disaster for both drivers...

[Aboveland]

Axel popped the cork on the champagne, sending out a dense spray of foam. It felt incredible to finally be on top of the podium, and more so in such a bizzare place as Nekoni. Something about the race weekend had felt off and peculiar. After thirteenth in practice, where he had desperately tried to come out on top, he managed to get pole position, in an untested qualifying setup. Thanks to the expertise at Telaris, his mindset was modified from "flat out" to "conservative" for race day as he opted for a harder tyre strategy, to outlast all the other drivers and remain on top. In an incredible performance and manifestation of skill, Axel brought the 37 car back to the starting line in one piece, from pole position to a win. For him, it was his first true event where he was able to prove what he was made of.

With the incredible win, both he and Telaris moved up to second in their respective championship standings, trailing behind an inconsistent MRT and a hungryTerho.

At the end of the Nekoni GP, Terho slowly crawled out of his steaming machine. His race had been a good one, like his compatriot's, but not for the same reasons. After his shock lackluster performance in qualifying, ending up fourteenth with the same practice setup and no issues whatsoever, he managed to claw back nine positions and end up fifth in the end, a slight chip in his front wing costing him fourth place and handing it to Marika Pedanovic. It was a sort of consolation to have fought back so much during the race, but his inevitable frustration stemming from uncertainty was omnipresent. He had not one plausible explanation for his fourteenth place in qualifying.

Ready to hit the showers and head home without putting much thought into anything else, he caught a glimpse of a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't Axel or his friends, as they were celebrating over at the Telaris paddock, and it wasn't Edvin, who was having a chat with the MRT engineers. Terho stopped his stride, taking two steps backwards to rewind, and looked directly at his objective. It couldn't be, but it was! There was Victoria Dahl, his lead engineer during the time he'd been testing for Project AGP, with her beautiful turquoise eyes popping from her gentle face, flanked by silky smooth golden hair. In his state of awe, Terho managed to emit no more than a "wha", grabbing Victoria's attention. Noticing him, she looked into his eyes and let out a gleaming smile, squinting her eyes and forming creases on their outside edges owing to the magnitude of the splendid manifestation of joy under them. She gave him a friendly hug, and after some small talk, things got serious.

"Listen," she said, "I want to hang out together. We just need to be really careful. I'm not really allowed to be here, especially considering I'm at your paddock area, and if Frida sees me she'll fire me for sure. If we're to go out, we need to go now."

Terho complied, hurrying into the shower rooms, freshening up his breath and stuffing his things into his bag messily.

"Hey," he said to Edvin, right before he rushed away from the track, "I'll be taking the car today. Maybe you can get a cab back to the hotel?"

"Don't screw me over, Terho," Edvin answered.

"You don't understand, eh... Victoria's here."

"Dahl?"

"Yeah, and she wants to go out."

Edvin shimmied his shoulders happily. "Atta boy!" he exlaimed. "Go get her. Good luck tonight. Take her somewhere nice and don't cheap out, okay?"

"Gotcha."

With that, Terho stumbled away from the paddock, meeting up with Victoria at the car park. They got into Terho's rental car, by no means a shoddy econobox, and headed off for central Novareza for a romantic dinner, Victoria oblivious (yet hoping for) to the "romantic" part of the plan.

Axel and his crew, meanwhile, celebrated briefly in Nekoni before scurrying away to Aboveland again. There was word going around in Abovian motorsport journals that the Project AGP prototypes had undergone a radical design change, and Axel was the man in charge of the task of testing.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Jean's Resort Home, Rochester, Esmerel
Thursday, 1730 Hours

One week gone by, one wreck followed the next.

After Nekoni, Jean had felt horrible for a week. He was down on morale, he still felt sick (a little, at least) and there was still this odd issue of whatever the hell Scuderia Grotti were planning on doing next season. As soon as he had gotten home, he spent time to recollect himself after he seemed to have lost himself in the WGPC.

I took the world by storm in Mattijana. I took two championships in street touring here at home- which was pretty much the WGPC but slower. So why did I end up in the bottom 10 at a track that really wasn't that hard? I'm just not good enough. Just not good enough. You get lucky and then the world just f*cks you.

But then it hit him.

I need to calm down. How about I try that? Yeah. Calm down, JMD. Calm down. I wasn't not good enough- wait, that's a double negative. It wasn't that I was bad at it- much better- I wasn't good enough because I lost who I was. I'm not just some backmarker pay driver who needs points in every last race. I'm Jean Mercer-Daly, for gods' sake, and I'm a strong, fast driver that keeps it off the wall. Need to focus on that- or else I really am f*cked. Heh. What about that? Now where are we going next weekend?

Suddenly, a text from Talia interrupts his philosophical thinking.

Hey, Jean.

Now, I know that you haven't been a driver with good integrity as of recent times. I just want you to know we'll always support you no matter what happens.

Right now, I know you're recollecting yourself, trying to find reasons and all that shit, but are you feeling alright for the meeting we were going to hold, or do we need to reschedule? We have tomorrow morning, if you need it.

Cheers, love. -Talia

It's good to know that I have the best team in the world. Yeah. I think we can hold a meeting.

He texts back.

No, no, it's fine. We can hold the meeting tonight. Half an hour.

-Jean

The Meeting- 1800 Hours

At least this meeting would be in the comfort of his own living room. And Darrell and Talia's. They'd be connecting via wireless communication. Like a webcam but better, and it connects to your TV.

What a world we live in that has this kind of technology. Oh, it's 1800. They should be connecting shortly...

His curved TV picks up three signals. One from Darrell, one from Talia. And one from... Sari?

"It says I'm connected. Anyone else having connection problems?" Darrell asked.

"I've got five bars," says Talia.

"No problems on my end," says Jean.

"Hi there, everyone! And no, no connection problems," says Sari.

"Sari? The heck are you doing here?"

"Being an assistant to Talia. I thought you knew!"

"Sorry. Must've forgot. Anyways, time for that meeting. Talia. First order of business."

"Yes. I've got your contract relations. After Nekoni, many in the Red Lion administration are very sour, including Gabriella, however there is no threat of our contract being terminated. I talked with Ms. Olson- in fact, I can put up the message right now."

Dear Talia Thornton

Everything is fine. The media is acting like this is the end of the world and our morale isn't great, but that is to be expected in the weeks following a takeover. It takes good results to raise morale and those results will come next week.

My driver is distracted and I take the blame for that. But I'm also working to fix it, and I can promise that Maria will be back to herself for the next race and will be one of the contenders to get into the podium.

Believe me, I want to win more than anybody, and my plan with John has already begun. You will see more in time.

Signed,
Gabriella Olson
Red Lion Racing CEO

"Alright, alright. Thanks for that. Next, Sari. I'm guessing public relations?"

"Yep! While they're not as excited as they were after Mattijana, your fans are nowhere near sad for your performance- in fact, stats show that Nekoni simply rallied them towards you to do well another time! In short, you're still loved by many. You've also pulled in some foreign fans! There's also a lot of merchandise already being sold- so in all we're looking good around the PR department, I guarantee you that."

"Nice, nice. Now Darrell. Race info. Where are we going next race?"

"The Gracemeria GranPrix circuit, in the United States of Minori. Now, I've got several things to say- so everyone, bear with me... hmm... let's see here... Alright, it'd just be easier to put the information on screen as presented by the host."

NAME OF CIRCUIT: Gracemeria GranPrix
CITY/TOWN: Gracemeria
COUNTRY: Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic
NAME OF GRAND PRIX: Gran Prix of Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic
TRACK RATING: (Ag/Tc) (4/6)
QUALIFYING TYPE: (Trad / Two-Tier) Traditional
LAP RECORD: 2'01.56"
LENGTH OF ONE LAP: 7.234 Km / 4.494 mi
BIO:This is a town track, this across the east side of the city of Gracemeria, the track being in the last kimometers of the Motorwat n. 14, after the track ho in the National and Kantonal Road, after go in the city street, across the Balanroad, Coast Road, Revolutionary Road, Animal Road, Cat and Dog Road, after they go in a vdery importa Boulevard called Big Buolevard, the car go in the longest straight of the Gran Prix, where the velocity can go over 300 Km/h. Afet go to the Tenent Road, Lindingruber Road, Bee Road, after where are two S turn (mandela and Univerity Road). After the track go into the european Road, and where a re little straignt up to First Road turn, nad after City hall Road, the track goes acroos a roundabot, after will be an anoter straight trait, after go to the South road, after the car go for a very little trait in the other sense of the Big Boulevard and turn immediately in the Dog Road again (and it's create a very large U-turn). After will be an a strict S turn, and the car go in the Cantonal Road n. 342, who where are a log straigt who end at the motorway's enter in the Autobahn n. 14. This track is created for this Grand Prix

"Hmm... Alright. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that English isn't their first language."

"Likely. Anyways, this track is a street circuit, which I know you love. This track also has 32 turns, which is a record. However, there is a discrepancy on the host. They're now the United States of Minori, but when they entered the track in a bid to host, they were the AFDR. I'm not sure how the committee will be handling the host... Anyways, that's all you need to know for now."

"Thanks for the info, everyone. Now I'm going to the simulator and-"

"Jean, wait. Sorry to wait to bring this up, but I have an important man to introduce to you. He'll be handling R&D with the team, and will be keeping you notified on other teams' performance."

"Umm... okay?"

"In fact, he's connecting now."

In fact, he was.

"Hello, there! My name is Andy Knight, and I'll be here to notify you of our R&D pace, Jean."

"Well, it's... nice to meet you, Andy. Have any info right now?"

"I have a little. We've improved the car a bit to increase our reliability further- we know you and Maria have been complaining about the reliability, and part failure was the result of Maria's high-speed blackout in Nekoni-"

"Blackout? Oh, man... That must have hurt. Umm, yeah, that's good. I guess I'll be seeing you proper in Gracemeria."

"True that. I've gotta go now."

"Same here, Jean. See you in Gracemeria, everyone," said Talia.

"I guess this meeting's over, guys," said Jean. "See you both later."

Call ended after- - - - 6 minutes, 33 seconds.

"Hmm... It's getting late in the day. I'd better get in some laps in the simulator."

Jean walked over to his personal racing simulator in the garage. He had built and wired it himself, and had since modified it to work as a WGPC car rather than an ESTL one.

So let's do this.

Welcome, Jean.

Single Session.

Session Type: Free Practice.

Time: Unlimited.

Cars: Full Field.

Vehicle Select: RLR-Olson.

Difficulty: Realistic.

Track Select: Gracemeria GranPrix.

Now Loading...

Phew... Feeling good now. Sure, last weekend was a f*ckfest, but I just know that I can turn it around. I am Jean Mercer-Daly, after all. Now let's go flying.

[WGPC]

Friday Practice



Gracemeria Grandprix Circuit, United States of Minori

Pos # Driver			Team			Fastest Lap		Behind Leader
 1 37 Axel Novikov                 	0:02:01.702	0:00:00.000
 2 52 Sayono Souzare               	0:02:01.801	0:00:00.100
 3 99 Maria Cattaneo               	0:02:01.805	0:00:00.103
 4  1 Terho Talvela                	0:02:01.810	0:00:00.108
 5 63 Kurt Censki                  	0:02:01.818	0:00:00.116
 6 14 Oliver Bliss                 	0:02:01.836	0:00:00.134
 7 20 Mick Schramm                 	0:02:01.850	0:00:00.149
 8 18 Louis Krindle                	0:02:01.917	0:00:00.215
 9  7 Ethan Ellis                  	0:02:01.937	0:00:00.235
10 29 Esteban Guilhermez           	0:02:01.964	0:00:00.262
11 77 iBen Toralmintii             	0:02:01.974	0:00:00.272
12 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie          	0:02:02.003	0:00:00.301
13 16 Alexander Lund               	0:02:02.024	0:00:00.322
14 89 Will Madison                 	0:02:02.034	0:00:00.332
15  4 Jean Mercer-Daly             	0:02:02.050	0:00:00.348
16  5 Juliano Lemos                	0:02:02.080	0:00:00.379
17 24 Victoria Gardner             	0:02:02.115	0:00:00.413
18 23 Moisés Delgado               	0:02:02.119	0:00:00.417
19  6 Marika Pedanovic             	0:02:02.180	0:00:00.478
20 42 Alex Dimitrianov             	0:02:02.223	0:00:00.522
21 74 Alexandra Mayari             	0:02:02.279	0:00:00.577
22 94 Ryker Lane                   	0:02:02.303	0:00:00.601
23 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher           	0:02:02.503	0:00:00.802
24 53 Denholm Kingsley             	0:02:02.829	0:00:01.127
25 51 R.L. Cruisin                 	0:02:03.159	0:00:01.457
26 55 Asao Nadakei                 	0:02:03.514	0:00:01.812

Apologies for the delay. Qualifying will be scorinated at the normal time tonight. Cutoff will be around 11pm UTC.

[The Serbian Empire]

"These straights go on forever and I'm fairly sure that we're racing on a highway looking at some of these turns since they didn't even fully cover the Exit signs on some of these turns," Marika said over the radio.

"Yeah, this is in fact built on a few stretches of Autobahn. How's the car handling?" the engineer responds back.

"Good, this might be the best it's felt in some time," Marika said.

The Nexus machine makes it's way onto National Road n. 87 and then turns towards exit 74, the Gengamer corner.

"Seems a small bit of oversteer going on in that corner. But I've figured a way to produce such despite our systems in the car that
make it stable. There's no concern here, I can make it behave like usual," Marika reports.

"But you're faster because of how you're running it through there. You've gained a few tenths in that sector. Don't change your line!" the engineer exclaimed.

"Will do, tell Ryker once you show him the telemetry of how I'm going through there. It might help us in qualifying," Marika responded.

[The Redvale]

Maria Cattaneo & Jeremy Jensen-Fletcher
After Practice

"It's kind of funny that we find ourselves on opposite sides of the standings again," said Jeremy, sitting with Maria in front of the Red Lion Racing garage as the two of them stared straight ahead and contemplated their careers, which hadn't been going like either of them wanted. Jeremy had fallen off since his hot start, and Maria had a slew of problems that kept her from being a contender despite being right on the outside in the standings. "You looked like a natural for practice, and... Well, I still can't get any power from this engine."

"Yeah? At least you don't have any crazy shit happening in your personal life," Maria said, clutching her knees and letting her hair fall forward to cover her face. "Everyone likes you. They feel bad for you being in a bad car and they think that it's not your fault that your failing. It's not like that for me, I'm getting the failures pinned on me without the press having any idea what's happening behind the scenes."

"What's going on, Mar? You haven't updated me on what's going on since the last time we talked-"

"And I don't need to throw my problems on you. I can handlea all of this myself, and that's what I have to do. It's already done and over with, I just need to get back to driving and use it to get my head straight again before I have another crash. You can't do it for me, as much as you want to."

"But there's something I can do to help, right?"

"You can help me by not pushing things and letting me get back to how I was before. Completely focused on my career, because I know that this career is all I have. I don't want your sympathy or your pity, just like I don't want Ryker's sympathy. Now... If you're just going to bother me about how you want to help, I'm out of here-"

"No, I just wanted to hang out. Is it a bad thing that I'm concerned for one of my long time friends, though?"

"In this case, yeah," Maria said, and she stood up. "You're only making things worse, Jeremy. Trust me on that."

And with that, she turned and walked into the garage, slamming the door shut behind her and heading into the back hallway that led out.

[WGPC]

Saturday Qualifying

Drivers had seventy-five minutes to record up to ten flying laps of the track. Only the fastest lap is recorded below
Conditions: DRY

Pos # Driver			Team		Fastest Lap
 1 99 Maria Cattaneo          	0:02:01.738
 2 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher      	0:02:01.788
 3 23 Moisés Delgado          	0:02:01.813
 4 55 Asao Nadakei            	0:02:01.839
 5  4 Jean Mercer-Daly        	0:02:01.839
 6 51 R.L. Cruisin            	0:02:01.853
 7  1 Terho Talvela           	0:02:01.881
 8  7 Ethan Ellis             	0:02:01.884
 9 16 Alexander Lund          	0:02:01.885
10 42 Alex Dimitrianov        	0:02:01.927
11 18 Louis Krindle           	0:02:01.939
12  5 Juliano Lemos           	0:02:01.975
13 14 Oliver Bliss            	0:02:01.981
14 52 Sayono Souzare          	0:02:01.986
15 94 Ryker Lane              	0:02:02.055
16 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie     	0:02:02.286
17 29 Esteban Guilhermez      	0:02:02.297
18 74 Alexandra Mayari        	0:02:02.310
19 20 Mick Schramm            	0:02:02.591
20 53 Denholm Kingsley        	0:02:02.662
21 63 Kurt Censki             	0:02:02.757
22 77 iBen Toralmintii        	0:02:02.772
23 24 Victoria Gardner        	0:02:02.887
24 89 Will Madison            	0:02:03.071
25  6 Marika Pedanovic        	0:02:03.261
26 37 Axel Novikov            	0:02:05.188

Cut-off for tomorrow's race will be after 11pm UTC.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Gracemeria GranPrix Circuit, Gracemeria, United States of Minori
Friday and Saturday Sessions

Friday

After the collapsed performance for Red Lion that was the Gran Premio di Nekoni, both Jean and his teammate Maria were itching to do better. Coming into this weekend's Grand Prix of Minori, a change in host, every motorsport fan in Esmerel had their eyes on Jean to see if he could keep up his performance. They were riled up for their luck to even out.

And maybe you could say it did...

"So, Jean. Here we are for our third race. Think we can pull off something... sweet?" Darrell asked.

"It's a street circuit, it's got long straights and is by far the longest circuit I've ever raced on, and overall looks good to me. I think we've got potential."

"Fair enough. Let's get to the garage and get ourselves ready for practice."

--15 minutes later--

"Okay, Jean, our strategy here today is to run at most 20 laps of practice so we don't ruin too many tyres before qualifying. Practice does not matter except for PR sake," said Andy.

"I can understand that."

"Our setup should heavily focus on top speed rather than downforce, as this track has a lot of long straights and we need to maximize our speed against the top teams."

"Andy," says Darrell. "You're taking this awfully fast. You sure this is a good strategy? Done your research and all that?"

"Of course, Darrell. This is the top league. There are high standards. Why wouldn't I have done my homework?"

"If you say so. Just direct us through the setup and we'll go flying. Jean? You ready?"

"Absolutely. I'm not sick, not pissed at myself, and not confused about the integrity of proposed Esmerelian racing teams."

"WTF? That last point is a bit random," Darrell said.

"I'll tell you later. Let's just go flying."

Jean's practice run was a tyre endurance test- on a single set of mediums, run as many laps as you could. Jean obtained the team goal of 14 laps around the 7.2 km circuit- over 25% race distance. While Jean wasn't the fastest of the cars, he certainly was competitive.

"Great job, Jean. That's all 14 laps. Come on in."

"Nice to know I can outlast this circuit on one set, but what was my time?"

"Your fastest time was a 2:02.050- on mediums, that's pretty fast. It gets you 15th fastest in the session."

"15th? Doesn't sound good..."

"Maybe it's only 15th, but you're still pretty competitive- only three and a half tenths down on Novikov, this session's fastest. I'd say we've got a lot of potential. A lot."

"Three and a half tenths separate 15 people? Gods, this field is tight. We'll see how we do in qualifying. That's what matters. How's Maria doing?"

"Third fastest. Only one tenth down on Novikov."

"Man. We've got a lot of work to do..."


Qualifying

"Alright, guys, this is where everything matters," said Andy. "We need only the best setup for today's session. Get the supersofts."

"You heard him. Let's get this show on the road!"

"Umm... Darrell?"

"Yes, Jean?"

"You're letting the new guy take control of the whole situation a lot. You sure he can handle this kind of stuff?"

"Oh, he'll be fine. He needs the experience."

Both stood still for the next five seconds.

"Just go with it."

"Sigh... Fine. Let's go."

It was finally time. Jean was qualifying for a Grand Prix and he finally felt ready for it. He began his flying laps. Coming around the corners. Down the Autobahn. Down Big Boulevard. Through the chicanes. Set lap times. Keep going. Come in for more tyres. Go out again. Set more laps. Don't lock up. Done. Now what?

"Jean, that's all ten laps. Bring it in."

Jean brought it in.

"Man, that was quite the trip through the city. What was my fastest time?"

"2:01.839. That'll get you... fifth."

"Yes! Finally, we're back on track! So how will we do? Think our luck has evened out?"

"Just look who's taken pole."

Jean looks at scoring.

Oh. Ohhhh.... Our luck has more than evened out.

[Aboveland]

Terho set off on his first qualifying run. He had a frown of concentration on his face, eyes locked straight ahead at the road and soon drifting off to the apex of turn one. Victoria, her body, her hair, her eyes, still fresh in his mind, just had to vanish for ninety minutes.

The WGPC returned momentarily to a street circuit, much to Terho's disdain. The season was well past its halfway point, and the championship standings were becoming increasingly more important. After his underwhelming Nekoni performance, he was hungry for a win, or at least a podium.

On Friday practice Terho had used his tried and true qualifying setup fine tuned to geometric street circuits. He set a fastest time within around a tenth of a second of a gap to his leading compatriot, Axel Novikov. The WGPC debutant was well suited to any racetrack, and slow, technical circuits proved advantageous to him when they weren't to anyone else.

Terho began qualifying with a time of 2:02.555. As the session progressed, however, the celebrations became increasingly more distant. Lap after lap after lap, Terho was stuck in traffic, unable to break the moving barriers ahead of him in the forms of works WGPC cars and Nexus Racing Chase Cutters. On lap 8, after setting his fastest time of 2:01.881, Terho decided to go the extra mile.

"Terho, you're a tenth behind pole. Give it one more push." said Edvin through the team radio, with a clearly imperative tone of voice. Terho responded with a mere sigh. There was only so much he could do on a road circuit with slower traffic ahead, regardless of his world champion status.

Up to Revolutionary Road Turn, his final lap had been going well. His sectors had all been personal bests, and he had maintained the steady rhythm he'd lacked all through the session. As he locked up the brakes going into Big Boulevard, the smoke of his tyres rose into the atmosphere directly above him and mixed in with a different shade of smoke. It was darker and thicker, and had a smell to it that seeped in through Terho's face protecting garment. Trudging on through Tenent Road, then Lindingruber, then Bee Road, the slow, twisty, narrow s section began. Amidst the plume of black smoke ahead of him, progressively growing thicker and slowing him down, he made out a blinking red light almost at ground level. As the light turned away and faded behind the European Road wall, he managed to catch a glimpse of the colors of the machine on which the red light was placed.

"Paska" Terho muttered. It was Axel, whose oil leak had arrived at the worst possible time for both drivers. Terho, locked in seventh, and Axel doomed to the back of the grid on only his first qualifying lap.

In the MRT paddock, things were less than ideal. Terho swiped his glove across his visor and cleared off a thick layer of oil, finally allowing light to filter into his helmet. More resigned than furious, he calmly unlatched his helmet, detached his HANS device and unstrapped himself from his seat. Before getting out of his oil speckled Anni², he removed the steering wheel, leaned forward and rested his elbows on the monocoque, placing his head onto the pedestal formed by his wrists meeting together. With his right hand he stroked his upper lip and gazed at Anni²'s front wing, hidden under a layer of sludge. He needed a moment to scour his brain in search of his bravery and stamp it into his soul. He needed to win. At this stage, it was not an option to do otherwise.

As for the Telaris garage, the climate was a bit more tense. Axel managed to finish his lap just four seconds down on the leader, despite team orders to ring the car into the pits to avoid further damage to the engine. While complying would have resulted in an even slower time, or none at all, his completed lap still was not enough to avoid last place. With his car struggling to make it back to the pits along the never ending circuit, the effects of his authority defying act began to sink in. If in fact the engine was too damaged to continue to the race (a fact supported by the brown grease dribbling out of the top of the engine cover), Axel might not even start the grand prix, costing himself and Telaris valuable manufacturers and drivers points. All he had left to do now was to cross his fingers.

[Lisander]

Saturday, 23:36 - Minori Premier Hotel, room 1704

—Juliano, my dear, you don't look good. Are you worried about something? Is Lanza pushing you too much? — the tender voice of Ludi, his girlfriend in that hotel bed, was a balm for Juliano Lemos, the Bitten Heroes driver with some much problems in his mind. After some good results, including a podium in GP de Lisander, the car wasn't that responsive.

—No, Ludi. Lanza isn't pushing too much. I'm worried about the car. That X-PRO engine is losing torque, and I don't know why. I feel bad for the team. They are working day n' night for the weekend, and I can only lay here and sleep.

—You need to calm down. If you enter the race with all these problems in mind, You'll be doomed to fail. I know a perfect way to make you calm. — Ludi moved her petite body near to Juliano. The details up to reader's imagination were promptly stopped by the worried man.

—I can't even do this. Sorry, hunny. Natassia said I should not tire myself before the race. Yeah, she's controlling even the amount of that. We should sleep. — He made a constrained expression and searched for a pillow.

— No! C'mon, leave this worries. Wear something, let's go outside, we pick up some snacks and soda, and we watch some movies until bedtime. They have two machines in the corridor.

Juliano and Ludi left the room to the corridor. In front to 1702 room, assigned to Natassia Maud, they found some vending machines.

—Here. Strawberry soda for me. Pick up some Jumbitos, I didn't know they had Jumbitos here... What flavour is the ones from he... — the words of Ludi was interrupted by a door opening sound. Lanza, the chief engineer was leaving Maud room, with some marks in his neck.

Sunday, before warm-up laps - Gracemeria GranPrix Circuit

I have some back pain today. Strange. Maybe I'm getting old? — Lanza was complaining in the boxes.

—Oh hunny, I feel so good today. If you keeping doing stuff like that back massages while we watch the last Parry Hotter movie, I'll probably marry you. — Juliano, ready to enter the cockpit of his Bitten Heroes, flattered his girlfriend in front of the team. — Lanza, you should find a girlfriend too. Isn't too late to you.

—You know I'm married with my work, Lemos. Now enter this car and drive.

—Hypocrite. — Lemos whispered to Ludi and entered the car. She smiled.

[The Redvale]

Maria Cattaneo
Gracemeria, Minori

The Red Lion team was nearly ready to go, but Maria had some last things to handle before getting into the car. Or rather, she had a few last things to say to her crew. John, the mysterious driver in black that had been teaching her recently, was standing in the garage and she saw him wave her over for some final advice. "You need to do more of what you did last race," he said. "You did good. The result doesn't show it, but you did good."

"But I crashed... Nearly died. How is that good?"

"You took risks, and the crash was a result of the risks. That's normal, you aren't going to win every risk that you take. What's important is that you keep working on your instincts and letting them be the key to your success rather than some radio instructions or whatever the safest thing to do is," John said, slapping her on the shoulder to reassure her. "Keep at it and the results will come."

"I'm never going to be an aggressive driver that can go all out with the risks and come out with a good finish-"

"Not with that attitude. You have the skill to do whatever you want, Maria. It's a matter of... How you wish to use that skill. Are you going to keep taking the safe route or are you going to go back to the style that's burned you once and hope that lightning doesn't strike twice? That in itself represents a risk, a challenge for you to overcome."

The crash flashed through her mind again, and she remembered blacking out and waking up in the hospital. But with the same resolve on her face that she had worn for the past couple of weeks, she nodded and bowed slightly as if she was saying that she accepted what he had said. "I'll try my best," she said, and then she turned and moved over to Asher.

"Hey, I suppose I should tell you the same thing I told you before, don't die out there. I know you're starting in pole, but you still have the same look on your face. I'm not telling you to sit out after you took pole, but I am telling you to be careful."

So two of her coaches were telling her conflicting things. John, though, was only in it to help her drive, while Asher had the motive of telling her not to get hurt because of their former romantic relationship. John was the more trustworthy one in this case, and she shook her head. "Starting on the top means there's no excuses now. I'm going all out with this. I don't even care if I crash again, I'm going for the win."

Before he could reply, she stood on her tip toes and kissed him again, doing the same thing as she had done before the last race. So, in her words, they could part on good terms if she ended up dying out there in pursuit of the victory. Watching Asher stand there in blush, she finally put her helmet on and climbed into the car that was waiting for her. She put her visor down, her eyes once again masked under the smoke colored visor. Race time, again. Finally. It was her chance for redemption, and she was once again laser focused, trying to drown out everything else that was going on in her life with this challenge.

This time, she wasn't going to crash.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Three tenths.

Gertrude gazes at the pit wall. “Three tenths. That’s how much ground separates us from the front row here. This is good.”

“Huh?” Ryker, beside her, frowns.

She turns to face him. “This circuit was never going to be good for us; there are too many short straights and corners, not enough room to let the Imagination converters accelerate the car to its top speed, even with the last upgrade - but it's clear from these timings that that upgrade has given us a chance around it.”

Ryker thinks for a moment before realisation flashes in his eyes. “And that means…”

Gertrude nods. “It means that we’ve almost completely patched our greatest disadvantage.” She turns back to the screen. “We’ll have something next week to help with that too.”

“Oh?”

She smirks. “You’ll have to wait and see, Ryker Lane. Let’s just say I took up Marika on one of her ideas.”

Ryker raises an eyebrow, then smiles, waving goodbye to his friend and teammate with one hand and turning to walk back through the garage to the portal.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Gracemeria GranPrix Circuit, Gracemeria, United States of Minori
50 Minutes To Race Start

Today, the pressure was on.

Jean had never felt more pressured in his life. Not even after Nekoni. His teammate was on pole, her fellow countryman was second, and Jean was fifth. Only one tenth separated the top five. Jean had even tied with Nadakei for time, but Nadakei's points lead put them forward. A shame.

"So, it's finally time for the race, Jean. You ready for round 3?"

"Certainly more than I was for Nekoni. But the pressure is on now. Red Lion have a chance at a lot of points. Andy? You have some math, I presume?"

"Why, yes, I do. Best case scenario is a Red Lion 1-2 and MRT to get less than 15 points. That would actually result in you leading the Constructors' Championship."

"I'd say a 1-2 is near impossible. Let's think reasonable. Go for points."

"Alright, I guess. Your closest competition are the two MRTs in 3rd and 7th. Watch out for those two in the race more than any others, at least at the beginning. It'll take a bit more time for the others like the Nexus or the Telaris to get up front, especially since Novikov, who was dominating Nekoni and the practice session, is dead last."

"I assume mechanical issues. There's no way he's 3 seconds off the pace."

"Oil leak. Now, on the front of development, the Nexus team has been applying upgrades to their Chase Cutter. This isn't the track for them, but they're still to watch out for in today's race," continued Andy.

"Thanks for that. But speaking of today's race, why has it been delayed so much?"

"Beats the hell out of me," said Darrell. "Let's just be glad it hasn't been cancelled."

"Hmm. Good point."

"Alright. Let's get the car ready. Andy? You ready?"

"Pit strategy is go. Car setup is go. Fuel and tyres are go. We're ready."

"Then let's get ready to rumble, everyone!"

Yes, thought Jean. We're ready to rumble.

[Audioslavia]

BELATED CUT OFF for the Grand Prix of AF-DR

[WGPC]

Race 7 - The Grand Prix of AF-DR / USM

Laps: 43
Conditions: Dry

Pos # Driver               Team				Race Time	Behind Preceding car
 1 42 Alex Dimitrianov           	1:30:18.592	+0:00.000
 2 99 Maria Cattaneo             	1:30:25.344	+0:06.752
 3 55 Asao Nadakei               	1:30:38.054	+0:12.710
 4 18 Louis Krindle              	1:30:50.404	+0:12.350
 5 51 R.L. Cruisin               	1:31:03.456	+0:13.052
 6 23 Moisés Delgado             	1:31:07.163	+0:03.707
 7  1 Terho Talvela              	1:31:09.446	+0:02.283
 8  5 Juliano Lemos              	1:31:20.970	+0:11.524
 9  7 Ethan Ellis                	1:31:38.386	+0:17.416
10 80 J. Jensen-Fletcher         	1:31:44.565	+0:06.179
11 94 Ryker Lane                 	1:31:51.193	+0:06.628
12 29 Esteban Guilhermez         	1:31:56.261	+0:05.068
13 89 Will Madison               	1:32:08.390	+0:12.129
14  6 Marika Pedanovic           	1:32:10.832	+0:02.442
15 53 Denholm Kingsley           	1:32:16.326	+0:05.494
16 24 Victoria Gardner           	+1 Lap		
17 77 iBen Toralmintii           	+1 Lap		+0:05.115
18 74 Alexandra Mayari           	+1 Lap		+1:02.066

DNF 37 Axel Novikov               	Ret. Lap 33	
DNF 20 Mick Schramm               	Ret. Lap 29	
DNF 16 Alexander Lund             	Ret. Lap 29	
DNF 14 Oliver Bliss               	Ret. Lap 25
DNF 17 Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie        	Ret. Lap 18	
DNF  4 Jean Mercer-Daly           	Ret. Lap 14
DNF 63 Kurt Censki                	Ret. Lap 12
DNF 52 Sayono Souzare             	Ret. Lap 1

Drivers Championship

1	1	Terho Talvela		MRT		69
2	37	Axel Novikov		Telaris		61
3	99	Maria Cattaneo		Red Lion Racing	57
4	5	Juliano Lemos		Bitten Heroes	50
5	94	Ryker Lane		Nexus		48
6	6	Marika Pedanovic	Nexus		43
7	23	Moisés Delgado		MRT		36
8	42	Alex Dimitrianov	Fireline	33
9	55	Asao Nadakei		Arada		32
10	17	Eaoueaiou Aeouiouie	Telaris		31
11	16	Alexander Lund		Wilson		26
12	51	R.L. Cruisin		Arada		23
12	80	J. Jensen-Fletcher	Fireline	23
14	20	Mick Schramm		Bitten Heroes	21
15	18	Louis Krindle		MSA-SinVal	14
15	4	Jean Mercer-Daly	Red Lion Racing	14
15	91	Ilyas Nurlibaev		Red Lion Racing	14
18	14	Oliver Bliss		RSR		11
19	7	Ethan Ellis		Wilson		9
20	52	Sayono Souzare		McPahan		8
21	77	iBen Toralmintii	Eelandii WGPC	6
22	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

MRT		105
Telaris		92
Nexus		91
Red Lion Racing	85
Bitten Heroes	71
Fireline	56
Arada		55
Wilson		35
MSA-SinVal	14
RSR		11
McPahan		10
Eelandii WGPC	8
SFeG		4

The next event will be Friday's practice run at the Eelandii circuit. Cut-off should be on or after the usual time of 11pm UTC.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Gracemeria GranPrix Circuit, Gracemeria, United States of Minori
The Race

Jean shot off the grid like a torpedo. So did nearly everyone else. Down they came through Turn 1. Jean passed Nadakei through the shallow Exit 1.

"Nice move! You're up into 4th already!"

Indeed he was. But his instinct told him to lay off. He wanted those points, but he went with his gut as to avoid a crash. He remained in 4th for the rest of the lap. Entering the second lap, his second radio channel came on.

Here's the order after one lap. Cattaneo leads. Delgado is second. He's up from third. Jensen-Fletcher is third. Mercer-Daly is fourth. He's up from fifth. Nadakei is fifth. Talvela is sixth. He's up from seventh. Ellis is seventh. He's up from eighth. And R. L. Cruisin is eighth. He's down two positions.

Not bad, not bad. Let's keep going.

Lap after lap went by. Jean held on to fourth. His tyres kept wearing. He was on mediums, and he was to pit on Lap 14. Lap 14 came.

"Alright, Jean, you're stopping at the end of this lap for softs!"

"Got you."

Jean was racing well. Jensen-Fletcher was right ahead, and Nadakei was six seconds back. He came through turn one... but then disaster came. Turn One was a slightly banked, fast right-handed, akin to Turn 13 at Indianapolis. A fast turn like that, and heavily worn tyres...

Guess what that meant for Jean.

"What the- Something's blown up! I've lost most control- and there goes the suspension. F*ck. We're out."

"Jean, the safety car's come out for a car stopped on the track out of turn one- oh. It's you. F*cking lovely."

--After The Race--

"And race three ends in us bottling it and Maria taking second. What in the hell are we doing anymore?"

"Jean, calm down. We always have room for improvement."

"Maybe so. But this season is where we show off to all of the teams in the sport, to get their attention so we can drive for one of them next season. And Gabriella is probably madder at me than she ever has been at Maria, and I know their history. This is just lovely. I started off with a podium and now I can't even keep up with a MSA-SV."

"Jean, we'll be alright! If we can't secure a drive, there's always Scuderia Grotti waiting in the wings! We'll drive next season. Don't worry."

Suddenly Jean remembers. "Oh, my gods, thank you for reminding me, Darrell! I needed to tell you about that!"

"About what?"

"Scuderia Grotti! Ugh... When we get back to Esmerel, come over to my house. I'll tell you everything."

"Alright, Jean. You sure you're OK?"

"Yep. See you."

Jean was feeling a bit better already. He was to finally deal with the problem that had been bothering him for more than a week: the integrity of Scuderia Grotti. He wouldn't seal himself in and try to be a better racer, he would go and fix his hidden problems so he could focus better- and start getting some more points.

I'll be seeing you, Darrell. But first... it's time to hook up with an old friend.

[The Serbian Empire]

Marika Pedanovic's Press Release

Well, that went better than expected. The qualifying position was terrible. Only Novikov behind me. Yet I charged past four cars on pace and still on the lead lap. Maybe if it wasn't for the misfire issue in qualifying leading to inconsistent imagination levels and thus reduced horsepower on the straights. The misfire continued during the race, but the misfire never worsened more than an issue on the longer straights. Fortunately, since one doesn't try to push it at 100% in the race unless they're fighting for the lead late. Tyre management means more than a misfire sapping top end speed on the straights over 43 laps. Once someone messes up the tyres, they have no chance to hold me off. Most of them would outrun me early in the run, but I could make a single stop and they had to make two pit stops.

[Lisander]

—Another good day, Juliano. We are in the point scorers zone again.

Lanza was happy with the result. Bitten Heroes was still in the top five of the constructors' championship. But Juliano wasn't that much happy. His dissatisfaction was visible in his eyes. With an eighth position, he scored two points, only enough to keep the fourth position in Driver's championship. He had more than the double of the points of his partner Mick Schramm. He was responsible for 70% of the points, but that clearly wasn't enough.

—Not enough. Lanza, please prepare the simulator in Brax. I want to drive this race again as soon as I arrive in Lisander.

In the other boxes, the silence from Mick Schramm and WET Motors team were a concern of Natassia Maud. She appeared to be regretting the decision of having accepted a full team from another nation to manage entirely one car. She searched for the #1 couple of Lisanderian auto racing and finding them, said:

—Ludwika, my dear. I want you to test the Bitten Heroes car this week before the Eelandii Grand Prix. Juliano, I count on you to give her a pointer on driving it.

To be continued...

[West-East Timor]

Before Qualifying for Gracameria Grand Prix

"So, Mick, you didn't finish last time...", Max said.

"Oh, really? Did I? Wow, what a surprise, I really can't remember that...", Mick reacted. "By the way, that was sarcasm, if you didn't realize that."

"Are you alright, Mick? I just..."

"Yeah, go on."

"Well, I... I just wanted to say it would be good if you did well today."

"Of course it would. That would always be good, eh?"

Mick's qualifying wasn't as good as he expected. When he got out of the car, he was somewhat angry.

"Come on! I can be much faster, why am I not faster! I know I can. I was in practice. With my time in practice I would be seventh. So why am I not as fast in practice, for ***** sake?!"

"I'm not really shure...", Max said.

"I think I am.", Dominik said. "It's the engine. It... It just doesn't work as it's supposed to do. It could be better. And then you would be better. It don't know if it is Bitten Heroes fault, if they themselves have built a shitty engine, or if we, your mechanics, made it shitty. I would like to say it's Bitten Heroes' fault, but I'm afraid I can't certainly say so. We'll have to see."

"Hm..."

The Race

The race had started very well for Mick. At the start he had already gained three positions. In lap 29, he was on 13th position, fighting against his teammate, Juliano Lemos. He was just about to overtake him, when his car got suddenly slower.

"Guys what's going on?", Mick asked via team radio.

"I don't know", Max replied. "It looks like something with the car, but..."

"Errr... Guys, there are coming...strange noises from the back of my car..."

"Yeah... Err, yeah, Dominik says something's wrong with the engine. You got to pit. Box now Mick, Box!"

Mick drove into the pit, and stopped. His crew tried to do something at the back of his car for quite a long time, until he heard Max say:

"I'm sorry Mick. We can't reapair it in a reasonable amount of time. At least not fast enough to continue the race. You'll have to retire again. I'm sorry."

"Oh come on..."

They pulled his car back into the garage. Mick got out of the car, threw away his steering wheel and started kicking against his car's right front tire angrily.

"F****! Why? Come on, REALLY?! THESE F****** RETIREMENTS ARE F****** RUINING ME F****** EVERYTHING!!!"

Mick stopped kicking the tire and calmed down, now leaning against the wall, saying nothing. The whole team said nothing.

Juliano Lemos finished the race 8th.

"And again he has shown that he is so much better than I am", Mick said. "I would have overtaken him. I would have finished better than him. I'm shure about that."

"Mick, I think they might be thinking about replacing you...", Felix said, looking over to Maud and the other people in Lemos' garage.

"Who should they replace me with?", Mick asked.

"Juliano's girlfriend. She's a racing driver too."

"Of course, they're gonna replace me with my teammate's girlfriend for what is their damn car's fault. Would fit perfectly to my bad luck."

Max came over to them. "Mick, I just got a call from Nick Newman."

"Aha. And what does that have to do with me?"

"A lot", Max replied. "He said he was going to call you later this day as well. You'll see it then, it's still kinda secret, so..."

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Jean's Home, Rochester, Entenia, Esmerel
Tuesday, 1100 Hours

Chapter XVII: Connections

Right now there was no mind in the world that was more combobulated than Jean's. He had to fix some problems, but at the same time make sure he didn't lock himself in to a Pandora's Box that would curse him from anything else good in the future.

We need to fix these things now and fast, he thought, but we've got to stay cool, too. No more practicing in the simulator for hours on end or ignoring important things only thinking about a win. That just gets you nowhere.

Jean's next move was to figure out if Esmerel's proposed WGPC team for Season 16, Scuderia Grotti, was really all it wanted to be. Sure, they looked professional enough, having a livery, sponsors, a team of people working to be ready, a name for the chassis and engine, and even a technologically advanced wheel with a touch screen. But we're they just a normal team or something else? Because when they presented their designs to Jean, they hid a lot of important details, refused to reveal their names, and showed signs of internal corruption. So what the hell was going on? Jean knew who to ask. A Grotti administrator. One he knew well and had helped before.

It was time for Stefeni Dimencanti to return a favor. He called her up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Stefeni! It's Jean!"

"Jean? Oh, it's you! We haven't talked in... what was it, nine months?"

"About that amount of time. You still remember that you owe me a favor, right? It's time you paid it off."

"A... favor? Oh, yeah. A favor. What do you need?"

"Have you heard of a new Grotti project called Scuderia Grotti?"

"Scuderia Grotti... I've actually not heard of it. What about it?"

Jean quickly explained everything- how it was professional, but it could have been corrupt.

"Hmm... This doesn't appear in my records, and I'm an executive of the company, for gods' sake. Are you sure they were Grotti people?"

"Yep. Talia, my agent said she had worked with them before and that they were certainly Grotti executives."

"Then it looks like we've got trouble. I'll do a full sweep of the database as soon as possible. I'll get back to you in about two days time. Bye, Jean!"

"Bye, Stefeni. And thank you." The call was hung up. That's one down. Now to check on another thing: my job.

[West-East Timor]

Mick was sitting in his hotel room, thinking about whether Bitten Heroes might actually replace him, when his phone rang. It was kinda annoying him right now.

"Didn't Max say Nick wanted to call me or something?", he thought.

Indeed, it was Nick Newman.

"Hey Nick."

"G'day Mick."

"What do you want?"

"I'd like to ask you whether you'd mind coming to West-East Timor before flying to Eelandii for the Grand Prix."

"I would have to change my flight. If you pay that..."

"I will pay for it Mick, don't worry. You know I've got enough money."

"Enough money is a bit of an understatement, don't you think?"

"Yeah, too much money might actually be more accurate. But anyways, I've already booked you a flight to Baranburg and a flight from Baranburg to Eelandii. And in Baranburg a rental car is ready for you. Departure to Baranburg is in ten hours. Your hotel is close to the airport I think?"

"Yeah, that's right. But...could you eventually tell me what I'm supposed to do in West-East Timor? And where in Baranburg should I go?"

"Oh, right. Well, we're doing nothing in Baranburg, it's just the nearest big airport. I'd like you to come to Aldankur. You know where that is?"

"Aldankur? Wait that's...that's somewhere in the middle between Baranburg, Pänkili and Janor, right?"

"Yep. I'll send you and e-mail with the adress, so I'm shure you find it."

"Alright. And...what will I do there?"

"You'll see. Bye."

"What?"

Newman ended the call.

"Rude", Mick thought.

[Esmerel]

Jean Mercer-Daly
Jean's House, Rochester, Esmerel
Wednesday, 1030 Hours

Chapter XVIII: A Sense of Security

With Scuderia Grotti being taken care of by his good friend Stefeni Dimencanti, he had another thing to take care of that would ease him up. His security at Red Lion after Nekoni and Minori. Jean called up Talia on the TV.

"Hey, Jean. What's going on?"

"Nothing too much. I just figured I'd be a better reader if I could take care of my life problems. I took care of Scuderia Grotti, or at least I'm waiting for the results. Now I need to check with you. So how's my job holding up?"

"Your job at Red Lion? It's secure, from the looks of it. Sure, you haven't done well the last two races, but at least you're better at driving than Ilyas ever was. However, it's important to note his points record is identical to yours- a podium in the first race, then no other points. If you score even just a single point in Turori, you'll have done better than him."

"Maybe so, but only 10 out of 26 drivers in a race get points. You never know if you're in the 10 or the 16 until either the race has ended or you've bottled it."

"Jean, I'd lay money that you at least won't bottle it next round. In fact, I will. Five grand in Monies."

"Deal accepted. Anyway... Overall, how is my job security?"

"Secure enough that you should be able to remain on the team for the rest of the season. Don't worry about it. And as for the championship, don't worry about that, either. We'll get some more points."

"I know, Talia, I know. Our luck will even out. See you."

"Wait. I'll probably message Gabriella about this to get an update on what the hell is really happening. And about a plan we have that'll make you a better racer."

"Sounds good- wait, what plan?"

"Jean, don't worry. You'll see more in time..."

Call ended after 2 minutes, 11 seconds.

[The Redvale]

Maria Cattaneo
Gracameria, Minori

Six tenths of a second. That could make the difference between dreams being made and dreams being broken, between victory and defeat, between someone getting a promotion and someone getting sacked. It could be the difference between a team pulling ever closer to the contenders and a team staying closer to where they were, somewhat within striking distance but not ready to move for the title or the top three just yet. And it meant the difference between second place in the Drivers Championship and being within range to reach for first, and sitting in third still and having to fight to stay there.

Maria was heading down the stretch on the last lap, and she still had the lead going into the last turn and straight, but she was losing ground to an aggressively attacking Alex Dimitrianov who had nothing to lose by going all out in the end. She had only pitted once and she was trying to get to the end on this set of tires, and the wear was showing and making it hard for her to keep him away from her back, and her attempt at something of a brake check going into the turn had caused her to lose more ground.

They were going into the straightaway and the DRS zone, and she cursed herself as she realized she was helping him by slipstreaming, and then when she cut to the inside line to try to break the slipstream, he jumped to the outside line and activated his DRS, zooming past her on a beautiful overtake and leaving her acdelerating and trying to catch him. She wouldn't be able to do that, he would cross the finish line in first, and she would be left wondering what the hell had happened to cause her to blow the lead that she had held for most of the race.

"Ah, fuck off!" she shouted over radio, not caring who heard. "Can't believe I just blew this damn lead to an Ethanian DRS baby that spent the whole race staring at my rear light before now! All of you in the pit lane have had a good race... I apologize for failing you," she added, a certain anger in her voice that was directed at both the winner and herself. "It is what it is, the ground effect was good this race but the finish was unacceptable on my part."

"You still finished second, Maria," Asher told her over radio. "Big upgrade over last time, where you didn't finish at all. We can work with the amount of points that you were able to bring in."

"But are we going to win a title with second place finishes? We're so close and so far at the same time, I hate it. I'm going to kindly ask everyone to shut up, I don't think I can handle talking about this to anyone."

~

It was just about time for the top three racers to head to the podium, and Maria had already gotten her helmet off and her Zombie Energy cap on, but she decided that she wasn't going to go up there and face her second place finish. There was a bottle of champagne waiting for her, but she just picked it up and started walking the other way, seeing that there was a crowd gathered and attempting to disappear into it.

She pushed her way through that crowd, making her way back to the pit lane and looking for the Red Lion garage. She went inside, picking up her backpack before moving towards the door at the back and stepping into the hallway, walking away to the parking lot and hoping that the press weren't hanging around to bother her about leaving.

She did bump into one person while she was in the parking lot, someone that was wearing a Red Lion shirt and looked like a fan. "Woah," he seemed to say to himself, doing a double take. "Maria? You aren't at the podium?"

"I couldn't go there and own up with dropping a spot and dropping the points..."

"Can I get a picture, then?" the young man asked, and she didn't have the heart to say no. His nervous demeanor meant that she was probably his celebrity crush or something, and she might as well make someone happy today. She stopped to let him take a selfie, without knowing that the selfie would get posted and would end up in the press because of the caption, which explained the reason why she wasn't on the podium.

And so of everything that could have resulted in them finding out about her leaving early, it was a fan who just had to post to social media and say too much. Of course... That was just the kind of luck that she was having these days.