World Grand Prix Championship 18 [RP/results]

[Auruna]

San Marco Street Circuit
Post-race
One point, it's just one but it's still a point.

"You two did great out there, don't feel too bad, both of you are great."

It was certainly not their best. It looked like Viska's luck ran out after finishing high at their home race. There's nothing that they could do about their luck. They tried. Even with one point, something feels off at the garage. There was silence, unusual for the team. The previous races didn't help with the mood at all. They were fighting for the championship previously, they entered the top-tier of motorsport with high expectations from everyone.

That was a false dawn.

Jöna tries to lighten the mood of the team, he had to remind them of why they are here, how they got here. Inside the garage he yells out. "Täitä hevä, täitä etteremät!" It gets the attention of everyone in the garage, then he continues. "Mennä nie te taksa! Mennä tahti täitä! Kÿssä! Etterä taine aikasit! Täitä etteremät!" It was made up quick but it did work. The whole team cheers, chanting "Täitä Viska täitä!" over and over. The dark mood replaced by a brighter one and morale clearly went up.

It was time for the eagle to take off to the skies, it shall continue to rise, brushing off any attempt to take it down.

They will never go down without a fight.

Viska Factory
Sterlennau, Auruna
Few days after the race
A visitor has arrived, Viska CEO Kiiro Sÿrenna is visiting the WGPC team, it's for a quick meeting with Jöna and Artur but a walk around the factory would be nice. Jöna stumbles upon Kiiro while heading back to his office, surprised that Kiiro was "distracted" by the mechanics and engineers working on the cars. He calls Kiiro then they both head to the office.

Artur was already waiting with a cup of coffee in hand. The two enter the office, unlike the usual formal stuff, everything is a bit casual and friendly here. After the greetings, all three take their seats.

"First of all, you guys are doing well this season, don't let those bad races get to you, the only way to go is forward so fight well and fight hard." Kiiro starts. "Anyway, this is about the junior team. There were a lot of teams that want to take up the offer to be our junior team... excluding VSK but there are only a few that can benefit from this partnership. One of them stand out the most - Pryfors Bilar. A team that wants to step up to WGP2 and if Viska wants to have influence in both series, why not support a new arrival while focusing on the highest tier?"

Jöna takes a bit of time to think before responding. "Yeah, I think that would do. Especially when VSK is set to join the feeder series, we couldn't form a junior team of our own due to that MNA international license rule."

"Well, I like that as it can give a lot of opportunities for drivers and it will greatly benefit both teams." Artur quickly says after Jöna.

"Great, I was hoping you two would agree. I'll try to get it finalised soon." Kiiro stands up. "Well, that was a quick one."

After a sip of coffee, Jöna has something in mind. "Oh mate, an idea came up."

"What is it?"

"Invite them over to the factory, let's show them around, show them how we do at the factory and the race then hopefully you guys would get to a decision quick."

"Jöna's mind is full of weird ideas that usually work. I think it would be alright if it's for a week...er.. for now."

"Sure thing!" Kiiro says, then he walks to the door. "Now, where's the simulator?" He asks the two.

Artur and Jöna replies in unison. "Just downstairs."

"Heh, want a challenge? Whoever gets the slowest lap around Livonsk at the simulator buys lunch for the whole team!"

Showing their competitive side, Artur and Jöna stand up and take the challenge, going to the simulator with Kiiro.

Just like the usual day at the off-season.

[Hapilopper]

WELCOME TO HAPILOPPER CITY!

The Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit, home of the Preston Autos Grand Prix of Hapilopper, is the host of the 7th round of the World Grand Prix Championship, and has become known as one of the leading natural-terrain road race circuits in the Dominion. Located on the western outskirts of Hapilopper City, the track features a beautiful collection of elevation changes and challenging corners that are sure to give even the most cynical driver that little bit of driving pleasure. Over 150,000 fans are expected on the grounds of the Grand Prix Circuit for the first running of the Hapiloppian Grand Prix, and the race will be beamed live across Hapilopper over the Hapilopper Television Network, as well as across the multiverse on the WGPC's many broadcast partners.

Of course, while auto racing has long been king in Hapilopper, and while the Hapilopper National Exhibition will be underway for the next several weeks, there’s plenty of other things to do in the Dominion beside watching auto racing. Hapilopper City, for example, the largest city and capital of the Dominion, is one of the cultural centers in the region. The National Museum of Natural and Unnatural History, for instance, is a popular place for out-of-town residents, and features exhibits such as the dinosaurs that once roamed the lands of Hapilopper, the drum kit used by the famous rock band “The Kingslayers,” and the car driven by Team Blue driver Chet Byrd to win the 1980 HASCAR Challenge Cup.

Hamilton Square in downtown Hapilopper City
is the sentimental center of town.

Not interested in historic artifacts? How about checking out a concert? Hapilopper City has more than their fair share of concert halls, and on a given night in downtown Hapilopper City, you’ll find your favorite genre of music, regardless of what it is. There’s the Stockyards, one of the leading country music venues in the country, that features a headliner almost every night. There’s Palmwoods Hall, one of the top venues for up-and-coming rock stars, that has a show every night this week. There’s Riverside Park, which features some of the top rap and hip-hop stars in the country, and Kenwood’s, one of the top dance music venues in the country.

If loud music isn't your thing, there's plenty of other things to enjoy. Some of the finest culinary selections in all of Atlantian Oceania reside in Hapilopper City, including Craven's Steakhouse, rated by "Chunk o'Meat Monthly", Hapilopper's guide to restaurants, as the best steakhouse in all of the Dominion. Like beer? Check out Andrew's Pub, located on the north side of Hapilopper City! Andrew McPherson, the proprietor, and a former HASCAR driver, carries no less than three dozen beers on tap and carries all the major sporting events on four big-screen televisions in the bar. You might even see one of Team Blue's famous drivers, all of whom frequent the watering hole!

The city, with a population of 36,140,000, is the largest city in Hapilopper, and is moving every single minute of the day and night. The sentimental center of town, of course, is Hamilton Square. 242 years ago, Hapilopper City, then known as Hamilton City, grew out of that square, and in 1879, to celebrate the city’s and the nation’s centennial, a giant fountain was erected in the middle of Hamilton Square. Since then, the area has become the site of major concerts and watch parties for some of the biggest moments in Hapiloppian Sport, most notably two years ago when the Hapilopper National Football Team stunned the world and won the Baptism of Fire. Thousands of fans are expected to congregate on Hamilton Square this weekend to watch their favorite drivers, Rudy Edwards and William Archer, go for glory at the Grand Prix Circuit this weekend.

---

OVER 650,000 ENTRIES IN HTN'S "THEY CRASH, YOU WIN" SWEEPSTAKES!
By Nicole Palmer, the Hapilopper Television Network

HAPILOPPER CITY -- Over 650,000 viewers have entered the Hapilopper Television Network's "They Crash, You Win!" sweepstakes for the inaugural Hapiloppian Grand Prix, to be held this weekend on the Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit.

A lucky fan can win a free trip to any WGPC or NSSCRA race in Atlantian Oceania over next season if they can correctly guess the first driver to smash the concrete wall on the outside edge of "Oh Crap There's A Wall," a tight 90-degree left-hander on the back end of the Grand Prix Circuit.

According to Duke Postlehwaite, head of HTN Sports, reception to the contest has been largely positive, and they expect more entries, even up to the close of the contest at 12 midnight on Sunday morning.

"People have gone all over twii.tur asking if they could get style points for the way the driver smashes the wall," Postlehwaite said. "It's an interesting idea, to say the least."

Margaret Hornsby, director of special events for the Hapilopper Television Network, offered a breakdown of who has voted for who to smash into the wall first.

"Surprisingly, in the lead with 27 percent of the vote is Dario Nülkeschläger of the WGPC Motorworks team," Hornsby said. "Not far behind is Rustom Ibuna, Rudy Edwards, Jean Mercer-Daly, Ryker Lane, Sara Luna, and Cocoabo 23 from the Fireline team."

Hornsby suggested that a large part of Nülkeschläger's lead followed a joke campaign on twii.tur put on by Hapiloppian rapper "Fat A$$," suggesting that people vote for Nülkeschläger and try to get style points by correctly guessing the way Nülkeschläger would smash into the wall.

Meanwhile, Ibuna, becoming more and more known as the loudest critic of Good Motor Oil's "GET GOOD!" marketing campaign, has popped into second place largely to Good's social media department asking Hapiloppians to vote for the Filindo driver.

"Maybe if someone sprays 'GET GOOD' on the wall Rusty will hit it," a fan chimed on over the site.

The sweepstakes ends at midnight Sunday morning, or 13 hours before the start of the Hapiloppian Grand Prix. The prize will not be given out if a driver sustains injuries or is killed when making contact with the wall.

[Togonistan]

Flight 2071
en route to Hapilopper

Never judge a book by it's cover... that's what Dom's mother had always said. The Togoni was sitting on the plane, head resting against the window, eyes closed. Everyone around him thought he had fallen asleep. But no. In fact, Dom was wide awake, trying to figure out what he had gotten himself into. It was true that everyone had their breaking point. Dom had never thought he would make it that far. To drive in WGPC, pinnacle of the sport. All the glam surrounding the top tier series felt fascinating to every racing driver out there. Perhaps that had been what kept him pushing through the years, carry on despite all the obstacles on the way. To keep him rising up every time he fell. To prove wrong to people who had doubted him. Getting a seat in WGPC had felt amazing. A chance to show he can be more than the face of gossip magazines.

Throughout his career, he had always been a late bloomer. It took several years in the local racing series to reach the results. It took 3 seasons of WGP2 to eventually adapt to the open-seaters. Big was his surprise when he had managed to start fighting for points since pretty much the start of his rookie season in WGPC. Drive alongside the established names such as Ibuna, Lane, Talvela, Dimitrianov... and not be stuck in the back of the grid while doing it. Biggest part played in all this was MRT. The team that had decided to put their cards on him, while there were arguably less risky options available. The atmosphere in the team had been great, the cooperation seemed to click since day one. However, as the season progressed, so did the tensions rise. Dom had tried to keep up his cheerful attitude to help keep the moral high in the team, but inside, he was somewhat starting to crumble as well.

The team that had finished last season 4th in the standings was currently down on 9th. Consistent results shown by him at the start of the season had slowly but steadily declined. With such a limited number of rounds left, every point was at stake. Points left to be handed out decreased with every race yet to be driven. Points which he had failed to deliver for the team during the last few rounds. Pressure on him was rising, which in turn made him more prone to mistakes. Collision with Cruisin in Nekoni had cost him what would've been almost a definite points finish. In Filindostan, he had simply lacked in pace. Should the same fiasco continue in Hapilopper, it would be devastating. Those were not the results a team like MRT was looking for. Pressure on him and Jasmin to deliver was higher than ever.

In midst of all this, Dom had started to question if he actually was WGPC material. Sure, for a rookie, one could say his results so far weren't bad at all. Then again, he couldn't help but look at Sara Luna. That woman was a pure talent. Vice champion of WGP2 after her rookie season, now on top part of the leaderboards in her rookie season of WGPC. It seemed like to some, racing was just in their blood. No, no, no... he shouldn't compare himself to others that much...

''Please sit down and fasten your seatbelts. We are arriving in Hapilopper in 10 minutes.''

The voice coming over the speakers made Dom wake up from his thoughts and bring him back to reality. He opened his eyes and sighed as he reached for his phone to check up on his social media feeds. One of the first things catching his attention was a news article about some sort of competition Hapilopper Television Network was hosting. ''They crash, you win...'' Dom quickly read through the article and felt his blood pressure rising. Really? Was that the level publicity stunts had reached? Was someone actually willing to go that low with marketing? Betting on people crashing into a wall... in a hypothetical case of someone eventually crashing into that wall and ending up in a ball of flames, would they still laugh and tell them to get good? Dom still remembered the infamous Jack Kelly incident of WGP2. The engine on that Katara blowing up left the man hospitalised and caused a huge discussion about safety regulations in WGP competitions. It seemed like people had a short memory...

Dom did something he never thought he would do. He decided to make a post about it in response to this, completely ignoring the risk of potentially ruining his reputation with a lot of people.

Dom Falepeau
@DomFalepeauOfficial

---

Have people actually gone nuts with that ''They Crach, You Win'' sweepstake? We, the drivers, potentially risk our lives every race and safety is one of the main weakpoints in any form of motorsport to this day. Do we really need another Jack Kelly incident to happen before we realise stuff like this is not funny? I am seriously disappointed in HTN for organising such a competition that is morally so wrong in any way I can think about it.

#WGPC #HTN

[Hapilopper]

THE HAPILOPPER TELEVISION NETWORK ✓

@HapTV

Thanks for the reminder, @DomFalepeauOfficial - fans, you could have a great shot of winning it all if you pick Dom to eat it at #OCTAW!


#WGPC : #TheyCrashYouWin

THE HAPILOPPER TELEVISION NETWORK ✓

@HapTV

Another reminder: We WILL NOT give out a prize if a crash at #OCTAW leads to an injury or a fatality of any kind.


#WGPC : #TheyCrashYouWin

[Nekoni]

The following is a transcript from the official Polaris management message sharing service. This service is licensed to only be used by all Polaris staff currently employed. Trespassers will be subject to the full extent of the law. Please report any and all suspected breaches of privacy to the IT department manager and/or your supervisor.

Private Room Occupancy: 2
- Alexandra Mayari (AM), Team Principal, Pit Garage Manager
- Erica Okumura (EO), First Driver

Start of message string: Saturday - 21:00

AM: eri, you up still?
EO: yeah, checking out the telemetry
I really want to nail turn 1 tomorrow
it's gonna be weird defending against bjarn again
AM: excellent
it's a hard course to overtake on
but that doesn't mean that people won't
fortunately it's not likely to last the full 70
EO: it's going over 2 hours?
AM: probably mate
going off the readings, 67 if you're lucky
EO: less time to make up for mistakes
AM: aye
but you're not gonna make any
just take care of the tires tomorrow and we should be fine
it looks like you're gonna benefit from the great qualifying session tomorrow as long as you don't pull anything stupid
EO: thanks
AM: don't mention it
it's great seeing you up the card like you deserve to be
EO: also
you tried those eisborg samples?
AM: yeah, you?
EO: about to
don't spoil
i've never had a non-alcoholic beer before
i hope it's largely like the normal ones
kinda need to cut down on them anyway
AM: go for the peach one
EO: doing
wish me luck
...
...
AM: yeah, it's not good isn't it?
EO: WTF
WHAT THE ACTUAL
WHY
WHAT
NO
god damn it, alex
AM: ahahahahahahahaha
EO: this is awful
thats ruined my day
take the p3 and shove it lol
Erica Okumura has disconnected.

---

The dawn came on Sunday in Filindostan, and with it, the worry of a cloudy sky. San Marco was, to put it bluntly, one hell of a difficult circuit. To add rain to the equation would be breaking the scale. However, speaking of the scale, Erica spent her one fifteen minutes of free time for the morning on her laptop, in incognito mode, leaving anonymous reviews on a popular beer rating site for Eisborg's new flavours she had 'enjoyed'. Granted, from the slew of ones and twos in the ratings, it was hardly hidden knowledge that the 0% range tasted like piss and vinegar, but Erica needed the world to know exactly how the only bit of peach that the brewery got right was the fact that somehow, they managed to make a liquid taste 'furry'. But after that creative writing exercise, it was all about focusing on the race. Even if she had the taste of nuclear effluent in her mouth.

The pit garage felt different to how it did last week. Such is what a ten-position increase does. Alex was noticeably a lot more in-depth for this course, specifically singling out turns, where to defend, which lines to take, which places it was to attempt a pass. With a circuit like this, it would be definitely brave, but perhaps foolish, to attempt a pass at anywhere else than the first two turns, and when you're starting top 3 for the first time in a VERY long time, it would be the latter of them. The plan, of course, is to finish fast, but to finish fast, one must finish, and with two DNFs already against her this year, it would be a shot in the heart to the season if she picked up a third here, with this much promise leading in. And, of course, the rain could be a factor. The clouds hung in the air all day, waiting, as if they were calculating the worst possible time to strike. The race would be over two hours anyway, and the rain would just make things even more difficult in there.

---

"Watch your lines in the first couple turns, mate. Everyone's going to want your position, and if you mess up the opening you're going to be spending the next two hours trying to pay for it."
After what seemed in Erica's head like a lifetime, the five red lights dropped to green, and the cacophony began. Charging towards the apex of turn one, she cruelly cut Bjarnason off at the apex, decisively, but safely, keeping her advantage. She couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of finally getting her comeback on someone who she had been rivals with for her first season, and for so long had spent effectively in his shadow. 'This is what turnabout looks like, Siggy.' However, when one door shuts, another one opens, and it came in the form of the rest of the field. A group of three, headlined by a Lane Carter that had one hell of a good spurt off the line. In turn two, Lane could have attempted a pass. However, they didn't, and instead decided to block the counter-attack from Bjarnason, who had dropped further thanks to the V&T getting the best of him on the straight.

As the circuit's first lap unfolded, and by some form of miracle, all 26 would be starting lap two, the situation got testy, and Krupin was doing, what Alex Mayari called a half an hour ago "brave, but bloody foolish". He was making overtakes at places that he really, really shouldn't be doing, overtaking his way to the front of the cluster behind her, and she had to watch herself. Turn 15, and the mercifully smooth left hander in 4th gear opened up to a tight double-apex bend, and following that was a nice long straight. It could be an overtaking spot, if the entry was faster, it definitely would be. Alex knew that Grigori would be going for it. She saw him go deep into the left hander, so that would mean he'd be trying to slingshot his way onto the right side of Erica and overtake her on the inside line, right? She attempted to inch herself rightwards, to shut the door on him like she did to Sigur at the start of the lap. She got caught in a trap. Grigori knew she was going to hug the kerb, so flew around the outside line, broke sooner, turned smoother, and carried so much more speed on the following straight that passing her was a formality. Erica knew she'd been done out of a position by a combination of superior tactical play and cojones the size of spacehoppers. She had no reason to be angry.

After the laps started being ate through, with the overtaking attempt by Bjarnasson at turn 1 becoming simpler, and simpler, and then there being no overtaking attempt at all, she re-assessed the situation with the pit.

"Should I chase Krupin down?
"He's very far ahead right now. If you can manage your tires to just a two-stop you may as well."
"Rain situation. How is it?"
"Less and less likely as we go on. Still in the thirties, but I still wouldn't bet on it."

With Alex's blessing, Erica went for it. Remembering the practice of the week before, the endless laps that felt like trying to ride a bicycle in her living room, her eyes steeled, and the tyres squealed. The next twenty or so laps were a blur. Attempting to create flow from what was not there. She knew it was possible, because she'd just seen Krupin magic it up in front of her eyes. As she continued, the lap times did indeed drop, with her in the zone as the point of feeling that time had slowed down. As the lap counter on her steering wheel ticked, 20, 25, 30, she could see her prey in front of her. 'There you are, Krupin. You ready for a fight? Put your gloves up.'

The duel was on in the tight twists of the middle sector of the circuit. Erica, starting down the yellow rear wing of the Sorlovian, and everything around it and the upcoming turns her brain had motion-blurred out of meaning. She slotted her car behind the Volkov, waiting for the opportune time to strike on a circuit like this.

...and it would not come. The moment she figured, on lap 32, on turn 15, that she'd get her chance, just like he did, she heard a horrible, horrible sound of air escaping her front right tire. "Oh, DAMN IT!" Alexandra's disappointment came clear as day through the radio. "We're boxing now. Focus on getting it in."

Dejected, Erica had to ease off, to prevent major damage, and had to coast the car in. However, just as she thought she was destined for mid-table mediocrity, she saw a yellow flag, and Alex had once again chimed in through the radio:

"Oh my God, Talvela's out and there's a safety car! Turns out this race might be saved after all."
"At least I won't have to worry about speeding over the delta."
"Ha! A joke from Erica Okumura. I never thought I'd see the day."

She was right, though. The drop in race speed meant that, once again, a safety car bailed out Erica, and she exited the lap, somehow in the same position she went in, and, more importantly, Krupin was well within striking distance now. As the monotonous safety lap ceased, the race resumed, and, unfortunately, it seemed that Krupin had the same idea that Erica had, becoming an absolute nuisance to overtake from the start. Every attempt at a pass she had, Krupin seemed to telegraph it, and Erica was getting frustrated. Eventually, on lap 41, the bubble burst. The second corner, Erica attempted to pass on the left. She had the window, she had the speed...but she didn't have the space. Even though she didn't have her mic switched on, she could hear in her head Alex screaming "Wall, Erica! WALL!" as the Armco came on the left. She noticed it just a bit too late, and had to brake hard to not plow it, swearing a little as she did.

The fortunate thing was that she didn't collide with the wall, however, by the time she corrected it, Krupin was long gone. And there probably wasn't enough time or drive to chase him again. Erica resigned herself to having to defend fourth today. Alex instinctively knew that Erica was going to be smarting from this one. "Eri, mate, don't worry about it. Keep trying to hold on to fourth for now. I'd rather have you bring home eleven than attempt to grab three more and lose all of them. Fourth's really damn good if you can hold it."

After that rush of excitement, it was sad that the rest of the race seemed to just...happen. After Krupin's shadow could no longer be seen, there was nothing behind her to get worried about, and the huge amount of traffic littered around the track, all a lap down, meant that there was no real thing to chase. By the time she'd have dealt with a backmarker, Krupin would have had about 5 seconds of clean track. 'Sod it', Erica thought. 'Allie's right. It ain't worth chasing.' It was only during the last few laps of what was effectively clean Sunday driving that it did come to her senses exactly how the weekend went. Yeah, she hadn't made the podium, but it WAS her best race all year. And her great qualifying meant she hadn't had to do much to do it. And it was 11 more points to firmly cement her in the top 8, where she hadn't been for ages. Somehow, she thought, as she crossed over the line for the final time, as Alex's reassuring tones echoed through her headset, despite this being a season where she had doubted herself the most, it might come out to be her best season yet.

[Auruna]

Viska Circuit
Sterlennau, Auruna

The circuit is busy for the whole day, filled with Viska drivers testing different kinds of cars. The WGPC team is not present as they left earlier that day but Jöna elected to stay slightly later to observe the tests for a few hours. He watched as the cars go around the circuit. Hearing different sounds, the racing souls of the cars. Even their new electric E-Series cars has that soul that was similar to its ICE counterparts. That's what makes Viska the way it is and that's why Jöna formed an admiration for the team and the cars they create.

It gave him an idea.

He watched for hours until it's time to leave. Before leaving the circuit, he takes a quick glance at the cars and drivers. It was a motivating sight to him. He wants to make sure that the team should be like that, like itself, Viska.

Jöna checks his social media accounts, he sees posts with #taita58, and there are a lot. Fans and drivers alike are cheering them on, no matter what the results are. He appreciates all of them, an uplifting sight after a lot of heartbreaks and their constant bad luck.

He can't wait to tell everyone.

---

Simulator
Few days after the race

"You are solid at the race but couldn't perform at qualifying." Lukas thinks for a second there. "Alright, let's work on your qualifying for now. If you want to race, you need to beat your teammates at qualifying first."

"Okay." Kinu says, before entering the simulator.

"Alright, let's go."

The simulator starts, Lukas is closely observing Kinu's simulator telemetry. After a few laps, he starts to discover something. His times were consistent but were not the fastest overall. It wasn't obvious at first but it was an interesting find.

"So Kinu, I noticed that your setups and your style is mostly focused on the race. Your race pace is good but for qualifying, these times aren't great. I can see how we are great at endurance but start to suffer at single-seaters after a few years at AEC."

"Anything we can do about it?"

"I can't do a lot alone, we might need a bit of help. Like your teammates."

"Well then, I guess we can start with them."

"Alright. Now, keep going on the simulator. You need to get faster in qualifying."

"Ya, kapitaani."

[Ethane]

Team Debriefing, Race End Notes:

It's a race we want to remember, but a race we want to forget. We saw two tales today; that of Kowalski's race, and that of Fast Cocoabo. And we could have seen a different result, but that's how it turned out on the day.

Fast Cocoabo finished strong in practice and qualifying, living up to their moniker. It's been a solid run for the Cocoabo in qualifying; they have constantly outperformed Kowalski in the car, putting themselves in better positions for the race. It was not different this weekend. In qualifying, we saw for the first time a Fireline car top the grid; Fast Cocoabo finished on pole. It looked like we were in for a great weekend with them. On the other hand, Kowalski finished towards the bottom of the grid; having gained no points so far in the season up to this point, it wasn't looking particularly bright for this race either. So qualifying saw the tale of two drivers, one which has brought in all of Fireline's points haul this season, and one who has - admittedly - struggled to get to grips with the car and the team, also plagued with issues of team logistics and management.

In an odd change of events though, our story for this weekend flipped. We expected Fast Cocoabo to put in a solid performance and really take advantage of their pole. And Adriana was expected to fight in the bottom half of the grid, but not have much of a chance to seeing any points yet again.

Thanks have to go to the team that was in charge of Adriana's drive this weekend. The communication and the calls were on point. Adriana, this track was perfect for you and you exploited it. I could tell after the race how excited and happy you were with getting your first points of the season. We are so proud of you. You put in a real shift out there, and got the reward you deserve. Maybe play it a little more careful with your teammate in the future, but we were glad to see the competitiveness in the both of you, and the finesse with which you navigated this car around the circuit.

Fast Cocoabo, the result may not have been the result you wanted. Perhaps the calls weren't right from us. Our tactical calls could have been better, especially on tyre choices. You did make a few mistakes around the circuit as well; a bit aggressive on some of the corners, going wide into some or braking too late. We saw snippets of what you can do this weekend, especially if you were in a better car. But the team has been impressed with how you have driven not just on this weekend but across the whole season. There is a reason that we put our confidence in you both at the start of the season and in our mid-season tests, when we decided to stick with you instead of introduce one of our Ethanian drivers for the two mid-season races. And our trust has been warranted - your podium in qualifying on a track not quite as well suited to you as some others may be was one we were impressed with. We look forward to seeing what you can do next week with a more aggressive, free-flowing track.

To the rest of the team, thank you for a stellar performance this weekend. This is the first race weekend where I can say we coordinated well, worked well together, and got a really solid result out of it. The race is still on in the constructors championship for 8th, and for Fast Cocoabo and Adriana to gain some places in the drivers championships. I want to make sure that as we go into the final three races, we are on top of our game and ready to give these two stellar drivers the best race they can have. I understand we are close to making some aerodynamic developments and adjustments to the car to suit our drivers better - I desperately want those ready for the next race weekend, so we can gain those extra marginal advantages. You'll have the week to finish testing, and we can utilise them in practice if they work well.

Thank you for this week. Take the evening to rest; get ready for some hard-work tomorrow. Let's get ready for another solid race weekend.

[Abanhfleft]

Another forgettable race, William thought to himself as he brought in his PGP-01 at the end of the Filindostan Grand Prix. The last time he had been here at the San Marco Street Circuit, things had most definitely not gone his way at all. In WGP2, William had qualified dead last here in that dog of a Bitten Heroes KS-03, and the only reason William wasn't classified plum last at the end of the WGP2 race here was because five other drivers DNFed. Still, William was second last among the drivers that actually completed the race, and for him that was as good as actually finishing last.

It can't be just because it was a street circuit. Sure, William's history at street circuits was shit so far, but he did manage to win on one, even if it was a non-championship race at Ile Saint-Joseph that netted him no points at all despite his victory. But there was just something about the layout of San Marco, whether it was the claustrophobia-inducing walls or the lack of any real flow to the track itself. God knows William hates tracks like that. The Akresna Circuit in Auruna comes to mind with regards to tracks with flows that William absolutely despised, and by the looks of things, he may have just added the San Marco Street Circuit to his shit list.

At least there was one positive thing that came out of this trip to Filindostan. William's attempts at conducting some interpersonal diplomacy finally paid off. Lane Carter had repeated to William that the former had no issues at all with the latter, and neither did TJUN-ia as a whole. William knew that Lane had already said that in his email, but he just wanted to hear it in person from the man himself. There were some things that William just couldn't change, like the fact that he will always be known as the Son of the Devil thanks to what his father Guillermo did to another TJUN-ian driver, but at least now William could rest easy knowing that at Lane held no ill will towards him.

William and Lane got to talk about some other stuff as well after that meeting, and so did Lane and his former teammate in his days with UrGa in WGP2, Taras Matviyenko. William was initially able to follow along with their conversation at first, but then when Taras switched to Ukrainian excused himself and left the two to talk further. William used the time to work on improving on his times in San Marco, because what else was there left for him to do? But even with all that extra time spent in the simulator improving himself as much as he could, William still couldn't put himself anywhere near the points, a real shame considering that Rudy Edwards really had gotten good (and not just in the Good Oil sense of the statement) since the start of the second half of the season. Preston had proven that it had both race-winning drivers and equipment; the only thing the team needed now was consistency, consistency from both drivers to get into the points and maybe even the podium.

But it was now time to forget about Filindostan and look forward to the team's home race. The Hapiloppan Grand Prix was to be held in Hapilopper City and not Jenkinsburg, where William had bittersweet memories of running near the front of the pack for literally the whole race before his engine decided to say "fuck it" and exploded right on the last lap and just before the HASCAR 4 Esses. William could remember that day just storming through the Bitten Heroes garage and going straight for his motor home without so much as a word to anyone else. Everything had been going well for him that day, only for the lot to be snatched away at the very last second.

At least things were much better at this point than back then. This time, William had a car, a package that he could trust, and after two initial races where the car literally quit on him on the first few laps, William was now able to carry his PGP-01 to the top of the podium, even if it was for a non-championship race both times. Both William and Preston looked like they were set to make a good accounting of themselves in the latter's home race. Which made it all the more likely that William or even Rudy Edwards would be the one to smash into the wall at "Oh Crap, There's a Wall" and force the entire Dominion of Hapilopper to eat some humble pie.

Things would certainly not be helped at all with the arrival of a man whom many Hapiloppians definitely had a low opinion of, a man who dared take one some of the most beloved Haps, a man who dared take his tactics from home into the multiverse: Guillermo Archer. Sure, he was attempting to go incognito by wearing one of those tacky "Get Good!" shirts, but it was simply impossible to mistake that full head of jet black hair, mischievous light blue eyes, and pointed chin for anyone else. "Dad! What the heck are you doing here?" William asked his father when he recognized him. "Don't you think it's too dangerous for you to be spotted here? In Hapilopper, of all places?"

"Aw come on, William," Guillermo said. "It's like you don't even know your old man. I'm never one to steer clear of danger. Besides, it could be worse. We could be in TJUN-ia."

"Yeah Dad, okay, but seriously now, why are you here?" William pressed.

"Oh, nothing," Gil shrugged. "Just heard about this stupid fucking thing about people here voting on who's going to be the first to crash into a freaking wall so I thought I'd go see it for myself. I mean, I knew I was a bit of an asshole, but this is taking it to a whole new level. And they call me crazy? I never asked who was going to slam into a wall first in a race!"

"Really, Dad? That's it?" William asked disbelievingly. Not that he didn't believe his father would go all the way to Hapilopper for reasons just like what he just said. William just suspected that there was another deeper reason for Guillermo to be here. "Come on, Dad. Spit it out. It's only the two of us here."

"All right, William, fine," Gil nodded. "You know when you get the feeling that something bad is gonna happen, and you just wanna do everything in your power to make sure that said bad thing is not actually going to happen? Well, this is me doing just that. Ever since I heard about that sick and stupid "They Crash, You Win" promo they're doing, I just knew that I had to come down here and make sure everyone here knew I was watching them."

"But why though?" William asked.

"You just can't be too sure, William," Gil quickly shot back. "Lately, I've had this vision of you just stuck in wall. And these bastards actually painted a bullseye on the wall they're talking about! All I'm saying is that I want these Haps to know that I'm watching them, and that they know exactly who I'm going to blame if you end up in that wall."

"Come on now, Dad, don't be crazy," William tried to assure him. "This car is now a proven race-winning car. I'm now a proven race-winning driver. Forget about the fact that it's reverse grid and there was no points on the line. They're not gonna sabotage me just because of a freaking promo. They're not gonna risk me or their reputation for that."

"You never know, William, you just never know," Gil muttered. "But I'm telling you right here and right now, if anything happens to you, I am definitely going to go full stage dad and demand a damned international investigation."

"Okay, Dad, you go do that," William said, already walking away. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna go work on improving my quali pace."

[Sorlovia]

Gregori had forgone the day off. Hapilopper was on the very near horizon. There was no time to lose with rest days and time off. He had instead opted to travel to Hapilopper ahead of the next race and use the time out on the test tracks in preparation for the next race. The WGPC18 season was quickly drawing to a close and he wanted to make the most of every opportunity in front of him. Volkov and Sara would see an iron focused Gregori. The last three races of a season could still be telling. He was not going to take out the championship this year but he could still improve his standing. There was a brief amount of time until Hapilopper, not as much as he would’ve liked, but he intended to use it to the fullest extent.

He spent the next two full days on the test tracks, in simulations and carefully studying the analysis of his training sessions. A third place finish at San Marco had been a great result but he wasn’t about to let himself grow complacent. There was always more he could, more he could learn and things he could do better. Every race and training session was an opportunity to be better. WGPC18 wasn’t his season but it was a valuable opportunity to learn and grow in his career. The points from the races and his performance in them would feed into his future as a racer. They would form a valuable tool in his preparations for the Domestic Season and WGPC19. The third season of the Sorlovian Gran Prix, or SGP3, would be his next challenge. There would be a fresh crop of aspiring young Sorlovian racers looking to take him on.

“You’ve got this Greg,” Viktor said through his earpiece “the season isn’t over yet. Keep pushing hard and give it all you’ve got.”

The Volkov Mark II arced around the corner and flashed down the straight. Gregori had taken quite a liking to the official WGPC practice circuit in Hapilopper. It wasn’t quite like the track that he would be racing on come raceday but it was a challenging track in its own right. He pushed in hard into the corners slingshotting himself out onto the straights. Adapting to use a more technique focused tactic had paid off for him at San Marco and he intended to use it again at Hapilopper. He’d decided that it would be his standard approach for WGPC19 as well and his career going forward. The tactic seemed to have paid off for the other racers and he couldn’t afford to pass on any advantage that might help his career.

“Watch out for this hairpin,” Viktor continued “it’s sharp so it’s going to put a lot of pressure on you and the car.”

Gregori slowed his approach in anticipation. He eased the car to the outer edge of the track using the momentum to carry him through the first leg of the hairpin and repeated the technique to carry him out the other side. When he was safely out of that tight piece of track he opened up the throttle to streak down the straight in a burst of speed. A bit of aggression, but a carefully time and well used bit of aggression. He was hesistant to use too much but the simple truth was that some portions of the track demanded it. A WGPC car was a powerful beast that required a mixture of a strong hand on the wheel and an adaptable approach. Technique and handling had become his prime focus but it was still necessary to be a little aggressive at times. A hairpin, for example, demanded that you keep a firm hand on the wheel and use an aggressive approach unless you wanted to wide up against the barrier or spun out on the side of the track. A controlled technique-focused aggression was needed. They were perhaps one of the more challenging portions of track.

"You're doing well Gregori. But remember to pull back on the aggression. The Happilopper track is going to demand technique and handling."

[Nico Hulkenberg]

Points? Not In My Race!

After a pretty decent qualifying session which left him starting 12th, Dario was still starting 4 places behind his teammate. If he wanted to snatch any championship points today, he’d need to be fast from the get-go and make up at least two positions at the start. And that’s exactly what he did.

Race

When the lights went out, Dario was one of the quickest off the line. He immediately overtook Goita and Luna, with Toralmintii getting an even better start than Dario and staying ahead. Going into the first corner, he even managed to overtake his teammate, and was already in P9. His engineer decided to give him some feedback over the radio.

*bleep bloop*

”Fantastic start, Dario. That’s what we like to see, keep it up!”

“THAT’S where quick reactions can get you, heh!”

You’d think that, after that impressive start, Dario’s race would get a lot more interesting. Honestly, not really. Having been just behind Toralmintii on the first lap, he got to see the Tropicorp car sail into the distance, while Dario’s Motorworks car was unable to keep up the pace with him. After all, iBen’s car was on the softer tyre. However, on lap 11, Dario had a bit of good luck when someone further ahead had a problem.

*bloop bleep*

”Just so you know, Bjarnason is having problems with their car. They might have to retire.”

“Any idea on the type of problem?”

“Not really, but I think... yep, that’s them retiring the car now.”

“Does that put me up a spot?”

“Yep, with that retirement, you’re in P8.”

“Hell yeah!”

Since Dario was still lacking in pace compared to the cars around him, he decided to try managing his tyres more. After all, if he wasn’t going to be overtaking anyone on track, he could at least hope that other drivers went for two or even three pit stops. As the other drivers came into the pits, Dario stayed out on track, hoping for either a miracle or a safety car. Luckily for him, one of the two came to pass. With Dario’s tyres seemingly hanging on for dear life at the end of lap 32, it was a blessing for him when Terho Talvela had a massive problem, causing a safety car in the process. It was the perfect time to box.

*blooooooopity bleep*

”Safety car, safety car, Talvela is out. Make sure your pace doesn’t exceed the delta.”

“Can we box? I don’t think I’ll get any more laps out of these things, heh!”

“That’s the plan, yep. Box this lap.”

“Are we double stacking with Char or have they already pit?”

“Charyseine has already pitted, so we won’t be double stacking, no.”

“Good, good.”

The pit stop that followed went decently well, with Dario only being stationary for 2.3 seconds while he got a harder compound of tyre stuck on to replace the extremely worn tyres he already had. After coming into the pits in P5, he came out in P10, which was not the worst position to be in when he was going for points. It would take another few laps before he would be able to make use of these fresher tyres.

*blip bloop*

”Safety car in this lap, Dario. Make sure you’re in the optimal mode to gain positions on the restart.”

“Way ahead of you, Tom. Mode 8... enabled.”

“Solid. A lot of other drivers have pit, but there’s still a few ahead of you who have older tyres on, so we’re hoping that you can take advantage of that.”

“Wouldn’t they have pit by now?”

“They also started on the softest compound, but they came in around laps 23 and 26. Your tyres are fresher and should have optimal heat in them by now. Use that to your advantage.”

“Shall do, mate.”

“Good, good.

Upon the safety car restart, Dario made up two places by taking advantage of the cars in front having older tyres than him, returning to P8 in the process. P8 would not be where he stayed, however, as he overtook Adriana Kowalski to take P7, where he would eventually finish the race as he came across the line.

*blap blip*

”P7, Dario, P7! Good work mate, good work!”

“Wow, honestly, that was a great race. I feel like I definitely could have done better, but these should be some valuable points, eh?”

“Absolutely right, mate. That stint you pulled off was fantastic, your tyre management really helped you out!”

“I know, right? I can go home and sleep soundly tonight knowing that I bagged the team some points. Speaking of points, how did Char do?”

“Charyseine finished outside of the points, sadly. They were also lapped, unlike you.”

“Wait, was I the last of the unlapped? I saw iBen coming up behind as I crossed the line, but I thought that was maybe because he had lapped me earlier.”

“You must have mistaken something else for iBen, then.”

“Fair, fair. Any chance you could give me the standings?”

“Toralmintii took P1, with Edwards after him, then Krupin, Okumura, Carter, Dimitrianov, yourself, Kowalski, Cocoabo #23, and Stone in P10.”

“Double points finish by Fireline? Decent race by their standards, then.”



Another week, another decent race for Dario. Granted, it was only his second points finish, but it was a points finish nonetheless. As it stood, he and Kinu were the only point scorers in the team, but things could still easily change. None of this was on Dario’s mind though, as he was just happy enough to not be lapped by the race leader and looking forward to the next race in Hapilopper.

[Vilita and Turori]

TORALMINTII DELIVERS MAGIC ON THE STREETS

Grand Prix Filindostan Cepat, San Marco Street Circuit, San Marco, Filindostan :: It was a Cloudy day on the Streets of San Marco as the stars of World Grand Prix Championship circuit prepared for the start of the Grand Prix Filindostan Cepat. It was a new venue on the circuit, taking over from the former Filindostani venue at the Yogyakulta International Circuit, but that was not something giving Toralmintii any heartache. While Many consider Yogyakulta a hot bed for Motorsports in Filindostan, particularly as it is also home to one of the most popular rising events on the NSSCRA Circuit, Toralmintii new that the San Marco Street Circuit suited his driving style well. While he wasn't fastest in qualifying, two hours on the demandingly technical circuit was almost certain to result in mistakes for some of the World Grand Prix's inexperienced drivers. The veteran Toralmintii was looking forward to it. He was good on the start, he could make up spots without picking up damage, then he could bide his time as needed, Following the preceding car until it missed a turn then use the momentum to gain another position. At least, that was the plan.

It was also an opportunity for the Turorian. Despite having lost the Championship lead one week prior, Toralmintii remained just a single point behind Terho Talvela atop the Drivers Championship leaderboard. Three of the Four remaining circuits on the calendar favored Toralmintii's driving style. While he had entered the last four races one season prior with an 87 point deficit to the leader thanks to a massive under performance in the first half of the season, he could now feel a Championship within his grasp. There was no circuit better than the San Marco Street Circuit for Toralmintii to make up those points. While the Turorian could only muster the 10th best time in the traditional qualifying session, championship leader and Tropicorp Racing Aelund teammate Terho Talvela was mired back in 18th place behind one of the Race Eelandii VTGP machines - driven by R.L. Cruisin. While Toralmintii would always prefer a 1-2 Tropicorp Racing Aelund finish - particularly as those tend to go in his favor, he was acutely aware of the need to finish ahead of Talvela over the remaining four events.

Sitting in the cockpit on the starting grid Toralmintii could see the WGPC Motorworks #72 of Charyseine Valkyria ahead of him. It was a fitting moment of reflection for the Turorian who spent half of his World Grand Prix Championship career driving for the WGPC Motorworks entry. Now he was a two-time drivers Championship Runner-Up. If things went as planned in San Marco he could re-claim the Championship Lead. It was a long way to have come as a Works Driver. If he could do it, so could drivers like Valkyria and her teammate Dario Nulkeschlager whom Toralmintii could see out his mirrors starting just behind him on the grid. He was effectively in a WGPC Motorworks sandwich. He knew the potential, but he also knew that today was not their day.

Buckled in as the grid cleared, Toralmintii awaited the start. Lights out and through the gears the Turorian cleared through Luna off the line then dispatched of the Motorworks driver on the exit of turn two. Having advanced two places from the start, Toralmintii pressed forward and settled in. It was a long race and now Toralmintii had found himself a bit of a pocket. He focused on running smooth laps and shifted into stalking mode. He would slowly close up on the cars in front and wait for them to make a mistake without pushing too hard. He was surprised on lap 3 to come up behind Cocoabo #23. The pole sitter had been overtaken and slipped back to 6th place. After some moves of his own including overtaking Alex Dimitrianov in the #42 Badai Angin Tim machine on its home country track, Toralmintii bypassed the pole sitter and continued the charge. Contact ahead caused some alert and eventually a rare strong run for the Savojar driver Sigur Bjarnason came to an end. Another free spot as the Turorian got closer to the front of the field and broke into the Top 5.

Then came the stunner. The radio came in "yellow yellow" and iBen saw the lights on the wheel, flags in the corners. The safety car was being deployed. "It's Terho, he's binned it".

There was silence from iBen Toralmintii on the radio. Terho was out. He certainly had his work cut out for him on the day based on his starting position but still a DNF was unexpected. At least it sounded like a mistake, not a mechanical issue. Toralmintii focused and waited for the call. Everyone was pitting. There had been discussion before the race that the Turorian could choose to stay out under yellow to gain positions and get a chance at some open track to build a gap on. The calcus had changed, however, with the drivers championship leader out of the race. The safe move was to pit, get fresh Sifaka Tyres on the #77 TRAE and secure the points. So that's what iBen did.

iBen was lined up and warming the tyres just four cars behind the Safety Car. It ducked off and the race was back on. Now he saw the familiar Eelskin Brown and Cove Blue of the Race Eelandii! VTGP machine in front of him. It was the rookie from TJUN-ia Lane Carter. He took care passing the twii.tur sponsored car but he also wasted no time whatsoever. The #77 crossed the stripe looking to set up for the pass into turn 1 but couldn't quite get it down. He altered his entry into turn 2 to get position off Turn 3 and into the Rotunda. Though he was on the outside of the bend he knew the track was about to turn in his favor. One more spot. He looked into his mirror just before entering the chicane and saw Carter in the rear view fending off the pack. For a fleeting moment he wished him well in his fight. That thought was soon purged from the temporary focus. Though there was still a car between them, Toralmintii's focus began to shift on the leader whom he could see clearly for the first time all day. Though he was setting up for his own forward progress he was keeping an eye on the lines Rudy Edwards was taking. He had to make sure not to lose much time to the Hapilopper driver in the process of overtaking the second position.

His preparation had paid off. His tires matched well were worn less than Edwards and the Turorian would chase Edwards. The duo charged off from the rest of the field as a large gap built up behind Toralmintii, just waiting for Edwards to slip up. The moment came in Turn 16 as Edwards came in slightly hot and left the door open for Toralmintii entering Turn 17. With the better line and the straight line power of the Tropicorp Engine, iBen completed the pass and never looked back. To their credit, Edwards would keep up with Toralmintii and never let the Turorian rest easily. The white flag came a few laps early as the race had reached its time limit in part due to the early safety car. Toralmintii would take the checkers for his 10th career World Grand Prix victory, with Edwards five seconds behind as the only driver that could match the pace of the Tropicorp Racing Aelund machine.

It was a statement performance from the Turorian, driving up from 10th to claim the victory and re-take the Driver's Point Standings Lead. As the teams celebrated on the sidelines, one of the Tropicorp Racing Aelund crewmembers commented on the performance of Edwards as well as the recent strong performances by Preston Autos Grand Prix Racing in General by stating "The Preston machine was Good. We were better!." After once seeing Toralmintii as a Veteran calming force for their own Terho Talvela, the Abovian half of the Tropicorp Racing Aelund team were clearly warming up to iBen Toralmintii as one of their own. In spit of the work they had ahead of them to re-build Talvela's #56 for the Preston Autos Hapiloppan Grand Prix, on this day they were celebrating. iBen Toralmintii had seemingly rekindled the Magic from the 17th World Grand Prix Championships winning another late season race and hoping that this time he could complete the job and etch his name onto a very short list of World Grand Prix Champions.

[Hodori Motorsports]

Blue Flag Report

@BFReport

- -@HapTV

Going to do something new with BFR. HTN is our 1st winner of the Supreme Dumbassery Award


#WGPC : #TheyCrashYouWin : #BeyondStupid

Blue Flag Report

@BFReport

- -@HapTV

Also for this fucking stupid campaign of yours I hope nation-level karma ensues and a Preston ends up in the wall


#WGPC : #TheyCrashYouWin : #BeyondStupid : #GetGood

Blue Flag Report

@BFReport

- -@HapTV

Be even more delicious if it's a Preston double-DNF


#WGPC : #TheyCrashYouWin : #BeyondStupid : #GetGood

---

---

---

The Blue Flag Report
Posted by 87 Pigeons

Going to do something new with BFR. HTN is our 1st winner of the Supreme Dumbassery Award

@BFReport

[/align]

Saw something lately that just made me so clucking mad.

Anyways, back to catching up

---

Round 5: Aboveland

Pos No  DRV  Driver                    LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  28  LNA  Sara Luna                   1    1    0
 2   7  GTA  Abdoulaye Goita             1    1    0
 3  42  DIM  Alex Dimitrianov            2    2    0
 4  71  IBU  Rustom Ibuna                2    2    0
 5  25  KRU  Gregori Krupin              2    2    0
 6  50  EDW  Rudy Edwards                3    3    0
 7  94  LAN  Ryker Lane                  3    3    0
 8  11  CRT  Lane Carter                 4    4    0
 9  12  DEV  Anneliese Devereux          4    4    0
10  46  ARB  Kitti Armbruster            5    5    0
11  52  SZR  Sayono Souzare              6    6    0
12  85  STO  Olivia Stone                7    7    0
13  76  KOW  Adriana Kowalski            7    7    0
14  27  NUL  Dario Nülkeschläger        12   12    0
15  82  LMN  Kinu Luminna               13   13    0
16  72  VAL  Charyseine Valkyria        14   14    0
17  56  TAL  Terho Talvela              20    1   19
18  63  MIZ  Daryl Mizushima            21   21    0
19  77  TII  iBen Toralmintii           25    1   24
20  47  OKU  Erica Okumura              31    8   23
21  22  KRA  Jasmin Kranjska            32    4   28
22  37  SCH  Niklas Schonbaum           40    4   36
23  14  BJA  Sigur Bjarnason            47    1   46
24  19  FAL  Dom Falepeau               48    1   47
25  51  CRU  R.L. Cruisin               50    2   48
26  41  JMD  Jean Mercer-Daly           56    8   48
27  23  C23  Cocoabo #23                66    4   62
28   8  ARC  William Archer            116    2  114

Pos Constructor                        LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  Volkov Racing                        3    3    0
 2  Badai Angin Tim Motorsport           4    4    0
 3  Schkeksa-VSK Viska Racing            8    8    0
 4  Polaris Racing Team                 37   14   23
 5  TAS Alliance Racing                 44    8   36
 6  Tropicorp Racing Ælund              45    2   43
 7  SVJ Racing WGPC Team                52    6   46
 8  Race Eelandii V&T GP                54    6   48
 9  Nexus Racing                        59   11   48
10  WGPC Motorworks                     60   60    0
11  Fireline Motorsports                73   11   62
12  Mattijania Racing Team              80    5   75
13  Preston Autos Grand Prix Racing    119    5  114

Another Toralmintii-Talvela 1-2, and a WGPC Motorworks driver finishes on the podium. Only the eight point-scorers finish on the lead lap. Archer finished one lap down and Edwards two, so bringing this back because it aged so well:

This is how the New Preston will see the rest of the WGPC

@khakusa91

Kranjska retired on lap 23, and Valkyria and Mizushima did not qualify.

Badai Angin stumbles, falling behind Volkov in the race to minimise LNC. MRT loses ground to Preston, and are now only 40 LNC away from the bottom spot. The Motorworks team continues their trend of accumulating 12 BFP per race. Generally not the type of consistency you want in a racing team.

---

Round 5: Aboveland: Part II: Vroomy-Zoom Boogaloo

Pos No  DRV  Driver                    LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  28  LNA  Sara Luna                   1    1    0
 2   7  GTA  Abdoulaye Goita             1    1    0
 3  42  DIM  Alex Dimitrianov            2    2    0
 4  25  KRU  Gregori Krupin              2    2    0
 5  71  IBU  Rustom Ibuna                3    3    0
 6  94  LAN  Ryker Lane                  3    3    0
 7  50  EDW  Rudy Edwards                4    4    0
 8  11  CRT  Lane Carter                 5    5    0
 9  12  DEV  Anneliese Devereux          5    5    0
10  52  SZR  Sayono Souzare              6    6    0
11  46  ARB  Kitti Armbruster            6    6    0
12  85  STO  Olivia Stone                7    7    0
13  76  KOW  Adriana Kowalski            8    8    0
14  27  NUL  Dario Nülkeschläger        13   13    0
15  82  LMN  Kinu Luminna               13   13    0
16  72  VAL  Charyseine Valkyria        19   19    0
17  56  TAL  Terho Talvela              20    1   19
18  77  TII  iBen Toralmintii           25    1   24
19  63  MIZ  Daryl Mizushima            26   26    0
20  47  OKU  Erica Okumura              31    8   23
21  22  KRA  Jasmin Kranjska            33    5   28
22  37  SCH  Niklas Schonbaum           40    4   36
23  19  FAL  Dom Falepeau               48    1   47
24  51  CRU  R.L. Cruisin               50    2   48
25  14  BJA  Sigur Bjarnason            54    1   53
26  41  JMD  Jean Mercer-Daly           57    9   48
27  23  C23  Cocoabo #23                67    5   62
28   8  ARC  William Archer            117    3  114

Pos Constructor                        LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  Volkov Racing                        3    3    0
 2  Badai Angin Tim Motorsport           5    5    0
 3  Schkeksa-VSK Viska Racing            8    8    0
 4  Polaris Racing Team                 37   14   23
 5  TAS Alliance Racing                 45    9   36
 6  Tropicorp Racing Ælund              45    2   43
 7  Race Eelandii V&T GP                55    7   48
 8  Nexus Racing                        60   12   48
 9  SVJ Racing WGPC Team                60    7   53
10  WGPC Motorworks                     71   71    0
11  Fireline Motorsports                75   13   62
12  Mattijania Racing Team              81    6   75
13  Preston Autos Grand Prix Racing    121    7  114

Lane wins, 14 drivers finish on the lead lap. 11 more one lap down, starting with Archer. Both Prestons are within this group, so, you know. Bjarnason retires early to nobody’s surpise. Valkyria and Mizushima get punished again for failing to qualify.

SVJ and Motorworks continue to slide backwards.

---

Round 6: Nekoni

Pos No  DRV  Driver                    LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  28  LNA  Sara Luna                   1    1    0
 2   7  GTA  Abdoulaye Goita             2    2    0
 3  25  KRU  Gregori Krupin              3    3    0
 4  50  EDW  Rudy Edwards                4    4    0
 5  71  IBU  Rustom Ibuna                4    4    0
 6  94  LAN  Ryker Lane                  4    4    0
 7  52  SZR  Sayono Souzare              6    6    0
 8  11  CRT  Lane Carter                 6    6    0
 9  12  DEV  Anneliese Devereux          6    6    0
10  85  STO  Olivia Stone                7    7    0
11  46  ARB  Kitti Armbruster            7    7    0
12  76  KOW  Adriana Kowalski            9    9    0
13  27  NUL  Dario Nülkeschläger        14   14    0
14  42  DIM  Alex Dimitrianov           15    2   13
15  82  LMN  Kinu Luminna               18   18    0
16  56  TAL  Terho Talvela              20    1   19
17  72  VAL  Charyseine Valkyria        20   20    0
18  77  TII  iBen Toralmintii           26    2   24
19  63  MIZ  Daryl Mizushima            31   31    0
20  47  OKU  Erica Okumura              32    9   23
21  22  KRA  Jasmin Kranjska            33    5   28
22  37  SCH  Niklas Schonbaum           41    5   36
23  19  FAL  Dom Falepeau               49    2   47
24  41  JMD  Jean Mercer-Daly           58   10   48
25  23  C23  Cocoabo #23                67    5   62
26  51  CRU  R.L. Cruisin               69    2   67
27  14  BJA  Sigur Bjarnason            80    1   79
28   8  ARC  William Archer            118    4  114

Pos Constructor                        LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  Volkov Racing                        4    4    0
 2  Schkeksa-VSK Viska Racing            9    9    0
 3  Badai Angin Tim Motorsport          19    6   13
 4  Polaris Racing Team                 38   15   23
 5  Tropicorp Racing Ælund              46    3   43
 6  TAS Alliance Racing                 47   11   36
 7  Nexus Racing                        62   14   48
 8  Race Eelandii V&T GP                75    8   67
 9  Fireline Motorsports                76   14   62
10  Mattijania Racing Team              82    7   75
11  WGPC Motorworks                     83   83    0
12  SVJ Racing WGPC Team                87    8   79
13  Preston Autos Grand Prix Racing    122    8  114

Some non-championship races happened in between Aboveland and Nekoni, but those don’t count.

A Preston finally got good enough to win something of value, with Edwards winning the race. 7 drivers finished on the lead lap. 8th place Toralmintii is the first driver one lap down, as are all the rest of the finishers. Dimitiranov retires lap 40, Cruisin on lap 34, and Bjarnason keeps to form and is the first retirement on lap 27. Luminna and Mizushima do not start.

The table doesn’t shake up much here. Motorworks picks up another 12 LNC, and is only doing so well in the table because I’m not giving them full BFP for the two DNQs per race. SVJ continues to sink with Bjarnason being Bjarnason, and is almost within reach of over 100 kilograms of meatballs. At this point Preston is the ‘leader’ in the Unaward for Unreliability with 114 MBP thanks to Archer’s lack of performance in the first two rounds.

---

Round 7: Filindostan

Pos No  DRV  Driver                    LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  28  LNA  Sara Luna                   2    2    0
 2  25  KRU  Gregori Krupin              3    3    0
 3  50  EDW  Rudy Edwards                4    4    0
 4   7  GTA  Abdoulaye Goita             4    4    0
 5  71  IBU  Rustom Ibuna                5    5    0
 6  94  LAN  Ryker Lane                  6    6    0
 7  11  CRT  Lane Carter                 6    6    0
 8  52  SZR  Sayono Souzare              7    7    0
 9  12  DEV  Anneliese Devereux          7    7    0
10  85  STO  Olivia Stone                8    8    0
11  76  KOW  Adriana Kowalski           10   10    0
12  27  NUL  Dario Nülkeschläger        14   14    0
13  42  DIM  Alex Dimitrianov           15    2   13
14  72  VAL  Charyseine Valkyria        21   21    0
15  82  LMN  Kinu Luminna               23   23    0
16  46  ARB  Kitti Armbruster           24    7   17
17  77  TII  iBen Toralmintii           26    2   24
18  47  OKU  Erica Okumura              32    9   23
19  22  KRA  Jasmin Kranjska            34    6   28
20  63  MIZ  Daryl Mizushima            36   36    0
21  37  SCH  Niklas Schonbaum           43    7   36
22  19  FAL  Dom Falepeau               50    3   47
23  56  TAL  Terho Talvela              56    1   55
24  23  C23  Cocoabo #23                68    6   62
25  51  CRU  R.L. Cruisin               70    3   67
26  41  JMD  Jean Mercer-Daly          106   10   96
27   8  ARC  William Archer            119    5  114
28  14  BJA  Sigur Bjarnason           136    1  135

Pos Constructor                        LNC  BFP  MBP
 1  Volkov Racing                        5    5    0
 2  Schkeksa-VSK Viska Racing           12   12    0
 3  Badai Angin Tim Motorsport          20    7   13
 4  Polaris Racing Team                 39   16   23
 5  TAS Alliance Racing                 50   14   36
 6  Race Eelandii V&T GP                76    9   67
 7  Fireline Motorsports                78   16   62
 8  Tropicorp Racing Ælund              82    3   79
 9  Mattijania Racing Team              84    9   75
10  WGPC Motorworks                     94   94    0
11  Nexus Racing                       112   16   96
12  Preston Autos Grand Prix Racing    123    9  114
13  SVJ Racing WGPC Team               160    8  152

Welcome to Street Circuit Hell. This race gets cut short due to time, at 67 of 70 scheduled. Now I could give everyone 3 LNC for not completing the full planned distance, but that would be mean-spirited. I am not HTN, so we’re using the sensible benchmark of the number of laps completed by the winner.

Toralmintii wins, Edwards got not quite as good, and Krupin is third on the podium. 7 finishers end on the lead lap. The next 13 are one lap down, and the next two are two laps down. Armbruster makes it to 50 laps complete, Talvela to 31 LC, JMD retires on lap 20, and just guess does not finish lap 11. Luminna and Mizushima again DNS.

The Volkov-VSK-Badai Angin-Polaris order remains unchanged. Ælund stumbles to behind TAS, Nexus plummets to just ahead of Preston with one of our double-DNFs, and SVJ falls to the bottom with the other double DNF and is likely to be the recipient of over 150 kilograms of meatballs. WGPC Motorworks keeps to just behind MRT even with the penalty for their two constant non-starters.

---

Now for what’s got my feathers all ruffled: The beyond bad taste campaign of HTN. If it didn’t involve the risk of someone actually getting hurt, I’d go along with it and vote Bjarnason. But it is so beyond unacceptable that out of spite towards Hapilopper I’m going with Edwards or Archer. Maybe even both.

[Liventia]

CUTOFF

for Practice and Qualifying at Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit

[Liventia]

Week 14: Practice

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:28.535
Session Length:	75 minutes
Nation:         	HAP
Circuit:        	Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit

Drivers have 75 minutes to complete as many laps of the track as they like.

POS # ▍DRIVER                                     	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 28 ▍Sara Luna                                  	00:01:36.029	00:00:00.000
 2 56 ▍Terho Talvela                              	00:01:36.031	00:00:00.002
 3 77 ▍iBen Toralmintii                           	00:01:36.051	00:00:00.021
 4 11 ▍Lane Carter                                	00:01:36.051	00:00:00.022
 5 41 ▍Jean Mercer-Daly                           	00:01:36.057	00:00:00.027
 6 71 ▍Rustom Ibuna                               	00:01:36.078	00:00:00.049
 7  8 ▍William Archer                             	00:01:36.125	00:00:00.096
 8 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                               	00:01:36.155	00:00:00.125
 9 82 ▍Kinu Luminna                               	00:01:36.302	00:00:00.273
10 52 ▍Sayono Souzare                             	00:01:36.331	00:00:00.302
11 42 ▍Alex Dimitrianov                           	00:01:36.351	00:00:00.321
12 85 ▍Olivia Stone                               	00:01:36.366	00:00:00.336
13 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                                	00:01:36.383	00:00:00.353
14  7 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                            	00:01:36.581	00:00:00.552
15 63 ▍Daryl Mizushima                            	00:01:36.598	00:00:00.569
16 25 ▍Gregori Krupin                             	00:01:36.600	00:00:00.571
17 50 ▍Rudy Edwards                               	00:01:36.674	00:00:00.645
18 76 ▍Adriana Kowalski                           	00:01:36.799	00:00:00.770
19 37 ▍Niklas Schonbaum                           	00:01:36.947	00:00:00.918
20 72 ▍Charyseine Valkyria                        	00:01:37.178	00:00:01.149
21 12 ▍Anneliese Devereux                         	00:01:37.297	00:00:01.267
22 22 ▍Jasmin Kranjska                            	00:01:37.357	00:00:01.328
23 94 ▍Ryker Lane                                 	00:01:37.386	00:00:01.357
24 14 ▍Sigur Bjarnason                            	00:01:37.399	00:00:01.370
25 27 ▍Dario Nülkeschläger                        	00:01:37.630	00:00:01.601
26 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                               	00:01:38.407	00:00:02.378
27 47 ▍Erica Okumura                              	00:01:38.682	00:00:02.653
28 46 ▍Kitti Armbruster                           	00:01:40.843	00:00:04.814

---

Week 14: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Light Showers
Lap Record:      	00:01:28.535
Qualifying Type:	Elimination
Nation:         	HAP
Circuit:        	Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit

POS # ▍DRIVER                                     	FASTEST Q1	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q2	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q3	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q4	GAP TO LEADER	
 1 28 ▍Sara Luna                                  	00:01:38.312	FASTEST : Q1	00:01:38.539	00:00:00.016	00:01:38.323	FASTEST : Q3	00:01:38.168	FASTEST : Q4	
 2  8 ▍William Archer                             	00:01:38.317	00:00:00.005	00:01:38.523	FASTEST : Q2	00:01:38.330	00:00:00.007	00:01:38.179	00:00:00.011	
 3 11 ▍Lane Carter                                	00:01:38.970	00:00:00.658	00:01:38.742	00:00:00.219	00:01:38.406	00:00:00.083	00:01:38.200	00:00:00.032	
 4 12 ▍Anneliese Devereux                         	00:01:38.479	00:00:00.167	00:01:38.728	00:00:00.205	00:01:38.462	00:00:00.138	00:01:38.246	00:00:00.078	
 5 50 ▍Rudy Edwards                               	00:01:38.987	00:00:00.674	00:01:38.933	00:00:00.409	00:01:38.478	00:00:00.154	00:01:38.247	00:00:00.079	
 6 63 ▍Daryl Mizushima                            	00:01:38.643	00:00:00.331	00:01:38.790	00:00:00.267	00:01:38.462	00:00:00.139	00:01:38.282	00:00:00.114	
 7 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                               	00:01:38.720	00:00:00.407	00:01:38.768	00:00:00.244	00:01:38.512	00:00:00.189	00:01:38.324	00:00:00.157	
 8 77 ▍iBen Toralmintii                           	00:01:38.793	00:00:00.481	00:01:38.945	00:00:00.422	00:01:38.535	00:00:00.212			
 9 94 ▍Ryker Lane                                 	00:01:38.831	00:00:00.518	00:01:38.931	00:00:00.407	00:01:38.539	00:00:00.216			
10 42 ▍Alex Dimitrianov                           	00:01:38.925	00:00:00.612	00:01:38.941	00:00:00.418	00:01:38.568	00:00:00.245			
11 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                               	00:01:38.774	00:00:00.462	00:01:38.908	00:00:00.385	00:01:38.586	00:00:00.263			
12 41 ▍Jean Mercer-Daly                           	00:01:39.352	00:00:01.039	00:01:39.018	00:00:00.495	00:01:38.603	00:00:00.280			
13 56 ▍Terho Talvela                              	00:01:38.889	00:00:00.577	00:01:38.946	00:00:00.423	00:01:38.624	00:00:00.301			
14 22 ▍Jasmin Kranjska                            	00:01:39.323	00:00:01.011	00:01:39.040	00:00:00.517	00:01:38.661	00:00:00.338			
15  7 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                            	00:01:39.124	00:00:00.812	00:01:39.109	00:00:00.586					
16 25 ▍Gregori Krupin                             	00:01:39.050	00:00:00.737	00:01:39.171	00:00:00.648					
17 76 ▍Adriana Kowalski                           	00:01:39.844	00:00:01.531	00:01:39.660	00:00:01.137					
18 72 ▍Charyseine Valkyria                        	00:01:39.858	00:00:01.545	00:01:39.699	00:00:01.176					
19 47 ▍Erica Okumura                              	00:01:39.742	00:00:01.430	00:01:39.735	00:00:01.212					
20 71 ▍Rustom Ibuna                               	00:01:40.093	00:00:01.781	00:01:39.742	00:00:01.218					
21 14 ▍Sigur Bjarnason                            	00:01:39.908	00:00:01.596	00:01:39.784	00:00:01.260					
 – 27 ▍Dario Nülkeschläger                        	00:01:40.274	00:00:01.962							
 – 82 ▍Kinu Luminna                               	00:01:40.389	00:00:02.077							
22 46 ▍Kitti Armbruster                           	00:01:40.751	00:00:02.439							
23 52 ▍Sayono Souzare                             	00:01:40.856	00:00:02.544							
24 37 ▍Niklas Schonbaum                           	00:01:41.052	00:00:02.740							
25 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                                	00:01:41.296	00:00:02.984							
26 85 ▍Olivia Stone                               	00:01:41.622	00:00:03.310							

[Squidroidia]

Rain. To some it was their weakness, good drivers consistently falling over themselves happens all the time when the clouds turn dark and rain passes by the circuit. To others, it was a strong suit, allowing them to post insane qualifying times. To a driver like Daryl Mizushima, however, it was his only strong suit. Without the rain he couldn't even do so much as qualify with his Motorworks car. He did well in the one-shot qualifying for the Abovian Grand Prix but didn't make the show because of one thing - No rain. He had gone through the quartet of one-shot/rain scenarios: No one-shot qualifying or rain meant a low qualifying position and not making the race. One-shot qualifying but with no rain? High placement but not making the race. Rain with no OS? You're in the show baby. And if both strike at the same time, Daryl Mizushima becomes one of the most fearful drivers in the world.

In Hapilopper City he was dealt with the 3rd scenario - No one-shot qualifying, but with rain. Not like the torrential, session-ending rain at Dashoze, but a light drizzle. It was still rain, however, so with a slap of the intermediates Daryl got to work. This was his story.

---

Q1

Daryl had been through this circuit before. He could remember that Preston Autos trial well in his head, finishing ahead of Lane Carter and his teammate Charyseine Valkyria. He had experience with not only this track, but with a Preston car - He didn't get his chance to sit in Archer's car due to him finishing 11th in that tryout, but you knew the story from there. He was back in a familiar land, and with this he managed even Oh Crap There's A Wall with accuracy like the championship leaders Toralmintii and Talvela. A sign of things to come...

"Holy moly Daryl Mizushima! 3rd fastest car in Q1! A 1:38.643 from you lad, what an effort!"

"Oh my goodness! What's the Motorworks situation looking like?"

"Well Daryl... Charyseine's through to Q2 as well but with Dario and Kinu barely not making it, guess what? You're racing tomorrow!"

"COME ON NOW!!! LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!! BEST DAY OF MY LIFE RIGHT THERE!"

Q2

With the Squidroidian already qualified to the Grand Prix of Hapilopper, he could have just binned it at Oh Crap There's A Wall and called it a day. But as his intermediates were slowly warming up before getting onto the track, he couldn't. Now a whole nation was watching this scrub who hadn't competed in a serious grand prix since Dashoze race for nothing more but position on the track. He had already qualified, but now he had to back that fluke of a 3rd place finish in Q1. It was more of the same - Mr. Mizushima nursed his car through the track at every turn and stamped himself into the record books once again.

"Daryl, look at you go! Backing up that Q1 with a good Q2 time, 1:38.790! 5th in Q2, it isn't as good as Q1 but you're still in Q3! Guaranteed at LEAST row 7!"

"Oh my goodness, OH MY GOODNESS! THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY! NEXT UP, Q3!"

Q3

Daryl's real challenge began here. 14 cars now stood alone, including Daryl's Motorworks #63, hoping to get one of 7 spots to the promised land of Q4. There was no room for mistakes - One slipup and your road ends here, as they say. For Daryl it was about getting as much from his brick, a pretty chiseled and fast brick, as he could. The best drivers weren't slacking now. But when it was all set and done...

"You're in Q4 Daryl!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"5th best in the session again! 1:38.462! What an improvement!

Just like that, Daryl Mizushima had made history. He was through to Q4 in Hap City, the first time in his career that he did it. Q4 would not be amazing for him as expected, finishing 6th, but he was sitting just behind Rudy Edwards and ahead of iBen freaking Toralmintii! The Squidroidian was easily driver of the day, although the race was still up in the air...

---

After Q4, Daryl would look through the sheets again. Sara Luna had gotten herself pole for Volkov Racing, with William Archer sitting behind her at Preston's home track. The TJUN-ian Lane Carter would sit in Row 2 along with Anneliese Devereux, and in row 3 was the local product Rudy Edwards and Daryl himself. Before he could prepare for the race, however, there was still something to do... As he posed in front of his #63 Motorworks machine with a Squidroidian flag on his back, he noticed that he had to talk to Carter himself. While it could wait, he still had to talk to him - They had planned to talk to each other after this session, so time was right where the 2 wanted it to. After posing for the cameras, Mr. Mizushima went up to the V&T driver, Galarian and self-proclaimed Apple Man and put the Squidroidian flag on his back.

"Way to go Lane! P3 for Race Eelandii!"

[Hapilopper]

The Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit, Hapilopper City
The morning of the Preston Autos Hapiloppian Grand Prix
Dawn over Hapilopper City. Misty, cool and slightly breezy. The gates had yet to open for the grandstands, but fans camped out all over the circuit were starting to wake up after a night full of fun, debauchery and excitement. In the McLaughlin’s complex, where thousands of fans camped out, the smell of bacon and sausage frying was strong. Some fans had already put out their lawn chairs along the spectator hill overlooking Downhill Pass and cracked open their first beers of the day. Maybe they spotted a Preston Super Skychief course car rolling past at slightly-above pedestrian speed.

Driving the car was Marty Lewis, the head of Preston Autos Grand Prix Racing, the team he had built from the ground up in less than a year. In the passenger seat was William Mathis, the President of Hapilopper. Mathis, a car guy and motorsport fanatic, had arrived at the Grand Prix Circuit almost incognito, with the hope of being able to watch the Grand Prix live from the circuit, the way he had gone to the Super Skychief 500 when NSSCRA was in town. While Marty drove him around the circuit, he told President Mathis about how he had been given the assignment as a final chance from his bosses, a chance to get Marty away from the alcoholic environment he had been in in the past, and how he had excelled in it.

Marty had a huge smile on his face. Part of it was having a private audience with the President of Hapilopper, yes. But another part of it was the fact that all of this was because of what he had done. Over 250,000 fans would pack the grounds of the Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit on this day, and many of them would be waving blue, green and white flags. Hapiloppian flags. Flags of the Dominion of Hapilopper. All of them would sing along with the national anthem of Hapilopper, “The Sun Always Shines on Hapilopper,” and all of it was because of the work Marty had done over the last year.

Meanwhile, Rudy Edwards was waking up in his motorcoach not far from the paddock. He had a hard time getting to sleep the night before, largely because out of excitement of the fact he was racing at home. For the first time since his days racing go-karts as a kid, Rudy’s parents were coming to the track to watch him race. They had been too nervous to watch him race in the Hapilopper Championship Series, the top open-wheel single seater category in Hapilopper, which featured road racing on many of the Dominion’s great road circuits, but also wheel-to-wheel oval racing where cars could hit speeds exceeding 250 miles per hour.

As he showered, he thought of all the possibilities that lay ahead. Sure, he could ram the concrete wall at “Oh Crap There’s a Wall” and win a fan a free trip. It was a possibility that he shook his head at. He hated the idea of that contest. Everyone at Preston GP did. He hated that awful red-and-white target on the wall compete with the words “HIT HERE – LUCKY FAN WINS FREE TRIP,” and he hated the fact that he was getting a bit of heat from it. This wasn’t his idea, and even thinking about it made him want to retch.

I figure that was the natural conclusion, Rudy thought. They always talk about how fans watch racing for the crashes, so why not pander to that base desire?

There was also the possibility that he could have the race of his life. Sure, the Grand Prix of Nekoni was a special moment, a race that he would remember for the rest of his life, where he had, for all intents and purposes, saved his career with a magnificent drive and an incredible race win. There was the previous race in Filindostan, where he had raced his ass off only to get overtaken by iBen Toralmintii. He hadn’t won, but he felt he had more than proved himself as one of the top stars in international Grand Prix racing. But what if he won on this day?

He could see thousands of fans pouring out onto the track even as the cars were slowing for the cool down lap. He could see his car getting mobbed by adoring fans, fans screaming congratulations to him. He could see taking a ride back in a course car, looking out one window to see fans running after him, and another window to see a low-flying helicopter from HTN following his every move as he headed to the podium. A huge smile came over his face. At this point, this was merely a fantasy… but was it?

Or, it could be a completely nondescript day. A day where he did absolutely nothing of note, and the fans went home disappointed as someone like Terho Talvela or Lane Carter or Sara Luna won the Hapiloppian Grand Prix. He was determined like nothing else to make sure this didn’t happen. This was his hometown. This was his home race. This was his home nation.

As he got out of the shower and got into his clothes, he kept thinking about the day ahead. This was going to be a magnificent day, he thought. This was his day. A quarter million fans would pack the Grand Prix Circuit in Hapilopper City to see him. They weren’t here to see anyone else, not even his teammate, William Archer, who had quickly become one of the more popular drivers in the Dominion. The souvenir haulers outside of the circuit had sold out of Rudy Edwards gear. Hats, t-shirts, flags, diecast cars, bumper stickers, you name it, they had sold out like hotcakes. He kept thinking of what could happen, the day ahead. He kept thinking of what could happen. He pictured thousands of fans rushing onto the race track, a corner worker at the Downhill Pass handing him a Hapiloppian flag before rushing back and hugging his fellow corner workers in celebration. And he pictured his parents embracing him as he got off the podium after the race.

All he had to do was work for it. As he walked to breakfast, fans spotted him and rushed over to get his autograph. They realized who it was, the person that could provide Hapilopper with one of its greatest sporting triumphs in its history. Before long, Rudy had been mobbed like he had been a rock star. Deep down, it made him feel wonderful. It made him realize that he had, at least for the time being, become a star. All he needed to do was keep doing what he was doing, and he might become, for a fact, one of Hapilopper’s all-time great sporting heroes.

[Diarcesia]

The morning after the Grand Prix Filindostan Cepat

Sara checked the notifications in her phone. Aside from some inane news about a distant Gaean leader, one of them was a text from Gregori. Having emerged from a restful sleep, Sara processed the message with a clearer head. Yesterday's race was profoundly frustrating and disappointing for her, but Gregori's words assured her that he values her presence.

Hey Greg. Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sure you had the same feeling in the earlier races, and I'm VERY HAPPY that you finally got a podium this season! Every now and then, we have to be reminded how fortunate we are to be in our situation. That is, being able to drive for a WGPC team. We have three races left, so it's not yet too late to continue showing our best!

About Terho, my race engineer Emil keeps on teasing me that I am his biggest fangirl. Maybe he's right, I know quite a bit of what happened yesterday. He tried his luck one time too many. Braked early and shunted himself. He was a sitting duck and I almost hit him. I can't fault him. He's the defending champion and he's working hard to keep up with his teammate.

Btw, I'm going to tour San Marco. My family seems to like the place.

---

Pryfors Bilar HQ
Pryfurium, Diarcesia
A few days after the race

Aldauren Ginintella and Louis Meissner walked into the spacious corner office. For a modern building, this room has the markings of a previous era. Stone accents can be seen in the salient portions of the walls. One's footsteps can not be heard when walking on the carpet. Draped curtains line the expansive windows.

"Welcome, Aldauren. Welcome, Louis. Please take a seat," Siv Ingesson acknowledged their presence. The CEO of Pryfors Bilar asked for both to come to give them an important news.

"What you have to share must have some weight for us to be summoned here, Siv." Such an expression of familiarity would normally come as strange to the head of a company that has lasted for a hundred years, but Aldauren could claim a privilege to be so. He had worked closely with its long-dead founder and is instrumental in PB's early rise.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Siv replied, unflinching. "But before that, congratulations on the podium in the most recent WGP3 race. Well done."

Aldauren bowed his head slightly. "I appreciate it. Judging by your tone, this is some good news."

"I flew to Auruna and got in touch with Kiiro Sÿrenna, my counterpart in Viska. He and I discussed our World Grand Prix plans. They themselves will focus in WGPC, though also they want to have some presence in WGP2. Unfortunately," she closed her eyes and knowingly nodded. "Politics," she added before she looked again at Aldauren and Louis. "They couldn't be there directly. One of their competitors will have a team to enter."

Louis noticed the pause. "And I'm getting the idea on where this is going."

"If you think what I'm thinking, good. You know they're looking for a junior team to partner with. Fortunately, Mr. Sÿrenna appeared to have been satisfied with how our nascent WGP3 team is developing. He is willing to put his chances on us in WGP2."

Aldauren took no time to respond. He knew too well what it meant for him. "I would accept a stay there."

"I expect nothing less from you, actually," Siv lit up and chuckled. "Chief Engineer Meissner, you have done a fantastic job with our cars over there."

"You're welcome, Miss Ingesson," Louis sheepishly answered.

"You will be the WGP2 team's chief engineer, so you can continue working with Aldauren there."

"Thanks, madam."

"I know the Monarchy has a sweet deal for teams that are going international, Siv," Aldauren added.

"Now that you mention it, yes. Normally, we take sponsorships, but the Diarcesian government is willing to spend for us this season. The message is that their resources would be enough for us to get going. The sponsors Viska would take are an additional bonus."

"But that is only for the first year, right? It would serve as Diarcesia's campaign to promote the entire Monarchy. Since we'll not be strapped for cash, we would be free to pursue whatever innovations and creativity we fancy for this period."

"That's correct, Aldauren. We are going to take the Monarchy's offer. I'll bring this up with Viska. Our cars, helmets, and race suits might ultimately only show sponsorships on their side."

"You are glad to confirm that the boldness of this move paid off," said Aldauren. "I think PB is about to take a leap into the future with this. The Monarchy seems determined to make sure that Diarcesians would succeed. If we are to be the architects of this new era, we will plan to make use of certain elements of the technology libraries available. I'm sure there will be more to come."

"I'm sure of that," said Louis.

---

"I surely am not looking forward to be getting shunted anywhere during the qualifying or race day," said Sara over the phone. "The first consideration in any race is safety. WGPC tries its best that we would not be hurt if we crash, but making light of who gets retired there first is... well..." she refused to continue the sentence.

"A pity," said Darren, her brother. "It was all done in good spirits. If the crash does injure the driver, the prize will be withheld. They take it seriously, I think. Speaking hypothetically, without any people involved, there's a certain elegance to the way things are 'deconstructed' when they go awry. Connecting all the scattered pieces after the fact is nice, like solving a puzzle. And you won't disagree with me that 'Oh Crap There's A Wall' is a hilarious name for a corner."

"It really is a hilarious name," Sara affirmed. "But it's not so funny if the consequences become dire..."

"Oh, I see," Darren thought about it. "Good point. Guess I have to go, then?"

"Don't you have some errand to run, brother?" Sara inquired.

"Yes. Bye."

"Love you, brother."

---

It's not because of natural talent that I'm here. I'm here because of what I had to do throughout my career. In WGPC in particular, it is because Abdoulaye challenged me. We have developed professional bonds in WGP2, and I accepted it out of this bond, this friendship. In terms of career alone, I think I have checked everything in my list. For freaking once, my family and I don't worry about whether I have debts to pay or we don't go hungry by the next week or month. Now, since I'm employed by Volkov, I'm bound by my honor to do my best for them, to bring as much points in their name. Personal recognition on the way is just secondary. Well, aside from that, this is what I know for much of my life. This is what inspires me. That is why I race. That spark, that magic, that moment in my childhood when I grabbed a steering wheel and had a go for the very first time: that is what I'll always remember and chase. The way it opened doors and opportunities for me. That is who I am. Sara Luna does not give up.

She took those words as a personal oath to herself. The season's closing stages are fast approaching. Volkov and Sara has a narrow, yet present path to championships so far. Her passion burns brightly.

In Happilopper, and hopefully, beyond, it continues to do so as she took the fastest time in free practice and the pole position in qualifying.

[Twicetagram and JYPe]

MOST SECRET PLACE IN HAPILOPPER! (This will SHOCK you)

---

Chars: Hi guys! Welcome back to my vlog! Today we will be looking at only the most secret place in Hapilopper! This place is so secret this will shock even the biggest scholars! I am smart after all! Heard that? Let’s go!

We are brought to a forest.
Chars: This here is the Idleman National Forest. Named after one of Hapilopper’s explorers, its 20 miles west of Hapilopper Forest. An abundance of flora and fauna, it had a 5-mile walking trail. In the forest is also Lake Idleman, the biggest natural lake around Hapilopper City. The secret place will be around the lake so let’s go!

We are taken on a time lapse of the walking trail and the lake.
Chars: We’re almost there guys. It’s located at the southern tip of the lake.

We are met with a majestic mansion-like building.
Chars: We’re here guys. It’s the Benson House. One of the most expensive but lovely hotels in Hapilopper, it usually isn’t shown on Hapiloppian media because it shows a more relaxed side of Hapilopper than what is shown on TV. It’s a really beautiful place, both the exterior and interior are amazing! If you get the opportunity to go here you SHOULD.

Chars: Thanks for watching my vlog! Support me on my Twitur account and the Happilopian Grand Prix!

[Auruna]

Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit
Practice
Viska's weekend started well, with good news coming from Kiiro and Jöna, it was promising start. As usual, they are doing their practice programmes, gathering data for setups and such. Both drivers are out on track, learning the circuit, their setups, and the conditions.

Jöna watches as the cars zoom past the pit wall, he instantly remembered the Viska test. He taps Artur's shoulder. "I just remembered, I was holding onto this idea for about a day."

"Let's hear it."

"After this weekend, let's get Goita and Olivia in our other cars, let them drive around in whatever they choose and as long they want to. Let them run wild around our test track or at Livonsk, if there are no events scheduled there."

"I don't see anything wrong with it, you need to go ask Kiiro for the cars."

"Yeah, I'll ask the two after practice then Kiiro when we get back."

For the drivers, it was a bit uneventful but it was necessary. They were doing their runs around the track, doing practice starts, and others that are included in their practice programmes. Artur, Jan, and Baxen are discussing about the strategy. There are a lot of options and for different conditions, just in case. Besides that, not much is happening to Viska during this practice session.

Meanwhile, Jan jokingly says. "Be careful, don't get too close to the walls, they're not that friendly. I've been there before."

Qualifying
Everything was going well and they are prepared for qualifying. Well, until the rain arrived. It all went downhill after that but it didn't damage their morale, there's still hope, even though it's slim, they have a chance of qualifying well. Street circuits are usually treacherous, especially in the rain. It's not that heavy, just some light showers but it's still a recipe for disaster.

At Q1, Goita did well even after a slidey moment that almost caused him to crash. His fastest was a 1:39.124. However, his teammate had back luck. Olivia couldn't get the grip she needed at the corners, and even at the straights. It was a difficult time then, right after she posted her time of 1:41.622, the rear suddenly rotated and hit the wall followed by the rest of the car, it was a hard impact. She crashed at the pit straight which caused a red-flag for Q1.

Baxen's panicked voiced is heard through the radio. "Are you alright?!"

There was a few seconds of silence before a response from Olivia. "I'm alright."

The whole team is relieved after that message but they need to repair, or rather, rebuild the car, it's a good thing that they came prepared.

Jöna gets on the radio. "Don't worry about the crash, it's great that you're alright. We'll have the car rebuilt and take the pit-lane start, don't worry too much." He repeats the latter part of his message to the team.

Later, it was time for Q2, it was still wet but there's a defined dry area on the racing line, it should be useful. Goita was sent out on Inters, there was a debate on taking the softs but they couldn't risk that much. They try to get through to Q3. Hot-lap after hot-lap, he was getting faster and faster. Then he reached the limit. He was so close. Then they see Goita moving down the order. He couldn't set anything faster than 1:39.109. It was set, he was out of qualifying and he will start at P15. Hopefully he can gain 10 places at the race like he always does.

It was a horrible qualifying for VIska. It was not as they expected, their bad luck continued. Something needs to happen at the race, to turn things around but it would take a miracle for that to actually happen.

Nonetheless, there's a race to do and anything can happen. They need all their remaining good luck to finish high but save some for the rest of the season.

[TJUN-ia]

WGPC18 - Round 8
Preston Autos Hapiloppan Grand Prix
Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit, Hapilopper City, Hapilopper (Rain, huh? Sorry Hap...)

It's the city that never sleeps in the country known for two things: motorsports and some of the best parties you will ever go to. Welcome to Hapilopper City and welcome to it's Grand Prix Circuit for Round 8 of WGPC18. Yes, it's Round 8 already and with iBen Toralmintii 24 points ahead, these next 3 weeks will decide if he can be caught or not. That journey will begin here, at a circuit filled with signs of Hapilopper's racing heritage as well as its identity. Don't crash into the infamous "Oh Crap There's A Wall" if you don't want those sadistic-buggers at HTN to give people money over your failure! Yep...welcome to Hapilopper!

Lane Carter's return San Marco was very good, with 5th place and the fastest lap giving the Galarian 10 points to add to his collection. We all know that he will not be champion but in these final 3 races, maybe the Galarian can show off to the rest of the grid the talent we know is in there, somewhere...

---

Friday - Practice
Hapilopper City. Lane Carter had heard a lot about Hap City from when it hosted NSSCRA 9, a city many a race fan would like to travel to in their lifetime. They brought out all the stops in hosting that event, dedicating a whole week to racing and how beautiful it can be. Lane imagined this is what New Washington or even TJUN-ia City itself would be like if it hosted an international motor race, parties and all, and while WGPC plays second fiddle in this city, it still welcomed all competitors with open arms as Friday Practice arrived.

Lane had been here before, of course. In the pre-season, he and 17 other drivers arrive in Hap City to test Preston's new ride and ultimately decide who would join Rudy Edwards in the lineup for the new team. That battle was won by William Archer with Lane down in 12th on the day, 2 tenths behind Daryl Mizushima of all people. These 3 drivers would make it onto the grid eventually, Lane for Race Eelandii and Daryl for the Motorworks, and so far the fortunes of these 3 have wildly changed over the course of this season.

Entering this weekend, Lane knew what the other 2 would want from this event. Will wanted to join Rudy on the podium and to do it at his team's home race would be all the more brilliant. Daryl wanted to qualify for his 2nd ever race and prove that he can tangle with the best of them when it came down to it. But he wasn't exactly sure what he himself wanted from this event, at a track he wasn't sure if he was going to excel at. Points, of course, would be nice but is that all there is on offer? Was he good enough for more?

A dry Friday could've provided the answer. Maybe it was his experience of being here in the pre-season, maybe the car suited this track or maybe Lane suited this track. But no matter what theory was out there, one fact remained: Lane was flying around Hap City, to the surprise of many - even himself. He flowed across this circuit like water, planting the car across apex after apex suberbly. It wasn't the best running overall, that would go to Sara Luna today, but it was still good enough for 4th and only 2-hundredths behind the pace. Just behind the Ælunds, just ahead of Jean Mercer-Daly. William was down in 7th but only a tenth back on Luna, as was R.L. Cruisin in 8th and even Mizushima was doing well up in 15th, less than a tenth ahead of crowd-favourite Edwards. It certainly was an interesting day out there, but what would tomorrow bring? Lane couldn't know for sure, but he hoped that it would be just as good as today.

---

Saturday - Qualifying (Elimination)
If Daryl had hoped for rain, then it would arrive in time for Q1. It was light, but it was definitely there and the already-tight circuit just became a whole lot more difficult. Lane knew that in order to qualify highly, he would have to tame this circuit multiple times as elimination qualifying meant we had to go to Q4 to decide who would be on pole. Lane's best in these type of sessions was Q3 in Crossbay, a P13 he...couldn't do much with at all in the end. He knew he had the pace to potentially make Q4, but did he have the confidence in order to reach that target?

All those doubts would mostly dissipate in Q1, where Carter did what he could do. The rain was hard to tame at first but once he found his groove, he found himself into Q2 with no trouble at all, only 6-tenths off the pace, The only shock to the Galarian was who was up there after this session...

LC: Who's been eliminated?
RE: Nülkeschläger and Luminna will not be racing tomorrow.
LC: Okay. Nice to Daryl make it in again!
RE: 22nd to last is Armbruster, Souzare, Schonbaum, Fast Cocoabo and Stone.
LC: Damn, Souzare and Stone? Jeez, that must've been tough. Who's top 3 right now?
RE: Top 3 is Luna, Archer and Mizushima.
LC: Wait what?!
RE: I know, right? Crazy to see him up this high!
LC: I know he told me he was good in the wet, but I didn't think he would be this good! Wow...interesting.

Daryl would be racing tomorrow. That was all Lane needed to know. He knew he might fall back but he was going to race no matter what and the Galarian was really happy for him. Maybe too happy, perhaps. Q2 arrived and the Galarian did his thing as he carved his way into P4 and look like a contender while doing so. Daryl was keeping up too and he made it in while Archer took the fastest time of the session just ahead of Luna. Goita and Krupin wouldn't be so lucky, neither would Kowalski, Valkyria, Okumura, Ibuna and Bjarnason.

Then Q3 arrived, with only the Top 14 remaining and only 7 spots in Q4 later on. Forget about everything else, Lane was focused on making it into the big time. He set out and set some laps in that car, attacking where he could and using his expertise to tame this watery beast. As he crossed the line towards the end, he felt he had done an excellent job no matter what and that the lap he set felt like fire in his peddles. The radio would confirm that...

RE: Nice one, mate! Brilliant lap there, that's P3. You're going to Q4, well done!
LC: Nice! Thanks, guys! Who's with me?
RE: Luna took the session ahead of Archer and yourself. Deveraux, Mizushima, Edwards and Cruisin are Top 7.
LC: Woah...that's an interesting group right there! Where are the Ælunds?
RE: iBen will start from 8th, Terho in 13th.
LC: Wow....imagine that. Me and Daryl in Q4 with no Ælund at all. Very wacky, I must say.

It certainly was an exciting collection of drivers but in the end, only one could claim pole on this wet day in Hap City. Lane tried his best to attack the pole with everything he had but it wasn't enough for today. Still, it was a brilliant lap nonetheless.

RE: That's P3 for tomorrow, P3. Only .032 off the pace. Well done, man, that was superb driving all day!
LC: Thanks, guys. Wow...P3 again, huh? Didn't think this would happen again, but I'll certainly take it.
RE: Top 3 were Luna, Archer and yourself.
LC: Not surprising at all, those 2 were dynamite today. Will be an interesting one tomorrow.
RE: Devereux was P4 then Edwards, Mizushima and Cruisin.
LC: Daryl ahead of Cruisin?!
RE: Yes. Daryl was .04 ahead of Cruisin and only .114 behind Luna.
LC: Wow...good for him! I'll make sure to congratulate him later.

The Top 3 will be Luna-Archer-Carter for tomorrow. Who would've predicted that?! Once again, the Galarian was involved with the post-race interviews and all that jazz and it felt amazing to be up there once again. He didn't think he would get close to Saturday in Turori again but it was brilliant all the same. As things started to settle down, he thought about what tomorrow could bring. He knew he might have the pace to take some good points away from this weekend, but he wasn't sure how far he could go at all. But all those thoughts would go away for the moment as something wrapped him up...literally. It was a flag of blue and white. Of course, he thought. Daryl was here.

The two drivers shared a hug, one of congratulation. Who would've seen a scenario where the Galarian was P3 and the Inkhallen in P6? It would've been pure fantasy last week, but that is where they will start. They decided to sit down somewhere in the paddock and would begin their scheduled meeting in earnest.

They talked about a lot of things, as they did in the first meeting in Normandy. Lane was quick to mention that he thought that Daryl wasn't a joke at all and that what the Inkhallen just did proved that fact. It certainly was a nice compliment and he could tell Daryl wasn't expecting that at all. They talked about the race tomorrow and the main aim of both of them: avoid crashing into OCTAW at any cost. They talked about the new NSSCRA season and how good both Shigeru Ishikawa and Maddison Riley-Jones were doing in their respective series, Lane joking that Squidroidia's Shigeru was sharing a row with Hispinas' Shigeru. They talked about baseball, of course, as Lane was quick to mention the Battin' Jags and their 4th place in WBC50. It was the farthest any TJUN-ian team have ever gone in any major competition and it was a fact that TJUN-ia would share with pride. That final inning against Zwangzug was recommended viewing by the Galarian and so, they watched. They watched Angel Enrique's moment in the spotlight, they watched the celebrations that would follow and they would watch Enrique carried off the field by Pedro Moires.

After that, it was time to say goodbye. Another hug this time, one where the Galarain felt that the pain he was in long ago was worth it in the end. He now had a friend and that was all he needed in this day and age. As he Inkhallen left, Lane shouted that he would see him next time...but he didn't even know when that next time would be. As he sat alone, he started to wonder why he enjoyed spending time with Mr Mizushima. Daryl was a great guy and all, but why was it specifically him that he enjoyed spending time with? Maybe Lane just needed someone to fill in a void and it was Daryl who so happened to do that, but he wasn't exactly sure. Still, he put those thoughts into the deep reaches of his mind for now. Tomorrow would be an interesting day for many drivers out there, but especially the Galarian and the Inkhallen.

[Ethane]

The Best Fireline Radio Snippets From Practice and Qualifying

Listening to team and driver radio communication is often quite entertaining. Whether it's gaffs, comedic moments, or just straight up anger, what we hear through the radio can bring joy or pain. Here's the top 5 radio communications over practice and qualifying in the Fireline Motorsports team. Which is your favourite?

5 - "Right, not slidey"

Garage (G): "Okay, Fast Cocoabo, a good first sector to the flying lap. Keep it going through this middle sector"
Fast Cocoabo (FC): "Copy.."
G: "Fast Cocoabo, don't forget the right turn ahead."
G: "When they call the corner 'Slidey Right', that doesn't mean you should be sliding around the corner."
FC: "Copy."

4 - Chicken

G: "Okay, let's get one more flying lap in for this practice session, and then we'll retire you until the qualifiers."
Adriana Kowalski (AK): "You think I've done enough?"
G: "Yes, we've seen you put in some solid laps in practice, We should pick up pace in qualifying."
AK: "Good, because I'm getting pretty hungry. Every time I drive down the 'Chicken Bone Alley', I always think about how much I want some food right now."
G: "Understood. We'll have some food prepared for you when you get back in."

3 - Wholesome Appreciation
AK: "You know what guys, I appreciate you. We've not had the best of seasons, but so far it really has been a blast."
G: "We've certainly enjoyed your presence as well Adriana. Isn't she so sweet?"
AK: "The radio is still on. You know that right?"

2 - Alternative Fireline Names for the Corners
AK: "Guys, I've got some alternative names for the corners on this track, tailored to Fireline Motorsports this season."
G: "Go on then, we'd like to hear them."
AK: "Okay, so first right should be 'Here be crashes'."
G: "Okay..."
AK: ""Downhill Pass doesn't need much of a change. How does "Downhill getting passed sound?"
G: "Not particularly inspiring, I have to say..."
AK: "I haven't even begun yet. McLaughlins becomes Mc-getting laughed at. And let's be honest, Slidey Right doesn't need a name change after my performance in practice..."
G: "Well, that's something we can agree on at least."
AK: "Flat left and flat right, well they surely have to become 'flat left/flat right tyre. And that isn't Tropicorp's fault - they provide the best quality tyres. The chassis just can't handle their quality."
G: "Tropicorp are solid. But our chassis handles them well."
AK: "Not really... Oh crap there's a wall. Well, that doesn't need much changing either. Make that 'oh crap I've hit a wall' and we're all good.
G: "Well, crashes aren't just on us..."
AK: "They are if the handling is bad. Chicken bone alley has to just be something like 'car part alley'. I'll probably lose a few front wings down there. Triple diamond chicane has to be downgraded to meet Fireline standards. How about stone?"
G: "Right..."
AK: "Finally, final straight becomes 'wait, how did we reach the end?'
(everyone chuckles)
AK: "Let's go put on a show."

1 - "Wheeeee"
G: "Alright, get ready to start your flying lap."
AK: "Okay, I'm ready."
G: "Go for it!"
AK: "I BELIEVE I CAN FLY. I BELIEVE I CAN TOUCH THE SKY."
G: "Interference or?"
AK: "Nope, just me! Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!"
G: "Copy, enjoy yourself!"
AK: "Wheeeeeeeee! Wooooooooooooo!"

And that's the top 5 radio messages from practice and qualifying in Fireline Motorsports. Tune in next time for some more funny and entertaining radio messages.

[Siovanija and Teusland]

“P24, Niklas, P24.”

It was a lonely feeling inside the #37 TAS Alliance car as Niklas Schonbaum made his way back around the Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit after what he considered to be one of the worst qualifying performances of the season.

“It’s alright mate, it’s alright, we’ll just have to be better tomorrow.”

His engineer’s words did little to soothe his disappointment. Going out in Q1 was not ideal. He’d missed his breaking point going into the Triple Diamond Chicane, and just that half-second hesitation had really, really cost him. In the end, it meant that his time in Q1 was about 5 seconds off his best in practice.

The silver lining, of course, was seeing his teammate Anneliese Devereaux qualify for Q2. And then Q3. All the way to Q4! In the end, Devereaux finished 4th, one of the best qualifying performances for the team all season. Niklas was quite happy to congratulate his teammate after the session, but leaving the track for the day he knew he had to be better.

Later that evening, he decided to go for a walk in Hapilopper City, despite the light rain. Rain was the only weather in Stelburg anyways, so it didn’t bother him. Walking around on his own, Niklas had the chance to think to himself about his plans for the next day’s Preston Autos Hapilopper Grand Prix.

Starting in 24th was going to be very difficult, especially with the quality of the drivers ahead of him. Neither of the drivers behind him were slouches either - Niklas would need to be at the top of his game for all 55 laps to try and salvage something out of a poor qualifying. In Filindostan, he qualified 21st and kept his position in the race. This time, he was really hoping to pick something up in the race.

He needed a moment to get his confidence back. He’d been hoping that the mid-season non-championship race in Twicetagria could’ve been that moment, and he followed it up with his best result of the official season in Nekoni. But the substandard performance in Filindostan, and now the key qualifying mistake in Hapilopper, left him feeling like he was back at step one.

Sitting on a bench on a street near the hotel, Schonbaum left himself to people-watch for a bit, getting away from the pressure he’d face the next day. He was drawn back to reality by the ringing of his phone - Magnus Schonau, the boss of TMW.

“Good evening, Niklas.”

“Mr. Schonau, it’s great to hear from you! How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine, and yourself?”

“Well, overall doing okay.”

“How are you feeling after today? I know it was a tough session for you.”

“Honestly, I still can’t believe I made that mistake. I thought practice was going well, I was getting used to the track, and then to have that happen in Q1… it’s pretty disappointing.”

“You know, I remember watching you make a similar mistake back at the Stelburgring a couple of years ago in your rookie season.”

“Turn 7, right? I’ve always hated that corner.”

“Yep, Turn 7. Missed the breaking point, messed up your turn, qualified 14th. And do you know what happened Sunday?”

“I fought back through the field and finished 4th.”

“I was more proud of you that day then when you won the championship a month later. It showed fight, it showed the courage to get hit and get back up and keep going.”

“Thanks, Mr. Schonau.”

“That’s what I want to see from you again tomorrow. I know it’s harder here, I know you’ve struggled this season. But that competitive spirit - you’ve still got that, haven’t you?”

“Of course.”

“It’s not going to win you races, son, but it can help you push through a difficult time like this and give you some of that confidence back. Come on, where’s the Stelburg in you? The 10 year old kid who told me he wanted to drive my car one day when I first met you?”

Niklas smiled. “He’s still there.”

“Let him out, then. You have 3 races left, you have nothing to lose, let’s go out and make them the best 3 races of your career, then.”

“I’ll give it my all, Mr. Schonau.”

“Niklas, just do your best. No matter what, when the season ends, if you can look back and say I gave it my all, then it’s a season you can be proud of.”

“Thanks, Mr. Schonau.”

“You know we’re all cheering for you back here in Stelburg. Best of luck tomorrow.”

Schonau, not one for long conversations, hung up the phone immediately after that. Niklas was touched by the face Magnus, perhaps his biggest mentor in his career, had taken the time to reach out - he could tell that Niklas was missing something.

The Stelburg comment really gave Niklas some thought about the old days. Back in his second season, he’d been instructed to let a teammate pass so that TMW could earn more points in the constructors championship. Niklas had ignored the order, even when Schonau himself came on the radio. In the end, things worked out the way TMW had wanted anyways, and Niklas got the win. On the podium, Schonau told him “There’s too much Stelburg in you, kid.” The Teus capital’s citizens were viewed by many on the outside as being haughty, or plain rude. But amongst the people themselves, there was a belief in the ‘Stelburg spirit,’ a determination to achieve success. Many of Siovanija & Teusland’s top athletes - Thorsten Kramer, Edwin Ranger, Lukas Tauscher, Timo Schalger - credited their success to this spirit.

Niklas Schonbaum needed to re-find his spirit, and he needed to find it quick. With the Hapiloppan Grand Prix right ahead of him, there could be no better time to give a performance he could be proud of.

[Abanhfleft]

GUILLERMO RODOLFO ARCHER ✓

@ItsGilArcher69

- -@BFReport

Yall better watch yourself on Sunday coz if @OffishWillArch8 crashes I'm coming for u


#WGPC18 : #HapiloppanGrandPrix : #WatchYourBack : #DontMessWithAnArcher

"Hey Dad," William Archer called out to his father Guillermo. "Dad!" William shouted, attracting the attention of everyone within the general vicinity of his mobile home.

"Yes, son," Gil replied. "How may your father serve you on this fine but rainy Hapilopper day?"

"Cut that shit out, Dad. That's just weird. Also, what the fuck is this?" William asked as he held up his phone right to his father's face.

"Now you watch your tongue, boy," Gil said, turning serious all of a sudden. "You may be a two-time race winner now but I still don't want to hear any sort of foul language coming from you, William."

"Yeah, Dad. You know what? Right now I don't care. I've got bigger problems to deal with right now. What the hell did you just do?"

"Can you jog my memory a little bit, William? Cause I seriously have done a lot of things and I cannot possibly ever remember them all," Gil said with a grin.

"Twii.tur, Dad," William replied. "This twii you just posted. What the hell was that for!?"

"Oh," Gil nodded as recognition set in. That twii. Yeah, well, somebody's got to tell that blue flag idiot that it's pretty stupid of him to be wishing for a double DNF."

"Dad, do you even know about the context of why he sent out that twii?" William asked his father. "Some guy from Hapilopper TV ran a promo about which driver was gonna hit a wall here first, and now it's turned into some sort of national promo. Everyone in Preston thought it was in bad taste though, and that includes me. That's what Blue Flag Report is talking about."

"He's not just talking about it; this guy literally said that he wants you and your Hap friend Edwards to crash into that wall with a fucking bullseye painted on it!"

"He didn't actually say crash in the twii," William countered. "All he says is that he wants a double DNF from me and Rudy. DNFing doesn't always have to have anything to do with crashing."

"Yeah, right, William," Gil snorted while rolling his eyes. "This guy, or girl, or whoever is running this Blue Flag Report thing, he's got one thing and only one thing in his mind now, and that's for Preston to get the karma because of this whole 'They Crash, You Win' thing. They're not gonna rest until your face is really acquainted with the bullseye on the wall and Rudy Edwards is gettng real close to your gearbox. Trust me, I know exactly the kind of person who's behind this account. I'm just telling them that if anything bad happens to you, they're gonna get what's coming to them!"

"Dad, I thought you promised me you were not gonna start some shit while you're here," William asked, although it came out more of a statement when he said it.

"I didn't start nothing, they did!" Gil countered. "If all they'd done was complain about the bullseye I wouldn't even have given them a second look. But they cannot just twii about wishing for a double DNF from you and your teammate and expect to get away with it. Well, they didn't count on me being here!"

"Dammit, Dad! I'm just trying to get through this season as quietly as possible," William said. "I don't need you making new enemies once again. You're still on Hapilopper's shit list, remember?"

"Being on someone's shit list hasn't stopped me before. Surely you know that."

Sadly, William knew that to be true as well. "Just get out of here ASAP without stirring up another shitstorm, Dad," he said.

"You know that I can't stop doing that," Gil said.

(OOC: Sorry if this may seem confusing but I am literally falling asleep as I type this.)

[Lisander]

Anneliese's Blog
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What a day, people! We're finally in a good position! Starting from P4 tomorrow is a great opportunity. Finishing in that position, my prize money from Motorsport Lisander (or are they still called LAB?) would be increased in 220,000 dollars. Although is really, really sad Niklas is that behind. I read somewhere that "there isn't a lisanderian motorsport season without a soap opera in the pitlane", or something like that. I see they're struggling, I deeply root for the boys working down in #37 car. I honestly hope we leave this bad moment in these three last races.

- - -

"You'll not post this, huh?" - Carolina Lasseps looked at the screen.

"I don't know. I'm so worried that I don't even know what to write here." - Sissie let her back fall on the mattress. Instead of being happy, she was feeling awful, filled with expectation for the race in the following day.

"If you post about the takeover of the LAB before it's complete, the ones we don't want to bother will surely make a great mess of it. I'm not sure of how many of them have access to your blog, but I was made aware at least four of the undesirables put some money in the team as fans."

"Damn, these people really don't get the point."

The undesirables. Not exactly a group of people, more like a category. A bunch of people that are not well regarded by the inner core of Lisanderian WGPC operation. Their names were kept in secret inside the clique. However, even the concept of a clique was abstract. Who exactly was in the clique and who were the undesirables? It could even vary, depending on whom you ask the question. Both of the women in the room were part. Something was clear: Devereux and Lasseps were part of the clique, and they knew what Andrea Lanza and its partners were doing. Their procedure wasn't the most honest, but considering his effort to keep motorsports viable in Lisander, he needed to take some actions, that would displease certain people (the so-called undesirables).

"If we were to be 100% honest, these things would not go, because Samurai and the Old Man would complicate the situation. They have this habit of wanting to take the longest way, even if it delays everyone else. Kimi talked about doing a legal manoeuvre with Lanza, and they took the discussion, at least unofficially, to the Minister of Sports. And he's okay with that. Lisander Autosports Board, after allowed by a majority, will contract a private company, named Motorsport Lisander SpA., to organize the events and prospect for sponsorships. This company is held by someone real close to our friend. So it will be easier for us to get into the racing."

Seigen Mikado and Andrew Holden, two of the strong men of LAB, would surely object to this takeover. While Holden is putting some time off in NSSCRA and surely will not appear in the next meeting, if Seigen managed to put his hands on that information, he would clearly block the attempt. So that was to be kept secretly, at least for that moment.

"Sounds awful. I feel like a corrupt politician when I think about that."

"Sometimes, we need to go the tortuous path for good things to happen. It's like this season. We suffered a lot before getting this P4. So get out there and take the opportunity. I think it's not necessary to ask, but are you okay with the circuit?" - Carolina Lasseps asked.

"The circuit is good, and maybe the rain helped us yesterday. I worry a little about that curve in the pitlane, I always hated that. And now that I think about that, It may be slower, but I will control it a little better in the Flats if my front wing is heightened a little bit. The rain seems to be treacherous, and I don't want to be surprised by the Wall. I still lose my sides when people call that turn by the name." Sissie smirked.

[Nico Hulkenberg]

Putting The “Crap” In “Oh Crap”

Following Dario’s decent race performance in Filindostan, he hoped to get back into form by putting in a decent qualifying performance in Hapilopper. However, nothing was going to plan, and he was sat in P22 with both Daryl and Charyseine set to qualify ahead of him. If he wanted to race tomorrow, he’d have to do one of his signature last lap of quali masterpieces. Thankfully, he was still doing his cool down lap.

*bleep blip*

”Alright Dario, Q1 ends in a minute, so you need to get a move-on or else we’ll be out.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll get going.”

As Dario came out of the Triple Diamond Chicane, he began to put his foot down, and begin his fast lap. Breezing past the pit lane with his drag resistance flap wide open, Dario could feel that this lap was going to be a good one. He managed to perfectly execute both the Downhill Pass and McLaughlin’s, before stamping his foot to the floor yet again and picking up pace before braking as he came around Slidey Right. Amazingly, he had managed to be the fastest driver in sector 1. Things could only get better from here, eh? Eh... not exactly.

Dario managed to get around Flat Left without much of an issue, but when he went around Flat Right, he clipped the kerb and had a bit of a wobble. This wobble made him lose his focus, and by the time he realised that he was coming up to ‘Oh Crap There’s A Wall’, it was too late. He managed to brake, but Dario hit the wall, causing severe damage to his rear wing and the right side of the car, as well as his front wing. The amount of debris he had thrown around the track also led to Q1 being red flagged, and Dario was left stranded at the side of the track in his wrecked Motorworks car to ponder what had happened.



*bloooop blop*

”Argh, FUCK!”

“Are you okay, Dario? Respond if you’re okay, please.”

“I’m perfectly fine, but the car and my lap are absolutely FUCKED!”

“Shame, too. You were fastest through sector 1, and it looked like you were on-course to go fastest through sector 2 as well. Sorry, mate.”

“No, no, it’s me who should be sorry. I’ve really fucked up the car.”

“Just so you know, there’s a red flag, Dario. A red flag.”

“Argh, fuck me sideways and stuff me into a sausage, because this is the würst fucking day of my career at the moment!”

“Calm it, mate. You do realise the radio calls are broadcasted on TV, right?”

“ARGH!”

It was a terrible ending to what could have been one of Dario’s best qualifying sessions. But hey, at least some of the fans were pleased!