WGP2 Season One - RP Thread (IC)

[Tenburg]

Baranburg, West-East Timor

"I... don't know if smoking is allowed in here."

Jack looked with disinterest at Myra as they sit in the reception room at Katara HQ, a cigarette already alight, hanging out of his mouth.

"Then why to hell is there an ashtray?"

Myra offered a raised eyebrow. "For people like you who just light up without asking, I suppose."

"The hell's your issue?"

"I had to postpone an appointment with a big client for this; I wish you had given me more heads up."

Jack huffed, then took a drag from his cigarette, the smoke blocking his view of Myra for a moment. A smirk crept across his face. "Least you're honest."

[Hodori Motorsports]

Drivers each had thirty minutes to record up to twelve 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:	WET
 P No Driver              Best Lap  Pts
 1 1A Lukar Urdaneta      0:58.304    8
 2 30 Saya Kaseo          0:58.448   --
 3 2A Cesaro Whittaker    0:58.561    6

Rank	Driver		Pts
 1	Lukar Urdaneta	 16
 2	Cesaro Whittaker 12

[Hodori Motorsports]

“So Urdaneta’s our second driver?”
“Most likely. One more trial, but I don’t see anyone else coming.”
“Maybe we should have invited Soukuba.”
“She’s Tarogama, so no.”
“Well, not much we can do now.”
“So, do we tell him now or after the trial?”
“Once we’ve tabulated the results, we’ll let them know on their way out. Soeshu’s next week, so our formal announcement will be then.”

---

Drivers each had forty-five minutes to record up to twelve flying laps of the track. Only the fastest lap is recorded below

Conditions:	DRY
 P No Driver              Best Lap  Pts
 1 30 Saya Kaseo          1:53.827   --
 2 2A Cesaro Whittaker    1:53.890    8
 3 1A Lukar Urdaneta      1:53.993    6

Rank	Driver		Pts
 1	Lukar Urdaneta	 22
 2	Cesaro Whittaker 20

---

In the intermission between the sodden Yemigama HPI Formula Touring race, won by Vassily Johanson, and the ENSADRINK GT round to be fought after nightfall, another press event was taking place in the FC Soeshu Stadium. The series of announcements here started with the future machine regulations for the Hodoran GT and open-wheel championships.

Starting the year after next, the top GT class and Formula Hodori machines would use 2-litre turbocharged inline-4s, replacing the current 3.4-litre normally-aspirated V8. Yemigama HPI’s Unified Chassis, shown at the previous event following the Yakumicha 500km race where it was announced to have been selected over SAKATA Racing Technologies’ Universal Chassis, was again displayed as the common chassis the top GT cars would be built around. Concept models from the three Hodoran marques using the Unified Chassis would be on display at next month’s ENSADRINK 1000 endurance race. For Formula Hodori, the chassis was still undecided between the Yemigama HPI FH175T and SAKATA's R-175FT.

Following these, as the covers were removed from an open-wheel car revealing the IZAYOI purple and silver livery, Nadakei Sport AYDP formally announced that Lukar Urdaneta was offered the team’s second seat.

[Vilita and Turori]

Tropicorp Engineering Design & Administration Center, Tropicoast, Tropicorp :: Tropicorp Engineering Team Principle Gary Cook re-convened with his team for their Monday meetings. The goal for todays meetings: Finalize the Tropicorp Engineering driving lineup for the upcoming WGP2 season.

Donuts and pastries were out and beverages were on the table. Folks were settling into the place. "First thing we need to do" Cook started off knowing full well people weren't quite ready to begin, "is to update the big board"

There had been a number of signings to other teams in the past week - many of which were predicted by Cook and his team - but others that were not. "Lets start with the four teams that were 'locks' - looks like only three of them actually were!"

Academy Racing :: Armo Lehto, Jannik Markner
Vannish Motors Racing :: Jian Xiaopeng, Jenna Vanderson
Nexus Racing :: Rebecca Darlington, ...Not Luna Estella
Katara Racing :: Timo Jänkirinää, Jack Kelly

"So we had Luna Estrella pegged in the Nexus Racing slot so didn't pursue her that hard. Then all of a sudden she up and signs for Novikov." - Cook's tone changed a little into something a little more frustrated, "We screwed up on that one lads thats one we should have forseen and been in play on. Now who is Novikov's second driver?"

According to news reports, Novikov had sent offers to both Astograths's Lukar Urdenta and Vilita & Turori driver Juracai Klianiota.

"Call Juracai" Cook said. "Right now, get him on the phone. We need a driver, and if he hasn't signed yet, I want to know."

While Cook waited for someone to get in touch with Klianiota, he moved on. He began to ask if any other teams had actually signed any drivers during the week, and came to find out that there hadn't really been any action other than the Estrella move. There were rumors that the Obey Sport lineup had been sorted out and contracts were signed, but nothing was confirmed. So they started there.

"Alright, Obey Sport GP. We almost got this one right. We settled on Manny 'Lil E' Epula because we assumed reason would win out, he was the fastest driver in their test after all!. Instead it looks like they are going with Virzi. Not unexpected, just have to update the big board."

Obey Sport GP:: Renzo Virzi, Lera Kozel

"So Junixwagon just completed their testing, have they made any progress towards finalizing their lineup? Lets have a look at those results"

1. Cocoabo #23
2. Cesaro Whittaker
3. Lukar Urdaneta
4. Dom Falepeau
5. Martijn von Leeuwen.

Junixwagon :: Marcus Schwarz, Marijn von Leeuwen

The Other team holding trials during the week was Nadakei Sport AYDP. They only had 3 drivers show up, and one of them was already signed - Say Kaseo. Throughout the three-session testing, Astograth's Lukar Urdaneta was a step ahead of Eastfield Lodge's Cesaro Whittaker. Since they had erased Renzo Virzi's name from the Nadakei seat on the big board, they had to replace it with something, so Cook put in Urdaneta's name.

Nadakei Sport AYDP :: Saya Kaseo, Lukar Urdaneta

Then, the report came back on Klianiota. One of the team Engineers had called him and Klianiota confirmed what Cook had expected.

"Juracai Klianiota confirmed to me that he has already agreed terms with Novikov Racing." The engineer proclaimed. Cook sighed, but it was expected so not a big loss. But then the Engineer continued, "Additionally, Juracai told me that in his talks with the other teams on his shortlist, he has found out that Yogutz Lantzia have already signed Gorrio Bildostegi and that MSA-SinVal have agreed terms with Dalia Dahl - not Cesaro Whittaker!"

Cook pounded his fist on the table. Another driver off his short list. He went to the board and updated his projections for Lantzia and MSA-Sinval. The Lantzia one he had projected, the SinVal he had not.

Yogutz Lantzia :: Gorria Bildostegi, Dom Falepeau
MSA-SinVal :: Dalia Dahl, Denholm Kingsley
Novikov Racing Team :: Juracai Klianiota, Luna Estrella

"Lets go back and look at the results from the Junixwagon test." Cook said. "The real wild card in all of this is Manny 'Lil E' Epula since he's not testing anymore. Does he have a deal in place somewhere? He must."

Then they looked at the results of the testing.

"Cocoabo #23 nice job. You know what we can't beat around the bush if we wait too long, there won't be any drivers left. Lets officially sign Cocoabo #23. The Cocoabo is clearly ready for this, outpacing drivers by that much on a new circuit."

"I'm not interested in Falepeau or von Leeuwen so we better make an offer for Whittaker, last driver left right?"

Tropicorp Engineering :: Cesaro Whittaker, Cocoabo #23

"There is one other option, boss" a different engineer brought up; "Rebecca Darlington". The room laughed. Rebecca Darlington! hah! Everyone knew Darlington was already signed for Nexus Racing.

"Yea, but apparently there was some discontent in the terms of the Contract and there are some rumors they might be going back to the drawing board"

Some interested but skeptical responses followed.

"I know, technically she's still declared for Nexus Racing. But, if they tear up the old contract before signing the new one... there is a moment of opportunity there... If you are interested."

Cook thought about it for a minute. "Fine. Call Darlington's people. See if she's really unhappy with the situation and wants to conduct shady business, or if they are just going through some formalities over there. If its the latter, then get Cesaro Whittakers signature for me ASAP!"

"Oh, and Call Manny "Lil E" Epula and see what his deal is too, we need a backup plan. Anyone but Denholm Kingsley."

[Togonistan]

Ramona, Togonistan

Manny ''Lil E'' Epula was sitting at his backyard, surrounded by ladies. His window was open and old school hip-hop was heard playing from his huge speakers in his living room. A bit farther away there was also Eliah, Manny's big brother and some other people. Basically, they were having a nice little party going on there with tables full of alcohol and cocaine. One of girls had just jumped on Manny's lap when his phone rang. ''Ey, hold on girls, i gotta answer this,'' he said.

Manny took his phone from table and answered it: ''Yeah?... Tropicorp?... Wait what?... Oh for reals, they just asked for my CV and now they assume that? Well, tell them I haven't signed with anyone.'' Manny throws his phone on table again and sighs. What a bunch of amateurs he has to deal with.

''Ey ey ey girls, girls, girls, let's get this party rolling,'' Manny said and took a nice sniff from cocaine on table. Honestly, right now he had more important things to do than worry about how his future racing carreer is going to turn out. Lil E put his hands around the necks of two of the girls and walked inside with them.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Nexus Racing HQ, ???
16th of June

Gertrude Thompson watches from the garage as the Praetorian glides in, touching down gently on the runway. So ostentatious, that. Still, we are technically a military subsidiary… She chuckles to herself. We’re representing the nation, too, so I suppose that that justifies it; need to put our best gigantic aeroplane wheel forward…

Rebecca Darlington, Nexus Racing’s newest driving talent, will be on that plane. It’s Gertrude’s job, of course, to marry that talent to the greatest racing machine in the competition. Looking back down at the vehicle next to her, the Nimban Head Designer can say that there is a very good chance that she’s done just that.

The Ultra High Speed Ground Vehicle Two Competitive Testing Variant is both an evolution and a devolution of the work of the previous WGPC season. A number of the features from the UHSGV-1 that will be making an appearance in the final version have been stripped out to make handling the car less of an intellectual challenge while testing fundamental driving ability to a greater degree. Inside a carbon fibre composite monocoque, designed by herself and her team, constructed from materials chosen by the now-volunteer partner of the team, Kelthari Professor of Materials Science Vertilan Nas, restructured on the atomic level by Imagination-forging to remove excess weight and then given a utilitarian, slate-grey livery (any text on the car being of the Higher Script for the Nimban audience on one side and the Common Script on the other for everyone else) that makes it easier to alter and upgrade, is held the newest iteration of the ‘Paragon Warp’ series of dual Imagikinetic and Imagielectric convertors, the Imagination flow to the machine dialled down to accommodate WGP2 regulations on power. The most significant technical change, however, is to the Imagination supply: the fuel tank has been augmented with a shard of Pure Imagination.

There are three forms of Imagination, two observed in the physical world and one theorised to exist as a result of study of the other two. Pure Imagination, the vast majority of which is held in the Nimban Imagination Nexus, is common Orb Imagination that has been compressed to densities thousands of times as great, forming a hard, crystalline structure. This form of Imagination attracts Shadow Imagination, a massless and intangible product of the consumption of the energy held by Orb Imagination assumed to exist by the vast majority of Imagination scientists, and expends energy - scientists have not yet determined where from - to restore it to its former capabilities. It is this property that Gertrude is making use of, essentially allowing the vehicle to regenerate some of its fuel during the race.

Gertrude smiles smugly down at the car. Yep. Very good chance.

In fact, she’s quite sure that the Esmerelian woman now walking down the gangplank of the Praetorian will think so too.

[Esmerel]

Rebecca Darlington
Nexus Racing HQ, The Nexus Wardship
2017/16/06, 12:33

Rebecca walks off the Praetorian. In front of her eyes is a- wait, she can't describe it because technically it's a military base. Well, it's magnificent. But in front of her is a very advanced machine. And it seemed she and the device would get to know each other quite a bit.

She barely even takes the time to introduce herself to the remainder of the Nexus staff waiting for her as she steps off the plane. Sure, she is courteous, but the real spotlight here is on the car. Powered by the highest levels of Nimban technology, far surpassing what Esmerelians could ever put together, it certainly looked like it was a fast car. It did have one problem, though. It was labeled with #78 instead of #15. Though she assumed it'd be fixed in time for the official WGPC-sanctioned testing in July.

"Guard, you do know my actual number, right? Because it's not #78. It isn't too big of a problem but you'll need to look at the documentation again by the first test."

Meanwhile, Talia was with Auburn and the updated contract, signing all of the things that needed signatures. Rebecca was now officially a Nexus driver.

After Rebecca had finished glossing over the car she turned back to the conversation nearby. "So, 15 days until everything begins for real," she began. "And considering it's only about noon, there's time to get started testing, correct?"

[The Iron Syndicate]

Armo Lehto

Armo entered the garage once again wearing his navy blue race suit and his white helmet that had his number three and his father’s surname, Bold, printed on either side. His new teammate was there, but he didn’t introduce himself just yet, choosing to hang back by the wall and listen to the conversation that was going on. Jannick was asking what they were going to be doing, and Armo listened to the answer as he tightened the straps on his gloves and looked at the cars that had been prepared for them.

“We’re running the D-13 for the first time with a spec engine, and the goal here is to put some laps down before the official testing happens, to make sure that everything is good with the car,” explained Grayson. “We have a couple of different setups, too, or more specifically, we have three. One for higher downforce, one for higher top speed, and one that’s in the middle. We already know that Armo likes his downforce, for getting the most out of corners, but we’re going to leave it up to you to pick which setup you want to run with. Preferably, we’ll get them all tested by the end of the day.”

Grayson turned to both Armo and Jannick, shifting his field of vision to focus on the fully suited up driver that was behind Jannick. “Armo, your car is already tuned and ready to go. Feel free to head out whenever you think that you’re ready. Jannick, we have a race suit waiting for you in the locker room down the hall. Tell me which set up you want, and we’ll get the car tuned while you put that on.”

[Togonistan]

Drekaria, Togonistan

Dom Falepeau was behind his laptop again. He started getting frustrated due to way things were going for him. First pre-season test was getting closer and closer with every day, and he still did not have secured a driver spot. Just then, his phone rang which he answered.

Ralph: ''Hey Dom, Ralph here''
Dom: ''Ralph, where the hell have you been? I called you like twenty times.''
Ralph: ''Relax Dom, look, I am a busy man and you are not the only one who's ass i got to cover, okay?''
Dom: ''You could have at least send me a message to call you later or something.''
Ralph: ''Sorry, I have been really busy. Anyways, how's your search going?''
Dom: ''Terribly. I participated in Junixwagen test but the results were nothing to be proud of.''
Ralph: ''Hmm, I see.''
Dom: ''What should I do? Season is about to start and I literally have no idea who would even be mildly interested in signing me.''
Ralph: ''Okay, listen. I can't confirm anything, but I do have heard some rumors that Yogutz Lantzia might be interested in you''
Dom: ''That is strange, as I have heard nothing from them.''
Ralph: ''Well, why don't you just go and contact them yourself? I mean, it can't possibly hurt you to try, can it?''
Dom: ''I guess so. But are there any other teams with empty spots left?''
Ralph: ''Tropicorp, but they already offered a contract to Cesaro Whittaker. Also, I heard they have shown interest towards Lil E.''
Dom: ''Lil E? That guy who was always crashing cars in TTRL?''
Ralph: ''Well he is fast, you gotta give him that.''
Dom: ''Okay, but apart from that?''
Ralph: ''Well there is also Ignis, but really, they have hardly shown any interest in signing anyone.''
Dom: ''I will contact them as well. I got nothing to lose anyways.''

Dom hanged up and opened his e-mail to contact Yogutz Lantzia and Team Ignis.

From: domfalepeau@kaylanmotors.tn
To: Yogutz Lantzia, Team Ignis
Subject: WGP2 driver spot

Greetings,

This is Dom Falepeau, WGP2 licensed driver from Togonistan. As I have noticed, WGP2 season is about to start soon and you still have a open driver spot in your team to this date. This makes me wondering if there is a chance that you would potentially see me driving for your team? If needed, I can afford to come and participate in any open or private tests if that is what you would like me to do before making your decision.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,
Dom Falepeau

[West-East Timor]

Katara Racing Headquarters
Baranburg
West-East Timor

"Mr. Kelly, I told Mara you are here. She should be here soon.", the woman at the reception told Jack and Myra. A bit later, Mara actually arrived.

"Ah, Jack! Nice to meet you again.", Mara said and shook hands with Jack. "And you must be his agent or manager or advisor or something? I guess? Right?", she asked Myra and shook her hand as well. "Anyways, nice to meet you. So, I propose we go to my office and discuss everything there. If you could follow me..."

Mara lead them to her office, and sat down behind her desk, in front of which where standing two chairs.

"Please, have a seat. If you want some coffee, go ahead." She pointed at a coffee machine standing in one corner of the room.

"So, alright. Your contract. If you wait a moment..." Mara started searching something in her bag, then took out some papers, and handed them to Jack. "This is a first draft of your contract. I propose you read through it, and then decide if you like it that, or if you're not OK with something... Basically, it's a one year contract, you have to drive the second car at every official practice session, qualifying session and race, and at official tests. We are not too short on money, so we thought of paying you one million and seven hundred thousand dollars for doing so. Some people would kill for that much money... And if you win the drivers championship, you would get another five hundred thousand, and if we win the constructors championship another seven thousand dollars. For winning a race you get an additional fifty thousand dollars, for a podium finish twenty five thousand. If this is alright for you, we can make the draft an actual contract, you sign it... And you are completely officially a WGP2 driver.

Oh, and also something I'd like to ask you, do you have any sponsors that should appear on the car? If so, we'd shurely find a spot for them... But anyways. First, what do you think about the contract, now?"

---

Isla Circuit
Red Hill
The Iron Syndicate

Jannick was listening to Grayson Chase explaining the procedure.


"Well, alright then. If you say you want to run all set ups, I'll take high downforce first, then the one in the middle, and then the high top speed. Trying them all would actually be good for me as well, I think, as I've never driven the car and should get used to it."

Jannick then turned to Armo Lehto behind him, in full racing gear, and went towards him.

"So, you are Armo Lehto, right? Guess I should introduce myself. I'm Jannick Markner, your, well, your team mate." Jannick shook Armo's hand. "So, I guess I should go and get dresses like you now."

With that, Jannick went to the locker room down the hall Grayson Chase had told him of. After some time of searching, he found it, and got in the blue racing suit that was there. When he saw his helmet, he remembered something. Wasn't there "Bold" written on Armo's helmet? What should that mean? When he got in his racing shoes, he had already forgotten about that again.

When he was fully dressed, he went back to the garage, to finally drive the car.

"Have you prepared the car? I can't wait to finally try it."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Nexus Racing HQ, ???
16th of June

“Yes indeed!” Timothy exclaims as Gertrude completely forgoes any introduction to panic and rapidly access the nearest computer terminal so that she can order a redesign of the livery. “That’s the plan; the car is all yours to try out for the whole of the afternoon.”

He looks back for his Head Designer, who was supposed to be delivering her suit and helmet for the season to Rebecca, only to find them abandoned on a nearby table. Why did - Oh. Smiling knowingly, he picks them up anyway and orientates himself back towards the team’s newest driver. “First, though, you will of course need these. Gertrude Thompson, who heads our design team, was meant to give them to you but I think that she’s just left to fix the number issue. I’ll let the people who know what they’re doing explain what these do before you start your first run; for now, there are changing rooms through the door at the back, four doors down on the left.”

Guard hands Rebecca the garb, both items of which differ substantially from the competition’s equivalents. The Nexus Racing Reactive Motion Enhancing Overalls certainly appear to be completely normal, sky-blue racing overalls with the team’s emblem emblazoned on the chest; woven into the fabric, however, are tens of thousands of tiny motors, powered by the body heat of the wearer, that automatically react to and aid their movements like a set of external muscles. Marika Pedanovic compared the sensation of power when first using it to ‘feeling like a goddess’. The helmet, meanwhile, incorporates the Comprehensive Driver Information Visor Display System, wirelessly connecting to the car’s computers and, by means of an internally-mounted projector, offering up all of that information, including feeds from various cameras around the car, to the driver as a heads-up display; this integrates all of the functionality from the previous steering wheel-based system, not to mention completely removing the need for wing mirrors. There are only two things that are downgrades from the previous WGPC season, the first being the fact that the visual predictions of other cars’ positions have been removed in order to demand more from the wearer’s overtaking ability.

The second is that it’s entirely blank.

“Oh, and don’t worry about the helmet,” Timothy adds just as Rebecca begins to leave - “we’ll have the time to work on a design for it later. For now, though, focus on the racing!”

[Esmerel]

Rebecca Darlington
Nexus Racing HQ, The Nexus Wardship
Friday, 16/06, 13:01

And now the action had begun. Not a moment too soon.

Putting the suit on was quite the hassle- a piece of Nimban clothing was not the same as a piece of Esmerelian clothing. Although once it was on and the nanomotors inside the suit started turning, it was as if the gravity had halved and the temperature doubled. One was nice, the other not so much. Plus, she'd have to wear this until at least the 1st of July, without washing.

Living the life of someone else was surely complicated... but it was worth it.

Plus, the heat of an operating single-seater machine made the heat downside from the suit barely matter.

And then the laps started coming through. The track itself felt great, the car even more so, and the Gs never peaked higher than 4 or so. This tech is amazing, Rebecca thought. And I get to play with it for weeks and weeks... Now I understand why the Serb said it felt like a goddess. Because it does.

For the next 12 days, the schedule was simple. Eat. Sleep. Drive. Repeat. And that's the way that Rebecca liked it.

[Tenburg]

Katara Racing Headquarters
Baranburg
West-East Timor

"Mr. Kelly, I told Mara you are here. She should be here soon.", the woman at the reception told Jack and Myra. A bit later, Mara actually arrived.

"Ah, Jack! Nice to meet you again.", Mara said and shook hands with Jack. "And you must be his agent or manager or advisor or something? I guess? Right?", she asked Myra and shook her hand as well. "Anyways, nice to meet you. So, I propose we go to my office and discuss everything there. If you could follow me..."

Mara lead them to her office, and sat down behind her desk, in front of which where standing two chairs.

"Please, have a seat. If you want some coffee, go ahead." She pointed at a coffee machine standing in one corner of the room.

"So, alright. Your contract. If you wait a moment..." Mara started searching something in her bag, then took out some papers, and handed them to Jack. "This is a first draft of your contract. I propose you read through it, and then decide if you like it that, or if you're not OK with something... Basically, it's a one year contract, you have to drive the second car at every official practice session, qualifying session and race, and at official tests. We are not too short on money, so we thought of paying you one million and seven hundred thousand dollars for doing so. Some people would kill for that much money... And if you win the drivers championship, you would get another five hundred thousand, and if we win the constructors championship another seven thousand dollars. For winning a race you get an additional fifty thousand dollars, for a podium finish twenty five thousand. If this is alright for you, we can make the draft an actual contract, you sign it... And you are completely officially a WGP2 driver.

Oh, and also something I'd like to ask you, do you have any sponsors that should appear on the car? If so, we'd shurely find a spot for them... But anyways. First, what do you think about the contract, now?"

Jack listened carefully to what she said as his eyes darted across the paper in front of him. One-point-seven million. Plus wild bonuses? He looked to Myra.

She took a quick glance over the paper for herself. "I see nothing wrong here," she said quite simply.

Almost two million, It was more money than he knew what to do with. F10 was great and all, but going from a six figure paycheck to seven... He chuckled as he shook his head.

Myra seemed able to read his mind. "More money than you know what to do with, dear?"

Jack decided to go out on a limb, looking at Myra again. "I'd need a woman to spend it on."

Myra smiled, avoiding blushing by looking at her phone and answering a text. Jack turned to Mara. "Couldn't resist, sorry." He picked up the pen next to him and signed on the line. "What's more important to me than any of the money is winning. The car's fast, so..." He took a long drag of his cigarette. "...I'll be fast, too. And the only sponsor I ever really had was Izava, but since I don't race for them now... not really an issue, I suppose."

[West-East Timor]

Katara Racing Headquarters
Baranburg
West-East Timor

"Mr. Kelly, I told Mara you are here. She should be here soon.", the woman at the reception told Jack and Myra. A bit later, Mara actually arrived.

"Ah, Jack! Nice to meet you again.", Mara said and shook hands with Jack. "And you must be his agent or manager or advisor or something? I guess? Right?", she asked Myra and shook her hand as well. "Anyways, nice to meet you. So, I propose we go to my office and discuss everything there. If you could follow me..."

Mara lead them to her office, and sat down behind her desk, in front of which where standing two chairs.

"Please, have a seat. If you want some coffee, go ahead." She pointed at a coffee machine standing in one corner of the room.

"So, alright. Your contract. If you wait a moment..." Mara started searching something in her bag, then took out some papers, and handed them to Jack. "This is a first draft of your contract. I propose you read through it, and then decide if you like it that, or if you're not OK with something... Basically, it's a one year contract, you have to drive the second car at every official practice session, qualifying session and race, and at official tests. We are not too short on money, so we thought of paying you one million and seven hundred thousand dollars for doing so. Some people would kill for that much money... And if you win the drivers championship, you would get another five hundred thousand, and if we win the constructors championship another seven thousand dollars. For winning a race you get an additional fifty thousand dollars, for a podium finish twenty five thousand. If this is alright for you, we can make the draft an actual contract, you sign it... And you are completely officially a WGP2 driver.

Oh, and also something I'd like to ask you, do you have any sponsors that should appear on the car? If so, we'd shurely find a spot for them... But anyways. First, what do you think about the contract, now?"

Jack listened carefully to what she said as his eyes darted across the paper in front of him. One-point-seven million. Plus wild bonuses? He looked to Myra.

She took a quick glance over the paper for herself. "I see nothing wrong here," she said quite simply.

Almost two million, It was more money than he knew what to do with. F10 was great and all, but going from a six figure paycheck to seven... He chuckled as he shook his head.

Myra seemed able to read his mind. "More money than you know what to do with, dear?"

Jack decided to go out on a limb, looking at Myra again. "I'd need a woman to spend it on."

Myra smiled, avoiding blushing by looking at her phone and answering a text. Jack turned to Mara. "Couldn't resist, sorry." He picked up the pen next to him and signed on the line. "What's more important to me than any of the money is winning. The car's fast, so..." He took a long drag of his cigarette. "...I'll be fast, too. And the only sponsor I ever really had was Izava, but since I don't race for them now... not really an issue, I suppose."

"As I've said, we're not too short on money. Mainly because of our sponsors. Especially Nick Newman's Newman Beverage Sales Inc. give of us lots of money. And if we do well, we'll not only get official price money, but also even more money from NBS. We also saved money by working together with WETtech and WETmotors in building the car. As we'll kind of represent them, they built us a good car for low money. So... That's why we can pay you a sum you apparently can't really believe. But of course we expect you to perform. So hopefully you'll keep your promise of being fast."

Mara drank a bit of coffee and got out of her chair.

"So... I think everything is sorted now..."

She went over to Jack and Myra and shook their hands again.

"Goodby then, I guess. Oh, and before I forget it: We plan to do an official presentation of the team in New Dili on thursday. Hope to see you there."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Nexus Racing HQ, ???
30th of June

Guard sits at his computer and stares at his inbox to no avail.

Dekkers would have replied by now if Estrella were interested - and even if she were, how long do we have to wait before we can begin to train her?

He sighs. No. We have to change course. Then he smirks. Besides, it isn’t as if the alternative is worse.

A mouse click brings up a new window, displaying rolling footage of the 20 year old Astograthian driver Lukar Urdaneta, a driver with a similar temperament to Estrella’s on and off circuit. If we can help him to control and channel his passion, to marry it with logic and forethought, he could well be the next Ryker - and I already have a plan to help him do just that.

He clicks the mouse a few more times. Karl, do your thing.

Almost no time at all passes before an email is sent to Lukar’s agent.

From: nrcomms@nexusracingwgpc.nim
Subject: WGP2 Drive Offer

Greetings! I am pleased to be able to inform you that Nexus Racing will be unconditionally offering a drive to Lukar Urdaneta for the upcoming WGP2 season. Along with competing in the Championship itself, this will include a programme of driver training with a mind to equip him with skills which he will need to acquire and to hone and refine his extant talent before competing at the sharp end of the WGPC - hopefully with us! Make no mistake: this is a fantastic opportunity to both secure a place in the highest level of worldwide motorsport and to prepare oneself for it.

Should Lukar choose to accept our offer, please respond at your earliest convenience so that we may provide transportation to our headquarters in order to hammer out contracts and begin work as soon as possible. We have quarters reserved for him and, should you wish, yourself there which, along with all amenities, will remain available throughout the season’s course and should be the most convenient option for accommodation, though flying in and out each day from the First City or elsewhere will be possible, distance notwithstanding.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Karl Rain, Nexus Racing Head of Communications and Public Relations

P.S. Please find the non-disclosure agreement pertaining to the secret military testing complex adjacent to our headquarters and its location attached.

[West-East Timor]

Omnidirectional News

Katara Racing Hold Official Presentation

The newly founded Katara Racing team, which is going to participate in the first ever WGP2 seaso, has officially presented their drivers and liveries in New Dili on thursday. It has already been known that Formula WET1 champion Timo Jänkirinää and Jack Kelly from Tenburg will be driving for the team.

This is what the Katara Racing cars for this WGP2 season will look like:

Timo Jänkirinää:

Jack Kelly:

The differences between the two car's liveries are obviously the drivers number, colour of that number, initials and flag. It was clear that the colour scheme would be red, yellow and white, as these where the colours in which the cars had been tested on Pänkili Circuit earlier. Interestingly, the cars at Pänkili Circuit had been driven by Jack Kelly and Dom Falepeau from Togonistan, who apparently was an option for Katara Racing as well, while Timo Jänkirinää must have signed his contract without testing.

"The guys from WETmotors and WETtech have been working really hard to give us the best car in accordance with WGP2 rules possible, and we think we have two really great drivers", team principal Mara Katara said. "I don't want to make any speculation about how we'll do in WGP2, as we currently have no idea how good our car is compared to the other cars, but the car is working well, so I'm not too pesimistic."

"I'm really looking forward to finally making the step to international racing", Jänkirinää said. "I want to thank the team for giving me this opportunity. I too think the car is quite fast, although unlike Jack I have never driven it. The pre-season test will be my first chance to do so, so I think I will be practicing a lot there."

The first and only pre-season test will take place at the Red Hill Autodrome in The Iron Syndicate on Saturday, July 1st.

[The Iron Syndicate]

The Academy Racing testing at the team's private circuit in Red Hill would be something of an all day affair where various setups were used with the D-13's new spec engine, and there would be one main verdict when it was all said and done. They needed some more work, not badly in one area, but in general. Academy would be running with an electric engine if it wasn't for the rules of the competition, and adjusting to the mandated engine was harder than they had predicted. It wasn't that they weren't doing well in corners, but their straight line speed was hurt by the type of engine they were using, and it just wasn't up to the standard that Grayson Chase wanted for his team.

Jannick had the fastest overall time after spending more laps with the high downforce setup than any other, but Armo had put down the fastest laps on the top speed setup, stemming from his ability to be a very technically sound driver without needing a lot of help from the car to do so. He was able to get a decent amount of downforce even on the speed setup, and that ended up giving him the edge when it came to setting three of the five fastest laps of the session.

During the whole time, he hadn't talked much and hadn't interacted with the staff or his teammate, really. They wouldn't know why at first, and then Grayson would find later that Armo's father, Carsen Bold, was on the other side of the track, watching carefully and talking business with team CEO Ella Estrella and the rest of her ownership group. Of course. It was a perfect explanation to why the prodigy was so... Silent and cold, and Grayson had heard that he was always like this when working in front of the man whose name was on his helmet.

When the drivers finally pulled back into the main garage for the last time that day, Grayson had some words for them. "Good work, everyone. Don't worry about the car slacking and about the downforce setup slacking. We haven't finished the development, and we're going to push that as far off as we can and see if we can get some more stuff done after the test at the Autodrome. We'll have the engineers working overtime, and we need you drivers to focus on doing your job. Not worrying about the engineers doing theirs. I'll see you both in Red Hill again pretty soon. But this time, we're going to be across town at the real track here, the legendary one."

[Eastfield Lodge]

IC: Cesaro Whittaker signs for Tropicorp Engineering

As we embark upon this Mission to the Unknown, it's time to Cutoff for Pre-Season Testing.

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
Tyres available (gap to best, tyre life in laps) [OOC: Note that these are estimates, realistic IC variations are left to the RPer; gaps to best are when tyres are fresh, all used tyres will be slower]:

• Ultra Soft (+0.0s, 2 laps)
• Super Soft (+0.6s, 5 laps)
• Soft (+1.1s, 8 laps)
• Medium (+1.4s, 10 laps)
• Hard (+2.0s, 15 laps)

Pos # Driver              Team			 Best Time    Gap to Best
 1  3 Armo Lehto          Academy Racing         0:02:11.654  0:00:00.000	
 2 31 Cesaro Whittaker    Tropicorp Engineering  0:02:11.769  0:00:00.114	
 3 63 Dalia Dahl          MSA-SinVal             0:02:11.775  0:00:00.121	
 4 11 Luna Estrella       Novikov Racing         0:02:11.788  0:00:00.133	
 5  9 Jannik Markner      Academy Racing         0:02:11.798  0:00:00.143	
 6 30 Saya Kaseo          Nadakei Sport AYDP     0:02:11.805  0:00:00.151	
 7  5 Timo Jänkirinää     Katara Racing          0:02:11.841  0:00:00.187	
 8 13 Jian Xiaopeng       Vannish Motors Racing  0:02:11.869  0:00:00.214	
 9 23 Cocoabo #23         Tropicorp Engineering  0:02:11.886  0:00:00.231	
10 66 Jack Kelly          Katara Racing          0:02:11.928  0:00:00.274	
11 33 Jenna Vanderson     Vannish Motors Racing  0:02:11.934  0:00:00.280	
12  7 Juracai Klianiota   Novikov Racing         0:02:11.993  0:00:00.339	
13 17 Lourdina Westgrens  Team Ignis             0:02:12.020  0:00:00.365	
14 15 Rebecca Darlington  Nexus Racing           0:02:12.048  0:00:00.394	
15 18 Gorria Bildostegi   Yogutz Lantzia         0:02:12.229  0:00:00.574	
16 74 Lera Kozel          Obey Sport GP          0:02:12.314  0:00:00.659	
17 89 Marcus Schwarz      Junixwagen             0:02:12.418  0:00:00.763	
18 61 Renho Virzi         Obey Sport GP          0:02:13.517  0:00:01.863

[Esmerel]

Marc Loewe
Obey Sport GP Offices, Point Capaldi, Esmerel
Saturday, 01/07, 16:30

In the world of motorsport, sometimes all it took to win was a bit of bravery. It was what Marc had the most of. Stepping up to the international stage was no easy feat, but here he was, sitting in his office, about to see his two cars, driven by the two drivers they signed, be tested. In front of a huge crowd both at the track and on the TV.

To his left, however, was a big board- he had been updating it throughout the silly season to better understand his competition. Well, let's have another look at our position, shall we?

Teams:

Obey Sport GP (ESM)
First Driver: Renzo Virzi (AUD)
Second Driver: Lera Kozel (RSM)

His team had managed to snatch two brilliant drivers. Well, brilliant in driving, not so much in being in the public. Both of them were likely the quietest drivers on the grid. Of course, that fact could easily be remedied, but it would be a disadvantage early on. However, once the season went further on, it would be a bit better. Plus, they had entered as one of the two (or three?) manufacturer teams alongside Vannish Motors.

His personal goal in the season was a top half finish. 6th or better in constructors', 12th or better (wouldn't have to be both drivers) in drivers'.

Now time to see if all that factory experience and work had paid off...

--------

19:00

Sigh. 16th and 18th. The field was fairly close together, all but Renzo were separated by less than a second. Virzi simply made a couple of small mistakes, that's all.

Overall, Marc blamed the team's lack of communication for their relatively poor performance. There was still at least a week before the first race, and plenty of resources left over to improve the car. Virzi was of course willing to work with the team, though he was a quiet person and rarely if ever spoke with them. The engineers had analyzed the telemetry and found whatever needed to be fixed. There are some areas that we simply cannot improve. Let's just make sure the number of those areas stays on the low side.

Everyone knew that luck would even out. They were just hoping that it would come sooner rather than later...

[Aboveland]

The team's equipment had arrived in The Iron Syndicate just two days before. The previous weeks were replete of practice sessions with the WGP2 car and further testing and development of the WGPC-spec car. Novikov's WGP2 contenders drove their championship running cars while Terho shot past in the proper machine. After much fine tuning using collected data, plus some unfortunate blowouts, suspension failures and a couple of spins from both Luna and Juracai, the pair were convinced they'd found the optimal base setups for their cars.

Enter the outlap. Axel's heart pounded. To his left, Karl and Sven. To his right, Terho and Edvin. The five of them, huddled around the paddock console, waited eagerly for Novikov Racing's first practice times to come in. After so much preparation, testing and refining, through blood, sweat and gears, it was time to put their effort to the test. Axel prayed to God his efforts weren't in vain. It was the moment of truth. Both drivers given the green light to risk it all if they wished to do so, whatever was the result today would prove the car's pace, or lack thereof.

The first twenty laps were pleasing. The cars worked as they were supposed to: optimal tyre and brake temperatures, mechanical systems under control, suspension and steering components holding up to the g-forces around corners, and aerodynamic elements doing their deed of slamming the monocoques into the ground and putting on a fireworks display on the straights.

It was on the final ten where the entire Novikov Racing paddock whooped.

Luna Estrella, masterfully carving her way through the asphalt, set a time good enough to land her fourth overall. Klianiota's unfortunate twelfth place brought hopes down slightly, but from the mechanics' point of view his lack of pace was nothing careful revision of data couldn't fix. With a smile on his and his crew's faces, Axel laid back into his chair, clasped his hands together, and rested them on the back of his head. The echoing bellows of the engines ringing in his ears began to fade as the drivers made their way back to their respective garages. Step two in improving the car: hearing what his drivers have to say.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Red Hill Autodrome, the Iron Syndicate
2nd of July

“Nice job, Rebecca; you were really starting to close that gap towards the end. We’ll look over the telemetry when we get back to base, find some improvements to work on at the test track.”

Note to self: petition for adding additional elements to that track; the flexibility would be useful. I think that Ryker feels the same way, actually.

Valen Song, Race Engineer of Rebecca Darlington, switches off the communications channel between himself and Rebecca’s Chase Cutter (now with corrected livery) that is still referred to as a radio despite the fact that the digital information is all transferred by mid-range Imagination application, nodding to himself. Selected by Guard to complement Rebecca’s personality, Valen has a particular penchant for risk-taking and optimistic bent that go beyond the typical Nimban cultural propensity for those traits and should begin to release the Esmerelian from being locked into her current, overly conservative driving style. His task? Precisely that.

Of course, no self-respecting race engineer just hopes that their driver somehow imbibes desired traits in their driving style, much less a Nimban, innovation-focussed race engineer and, as such, Valen has been working with Rebecca to build her trust in the UHSGV-1, help her to push the car to its limits. So far, that’s consisted of having her attempt to overtake Imagination-based force/light constructs on the test track at limited power levels, steadily increasing the Imagination flow to the convertor each time - the current level being close to the limit of WGP2 regulations. This slow build-up is certainly somewhat tiresome; still, the Chase Cutter’s unique propulsion mechanism, combining direct thrust with traditional electric drive to the wheels, isn’t exactly the easiest to adjust to - hence the programme in the first place.

Maybe Rebecca should name her car; it might boost her trust in it a little.

I should look into it.

[Astograth]

Bazil Dartayeta, team principal for Yogutz Lantzia, gazed upon his kingdom as his minions laboured. To the left and to the right, the full expanse of the garage, they tweaked and gauged and endlessly discussed. It reeked of burnt rubber and gasoline - the signs of a day well spent - even though years of exposure had made him numb to the smell.

Pre-season testing was over, but making use of all those piles of data would take them well into the night, all the days till the first race of the competition. They'd learned so much! The aero was working, for one, as they'd expected - among the best on the grid, perhaps second only to Tropicorp's. The brakes, too, were performing admirably, and Bildostegi was just the right woman to get the most out of that with her smooth, smooth cornerning. In terms of raw power, however, the L2.5 674 had been outdone - was it something with the engine? The gearbox? Half the engineering team was working on figuring that out, as the gap on straights with the likes of Academy or Novikov had been notorious. Most of the others were poring over the telemetry, the tyre compounds - which they'd only just gotten to try out - and why the suspension was proving so fickle.

Regardless, it had been a good test. Exciting. Half a second off the mark, but Bildostegi had unfortunately run into some traffic and they didn't have any more chances with the Ultra Softs. Dartayeta's fault, really, but unimportant in the long run - Yogutz Lantzia had nailed down race and qualifying strategy over the years, and those were the ones that mattered. Practice sessions were beneath him.

Everything was on course for a successful season.

Except... Yogutz Lantzia still had an empty drivers' seat. And the field grew smaller by the day. Dartayeta had gotten a call earlier from Urtun Sisko, owner of Lantzia, asking how come he was only seeing one car on the track - and received an earful upon explaining they hadn't yet gotten around to finding someone convincing. He'd been compelled to sign someone that very day, and his first choice had been to fall back on Plan B, which was Lukar Urdaneta, despite having told him to go elsewhere because they needed some international appeal (which brought international sponsors, so long as they weren't in the dairy business). But, it turns out, Urdaneta had signed with Nexus Racing, and not only that but he'd also had to turn down an offer from Nadakei! Finding out that the runny-nosed kid they'd turned down had been approached by some of the top teams on the grid was a blow to his pride.

So they turned to Plan C. One man whom Dartayeta found personally distasteful, but whose competence and determination were clearly evidenced. As one of the engineers brought up a chart of Super Soft compound performance at different temperatures, the team principal dialled Dom Falepeau's agent's number. Yogutz Lantzia would offer him the remaining drivers' seat.

[New Scaiva and Horshenwurst]

Jonus stared at the 2 officials in his office. They were sent to represent what the Trial judges had seen that day in Vilchi. A few days had passed since the test drive in the Iron Syndicate, which almost immediately displayed the faults of Schwarz. Junixwagen was incomplete, and they needed a second driver fast.

Julius, Mara, I do believe it is time we decide on a second driver for Junix. We've already lost the Cocoabo to Tropicorp, so that leaves us with Lukar, Cesaro, Dom and Martijn.
I hate to be a burden, Mr. Martin, but Lukar and Cesaro had already signed with Nexus and Tropicorp respectively. And there's rumors that Yogutz is interested in the man from Togonistan.
You have to be kidding me.
I am afraid not, sir. We never discussed with them beforehand, so I assume they just gave up on Junix for other organizations.

Martin was appalled. He knew Tropicorp had thrown an offer at Cesaro, but never thought itd be accepted without regret. He knew teams were interested in the Astograthian, but didn't think an offer would come along so quickly. Jonus looked at his hands and clinched them in anger and self-loathing. He knew that because of his procrastination and sheer ignorance, 2 of the strongest performing racers at the trials vanished from his grasps. And now he was left with 2, Dom and Martijn. Both seemed like good choices, but it bothered him how they were the slowest finishers by a couple milliseconds. He didn't want podium. He wanted first. But he knew that there's no other choice, and no other hope. Jonus then thought about what Mara said, how Dom has been rumored to receive an offer from the organization in Astograth. 2 minutes of silence went on before words broke ground.

Mr. Martin?
Yes?
I know you are disappointed, but the longer you hate yourself, the more likely we will lose Dom and Martijn, too.

Jonus knew she was right, and immediately his mind erased the ones lost to Tropicorp and Nexus.

Very well. How should we discuss this then?
Let's go with speed and media. According to the Scaivan WGP2 fanbase polls, 32% of citizens believed it was the best bet to get Falepeau, due to his speed and personality. Meanwhile, only about 11% suggested we go for the Ulixian.
So what you're saying is—
Indeed. We believe that Dom would be the overall better choice for Junixwagen. He's not Cocoabo-level, he has much more potential. Between Falepeau and Schwarz, we could actually give Alderakt a name for itself beyond Novapax. Martijn's an ok choice too, but not quite the level of potential as the Togonistani.

Jonus pondered for a bit.

So you're saying the juries voted Dom?
We know you hate fighting with other international teams for players, but we can't stress to lose Falepeau after we were hesitant to reply to Cesaro and Lukar. What we can do, however, is give this guy an offer and hopefully bring in pros from Qasden to help adjust Junix into overpowering the competition.
Alright alright. I suppose he is the better choice. And because I don't want to lose him, tell Dom Falepeau that Junixwagen would like to offer him the second car, free of any charge and a 1.2x bonus for every good finish.
We'll be right on it, sir.

[Togonistan]

Hwoarang, Togonistan

Dom Falepeau was called to Hwoarang Racing Track to test out a new car that Kaylan's TTRL team would be using this season. So there he was, driving a new car around the circuit. It handled quite well, but seemed to be somewhat slower at accelerating than their previous vehicle. Dom drived about 10 laps before he headed back to pit garage. As he stepped out of his car, he was greeted by no-one else than Ralph Felan personally.

Ralph: ''Hello there Dom, so, tell me, what do you think about our new car?''
Dom: ''It handles rather well but seems to be a bit slower than your previous model.''
Ralph: ''That is because we wanted to improve our speed in the corners. Although it's top speed is slower, it is faster at the overall lap.''
Dom: ''Well I felt better behind previous car's wheel, but that is just my opinion.''
Ralph: ''Okay, actually that is not the reason why I am here. In fact, I have great news for you.''
Dom: ''Yeah, go on.''
Ralph: ''I got a call from Yogutz Lantzia, and guess what they said? That's right, they want you to drive for them!''
Dom: ''Oh.''
Ralph: ''What, I don't see you being particularly happy about it.''
Dom: ''No, it is great, it's just that I personally also got a contract offer from Junixwagen.''
Ralph: ''What? Are you kidding me? I thought you said that you didn't do that well during their test.''
Dom: ''Apparently I did after all I guess.''
Ralph: ''Okay, I'm kind of shocked to hear that. Anyways, who is it going to be? Yogutz or Junix?''
Dom: ''I already accepted Junixwagen's offer, so there is no question in that.''
Ralph: ''Okay. I personally would've liked to see you in Astorgathian team rather than Junix, but it is your decision after all.''

[Eastfield Lodge]

All-in-all, it had been a decent weekend for the MSA team in the Iron Syndicate for pre-season testing. Unfortunately, they didn't have a second driver after their primary Klianiota had been poached by Novikov Racing, which meant that it was only Dalia Dahl in the cockpit for the Eastfielder-based team. Thankfully, it was a dry session today, which allowed them to get some much needed tyre information, as tyre suppliers Grafonil had been somewhat stingy with the number tyres they were supplying to the team - although the Olastian conglomerate refused to be drawn on whether this was the case with all the teams during development.

First up was testing the race trim of the car over 25 laps, especially with the soft and super soft tyres - the team had to save these tyres during development for the fast qualifying runs, and they'd gotten enough data with the medium and hard compounds beforehand. Thankfully, Dahl was putting in consistent lap times, barring the odd mistake - she'd taken to the car like a duck to a pond, despite worries that the car wouldn't be fast enough for her. There was still some room to develop the engine as well, because of how long SinVal had taken to develop a brand new engine for the slower formula, but that would be saved for the rest of the season. Judging by the few race simulations that other teams were trying out as well, Dahl was lapping somewhere in the top third, which for now was a good place to start from; of course, the home team of Academy Racing were bossing the session, with Armo Lehto especially lighting up the timing screens. For MSA, the best bit about the long stints however was that the tyres were being handled beautifully - good news on the strategy front for the season, definitely; and it seemed to be down to the car as well, ad Dahl didn't really have a reputation for tyre management back in the domestic formula.

Coming back into the pit with twenty minutes to go, the team got to work setting up the qualifying trim, with the fabled ultra-soft tyres sitting in the tyre blankets, keeping them warm and fresh. Grafonil had absolutely refused to let the team test with any of the Ultra Softs, for some reason, so this was very much experimental territory for the team. Not that it mattered, apparently only a few of the teams had actually used them much before today, so it was very much a fact-finding mission for most teams. Still, the 70 plus minutes of running so far out on circuit had left lots of rubber down on the track, so there would be plenty of grip for a good qualifying run. 15 minutes to go, Dahl went back out. 7.3 kilometres, it was a long out-lap for sure, possibly the reason why it was relegated to a testing session. And that was long time to be weaving out on track, keeping temperatures up without using the tyre too much; after all, the Grafonil engineers had only predicted two good qualifying simulation laps before these tyres would be shot. Down the hill, being careful with the throttle, braking gently before 5 and taking the exit at good speed, building up speed for the uphill climb. Gentle braking for 7 and then full throttle up the hill, braking hard for the first bend at 10, and then exiting onto the short pit-straight before beginning the lap. It was a good lap to start with, coming in at 2 minutes 12 seconds dead, currently fifth with most of the drivers out on circuit doing the same qualifying-style runs. The next lap wasn't as good, coming in about 15 hundredths slower, before coming in for a change of tyres. By now, Armo Lehto was the only driver to have beaten 2:11.8, with another 8 drivers registering sub 2:12 times as well. Tyres changed, fuel topped up, and ready to go, Dahl went back out for the final stint of the session, and it was a great first timed lap - 2:11.792! She was second quickest on the grid! She gritted her teeth, and kept pushing for the second, determined to eke every little bit of performance out of these tyres. And eke it out she did, shaving off a tenth in her first sector time, and then half a tenth in the second, to move literally just behind Lehto's best time. Out of the final turn, and foot hard down, she crossed the line, registering a 2:11.775, which was about two thousandths faster than Armo Lehto, still out on track of course.

Now that was a great moment for the team. Topping the timing screens in the first session, not bad given the disaster that was the early part of WGPC15. Of course, it wouldn't last, there were still three minutes left of the session, but it was a good moment to savour nonetheless. Dahl returned to the garage to chat with the team principal, Tadeo Durand.

"Nice work out there Dalia, you've really bonded with the car, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I don't know how to describe, the setup just seems perfect. It felt like I could properly lean on the tyres for once as well, and it feels like they're responding well as well."
"I know what you mean, your times are pretty phenomenal. You've been pipped to the fastest time just now though, Lehto's just gone 11.6 something, but this is pretty much Academy's home, so I'm still thrilled."

The two looked over the timing sheets. Lehto clearly had the fastest lap, over a tenth of a second ahead of Dahl, and the fastest in all three sectors, albeit marginally in the second. Dahl in second, not a bad place for her first high-level session of motor-racing. It was all change below her though. Luna Estrella moving into third, just a hundredth behind Dahl. Markner finishing his session in fourth sub 11.8 as well. And then came the big change. Number 31 had just crossed the line, the car of the Tropicorp Engineering outfit, and it had leapfrogged Dahl into second by the narrowest of margins, literally 7 thousandths of a second between the two. And who was the driver flashing up? A certain Cesaro Whittaker. Tadeo couldn't stop himself breaking into a rueful smile. He knew the kid had potential, his bosses had said otherwise, and here the kid was, beating the establishment's choice in the straight timing battle. Early days, yes, but this made things interesting.

As for Dalia, she was fuming. She played second fiddle to Vicky last season in the domestic formulas, and she wanted this title, badly; she would not anyone, not least this 17 year-old hotshot karting champion, get in her way.

---

A day or so later, a meeting was convened back in Mount Salt City, headquarters of the MSA corporation. The execs were looking through quite a thin folder of names, looking for a second driver now that Klianiota had rejected them. Not many names left on the list, with Falepeau and Urdaneta both having been snapped up in the hours just gone. Names, arguments and counter-arguments were flung back and forth. But eventually, the decision was made to send an offer to Hodori's Shinno Soukuba.