WGP2 Season 2 [RP Thread]

[Mattijana]

Driver's Championship

Pos # DRV Name                      Team                     Pts
 1 33 SCH Karli Schmitt                Vannish Motors Racing       61
 2 16 LAU Janne Laukkanen              Nexus Racing                35
 3 23 C23 Cocoabo #23                  VTM Tropicorp Engineering   34
 4 48 TAB Tyra Tabuso                  Ibuna-Gambal Racing         26
 5 19 FAL Dom Falepeau                 MRT2                        24
 6  3 CAS Darius Castellammare         Superia Junior Team         22
 7 12 IMO Ade Imoju                    Omni-Katoa Racing           19
 7 18 FAN Isaia Fanene                 Kaylan Racing               19
 7 97 BAK Edward Baker                 VTM Tropicorp Engineering   19
10 37 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii             SVJ Racing                  18
11 75 ARJ Roman Arjenko                SVJ Racing                  17
12  5 JSM Jason Masami                 Brutus Obey Sport GP        16
13  2 LEM Juliano Lemos                Superia Junior Team         14
14 17 PRE Max Prefodski                Kaylan Racing               13
15 25 TJK Timo Jänkirinää              Omni-Katoa Racing           10
16 63 DHL Dahlia Dahl                  Pompeii Motorsports         7
17 44 LYN Laurencia Lynds              SinVal                      5
18 15 DAR Rebecca Darlington           Nexus Racing                4
18  9 MAR Jannik Markner               Vannish Motors Racing       4
20 10 DEF Erik DeForest                Pompeii Motorsports         1
21 24 JUL Ekatarina Julic              Brutus Obey Sport GP        0
21 60 HIN Chiemi Hino                  Ibuna-Gambal Racing         0
21 14 MIG Miguel Santos                EVolution Racing            0

Constructor's Championship

Pos NAT Team                      Pts
  1 VNG Vannish Motors Racing        65
  2 V&T VTM Tropicorp Engineering    53
  3 NIM Nexus Racing                 39
  4 LIS Superia Junior Team          36
  5 SVJ SVJ Racing                   35
  6 TGN Kaylan Racing                32
  7 WET Omni-Katoa Racing            29
  8 FID Ibuna-Gambal Racing          26
  9 MTJ MRT2                         24
 10 ESM Brutus Obey Sport GP         16
 11 NRP Pompeii Motorsports          8
 12 EFL SinVal                       5
 13 AZD EVolution Racing             0

[Vangaziland]

"Um Karli", the reporter said to the driver in a daze. A camera was waiting for her soon after she pulled into the podium lane. "Karli... Do you realize what you just did?" The camera showed Karli toss off her helmet and storm past the cameras. She collapsed into Jessica Franssen's arms.

"You did good", Jess told her as she pat her upper back. "You did real good." The acting principal was all smiles. It was a long and exciting race to manage. Karli started 12th. Many people had already written her off for a pointless finish.

"I think Karli might be able to pull 1 or 2 points from this race, if she has a good day", Jessica Franssen said before the race. This was about what the team expected in a good scenario.

The race started with an uphill run through turns 1 and 2. It was here where Karli started things hot. She passed Cocoabo #23 early, starting her run up the field as things straightened out before turn 3. From then on, she put on a display of aggressive driving. Her indigo & red car was riding the curbs harshly. There were a few times she cut turn 6 quite tight.

By lap 14, she managed to find herself in 7th. "Holy heck, kiddo", Jess said over the radio. "Keep up this pace." She was right on Edward Baker's tail. Ade Imoju, of all people, was just two spots ahead of Karli. Even with such different starts, their races had met here.

In his car, Ade was already shaken. Karli's word's last night got to him. The way she said 'wreck' seemed to toy with his consciousness in a way that started as subtle anxiety but was soon taking over his mentality. He was jinxed and he knew it.

Karli's popping red engine ran across the track in a blur. She was making incredible moves on the track. "It just felt so natural", she would say after the race. "This was one of those tracks where I felt I could do no wrong."

She contnued to stay on Ade's tail through much of the early race. She almost always found another car between the two of them. Eventually Ade found himself in the lead. It was a tense moment for him, sweating in nervous fear. Karli kept pushing though. Tabuso held in front of her. That order held for some time. Ade and Tabuso swapped the lead a few times.

Ade was in the lead when he found himself pushing too fast into turn 6. He was trying to run a defensive angle and got distracted. He was out of position. He slammed on the brakes until they locked up. It sent his car around with the back wheels running off the track. The car began to spin.He thought he could straighten out, so he jammed on the gas. The force fried the transmission.

Karli and Tabuso were less than a handful of seconds behind Ade as he wrecked out. Karli's prophecy had struck true for Ade. He did end up wrecking out after all. She told him that would be the only way his weekend would be ruined. He was on pace to possibly win.

"In the end, it just shows that we can actually challenge for a win at any given week", Ade said shortly after his crash. "The season is really progressing", he said. "I'm starting to fall behind in points. Timo is keeping us in the Points race. I just need to do a little more. There will be more race weeks."

The race wasn't over for Karli. She found herself in the lead around lap 40. Tabuso passed Karli coming out of the hairpin, just down the final stretch on lap 44. The crowd cheered for the drama of the moment at the grandstand. The WGP2 was second tier in terms of organization. The quality of racing was nothing but first rate.

Baker passed Karli later in the lap. She took one last pit stop and came back out in third. It was a great stop, the team high fiving themselves as she sped down pit lane. She brought things home until the race's end.

Things would not end without drama. "Head's up Karlo", she said in a nickname. "Lisanderians on your tail." Both Jess and Karli knew a podium was on the line. It was often a tradition to play a nation's anthem for a podium finish. Karli couldn't help but feel like she was driving for her nation. In a way, she was. Millions were tuned in specifically from Vannish territories. They had already seen Ade flash and burn. They watched Karli lead a few laps. They needed something to take home from this.

She would finish third. After finishing third twice and fifth twice, she remained on top of driver's points. VTM had jumped Nexus, but so did VMR. The Vannish racing team found themselves still second in team points.

Karli spoke on what it meant to earn her second podium so early in the season. "We all know every season is a marathon", she replied. "We've seen others start well and fail to close out the season. I can't let that happen. I have to stay on top of things. This was a race that we weren't set to do well at. Qualifying did not go well."

She nervously stroked back her long, blonde hair while she spoke. It was a nervous habit.

"Starting 12th wasn't in our plan. But VMR put out a great car. Jess managed things well on the track. The pit crew had a GREAT stop. Things just came together."

They asked her if she thought she missed out on her chance to get a win.

"It may have been a win. As we saw with Ade, a good Qual start doesn't guarantee race day success. I'll gladly walk away with this hard fought podium." Her face was flush red from the effort she just went through behind the wheel. Anybody who thought racing wasn't a sport has never driven competitively. Karli just put her entire body into getting to that podium.

This time, she was really emotional as she stood on the podium. Tears rolled along her freckled face. She was glad to spray and taste the bubbly from her third place perch.

"Consistency", she said at the session with the top 3 finishers. "That's what my season has to be about. The win will come. Until then, I need to keep pushing for top 5's and podiums. Easier said than done", she said with a huff of a laugh.

There were no laughs for Ade in the Omni Katoa paddock. People were looking for a reason for his crash. "I don't know what happened", he told the group of journalists gathering for a soundbite. "I guess I just lost concentration", he admitted.

"I've pulled a few points, but a big chunk of the season has passed. I'll have to step things up soon", Ade continued.

Both Vannish drivers found themselves in different positions. Ade would have a long fight ahead if he were ever to run with Karli's crowd. Vannish Motors found themselves second in the chase for the team points. Jannik Markner found himself in a position similar to Ade, with just a few points. Both drivers would hope a strong mid and late stretch would make up for sluggish starts.

The season was starting to take form though a great deal of time remained.

[Mattijana]

Driver's Championship

Pos # DRV Name                      Team                     Pts
 1 33 SCH Karli Schmitt                Vannish Motors Racing       44
 2 23 C23 Cocoabo #23                  VTM Tropicorp Engineering   34
 3 25 TJK Timo Jänkirinää              Omni-Katoa Racing           28
 3 97 BAK Edward Baker                 VTM Tropicorp Engineering   28
 5 48 TAB Tyra Tabuso                  Ibuna-Gambal Racing         26
 6 16 LAU Janne Laukkanen              Nexus Racing                25
 7 19 FAL Dom Falepeau                 MRT2                        23
 8  3 CAS Darius Castellammare         Superia Junior Team         22
 9 37 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii             SVJ Racing                  18
10 75 ARJ Roman Arjenko                SVJ Racing                  17
11  5 JSM Jason Masami                 Brutus Obey Sport GP        16
12  2 LEM Juliano Lemos                Superia Junior Team         15
13 15 DAR Rebecca Darlington           Nexus Racing                14
14 18 FAN Isaia Fanene                 Kaylan Racing               13
15 17 PRE Max Prefodski                Kaylan Racing               11
16  9 MAR Jannik Markner               Vannish Motors Racing       7
16 63 DHL Dahlia Dahl                  Pompeii Motorsports         7
18 12 IMO Ade Imoju                    Omni-Katoa Racing           5
19 44 LYN Laurencia Lynds              SinVal                      3
20 10 DEF Erik DeForest                Pompeii Motorsports         1
21 24 JUL Ekatarina Julic              Brutus Obey Sport GP        0
21 60 HIN Chiemi Hino                  Ibuna-Gambal Racing         0
21 14 MIG Miguel Santos                EVolution Racing            0

Constructor's Championship

Pos NAT Team                      Pts
  1 V&T VTM Tropicorp Engineering    62
  2 VNG Vannish Motors Racing        51
  3 NIM Nexus Racing                 39
  4 LIS Superia Junior Team          37
  5 SVJ SVJ Racing                   35
  6 WET Omni-Katoa Racing            33
  7 FID Ibuna-Gambal Racing          26
  8 TGN Kaylan Racing                24
  9 MTJ MRT2                         23
 10 ESM Brutus Obey Sport GP         16
 11 NRP Pompeii Motorsports          8
 12 EFL SinVal                       3
 13 AZD EVolution Racing             0

[Aboveland]

Janne's forehead rests on the fiberglass window to his right, the wing of the airplane cutting in and out of the clouds. Occasionally, the waters of Aboveland's northern province glisten through the dense cottony cover, and at times it synchronizes with the acoustic guitars that strum through the Abovian's earbuds. His hand serves as the stand for his chin, his fingers rubbing his fuzzy, recently shaved cheek. With his left hand, he cracks each of his fingers, one by one. The events of the previous weekend rustle his confidence, but his head isn't hung low in shame. After all, he can rest his doubts on his race win and 25 championship points that, so far, have him sixth overall and well in the thick of the championship battle.

The race--no, the weekend--at Insocima had been a huge disappointment. After his charge back from his low point of the qualifying accident at Aels, his race having gone promisingly until the surprisingly reliable Chase Cutter had given up on him, he'd taken a week off his free time to travel to the Nexus Racing HQ to fine tune his skills for the following weekend. His week away from home had seemed productive: the HQ was a sensory marvel, the sounds, sights, textures and smells of the Nimban worker ants combining to form a chaotic orchestra of wonder. It wasn't rare for him to be jolted away from his daydreams by the staff, his eyes fixated on a certain detail concerning a prototype or an instruction from one engineer to the next being the norm. He'd kept to himself, mostly; Ryker wasn't readily available all the time, as he was busy testing next year's WGPC iteration of the Chase Cutter; aside from a short conversation with Victoria Light, concerning the tragic system failure the weekend prior, most of his time was split between exchanging ideas with Lucia Vanderbilt, Janne expressing the areas of the car he felt needed tuning (the rookie was aware his advice or insight might be taken for granted, seeing as he had barely three of races to his name and a single points finish, so his critiques or ideas were suggested in evasive ways), or spent chatting and getting to know Martin Veri, Nexus' idea of a race engineer for him. From the get-go, he felt Martin knew what he was doing far more than Edvin did--not to take away Edvin's merit, but the Nimban universe was a whole new perspective on racing for both Abovians. On a couple of occasions, Janne and Martin went into the simulator at the HQ to run some setup changes around a virtual rendition of Crossbay circuit, and Janne's skill and morale took huge bounds in the right direction.

And yet, come Insocima, he didn't for a moment crack the top 10, his dedicated, entirely focused effort at redemption completely futile.

Luckily for everyone involved, the Krainian upset was not the morale assassin it looked to be. Despite the annoying melancholy that nibbled at Janne's insides, his racecraft was still masterful and intact, the charge from 17th to 13th meaning he was the last driver to finish on the lead lap. A top 10 finish had looked possible coming into the final quarter of the race, with tenth-placed Jason Masami less than a second ahead, but as his tyres began to wear out and the benefit of the ICAST system removed from both drivers after opposing demands, the rookie could only do so much to hold off the drivers behind, and Lynds and Jänkirinää were the beneficiaries in the end. It was a disappointing result after Janne's endeavor to excel in the racing world through a new "full focus" approach to driving, historically having been backed up by his family and friends in his racing ventures, but was all the more fruitful for the same reasons.

As the runway came into sight, the smooth, black tarmac contrasting with the lush summer grass just a few hundred meters from the shores of Kylmäjärvi, the distorted synths of "Suburbia" echoed into his ears. It felt good to be home, at long last.

[Vangaziland]

Exercise was almost as important as track time for the athletes at VMR. Karli had been working out with Jessica for two reasons. Jess wanted to show her a pro driver's regimen. Jess also needed to keep in shape for WGPC 17. Some people didn't know her success behind the wheel came from her strength to keep fighting, race after race. Although the cars handled well, driving them was a physical process which exerted the entire body.

They ran often, Karli dreading days at the stadium sprinting the staircases the most. Jess really put up a tough schedule. 5 days on a race week, now 6 days when there were no weekend events. All this started to push Karli to the limit. She was getting stronger, but drained. She needed a release. They needed to do something fun.

Jess heard Karli played basketball only a few weeks ago. The two had been talking about finding a game. One Wednesday, a bunch of people from VMR met at a local park. South Stead had lots of rural parks tucked away in the middle of nowhere, so it was easy to find an empty spot. It wasn't uncommon to see a VMR celebrity around South Stead or even Blue Coast anyways. Still, they would have rather avoided a scene. Even more importantly, they wanted to avoid serious basketball players in the name of company fun.

Karli sent a text to Jannik Markner, inviting him to bring 2 people for a 3 on 3 at the park if he was around. Game One would be Jess's team versus Karli's. Jess brought a tall redhead from the VMR boardroom and a black engineer who was about 5'10. Karli brought two members of her pitcrew. Chuck was 6'2 and had a fairly big belly. An Asian woman named Ling, who also works on the pit crew, rounded out Karli's squad.

Phil the redhead guarded Chuck, just a little taller than the round pit-crewman. Ling guarded Darren, the black engineer. She was only 5'8 but was quicker than him. Darren had his own skillset though. This left Karli and Jess to guard each other. Karli was a little taller. Jess had the benefit of working with the Vannish national team's starting point guard. She was still dating Hectare Yulssen after about two years now. In that time, he showed her several drills. Sometimes they worked out together, since it helped her improve focus.

Jess never played competitive basketball, but was always alright. Since dating Hectare, she learned pro level drills. She developed quite a handle with the ball. She even started to build a proper jumpshot. Karli played basketball in high school, but wasn't good enough to play in college. She was in better shape now than she was back then.

Karli's team started the game. They were playing to 21 points tallied by 2's and 3's. Sometimes a basket is worth only 1 point in streetball. They had to clarify. She inbounded to Ling. Ling tried to dribble in but passed. The ball traveled from player to player until it returned to Karli. She tried to take a jumpshot. It was cold, rocketing off the backboard.

Jessica's redheaded teammate grabbed the rebound. He passed to Darren. Darren turned his back to Chuck but was still far up the court. Jess ran up to him, sensing that he was stuck. She caught the quick pass and took off towards the basket. Karli rushed to cut in front of her. Jess twisted her body and crossed the ball in front of her body to change hands. This meant she went up with a left. In a streetball move she learned from Hectare, she clapped her hands on the release, just to make the sound. Flair. The basket hit the backboard's inner square after the one handed left release. It bounced in to score.

"Oohh", Darren shouted from the top of the key. He didn't know Jessica could actually play. He thought he would have to carry the team... For some reason. They were playing 'losers take out', which means the team that gets scored on gets the ball afterwards. Ling caught the pass from the opposite team to start at the free throw line. This was where they reset after every score. Ling passed to Karli from behind the arc.

Karli finally found her shot. This one went high in a rainbow, over the hand Jess put in her face. It hit the rim, rolled, bounced up and fell back down into the net.

"Ohhhhh", Chuck yelled and pointed in Darren's face. He didn't like how he'd cheered earlier.

The game continued to go back and forth. The drills Jess had been working on really showed improvement. She felt like she could do whatever she wanted to with the ball. The best part was that Karli was such a good defender. She was a challenge to get around. This let Jess string together move after move.

She faced her up from the top of the key at one point. She bounced the ball between her legs, letting her arm meet the ball out wide. It exaggerated her movement in that direction. It was so far away from her body that it looked like she might run that way.Then after it crossed under her legs and hit the other outstretched arm, she wiggled her shoulders as if she were about to take off.

Karli wasn't buying it. She twisted her shoulders and extended an arm everytime Jess changed direction. It didn't just challenge Jess, but also the passing lane. Jess would accept that challenge. She leapt each foot up and let it fall one after the other with a quick pitter pat. It looked like she was about to take off in a sprint. At the same time, she pushed her arm forward with the ball, only to bring it behind her back out to an arm outstretched to the opposite direction. It was the same move, only with a little extra thrown in.

This time Karli didn't react, since it was Jessica's left. So Jess ran to the basket with her left. Chuck stepped towards her to intercept. So Jess dished it to the man he was guarding. The redhead caught the pass and made the easy layup. This put jess up 18 to 13. This was a major turning point in the game. A big assist for the racer turned PG. What was once a 3 point lead was now just a 3 pointer away from winning the game.

Karli's team took the ball out. Big Chuck caught a pass from Karli in the post. He tried to go up, but Darren sprinted to double team. After an athletic leap, he threw the big man's shot way out of bounds. It landed against a chain-link fence. Chuck got the ball and went to throw the pass inbound. Darren made another athlethic play and got the steal.

Jessica was behind the three point line. It was important to keep a player back because the ball had to be brought behind that line after every opponent's missed shot. Darren's pass was an absolute rocketship of a cracker. Jess stepped into the pass as she caught it, since Karli was out of place. Karli had been going for the rebound. Jessica's shot was so fluid. Her hands followed through and her feet kicked out, just as Hectare had taught her. It helped her get just the right touch, power and natural form to her shot.

Karli leapt to try to distract Jess, but she had already lined up her shot. One of Hectare's friends, Tom Gravu, was known for his three point shooting. He told Jess a long range shooting tip. "Aim for the rings that hold the net to the rim", said the retired IBC player Gravu. This seemed to work out for Jess.

The high pressure shot swiftly landed in the net. It wasn't a perfect, silent swish. It landed with more of a thud and got stuck in the net, hanging before it fell through. It still sounded just as sweet. Jess and her two teammates came together into a team hug. "That's how it's done", Jess shouted from the center of the embrace. They were all sweating, especially Jess. That was a fast paced game.

Jess hadn't played much team basketball. The most she's done has been playing against Hectare 1 on 1 or shooting around with his friends. She didn't realize how much playing with a pro who was much taller than her had improved her game. Hectare was also a pretty good defender, known for keeping some of the world's top competitors to low scores. It even led to his first championship ring. Now both Hectare and Jess could call themselves champions in their sports.

Jess certainly felt like a champion after that game. She looked over and saw Karli looked just as exhausted. They would have to keep this going. The only issue was that Karli was just getting started. She hadn't played since high school. She was going to start working out. If she had to try to find a basketball player to work with, she would. That would be her getaway, instead of drunken beach parties at Blue Coast.

Karli was going to get Jess back one day. The group played a second game. It was even faster paced. Jess hung back a bit and played the role of 'floor general'. She heard the term applied to her boyfriend so often that she wanted to be like that. Before dating him, she used to think that the point of having a point guard, was just to have a short sneaky player that nobody expected to score. She thought if a PG scored, it was a surprise play and that they passed so much just because they were short. This insulted Hectare when she told him that on the second date.

That's when he first started teaching her how to run PG. Jess drew a lot of attention after the first game. She had enough of a crossover to easily outhandle 2 opponents. She bounced around the court like a true street baller. As the second game played on, a few more people showed up. One of them took out their phone and started to record some of the clips. They were posted to social media and circulated throughout the day.

Unfortunately for Karli, most of the clips showed her getting crossed up and shot over by Jessica Franssen. Since Jess was shorter, the visuals were just not good. It also made Jess look super aggressive. She wore long shorts down to her calves. They were dark purple with a blue and white stripe on either side of them. She wore a long white t-shirt and matching high top Bundison sneakers. A headband kept sweat out of her eyes and her mess of hair wrapped together.

Karli wore less cool red shorts and a compression top. She was sweating profusely and her blonde ponytail was getting whipped around as she tried to guard Jessica. Jess hit Karli with another tricky crossover, where she stepped forward only to have the ball wrap around her back. When it hit her left, Jess took off to the left once again. Karli seemed slower to bound that way off of her left foot, so Jess exploited this all day.

When Karli almost caught up just to have Jess stutter step, rock back and sprint right, Karli gave up. Jess was left open for an easy layup to win the game. She brought the ball down with both hands as she started the glide. She took it in her right hand and pumped it in a one handed circle some called a windmill. As it was coming back up, she released it. Jess clapped the backboard after releasing the shot. The loud metallic clang happened just before the floater rainbowed perfectly into the net.

The crowd of onlookers erupted into an "OHHHHHHHHH!" Jessica was 2 and 0. Now she just made a scene in front of some others. Cell phones were recording by this point, catching the last move. After that, Jess and Karli decided to sit for awhile. They both had done a lot of sprinting. The pair laughed and teased each other about what happened.

"I bet you didn't think I could do that", said Jess in her baggy shorts. She pat Karli on the back as they both struggled to catch their breath.

"I guess they CAN teach an old dog new tricks", said Karli, full of salt.

Jessica laughed as she could see just how upset Karli was getting. She turned to grab a water bottle. "Drink water, son."

[Aboveland]

Kylmajärvi, Aboveland
Tuesday

Janne downs the last of his latte, the frothy cream oozing towards his lips. He checks his watch briefly: it's past seven PM, the setting sun's rays cutting through the thick forest at the far edge of Kylmajärvi lake. The gentrified, rustic wood look of the coffee shop he's in is as mainstream as it gets, Edison lightbulbs and all, but he secretly digs the aesthetic. Between it, the acoustic pop covers, and the contrast between the brown inside and lush green vegetation outside, he feels properly cooed and cozy. The trip home, so far, has been the perfect mental reset button. He smiles as three butterflies appear from within the bushes below the gigantic window in front of the tall table before him and fly away into the distance.

While he meditates, gazing at the landscape, his phone lights up. The do not disturb function hasn't worked as planned, but the message is important. His flight has been postponed to midnight. Janne acknowledges the message and prepeares to leave, setting a couple of yonder coins under the empty cup in front of him. He walks towards the front door and pushes it open while he waves at the baristas, the eldest of the trio, an old family friend, smiling back.

The door, however, swings open violently, and the rush of warm summer air knocks Janne back. He turns his head towards the now wide open door, and behind its rattly glass stands a tall boy around Janne's age, of pale complexion, his eyes a sparkly light blue, his blond, unkempt hair dry and loose. The two make eye contact, both in awe, both confused. The door swings back closed, but the teens don't budge. Janne is the first to utter a sound.

"A-anders?" he asks, his eyebrows almost hiding themselves in the hair that drapes sloppily over his forehead.

Anders gleams, his doey eyes lighting up despite his efforts to contain them. "No way," he exhales, amazed.

Janne's chest begins to pound, his hearbeat apparent in his temples. "Wh-what's up?" he asks, letting slip a fraction of excitement.

"I was coming around for coffee," Anders replies through a smile. "I can't believe it's you!"

Janne lunges for the door and holds it open. "Mind if I join you?" he inquires. "We have lots to catch up on!"

Anders chuckles. "It's on me!" he replies.

The two head back into the shop, Janne following Anders, his legs slightly weaker than before. The two discuss their orders for a moment and Janne heads back to the table he was sat at earlier, the orange glow of the afternoon filling his face. Soon enough, the pair are sat together, and their long overdue reunion begins. They begin to engross themselves in a long, winding conversation (longer than their drinks warranted) over the past few years they were apart, at times mentioning the days sat on the football pitch picking at blades of grass and arguing over who would be the next world rally champion, sometimes pointing out the others' bigger muscles or clearer skin or deeper voice, frequently coming back around to the "it's so great to see you!"s or "I can't believe it's actually you!"s.

An hour later, Janne's phone dings. He glances at the monochrome ambient display and carries on with his conversation, before shooting an alarmed glare at the screen in a violent double-take.

"What is it?" asks Anders, covertly concerned.

"My flight!" Janne exclaims. "I'm so sorry!" he says, lamenting the interruption to their engrossing conversation. He gets up to leave, picking up his wallet and phone, and dashes to the door.

Anders, aware of the chance slipping from his hands, jumps from his bar stool and lunges for Janne's shirt, carefully avoiding the customers to either side of him. Janne turns around, anxious. "What?" he asks, slightly imperatively.

Anders' eyes droop almost imperceptibly at his old friends' tone, but he carries on regardless. "Is this goodbye, then?" he asks, downbeat.

Janne's heart rate rises again, his cold sweats reigniting, and stammers his reply. "I guess so," he says, inadvertently mimicking Anders' mood.

"Listen," says the Kylmajärvan, "I was actually planning on hitting the sauna after coming over here. Do you reckon you could come, if only for a bit, before you go?"

Janne's tongue is already pressed against the roof of his mouth, his lips barely open, his brain vocalizing a 'no,' when his heart reconsiders. The race isn't until Friday, so the flight could wait, and it wouldn't be terribly difficult to make up an excuse to rebook the seat. Saunas aren't his cup of tea, and he isn't even wearing a swimsuit, unlike Anders and his short, loose neon orange trunks; however, if this was the last he saw of Anders for a while, he'd surely feel remorse for not biting the bullet. Before replying, he exhales abruptly, as if throwing away his previous response, and begins, softly, "I guess I could, yeah. Where are we going?"

Anders' eyes light up again, his own heart fluttering. "Just follow my lead!" he yelps excitedly, his upbeat tone pleasantly surprising Janne. "Come," he says, pushing the door open into the chilly lakeside evening. "Follow me."

[Savojarna]

Insocima, The Krainin Islands
Formation Lap

Roman Arjenko lags a bit behind the Superia Junior of Darius Castellamare, trying to get some space behind the Lisanderian rookie. Approaching Turn 5, he speeds up to near maximum and tests out the brake point in front of the sharp corner. SVJ's number one driver tries to get a feel for the road at this crucial point - it is clean, with a solid grip. He should be able to take risks here. On the screen in front of him, he checks the temperatures of his systems, all glowing in a bright green. Roman turns through T5 and repeats the procedure for the sixth turn, seeing his car shift the engine power distribution between the four wheels ever so slightly to account for a slippery spot on the inside of the track and boosting him out of the corner.

As Roman approaches the four following corners, his mind draws a line on the tarmac. Pulling out to the left, into T8 and hugging the inside of the corner. Stay patient, wait until T9 curls to the left. Cut into the corner, just about grazing the curb, and push the pedal down aiming for the little kink between 9 and 10. For 10, he opts for an aggressive approach, trying to take as much speed as possible through the combination and onto the straight before the last combination. Here, he will have to make up for the time he will lose in the fast corners of the first sector thanks to the aerodynamic problems of the SVJ-01, to be fixed in the update they work on for ages by now. Arjenko mentally checks the line again - he has it in mind perfectly. He knows where to brake, where to steer in, everything. But will it be enough, he asks himself as he pulls out of the hairpin and warms up his tyres and brakes one last time.

A glance on the screen in front of him confirms that the warmup went according to plan. "Okay Roman, everything is in the green area. Your systems are in the ideal corridor, set the fuel mix to four and try to attack right away. Pit stops at lap 14 to soft and on lap 42 to super-soft; 14 to soft and 42 to super soft, fuel to 4", his race engineer informs Roman Arjenko as he sees Castellamare pull out to the right and take his place on the grid. Arjenko turns a knob on the steering wheel to the mark with the number 4 and slows down into the box with the number seven on the road. As he slows his car to zero, Arjenko pulls on his paddle to shift downwards. On the screen, a message shows up.

START MODE
ACTIVATED
To leave start mode
shift up to Gear 1

Roman Arjenko breathes in deeply, then exhales as the first light shows up on the signal in front of him. Two lights. Three. His muscles tense around the wheel. Four lights. Five. His foot hovers over the throttle, the eyes fixed on the lights, the hands tightly on the wheel. They shut off and the SVJ-01 jerks forward. Pulls level with Castellamare, but can't quite pass. Behind him, Lynds is on his tail while Masami is right behind the Eastfielder. In the fast combination, he has to let go of Castellamare, the superior aerodynamics of the Superia Junior car deciding the battle. Lynds uses the slipstream, attempting to attack on the inside of turn 5. She pulls level, using the slipstream, but can't quite pass Arjenko. Wheel to wheel, they pull out of the corner, Masami right behind the two.

Arjenko has the outside, but he is determined not to lose this one. He underestimated the speed of Lynds' car on the straight and thought he could close the door on her, but was forced onto the outside. The SinVal's nose slowly disappears from his vision, then is gone faster as Lynds has to hit the brakes a little before him. Roman now has the better line, he is slightly ahead. But then, Lynds' nose comes up again. She takes a risk, enters the corner fast and forces the Savojar further outside. Slowly, he runs out of space, but he won't give up this place because of a mistake like the one he made before T5. He can still beat her. Suddenly, Arjenko feels a jolt in his right side and loses control of his car. The computer immediately shuts down the engine transmission and redistributes the power to the wheels as the cars behind them pass the site of the crash. He shakes his head and waves angrily at Lynds as they drive back onto the track, her front wing lacking its left half.

"Roman?"

He hears his race engineer on the intercom, Savojarsk and Russian curses thrown wildly in between in a hectic mix. "Roman, are you okay? We see no structural damage so far, but your right rear tyre looks like it got hurt. Tell us how it goes and come in if you feel something off, and we switch to plan B. You are now on P18, Jama'obo on P21". Now it's Roman's turn to curse. Going into the combination of the medium-speed turns where he wanted to make up for lost time in the first sector, he feels heavy vibrations that make the car hard to steer. "Okay, I have vibrations. Box please, box", he states flatly. "Alright Roman, box this lap. We switch to Medium and back to super-soft in lap 39. Box this lap". Roman confirms the message, preparing for a long slump at the back of the field.

[Vilita and Turori]

:: Baker Unrest in Cocoabo Forest, outperforms Fast Cocoabo::

Tensions have reportedly been running high over the pace two race weekends at VTM Tropicorp Engineering as number two driver Edward Baker has outperformed the teams primary driver and top placed drivers championship points contender Cocoabo #23 in both events in Aels and in THE MOST RECENT EVENT.

Baker piloted the Vilita & Turori Motorsports Tropicorp Engineering #97 machine to a fourth place finish at the Western Route Circuit in Aels to claim their first points of the season as Cocoabo #23 was mired back in twelfth position, the last car on the lead lap and 10 seconds behind the Super Junior driver Juliano Lemos to even contest for a position in the points.

The following weekend at the Onsocima International Circuit, Cocoabo #23 was fast from the moment they unloaded placing second in the opening practice session. However, the things Fast Cocoaobo learned translated smoothly to Bakers ride and by the time qualifying came around, Baker had found themselves just one-one-thousandth of a second off Tyra Tabuso's Ibuna-Gambal for pole position while Cocoabo #23 was left once again mired just outside the top 10 in 11th place.

While Fast Cocoabo put together a strong race and climbed up five positions to a sixth place finish, it would still be a black mark for the Cocoabo marking the second straight race where the week two winner was outperformed by their teammate as Baker followed Tabuso to the stripe to claim second place and their first podium position with the team.

After four events in the World Grand Prix 2 Season, VTM Tropicorp Engineering lead Vannish Motors Racing by 11 points in the constructors table while both Cocoabo #23 and Edward Baker now sit in the top 4 of the Driver's Championship Standings. There had been rumors that Edward Baker was on a four race trial with VTM Tropicorp Engineering which may account for the drivers do-or-die attitude in their uptick in form, looking to stave off the vultures in the form of other drivers bringing funding or more widely accepted skills to the table in an effort to secure a drive at the current Constructors leading ride. While no announcements have been made, it appears most likely that Baker will continue to drive for the team so long as the podium finishes keep coming but it may be a race-to-race contract with the Krainin Isles driver at this point in the season

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Nexus Racing HQ, Crossbay Circuit, Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
18th of September

“So, these two are what we’ve got so far.”

Gertrude and Timothy sit in Timothy’s office. The latter exudes his typical aura of self-confidence as he looks over the tablet of his colleague and friend, examining the finalised DIADEM designs. He nods, pleased, as Gertrude goes on: “Both Imagination-forged for tensile strength and ductility in the case of the second; we’re confident that they’ll withstand shrapnel impact and tyre impact at race speed, not to mention acting as a mini roll cage if the car flips.” Gertrude glances at him, eyes narrowed. “Yes, I know I said that. Don’t.”

Timothy chuckles. “I wouldn’t dare. These are both ready for construction when the order is given?”

“Soon as. Satellite manufactory’s receiving the plastic moulds for the second this evening and we’ve already got everything set up here.”

“Good… Should the other teams be interested, we will be ready.”

Gertrude smirks. “That we are. I doubt that VMR are exactly going to be filling up the order sheets any time soon but, well, we’ve already got Obey onside, so we know that it’s appealing to at least one conventional project. Hopefully that’ll translate.” She taps her tablet a few times. “So you know, I’m planning on having both our cars carry A, at least for now. Most of the team prefer it for the lack of visual distortion and, since Obey’s going to be testing the other, we can still get the data for B from there.”

“And you’ve convinced our two drivers to follow suit?”

The grimace that he receives at that comment removes any need for a further answer. Nexus Racing’s Head Designer gives one anyway. “I’m going to talk to Edvin, Rebecca and Valen, at least; Janne’s taking some time to refocus. Fingers crossed, full ICAST being finished last week should have given us some reputation points to play with.” She smiles again. “Besides, they’re all understanding people. They’ll get it.”

20th of September

In Conference Room 2, Gertrude Thompson slaps her hands against the table. “Alright, I think you all knew this was coming.”

From the garage, across the headquarters’ length, Brutus Obey Sport GP’s DIADEMs are being carried across to the portal room for the Esmerelian team to receive, the message already having been sent on ahead to expect their arrival alongside instructions on their installation and a request for relevant data after the race weekend.

It would not do for Nexus Racing to show up with their own safety kit second.

Thus are Edvin, Rebecca and Valen – joined by Ryker Lane, who simply hadn’t had anything else to do and had been surprisingly open to a distraction – gathered with Gertrude to discuss the matter. “Normally,” she says, “I’d suggest a window of time to acclimatise before racing but…” She turns to Ryker, eyes inviting an explanation.

The Nimban driver offers it. “Within a few laps of practicing with the DIADEM last season, I was used to it. It’s honestly not that big a deal, especially with the wireframe overlay that Victoria’s worked on for the CDIVDS. Even if the central pillar got in the way – which, in my experience, it doesn’t – you’ll basically be able to see through it. You’ll get used to it.” He smiles. “Besides, isn’t that kinda the point?”

Gertrude answers with an emphatic nod. “You’re right – we ought to remember that this is intended as training for you –” she looks to Rebecca – “to get into WGPC with us and, well, we’re going to be running this in the WGPC. Besides,” she declares firmly, “we’ve got to set a standard here. We were the ones who came forward with this; we can’t just back down now.”

She looks around, hoping to read the reactions of the others.

[Vangaziland]

The spirit of competition between Jess and Karli hadn't ended after the basketball game. In some ways the two have never felt as close as they have after the match. At the same time, there was a new dynamic. Karli was not satisfied just being a student. She wanted to best her mentor. It led to Karli talking big one day after a decent simulator run at the season's next track.

"I bet I can beat you around Alixring", Karli said, challenging Jess to a race around the track in Lisander. The Vannish simulator room had 3 cabins, refined for NSSCRA use as well. The WGP2 car file was currently only loaded for two machines. Jess and Karli would square off from here.

"5 laps. Rolling start", said Jess going over a few rules.

Karli snorted as she replied, "I get top position. It's only fair", she said. They moved to the machines and climbed into the cabins. Jessica laughed a bit as the darkness shut around her. Soon they were both transported into their virtual cabin. They managed to find the operator to run the program between trading jokes at each other's expense.

Now it was all on the line. Karli clenched her lead spot on Jess, with Franssen falling behind. Jess knew she had to stay out of Karli's bad air. Her lines stayed right on pace with Karli as they made their way around the first loop of the track. Jess watched how Karli took the large feature. Alixring had two banking curves, one on either side of the course.

As the cars sped across the simulated National Road 6, Jess tried making her first move on Karli. She tried to go outside, but this was easy for Karli to block. Karli started to gain distance on Jess, but the experienced Franssen caught up by the kink at the airport.

The drivers could hear each other over headsets. "I'm coming to get you on this bank", Jess teased.

"No you won't, I see your telemetry from here", Karli could see that Jess was easily blocked as the turn started. Jess was trying to feint her. This was a slower, tighter turn. The two cars took offdown the straight. Both drivers could see a simulated crowd moving to cheer for them. They would have to wonder how a crowd would feel watching Karli lead Jess around lap 1.

The next few laps would be quite similar. Any space Karli gained, Jess picked up through later braking. She had better control of the car and was a little stronger. With this being a simulator, Jess was practicing in ways she might never do on a real track. It was something she had to work on though. At one point on lap 3, she almost clipped into Karli after braking late.

"If you wreck me, you lose", Karli joked.

It was lap 4 when Jessica's move seemed imminent. As they came around the first wide banking turn towards the national road, Karli set up for the pass. She had studied the way Karli came out of each turn. She took it a little wider so her exit would have a slightly straighter path towards the inside. More room to run from her angle, at least. Jess really jammed her foot down and pushed the car harder out of the turn than she had before.

Karli noticed a little late and tried to outrun Jess. Franssen already had space. She merged in front of Karli, the indigo and red of Jessica's car filling Karli's screen.

"That sound you heard", Jess quipped, "was my turn signal."

Karli took a deep angry sigh of a breath. "Dang it, Jess." Franssen laughed in reply. Karli would spend the rest of the race frantically finding ways tryng to thwart Franssen. Jess only gained more and more space once she was in front. Karli couldn't really even keep up, let alone pass. Now she watched the sort of lines Jess had been running from behind. She realized Jess could have passed her long ago.

"Holy heck", she said as the race ended. For 5 laps and a late pass, Jess put up some space. The simulator shut off and they both climbed out.

"Well that's that", said Jess. "You did good. You're not on my level yet though, kiddo." Jess flashed a heavy gold ring with indigo and red stones. "I literally got a championship ring made, hun. You still have to work your way up."

Karli's eyes widened with excitement. Her voice had the pitch to match. "Can I get a ring made if we win this season?"

"We'll see", Jess said under coy, lowered eyebrows. "Jang and Jenna are getting two rings for last season." Although 'Jang' was his surname, many people still called him by it since it was spoken first. It also seemed a bit more catchy. Jess didn't mention she also ordered those two rings for herself, since she was principal. It was only fair.

Karli swooned, rocking from side to side and wrapping her arms around her side. "Oh man!" A cup or two in a company showcase sounded cool. Rings? Now that was something.

It made Jessica laugh. "But you have to focus on doing well in the next race first. The Lisander crew is set to do well. They'll be looking to move into the lead here." The pair made their way out of the simulator room and back towards the cars. Jess loved hanging out while the engineers worked on it. The habit was rubbing off on Karli. "Just remember. Whatever happens after this race doesn't end the season. Eventually your lead will be challenged. When you fall from it, keep fighting. Even if you start to fall back, keep pushing."

Jess had a wealth of advice. She was glad to share with her protege.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Chapter 10: After Race Lunch

Jason Masami drove his car to his garage after the Week 5 Race Day, where he wanted to celebrate a bit by having some lunch. Sitting at a restaurant near the hotel at a table outside, Masami was in the middle of asking the waiter for whatever protein-based dishes were available, when the official from the Ministry of Sports arrived with a copy of The Truth News in hand. "Here to tell me about my rank in the championship? 11th place is still impressive, if you think about it." Jason said, sipping some red wine, as the official sat down at the chair on the other end of the table. The official immediately shows the sports section where it shows the pictures that were taken of Jason Masami that weren't bloopers. "Where's the joke pictures?" Masami asked.

"We burned them, of course. And we shot the photographer who thought it was funny to add them to the issue." the official said, ordering a glass of water from the waiter. "Oh come on! They weren't that bad!" Masami argued, since that photographer probably had a loved one or two. "The Leader doesn't want our finest athletes looking like fools, Masami." the official said, where Masami nearly spilled his wine over his legs. "We all know that we're doing it for fun and pride, you know."

"True, but you know how our nation is a bit on the violent side."
"Even so, I'm being chill. I kill another person who is an enemy to the nation, but that stuff barely happens."
"Well, I'm telling you this, because the Leader is in a bit of a bad mood this week."
"Someone ruined his brand new shoes?"
"No one knows. But the good news is that he gotten rid of this." the official said, showing him a headline on the Truth News. "Machine of Death Decommissioned For Fake Predictions, Scientist Put On Death Row" "It's good, because the Ministry of Sports were debating on using the machine to predict the deaths of athletes."
"Sports in this day of age have so many safety protocols, there is no way I'm dying in a car crash anytime, soon."

"Look, I want you to act like a reasonable individual. We don't want several incidents happening with you, being alone with your team. We need to have someone who's image is the whole perfect goody no-shoes, Masami. Don't try to disappoint us." the official said, before leaving to have Masami finish his lunch.

[Vangaziland]

Ade Imoju had called Jessica Franssen after his crash at Insocima. Technically he was still on VMR's books as a GT2 driver. He knew she wouldn't resist his call for help. Her ego was too big. Besides, something had to give. Things had been looking so good at the last event. He even led the race. But then... Yeah.

"You've got to work out", she told him. "Like really work out. You've got to fight the car harder. But make it fun." She gave Ade the names of a few professionals. Their help wouldn't come cheap though. They were tied to both professional and national sports teams. Out of a list of 5 names, Ade went with Shelia Hancourt.

Sheila was the trainer brought onto the Vannish National Lacrosse Team before they won their championship. She helped get them in the shape to be one of the world's top 3 programs. It would cost Ade 5 figures to hire her for the duration of the season. Luckily, his agent found a sponsor to help cover it. The energy drink REDUP was glad to pick up the relatively small fee. He would have to carry branded cups and be seen drinking from REDUP cans.

If he had to push some corporate energy drink just to afford one of the Empire's top trainers, so be it. He found there was a lot of running. She put him on a tough diet of cardio, crossfit and weightlifting. Ade was no stranger to the gym. She just pushed him farther than he ever would have alone. She also went over his diet, which was tougher for Ade to change.

When he ran, she was right there next to him. She constantly yelled at him to run faster. To push harder. This wasn't a coincidence. Sheila also pushed the lacrosse national team to push harder. It led to two great seasons which helped Vannish lax jump up from 12th in standings to the top. Ade needed this. He had fallen into a rhythmn of settling back on the track.

The reason for this became evident. When he pushed, he found himself in the lead. How did that go though? He wrecked, partially because of the pressure. He was an aggressive driver. The same force he used to take the lead led to his overzealous incident. He had to find a middle ground.

Jess told him to work out because she knew he needed to feel more comfortable in the car. The better one can deal with the force of the driving effort, the more comfortable they might feel pushing the car. Ade also had a late wreck, which showed he may have felt fatigued. The simplicity of his mistake really leds credence to this.

Now Ade finds himself sweating his way to the approaching race weekend. Sheila is traveling with Omni Katoa, almost like a member of the staff. She doesn't have access to team facilities, but she makes all the flights. REDUP Energy Drinks is also handling her travel arrangements. On the night before the week's first track day, he has a thorough stretching session. The workout is a light warmup. It was best for him not to be too sore when he had to drive.

They'd still get a good cardio session before the race. This suggestion came about because of Jessica Franssen's advice. Ade could only hope the advice paid off as soon as this upcoming race at Alixring, Lisander.

[Mattijana]

This is your belated practice/ quali cutoff. The race will now be scorinated on Tuesday evening.

[Mattijana]

Week 6: Practice

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	81.954
Qualifying Type:	Two Tier
Nation:         	LIS
Circuit:        	Alixring

POS # DRIVER                   TEAM                	FASTEST LAP	BEHIND LEADER
 1 16 Janne Laukkanen             Nexus Racing                	00:01:20.021	00:00:00.000
 2 33 Karli Schmitt               Vannish Motors Racing       	00:01:20.021	00:00:00.000
 3  3 Darius Castellammare        Superia Junior Team         	00:01:20.039	00:00:00.018
 4 25 Timo Jänkirinää             Omni-Katoa Racing           	00:01:20.058	00:00:00.037
 5 24 Ekatarina Julic             Brutus Obey Sport GP        	00:01:20.060	00:00:00.039
 6 97 Edward Baker                VTM Tropicorp Engineering   	00:01:20.064	00:00:00.043
 7 48 Tyra Tabuso                 Ibuna-Gambal Racing         	00:01:20.077	00:00:00.055
 8 15 Rebecca Darlington          Nexus Racing                	00:01:20.091	00:00:00.070
 9 63 Dahlia Dahl                 Pompeii Motorsports         	00:01:20.097	00:00:00.076
10 17 Max Prefodski               Kaylan Racing               	00:01:20.102	00:00:00.080
11 18 Isaia Fanene                Kaylan Racing               	00:01:20.108	00:00:00.086
12  2 Juliano Lemos               Superia Junior Team         	00:01:20.119	00:00:00.098
13 44 Laurencia Lynds             SinVal                      	00:01:20.149	00:00:00.128
14 60 Chiemi Hino                 Ibuna-Gambal Racing         	00:01:20.160	00:00:00.139
15 10 Erik DeForest               Pompeii Motorsports         	00:01:20.166	00:00:00.145
16 12 Ade Imoju                   Omni-Katoa Racing           	00:01:20.177	00:00:00.156
17 19 Dom Falepeau                MRT2                        	00:01:20.180	00:00:00.159
18  5 Jason Masami                Brutus Obey Sport GP        	00:01:20.197	00:00:00.176
19 75 Roman Arjenko               SVJ Racing                  	00:01:20.218	00:00:00.197
20  9 Jannik Markner              Vannish Motors Racing       	00:01:20.465	00:00:00.444
21 37 Jama'obo Pegasii            SVJ Racing                  	00:01:20.507	00:00:00.486
22 14 Miguel Santos               EVolution Racing            	00:01:20.790	00:00:00.769
23 23 Cocoabo #23                 VTM Tropicorp Engineering   	00:01:20.844	00:00:00.822

[Mattijana]

Week 6: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	81.954
Qualifying Type:	Two Tier
Nation:         	LIS
Circuit:        	Alixring

POS # DRIVER                   TEAM                	FASTEST LAP	BEHIND LEADER		
 1  3 Darius Castellammare        Superia Junior Team         	00:01:19.999	00:00:00.000	00:01:20.035	00:00:00.000
 2  2 Juliano Lemos               Superia Junior Team         	00:01:20.015	00:00:00.016	00:01:20.055	00:00:00.020
 3 48 Tyra Tabuso                 Ibuna-Gambal Racing         	00:01:20.028	00:00:00.029	00:01:20.110	00:00:00.075
 4 19 Dom Falepeau                MRT2                        	00:01:20.108	00:00:00.109	00:01:20.655	00:00:00.620
 5 24 Ekatarina Julic             Brutus Obey Sport GP        	00:01:20.115	00:00:00.116	00:01:21.096	00:00:01.061
 6 60 Chiemi Hino                 Ibuna-Gambal Racing         	00:01:20.137	00:00:00.138	00:01:21.615	00:00:01.580
 7 63 Dahlia Dahl                 Pompeii Motorsports         	00:01:20.138	00:00:00.139	00:01:24.744	00:00:04.709
 8 44 Laurencia Lynds             SinVal                      	00:01:20.141	00:00:00.142	00:01:25.300	00:00:05.265
 9 25 Timo Jänkirinää             Omni-Katoa Racing           	00:01:20.141	00:00:00.142	00:01:25.898	00:00:05.863
10 17 Max Prefodski               Kaylan Racing               	00:01:20.155	00:00:00.156	00:01:31.231	00:00:11.196
11 16 Janne Laukkanen             Nexus Racing                	00:01:20.178	00:00:00.179		
12 37 Jama'obo Pegasii            SVJ Racing                  	00:01:20.209	00:00:00.210		
13 12 Ade Imoju                   Omni-Katoa Racing           	00:01:20.215	00:00:00.216		
14 75 Roman Arjenko               SVJ Racing                  	00:01:20.288	00:00:00.289		
15 33 Karli Schmitt               Vannish Motors Racing       	00:01:20.316	00:00:00.317		
16  9 Jannik Markner              Vannish Motors Racing       	00:01:20.322	00:00:00.323		
17 14 Miguel Santos               EVolution Racing            	00:01:20.349	00:00:00.349		
18 23 Cocoabo #23                 VTM Tropicorp Engineering   	00:01:20.358	00:00:00.359		
19 15 Rebecca Darlington          Nexus Racing                	00:01:20.514	00:00:00.514		
20  5 Jason Masami                Brutus Obey Sport GP        	00:01:20.571	00:00:00.572		
21 18 Isaia Fanene                Kaylan Racing               	00:01:20.711	00:00:00.712		
22 10 Erik DeForest               Pompeii Motorsports         	00:01:21.312	00:00:01.313		
23 97 Edward Baker                VTM Tropicorp Engineering   	00:01:21.429	00:00:01.430

[Vangaziland]

It would be a lackluster qualifying session for Karli. This made two race weekends in a row where she qualified well and scrubbed things in qualifying. At one lap, she was set to have her fastest lap. Her indigo and red machine was a flash of red sparks with the Vannish motor's eerie howl to announce her presence. As she approached the kink near the airport, her brakes locked up.

"Ah, we needed this lap", Jess said over the headset. She could see how much time was lost based on computer estimate's in the manager's box. But Karli wasn't done flopping that lap. She didn't get the right line heading into the curve which led to the final straight. Her car looked a little loose as she obviously fought the car around the curve. It should have completed the wide turn in a single maneuver. Instead Karli jerked the wheel. The car went a little sideways and scrubbed off a little more time.

This forced her to rely on an earlier lap. There was a lot of room for her to improve on that time. She had improved certain sections as the laps wore on. Her laps deteriorated on other parts of the track simultaneously. It was clear why Jessica beat her in the simulator here. Karli did really well at practice. Pushing the car to the fullest extent to a different sort of coordination. Karli could run fast here, but her racing lines were lacking.

As other cars around her fought for their fastest times, she struggled to keep up. The truth was that the Vannish car wasn't looking like one of the fastest. When it did well, it was more of a result of Karli's skill. Jannik Markner had an equally rough session. He would be starting one place behind Karli, at 16th.

It was not a good start for VMR. This is at a time when the company sits second in Constructors'. Karli once again finds herself in danger of likely losing her lead in Driver Standings.

She appeared all nerves, slightly red with messy blonde hair as she spoke in front of the camera. "This is not the start we wanted. We were in this situation last week. Maybe even a little further back this time..." She paused and lifted her branded hat to wipe sweat from under her brow. "It just puts me in a hard position." Karli began to smile.

"The thing is, I know we can catch up. This is one of the easier tracks to pass at. We ran fast at practice, so we can put up some fast laps over time. So all isn't lost. This just isn't where we want to be."

A journalist asked her for clarification. Why wasn't this an ideal result? Besides the obvious, of course. "Well the thing is, we might still get a decent result. We want to be in a position to possibly run at the lead." After a quick pause, she added. "We had time in the lead last race. But man... We can't expect to do that every week."

Another reporter mentioned how a lot of the season's top drivers also needed to drive well on race day.

"Well I'll be looking to catch Laukkanen's line", Karli said before laughing. "Easier said than done. I know Janne can put up some fast laps. I'll hope Jannik can stay on my tail, but there will be a lot of other to compete against."

When pushed to name who, Karli mentioned, "Fast Cocoabo, for one. They're in the battle for the point's lead. The truth is, a lot of people stand to do well. This should be a good day for Superia. Falepeau can use points. Even Timo is in position to do well. So we're behind the curve."

Jess also dealt with heat from the media.

"Yes, this was one of the tracks Karli was set to do well at", she replied to a reporter. She looked uncomfortable. "The truth is I think fatigue may be catching up to her. She's had a hot start. There's always bound to be some regression to the mean."

Jess had an almost grim look on her face. In truth, the pressure was really high right now.

"I just told Karli to prepare for the worst, before these sessions. So she should be in the right mindset. Her lead won't last forever. She's going to have to fight every race week. That includes weeks when the Cup seems 1000 miles away, just as much as weeks when her lead might seem insurmountable. Once again, Karli will be put to the test."

Jess was asked if she had faith in Karli. "This is a course that's agreeable to passing. I think we can help Karli string together a good race. Her car looked good, she just had some concentration lapses at the qualifying session. Let's see how the race stacks up."

The acting principal was asked how Karli's WGP2 season matched with Jessica's own memory of WGPC 16. "Our two seasons are almost completely opposite", Jess replied. "After my first four races, I was near the bottom of the grid. Winning the Cup was the last thing on my mind. I was really ready to even give up and coast through the rest of the season. Then things started turning around the 5th or 6th race."

Jess turned to look over at the two indigo and red cars in the paddock. She took a deep breath and almost started to smile as she thought about last season in the WGPC. What a wild ride that season was... Now Karli was going to find herself in a true fight.

"Karli will have to be careful for those whose season is off to a late bloom. I still think she can pull a few points from race day."

Jess was asked how she felt about Jannik Markner. "Well, we see he's right behind Karli. This is clearly where the car is falling. But it's what they can do from here that will differentiate themselves. We saw what Karli did last week. It's easy for driver's to become discouraged. VMR needs Jannik to not get down because of the standings. We need him to fight."

Jessica refused to speak on Jannik's job security.

[Aboveland]

Kylmajärvi, Aboveland
18th of September

Anders dashes ahead of him under the orange glow of the streetlights, cutting through the occasional blockade of pedestrians. Janne, behind, struggles to keep up, and in trying to maintain his speed ends up apologizing to the people who receive his shoves. While he runs, he checks his watch, its glow in the dark hands showing 8:10. At the next corner, Anders stops to lean on a wall plastered with political posters and ads for escorts to wait for Janne, who arrives with a suppressed pant.

"Sorry," Anders says, patting him on the back. "Ready to move on?" he asks, immediately.

Janne looks up at Anders through the slightly damp hair that's fallen over his eyes. Under the lamps, and from his crouched position, Anders looks taller and more toned, one side of his face lit up, the other jagged with shadows. The moment is almost surreal, as if it were a game cutscene, the replies hovering over Janne's eyes; Anders, almost expressionless, bobbing up and down with each breath, awaiting his answer. Janne just smiles and Anders smiles back before they continue, now less at a loss for breath than words.

As they approach the sauna house, Janne cocks his head to the side. No lights are on inside the building, and the sidewalk in front of it is unusually desolate. As a siren rings in the distance, Anders approaches the glass doors nonchalantly and tugs at the stainless steel handles. The tempered plexiglass rattles.

"It's closed," Anders says. His shoulders fall slightly. "Closed fifteen minutes ago."

Janne musters up an ounce of disappointment, half motivated by the fact his time with Anders was cut short, half forced in spite of his dislike of saunas.

"Agh, that's a shame," he replies, his eyebrows bending to the sides of his eyes.

The two pause.

Anders inhales faintly to speak, but flutters a sigh back out and looks to the side.

"What?" Janne asks.

Anders turns his head back to Janne. "Goodbye, then," he says with a genuine, heartfelt smile, walking towards Janne with open arms.

Janne smiles back, awkwardly, and widens his own arms. The two hug like old friends, pats and chuckles and all.

"I guess I'll have to go pack now," Janne says between chortles, secretly hoping for a plan B from Anders while turning back around to his apartment.

"Good luck next weekend!" Anders replies as he starts to wave.

Janne begins to walk away, Anders standing still at the entrance to the sauna house, when as the WGP2 rookie is about to round the corner he dashes back to him.

"Wait!" Anders yells. Janne turns back around.

"Gimme your phone," he orders. Janne complies. After a moment, he gives it back.

"There," Anders says. "Now you can call me when you're back."

He smiles, and Janne does too.

"You will be back, right?"

The rookie pauses. "Yes," he replies, hesitantly. "Yeah, surely, next week maybe."

"Great!" Anders says, his smile shyly widening. "See you then!"

Janne braces for another hug, but this time Anders walks away. He lowers his arms from the barely raised position they were in, and heads back to his apartment to pack for the midnight flight. He has a skip in his step as he walks down the sidewalk, his heart fluttering, his stomach delightfully uneasy.

---

Nexus Racing HQ, Crossbay Circuit, Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
20th September
Edvin doesn't think twice. "Anything that makes our drivers safer is okay for me," he says, dryly.

The following nodding silence is a little rough, so he adds, "I'll pass it on to Janne and see what he thinks, but it's alright regardless. We trust it won't be a huge issue."

He stops again, this time definitely, and joins Gertrude in listening for a better, more thought out response than his own. In his mind, he apologizes for his brevity.

---

Alixring, Lisander
Saturday Qualifying
Edvin talks calmly through to the rookie. "Come on Janne, one more lap. Keep pushing."

Janne grips the steering wheel and takes a quick breath.

Into turn one, heavy on the braking, round the sharp corner and immediately on the throttle into the straight after turn two; no lifting for turn three until halfway through the corner, a pump of the accelerator and another slam on the brakes for turn four, this one measured, controlled; another violent launch into turn five now, the ICAST kicking in at the apex, and a total lift for turn six, before another surge of the blue stuff before turns seven and eight. The car rockets silently toward the final turn 9, but Janne's entry is millimetrically flawed, and the Chase Cutter rides the kerb at the outside for a fraction of a second too long.

Janne gasps through his teeth, waiting for Edvin's news. "Aaaaagh!" he cries.

"Yep," Edvin says, slightly deflated. "No worries though, you did good. Bring her in, the session's about done."

The rookie rolls into the paddock, and first to perk his head through the DIADEM is Edvin, his headset clonking the fiberglass and coming loose from his ears.

"I take it this doohickey wasn't the issue this session, hm?" he says, almost accusingly, but with a soft, friendly tone.

"Nah, not at all," Janne says, lifting his mirrored visor to reveal his dry, bloodshot eyes. "This track is fucking tight."

"I know," Edvin says, nodding, clambering out of the gap between the body of the car and the top beam of the DIADEM. He slaps the brightly colored contraption as a method of encouragement. "You did really, really well in practice though, and you're still ahead of both Vannish cars, plus your teammate." He crosses his arms, waiting for Janne to climb out of the car. "You'll do good tomorrow, I'm sure," Edvin says once his eyes are level with the rookie, and heartily slaps the side of his helmet.

"I hope he won't let me down this time," Janne says, looking down at the Chase Cutter, brushing off a clump of rubber from the sideskirts.

Edvin, who had turned around to return to Valen Song, faces Janne again, interrogatively. "Oh, he?" He smiles. "He's got a name, now?"

Janne takes a moment to understand what Edvin is saying, but once he processes the question he blushes, his cheeks hidden by his helmet. "Uh, no, not really. Did I say he?" He chuckles nervously. Edvin smiles back, gives a thumbs up, and walks back toward Valen. The rookie walks the opposite way back to his bag and shoves in his helmet and gloves, before slipping off his balaclava. The heat from his cheeks radiates into his eyes, his excited, infantile pulse drumming at his temples. He conceals a smile. A win would be a hell of a story to tell, he thinks to himself.

[West-East Timor]

Alixring,
Lisander

Post-Qualifying

"Well... could have been worse I guess", Timo said when he arrived back at the garage.

"I'd even say ninth is rather good."

"Yeah,probably."

"You're starting higher up than your teammate, than both VMR, than both Nexus..."

"Oh yeah, that's true. I didn't even notice that."

Timo went to have a closer look at the results.

"Hmm, Ade is only thirteenth. Hopefully he can gain some positions tomorrow."

"He already showed he can gain positions."

"Ha, Jannik is only 16th. What a loser."

"You really don't like Jannik, do you?"

"Eh. I don't hate him, but, well, you know about our rivalry in Formula WET1 and stuff..."

"Makes sense I guess."

---

Jannik's qualifying, meanwhile, had not gone so well.

"16th. Fuck."

"I agree."

"I just couldn't seem to get one lap right. No idea what it was."

"It seems the car isn't quite as good as we'd hoped it would be. Or maybe, hopefully, it's just the track that doesn't suite the car well, but... I don't know."

"What makes you think it's the car?"

Have you had a look at the results yet? Karli is only on fifteenth, not much faster than you."

"Oh."

"You both performing so... badly, that's obviously an indicator it isn't your fault, but the car's."

"Do you think we'll be able to do better tomorrow?"

"No idea. I certainly hope so, but I can't see the future."

"I'll do what I can. My season so far has been disappointing enough already..."

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Alixring, Alix, Lisander
22nd of September; Post-Qualifying

Valen, watching over the proceedings and happy to distract himself after that Qualifying session, smiles easily. “Not a bad thing at all – it’s kind of a tradition, actually. Ryker’s got Coalescence, Jean’s is Transcendence, Rebecca –” he glances back anxiously to his side of the garage, watching for his charge to return – “has her Rapier… It’s a nice thing we’ve got going.” He looks over Edvin’s shoulder, towards the retreating Abovian driver. “Interesting that it’s a ‘he’, though – ah, but that would be Terho’s influence, wouldn’t it? Doesn’t he have something for giving his cars people’s names?” He puts a hand to his chin. “Not unlike ships, come to think.”

Nexus Racing HQ, Crossbay Circuit, Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
20th of September

The conclusion of the DIADEM meeting leaves Gertrude with little to do on the afternoon of the same day. Thus, she wanders back towards her office and sits down at her computer to continue the task that she has set herself. Nexus Racing’s Head Designer leans down to tap the power button, then waits a few moments as orange and white LEDs in the shape of the Assembly’s symbol, modelled after Escher’s triangle, flares to life.

She smiles. Making the impossible possible… Wonder what you guys think of all this right now. She raises her eyes ceilingward – and then stops. “You’re happy,” she says out loud. “Still pushing the boundaries of technology forward. Still making the world better. We just do it different ways now.”

Nodding to herself in conclusion of that fact, she returns her focus to the screen – and sighs. “Well, we would be. Damn Vangazi secrecy…”

While knowledge of Nexus Racing’s own specific Imagination convertors’ construction is, of course, closely-held, how they work is no secret: the wiring within emulates neural pathways, creating the facsimile of a mind focussed on a single thought, which in turn activates the Imagination that is fed to them, producing a physical effect, such as, in this case, driving a car forward. Indeed, Gertrude’s own work on miniaturising the Imagination convertors to the degree at which they could be competitive for racing has been instrumental in making Imagination technology – ‘Imagitech’ – cheaper to the extent that they were commercially viable for medium-sized companies for the first time, something only possible because the government had been more than happy to add the basic principles behind the improvements to their great bank of patents for universal licensing. Anyone, for a fee paid to Nexus Racing (previously the government themselves, as ultimate owners of the team) and Gertrude herself, would be and is still able to access the information and use it in their own works. Such is how the flow of ideas in the Nexus Wardship is so strong and rapid.

Not so for Vangazi psionics. Oh, finding out how Vangaziland’s psionic convertors were built was easy enough – mockups and diagrams could be found in practically every half-decent news article covering the technology – but, well… I’ve researched for weeks now, she thinks as she clicks one of the links within the corner of Overglade University’s website set aside for the Faculty of Psychic and Mentalist Studies, habitually opening up the browser’s window for examining the underlying code. Gertrude scans through it slowly for anything obviously suspicious; she is no programmer. Nothing there… And nothing on the page itself either. Damn it. She glares back at the smiling face of the Faculty President, one which she has truly come to hate over the past few weeks.

She pushes her chair away from her desk, leaning against its back. So… I’ve searched the entirety of three different websites now, two of them apparently the product of the Vangazi royal family, and scoured dozens of press releases for nothing, plus looked through four different academic papers that didn’t even so much as touch upon what the power that they were working with actually was! Verti even said he had no clue how they got through peer review!

Gertrude shakes her head. A few conspiracy theory fora that she’d found seemed to believe that this whole thing smacked of a coverup and, despite her normal disdain for that kind of thinking, she’d started to agree long before now. Textual research clearly isn’t working here. I need a new approach.

I could use Imaginational telephotography to look under VMR's - no, that wouldn't tell me anything I don't already know. Plus it would be industrial espionage.

Not now, she decides. This whole process has been taxing enough and, while getting some sort of win would be energising, she needs her focus for the preparations for the coming race weekend in Lisander.

Next week. I’ll call them next week, see if I can arrange a visit. Maybe then I can at least begin to blow open this black box.

Should probably talk to Verti, too. He’s got experience with this kind of thing.

[Vangaziland]

16th in practice. 13th at qualifying. Ade Imoju seemed to put out an unmotivated performance once again. The way he would carry himself would be important. Ade was extremely terse in post-qualifying statements. He covered all the basics. "The only way we can go is up", he told the lone Vannish reporter who went to check up on him after Q2. "I have faith that I can turn this season around."

The look in Ade's eyes was tired. It was hard to think he believed his words. Had he given up? Not exactly. Things just didn't seem fated for his success. Like most Vangazi, Ade had a fighter's spirit. The truth was that he had to find it. He didn't get this far by sitting on his laurels. He was a runner up in his first international competition.

But then again, everyone said it was Karli back then, since she was his co-driver. A closer look at the times shows Ade was the faster of the two drivers more often. So where was this confusion about Karli being better? That didn't seem to matter at the moment, since Karli was outracing him cleanly now. It would be easier to for Ade to quit.

It was just about that time for Ade to start sinking into his own self doubts. It was later in the evening when Ade returned to his hotel. He got the weirdest message on the way over there. As he scrolled his phone in the backseat of the car service, he read a message from his trainer, Sheila Hancourt. 'The hotel has a gym. Meet me there as soon as you get back.'

Ade thought that was weird. He didn't think they were going to work out today. Not before the race. It didn't take him long to change once he got back. He showed up to the gym feeling relaxed. "Hey, Sheila", he said. She looked at him sternly.

"You know, you pay me a lot to really train you", Sheila said. "I saw you did time in the Air Force."

"Yeah?" Ade sounded a little nervous in his reply. Like most Vangazi, Ade completed 18 months of mandatory military service. He did his in the Vannish Air Force when he was 18. This policy of conscripted service ended in 2016 after 125 years. Ade was one of the last through before the sudden announcement.

"I graduated from Imperial Military Academy. You know, I commanded a training company for awhile." Sheila cut her teeth in sports medicine while working as a medical officer. She did a 1 year stint, running a basic training unit. "I think your problem is with motivation. So here's what we're going to do. Whenever I think I see a motivation problem, we're going to settle this the military way. We tried taking it easy today, so you can stay loose. Ade... You look too comfortable. So no more delay."

"But... But." Ade was searching for words to stall. This didn't sound good at all.

"Front leaning rest position.... Move." Sheila gave the command for Ade to assume the pushup position. It had been a long time since his 18 months as an Air Force conscript. The tone of the words still made him jump as if he were back in the military.

"Ahh..." He sighed in a sarcastic way a soldier might before a long workout.

"Down", Sheila called out. Ade lowered until his chest was just off the floor. His arms folded inwards, back straight. "Up." She was going slow, making each pushup require more effort. He was holding each position for a few seconds before she continued. "Down..." This time it was a little harder to keep off the floor. But it was still early.

She kept him going at the slow pace until he started to wobble a little more. Then her pace became quicker. "Down... Up! Down.... UP! Down... Up!" She would have him down for 2 seconds and up for 4 or 5. Then she really began to speed up.

"Down, up! Down, up! Down, up? Down.... Up." By now her call almost became musical in the way soldiers do. As an officer, she wasn't a sergeant. She was around enough of them to know how to do corrective training. Ade needed a kickstart.

Eventually Ade started to struggle with pushups. She slowed the pace once again, making him really fight to stay up. Eventually his arms started to shake furiously. His face had red undertones. Beads of sweat were barely starting to form.

"On your back", she shouted at him. He flipped over, knowing what was likely coming next. "The flutter kick", Sheila continued.

This time she controlled the pace by counting to 3 over and over again. This was usually kept at a fast pace. he kicked a leg up and down on each number. "1,2,3". On the 4th, Ade was supposed to call out each rep with 'zero-one', 'zero-two' and so on to count each set of 4. He wasn't in the military and didn't feel like playing along. This was frustrating. It angered him. He didn't become a driver to do this military BS.

"Lift them up!" It was the cue for Ade to put his feet together and raise them high. He did so. "Six inches." He lowered them to what felt like just above the floor. It put lots of pressure on his core, down around to his lower back and thighs. "All the way up." Now it felt like there was more pressure on his calves, for some reason. Maybe kicking them up and back did the trick. It started to pull more on his core as he kept them up. "Six inches."

Ade lowered his feet, but he was struggling. The truth was that he was ready to give in. But he fought it a little harder. "Keep them up!" Sheila could see Ade was getting annoyed. Good. Now he wasn't comfortable. "All the way up", she told him.

"This is just the start", she told him. "I can't go on because I don't want you to get sore before the race. If you don't make a run at points tomorrow, you're going to have a long week." She waited a few seconds as Ade fought to keep his legs up. "Okay, relax."

Ade dropped his legs. That wasn't too bad. The point was made. Since he was already in the gym and the treadmill was empty, he figred he might as well go for a run. He had to stretch first. He stood and began rotating his neck, shoulder, knees and hips. The driver then ran through a routine of stretches. He had a lot to think about. Now Sheila was giving him guff? There was definitely more pressure on him to not just sit back on race day.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Chapter 11: Being Clumsy

After the qualifying round during Week 6 and a small photo shoot for an advertisement of selling toy remote-controlled cars, Jason Masami was in the garage by himself, seated in the driver's seat of his race car, using the radio for tunes and drinking some cold canned beer. He decided to add a keyring to his car keys with an orange 5 billiard ball. He never really had to race on a circuit that was directly over several runways before, but he knew he needed to find several tactics to use on race day. Getting out a journal and a cheap pen, he first made an outline of the shape of the circuit, before listing several details and tips.

"Let's see.. I can brake a bit here. I can clearly speed up around that curve here. I need to make sure that I'm traveling at a good speed to possibly takeover, so I don't treat this like some road trip." Jason thought, as he was drinking some more beer as he was coming with ideas. A couple more beers later, Jason was already napping inside his car around the middle of the night, when he waking up due to his phone ringtone, he realized the mess he made inside the car. "Damn it! If someone from the team sees this, they know it will be me!" Jason said to himself, as he got out of the car to fetch a bag. He was putting all of the beer cans inside his bag, where after grabbing his stuff, went outside to find a trash can where the official from the Ministry of Sports was already outside.

"Mr. Masami? Warming up a bit for race day?" the official asks, where it was apparent that he knew what Masami was doing. "Uhh.. Yeah! I was also cleaning up the garage a bit, so I don't have any of the crew tripping on any of these cans that happened to be lying around!" Masami said, where he walked past the official to find that trash can and head back to his hotel room. "Keep up that national spirit, Masami! You going to need it for this week!"

[Vilita and Turori]

:: VTM Tropicorp Struggling in Lisander

Tensions had been reportedly high as Cocoabo Forest researchers wondered if Krainin Isles driver Edward Baker was receiving better equipment from the VTM Tropicorp Engineering World Grand Prix team as the media shy driver had out performed Fast Cocoabo in both races since the Cocoabo took home the checkered flag on the home circuit at the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix in the Cocoabo Forest.

Fast Cocoabo had lost ground in the championship drivers standings to Vannish Motors Racing driver Karli Schmitt and teammate Baker was now hot on the heels.

After the practice session was over at the Alixring in Lisander the questions got even louder as Baker was less than a tenth of a second off the top of the charts while Cocoabo #23 was nearly a second behind and ironically 23rd fastest - otherwise known as the slowest damned car in the field in the first practice session. Another Vilita & Turorian driver, Jama'obo Pegasii, was not much better half a second off Janne Laukkanen's top time and just two places ahead of the Cocoabo.

Things would improve for Pegasii and the SVJ Racing team of Savojarna in the Two-Tier qualifying session with Pegasii placing 12th in the 23 car grid while Fast Cocoabo was able to improve a half-second on their practice time, getting acclimated to the Alixring circuit. While the 18th place starting position for Cocoabo #23 would certainly be disappointing, it would at least be a position the Cocoabo could work from to try to progress up into the top 10 and points paying positions. Edward Baker, on the other hand, was doing VTM Tropicorp no favors with their mistake in turn 4 that cut short their qualifying session and placed them at the bottom of the heap, 23rd and last in the field with no where to go but up on race day.

The #14 Vilita & Turori Stock Car seen running Test Laps at the Lonngeylin Ring

Some have criticized VTM Tropicorp Engineering's decision to keep Baker in the car with other Vilitan and Turorian drivers in their development pool but it is believed that other drivers such as Yraag'a Gilli'i and Centur Tiones are going to be making a return to Vilita & Turori's NSSCRA Stock Car racing team. Vilita & Turori Motorsports recently were seen testing at the one-third mile Lonngeylin Ring in Lonngeylin, Vilita supposedly shaking down a brand new Vilitan Dart for the seventh NSSCRA campaign where they will be looking to defend the championship earned in the previous season.

[Mattijana]

Keep calm and keep cutting off (for raceday 6)

[Mattijana]

Week 6: Race

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	39
Nation:         	LIS
Circuit:        	Alixring
Virtual Safety Car	
Deployed on Laps:	7, 8, 9, 10
Cars on Grid:	23


[pre]
Start	First Quarter	Halfway	Third Quarter	POS DRV Name                     Team	Time	Pts
 1 CAS	 1 CAS +0	 1 HIN +0	 1 C23 +0	  1 C23 Cocoabo #23                 VTM Tropicorp Engineering   	00:58:53.296	25
 2 LEM	 2 LAU +1.239	 2 IMO +3.164	 2 TAB +0.224	  2 MAR Jannik Markner              Vannish Motors Racing       	00:00:03.382	18
 3 TAB	 3 LEM +2.605	 3 LEM +7.056	 3 DHL +1.48	  3 IMO Ade Imoju                   Omni-Katoa Racing           	00:00:05.908	14
 4 FAL	 4 TAB +3.36	 4 DHL +8.093	 4 LEM +4.175	  4 LAU Janne Laukkanen             Nexus Racing                	00:00:06.228	10
 5 JUL	 5 LYN +4.864	 5 PRE +9.426	 5 HIN +6.639	  5 DAR Rebecca Darlington          Nexus Racing                	00:00:08.751	8
 6 HIN	 6 IMO +5.843	 6 TAB +10.015	 6 CAS +8.308	  6 ARJ Roman Arjenko               SVJ Racing                  	00:00:11.909	6
 7 DHL	 7 FAL +8.036	 7 FAL +11.078	 7 MAR +8.555	  7 CAS Darius Castellammare        Superia Junior Team         	00:00:21.814	4
 8 LYN	 8 PRE +8.122	 8 CAS +11.871	 8 FAL +11.848	  8 MIG Miguel Santos               EVolution Racing            	00:00:22.046	3
 9 TJK	 9 C23 +9.6	 9 SCH +16.029	 9 IMO +13.26	  9 FAL Dom Falepeau                MRT2                        	00:00:24.235	2
10 PRE	10 JUL +10.602	10 DAR +16.763	10 PRE +14.132	 10 DEF Erik DeForest               Pompeii Motorsports         	00:00:32.699	1
11 LAU	11 MAR +11.363	11 MAR +18.644	11 LAU +14.733	 11 DHL Dahlia Dahl                 Pompeii Motorsports         	00:00:33.223	
12 PEG	12 HIN +13.791	12 C23 +20.893	12 DAR +15.673	 12 SCH Karli Schmitt               Vannish Motors Racing       	00:00:33.457	
13 IMO	13 DAR +15.516	13 LAU +22.637	13 BAK +18.506	 13 PRE Max Prefodski               Kaylan Racing               	00:00:35.151	
14 ARJ	14 SCH +16.369	14 PEG +25.627	14 ARJ +19.718	 14 HIN Chiemi Hino                 Ibuna-Gambal Racing         	00:00:35.758	
15 SCH	15 DHL +16.554	15 ARJ +27.053	15 PEG +38.01	 15 LEM Juliano Lemos               Superia Junior Team         	00:00:37.742	
16 MAR	16 BAK +17.281	16 JUL +29.232	16 JSM +43.625	 16 BAK Edward Baker                VTM Tropicorp Engineering   	00:00:37.948	
17 MIG	17 PEG +18.763	17 BAK +34.921	17 SCH +43.681	 17 TAB Tyra Tabuso                 Ibuna-Gambal Racing         	00:00:42.309	
18 C23	18 FAN +18.874	18 LYN +36.842	18 MIG +47.518	 18 PEG Jama'obo Pegasii            SVJ Racing                  	00:00:47.721	
19 DAR	19 ARJ +19.862	19 FAN +38.838	19 DEF +49.463	 19 JUL Ekatarina Julic             Brutus Obey Sport GP        	00:00:50.545	
20 JSM	20 TJK +21.514	20 DEF +49.089	20 FAN +52.987	 20 FAN Isaia Fanene                Kaylan Racing               	00:00:55.133	
21 FAN	21 MIG +29.126	21 JSM +50.515	21 JUL +53.421	 21 LYN Laurencia Lynds             SinVal                      	00:01:04.243	
22 DEF	22 DEF +32.787	22 MIG +50.842	22 LYN +63.139	 22 JSM Jason Masami                Brutus Obey Sport GP        	00:01:06.718	
23 BAK	23 JSM +41.712	23 TJK +61.265	23 TJK +65.599	 23 TJK Timo Jänkirinää             Omni-Katoa Racing           	00:01:16.832

[Vangaziland]

Karli Crashes At Alixring

Karli may have been Jessica Franssen's protégé. At Alixring in Lisander, her lack of experience behind the wheel shined through. "The thing is", Karli said after the race. "I've become accustomed to riding near the top. So I do what it takes to try to get up there. I had a lot of ground to make up. I just got caught in the moment."

WGP2 fans may look at the results and see Karli started 15th and finished 12th. It sounds as simple as just having a lackluster pace which brought 3 positions. A closer look at the race broken down by the quarter shows the real story. Last week Karli earned a podium from another weak start. She found the pace to catch up. Some think she may have been on the way to do so at Alixring.

Karli ran the first quarter of the race slowly. She only managed to advance to 14th by lap 10. "I wasn't finding any ground on Rebecca Darlington", Schmitt told reporters. The electric Nexus machine and the snorting Vannish beast fought it out over that early race. Darlington soon began to advance up the field. Schmitt stayed on her tail until about lap 17.

Karli passed Rebecca coming out of the course's first loop. The indigo and red machine let out a rip of a roar, along with several flashing red sparks, as it sped past the Nexus car. Darlington was hard on the gas trying to keep her spot, but Schmitt ran a faster line on exit.

"P9", Principal Jessica Franssen shouted over the team radio. "Just watch your pace. Keep pushing."

That would unfortunately lead to Karli's undoing on lap 27. Schmitt had been looking for ground on Darius Castellammare for two laps. Something had to give. The two cars were approaching the kink in the airport. Schmitt thought about her simulator run with Jessica Franssen. She had seen what late braking could do here.

As Darius started to brake, Karli darted around him to the outside. She hit the brakes late and cut hard to the inside. It was too deep of an angle for the car, which clipped the wall on the tightest technical section on the track. Franssen frantically fretted over the situation through the team frequency. "Status?!"

"It's still running", Karli said. "Gotta pit. Wing is screwed. Tire took a little hit too." The VMR machine limped around the curve into the pit lane. Luckily it had enough pace not to lose too much time getting to the lane. A weak tire limped the car around the track. The pit platoon patched up Karli's car. She stayed silent over the network. She knew that her chances of finishing in the points were done.

By lap 30, Karli clocked into 17th. It was time to start over. Time was in short supply though. The machine managed to make up 5 more positions following the flag's fall. Many were looking to see how Karli would react to her first WGP2 finish outside of points. Not only did she fail the race, she lost the lead and was now trailing Cocoabo #23 by 19 points.

The blonde Vannish driver was slightly nervous, evidenced by the light coat of sweat on her forehead. She threw a indigo & red REDUP cap over her long golde hair. "It was a missed opportunity for sure. Thing is, quite a few others also missed out here. I could have easily fallen back to 4th or 5th in season standings."

It was also impossible for Karli to miss Jannik Markner's success. "I'm also really happy for Jannik! He deserves a pole. He just singlehandedly helped our team stay level with the 2 car points finish at Nexus. So we're still second in team standings. Cheers to him."

The interesting shot of the race for VMR would be Jessica Franssen meeting Jannik before the pit ceremony. "Blaming the car, huh?" Jess laughed and gave Jannik a hug. "So I guess it was the car that won the podium, huh? No. It's always you. Remember that." She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She knew Jannik was capable of running this way every week. All he had to do was push hard.

Karli was asked on her plans to improve for the next race. "I think focus will be key. Every race is a balance of controlling my aggressive style. It usually leads to good things. This week we had a setback. As long as it doesn't become the norm, all will be well. There will be more weeks like this before the season ends."

She was asked if the result hurt her motivation. "Not at all. We had the pace again. We would have finished 6th, maybe even 5th or better. I just got caught up in a corner. So I'll be in it again next week." She smiled, a look of determination behind her crystal blue eyes.

A reporter asked Karli how she felt about Ade's first WGP2 podium. "Obviously, Ade and I drove the literal same car over a GT2 season." She laughed softly to herself and looked away in distant memories. "I mean, we even ran a few endurance races together. You know? That's family. I can't help but want him to do well. I know it was rough for him when he only held 5 season points. I'm sure he'll feel more useful to his team."

The parallels of Ade and Jannik both came up. "Both Jannik and Ade are now in it for the season. Omni is not out of the Constructors' battle. VMR will be in a great position if both of our cars can earn results like that on a given raceweek."

It was clear that Karli wasn't discouraged by her result. As she said, it simply couldn't become the norm. "There was no way we could have finished in the top 5 all season", she added. "It was good that the spin happened after such a poor qual result. It would have been worse if I scrubbed a podium or something."

The Vannish driver plans to work on ways to improve her focus for the next race. She'll also try to use her moderate technical skill to reign in her aggression when she can. Like she said, it's all a balance.