World Grand Prix Championship season 17 [RP Thread]

[Filindostan]

Badai Angin Tim Headquarters
Yogyakulta, Filindostan

Rudolf, Bryant, and Eko reconvened for a short meeting to check on the status of their WGPC17 challenger - the Badai Angin BAP001. They also included the status of the open test at Kimantara and the updates regarding driver invites for the private test. Bryant presided over the short meeting between the three.

"Okay, let's start with the open testing status. So, currently we have three drivers who have stated their intent to participate in the open test - Xu Liuyong, Jacoppo Montaguti, and Carsten O'Rourke. Taylor Blake would have been in the test as well, but she seems to have been signed by Obey Sport. Should no more additions to this list, I'll include Tyra Tabuso in the tests as you proposed, Dolf."

"Carsten, you mean the one who raced in WGP3 Audioslavia? Him?" Eko muttered. The chief engineer of the team always followed WGP3 events around the world thanks to his obsession with WGP3 events around the world. "If that's him, we should snap this guy up."

"That's if the guy beat other drivers in the testing we have." Bryant interrupted without hesitation. "Remember, it's not the open test that will determine our drivers for the season. It's the private test."

"I know, maybe for that, we can ask Dolf how things are going in that regard." Their attention turned to Rudolf, who gave his updates.

"I got a response from Dimitrianov, A positive one. No word from Krupin or Nadakei. I actually got a heads up from the marketing department of the Badai Angin office themselves, a guy who identified himself as 'Jang Xiaopeng' called them and said he's interested in joining the team. However, no mentions of our open test, but he seems to want Krupin as his teammate." Rudolf explained the circumstances to the team.

"But Gregori has not responded yet. Maybe we can send a follow-up email."

"I have a plan to execute later. I can handle it." Rudolf seems to have a master plan for it, and as the two had no more further questions, they moved on to the next agenda in their meeting.

"How's the sponsorship side of things?"

"The car's livery design have been updated with sponsor placings. We would prefer not to reveal at the moment, but we already have Jaganya Nutrition and Cepat, and of course Solymok on board. We've currently left the sidepods spot open for any additional sponsor coming our way, if one of our prospective drivers can bring a sponsor or two."

"Good, Bryant. Eko, how's the engine and chassis going?"

"We have run some dynos on the engine, and the statistics looks good. Now we just need to test endurance of the engine just to make sure we don't have much reliability issues. We know engine and chassis performance can affect reliability, so we need to balance things out as far as we could... but since we prioritized performance over reliability, we just have to compromise the latter but not by much."

"Understood. Let's send the car for the chassis crash test?"

"I have booked a schedule for that. All good."

"Okay, looks like now the driver selection remains. Let's hope for a good turnout and a good weather when we hit the track."

Bryant added a point before ending the meeting. "Should only 4 drivers appear in the open test, you want to race, Dolf?"

"That's a good idea, but let's see. Meeting adjourned."

---

With the meeting done, the two left Rudolf's office. He started to think about what Bryant said just before the end of the meeting.

"Should I want to drive the car? That would be great. Hahaha!" He thought of something, and he seemed to forget the application form that he needed to submit for the Hodori GT All-Star Battle. He hastily filled up the form with his preferred drive, opened his e-mail client and sent the form to the organizers.

Meanwhile, he composed several emails for his action items and completed the task within thirty minutes.

To: Gregori Krupin, Asao Nadakei
From: Rudolf Ibuna
Cc: Bryant Gambal, Eko Wayudi Pratama
Bcc: Xiaopeng Jang, Rustom Ibuna
Subject: Re: Invitation to Badai Angin Tim's Private test at Yogyakulta

---

Hi Gregori and Asao,

Kindly following up for the private test invitation. Kindly confirm on or before the sixth day of the third month, year 90008, if you are interested to participate. ( OOC: March 6, 2019 at 21:00 UTC+8 )

Best Regards,
Dolf

---

To: Alex Dimitrianov, Gregori Krupin, Asao Nadakei
From: Rudolf Ibuna
Cc: Bryant Gambal, Eko Wayudi Pratama
Subject: Invitation to Badai Angin Tim's Private test at Yogyakulta

---

Hi All,

I am Rudolf Ibuna, team principal of Badai Angin Tim Motorsport. As part of our preparation for entry to the 17th season of the World Grand Prix Championship, we would like to offer you an invitation to a privately-administered test session at Yogyakulta International Circuit here in Yogyakulta, Filindostan. We are in a process to select our drivers for the upcoming season, and we have identified you as a potential driver for our team and bring potential success to us. The test will occur on the seventh and eighth days of the third month of year 90008 (OOC: Scorination on March 7 2019, 22:00 UTC+8 ).

More details will be provided should you accept our invitation. Let us know for any inquiries or concerns.

Thank you and have a good day.

Best Regards,

Dolf
Team Principal
Badai Angin Tim Motorsport

He intended to BCC Xiaopeng and Rusty to inform them of the private test, the former to check on Gregori's response, and for the latter to have a possible surprise appearance in the test session.

---

Wiesenblumering
Wiesenblume, Gergary

Representatives of Solymok Tyres, led by Chief Marketing Officer, Kristian Szusza, went to Wiesenblumering to sign a memorandum of agreement between the top tyre supplier of Gergary and the officials of the circuit to sponsor the WGP3 Filindostan races that will happen during the season. They already signed agreements with Ibuna Gambal Racing, Badai Angin Tim Motorsport, and Deutschmagyar Racing, competing in the first season of third tier category of the WGPO for Filndostan. Also in the contract signing session were two drivers contracted to the tyre company - Barnabas Mate, and his girlfriend, Tyra Tabuso.

"We would like to introduce you to two drivers hoping to make their mark in the WGPC in the future. Mr. Barnabas Mate, of Szekely, Gergary, and Ms. Tyra Tabuso, hailing from Bagtasan, Filindostan. Barnabas here will be representing Solymok Tyres in WGP3 Filindostan, and will be Team Solymok-DMR's lead driver in that series. Ms. Tyra meanwhile, competed in the last WGP2 season for IGR, and have one win in her belt in Insocima International. She will be our official tyre tester for this season, and hopefully she can land a seat in the WGPC paddock come the opening round."

The officials and press joined in applauding the two, with Barnabas putting his hands on the shoulder of his significant other, when the press started taking pictures. Tyra slapped his wrist, causing the media members to giggle around, and caused the two to blush at each other. The two had their seats and the press started to ask various questions. One question asked was if Tyra plans to drive for any team this season.

"Let's see, we are working on a deal to have me as one of the drivers for an undisclosed team. Should that fail to work out, you would already know which team I'll be going to for a test role." Tyra was referring to Badai Angin for the test, but she remained tight-lipped for the team that they were currently negotiating.

The session was completed without any incidents. After the session, Tyra had one more look at the email in her tablet, which shows her being copied in an offer email from Solymok.

To: Fireline Independent Racing Association
From: Kristian Szusza
Cc: Tyra Tabuso
Subject: Sponsorship Offer - Solymok Tyres

---

Hi All,

I am Kristian, CMO of Solymok Tyres. I emailed to your kind office to offer a sponsorship deal for your team in order to increase our scope and help improve our tyres.

We would like to offer our company to be your official Tyre Supplier for the coming season. We already have a partnership with Badai Angin Tim Motorsport for WGPC17, and we would like to expand the network to your team in order to help improve the tyres, and help both teams go up the constructors' standings for this season.

We are also willing to provide you additional benefits should you sign our contracted driver, Tyra Tabuso, as one of your drivers for the upcoming season, in addition to accepting our offer.

We are hoping for your immediate response. Do let us know for any queries or concerns. Thanks!

Best Regards,

Kristian Szusza
Chief Marketing Officer
Solymok Tyres
kszusza@solymoktyres.ggy

[Eastfield Lodge]

SinVal Motorsports HQ
Lodgertia, Eastfield Lodge

A few months ago

"...so, despite all the, er, failure this project has seen so far, the board and I have decided to give you the funding you need to build a successful car this season. But we want results, are we clear?"

"As crystal, and thank you for the support. I am sure we will not fail you."

And with that, Alaina Navarro and Émile Sirhan gathered their papers and left the boardroom. It had been a nervewracking few weeks, with a multitude of meetings with higher-ups of SinVal's executive. They weren't exactly pleased with the investment they were putting into the motorsports division, what with the failures of the team in WGP2, along with the lack of success as an engine supplier prior to that, and were quite seriously considering pulling the plug on the team entirely. Fortunately, Alaina managed to convince them otherwise - rather helped by the performances of the SinVal car in the most recent Olympiad a couple of weeks ago. It was a close call though - one more season to prove that sinking this money into a full team setup was worth it. Now, with the money secured, it was time to continue building the car needed to fight with the big boys.

---

SinVal Test Track
Port Lodgertia, Eastfield Lodge

The SinVal test track was fairly quiet today, much to the relief of the ever-frustrated residential estates nearby. An off-day in testing, due to the fact it was pouring with rain. The track was way too wet to run on, much to Alaina's annoyance, as she'd wanted to see how the car would fare in the wet - all their testing so far had been done on a dry track, given the unusually dry winter weather they'd been having on the south coast. For once, the car was being developed well, and it had been a massive surprise to everyone that Dalia Dahl was the driver the team selected to help with the development - Louis Krindle's spiritual successor had been surprisingly gentle with the prototypes, but still hammering them enough to get much needed useful data. It was a no-brainer Alaina's eyes, to be honest - Dahl had destroyed the competition in the Olympics, stating that the car she had was one of the best she'd ever driven on the track. Sure, it was a short oval track, which required a very different setup, but the engine would be the same, a clean and efficient hybrid V8 system with all the power you could want. And Dalia was someone who would draw out every single ounce of performance she could from a car, even to breaking point. With that in mind, the SinVal team had opted for a focus on reliability above all else, to try and get a car that would allow her to show her true speed as much as possible. It worked, so far, in testing - Dalia was posting consistently fast lap times, only ranging down to a few tenths of a second around the previous track record.

The only question now was who would accompany her on the grid? Cesaro Whittaker would have been a good back-up option, but whether he would be good enough for this level was the biggest mark against him - he didn't exactly cover himself in glory last season, barely scoring any points for the last ever MSA-SinVal team. The team were even divided on what sort of driver they wanted; a no-prisoner-taking speed freak like Dalia, who'd end up in the wall as often as on the podium, or someone who wasn't especially fast but would almost definitely guide the car home? Certainly the latter would be the cheaper option - needing to spend less money on parts would certainly please the board, for sure, but going by Cesaro's performances, that is no guarantee of points either. The former? Well, the season is judged on points in the end, and especially big point scoring performances - wins and podiums are what make a season memorable, imagine how boring having a championship-winning season without podiums would be? There was also the matter of prestige. How could this little and inexperienced outfit compete for the best drivers against the like of MRT and VMR - when the top teams still have open spots, it's hard for the little guys to muscle in.

But they couldn't wait idly by, and Alaina got back to the task of organising the partially open test for the remaining seat in the SinVal team. She'd already written out invites for a few people of interest, hoping to attract some of the higher-ranked names in the pool: Xiaopeng Jang, Gregori Krupin and Alex Dimitrianov topped that list.

(OOC: Basically, anyone interested, send me an IC e-mail/message in this thread, although not everyone will be accepted).

---

SinVal Motorsports Centre
Port Lodgertia, Eastfield Lodge

Cesaro Whittaker was cutting a lonely figure around the place as of late. The 21 year old had been passed over by the SinVal team for the first driver spot, and they wanted to look abroad for the second, but he was stuck in limbo. He had been in a WGPC car, and Dalia hadn't, but the team he was signed to had gone under, and here he was, without a drive at the moment. Sure, it didn't help that he was a careful driver, as much as racing drivers can be, which meant his points total was a little lacklustre that season, but also compounded by the fact that the car he had was a pile of expensive garbage. Nowadays, he would mainly be found either in the simulator or in the gym - SinVal had been kind enough to keep his access going following the Olympic program, on the basis that if it came down to it, they would sign him as the second driver for the team should literally no-one else be good enough for the spot, so they needed to keep his skills sharp. At this point however, he would just gladly be accepted by whatever team would take him, and he was in the process of sending his resume to all the team owners, just hoping one would respond in kind.

[Vadkness]

Some hotel room, Somewhere

Hunter cracked opened the laptop and went straight to his emails. Nothing of interest. So, he went to the news instead. One of the top articles made his heart sink a little. Vannish had signed up all their spots. He shook his head a little bit. He shouldn't be disappointed. Going for Vannish was aiming high, especially for an extra-rookie like him. Missing that spot wasn't something he should have been too disappointed about - it was probably something he should never have been gunning for in the first place. But still, there he was, feeling that tinge of upset. There was only just over a week until pre-season testing began. He needed to find a place. Both returning drivers and rookies were being snapped up into places left and right.

He returned to the news feed and went searching. Nothing from Fireline, nothing from Mirrors-HMC. Maybe there was hope there. But maybe there wasn't. He had to do more. He refreshed the page, and a new article showed up. He clicked on it immediately. Looked like SinVal was getting ready to fill up its slots. It had pinned a few they were interested in, but there was a chance.

He opened up his emails again.

To: SinVal Motor Racing
From: Hunter Digri
Subject: Interest in Your Team

---

Enter your text here...

Hunter paused and dropped his shoulders. Could he really even hope to have a shot in this situation? He opened a new tab and moved to his Sent folder. The one he was looking for was right at the top.

To: Fireline Independent Racing Assciation
From: Hunter Digri
Subject: Interest in Your Team

---

To whom it may concern,

News reports suggest you are looking for a driver for ones of your team spots in the World Grand Prix Championship this year. I am writing to you in hopes that you will consider me for filling this spot. This year is a tough competition with many drivers, both veteran and rookie, going up against each other for the limited team spots. I myself am a rookie driver, but having been labeled as a 'budding talent', I believe I would be a boon to your team. I am happy to further discuss a potential spot or coming in for test drivers if you are interested. I hope to hear from you.

-Hunter Digri

'I hope to hear from you.' Hunter huffed out a little bit of air from his nose. He certainly hadn't heard anything back yet. Perhaps there was something wrong with his email? He certainly wasn't used to being a proper customer-service sort of man like this. Regardless, he copied the body text from his email to fireline and pasted it into his draft email to SinVal Motor Racing, and hit send.

[Sorlovia]

Heske, Vangaziland

Gregori could scarcely believe that he'd missed the email. He'd been so busy preparing for his test run with MRT that he'd somehow managed to miss it. As he took a long sip from his cup of coffee he hoped that he wasn't too late and that he'd now lost his opportunity. Fielding offers from two competing race teams was a unique situation that he didn't want to miss out on and he fully intended to take up both offers. There was no harm in doing a test run for both Badai Angin Tim and MRT. It gave him an opportunity to show of his skills to both race teams and then allowed him to negotiate for a better contract. MRT and Badai Angin Tim likely already knew that the other was interested in him as a racer and this cause some interesting correspondence as they competed to sign him.

He took his time wording his reply to express both his eagerness and his sincere apology for missing their first email. Politeness and respect were always good tactics to use when dealing with a race team executive. They allowed him to express who he was as a person and made a good impression with the race team. Once he was satisfied with the email he sent it off and sat back in his in a corner booth at the quiet Vengazi coffeehouse he'd taken an immediate liking to during WGPC16.

Solnichniy seemed so far away now. The sleepy little harbour village had been the setting for all of his childhood and a good portion of his youth. He'd moved to Kamensk after returning from the last season but Solnichniy would always occupy a special place in his heart.

To: Rudolf Ibuna
From: Gregori Krupin
Subject: Re: Invitation to Badai Angin Tim's Private test at Yogyakulta

Hi Mr. Ibuna,

I wish to convey my sincerest apologies! Somehow in the busyness of preparations for WGPC17 I missed your email! Please forgive me and I hope I haven't caused any offence. Securing a place on a race team is quite a stressful time for a racer as there is a lot of uncertainty. I am very interested in your offer of a private test at Yogyakulta and I look forward to meeting you.

I would also like to thank you for contacting me and I assure you that I will prove myself worthy of your attention. I am currently in Vangaziland at the moment but I am available to travel to your test circuit whenever it is convenient for you. I've been taking part in some training sessions and practice runs ahead of WGPC17. When I was a small boy my father taught me that it is wise to always be prepared and well practiced.

Thanks again,
Gregori Krupin

Gregori had opted to take a break from his test runs in Vangaziland. It didn't seem like VMR was going to bite and he'd heard rumours that they'd already signed their second racer. Perhaps they had gone back on their gesture of interest. No matter. He now had two competing offers from MRT and now Badai Angin Tim. Either one of those offers could very well secure him a place on either team and he was eager to prove his skills. Racing against his former teammate Jessica Franssen would be an invaluable and enjoyable opportunity. She was a highly skilled racer with an impressive track record. She would make a worthy challenge. Her and Terho. He looked forward to competing against both.

He took another long sip of his coffee and smiled. WGPC17 was going to be interesting. Even the try outs were proving to be highly competitive and interesting. He'd never wanted things to be boring and the WGPC had certainly delivered.

Gregori paused for a moment before opening up a new email. There was something he wanted to do. Something he wished had been done for him when he was a rookie to the WGPC.

To: Hunter Digri
From: Gregori Krupin
Subject: Keep Your Head High

Hi Hunter,

I'm not sure if you've heard of me. But my name is Gregori Krupin. I had the privilege of racing for VMR last season. I remember what its like being a rookie in the WGPC. Everyone overlooks you and you feel as if you have no chance before you even get going. But I just wanted to applaud you for having the courage and ambition to set up into the WGPC. You're in for a tough time as a rookie but I urge you not to give up.

The race teams often disregard rookies in favour of more experienced racers. They're not going to think much of you so you're going to have to prove you've got what it takes. You're going to have to make them notice you. Don't expect things to be easy as some of the cockier rookies do. You might catch a break like I did but chances are you won't. The WGPC is gruelling and extremely competitive with racers looking out for themselves first.

Don't get disheartened! Just give it your best and I'll be looking for you in the pack.

Warm regards,
Gregori Krupin

[The Sherpa Empire]

Vijay Tripathi was getting impatient with the offseason. Most years, he passed the time by picking up random groupies, but this year he had other things on his mind. He was in his living room snacking and thinking, half-watching recordings of old race coverage while he tried to decide what he should do next. The phone rang and he answered it. "Good news!" his agent said. "We got an offer from VMR."

Tripathi perked up. "Excellent!" he said. "You know I want to drive for them. It is just a question of hashing out the terms."

"They say you can bring one or two of your own sponsors if you want to keep your existing sponsorships," said his agent. "I'm assuming I should talk to Prana about that?"

"Prana and Caravan, yes."

(Prana is a company that makes personal hygiene products, OTC medications, and household cleaning supplies. Caravan is Caravan Oil.)

--- ‭֎ ֎ ‬֎ ---‬

Meanwhile, in Guilin, Liuyong Xu was getting ready for his trip to Kimantara. As well as booking plane tickets and packing his bags, he needed to hand off his work at IRACT to other people so that the league wouldn't suffer if Badai Angin kept him away for an extended period. He was trying to close out as many things as possible before he left.

Kai Qiang stopped by with his heavily pregnant girlfriend in tow. "I don't know if I'll be in town when you come back, so I thought I should see you before you leave," Qiang explained. "How are you?"

"I'm good," said Xu. "It'll be good to have a change of scenery and do some racing, no matter how it all pans out."

Qiang smiled. "It's addictive, isn't it? Is your wife upset about the money you spent on the plane tickets?"

Xu shrugged. "She's a little annoyed, but she's used to these things by now," he said. "We went through the same thing with NSSCRA. You ever think about getting into WGPC? There are rumors that VMR was asking about you."

"Oh, Holy Mother! It's too early in the year for Vangazis!"

Xu chuckled. "I think Vangazis exist year-round."

"Yeah, but I only see them during the NSSCRA season," said Qiang, "and it's too early for that. I still haven't recovered from the last one, and I've got so many other things going on... I'm way too tired to start something new like trying to get into WGPC even if they asked me."

Xu turned to Qiang's girlfriend and asked jokingly, "Are you keeping him up all night?"

She blushed and blurted out, "I'm not doing it on purpose! I just lose track of how late it is. Time flies when you're having fun." She grabbed Qiang and pulled him toward her. "Isn't that right?"

"It's not just her," Qiang said.

"That was meant to be a joke," said Xu.

[Vilita and Turori]

Eelandii VTGP Names Engine Partner, Invite-Only Test Event

Eelandii VTGP Headquarters, Eelandii, Turori :: iBen Toralmintii's Race Eelandii Vilita & Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks team have announced a partnership with the Dart company to power the Eelandii VTGP machines during the 17th World Grand Prix Championship season. The partnership with Dart is a departure from previous grand prix seasons where the Eelandii team re-used existing Motorworks engines and also quells some concerns brewing out of a single news outelet that the Eelandii VTGP team would operate as a satellite operation to the Tropicorp Racing Aelund team which is not using Dart engines. Dart is the top selling personal vehicle transportation supplier in the Tropics of Vilita with options including fully electric, fuel injected and self-piloting available. iBen Toralmintii and the Vilita and Turori Motorsports enterprise already had an existing partnership with the Dart group as the Vilitan Dart is also the vehicle of choice for Vilita & Turori Motorsports in the NationStates Stock Car Racing Association.

While details on the engineering of the Dart-provided power system were not revealed it is possible that some of Dart's Hybrid electric technology is included in the deal as a supplement to the traditional fuel-burning power system. Dart also has a relationship with the Arcticala Electrical corporation on its Fully and Hybrid Electric vehicles so it would not be a surprise to see Arcticala Electrical appear as a partner for Eelandii VTGP at some point in the future as the Dart deal evolves.

Toralmintii also announced that VTM Tropicorp Engineering team lead Gary Cook would be stepping in to help with the day to day operations of the Eelandii VTGP team in the wake of the news that Toralmintii would be returning full time to the driver seat at Tropicorp Racing Aelund and not driving the Eelandii VTGP #77 machine that had already been unveiled to the public previously. Toralmintii indicated that once the season begins it would be Cook and his team that would be preparing the cars for each event while Toralmintii focused on driving duties for the joint Abovian-Tropicorp outfit. Before handing the reigns over to Cook, however, there was one more task that Toralmintii was taking on personally and that would be in selecting the teams two drivers for the upcoming season. With Toralmintii now committed to drive for Tropicorp Racing Aelund and Juracai Klianiota having been confirmed to be staying on with Tropicorp Racing Aelund as test driver for the upcoming season, the door was wide open as far as who would be driving for the Eelandii based team for the upcoming season. One possibility of course was Vilitan driver R.L. Cruisin who hasn't driven for a locally based team since departing Vilita and Turori Motorsports after World Grand Prix Championships twelfth season. Cruisin was rumored to have been recommended as a possible replacement for Klianiota in the second seat at Tropicorp Racing Aelund but the deal was a non-starter due to Tropicorp Racing Aelund's sponsorship deal with Fryst Energy Drinks being in direct conflict with Cruisin's personal sponsor the Vilisorma, Vilita based Vilaye Energy Drink. There would be no such conflicts in Eelandii however and Cruisin is likely to enjoy the prospects of competing for a team based in Atlantian Oceania after a number of seasons living abroad to work with foreign teams.

With so many new drivers in the fold, however, and with his time at a premium with having to focus on getting back behind the wheel full time with Tropicorp Racing Aelund, Toralmintii decided a two-day invite only test would be the best way to down select his driver lineup for the Race Eelandii Vilita & Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks team. The event would be held in Eelandii with drivers turning laps in the Vilitan Union Olympic Team spec racing machines that had just returned from the Free Republics to the Vilita & Turorian shops in Eelandii where they were constructed from the older model WGPC Eelandii Motorworks era machines that had competed in the previous two World Grand Prix Championship campaigns. With a total of 10 Chassis available, Toralmintii was looking at inviting 6-8 drivers to the test. While no specific format was announced, with two open seats it was possible that one seat would go to the best raw performance on the weekend while the second seat would be a negotiation process between the drivers, Toralmintii and Cook to determine the best 'bang for the buck' factoring in on-track performance, marketability, quality of references and any sponsorship money the driver brought with them.

Toralmintii got working on the list of drivers to invite. R.L. Cruisin, Alexander Lund, Jai Kardieri, Cocoabo #23, Rustom Ibuna, Ryan Harris-Jones, Alex Dimitrianov, Jacoppo Montaguti. He didn't actually know anything about Jacoppo Montaguti but saw an article mentioning they were looking for a seat and thought it was a fun sounding name. That was 8 drivers full up. But the Cocoabo was going to have to bring their own car due to fitment and driving assist technology requirements so that would have to be shipped in from the Cocoabo Forest. That left one open primary along with two spare cars in-case any last-minute inquiries came in and a driver needed a shot at a seat. Of course, assuming all 8 drivers even accepted the test event. But why wouldn't they - if they were real competitors they would jump at the opportunity to prove themselves against other drivers even if they were already working on another deal.

The communications went out and Toralmintii instructed Cook to negotiate the details with any drivers whom accepted and update him on any other prospects that might be worthy of an invitation as he went off to Lintulahti for some pre-season meetings with his Tropicorp Racing Ælund team and a shake down of his new ride.

[Krytenia]

Casa de Guilhermez, Avidia

Esteban Guilhermez checked his email inbox for what had seemed like the seven hundredth time that week. No new messages. It was almost an insult that despite being one of the more experienced drivers in the profession, almost nobody had contacted him.

Almost nobody.

Many in the business were perhaps expecting him to extend his sabattical to a second season - Steb had spent most of last year working at the Tickford Technology Centre, putting the Wilson X5B test car through its paces, and anticipating an entry to WGPC17 that never came to light. Clara Wilson, though, had understood, just as she had when he'd decided to spread his wings the season before. Steb, though, wasn't prepared to spend another year watching the rest of the world racing away leaving him in their dust. There was, after all, one offer on the table. Given the terms, given his nationality, given the team, it wasn't one he'd wanted to consider. That's why it had been sitting in his inbox for the last three days, unresponded to.

"Oh well," Steb mused to himself as he took out his phone to dial his agent, "time to bite the bullet."

In his office, Damano Colina answered the call. "Hey Steb. News?"

"Si. Looks like it's them or nothing, so tell them I'll accept the contract. Mirrors have themselves a number two driver."

[The Sherpa Empire]

The Ministry of Culture and the headquarters of SIMS were getting a flurry of questions and complaints from disgruntled drivers and their agents wanting to know why Liuyong Xu was being considered as a prospective WGPC driver while people like Karma Subedi and Srinivasan Chatterjee that raced in the Sherpa Empire's domestic open wheel league were not. "Because he filled out the paperwork and you didn't," a desk jockey at the Ministry of Culture explained.

"Nobody told me I needed to fill out paperwork," Subedi said.

"You didn't ask," said the bureaucrat. "You never told us you were interested in racing internationally."

"So I'm just supposed to know what paperwork to send you, even if you don't tell anyone?"

"Are we supposed to read your mind and guess if there's an international competition you intend to compete in? If a bunch of semi-literate rat-eaters in Guangxi can sign up for these things, it can't be that hard."

[West-East Timor]

Omni Racing Headquarters,
Baranburg,
West-East Timor

Mick Schramm was meeting Linus Anthonson in his office at the Omni RAcing Headquarters.

"Mick, hey. Glad you could come."

"Hi, Linus. So what did you want to discuss."

"Well, there are several matters that need to be addressed. But first things first. As you probably had guessed, there is no doubt you will remain a driver for Omni Racing next season. Although your last season has not been the best, you have played an essential part in building up this time and I highly appreciate having you as a driver. To be honest, I'm not sure if I feel like I copuld rightfully fire you even if I wanted to."

He picked up a stack of paper lying on the table and handed them to Mick.

"To get the formalities over with, this is your contract. It is entirely the same as last year. You'd technically be first driver again, but we will treat you the same as your teammate. We don't have any certain expectations for you, although I suppose you want to improve over last year."

"I certainly do."

Mick qucikly read through the contract, it indeed was entirely the same as last year.

"You just have to sign here."

Mick Schramm signed the contract to drive for Omni Racing in WGPC17.

"I'm now officially staying an Omni driver, I guess."

"So that's that then."

"By the way, I heard the car is finished, is that corect?"

"Yes, it is. As you know we have tried to go for a balanced car, to be able to get points on each track, as we think that is the key to becoming champions. Of course, we'll need a win or two as well, so we hope the car will be able to win races of course."

"If we want to improve we'd need to get second in the constructors' championship this year. But of course I know setting any goals before having even driven the car once is quite pointless."

"That's true. Regarding the car, there's another issue I'd like to discuss with you. We have several basic concepts for the car's livery, but we simply can't decide on one, and I'd like your opinion on that. We were thinking of doing some more yellow this year, however too much yellow looks too, well, yellow. If we do more red to get les yellow the car looks like last year again. A promising concept is putting some more black on the car alongside the yellow, but then there's not really enough red. More white to not make one colour too prominent, however, looks way too blank. We also tried blue but quickly gave up, that just gives you eye cancer. So what do you think?"

"I don't think I really have a strong opinion on the matter, I'm afraid. But hmm, some more black could probably look nice. But don't you have professional livery designers?"

"We do, we have several in fact. But they just can't seem to agree on one thing."

"Then I say try the black, if you can get it to look nice. But if not, don't do anything too fancy and make it similar to last year, I suppose."

"I'll let them know that then."

"What about the second driver? Will we do a test again?"

"I have been thinking about inviting a few drivers to a private test, yeah. It would also be an opportunity for you to drive the new car, to set a mark to compare the others to and all, you know."

"Who do you have in mind for that?"

"Well, first of all Timo Jänkirinää, since he is basically coming directly from our WGP2 team. However, I don't like the idea of signing two drivers from the same nation, else I'd sign him immediately. If Jang Xiaopeng would be willing to race for us again, that certainly would be worth considering. He is clearly a great driver and did fantastic last year. Then, Rustom Ibuma reached out to us, and he would certainly be an interesting choice, and having him as a driver would be great as well. Carsten O'Rourke contacted us as well, so we should invite him too and see if he's good. Then Liuyong Xu has also sparked my interest, and I am thinking about inviting him as well. Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Not really. I agree with your choice of possible drivers, I think."

"Alright, I shall contact them later. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Not right now. I'll text you if I have any questions."

"Okay, goodbye then. See you soon."

"See ya."

Mick left the office, and Linus began typing an e-mail:

To: Timo Jänkirinää, Jang Xiaopeng, Rustom Ibuna, Carsten O'Rourke, Liuyong Xu
From: Linus Anthonson
Subject: Omni Racing Test Invitation

Greetings!

I would like to invite you to a private test for Omni Racing, taking part at Baranburg Circuit, West-East Timor. All invited drivers are possible candidates for a seat at Omni Racing in the 17th season of the World Grand Prix Championship.The date of the test will be determined when all participants are known. Please reply to this e-mail as soon as possible stating whether or not you are interested in participating in the test.

Best Regards,
Linus Anthonson
Team Principal Omni Racing

[Starblaydia]

Jai Kardaeri was a busy man. Since he'd made the announcement that he was going to put himself back in the driver pool for WGPC17, a small rainforest of column inches had been dedicated in the sports pages to figuring out quite who he was going to drive for. As he got out of his chauffeur-driven car, all was quiet at the headquarters of Mirrors Racing. He remembered it when it had first been run out of Jose Miranda's garage, when they'd all had input with tinkering on the MFO-1 before that glorious debut season of WGPC8. This great, wide, stout building of steel and glass had come much later, of course, and though Mirrors' involvement in WGPC had lasted precisely two seasons, the success they'd had in that time had built... all this. He adjusted his shirt cuffs under his jacket, extending them to just the right length - exactly enough to show off the '33' cufflinks that he used as his personal monogram - and took the time to admire the building.

The sports journalists had gone crazy. Mirrors was the obvious destination. There was also an invite from Eelandii to test their rig, BTOS sounding him out, an email from Matt Portland he'd yet to fully muster up the courage to read and even reports that VMR had him on their radar. Through it all, though, everyone assumed it would be Mirrors and even Jai himself, up to a point, had kept it in the back of his mind as the most obvious choice. But was it?. Sure, he'd had the most fantastic debut season as he won the title and helped drag the brand-new Mirrors team to third in the Constructors' standings. The second season had been... somewhat less to write home about, but when Jose's team were pulled out and Jai moved on to Velog, he'd won more than his share of the points to come second in both Drivers' and Constructors' championships. A quick move to Carvenlo later and again second in the Drivers' list, doing the bulk of the heavy lifting to win the Constructors' title. In his fifth and, up until now, final season, he'd again contributed towards lifting the Carvenlo team to a second straight team championship. So had his best work been done at Mirrors, or away from them?

A five year career, one of the best of all time, then a five year break. Now he was back; he wasn't entirely sure why. It was either going to be a resurgence to one of the greatest WGPC careers of all time, or a ridiculous tilt at the windmills for an aging driver in a young person's game. But Jai still had it, the killer instinct, the precision and the calmness to throw a car pin-point into a turn for the overtake, to eek out that extra thousandth of a second wherever it might possibly be found. He was, frankly, still in a rush to get to the corner before anyone else. This, he considered, was the mark every good racing driver needed, and the edge that had sustained him to three Drivers' and four Constructors' title podiums in five years.

Getting into the building, even with its high security, was a formality. Everyone here knew Jai, knew he was coming and knew what for. A swipe here, an elevator there, and soon he was entering the door to Jose Miranda's office. He was greeted by the blazing bright sun setting low over the green belt fields of the Jhan province, near-blinding him with a full golden burst to his eyes as he looked up. Jose's west-facing office was all well and good, but this was an office designed to intimidate, rather than to work in.

"Jai!" Jose said warmly, standing up from behind his desk and walking around to his former driver, giving him time for his eyes to adjust to the intensity of the light outside, "so good to see you."

"And you, boss," Jai replied. To him, 'Mirrors' would always be the boss barking at him over the radio from the pit wall. "Back again, huh?"

"That's a question I could ask you myself," Jose smiled, gesturing to the sofa in the corner, out of the full glare of the sun, "I see from the papers you've had a lot of interested teams after you."

"A few," Jai admitted, "had to come and see you first, though."

"So here's the thing, you saw our livery reveal, right? Pretty amazing looking car if I do say so myself."

"It did stand out," Jai nodded, "one of the best looking ones for this year, definitely. I'm sure a lot of drivers will only be seeing the back of it."

"That's the spirit!" Jose laughed. "Now, you see we have Starblaydi designed and built, and we've managed to get sponsors coming out of our ears - only the best: Müber, Orcinus, Bazaburger, Jumbo, Sideria Shop, some really big money has been put into this car. We've also got Tropicorp tyres for the season, good, honest rubber from the Cove. We're looking to be a completely Atlantian Oceania, and even completely Calanian outfit this season."

"Sounds very global-local, very patriotic."

"It is, I guess," Jose smiled, "now, the question I have to ask - are you in?"

"Wow, straight down to business," Jai sat back a little, adjusting his jacket, "I only need to ask two things - would I be number one, and who'd the other driver be."

"Oh, wow," Jose looked relieved, "is that it? Of course you'd be number one, and we'd push to get you the Number 33 car, too. And as for the second driver, we had a few irons in the fire and came out with confirmation just this morning, an experienced driver, Calanian of course, enough to keep a driver of your quality on your toes. Reliable, stable, not too aggressive when we have the team orders come out, you know."

"So who is it?" Jai asked.

"Me." came the voice from the shadows.

"Jai Kardaeri," Jose said, "meet Esteban Guilhermez - Steb to his friends."

"Esteban." Jai said flatly, as the slim figure of Steb was illuminated in the golden haze of the setting Starblaydi sun. A sun that was setting in the west, over the great Bekk lake. Over Krytenia. "A Krytie."

"I, uh, I guess so," Jose said, trying to lighten the mood that had just turned incredibly frosty, "Mirrors officially signed Esteban Guilhermez as our number 2 driver earlier today. We like what he's done, and think his style will blend very nicely with yours."

"Si," Steb confirmed with a friendly smile.

"Not bloody likely," Jai said, swiftly standing and turning on his heel, "if I'm going to be driving this season, it won't be in your car - lovely and patriotic as that is - alongside one of them."

Kardaeri gestured at the dumbfounded Guilhermez and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. The team principal and his Krytenian driver looked at each other, totally astounded.

"I never knew," Steb said, "that Kardaeri was such a massive cu-"

"Racist," Jose finished for him, quickly, "I mean, he's raced all over the world, and been on all sorts of teams and had team-mates and I've literally never heard a bad word about him, he's usually so calm and unflappable and..."

"A grande Anti-Cyanist, then" Steb offered.

"Evidently," Jose said, shocked, "Wow. Who knew?"

"So now who do I partner?"

"Well," Jose said, I've got one guy in mind, he's even more experienced than Kardaeri and hella-aggressive on the track. Tell you what, he'd actually be a good fit with you, and you'd complement each other with differing styles, rather than be going after the exact same strategy. Hmm, actually that's a great idea. So I just need to make one phone call and it'll be official, Mirrors will offer the Number-One seat to R.L. Cruisin."

"That was needlessly dramatic," Steb said.

"You get used to it around here, my lad."

Outside, still storming past security guards and former colleagues alike, Kardaeri was still furious. A Krytenian? After all they'd done to his country over all those years? The Anti-Cyanists were right, the tricksy little bastards. Jai whipped out his phone, went to his contacts, scrolled down to 'I' and hit the call button. After what seemed like an eternity of dialing, it went through to leave a message.

"Hey, this is Jai Kardaeri, hope you're well. I was wondering if that seat was still available for me to test in it - I'd really like to have a feel of the car and I think it might be a good fit for me. Let me know, thanks and speak to you soon."

Bloody Kryties.

[Mattijana]

MRT Test Information

Drivers

Before your participation in the MRT drivers test, I would like to present you with the following information.
-The test will take place this coming Saturday. The briefing will take place at 9:30 AM Mattijana time and the session will finish after all drivers have completed their runs.

-All drivers will take 5 practice laps each in the same car on a neutral setup. They will then have the opportunity to make requested setup changes and will complete a qualifying run of 3 flying laps and a longer run of 18 laps at full-speed. Drivers are permitted a change of tyres and setup between each run.

-Drivers will be judged on speed, consistency over a longer run and ability to manipulate car setup.

-A decision on driver lineup will be made in the week after the test.

-Travel, hotel and eating costs will be covered by MRT. Each driver is permitted one accompanying person.

Good luck. We look forward to seeing you at the weekend.

Now it was the weekend. The three drivers had journeyed to the Kopylov circuit from their various parts of Esportiva and were set to stake their claim for a place in an MRT car this coming season.

It was a cloudy day just west of the small town of Kranjagrad. The sun poked through the odd break in the cloud once in a while, but it was a typical day in the centre-north at the foot of the Rekvadas hills. The cloud was high enough to suggest there woudn't be any rain though, which was helpful in guaranteeing a fair test for all three drivers.

First up would be the warm-up. A chance for the drivers to get used to the track and the car without any pressure from the timer. For the MRT officials, it was a chance to look at how the drivers went about doing that. Each driver's set of five laps went without significant incident and the trio came back into the garage with half-an-hour each to change their setup before the set of three flying laps. The running order had been randomly allocated, with Jasmin set to go first, Gregori second and Rusty third.

Those would be the first opportunity to see how the drivers stacked up against each other. At the end of the session, the scoreboard on the TV screens suspended from the roof of each garage looked like this:

1 Rustom Ibuna (FID)     1:36.218
2 Jasmin Kranjska (MTJ)  1:36.615
3 Gregori Krupin (SOR)   1:36.992

With the first competitive part of the test done and dusted, it was on to the long run. The drivers would have 30 minutes to fiddle with their setup before each taking to the track and driving at race-pace for 18 complete laps. This would take a while, meaning Johan spent as much time looking at the weather forecast on the laptop in front of him than the track or the feeds from the onboard cameras the car was carrying, but fortunately it stayed dry for the three hours it took to complete the final part of the test.

Whilst they were waiting to get back in the driving seat, Maria took each driver on an individual tour of MRT's end of the Kopylov pit building. This included the head office, factory and motorhomes where the drivers would spend a large amount of the season. For Jasmina and Rusty, things were already pretty familiar, but for Gregori, it was as new as a generic WGPC motorhome, office and engineering department could be. For him, it was about demonstrating the attention to detail and work ethic that took MRT to the top of last year's championship table.

Some time later, Rusty pulled back into the garage to end the test. The times for the 18 complete laps looked like this:

1 Gregori Krupin (SOR)       29:53.146
2 Jasmin Kranjska (MTJ)      29:55.130
3 Rustom Ibuna (FID)         29:57.057

Johan himself went down to do the final debrief for the test, thanking the drivers for coming and getting through the formalities of when to expect a verdict from the team and where everybody would be going for dinner.

Shattered from the day of close analysis, meeting people and stressing about the weather, Johan climbed back up to the same head office that the three drivers had seen earlier. The results had been annoyingly closer than expected and the decision to appoint one of the drivers as the season's number 2 would be tougher than ever.

---

Jasmina stepped out of the green MRT car for the final time (for now at least, she hoped). This year's livery was the best yet in her opinion. The garish and slightly messy spraypainting had been replaced with a darker shade of green, cleaner look and a number of various logos that the team had been missing for some time. To her delight, a marmot, the national animal of Mattijana and a prominent feature on the country's flag, was displayed proudly on the rear wing.

It wasn't just the nicer colour scheme that made Jasmina want to drive the car again, the MRT-17-A was a delight to drive as well. The technical setup meant the car responded to her every touch and despite the team seemingly still not being able to find a world-class engine provider, the lack of grunt was made up for by the excellent aerodynamics and chassis balance. The engineering team had done another good job.

Whether she had done enough to get the second spot in the driver lineup was another matter. Gregori and Rusty had both been quick and the splits between the three drivers in both parts of the test extremely close. Jasmina had finished second in both the tests and although finishing first would obviously have been better, she didn't mind too much. MRT liked consistency and that is what she had managed to deliver despite her youth and lack of experience.

Despite that, she wasn't going to wait for MRT. That had backfired on her in the last two seasons as the team had opted to go with others instead of the unnofficial test driver. Desperate times too called for desperate measures.

She would email the other teams known to have remaining spaces in their driver lineup. All of them. This might be her year to drive for MRT and as much as she wanted a good car, she would rather drive in a soapbox than be left on the sidelines again.

From: jasminkranjska@mrt.co.mj
To: Omni Racing, Badai Angin Tim, Polaris, Vilita & Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks, Camden, Sinval and Fireline

To whom it may concern,

My name is Jasmin Kranjska. You may remember me from the most recent WGPC season where I drove for Kissan Motorsports, securing two podiums and finishing 11th in the final standings despite only racing for half of the season's duration.

I, like many others, are currently searching for a drive for the coming WGPC season and believe I would be a good aquisition to your team. I am willing to participate at any test events you may be running and to meet representatives from your team in person if you are interested in my services.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jasmin Kranjska

---

Alex Dimitrianov was still having a relatively quiet time back in Petrovijanka.

The usual hustle and bustle of the city continued to go by outside his living-room window. The Mattijanan capital was a city that rarely stopped, even at the weekend. Cafés and shops spilled out onto the pavement, pedestrians walked by on their way to somewhere more important and cars honked their horns as they saw one of those pedestrians step out into the cobbled road to dodge a waiter or rack of postcards and nearly get run over. It was just another day.

Alex though was starting to get a little restless. The test with Badai Angin was still to come and he hadn't yet recieved so much as a sniff of an offer from anyone else. The driver market was a competitive one and he didn't want to fall into the shadows. They weren't a happy place to be given the speed the sport moved on at.

*beeng*

The irritating sound of an email notification resounded through the room. It could be an offer of a test or even a drive, but was probably just another press officer wanting to meet him for an interview. It's always the hope that kills you.

Alex shuffled over to his laptop and clicked on the MattiPost icon at the bottom of the screen. Mattijana's postal service had branched into electronic mail some time ago as the number of paper letters sent plummeted and compared to the number of parcels they delivered on time, they were pretty good at it.

'Sinval Racing team' was the sender.

'WGPC17 Driver's Test' read the subject line.

Not an offer, but the next best thing at least. Sure, Sinval had been in the bottom half of the grid last season, but not embarrasingly so and a disappointing year often acted as a kick up the backside to produce a decent car the next. Anyhow, it was a potential drive, and a potential drive wasn't to be sniffed at at the moment.

Alex Dimitrianov tapped off an email to accept the test invitation from MSA Sinval.

[Filindostan]

Villacosta Residence
San Marco, Filindostan

As Thursday draws to a close, Rusty prepared his luggage to Mattijana, where he will take part in a private test session to determine who will pair up with Sigur at MRT. He was aware that four of them will be going to Kopylov InternazionRing, which leaves at least 25% chance of his seat being retained. But he was not thinking of that. He still is worried that he might not get any WGPC seat come the first official test at Forest Cross Raceway. His mobile then spurted a vibration and his favorite notification ringtone. Not one, not two, but three of them.

The first two were invites for a private testing session for Omni Racing and Eelandii VTGP, two of the teams he sent an email with. He was happy that they offered him a chance to vie for a place in their teams, especially for Omni, in which he felt that he could have taken the seat Jang Xiaopeng won. He was also excited of a prospect of working for a renowned motorsports team in Eelandii VTGP. He did not hesitate in hitting the reply button and sent his confirmation of attendance to the testing sessions for the mentioned teams.

The last one came from his father - an possible invitation to the private test in Yogyakulta, but seems that it was just for following up two invitations that were sent. He saw a PM from Dolf.

"I forwarded you the invitation - I am hoping you are still interested in driving for us. Let me know your thoughts, nak."

In this, he did not hesitate as well, and drafted a reply to his father.

"Pa, I'll consider it. Will let you know by 3/6 on my final decision."

He booked his Garb to the International Airport for his flight to Mattijana.

---

Kimantara Trac
Barat Rava, Filindostan

The day has come for Dolf, Bryant, and Eko for the open testing at Kimantara. The latter two met up with Tyra, who was in her firesuit and was already in the pit garage. The two were surprised when they saw Rudolf also in his firesuit.

"Hey Dolf, what's with the firesuit? You also gunning for a seat?" Eko jokingly asked his boss.

"Hahaha! I wanted to comeback since all the nostalgic names are making their potential comebacks. iBen Toralmintii, Jai Kardaeri, you name them. Hahaha! Bryant told me that I could participate in this open test session! Well, I'm just kidding on my first point." Rudolf put his hands on his suit and did his dusting off.

"Sad to say, Dolf, but all the cars are filled. We have five drivers who answered the call for the Kimantara Test - the first three mentioned, and two WGPC drivers who raced last season - Cesaro and Jasmin. The last car will be driven by my stepdaughter." Bryant broke the news to Rudolf, who looked slightly disappointed that he'll not be able to drive. "Don't worry though, the track is all yours after our deliberations. Eko, how's the preparation for the accommodation? They'll likely to spend the night in the dorm."

"All good. Food arrangements have been finalized as well." Eko said in a nonchalant manner. "I'll call them now to come here for the briefing."

8:30 AM FST

The five aspirants arrived with Eko to the first pit garage to meet up with the rest of the team. They introduced themselves, one by one, and as the last one completed her introduction, the floor was given to Rudolf to introduce himself and the members of the team.

"Here is one additional competitor for the open testing. She's Tyra Tabuso, currently contracted to our official Tyre supplier Solymok. She'll not be in contention for the ticket to the private test, but she will help us evaluate each of you. You should prevent her from winning the race, or else, Bryant's pockets will be emptied as he should treat her to a buffet restaurant should she win the race."

The competitors laughed, much to Tyra's chagrin, but she knew Dolf was joking.

"Nice to meet you guys. I hope I can see you at the paddock this or the upcoming seasons. Maybe I can see some of you probably in other racing formulae."

"Okay guys, the qualifying session will begin now. Good luck and have fun. Dinner will be served at 7 PM, so we'll expect you at the Dorm by then."

Kimantara Open Test: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:25.000
Qualifying Type:	Traditional
Nation:         	FID
Circuit:        	Kimantara Trac

POS # DRIVER                   	FASTEST LAP	BEHIND LEADER
 1 22 Jasmin Kranjska          	00:01:25.017	00:00:00.000
 2 31 Cesaro Whittaker         	00:01:25.019	00:00:00.002
 3 64 Carsten O'Rourke         	00:01:25.028	00:00:00.012
 4 47 Liuyong Xiu              	00:01:25.036	00:00:00.019
 5 92 Jacoppo Montaguti        	00:01:25.040	00:00:00.023
 6 48 Tyra Tabuso              	00:01:25.145	00:00:00.128

Kimantara Open Test: Race

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	18
Nation:         	FID
Circuit:        	Kimantara Trac	
Cars on Grid:	6

 Start   First Quarter   Halfway         Third Quarter
 1 KRA   1 ORK +0        1 KRA +0        1 ORK +0      
 2 WTK   2 KRA +0.955    2 ORK +7.541    2 KRA +4.857  
 3 ORK   3 MTG +14.978   3 WTK +27.249   3 MTG +31.842 
 4 XUL   4 WTK +15.767   4 MTG +29.532   4 TAB +34.451 
 5 MTG   5 TAB +25.373   5 TAB +32.752   5 WTK +47.871 
 6 TAB   6 XUL +26.434   6 XUL +38.675   6 XUL +49.674

POS DRV Name                     Time        
  1 ORK Carsten O'Rourke         00:28:06.670
  2 KRA Jasmin Kranjska          00:00:15.422
  3 TAB Tyra Tabuso              00:00:32.236
  4 MTG Jacoppo Montaguti        00:00:43.263
  5 XUL Liuyong Xiu              00:00:54.054
  6 WTK Cesaro Whittaker         00:00:54.333

After the race, the four met up and deliberated on who they will be sending a private test invite for four days from now. It all depends on the number of drivers appearing in the private test. Alex Dimitrianov and Gregori Krupin are already confirmed for the test, but they were expecting at least two more, depending on the circumstances.

"What about Jang Xiaopeng?" Bryant brought up the call from Jang some days ago.

"I'll send him a test invite since Gregori will be there, but I'll reiterate that there is a possibility that the pairing will not happen at Badai Angin. Should he be fine with it, then we'll add him to the private test lineup. For now, we inform the aspirants that we'll send a decision who to invite tomorrow, and if they prefer to stay in Filindostan for three days before the private test starts. I know some of them have also tests to attend, so it would be best for us to have this situation sorted out. We'll inform them that at least two of five will be invited, and that would be Carsten and Jasmin. For at least Jacoppo, we'll wait the responses from Xiaopeng and Asao."

"Okay, let's accompany them to the dorm. The air conditioning units are already running." Bryant agreed with Dolf's points.

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Inspire Auditorium, Fire Community, the First City, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
2nd of March

The air is charged; electricity runs across his back. Timothy Guard stands, hands behind it, as he waits.

His surroundings are bright. Behind him, Gertrude, Vertilan Nas at her side with an arm around her waist, talks animatedly with Jean over his new arm, still fascinated by the technology, her mind clearly darting from place to place with new inspiration as she discusses the latest battles in the days-old effort to integrate it with his car. Ryker and Victoria speak more quietly, seemingly just checking in with one another – up until the point that Ryker raises his arm into the air with a laugh in a buccaneering aspect worthy of Hael Storm himself, causing Victoria to burst out with laughter of her own. Virgil banters good-humouredly with Alex, who smiles a long-suffering smile in answer. Jacob Meyers, looking a little bemused by it all, exchanges the odd word with Lucia. Tiffany challenges Celia and Grace Speck over some arcane piece of tyre lore, the latter looking a little uncomfortable but standing tall, wife’s hand clasped in hers. Martin stands back, observing everything with his calm, wise eyes.

He catches Timothy’s. Closing his own, he simply nods. The electricity returns in force as the leader of Nexus Racing answers in kind.

From the outside, a low, synthesised chord rises. Turning back fully, Guard raises his hand imperiously; the three together demand silence and it spreads, manifesting fully just as the noise from outside cuts off. With everyone’s view on him, he closes it briefly into a fist, brings it to his chest, and then waves the group forward.

Under sound and light, those of Nexus Racing assemble on the stage.

Moments earlier

Members of the press and the public gather on the seats of the auditorium, painted mostly in white with walls narrowing to a central stage. Daylight streams in from skylights above, providing the major source of illumination within the room.

Cerulean shines from a misty blanket above the theatre’s orchestra. The atmosphere spins in apparently random currents, moving this way and that with undirected energy and light. It is enough to obscure – but not quite hide.

For the floor holds not only Imagination-impelled air but also, arranged in a reverse ‘V’, two silhouettes – two long, vaguely rectangular, highly recognisable yet tantalisingly fuzzy silhouettes.

The skylights close as an electronic, harmonic hum permeates the growing twilight, covering all else, growing louder and louder. The crowd grows quiet, so that when the hum shuts off there is no sound at all.

It hangs for a moment. Then begins the music.

A mid-pitched, rhythmic, driving drone cuts across the silent room. At first it is alone; then an ethereal echo of piano and a soft voice join it, as does a great rectangle of light on the wall above the stage. Dim grey gives way to whiteness as lights flicker on in the displayed room, observed from its upper corner by a security camera – empty at first, aside from a few workbenches, tools, whiteboards and machines. People enter, one by one; they greet one another, then move to work, writing, assembling, experimenting. Their task is, for the moment, unclear; it carries little meaning and so neither do the subparts to which they are dedicated. Nonetheless, they labour on, each in their niche. It will come together.

A violin rises, then fades; the image blackens. For a moment, there is silence again. Then the voice and piano pick up, not quite energised but still hopeful. The projection returns, a different one: a man, a leader, stands at the front of another room, similarly viewed, pointing to a slide on a screen behind him. As others watch, Timothy Guard speaks with encouraging, determined words. The slide bears text, not quite visible; then it changes to a logo. This one is far more obvious. The music shifts somehow and, as rapid high notes prick at the soundscape, that logo imposes erratically on the image itself, a swoop and text, first with a stylised blade within a round and then, as the logo glitches, a beacon over spiralling shadow.

Work begins. Shots cut in one after another, security camera footage interspersed with phone video and screen captures, filmed and taken at random moments of interest or import. First come the concepts – people gathering around the whiteboards of before, scribbling down ideas and building diagrams of airflow, traction, electronics and Imagination theory, pinning pictures of famous racing vehicles of the past to the walls to mine for inspiration. Models begin to take shape, gradually less and less rudimentary and more specific, components growing more complex in digital and physical media. Then, as a pounding, industrial synthesiser takes on the melody, sparks fly with burnishing; dust and light burst from a surface as it is Imagination-forged; water scatters from a jet cutter. Parts are assembled into something that begins to resemble something like a Chase Cutter – matte grey rather than silver, panels missing, but clearly a Chase Cutter nonetheless.

Then a new arrival. The music drops to a calm and light yet nonetheless insistent beat with the twang of strings as, between bodies and heads, two more people appear: Ryker Lane and Martin Veri. In shots cut together, the two smile as they talk with those same people in the previous images; then the latter gets into the new car, now-familiar navy and golden helmet securely on, hands resting on the wheel as his fingers run across it. Imagination’s glow lights the UHSGV-1 in determination for the first time as he guides it from the garage onto Nexus Racing’s old test track and then blazes as he launches it down the pit straight, a blur of radiant blue in the shaking video, to the whoops and cheers of the team’s watching staff. The drums strengthen, grow louder, building to a pinnacle.

For the first time, the images take on the professional, smooth appearance of television footage as Nexus Racing take to the circuits of the world, their two drivers shown readying themselves before the first race. The number 6 car of Marika Pedanovic shoots across the line in dominant fashion in Eastfield Lodge, in that same race; Ryker cuts inexorably through the rain in Mattijana to take second, duels and overcomes Terho Talvela around the sweeping corners of the Vilitan Mountain Challenge; and then both surge through the field together in Audioslavia. There is celebration. Glorious choir, mighty brass, surging strings and driving percussion push the atmosphere to fever pitch, a wall of sound breaking upon the audience. There is triumph and oh, it is beautiful!

And then it cuts off. A soft, near-mournful voice with singular notes. Ryker stalls on the twelfth lap of Dashoze. He careers off the course at Mount Salt. And then, of course, the light vanishes from Jean Mercer-Daly’s UHSGV-2 at Crossport. With the final piano key, the projection darkens.

Until it bursts into life. Rebecca Darlington takes the podium’s top step at Crossbay. Jean and Ryker trade places on the main straight of the same, then stand with one another in Aboveland, Ryker looking on as Jean and Terho reconcile. Janne Laukkanen wins in Savojarna. A pounding melody defines each shot. Strength arises.

The pounding grows more frequent as new ideas are brought to the table: the DIADEM is unveiled for the first time; screens on the garage wall show the ICAST system at work; a diagram of the new S-duct and rear wing section is captured; all of these in a montage of many more, the team working as one, on and on, faltering but never failing. So it goes.

The music fades again to quietness and the first shot returns. The lights flicker on and the people assemble. Now, however, there is purpose – and as they congregate, talk, raise their arms in a cheer and then disperse, the drumming hope returns, tempered but still powerful, still strong and ever-growing.

Then, in the physical space, as the music swells to new and familiar yet greater heights, part of the mist disperses. On a raised platform stand assembled, in near-entirety, Nexus Racing – the team’s members and affiliates arrayed as one and many, together in their multiplicity. Above them, more shots of them play, taken from the plethora of moments that they have captured on their journey – they work, laugh, live, so many souls joined to form and forge a beautiful, messy, capable whole. And interspersed with them is more professional footage: brand names and emblems on steel silver and sky blue surfaces, ‘Brutus’, ‘WGPC’, ‘In Motion’, ‘Nexus Racing’, in Nimban glyphs and Latin script, and, with them, numbers and symbols: a black crystalline, lightning bolt and swirling, congregating strands of blue and gold. The culmination of half a decade of toil, joy and tears, witnessed in glimpses.

Three drumbeats. With each, a spotlight shines upon the remaining mist.

And then that mist shatters. With near-instantaneous swiftness it explodes, coalescing as it shoots outwards into thousands upon thousands of shards that then halt, suspended around the stage’s sides. Within, two Chase Cutters: all sleek curves and smooth lines, carbon composite bodywork of gleaming argent topped and flanked by matte, light azure, the brilliance of Imagination rippling across their forms.

The music comes to a close and, with that, there is rapturous applause.

Amongst it, Guard steps forward.

“Thank you, all, and welcome. My name is Timothy Guard; I am Project Manager for Nexus Racing.” He gives a small wave, hand and arm raised, which is met with another, smaller round of applause. “You’ve just seen five years summed in as many minutes. They were explained there far more concisely than I could and you have all lived through them already, so I will let the video speak for itself.”

“All of those years have brought us here. We’ve faced a lot and learned a lot – a vast amount, in fact – and we are going to learn more, be changed further. We are here to say that we will face that change head-on. We do not back down. This year, as with all of our years, we have given and will give it our all. That means using how we’ve changed to keep on pushing, throwing off what holds us down and taking on what propels us forward. Of course, in our exploration and our efforts, we will be changed again.” He grins. “It’s a cycle. The best things tend to be.”

He slowly steps to one side. “With that in mind, then: I’d like to introduce the Nexus Racing Ultra High Speed Ground Vehicle Three, also known as ‘Chase Cutter’. More importantly,” he adds with an expansive gesture to the gathering behind him, “I’d like to introduce Nexus Racing.”

The applause for that is even more rapturous than previously. Timothy meets Gertrude’s eyes in the crowd and the two share a smile.

“With that,” he concludes, “I will open the event up to questions. We are more than eager to answer.”

[Aboveland]

Iskajarvi, Aboveland
Terho's flat complex

The ending notes of Brianstorm fizzled away as Terho pushed his core to finish the last two reps of his workout at the gym next to the lobby of his apartment complex. His final crunch done, he flops back onto the workout mat, his bare, slick back making a wet thump sound as he lays, breathing heaving, his abs twitching intermittently. When he takes out his earbuds, he basks in the silence. TRAE had installed a small gym at Lintulahti, mostly with specialized equipment for things like neck workouts and more focused WGPC training, but in contrast to the majority of the winter break the paddock was chaotic in the lead-up to the first tests of the season. It was overwhelming at best for Terho, and he'd much rather strain himself in peace and quiet before heading out for the circuit on the speed ferry rather than liquefy his eardrums in an attempt to drown out the wheel guns and wrenches and drills and shoe squeaks of the pre-season.

Terho picks up his phone to check the time, hopeful that perhaps he'd be able to squeeze in a quick sauna before the quick hop over to Lintulahti. It's 2:04; if he hops into the steam room right away, he'll likely make it to the ferry port by three to catch the 3:15 shuttle and arrive, at most, before four. But under the time, a red notification card:

☎
Three missed calls: Edvin
1:13 PM

Ah shit.

Terho takes a moment to consider his next move, whether to pretend he'd let his phone run dry and just meet him absent mindedly at the racetrack, or if he should rather call him back, just in case. Option one was most convenient.

Without worrying too much about the time, but still mindful to contain his rising anxiety, he runs quickly to the sauna room and sets the heater to twenty minutes, a session long enough to ease his muscles a little bit before setting off on the ferry ride to Lintulahti, in case the team wants him to try out some new parts or something on the car. He sets his duffel bag aside, strips down, and climbs into the low-roofed room, sitting on the damp planks and relaxing the tension in his shoulders. Deep breath in, deep breath out, feeling the entire journey of the dense moist air cleanse his body. He closes his eyes and smiles. Perfect, he thinks.

---

Lintulahti, Aboveland
TRAE Headquarters

Edvin paces between the cars, from the garage opening to the separating wall, stroking his chin violently, twirling his wrists in compulsive fashion. He flicks his watch into view. 3:28. What a little shit.

He's no stranger to the annoyance that Terho could occasionally bring. It's not the first time that he's pretended to have had his phone run out of battery, an excuse Edvin knows he'll pull. Usually, the consequences of his tardiness only involve Terho and his choice of drink or the loss of the coveted window seat on the ferry, but this time it was different. Granted, this time he'd changed the schedule on the fly, but Terho should have had the decency of calling back!

The day's tests had been carefully scheduled for Terho's arrival at four PM. In the meantime, the pit crew was to run various drills, the aerodynamic engineers and designers would meet to review and attach the final aerodynamic devices to the 56 car, and Edvin himself would have been hard at work with Aada to introduce her to her new task of race engineer, before drafting an email for whoever would fill the role for iBen, communicating the most significant procedures the team carried out before, during, and after races. What came as a surprise, however, was the announcement that iBen himself would be arriving at Lintulahti that day well before three o'clock, along with a numerous amount of Vilitan and Turorian engineers who'd worked on the power unit and drivetrain from their home base, plus some of the engineers who'd designed the Tropicorp rubber that would be fielded on the cars. In fact, their arrival had been scheduled well in advance, but in amongst the piles of paperwork deposited on his desk—the majority demo prints from TRAE's new printers and telemetry graphs of the bi-turbo V8's power curve evolution throughout its development—, the memo had been buried long ago.

Fearing a disaster of cataclysmic proportions (and the possibility of becoming another bookmark in the files of Aboveland's failed racing team endeavours), Edvin overhauled the entire test day schedule in little more than five minutes, and frantically called Terho to get him to arrive earlier than expected. The new schedule would have seen the whole day turned into a mock race scenario, the mechanics preparing both cars, the pit crews changing tyres and refueling during the drivers' runs, and the engineers studying live telemetry to make sure AGP 002's final revisions were in check and race-ready. If it had all gone to plan, it would have been the first time the reformed and restructured TRAE worked together as a proper multinational outfit.

But Terho was late, and so the coffee machine ran out of french roast and had to be filled with decaf, and the pit crews had to run their drills to avoid standing still for two hours, and the Vilitan and Turorians had to be taken on a track walk to pass the time, and iBen was forced to go out on a few practice laps alone to get acclimatized to the track before the race simulation. In the end it seemed perhaps it hadn't gone so terribly, but Edvin, knowing full well the original plan had fallen apart like a Jenga tower with its first three floors made of a single block, was starting to feel his smokescreen of order and discipline dissipating before the foreign contingent's eyes.

The swinging doors creak open with a thunk, followed by a succession of hurried steps growing ever louder.

Edvin shoots daggers in its direction with a blazing glare.

It's Terho and his stupid sexy face, speedwalking like a nincompoop, verbalizing the words "I'm sorry", swinging his duffel bag to chuck it next to his car, his navy overalls and carbon fiber helmet peeking out of the undone zipper. Edvin walks away, but not before frowning in his direction. Terho's uneasy anxiety, from the fear of having really pissed him off this time, fades with the tired, gentle greet of iBen. Never mind feelings; it's time for action.

***

For the first time, Edvin dons his massive headphones. He adjusts the microphone nub near his mouth.

"Alright, team," he bellows, jumping back at the breathy volume of his voice. He pushes the microphone slightly further away before continuing. "Let's run down the final check list before starting the simulation."

He swivels around in his bar stool-like chair, facing away from the paddock screens across the pitlane and towards the garage. Both AGP 002s sit grumbling peacefully before him; to either sides of both cars their respective mechanics and engineers stand like soldiers waiting for their generals' next command: some with their arms crossed, their hands tucked under their armpits, some holding their hips, and a remarkable few leaning on a sturdy object near them.

Edvin realizes that, perhaps, the microphone isn't exactly necessary, but he opts to use it anyway.

"Mechanics?" he asks, hoping for the all clear.

"Ready," they answer collectively, giving a thumbs up, some with wrenches.

"Pit crew?"

"Ready," their wheel guns high and proud, their ski-like goggles reflecting their gaze.

"Engineers?"

A quiet but general nod.

"Alright, lets begin then," Edvin finishes. The pitlane open sirens wail. The beasts rile up their cylinders and spool up their turbos. Terho creeps out of the paddock with a whistle, and iBen follows suit. Once he reaches the end of the pitlane, his right foot floors the throttle. The roar of the engines floods the bay, and the TRAE battalion runs to the pit wall to catch even the faintest glimpse of the cars gunning down turn two. Edvin smiles with pride.

***

The times flood the steering wheel display lap after lap, each pass of the start-finish line a new benchmark. Terho maintains his lead over iBen, but not with ease: the Turorian exploits the passive rear wheel steering, which acts almost as smoothly as torque vectoring, to circumvent the esses over the bay, but Terho marks his supremacy on the exits and braking points of the faster corners. Neither driver has their time occupy the top spot for more than three consecutive laps as the other dethrones the previous best, but its a given that the car is an absolute riot to drive. Terho giggles over the initial downhill sweeping corners and subsequent braking zone, the piling g-forces thrashing his torso in every direction without the slightest hint of pain or discomfort. He can't hear him, but he's certain iBen ought to be having a belly wiggle himself.

Aada crackles nervously onto the radio on the 20th lap. "Bring it in this lap for the first pit stop," she says. "Tyres okay?"

"Yeah," Terho mutters, rocketing towards turn 9C (OOC: I think?). "Tyres fine, not too much grain."

"Wow," Aada replies. "We'll do fuel and tyres," she repeats. "Box."

"You're doing fine," Terho says, chuckling.

Out of the last corner, he guns the car towards the pitlane and lets the pit limiter lurch him forwards into his safety harness. The tyres squeal, but it's a perfect pit entry. He navigates to the middle square and docks the car on the front jack with surgical precision. As he rises, he squeezes the clutch and floors the throttle. The turbos howl beautifully. He looks up at the pit light, glowing red, and the car drops back onto the ground an instant after he arrives. He waits a few more seconds as the fuel man shakes his massive jug and undocks it from the car. The light fades to green and he releases the clutch; the fresh warm Tropicorp tyres hug the tarmac and the car lurches out down the pitlane again. Through his mirrors, he sees the pit crew huddle together to congratulate each other. He smiles, Edvin smiles, everyone smiles, it's all smiles and all laughs. Edvin, turned facing the team again, reaches out to pat the wheel gunners' shoulders and high-five the fuel man. Looking into the garage, he spots the Tropicorp guys scanning the tyres' wear patterns and taking temperature readings, with nods breaking the tension between them. He grins as he turns back towards his screens. This is really working, he thinks to himself.

[Lisander]

"So what do you have for me today, Tiago?" Darius was not exactly excited as he had been called two days after Christmas. She had to leave the family reunion to get back to work. "I thought we had agreed that I would only go back to work on New Year's Day. What do you want to show me?"

"Follow me. We've finished the work on the chassis."

The team principal, Tiago Camden-Mott, got up from his chair and headed for his elevator, which gave direct access to the wind tunnel room. The driver followed him and stepped in beside him. As they descended, the blond-haired man began to explain things to the Driver.

"Actually, my uncle is no longer putting so much faith in the project." Camden Automobile's cash inflow will be smaller.We'll need international sponsorships. I'm probing a few names, and I think we'll get a good deal if we have a good pay Come on, the car's waiting for you. "

The wind tunnel room was on the second floor of the basement. The men passed through two doors, and the second of them had a lock that was only accessed with a fingerprint and a four-digit password. Darius thought that was an unnecessary concern, after all who would be able to steal that technology? "Bitten Heroes? Those poorlings just put two teams on the track using our spare technology, how would they steal our designers?" He thought.

Behind the second door, one could see the prototype. Inside it, Meliné Agrakian, test driver, turned the wheel, as if to make the last hits. Engineers and designers around her filmed and wrote down information on their tablets and computers.

"Hello, Line, everything in order with the car?It looks a bit ugly, huh? Yeah, still..." Tiago asked, and the woman nodded. Turning his attention to Castellammare, he said, with a strange pride in his tone, "Get to know your new car, the Camden N01!"

Darius was not so surprised, or so proud. The car looked incredibly ordinary, within acceptable standards for the WGPC.

"So, this is what we're going to present, a black car with a blue strip? If you said that we're still going on foreign purchases, it's good they bring some innovation ..."

"My idea is to get a sponsor from a nation that has a championship stage, so we can do more pre-season testing."

"Preferably, a brand that can put a decent color on that body, please ..."

"What's wrong with black cars, Darius? What a nonsense ... Do not tell me it's still that childish story with Bjorn Krön. Won't you let the bad blood dry?"

"I just do not like it, there's something missing there... Is nothing about Orion RT..."

"If you say so... Okay, let's proceed. How's your phisical training?"

"Haven't touched a gym machine this December." Darius was tired after the WGP2. That was expected.

"I imagined so. Do you like College Basketball?"

"Not more than the common fan. Sometimes I go and watch my Alma Mater, Politechnica Soria. Let me guess... am I joining them for year-end training?"

"Not them, Sainte-Justine University. Is the closest college. You'll have physical training and make some marketing actions. Something related to that DHMO+ Contract. You'll be around them, being filmed and drinking DHMO products... They're sponsoring the College Basketball there. Also, you and Athena have first-row seats for the Three Kings Day game against Universidade de Lerna."

"Shouldn't be DHMO informing this to me?" Darius asked.

"They told me to expect next Monday to tell. But I don't think so. It will be easier for you if you train a little before that..." Tiago stopped for some seconds before adding: "I'll leave you with the car. Try to notice some good stuff on it. We'll need you to find something good, since the scenario isn't that good..." Tiago added.

"Makes sense." Darius was kind of bored. "In Lisander, we're never that good. And yet, we manage to do a good job... Good for us."

[The Sherpa Empire]

Liuyong Xu was disappointed with himself as he left the track after the testing at Kimantara. It was great to be back to driving, especially on a track that was professionally engineered rather than the shoddily built crapheap he and his friends had back home in Guilin, but the results were disappointing. It didn't look like he was going to be racing for Badai Angin. He thought his background as a stock car driver had worked against him, as he hadn't fully adjusted to the sharper handling of the WGPC cars and hadn't taken advantage of it as effectively as some of the other drivers.

But where one door closes, another opens. He had recently received an email from Linus Anthonson at Omni Racing. Running it through an online translator told him it was an invitation to try out for them. He would need help composing a reply, though. He drafted a reply in Chinese, then sent it to Arjun Bhandari and asked him to translate it. He didn't call Arjun at work this time because he didn't want to piss off Kai Qiang.

It felt sort of impersonal emailing Arjun from the other side of the world instead of sitting down to discuss it over dinner. Xu liked the glamour and money and prestige of professional racing, but sometimes he still got nostalgic for the early days of the Guilin Racing Club. They had been a very close-knit group, everyone there for the love of racing and none of them expecting to make money off it. It required a certain level of insanity to race as hard as they did when there was so little to be gained by winning, but that only brought everyone closer. Then NSSCRA and IRACT came and there was a whole new world of possibilities, but there was also a loss of innocence. The club was becoming more professional, less like a family. Xu was part of the change, but sometimes he still questioned whether it was right.

It took most of a day for Arjun to write back, but he did, and Xu sent off his reply to Omni:

To: Linus Anthonson
From: Xu Liuyong (xuliuyong@iract.co.shw)
CC: Arjun Bhandari (a.bhandari@flyingfishtaxi.co.shw)
Subject: Re: Omni Racing Test Invitation

Thank you for your invitation. I am still looking for an opportunity to compete in WGPC 17, and I am interested in participating in your test for Omni Racing.

With kind regards,
Liuyong Xu
徐留勇

[Sorlovia]

Weststrand, Mattijana

The first five laps had been more challenging than he'd anticipated. It had taken him awhile to learn the quirks of the car and how to best compensate for them. As was his practice he'd gone into the first half expecting to be at the disadvantage. He'd planned ahead expecting Rustom and Jasmin to get better scores. Assuming that your competition was better than you prevented you from making the critical mistake of underestimating them and meant that you pushed yourself. Placing third on that first half was not a failure or a setback but rather a learning experience. It had given him the chance to get a feel for the car and allowed him to make adjustments ahead of the long run. The belief that Rustom and Jasmin would do better in turn empowered him to push himself that much more. To be better and faster in order to prove that he had what it took. Placing first in the long run had been a good result and he quietly hoped that it would put him in good standing for that second driver's seat. MRT had contacted him first for a test run and he had given them priority. But at the same time he had obligations to Badai Angin Tim. He'd agreed to undertake a test run for them and the knowledge that at least two other teams, SinVal had also contacted him, were interested in him was incentive for MRT.

"You did well Gregori," he said quietly to himself in the corner booth "you showed your skills and you raced well."

He'd taken a liking to the MRT car the moment he'd first laid eyes on it. There was something very appealing about the sleek dark green colour scheme and the elegant form of the car. He'd made sure that the cameras had captured him admiring the car before he'd climbed into the driver's seat. It didn't hurt to show MRT that he liked the look and feel of their car. He was a racer after all. He was able to appreciate a nice looking car and a sleek paint job. He secretly hoped that he would secure that coveted second driver position. Racing for MRT would be a great next step in his WGPC career. They were a well known racing team with a proven record and standing in the WGPC world. Knowing that your potential racers could be snatched away meant that you had to act fast and avoid keeping those prospective racer's waiting overly long. The WGPC was a highly competitive industry and it wasn't uncommon for race teams to poach racers from each other. It had happened with VMR in WGPC16 and it could very well happen again.

"Relax Gregori." He thought to himself as he lay back on his bed in the hotel "This is all part of the game. They'll take their time to look over their prospective racers."

In the meantime he would prepare for his trial run with Badai Angin Tim and take precautions in the event that MRT chose not to sign him. They were his first choice of course and he hoped they would but he couldn't afford to sit around waiting on them. Rustom and Jasmin were likely doing the same thing. So, without further time wasted on thought, he opened a new email and got to work typing two emails.

From: Gregori Krupin
To: Omni Racing, Polaris, Vilita & Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks, Camden and Fireline

To whom it may concern,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gregori Alexei Krupin. I had the privilege of racing in the last WGPC season and I am immensely excited about the upcoming season. I raced for VMR last season and although I had several hiccoughs along the way I have learned from this experience and have been practicing hard ever since.

You have likely already been contacted by many other racers but I would also like to throw my hat into the ring as they say. I am looking for a team to race for in WGPC17 and I would like to offer myself as a candidate for a seat on your team. I am available to travel to meet you at your earliest convenience.

Kind regards,
Gregori Krupin

From: Gregori Krupin
To: SinVal Race Team
Subject: Re: Your offer

To whom it may concern,

I would like to sincerely thank you for your offer of a test run. I am immensely interested in this offer and am able to travel to meet with you at a date that suits you. I want to assure you that despite the hiccoughs I faced last season, in part due to issues with the VMR car used, I have put many long months into training in preparation for WGPC17. I took the events of the last season into consideration and they factored into my training regime.

To confirm, I gratefully accepted your offer and look forward to meeting with you soon.

Kind regards,
Gregori Krupin

[West-East Timor]

Omni Racing Headquarters
Baranburg
West-East Timor

Linus was sitting in his office, checking his e-mails. Rustom Ibuna and Xu Liuyong had accepted his invitation so far. He had also received an email by Timo Jänkirinää:

From: Timo Jänkirinää
Subject: Re: Omni Racing Test Invitation

Dear Linus,

Of course I gladly accept your invitation. When you have determined a date for the test, let me know!

Best Regards,
Timo Jänkirinää

Additionally, it seemed Jasmin Kranjska and Gregori Krupin had requested to participate in a test.

"More potential drivers to choose from can't be a bad thing...", he thought to himself, and decided to invite them to the test run.

To: Gregori Krupin, Jasmin Kranjska
From: Linus Anthonson

Greetings,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I wish to invite you to a test session together with several other drivers, taking place soon at Pänkili Circuit in West-East Timor. I shall contact you as soon as the date of the test is determined.

Sincerely,
Linus Anthonson
Team Principal Omni Racing

Osin
West-East Timor

Timo Jänkirinää had just sent his reply to Omni RAcing. He was glad they were considering him as a possible driver. However he was aware that being from West-East Timor, like Mick Schramm who was confirmed to be Omni's first driver once again, was sadly not something in his favour. He knew that most teams preferred to have drivers from two different nations driving for them, and he understood the reasons for that. It probably gives the team more fans as the people from the foreign drivers nation root for him and, thus, his team.

Timo had already tried to get into the WGPC for season 15, when Mick Schramm made his debut with Bitten Heroes. However, Timo now thought that back then he had not been ready for the WGPC anyways, and was happy to have had the chance to race in the WGP2, which was newly founded right after WGPC season 15. With two years of experience in WGP2 however, he felt it was now finally time to make the step up to the WGPC. Either way he was not going to do another season in WGP2, that's for sure.

Considering it was relatively unlikely Omni will sign him. he decided to contact the other teams that may still be willing to sign him.

To: Polaris, Vilita & Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks, Camden, Fireline
From: Timo Jänkirinää

To whom it may concern,

I am Timo Jänkirinää, a West-East Timorian racig driver who participated in the first two seasons of the WGP2. I have six podiums and one win in my two in years in WGP2, finished the championship as 7th last year, and am now striving to step up to WGPC. I am currently in search of a team for the upcomin season and would be very glad to have the opportunity to race for your team.

I am willing to meet the team and/or participate in any test session you may be holding. I'm looking forward to hopefully working together with you soon.

Best Regards,
Timo Jänkirinää

Timo read over the e-mail again, and pressed send. Now he had to wait if, and hope that, one or several of the teams would reply.

[Hodori Motorsports]

Saturday, February 2, HY174
1320 Hodoran Time (0220 AOTC)
Dashoze

Sayono Souzare sat on a bench in Arada HQ’s lobby, rereading the email she had been CC’d on while waiting for reception to replace her old access badge which had gotten terminally misplaced sometime in the festivities of the past weekend. The air-conditioned space was home to numerous displays, showcasing domestic championship-winning machines produced or powered by Arada and parent company Dekijika. The display across from her was of a Dekijika Hebu, chassis code H51 T2. Racing number 16, championship winner in the HY154 Hodoran Super GT season. As an early-generation Hebu, it was powered by a 2.6-litre turbocharged inline-six rather than the 4.8-litre NA V10 introduced and used in the H53 and following road-going generations or some flavour of V8 in their respective racing versions.

The horribly unprofessional email, sent from childhood friend and sometimes agent An’ue Toudeyaku’s ‘official business’ account, was sent late Sunday after Sayono, her wife Hakusa, and An’ue had visited a nightclub to celebrate Sayono’s Formula Endurance Challenge win. Largely incomprehensible due to drunk typing, the few coherent passages stated that Sayono was interested in re-signing with Polaris, followed by numerous references to ‘how cute Sayono would look with Okumura or Mayari’. Looking through the message yet again, partly out of still trying to process the message as a whole and part out of utter disbelief, she let out a long sigh.

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Monday, January 28, HY174
1015 Hodoran Time
Dashoze

Alarm blaring, An’ue finally awoke. With one hand, she silenced the alarm and then moved to searching the nightstand for her glasses, succeeding only in knocking them to the floor. Functionally blind without vision correction and subconsciously aware of a massive mistake made last night, An’ue then immediately decided she’d rather try to hide from the world by going back to sleep.

This attempt was promptly interrupted with the loud ringing of her phone, also on the nightstand but a survivor of the earlier botched search. Successfully recovering this one in less than three attempts, she brought the noise-making device close to her face, squinting to bring the screen into focus. Sayono.
“Morning”
“An’ue.” Sayono sounded very unhappy for some reason. Almost murderously angry.
“Yes?” An’ue slowly brought herself to a sitting position.
“What. Did. You. Do.”
“...Sorry?”
“The email.”
“Hold on.” An’ue put the phone on speaker and set it on the nightstand as she got out of bed. “What email?” She asked as she located her glasses. The events of last night were still clouded in an intoxicated haze, but she did recall typing up an email.
“The one you sent. Last night. Read off everyone you sent it to.”
An’ue recovered her tablet and opened the email client to check her sent messages. “Ohhhh… Okay, uhhh. Polaris Racing, CC Sayono Souzare, Erica Oku… mura… and… Please don’t kill me.” The third person CC’d on the message from An’ue (toudeyaku.anue@team-tengu-racing.net) was Mayari.
“Only if you can un-fuck things.” Sayono hung up.

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The three women sat in silence as the super express train sped along the tracks at over 280 kilometers per hour. Sayono glared at An’ue, while Hakusa finished off a can of coffee. After a minute, An’ue spoke up, “Well… I had assumed you wanted to drive for Polaris again, Sayono.”
“Yes, but it would’ve been nice if you asked me first.”
An’ue lowered her head.
“And not while drunk.” Sayono leaned back in her seat. “In fact, both of you should cut back.” She pointed at Hakusa, who had just opened another canned coffee (the third so far, 160mg caffeine per can) “You need less caffeine, and as for you...” She turned her attention to An’ue. “I think you should stay in the Imperial Commonwealth for a few weeks.”
“A vacation there doesn’t sound like much of a punishment, Sayono.” Hakusa turned to An’ue. “I think you’d like it there, what with their enforced public decency laws and such.”
“They ban alcohol.”
Hakusa looked at her wife. “A vacation there is one of the cruelest things you could inflict on someone, Sayono.” She then refocused on An’ue. “I think you’d hate it there, what with their enforced alcohol ban and such.”

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1850 Hodoran Time
Soeshu

Wlecomed back at their tiny apartment by a loudly meowing black cat, Sayono and Hakusa unpacked.
“On the one hand, I’m hoping at least someone is able to read Hodoran; I don’t trust machine translation to do anything other than make more of a mess of things. Especially with that many typos.”
“I’m starting to feel like this whole thing was a mistake.” Sayono dumped her dirty laundry into the basket. Checking the pockets of her bags, she realised something was missing. Checking her purse, she was almost overwhelemed by dread. “Hey, Hakusa? Have you seen my badge?”
“Not since last night.”

As part of a system to thwart corporate espionage, all visitors and staff of Arada’s HQ were required to have visible and on their person RFID access badges. Visitor badges allowed access to only public-facing areas of HQ by default, with Security granting additional access as required for events like tours or new hire orientation. As Souzare was currently driving for Reitoude (regarded as an Arada factory team) in both the domestic GT and open-wheel championships this season, she was considered an employee of Arada and thus it was deemed necessary to allow her access to certain areas of Arada HQ. Sayono’s badge allowed her access to meeting rooms and the workshop space.

Meetings at HQ over the Formula Endurance Challenge weekend meant she needed to bring the badge with her. The access badge was now lost, probably somewhere in the hotel they had stayed at. With a sigh, she pulled out her phone and called Arada HQ to disable the missing badge and make arrangements for her to collect a new one on her next visit.

With this situation something resembling resolved Sayono then went to the kitchen to address Chen’s needs.

“Anyways, if nobody else involved can read Hodoran, they’ll probably dismiss it as spam even if they do run it through a machine translator. Best case, everyone involved would like to pretend something like this never happened.”

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Saturday, February 2, HY174
1545 Hodoran Time
Dashoze

Back in the lobby, Sayono checked her phone. It had chimed earlier, during a conference meeting to discuss her and Asao Nadakei’s WGPC participation. In the meeting, it was decided that Nadakei would attend the Badai Angin private test and Arada would allow Sayono to compete for Polaris.

As the email loaded, she saw a more professional message from An’ue in English. After apologising for the previous email, it reiterated Sayono’s preference to sign with Polaris again. Among the other details, it covered the sponsorships she would bring; HIEDA Audio Systems as her personal sponsor good for 50 million Kerai (approximately 1.43 million international standard dollars), and PrismRiver as part of her Arada backing worth 75 million Kerai, or about 2.14 million international standard dollars. Total amount 125 million Kerai, or over 3 and a half million dollars.

Thoroughly looking through the email, Sayono was satisfied that none of the passages referencing her and Okumura or Mayari did so in any manner other than in a professional context. Locking her phone and slipping it into her purse, she muttered to the emptying lobby “You get to live for now.” Confirming the presence of her access badge and its lanyard she made her way to the exit.

[Vangaziland]

Jang Xiaopeng was kicked up in his high-rise North Emeros condominium. He still had a nice house in West-East Timor. He'd always kept his old place in Vangaziland, the tower condo. It was fun to fly between the two countries. Both places were quite different from each other. Timorian life was island living. Xiaopeng had a thirst for this encoded into his Tainese islander blood.

The WGP2 I champion sat in a chair he bought to celebrate the victory. It was a massaging recliner that really knew how to keep Jang relaxed. In his hands was a sleek golden tablet. His legs were kicked up on a raised lift on the recliner. Various racing memorabilia hung on the walls and adorned the shelves around him. This little place was basically his den. He'd thrown some fun NSSCRA viewing parties here during his off-season.

Xiaopeng was in the process of writing several emails. The past few days had really flown by, causing notifications to stack. His first message was queued to SinVal.

From: Jang, Xiaopeng
To: SinVal Motor Racing

Good Day,

Thank you for you offer of a test. I would be glad to attend the event and will consider driving for your team. I have other tests which could be upcoming sooner than yours. This may see me signed if the team does not choose a different direction. There is definitely a chance I could find myself open to your seat this season.

In both the WGP2 and WGPC, I have driven from the second seat of a team. I think I can really shine best as a first driver. A strong co-driver would bring us into constructors' contention immediately.

Best of luck to your team this season,
-Xiaopeng

Xiaopeng was distracted after sending the first message. He had a music network playing over his television and sound system. A new song had begun playing just as he'd hit send. It had a funky beat and a smooth rhythm. Xiaopeng couldn't help but get caught up in it. His head rocked to the beat of the bass. His torso grooved to the tunes and pace of the song.

Finally he snapped out of it, taking a quick sip of red wine before focusing on his tablet again.

From: Jang, Xiaopeng
To: Badai Angin Tim Motorsport

Salutations,

I will be glad to attend your team's second test. It will be beneficial to see where my skills set the car at a baseline. Your team is a place I feel would be a great fit for us all. If the right co-driver is selected, we can really build your franchise. Turning Badai Angin into the next WGPC dynasty is not impossible.

As I've said over the phone, many people expect Jessica Franssen to always be each season's top Vangazi. There is always the chance that I could be that person. The entire might of the Vannish media machine will be behind me in hopes that I get there.

I will trust your team's selection on a co-driver as well.

Good luck with the season,
-Xiaopeng

From: Jang, Xiaopeng
To: Omni Racing

I'll be attending your test this pre-season. We had success last season with my car being one of four still in the championship hunt during the last race. The Omni car is a capable machine. A talented driver can do a lot with this team. If I were to return to Omni, I would like the chance to lead from the first driver spot.

My goal to accrue as many constructor points as I can will be expedited from the first seat. I am considering several offers. If a team wants to put me in a first spot, I may have to weigh that offer higher.

I wish your team the best of luck with WGPC 17. This will be a tough season, but Omni can do well.

Cheers,
-Xiaopeng

Now Jang was done with his email chain. It took more effort from him than he thought it would. He'd been putting it off. He was too busy with the gym, getting back into track shape. Xiaopeng also spent a lot of time driving for work and pleasure. He even booked track time for his personal Vannish Motors Ghost. It helped him keep sharp, fighting a car that was cumbersome compared to a feather light WGPC car.

Maybe he was distracting himself from making a decision. Joining a team would not necessarily be an easy decision if he had three offers. It would not be easy to leave Omni. He'd still keep his home and the life he built there. Part of him wanted to try something new and see the world. He only had one life. Vannish Motors was offering him everything but a WGPC seat. He had signed up for rally in Hodori, which every document in Hodori listed as taking place before the start of the WGPC season.

Of course, some of the multiverse was suffering from a distorted timeline where things were so fluid that a sport could hold three seasons within a year. Some scientists figure this might be a side effect of high frequency antenna arrays similar to those located on a remote Vannish island.

Calendar

Some think the fact that some people believed these events were happening at the same time was evidence of the influence of outsider beings.

There were rumors that aliens manifested this multiverse for their own entertainment. Some of these beings might be more loose with the scope of time in their alternate universe. Conspiracy theories say these beings live by a different timeline and some forced their creation to match their own alien calendars.

Regardless of how time is measured, one thing is certain. Vannish Motors makes nice cars. The question is 'how nice'. The Hammerhead is a pretty cool muscle car. You can order one with a fairly large V8. Affordable. It's even tied to NSSCRA. Decent car. Then there are the different Ghost models. It's a fun car with ties to international competition. It's still only based on a GT2 car that won second place. Adequate. The Roland is a classy sports sedan. It doesn't break down any performance doors however. Vannish Motors recently released the GT1x. This is getting somewhere, as a true GT1 capable vehicle. Was there still room to go more extreme?

Supercars were the apex vehicles of the 1980s and 1990s. Hypercars rule the roost of today's roads. Vannish Motors released a V12 sports car which was only sold domestically. It didn't take off as a flagship. The V12 has been done before. Every nation likely has several varieties of V12 that their citizens enjoy.

Vannish Motors was looking for something above and beyond the norm. Something 'extra'. Concepts were drawn up. A model was built. Simulations were done. To add to the concept of the car being 'extra', Vannish Motors would tie the car to the most 'extra' person in company history.

The new car would be based on WGPC technology. They would drop the same 3.0L V10 engine that powered the WGPC 16 championship car into a carbon fiber-titanium alloy bodied machine. This type of machine has only been seen on a handful of occasions. More companies have been building formula based street cars in the recent decade than ever before. In the past, one concept rose to prominence. This was a Southern European vehicle based on a carbon fiber minivan chassis. It also had a formula spec V10.

A casual observer might say, hold on. The Ghost already has a V10. There is a huge difference between the V10 of a typical supercar and a top spec open wheel car's engine. The new car would not even start like a regular car. It has to go through the same process a formula car does. A formula or WGPC spec V10 is almost as different to a typical V10 as a racing turbo hybrid is to an economy V6.

Moto Mag recently did a feature on the new car. It's called the Franssen eXtra Large (edit: recently changed to eXtra Loud). It's usually called the Franssen XL for short, including the latter initials on the car's rear panel. This vehicle would be unlike any other. Many modern hypercars built around formula racing feature V6 hybrids. The Vannish car comes with a howling V10 from the company known for utilizing acoustics in their engine design. There will be no muffler. The sound should escape just as it does in the VM22 chassis Jessica Franssen and Gregori Krupin drove during WGPC 16.

This is the type of car posters and dreams are made of.


So how does a lucky owner start a Franssen XL? The procedure is actually more complex than starting a steam train locomotive. No exaggeration. One thing an onlooker might notice is the car's slightly long nose. This is because it includes equipment used to help start the machine. These parts are located around a section of the glass canopy that extends over the front of the car.

Step 1 - Heating The Engine

If an owner wishes to start utilizing internal equipment, they must monitor the coolant in the trunk mounted heater. The front hood lifts and pops forward to reveal a compartment. There is a small trunk, but there's also a walled off device. This 'circulator' sends warmed coolant throughout the engine. In a formula car, this is done by connecting hoses to external equipment.

There is also a bottle under the hood. One has to fill it with compressed air. This can be done at the press of a button, utilizing a small compressor next to the bottle. This helps counterbalance leaks in the pneumatic system.

Another common sight next to any starting open wheel race car is a computer. The system is built into an expansive array that makes up the dash screen. Screens seem to span the entire length of the windshield. The car monitors the systems in a way that an engineer would, utilizing green checkmarks and a loading progress bar to keep the driver updated.

The computer figures all of this information out by scanning the ECU. This step must be done because the WGPC engine cannot start from a cold temperature. It must be warmed to eighty degrees Celsius.

Step 2 - Building Oil Pressure
The engine now has to coat important parts in a thin layer before it fires. An electric starter cranks the motor after the proper temperature is achieved. The computer activates the same block a team engineer would manually apply to stop the engine from firing. It should be noted how advanced the car's computer interface is. It's work is like having a team of Vannish Motors Racing engineers available to help an owner start their car and diagnose problems.

When the systems are ready, the computer lets the starter fire the engine. It roars to life, yelling in a loud up and down blast of revving. The PRMs fall between 3000 and 4000 RPM as the warmup program begins in earnest. This is the moment when race cars are seen making repetitive noises in the paddock. If one did decide to start this mode in public, it would be a long and loud process. the phrase 'drawing a crowd' would likely be an understatement in a populated area.

The temperature drops to 60 degrees Celsius at the firing. It idles as the temperature returns to its operating value.

Step 3 - Power Assist Bleed

A special parking assist mode keeps the car locked while the transmission runs the engine through tests. A race car is often off its tires and held in place during this process before a race to save fragile track tires. The engine must shift several gears and the clutch must engage. The parking assist allows the engine to shift without transferring power to the wheels.

The driver must turn the wheel from left to right in order to finish this process of helping the car bleed its power assist circuit. The computer informs the driver of what to do. The engine finally revs to about 7000 RPM as oil is scavenged from the engine to a tank. Owners are told to put the car on a lift before doing this if possible. If not, find a smooth patch of tarmac. Try not to do this with racing slicks on the ground, which should be easy enough at a prepared track.

A driver in front of the Vannish V10 has access to the very same powerplant Jessica Franssen drove to a World Grand Prix Championship. The car is ready to go after these final procedures. Any red-blooded car fan would wonder one question after all of this hoopla. Horsepower. Although the carbon fiber-titanium alloy shell is quite light, these added systems add weight. The car could likely come close to a one to one power ratio if it weren't for all of the extra systems. Now the car weighs somewhere over 1500 pounds. This is still extremely light in a relative sense.

The Franssen XL is far from a bare bones track car.

The naturally aspirated 3.0L V10 produces 1002 horsepower. A six-speed, semi-automatic transmission powers the RWD chassis. This produces a 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds. More performance stats are on the way. There are rumors Vannish Motors even wants Vijay Tripathi to test the car.

It is obvious that using the V10 is not ideal in all situations. A small electric motor mounted mid chassis is capable of running the Franssen in 'EV Mode'. The car can cruise somewhere over 30 MPH, essentially becoming a 2.5 million NSD golf cart. This can help move the vehicle from point to point between runs. It should be noted that all of the additional starting and EV equipment can be removed by Vannish Motors to shave weight, including the computer screen. The owner would need access to WGPC level starting equipment and experience to do this.

Engine power is only part of the story. The rear suspension is the same as the VM22 WGPC chassis. The front has been modified for drivability, though wide wheel arches keep the layout close to the original in form. Even the removable steering wheel is almost as advanced as a formula car's, not to mention the transmission.

The Franssen XL is not a car for beginners. It is also extremely rare, with only 5 initially built. These cars were already sold soon after their pre-release. Vannish Motors is considering building two more for a total run of seven. Prince Fritz is against this since he wants the car to be as rare as possible. Vannish Motors wants the revenue from two more sales. There were originally supposed to only be three Franssens built. The company sold their prototype as a fourth and took a 5th order for an important diplomatic ally.

If Vannish Motors does not open the books to sell two more Franssens, it will not matter who a person is in the multiverse. They can be a king. Maybe the a potential collector is a railroad baron or an oil magnate. A person could even be an outright sultan. If they are not on this list of 5-7, they will not be able to own this car. There are other hypercars available from other companies, each with their pros and cons. All of the searching in the world will not reveal another car like the Franssen XL.

This is a one of a kind collectible.

The Franssen eXtra Large represents something unique. Not only does it feature top tier racing technology. It's tied to Vannish Motors Racing's first WGPC championship. This is an engine from when formula cars were real formula cars. This was when engines were as loud as they were naturally aspirated. There were no turbos or hybrid assists.

Only one Vangazi got the chance to buy a Franssen. Of course, Prince F. Vang dipped 'His Royal Hand' into the cookie jar to buy the first car available. With such a limited run, Vannish Motors was only making peanuts off the sales volume....

Or so it seemed..

Buying one of these cars would likely lock a consumer into a lifetime of maintenance with Vannish Motors. A leaky pipe? That's going to cost something. The alloy bodywork is more durable than a pure carbon fiber shell. If it should happen to crack, that could become VERY expensive to repair. The company plans to make money in a responsible way while caring for a handful of well-built cars.

Consumers should not fret before making a purchase because of upkeep costs. Vannish Motors Racing proved itself as one of the most reliable teams in several racing disciplines. Of course, Vannish cars have certainly had high profile equipment failures on track.

The Franssen XL can still almost be considered a value purchase to the super rich. One can research the price of a formula engine for themselves. Teams often spend several million just to develop one. Vannish Motors already had the design and even many spare parts lying around for potential race cars. These extra engines came about when VMR decided to switch to a V8 twin turbo hybrid. In that sense, the engines put the 'extra' in the Franssen eXtra Large.

When the process to start a car is a feature story, the company knows it has created something special.

It should be noted that after much discussion, the XL has been re-designated to stand for eXtra Loud. 'Large' originally represented the vehicle's four racing seat capacity. But V10...

[Liventia]

Ryan Harris-Jones was abruptly woken from a quick afternoon nap by the faint buzzing of… was that an alarm on his phone or a call? He couldn't quite tell.

The 23-year-old had planned to go to the gym as he increased his training intensity ahead of the new WGPC season, but had lay down on his bed for whatever reason and was out like a light. Maybe it was… oh, yeah, staying up until 4 am the previous night watching clips of old football derby highlights on ViewTube maybe wasn't the best idea.

Bzzzt… bzzzt… bzzzt…

RHJ rubbed his eyes wearily and reached over for his phone. The words "MATTHEW PORTLAND" stared back at him from the screen. He swiped on the display, hoping that in his sleep-induced confusion he'd done so in the right direction. "Hello?"

"Ryan? It's Matt. I have news on a drive, or to be accurate, your lack of one so far."

"Yeah…?" RHJ had been offered the first driver's slot at Esmerelian team Obey Sport, but Matthew, his agent and friend—not to mention two-time World Champion—had advised him to wait on it in the hopes of better offers.

He had wanted to accept. First drives didn't come around every day, let alone for a driver in just their second WGPC season. But Matt had had a point—the team had finished in the lower echelons in two WGP2 seasons, and had an unproven second driver RHJ would have to mentor. Maybe he wasn't ready for it. In any case, the decision had been taken out of his hands.

"So, you may have seen that Obey have announced their driver line-up."

RHJ rubbed his eyes. He'd vaguely figured out that it wasn't a goer for him, but hadn't yet been told. "I haven't, actually, Matt."

"Well you won't be driving for them this year. Taylor Blake is their choice. Good luck to her but I think we've made the right call here. I've got more important news for you. iBen Toralmintii's got back to us."

Ryan was now fully awake. iBen Toralmintii was willing to consider him for a drive? "He has, has he? Is right."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Ryan. It's an offer of a test drive, but the names he's inviting are some of the best in the business. You'll have to really prove yourself. I hear Jai Kardaeri is going to be there."

As a 16-year-old making waves on the domestic karting scene, Ryan had met Kardaeri when touring the Carvenlo garages during a Liventian Grand Prix as a guest of Portland, his mentor. Kardaeri was a bona fide WGPC legend. Now he'd have to compete against him for a drive?

"Another name you'll recognise is R.L. Cruisin, another former Carvenlo driver, he's been invited too. As has Alexander Lund, although God knows what he's up to these days."

Two world champions and a WGPC veteran? And him, little old Ryan Harris-Jones? At the same private test?

"Please tell me you've said yes."

"Of course. I've informed Eelandii WTGP that you, Ryan Harris-Jones, will take part in their invite-only test event alongside all those stars. I trust you, lad. You'll make a name for yourself."

"Is right I will. Thanks, Matt."

"No worries. I'll keep on top of anything else that comes our way too." Then, semi-seriously, Portland added: "You never know, you could find yourself in a McPahan this year…"

[Mattijana]

This article does not reflect my OOC views on circuit selection. Track selection this year was especially competitive and I appreciate that Audio had an incredibly tough decision on which ones to choose.
Rather the article reflects the current IC atmosphere inside Mattijana, where people are fiercely proud and defensive of their track, as well as fiercely suspicious of anything with lots of 90-degree corners.

This was fun to write, but if anyone, in particular Joushiki Nante Iranai is unhappy with anything written, I will happily make the required changes.

Kopylov InternazionRing demoted to Test Track as WGPC 17 Schedule Published

MFO SPORT

By Sara Kovacevic, WGPC correspondant

Jan Vogel about to take on the Sava section of the Kopylov InternazionRing during a sportscar race five years ago. Races like this were the bread-and-butter events of the track before the WGPC.

There was outrage across Mattijana today as Mattijanan fans learnt that they would not have a competitive race as part of the WGPC 17 schedule.

The Kopylov InternazionRing near KranjaGrad, a feature on the race calendar for the past 3 seasons, will instead host three days of pre-season testing, the penultimate pre-season event before the opening race in Hodori.

New races in Mytanija, Filindostan and more controversially Joushiki Nante Iranai have been added to the race calendar, whilst the Vannish race has changed venues from Emeros to a purpose-built circuit in Drosopol. The Liventian Grand Prix at the Talbott Autodrome and the Highpoint Raceway in Falcania both return, but races in Aji No Moto, Vulkanas and West-East Timor have all dropped out of consideration altogether.

As well as the Kopylov, the Esmerelian Grand Prix at the Forest Cross Raceway has been demoted to a testing venue despite extensive changes to improve the course's safety. There was even more disappointment in Eastfield Lodge as it was revealed the Mount Salt Raceway would drop onto the reserve list only, meaning it would only be used if one of the tests or main races were to be cancelled.

Worrying Times for the WGPC's Classic Circuits?

That both an established team in the form of MRT and two good drivers in Alex Dimitrianov and Jasmin Kranjska won't be able to race in front of a home crowd is a blow to their hopes of success amongst a highly competitive field. The move however is a worrying one for races at more traditional circuits and therefore for the WGPC as a whole.

The WGPO has tried to counter the loss of the Mattijanan, Esmerelian and Eastfield Lodge races by bringing back the Talbott Autodrome and Highpoint Raceway, last used in WGPC 14 and WGPC 12 respectively, however that is unlikely to compensate for the loss of three popular races. Add to that the fact that Jean Mercer-Daly, the Brutus-Obey team, Sinval and young Eastfield Lodge stars Dahlia Dahl and Cesaro Whittaker will also be without a home race, and you can see that it is not just top Mattijanan competitors that will be missing out. Whilst long-standing and well-represented races such as those in Audioslavia, Vilita and Nimbus do remain, the trend of replacing traditional circuits with newer, more sanitised ones is enough to set the alarm bells ringing. Highpoint also has history. The track was the site of a pit-lane fire that caused the death of Audioslavian Linco McPahan and the subsequent abandonment of the track.

Of particular concern though is the Somos City Circuit in Joushiki Nante Iranai that will host the 5th round of the season. The street circuit has been used as a racing layout for 5 years and just 10 domestic races and whilst the track takes in some of the admittedly picturesque sights of the Iranain capital, the circuit itself is less inspiring.

15 of the circuit's 22 noticeable corners are close to 90-degrees, whilst only 4 of the remaining 7 can be taken at anything close to high-speed. The only remotely interesting corners are the first two-quick kinks that may make for an incident-packed start, as well as curves 11 and 15, which both go the long way around abandoned roundabouts in front of the parliament building and palace in Somos. Add to that the shortness of the circuit and high overtaking difficulty and the race looks set to be a procession of pure tedium, perhaps punctuated by the odd driver losing their focus and becoming acquainted with a piece of Armco.

Even more concerning however is the fact that Joushiki Nante Iranai has no other involvement in WGPC 17. That means no team and not even a driver. Whilst other calendar newcomers such as Falcania and Mytanija have at least made the effort to try and make their impact on the tournament last longer than one weekend, the Iranains either have no driver good enough to compete in the WGPC or worse - no interest in signing them up.

So if the circuit is as dull as a weekend away in NordStrand, the country seemingly has no racing pedigree or potential and there are multiple traditional circuits on the wayside, why exactly will the WGPC be going to Somos?

Could it be the power of taking the WGPC brand to new countries? Did they just ask really nicely? Are there millions of hibernating superfans across the city ready to wake up like a groggy brown bear just in time for free practice?

If so, that would be admirable, but myself and many others feel that only one factor is at play. The money.

Joushiki Nante Iranai has a frighteningly efficient economy, but none of the nation's wealth is sourced from private industry. Around a third comes from state-owned business whilst the remainder is squeezed out of a sprawling government. With all that washing around, no private firms to take their cut and an average income tax rate of over 90%, there is certainly enough to tempt the WGPO towards a contract.

I don't mean for one second to say that the WGPO is taking bribes, is corrupt or anything like that. It has its own finances to secure and its own marketing to do and if a nation from the back of beyond wants to pay silly money to have a carbon fibre procession around the streets of its capital city, it would be stupid to turn it down.

Somos though, is not the way this money should be made. One needs to look no further than Nimbus for a country that is reasonably well-off (certainly if their skyscrapers are anything to go by), has a passion for racing and an incredible circuit to top it off.

There are enough nations out there. Somewhere there is another Nimbus.

Hope Elsewhere?

The introduction of the Somos race paints a rather bleak picture for the future of the WGPC, but not an entirely accurate one. One of the other new races for the season may provide some evidence that the WGPO has its heart in the right place.

Said other new race will be held in Mytanija at the Nacionalni Autodrom Rebecna. The circuit itself is actually quite reminiscent of the Kopylov with a long pit straight leading into a flowing first sector. A couple of lengthy, but not tedious back straights strung together by the more technical Mačja Kolijevka lead into the final turn, a near-180 degree 'Parabolična'.

Like in many locations around the Kopylov, there isn't much room for error either. Most of the walls and stands are tight to the track and will punish drivers who heavily lock up or simply carry too much speed into the turn. Parabolična in particular is a corner that will test a driver's guts, tyres and technique to their limit.

Unlike in Somos, where people have only been pottering down to their local point-and-squirt turn for a few years, there seems to be a much longer and more developed pedigree of racing in Mytanija. The fiercely partisan Groznicavi group provide the noise, flags and passionate home support. The drivers, including Jelena Colac-Strek, who hopes to gain a place in the WGPC for this season, provide the entertainment.

New nations to the WGPC certainly deserve their chance to host a race if their circuit is up to scratch - an old boys club is the last thing international motorsport needs - and if the track's layout and the passion of its fans are anything to go by, Rebecna may well be a fixture on the calendar for years to come.

What next for Kopylov?

All the furore and excitement over the new races will continue, but in the wake of being snubbed for a race weekend, the Kopylov InternazionRing must pick itself up and do all it can to secure a spot on next year's calendar.

Whilst the three days of testing will not secure anywhere near as much revenue as a race weekend, the circuit is fortunate that it was allocated multiple days compared to the single days allocated to the other testing venues. Domestic racing will keep it afloat, but with changes to the track layout and infrastructure scheduled for later in the year, the circuit could have done with being able to call itself a full WGPC track.

Kopylov InternazionRing Circuit Manager Izara Keunssberg earlier released a statement about the circuit's future. She stated her disappointment at the WGPO's decision, as you would expect her to do, but said that despite being left off the schedule, she was grateful the track would see WGPC action and said the track would do everything it could to make the three days of testing a pleasurable experience for teams, drivers and fans.
Keunssberg also said her and the Kopylov staff would be doing everything possible to continue attracting national and international motorsport, whilst hinting the scheduled work to the track would still be going ahead despite the possible financial setback.

Keunssberg has come out with the defiant fighting talk expected of someone in her position, but she will need to back it up with actions if the Kopylov is to remain a major WGPC fixture. With the schedule decided upon though, the focus must rightly shift to the exciting season we have in store.

[Third Asopia]

The Hallesht Chronicles


Fascgend track will be in the WGPC calendar...... for testing
Sports

Brought to you by Neil Osie

Many Asopins are already excited about the WGPC season 17, as the first testing session is around the corner. What most of them is excited for is home-grown Evdaden Carnétier, who will be competing with Obey Sports as his team and Taylor Blake as his teammate. Named a rookie, we will see who will win the races to come.
Speaking of races, this is one of the most disappointing thing a Dritten Asopin racing fan would hear. Fascgend Circuit will be used as a test circuit. And that’s just sad. Yes, we could’ve used D’Rosé street circuit, but that would mean closing traffic for like three days, so that is not going to be helpful for the citizens. However, with the release of the schedule, Asopins have different views of it. And all are negative.
“To be honest, we should’ve chosen D’Rosé or any special street circuit. We need some spectacular beauty. You can drive past special landmarks if you use a street circuit. This is basically our fault,” one fan, who refuses to be named, said on the forums. However, race pundit Charles Olby sees things different.
“Seriously we should’ve been in one of the races. Our test track is unique and there are lots of turns, making it a challenge for drivers. And isn’t it the point of racing? Challenge? I seriously think that schedule should be reviewed.” He said. The Mattijanan fans also are enraged over the schedule. We’ll see what will happen in days to come.

[Cassadaigua]

Taylor Blake Interview,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Today, I am going to chat with Taylor Blake, who has recently been formally announced to the be the lead driver at Obey Sport. She will drive the #18 machine, and her teammate will be Evdaden Carnétier, who will drive the #17.

Taylor, thank you for your time. First, good luck on your venture into the WGPC. Tell me about the decision.

“In Cassadaigua, as everyone knows, stock car racing is the preferred style of racing. I’ve been in a stock car, and it just never did it for me. It was somewhat interesting, but the rush of speed and competition is so much different in the open wheel series, and that is what I love. There is modest interest in open wheel racing here, like you know, and I have been able to get a lot of fans throughout the years, but I wanted something different. I had considered moving up to WGPC, but it would take a big effort, and of course, some sponsorship help.”

You have won four championships at home. How do you think the domestic series will go on without you, and do you think more drivers might make this leap?

“I am the first to do it, so I know that will look to me. Our racing will always be fine. If we are going to grow, though, I think there needs to be more of a connection to the WGPC, or else it will just be stock cars and NSSCRA here. What I am hoping is that more fans will watch the WGPC here in Cassadaigua, and that will lead to our own open wheel drivers getting greater chances like I am being the first to have.”

Cassadaigua did not submit a track for the schedule, what do you think about that?

“It did not really surprise me. We know that the preferred racing here is stock car racing on short track ovals. It’s entertaining to watch, but that’s not what the WGPC is about, of course. I know we have a couple worthwhile courses for the series, but I think our organizers are just being conservative right now, and see what kind of interest my effort gets throughout the country, and maybe if it is successful, we will bring a race here. The schedule is pretty tight, too.”

The last time I talked to you, it was before you signed with Obey, and you seemed a little discouraged that you could not just run for your own team. I bet you are happy with this now.

“Well, quite honestly, all I was really doing was trying to get the attention of the race teams that I was an available option for them. This is a busy time of year as drivers look to find their landing spots. I knew from the get go that I would never just be racing for my own team. I knew what I had to do, and it was just to get my name out there. Initially, I was going to go to Filindostan, but a remarkable opportunity came about with Obey, and I am really elated to be driving for them.”

How did the discussions take place, if you could give a sneak peak of it?

“Well, I am not really going to get into details. When they first reached out to me, I knew that they were very interested, and respected what I had done in Cassadaigua. That to me was something that was very important. To be given the lead driver role is quite a privilege, and I am glad to have impressed them. We could give them additional sponsorship, and they know that Five Star Mobile is here for the entire team, not just for me.”

The announcement was made a few days ago, and you will be driving the #18. Thoughts on the number?

“It’s a number. I want a car that goes fast, and this will, so if it has that it can have any number on it. I have really been impressed with the people at Obey, they are really committed to making this a great race team. I am confident that when the season starts, we are not going to be playing catchup and can be a factor to win races right from the start!”

What do you know about your teammate, Evdaden Carnétier, thus far?

“He is a rookie, too, but there is no reason why he cannot be successful. We’ve only begin to get to know each other, and can hopefully feed off each other as these races and tests go on in order to make the team better.”

Any other drivers you think we should be watching right now?

“Well, I would just look at the usual suspects of the sport. People like Jessica Franssen, who Cassadagans should know a little since she raced in NSSCRA to end that season. When it comes to new drivers to watch for, I will be hoping that it will be myself that becomes at the top of the list, along with my teammate, but there are plenty of others. Right now, it’s all an unknown, but the pieces are coming together.”

And I am sure you are happy to know who you are with pretty early?

“Of course, I just want to race. It’s tough to get one of these spots, but I know I have to earn my spot. Bringing in a major sponsor like Five Star Mobile helped me, and I am confident that more Cassadagan companies will join in and back me up, and back up this race team. The bright future starts now. I want to get in the car and get going!”

Thank you for time, I appreciate it. Any parting words?

“This is a great form of racing, and I think if our people give it a chance, they will fall in love in it. There is a place for short tracks, and the right kind of cars for those tracks, but then there is a place for the amazing circuits that take complete skill to drive. Let’s get it done!”

[Nekoni]

Autodromo Internazionale del Rivoli, Nekoni
Monday 4, March
12:55

The early springtime of March is always a great time to find yourself in the countryside of Nekoni. With the temperatures starting to peak at the low 20s, the green splendour of the rolling hills and valleys finally start to unveil themselves as the trees regain their leaves, the russet brown of the previous six months forgotten as the new-found foliage clashes with the sheer white of the cliffs and the deep black asphalt of the Autodromo that ribbons its way around them. The circuit itself wasn't open for the public yet, as its season didn't open until the end of the month, so the entire near-six-kilometre stretch of road was free to practise on.

One would expect that Erica Okumura would've liked to have gotten some proper training down before everyone else got there halfway through the season for the Gran Premio itself. One would be half-right. Whilst she was indeed down at the track, she decided to eschew the car and instead took to a mountain bike. NEXPRO were sponsoring the race again this season, and in exchange for doing a bit of photo work at the circuit last year, the company decided to give her a free mountain bike out of the deal. At the time, she joked that she wouldn't be seen dead on one, but the promise of free stuff led her to actually use the thing, and surprisingly, she actually rather enjoyed her time on it, taking to the roads outside her house for part of her training regimen to get back into the shape she needed to. Those roads didn't have this level of elevation, though. In particular, the descent from turns 4 through 8 were a test of daring, as the dramatic drop in height coincided with what appears to be a standard right-hand sweep. In a car. this was simple enough: drop the gear down to third, hit the apex, then use the tilt back on the wheel to ease yourself out during turn 7. However, on a bike, it's a whole different ball game.

Erica used this section to push her bravery by seeing how fast she could go downhill and also how close she could come to the cliff on the inside of the turn, pacing herself on the rest of the lap to conserve energy for the next long blast downward. However, on her fifth time, just before she began the slide down again, she felt a vibration on her arm where her phone was, and the internal mp3 player paused. Erica, thrown off her stride a little, managed to brake to a halt just before going on an uncontrollable long ride down. She checked the display of her smartphone. Alexandra was calling. She knew why.

"Hey, Alex. How's the contract signing going?" That day, the Polaris team offices were visited by last year's second driver, Sayono Souzare, who had allegedly shown interest in signing for a second season with the team, but nothing had been formally declared.

"Yeah, it's gone well, mate." Erica smiled as she knew what that meant. "She came in, signed a few forms, had a gander at the new car and at 12:45 this afternoon, Sayono Souzare officially became the second driver for Polaris."

"Ah, that's fantastic!" Erica knew she was going to be working with a familiar face again, always a nice feeling to have.

"Also, we got the calendar in again. You're gonna get another chance to rewrite the book at Rivoli." Erica beamed. "Round six of thirteen. So you might as well keep on doing your cycling out there, Eri. The more laps you do of it, the more you'll learn, and that."

"Christ, Alex. You're just the bearer of good news today, ain't you?" Erica thought that she wouldn't be tempting fate by saying that. She was wrong.

"Yeah...Not quite." Alex didn't necessarily sound that troubled, so it can't be that bad, could it? "What's the problem?"

"Well...it's not exactly wrong, per se. You remember the nice guy from IceFoxx?" Erica laughed.

"Ah, the sales guy who looked like he hadn't talked to a woman who wasn't his mother? The one who looked fourteen? The one who spent his childhood getting stuffed into a school locker?"

"I probably wouldn't be that blunt or mildly slanderous towards one of the employees of our major sponsors, but yes, him. He showed up again today. Turns out you're needed for a photoshoot for the new drink you're being slapped on." Erica's heart sank a little when she realised that she was going to have to be touting that unnaturally purple canned piss again. Alex wasn't finished, though. "Considering the name, Tempest, and all, they're planning on you being some kind of evil sorceress kind of thing. I...don't know how to put this...but I've seen the costume designs and to me this advert looks more top-shelf special interest than an advert on a bus station. Half of the outfit is leather, and the other half is spaces where the leather should really be."

Erica wasn't impressed. "And you...okayed this?"

"Ain't my decision, Eri. Unfortunately the higher-ups decided that sexy still sells. It's in your contract, I'm afraid." Alex could hear the disdain through the phone, whilst she desperately tried to fish a positive out of this potential dumpster fire. "It's not THAT skimpy, I guess? And you get a nice hat out of it, too...or is that a mask? It kinda looks like both? Either way it's kinda cool...hello? Are you still there?" Her metaphorical fishing line broke.

"Next time I see this kid, you'll be lucky if the blunt thing I swing at his goddamn head's an insult."