WGP2 Season 4 – RP/results thread

by **Valentine Z** » Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:37 pm

Post 8 – Clean and Elegant.

The Week 3 practice session for Adriana was a blast. As soon as she stepped onto the world of Cocoabo, a wave of nostalgia hit her - the times when she was together with the Valentians for NSSCRA. She heard about the Cocoabos, how a small bird became a stowaway in Gwen's car that costed her a race, and how she eventually warmed up to the little guy she called Kiki (no relation to anyone else with the same name), and would go far and wide in order to see him. For Adriana, she looked at the course meaningfully, with Angela and Angeline setting up the outdoor lounge that they opted for. "Well, insects didn't really seem to be a bother, so why not!" Adriana said, echoing Clarissa and Gwen's preference back in NSSCRA.

As for the practice session itself, it went well, though not exactly in the most traditional sense. The first day was wet and very rainy, with the second day being dry. Adriana expected herself to do relatively worse for the first day, perhaps even getting knocked out of the race. Gripping the familiar steering wheel in front of her, she hit the accelerator as soon as the green light hits. To her surprise, checking the scoreboard yielded her a 1st. From the playback of her memories, Janne Laukkanen, Edward Rousseau, and Joy Wingelaar definitely gave her such a competitive time, but she did it, she thought to herself. Then she got 7th on the second session which was a dry course.

"I definitely did not forget to switch it back to the dry course mode," Adriana gave her feedback to her Fireline crew, a few of them taking down notes on their phones and tablets, "I am so sorry if this is going too technical, but here goes! So I am actually very happy that I did well for the wet session, because that means that water and variable frictions are no longer an issue! I just feel that the others are doing their best at it on a dry course. Who knows, maybe they are trying to restrain themselves in the wet weather, then gave it their all on the dry course. I definitely have a lot to improve on, and I can only hope that I will not fail as terribly as I did last time when I was with you guys in WGPC 18."

Soon after, Adriana was about to make her way to the lounge, but a familiar voice got her in, "Adriana, can you come into my office briefly?" it was Edward, standing in front of his office, "I just want to have a brief word."

"Hm hm, sure thing!" she said with quite an enthusiasm in her words, still happy with her results, on top of something of a surprise that she got for her boss. That would need to be revealed later at the end of whatever Edward wanted to say to her. "Hmm, what does he want to talk to me about?" was the first thing that came across Adriana's mind, curious. She was not the one to be paranoid or pessimistic, so she was at least 89% sure that she is totally not getting fired for a better driver.

"Adriana, can I just say what a drive that was. You looked spectacular in the car, and according to these stats you performed spectacularly as well," Edward started off his conversation.

"Well, thank you very much! Yeah, it is quite a surprise for me as well. Ahh, let's just say that I used to not do as well on wet conditions, so today was quite a lovely surprise."

"In other good news, we're hoping we've found another driver for the team. We don't want you to be alone."

"Oooh, nice! Are we getting a Cocoabo again? I don't mind them, of course! Last WGPC season was a blast with him, but I just feel bad that I wasn't performing my best. Maybe this might change this time!"

"Luc Deschamps. He's a promising driver. We're hoping he'll reply positively to our invitation for him to drive for us this season." Edward smiled, "We're hoping he says yes. Because if he does, we're going to have a great team, not just for now but looking to the future too..."

"Ahh, him! He will certainly be a great addition!" Adriana said wholeheartedly, trying her best to make her well-meaning intent known instead of ending up as cruel sarcasm. Luc Deschamps of Sommet de Lespor, she thought to herself. Definitely a good driver, no doubt at that. He has proven himself time and time on the tryout sessions that she went alongside with him. Swift, quick on his wit, and somehow still looking for a team. At this point, he should have gotten himself a spot.

"I do hope he will join me! It is definitely going to help us a lot, and maybe I can learn something along from him as well, provided he wants to teach me, hehe. Anyway, thank you for your time, and for having me here. I have a feeling this is going to be great! Oh wait, one more thing..." she took out one of her fingers that morphed into an USB male port, "I hope this doesn't come as a shock, haha. Normally people got scared because they thought I was going to stab them. Anyway, may I show you something? It's my proposed design for my car."

"Sure, I was looking forward to that," Edward said with a soft smile. Adriana nodded and plugged her finger into the terminal, seamlessly navigating onto the directory that contains the design of her car.

"Ahh, that is very nice! I love it so much! I can send the crew to do the painting right away. Good stuff."

Adriana would then politely pardon and leave Edward's office with a smile. This is going to be super great, she thought to herself. Good practice sessions, good professional relations with her team, it is all shaping up.

With her newly painted car, came the very first practice and qualification sessions on Alikki-Corra Street Course. 12th for the practice session, the weather was definitely hot and perhaps a bit humid. She wasn't too daunted by the results. After all, it was simply a practice session, with qualifications to come later. When it was time for qualifications, there was an alert on her HUD - Wet Weather Imminent. This was then followed a few minutes later by the track having a nice weather for the ducks.

She flashed a joyous smile across her face at the sight and sounds of the rain. This was definitely going to be a keeper for her.

~ 1144 words (1120 words from body + 24 words from bottom texts on the livery).

by **Vilita and Turori** » Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:58 pm

Events Guide: Cocoabo Park Circuit & Streets of Alikki-Corra

The teams of the World Grand Prix circuit will kick off their season with an extended stay within Atlantian Oceania and in particular the Vilitan Cove region with the final Pre-Season test and first official race weekend of the new season held in central Atlantian Oceania. The WGP2's final pre-season test took place at the Cocoabo Park Circuit in the Cocoabo Forest and many participants took advantage of the free passes to the Cocoabo Resort to get in some educational relaxation before heading south to Vilita for the season opener on the Streets of Alikki-Corra, a debut event in Vilita's Capital City.

Event Description: Final WGP2 Pre-Season Practice Session
Track Location: Cocoabo Park, Cocoabo Forest, Atlantian Oceania
WGP2 Lap Record: 1:52.216 (Fast Cocoabo, WGP2 S1)
NSSCRA Lap Record: 2:03.668 (Cocoabo #78, NSSCRA S9)
Track Lap Length: 6.63km (Track Layout)

Overview:

The Cocoabo Park Circuit is a picturesque road course cut out of the Cocoabo Forest just a few kilometers from the Cocoabo Park Resort. The course was originally designed for the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project (CEEP) where Cocoabo are trained under the leadership of Tropicorp Scientists and the Cocoabo Preservation Society and continues to be the hub of the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project's driving program.

When the course is not in use by the CEEP or hosting an international race weekend it is occasionally used as part of an extended driving tour of the Cocoabo Park. Freelance Cocoabo can often be seen grazing the hilltops on the Eastern side of the course between turns 1-3 and along the river delta under turns 5 and 6.

During events Shuttles run every 5-30 minutes from the central Cocoabo Park Resort to various locations around the Cocoabo Park Circuit for guests to seamlessly transfer between the Park and the Race Track for the full event weekend. All official WGP2 team members with Paddock hot access will be also have complimentary access to the Cocoabo Park Resort area.

Racing Line:

Drivers hug the line along the tributary between the hills around turns 1, 2 and 3; speeding out of turn 3 toward the over taking zones at turn 4, 5 and 6. Crossing the river they will bend around to set themselves up for the long, slow turn 8 - another prime opportunity for overtaking. Getting through the 'Esses' will be critical to set up back across the river for the 90 degree turn 12. Sweeping through 13 to set up for the Hairpin Turn 14 and then accelerate back across the line to complete a lap. While the turns are varied a moderately skilled driver will be able to handle them. The biggest challenge for drivers will be maintaining focus as a lack of any truly 'straight' sections means that the driver will always be on the wheel, setting up for the optimum line in every section of the track.

Previous Race Winners at the Cocoabo Park Circuit:

Event Description: WGP2 Season 4: Round 1 - Streets of Alikki-Corra Grand Prix
Track Location: Alikki-Corra, Vilita, Atlantian Oceania
WGP2 Lap Record: N/A (Inagural Event)
Track Lap Length: 4.61km (Track Layout)

Overview:
The 4.61 km course traverses through different zones of Vilita's Capital City including the business district, downtown Corra park and through the Alikki-Corra Academy of Sciences. While much of the course utilizes pre-existing road surfaces, two sections were added specifically for the street course including the "esses" built through the grounds of the Alikki-Corra Academy of Sciences.

The team paddocks are the other area of major new construction for the course, funded by the Alikki-Corra Academy of Sciences the paddock area doubles as Laboratory and Research space for the Academy when there is no ongoing racing session with any equipment brought into the spaces to be movable and non-permanent to facility the potential re-use of the designated Paddock and Pit area for future Grands Prix on the same or similar course layout within the capital city.

The Alikki-Corra Grand Prix Course is the first ever World Grand Prix sanctioned event on a non-permanent course in the Vilitan Cove region. All Fans with tickets to the Streets of Alikki-Corra Grand Prix will also be granted free admission to the Alikki-Corra Academy of Science Galleries and Exhibit Halls.

Racing Line:

Drivers will determine the best racing line during the initial practice sessions on the Street Course which will only have just been completed in the weeks leading up to the WGP2 Season Opener. With it being the first ever event held on the course, there is little more than simulation data and educated guesses as to how rubber will wear into the racing surface and effect the preferred entry and potential overtaking zones.

While there will be small sections of the course where drivers will be able to accelerate to high speeds, many of these sections also come with low to moderate elevation change. The most difficult section of the course is likely to be the Academy esses which are non-uniform and drivers will have to choose to sacrifice speed and entry into one corner to set themselves up for another. It could offer unpredictable opportunities for overtaking throughout the event.

Ethanian driver Edward Rousseau took first crack at the all-time fastest lap at the Alikki-Corra Street Course by topping the first practice session with a lap time of 1:53.390 in the Equipo Telebuenas-BA #41 machine. No team or driver stood out in the session as being a clear favorite for the race weekend with drivers from 9 different teams occupying the top 10 spots in the sessions.

Unfortunately for the drivers, much of what they learned in practice would be irrelevant by the time qualifying came around as showers had come through the Vilitan Capital and each driver would get a single lap on the wet course - each marking their very first lap in wet weather on the track. Fireline's Adriana Kowalski held pole for some time but the crowd got some real excitement when Vilaye Energy Drink backed driver Skiia Vialiv bested Kowalski with a time of 2:02.040 in the Vilaye EnergySport Montagne GP machine. A late entrant for the WGP2 season, Vilaye EnergySport Montagne skipped all the pre-season testing events including in Cocoabo Park as they finalized their equipment and lineups for the season. With financial support from the Vilisorma Beverage Company, Vilita & Turori Motorsports and Aelund Racing in addition to sponsors from Sierra Grand - the team has proven that they should not be overlooked.

Local fans snapped up merchandise with the new rookie drivers name and #14 on it as they hoped to see a Vilitan driver take home the checkered flag in a Vilitan Grand Prix for the first time. Vialiv would be well placed for a podium finish in the Feature if she could keep her car on the course starting from Pole Position while her veteran teammate Jama'obo Pegasii may be aiming for a low points finish with a solid invert position to set up for their own run to the podium in the Sprint race.

by **Twicetagram and JYPe** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:18 am

Chars: Recovery
Alikki-Corra Street Course, Vilita and Turori

God knew what happened during practice that day. Perhaps things just hadn’t gone right? Or maybe it was his inability to get himself out of the corners. Whatever it was, finishing dead last was a shame if you considered Chars was looking forward to this season. Not a good sign. It wasn’t complacency, underprepared-ness, nor was it over-excitement, so what was it?

Qualifying was way better, but this time he had the rain to thank him.

“Dang, here comes the rain,” he thought. He wasn’t far from the truth when he said he wasn’t as good in the rain, and since this was a one-shot he really only had one chance. Either take it or leave it.

Chars was one of the last drivers to go out. He needed a benchmark to compete against. Skiia Vaaliv had set the fastest time, 2 minutes and 2 seconds. Chars had only tried the track out on one day, and finishing last to top it off. Chars hesitantly hopped into his cockpit. It would be more than a disaster if he didn’t reach the top few spots. Putting all though behind him, he headed out.

Rounding off the last chicane, Chars went full throttle on the exit as he strived to get a good result. As he crossed the line, his engineer told him in a more than happy tone: P3, Chars. Good job braving the rain. Do us proud, mate.” Chars cheered internally. The second row was an amazing place to be. When he heard that Anneliese would be alongside him, it made his day. PrismRiver was off to an amazing start.

Tina Yursevič
“You want me to do what?!” Tina couldn’t believe what Silver was saying. It sounded like a suicide attempt and a T-drama at the same time. Usually Tina, being the obedient driver she was, would oblige to his requests any day, but this crossed the line, not to mention quite absurd.

“I thought the hate was mutual. What’s on?” Tina fiercely interrogated, “You’re not bringing him in, are you?” Clearing his throat, Silver rambled on, “No, absolutely not. Also stop speaking so rudely to me. What we’re doing is for good reasons for you, miss. We believe Chars would be a good source to learn from in racing, and maybe you could learn some things from him and share them to us. It’s lime a secret intelligence system, yah?” Silver blurted the words out without any thought beforehand. He didn’t know what he was saying, nor did Tina. The latter thought it was bullshit.

“That’s a really “smart” idea and all, but I don’t kn—” “You MUST do it,” said Silver in a heavy pony accent, “It’s for the team.” He winked thereafter.

Later that evening Tina was packing her bags for Vilita. “I was supposed to have a calm off season...”

by **Tumbra** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:17 am

Alikki-Corra, Vilita

The practice sessions hadn't gone too well. Both Ted and Anola had struggled greatly with the tricky, tricky circuit, and it seemed like the car had met its match. Two seconds off the pace each, Ted hadn't talked to Anola since the end of practice, but figured that she, too, was trying her damndest to keep her mind on the upcoming qualifying. After all, they'd both had their fair share of bad results during the testing sessions - but nineteenth and twenty-first during the practice sessions? Bloody hell, this was bad.

And it was about to get even worse.

Twenty minutes before the start of qualifying, the heavens opened. Bit by bit, as he watched the live television feed from inside the car, just waiting, waiting to go out, as the race-suit began to become more and more uncomfortable to sit in, and the rain got worse and worse.

The qualifying sessions had been determined by the drawing of lots - originally, Ted was supposed to go twentieth of the twenty-seven drivers that had eventually showed up. Before the rain began, he'd been secretly pleased with himself - after all, going out later in the session meant that there'd be more rubber. More rubber meant more grip. More grip meant a faster time. And, given the performances he'd been displaying throughout qualifying, he needed every single bloody advantage he could get.

But all that changed when the rain started. Originally, the rain began, he silently hoped that it would clear up in time for his run. But as the cars tiptoed around the track, each setting a time less impressive than the last, it was becoming more and more evident that the rain was becoming heavier and heavier, and there'd be no reprieve for him.

Gently easing his car out of the garage for his run, Ted felt the pitter-patter of the warm rain on his helmet, visor and race-suit, and immediately his thoughts went back to the VSK test. But it was different this time - the rain here was warm, oozing with humidity, and all he wanted to do was to get back to the garage. Well, no matter. Enough fuel for a flying lap and to get back to the garage. Wet tires on. And on to a track that was absolutely caked with water.

"Can't see shite out here, Simon. I'll try my hardest - as always - but if it doesn't go well..."
"We know, Ted. Just get your head down and try to bring it home. We'll be alright no matter what."

If there was a racing line anywhere, it didn't exist. Just water, on the circuit (though it was being drained, thankfully), and absolutely no indication of where the previous car had gone. He finished the first sector on his run-out, and tried to apply the throttle as he approached the straight leading to the Esses hairpin. And almost immediately he regretted it, but he managed to get the back end back under control.

"All right, Ted. The top time's a 2:02. We're not going to get anywhere close to that, but we'll try for a 2:04 at least. We know you've got this."

Through the esses. Already a challenging set of corners at the best of times, with a particularly awkward final curve that was off-camber, Ted began steeling himself on the run up to the final section that would mark the beginning of his run. Focus. Focus! Throwing the car into the final chicane as he'd done with the practice session, the Kaylan engine roared into life as he crossed the start line for his run. Right. Slight curve left. Slow the car down. Third gear. Take the left, accelerate a bit into the corner, accelerate again into the medium-speed right hander. Not the optimum line. Focus! Throw the car as close to the outside wall, swing it in for the right-hander. Slow. Slow for the next corner. Try to hit the apex on the long right. No. Not going to work. Fuck it, just speed up and go. Move the car through the chicane, over the kerbs, but not too roughly. Then the short blast to the right-hander. The rain's noise on his helmet was making it very difficult to concentrate. He nearly missed Simon's message -

"One second down."

- Not good. Whatever. Medium speed, up! It's a straight, go, go, go. Swing to the outer hand of the circuit, get ready for those fucking esses. Jesus the rear's getting away again. Slow down. Nope, too early, and you're carrying too little speed into the corner. Try to speed up again, brace yourself. First esses, fourth gear, decelerating. Second set, about the same, but you're climbing. Third set --

And he went onto the kerb. For a brief second he thought he'd skied it, but it was just the kerb. It was rough, it was hard, and Ted Pressley had the fear of God pushed into his chest by the almighty bump he felt as he tried desperately to correct the car's exit onto the next straight into the chicane, but he went wide anyway and had to deal with the utter lack of grip off the track. No matter. The engine was still running, the front wing was fine, so was the car. Little bits of carbon fibre might have come off, but the car was fine. That's what mattered. Steeling himself, he vaulted himself into the chicane, then the little complex of corners that required so many little adjustments, that the line he took might have been sub-optimal, but all he really wanted was the run to be over.

The final left-hander before the last chicane treated him kinder than the rest of the track had, and once again he perfected the last chicane. Cross the line. Breathe out. Take a sip of water. Oh god, how many times had he breathed throughout the lap? Slow down. Slow....

"Ted, can you hear me? Ted. Ted."
"How'd it go?"
"Are you alright? That's the main thing. I've been trying to call you for ages now, after that second sector..."
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"That's...a 2:07. You tried your best, mate, and that's what matters. There's always tomorrow."
"What position is that right now?"
"P22. But there are still seven more. C'mon mate, let's get back into the pits. We've brewed some tea."

And as he drove into the pitlane for the weightbridge, he felt nothing but shame, and he didn't want to come out of the car. Thankfully, the TV cameras were far more focused on the next runners, and he watched the rest of qualifying inside the motorhome, drying himself off and sipping on some tea. Sitting in silence with Simon, occasionally discussing things that just wasn't the torrid run he'd just endured. There was, however, a lingering sense of dread as he sneaked glances at the television.

He ended P24, a terrible result all things considered; and he'd have to slice through the field for any hope of making the sprint race. Work cut out for him, then. Just like the testing days.

1191

by **The Licentian Isles** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 8:13 am

Joy looked out as she awaited the qualifying session. Of course it was pissing it down. After all the issues that the water had caused in testing, of course her first competitive drive in WGP2 would be in the rain.

This wasn’t the type of course she was familiar with either. They’d built this temporary course on the streets of Alikki-Corra, the Vilitan capital. There weren’t any street circuits on the Licentian racing scene; too much noise for residents. She was used to permanent facilities. It didn’t help either that this one was very new; no data for the team, and her, to rely on.

The practice session didn’t look good either. She kept telling herself that there was a plan here; that the team knew what they were doing to get things set for the feature race. Nonetheless, seeing her name in P24, when there were 27 drivers, was not a good start to the weekend. She turned to see her teammate poking his head out of the garage too; the one shot set up might have screwed them both on this occasion. They were both due to go out early, with no time for the rain to slow down as the session went on.

“How are you feeling Heinz?” Joy shouted over towards the Teus driver.

“Damp, and it’s only going to get worse by the looks of it.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t calm with us being out early eh?” She saw Heinz nod and pull his head back inside. He was out before her, so he had to be ready sooner. She had time to think, and to watch how he handled it. She was, quietly, rather pleased with that.

She got into the car a few minutes later, wanting to be sure she was comfortable before the engineers placed the screens in front of her with all the important information.

“Radio check.”

“Loud and clear Joy.” Kaspar was putting on a very calm voice despite the weather outside. “You’ve got this, just do your thing and you’ll be alright.”

“Thanks Kaspar.”

She was glad for the out lap to give her an idea of how the track was looking, but she would have definitely preferred a more traditional qualifying set up. The esses that went through the Academy were what had given her trouble in practice, having to spend multiple laps just working out where the best place was to give up the lap time that was necessary to come out of the other side of that complex. Now of course, it would be entirely different in the wet.

The lap itself went by without much trouble once she was out there. A bit of a worry into the chicane after the Academy, but nothing too big. She heard Kaspar over the radio.

“Nice lap Joy, 2:03.1. Not too far behind Heinz considering the rain is coming down a little harder.”

“Thanks Kaspar, let’s just wait until the rest have done their thing.”

So she did. She couldn’t complain about P10 in the end, given the weather, though it certainly helped that the later drivers went out in worse conditions. She was, at least, closer to the pointy end than she was in practice, so maybe some good strategy in the feature race would get her into a good position.

She just hoped it didn’t fucking rain tomorrow.

by **Togonistan** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 8:38 am

Alikki-Corra Street Course
Qualifying

Clouds in the sky felt like a bad omen as Kaylan team entered their pit garage to start on preparations. Alikki-Corra Street Course had received the honour to be scheduled as the first race event of the season. The narrow and bendy nature of the track going through the streets of Vilita's Capital City really did not benefit the T-170 chassis which had been designed with mainly faster circuits in mind. The fact became evident during free practice, where both Kaylans had struggled to find enough pace in the corners, despite the drivers best efforts throughout the session. Of course, the team had done everything in their capabilities and sent out both cars in high downforce setups to compensate for it, but there was only so much they could do within the limitations. Both cars had been off the pace throughout the session and with weather forecast stating that rain would start to pour down during qualifying, it seemed like the first race of the season was going to be even more tougher than they could have imagined.

With fifteen minutes left until the start, first drops started falling from the sky, quickly evolving into a full-on proper rainfall. By the time for the first car to head out, the track was already slightly damp.

''What does the forecast say?'' Xander asked.

Manu, keeping track on things, replied: ''90% chance that rain will continue throughout the session. No signs of improvement, if anything, it will get worse by the time we head out.''

Xander had a slightly worried look on his face as he checked Anola and Ted sitting in their cars. ''We need the cars and drivers back in one piece, that's the main thing right now.''

Eventually, it was time for Kaylan drivers to head out on the track. Throughout their runs, the atmosphere in pit garage was tense. Everyone had their eyes at screens, no talking apart from usual team communications. Relief came only when both drivers had done their runs and were safely back in the pits.

''This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous,'' Manu shook his head as he looked outside, ''should we consider filing in a complaint? The rain is clearly ruining it for everyone from here on.''

''What would it say? Dear WGPO, we are sincerely offended that you can't control the weather?'' Xander made a sarcastic reply, ''Trust me, it wouldn't make a difference anyways.''

By the time qualifying finished, some team members had already left the garage. Xander, Manu and others who were still left quickly cleaned up the garage and head out as well, leaving the cars waiting for tomorrow's race. With 21st and 24th on the grid, the team's goal would be finishing in top 14 to get a good starting spot for sprint race. They had a strategy in mind, and Xander explained it during a team meeting later that evening.

''Okay, listen up! The qualifying went how it went today. The weather was not on our side, the car is not the best in these tight corners here. Despite that, we must aim to do the best we can tomorrow. Right now, our goal is to aim for a top 14 finish to put us in a good spot for the sprint race. Anola, Ted, now it is time to show your consistency. Keep a cool head, avoid accidents. With the nature of this circuit, it is almost a safe bet that there will be a number of drivers ending up in a wall and not finishing the race. That can give us a chance to capitalise on others mistakes and steadily climb up the grid. It will be a tough job, we need to time our moves right, have some luck on our side. However, if you two manage to keep doing what you usually do and not go for heroics, then considering the circumstances, you have done more I could ask for.''

by **Trans-Dniesters** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:06 am

"Whatever modifications your boys put into the car for wet conditions, I don't think it's worked at all," Taras Matviyenko said as he hopped out of his UrGa car at the end of his one-shot qualifying session at the Alikki-Corra Street Course. "I just have no grip in the rears. This car does not feel the least bit stable at all. I'm telling you, man, that Preston engine is not a good fit to our car."

"We know this, Taras Gavrilovich," Konstantin Zakharovich Rezansov replied as he and Matviyenko walked back to the computers to analyze the telemetry for Taras's qualifying run. The wet conditions at the Yogyakulta International Circuit in Filindostan during the second testing weekend had revealed to UrGa that their WGP2 challenger for this season was simply a different car when put under wet and changeable conditions. And even before that the team had some stability issues with the rear of the car because the spec Preston engine that UrGa had to put in its cars was simply lighter than the engine that UrGa had originally constructed before it was announced that the fourth season of WGP2 would become a semi spec series. Given that UrGa's engine was based on a model that was designed for use with trucks, the UrGa engine was heavy, and therefore the team compensated by designing everything else to be as light as possible. But because the Preston engine was markedly lighter compared to the UrGa, once the team had managed to fit the Preston into the car a lot of weight in the back was gone, and the car now had a different stability from the one that they had back in season 3. The engineers had attempted to redistribute weight to the back of the car, within the rules of course, but even then the back of their car was still a little bit skittish. And that problem was only compounded during rainy conditions.

"How much more ballast can we put in the back of the car? How much more downforce can we possibly add to compensate for the loss of weight from the new engine?" Those were the questions that Taras Matviyenko had been asking the UrGa engineers since the start of the season. He had been asking this throughout preseason, and the engineers had been unable to give him an answer that satisfied him.

Meanwhile, UrGa team principal Vasily Semyonovich Gatutin sat tight-lipped as he watched the remaining drivers taking their one shot quali laps to set the order for the feature race on Saturday. When the dust had settled and the starting grid had been determined with home driver Skiia Vialiv taking pole position, Gatutin shook his head and muttered, "We should have signed Vialiv instead."

It was Gatutin's opinion that the board of directors of UrGa Motorsports Division had little if any trust in his ability to convince a driver from an elite racing nation like Vilita and Turori to join UrGa, so they had pressured him into going for the "next best" option in the form of Harry Zoomtwat, the man stuck in a time before Pridnestrovia in its current form even existed. There was no denying that Zoomtwat had speed in his arsenal; he wouldn't be flying his wooden biplane otherwise. There was just something about Zoomtwat that felt... off to Gatutin. The Pridnestrovian couldn't quite put his finger on it. He just didn't have a good feeling about signing Zoomtwat. He really would have preferred to sign Skiia Vialiv instead.

But the time for regrets was over. UrGa was going forward into this season with Taras Matviyenko and Harry Zoomtwat. Vasily Gatutin would just have to accept this state of affairs, and hope that this would not be a mistake that would cost UrGa a lot of points this season.

(640 words, not including these)

by **TJUN-ia** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:50 am

WGP2 Season 4
Round 1
Alikki-Corra Street Course,
Alikki-Corra, Vilita and Turori

The streets of a Vilitan City were about to witness the next chapter of TJUN-ian Motorsports in the flesh of one guy. That guy was Batu Tüvshinbayar, an 18-year-old from Shinebaishin who certainly had to fight for a spot with the rest of the next generation of the international open-wheel scene. Now, after so many tryouts and 2 pre-season test, he and teammate Lukas Fitcher were ready to try and prove to Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis and, by proxy, to Tropicorp Racing Ælund that they made the right decision in offering opportunities to both of them.

The Alikki-Corra Street Course is a long and windy track that cuts through the Vilitan capital in all its glory, with the track conversion work only being done in the last few weeks. That meant that no one had any ideas about the optimal racing line on this long circuit, so the 75-minute practice session would certainly be important to learning the track before 1-shot qualifying later in the day. Batu would be right in the pack during this session, not setting the timing sheets alight but certainly learning valuable information about how both races here could turn out over the next few days. 13th out of 27th on a brand-new circuit certainly wasn't bad, ending up 1.6 seconds off the pace of Edward Rousseau, but with teammate Fitcher a second ahead in 6th, there certainly was work to be done in one-shot qualifying.

If having only 75 mins to learn the track before the one-shot qualifying wasn't bad enough, Mother Nature herself decided to throw some rain into the mix in a session no one knew how it would go down. Batu waited his turn like everyone else, watching with a nervous temperament as others took to the track before he went out himself for a crack at the conditions. The circuit was certainly a slippery one and with an eye on the next few days, Batu steadied the ship to just try and post a lap time before he slipped into the aether. His lap time was enough for 11th on the grid for the Feature Race tomorrow, 1.1 seconds off the pace of Skiia Vialiv on pole position. Fitcher certainly struggled worse than Batu out there, ending up 6.6 seconds down of pole in 25th, so Batu will be the highest NN car on the grid by a mile. Let's hope that things, especially the weather, can improve in time for the first race of the season tomorrow...

by **Auruna** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:49 am

Alikki-Corra Street Course
Practice
Although he's late to the party, Haru managed to make the most of the practice session to get used to this whole WGP2 circus, especially the cars. They were a lot different than what he's used to but everything else, similar every MNA series he raced in. It's all good news for him. His priority for now: optimise the car to his driving style. It's one of those cases, an Aurun driver turning to open-wheelers. A few laps around the track followed by some adjustments to the setup. A time of 1:54.406 placed him at P9 near the end of the session. Things were progressing as he expected, it was a good practice in his books.

Later on, while preparing for qualifying, he bumped into someone familiar while headed for the garage. "Oh sorry. Didn't---" He quickly apologises before realising that it was actually his friend, and former teammate during his Schkeska years - Laura Haukanna. Not surprised that she's there, he'd be very surprised if she isn't. As the skies dimmed, he wants to have a quick conversation with her. Well...

"Ehh Haru, no time for your 'short' jokes."

"A-ah---eh..?"

"Anyway, I thought you wouldn't be able to compete here. Now, it's nice to see you here."

"A late entry, I know. Some minor issues with the contract. Still disappointed that I missed a few tests to get familiar with the car, used most of practice for that."

"Nice. So, Nexus Racing, how are they? I followed the previous WGP seasons, they didn't do well, especially that tyre thing with Viska."

"Those were in the past, they have learned from it. I have high hopes in the team."

"Well, since you're driving for them."

"Well... now... ahem... Let's see who and which team is better, you like competition, right?"

"Sure do."

"Alright, starting from today's quali. Make sure to keep count. Good luck."

The two storm off into their respective garages, before the rain falls and qualifying starts.

For VSK, this weekend's practice serves as a small continuation of the tests. They weren't in it for the fastest, for now but that's not to say that they can't go as fast as they want there. The rotaries scream throughout the circuit, the unique sound is then followed by fireworks, a neat little feature of their engines. Raiko watches from inside the garage, overseeing the whole operation, making sure that the practice programmes were done. First, the practice pit stops, then track acclimatisation. They wanted to start the weekend strong and end it the with same height. Martjen then radios to both drivers. "Good job out there, we'll need to keep it up for the rest of the weekend. Enjoy the last few minutes of practice, any way you want."

"The times were good for practice." Raiko remarks. "We know that qualifying then the race matters here." He then adds. Orel and Martjen nodding in agreement. He orders the team to have a quick break before qualifying starts. Then he looks outside, the skies darken and the air felt cold. "Shit, it's about to rain."

"No shit." Says Orel. "No need to worry, it'll get better soo-"

"Get better? It won't get better, it'll get worse overtime! It's also a one-shot for qualifying. It's a chaotic combination." A suddenly stressed Martjen says.

Raiko tries to reassure him. "Both drivers' performance in the wet were great. We should trust them, as always. Just sit back, relax, and watch." Offering him a cup of coffee.

Martjen the promptly declines. "Nah, I won't relax. I'll be at the pit wall."

Raiko then speaks to Martjen in Kuyonnen. "Kei tå Martjen. Tu dän tu."

Martjen sighs. "Jävlaan." Then he gets the cup of coffee and takes a sip.

Qualifying
One-shot qualifying, each driver has to wait their turn and those who were the last to get out might be out of luck as the rain gets heavier and heavier. After a lot of waiting, Haru was one of the first out of the Aurun competitors. Under the pouring rain, he makes his way around the track, setting up for his timed lap then as he comes around the final turn, he goes all out. Deeply focused in going his fastest and he only got one shot to do it all, any mistake may cost him a lot. A lockup at the hairpin damaged his time. Crossing the line, his run ends. Landing him at P12, for now.

Next was the VSKs. They were more prepared for the wet than before so there's a high chance. Raiko was visibly nervous as Rikikida starts her timed lap. He keeps glancing on and off of the monitor. The times were logged after RIkikida finished her lap. She only managed to qualify P12, pushing Haru Jukkenna and a few others down a place. Hakusoe was next, her attempt only landed her at P14, behind her teammate.

Laura Haukanna was next to qualify. She was already unfortunate to have a slightly heavier rainfall during her run, she also understeered at the chicane, she was not under control at the time and her attempt only got her P16 with a time of 2:04.647, way behind the VSKs and Haru, looks like he won this round. Then Laura's teammate came to save the day for PB-Viska. With brilliant handling of the car, Indra qualified P9, with a time of 2:03.084, ahead of Laura and pushing the others down another place.

The rest of the drivers then do their qualifying laps, some had a few sbincidents, some mistakes here and then.

For the first qualifying of the season, it was pretty intense due to the combination of the weather and the qualifying format. Hopefully the races would be the same. Let's wait and see.

by **Diarcesia** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:15 pm

Qualifying

Skiia Vialiv took the polesitter spot, having led everyone else in spite of the rainy weather during the session. Laura went first among the PB-Viska drivers and visibly struggled in her try.

Aldauren sat beside Erik and watched Laura's qualifying lap intently. After a few corners, her car's rear started to twitch and she momentarily lost the traction. Her tires squealed in protest but she successfully tamed it. She's a quick learner, Aldauren thought as he saw the car in a more stable footing in the final corners. Not that it helped because of the one-shot format.

The rain eased a little by the time she crossed the line, but it was still pretty intense. Luckily, Indra later's attempt netted him a start within the points at P9. Overall, not the ideal start but not disastrous for the team. She reported some problems with the car: it was understeering like crazy and she lost a lot of time when it happened in the chicane. Thankfully, the technicians seemed to have found the root cause and that long-term fixes would be underway.

The next day, the technical department made another briefing regarding the qualifying session. In the short term, their main goal is to have the car's aerodynamic surfaces be simulated against the conditions in the race track yesterday. They identified several blind spots that they didn't catch particularly in the Cocoabo Park testing.

"As for the car's performance in the real world," one of the engineers said, "It's going to take a bit of work to understand that, but with the data that we gathered during the testing and now in an unusual qualifying session, these will help. Let me just pluck a few things that were really interesting."

"Okay," Louis nodded, "So issue number one is the understeer in the rear. That caught Laura off-guard, and to be honest, me too."

"Understeer is a tricky thing," the engineer said, "Especially with the new active aero that we had, and the fact that all bets are off when it's not in the dry."

[344 words]

by **Hodori Motorsports** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:17 pm

Alikki-Corra, Vilita
Alikki-Corra Street Circuit

“What’s not clicking, and why?” Nadakei and Sako Reitoude looked over the telemetry from their drivers, reviewing footage from their best laps and seeing where Valkyria was losing time to Devereux.
Nadakei was already annotating a printout of the track map, highlighting where Valkyria needed to improve. Reitoude glanced at the map, and quietly exhaled in relief; he was writing in English, so it was infinitely more legible than if he had written in Hodoran.

Letting their laps replay a few more times, Reitoude pored over her notes, comparing the two setups and feedback from the pilots about the adjustments made over the session.

As some of the more senior students of the Engineering Academy supervised fitting the full-wet Ikakotas to the cars, Reitoude took her position at the pit wall. It almost smelled of home, the warm rain in a tropical country, the wet air mixing with the scent of a modern city. She slipped her headset on and adjusted the boom microphone.
“Radio check.”

“That is second row secure, keep up the good work and bring us double points finish tomorrow.” Nadakei called over the radio as the mechanics pulled Devereux’s car back into the garage.
The last few drivers had yet to set their laps, but the worsening conditions meant it was unlikely the order at the upper end of the tabel would be upset.

Removing his headset, Nadakei made his way back to the garage to debrief with Valkyria and Devereux.

“Build quality is…good. Materials are decent.” In her motorhome, Chiruno Hakusoe scrutinised the mass of plushies she had already accumulated, the pile on the floor slowly shrinking as she inspected them. “Softness is… great. Into the pile with you.” She tossed the souvenir cocoabo onto her bed, where it landed with the pile of other plushies.
“Don’t you have more important things to be doing?” Junsa’s voice came from behind.
“Plushies are important.” Chiruno responded, grabbing the next plushie for inspection.
Junsa rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Keeping up with your workouts, keeping the sponsors and team happy. Your qualifying wasn’t that great, but that’s due to the weather.”
“I know.” Chiruno squeezed and fluffed the plushie. “I know it doesn’t look like I’m taking my racing seriously right now, but I am.” She added this one to the bed pile. “After all, I don’t want to end up like that Souzare girl; an embarassment to her family.”

Three hours before meeting Lambert

“First time in years I’ve worn formal wear that wasn’t my dress uniform.” Kuyara examined herself in the full-length mirror. “Almost miss those days.”
“Almost?” Toudeyaku’s voice came from the other side of the door.
“Well not getting shot at is nice. I don’t think this one’s going to work either; skirt’s still not playing nice with my tail. I could just stuff it down one of the legs but I don’t like doing that for too long.”
“And whose fault is it that you didn’t bring your own formal wear?”
Kuyara flashed a rude hand gesture at the bathroom door, well aware that her companion for the trip couldn’t see. “Still, this is nice. Tail interfacing issues aside I could see myself wearing this more often. You know all the things, so where’s the nearest tailor?”
“For good, cheap, and quick service? I’m looking that up right now.”

One hour before meeting Lambert

“Okay, we’re done.”
Kuyara opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. “So what exactly did you do to me?”
“Hid the blemishes, made you look ready for a professional interview, that sort of thing.” Toudeyaku started cleaning her tools.
“Where’d you learn to do makeup like this?”
“Mother taught me, and I practiced on my sister.”
“You have siblings?”
“Not in the legal or biological sense. Sayono Souzare, you’ve met her.”
“Hm. Wanna hear about mine?”
“Not really.”
“Another time then, I guess.”
“Sure, when we’re not busy trying to get you a seat.”

Fifteen minutes before meeting Lambert

“We ready?” Walking towards the designated conference room, Toudeyaku confirmed the details one final time.
“Yeah. Goddamnit how the fuck are you supposed to walk in these things.”
“Told you not to go with the heels.” Toudeyaku stopped and turned to face Kuyara. “Do NOT fuck this up. I have expended a significant amount of resources all because Sayono asked me to. And if you get the offer, do NOT make Lambert regret giving one to you. Do you understand?”
“Yes ma’am.” Kuyara answered.
“Good.” Toudeyaku adjusted her glasses – more professional-looking full black frames rather than her usual red under-rim glasses – and continued towards the conference room. Kuyara followed, still struggling with her high heels.

Sakite Kuyara will accept the SOC second seat offer.

by **Sahuarita** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:15 pm

Alikki Corra, Vilita and Turori

Justin Costa walked into the small house he had rented in Vilita for race weekend, it was a nice one, of course he had to spend that money from the sponsorship deals somewhere. He hopped on the phone with Pedro, right after Saturday qualifying, for which he was at.

“Hey Pedro! Nice job today, you looked really good on your lap.”

“Thanks man! The rain was hard to handle and being used to the Sahuaritan Traditional Qualifying made it a bit tough, however I was able to come through in the end. How are things going over at you’re place right now?”

“They’re going decent, experiencing some nice tropical weather would be nice for tomorrow, but I’m not complaining, I’m just happy to be here right now. Make sure to take it easy tomorrow, especially if this weather holds up, I noticed some other slipping up out there.”

“Of course, I assume Scuderia will throw some Blue or Green tyres on my car tomorrow, but judging by the conditions, it will be good to play it safe. Also, enjoy it while we are here, maybe we could go out to dinner on Monday after Race Weekend is over, we get to go back to the team headquarters in the Commonwealth next week, at Drummond Vale where we’ll get back to traditional qualifying and hopefully less rain.”

“Alright man, get some sleep, it’s gonna be a big race and you gotta rest up for it.”

“Of course, see you later.”

After Pedro sat back down he felt at peace, he knew he had raced well, and he knew that he could race well in the next few races, of course, only time could tell.

(289 Words)

by **Liventia** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:31 pm

CUTOFF

for the Streets of Alikki-Corra Grand Prix - Feature Race at Alikki-Corra Street Course

A reminder that from here to tomorrow's sprint race cut-off, the limit that applies is from Friday cutoff. If you have already reached this limit or are close, you may of course still RP the results from the feature race, but RP bonus considerations will be capped at 1,250 words or graphical equivalent.

As sprint races are considered a different race event in the scorinator, I have tweaked the RP bonus formula for this year's WGP2 from the regular WGPC formula (TRS default) to take into account the word count limit. That is to say, if you hit your limit by the Saturday cutoff, you will not be penalised in terms of RP bonus for the Sunday sprint race.

by **Liventia** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:43 pm

Event 4: Race

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	53
Nation:         	V&T
Circuit:        	Alikki-Corra Street Course
Event:                	Streets of Alikki-Corra Grand Prix - Feature Race
Safety Car on Laps:	4, 5, 6, 7, 44
Cars on Grid:        	27

POS  # ▍DRV Name                               Team                               	Time      	Pts	Fastest Lap	
  1 40 ▍KOW Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian       Fireline Motorsports               	01:55:16.941	25		
  2 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                       VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP      	00:00:23.277	18		
  3 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                    Nexus Racing                       	00:00:23.877	14		
  4 15 ▍JUN Heinz-Otto Junker                  Teusbank TMW Rennsport             	00:01:09.043	11		
  5  4 ▍LIL Athan Lille                        Bitten Heroes-MW Racing            	00:01:30.063	8		
  6  7 ▍DEV Annelise Devereux                  PrismRiver Racing                  	00:01:41.690	5		
  7 44 ▍GOZ Rod Gozum                          Equipo Telebuenas-BA               	Laps Down: 1	3		
  8 41 ▍ROU Edward Rousseau                    Equipo Telebuenas-BA               	Laps Down: 1	1		
  9 13 ▍CRB Pedro Carballal                    Scuderia Orange Cow                	Laps Down: 1			
 10 18 ▍JKN Haru Jukkenna                      Nexus Racing                       	Laps Down: 1			
 11 31 ▍WIN Joy Wingelaar                      Teusbank TMW Rennsport             	Laps Down: 1			
 12 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                       Kaylan Racing Team                 	Laps Down: 1			
 13 72 ▍VAL Charyseine Valkyria                PrismRiver Racing                  	Laps Down: 1			
 14 91 ▍MTV Taras Matviyenko                   Urotovsky-Gatutin                  	Laps Down: 1			
 15 21 ▍HKS Chiruno Hakusoe                    VSK-Maarukanna Racing              	Laps Down: 1			
 16 87 ▍PEG Jama'obo Pegasii                   VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP      	Laps Down: 1			
 17 11 ▍MEL Anola Melani                       Kaylan Racing Team                 	Laps Down: 1			
 18 79 ▍FIC Lukas Fichter                      Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis       	Laps Down: 1			
 19 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                     Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin   	Laps Down: 2	 + 1	1:49.681	
 20 27 ▍CRO Jordan Crowe                       Scuderia Orange Cow                	Laps Down: 2			
 21 23 ▍RIK Sakinomi Rikikida                  VSK-Maarukanna Racing              	Laps Down: 2			
 22 92 ▍MAR Alex Márquez                       Grand Prix Sport Chanceux          	Laps Down: 2			
 23 12 ▍ADW Adeline Darlington-Whit            National Armament Corporation      	Laps Down: 2			
 24  9 ▍TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar                  Nykipiflugpuun Noortekoondis       	Laps Down: 2			
DNF 35 ▍VAR Indra Vartak                       Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin   	Ret. lap 43			
DNF 17 ▍CLA David Clarke                       Grand Prix Sport Chanceux          	Ret. lap 42			
DNF 66 ▍ZOO Harry Zoomtwat                     Urotovsky-Gatutin                  	Ret. lap 3

Drivers' standings

Pos # ▍DRV Name                                Team [Engine]                                                            Tyres                              Pts
 1 40 ▍KOW Adriana Kowalski Ela Lillian        Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                           Deyoze                             25
 2 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                        VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                                  Deyoze                             18
 3 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                     Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                              In Motion                          14
 4 15 ▍JUN Heinz-Otto Junker                   Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                             Deyoze                             11
 5  4 ▍LIL Athan Lille                         Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                                        Stellenbosch                       8
 6  7 ▍DEV Annelise Devereux                   PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                              Deyoze                             5
 7 44 ▍GOZ Rod Gozum                           Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                                       Deyoze                             3
 8 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                      Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                               Phoenician                         1
 8 41 ▍ROU Edward Rousseau                     Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                                       Deyoze                             1

Team standings

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                                            Tyres                              Pts
  1 ETN ▍Fireline Motorsports [Preston]                                           Deyoze                             25
  2 VSG ▍VilayeEnergy Sport MontagneGP [Preston]                                  Deyoze                             18
  3 NIM ▍Nexus Racing [Paragon Warp]                                              In Motion                          14
  4 STL ▍Teusbank TMW Rennsport [TMW]                                             Deyoze                             11
  5 LIS ▍Bitten Heroes-MW Racing [Harlean]                                        Stellenbosch                       8
  6 HDR ▍PrismRiver Racing [Preston]                                              Deyoze                             5
  7 FID ▍Equipo Telebuenas-BA [Badai Angin]                                       Deyoze                             4
  8 DCS ▍Pryfors Bilar-Viska/Air Kalactin [Preston]                               Phoenician                         1

Starting grid for Sunday sprint

Sprint race grid
 1   MTV
 2   VAL
 3   PRE
 4   WIN
 5   JKN
 6   CRB
 7   ROU
 8   GOZ
 9   DEV
10   LIL
11   JUN
12   LAU
13   VIA
14   KOW
15   HKS
16   PEG
17   MEL
18   FIC
19   HAU
20   CRO
21   RIK
22   MAR
23   ADW
24   TUV
25   VAR
26   CLA
27   ZOO

by **Lisander** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:25 pm

Aliki-Corra, Vilita & Turori
Friday Night

"Yep. I know this is my first season, and it's quite a different level between us and the top level structures... But why I have this feel of something is quite wrong? Maybe because we gone through all this preseason and still failed to get a second driver? Why don't we have a second driver?" - Athan Lille's inquisitive eyes roamed the room, spinning in their sockets as if they were bored, which was true. All that dedication to the car, and after everything, he had only managed penultimate position, 26 on 27. Okay, the rain had made the afternoon in Alikki-Corra much more unpredictable, and the short testing time had hurt his performance. But the mistakes didn't end there. It looked like it had been a bad choice to miss pre-season. Marc Wiel had made the same mistake as his predecessors in waiting too long to decide the future of his team. And now they were there, with only one car ready to race.

♥ 203 liked
athan.lille Giving everything due time is essential. Each new day is a new
opportunity. This is where it all begins, and no end is planned. #championmindset
#beyourbest #wgp2 #bittenheroesacademy

"We made bad choices, or rather... I made bad choices. That's a fact. No one should be blamed but me. But I honestly needed to prioritize someone relevant to the second seat. I knew the best ones wouldn't accept to join us, so I looked at the possible ones. But it seems I chose the hardest to answer. Elise Shaw should be here by now, I wonder why I haven't had an answer yet." - Marc Wiel took all the blame. He was probably the most frustrated of the team members.

"I knew from the start that we should have gone with a 100% local team. I mean... Me and Sissie... I'd have been fine with the second spot..." - Lille cursed himself.

"The big issue here is that Sissie was not keen to stay at the academy, after all she is already part of the first team. And like I said, the experience she'll get in Hodori will be important for the main team. The Academy is one level below, so Sissie takes care of her own things. She is a shareholder in Motorsport Lisander, she has the sponsorship of Leinas. She has achieved a lot of things that you haven't..." - Wiel brought new information.

"And just two years ago she was one of the worst on the grid in WGP3... Now she's above me, probably. Experience, at least, she earned a lot more."

"Well, she had to make choices, some of them quite difficult.... She took a huge risk going straight to the WGPC. Pretty much everyone agreed that she was going to be another wasted driver, but she has nerves of steel and defeated expectations. Here's the result, P4 in the Quali! Her WGPC season was nothing short of mediocre, but she has entered WGP2 with a good chance, while we are running under the radar. But once more we have a competitive car, and we can get the best out of it if we do everything right."

"Well, it's no use crying over spilt milk. For tomorrow, we have to hope that the weather improves, and so our position will also improve." - Lille said, leaving that silence in the room, that silence where everyone is pondering their mistakes, and no one has a good answer yet. As he was used to good results, both in the WGP3 and in the Formula Hodori, this was a situation he was not sure how to handle. He took a sheet of paper from the table and scribbled a graphic. A few clicks on his smartphone later, the image was online.

PREV | 632 | NEXT

by **Krainin** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:11 pm

Everborth Metro Hospital, South

Elise sat in a waiting room. Her grandmother was not doing well. She hasn't had time to check her messages in a while. Now, with her grandmother stabilizing somewhat, she checks her computer and sees a message from Bitten Heros Academy.

"Wow, someone is willing to take a chance on me. That's nice. Damn, I won't be able to make the first race."

To: Lucas Schwarcz
Hospitality Coordinator, MW Racing
From: Elise Shaw <shawelise1995@islesmail.tki>

Sorry for not answering sooner, but I accept the offer of the second seat at Bitten Heros Academy engineered by MW Racing. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the first race as there's currently a family emergency.

That aside, I do have one sponsor that's willing to pay for 5 of the 10 races. It's a local watch company called Royal Watches.

I'm excited for this opportunity you're giving me and I hope I won't disappoint the team.

Signed,
Elise Shaw

by **Sahuarita** » Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:39 pm

Alikki-Corra, Vilita

Lap 45, Alikki-Corra Street Course

The voice of a Scuderia Orange Cow employee and Pedro’s pit crew member came through the radio.
“Alright Pedro, here we go, not too much time left, and you’re in 7th, let’s hold on to get some points here.”

“Ok. This is a tough one coming up here, my tires are getting a bit worn, can I come in for a pit to get som3 soft ones for the end of the race?”

“Yup, just come in here and we can hook you up.”

“Alright, coming on on lap 46, I know it is bad to come in this close to the end, but these ones are losing the grip.”

“No problem, just focus on getting in here safely.”

“Alright... here we go... coming in, got it!”

Carballal comes in for a quick stop, the pit crew got if off extremely fast, just 2.9 seconds, which was one of the best times so far for the Scuderia Pit team.

“Nice one! Time to go out and finish the race.”

“Nice job getting in and out Pedro.”

Pedro rejoins the field in 11th place, however, feeling more confident with the better grip on his softer tires, he starts to floor it and passes up Joy Wingelaar and Haru Jukkenna to slide into a solid ninth place.

“Alright Pedro, let’s try and pass Rosseau up on this last lap here, it’s gonna be tough but we wanna place ourselves in a position to get points here.”

“I know, lemme try and get a good angle here.”

Pedro tries to overtake, but fails, and falls back about a second behind, he tried again, it doesn’t work. Pedro crosses the finish line, frustrated, but still happy about his performance.

“Hey Pedro, that’s nothing to be mad about man, you raced a solid race today, nothing to be mad about.”

“I know, I wish my fucking tyres could’ve made it through the end though.”

“That’s true, but you still raced great, and the tires weren’t really your fault.”

“Eh, I could’ve done better, but gotta move on, it’s only the first race of the season, after all.”

¡Politica! (Sahuaritan Domestic News)
Breaking News, Carlos Montreal Elected As National Party Candidate
The race for the Far-Right National Party’s Head of Government candidate has been an interesting one, however party leadership has made a unanimous decision to nominate the popular Carlos Montreal as the candidate. The party, which has embraced anti-immigration, Sahuaritan supremacy and other Far-Right ideologies, has skyrocketed in popularity after many Sahuaritan’s started to get mad about inflation of the Sahuaritan economy due to immigration and lax foreign policy. Since gaining the second most amount of seats in the National Congress, the National Party has worked out deals with the ruling coalition of Center-Right parties to close up borders and ramp up military spending. Montreal describes his first steps in office as this:
“We shall stop the non natives from coming in and destroying our society, they have been turning us into a weak nation for years. I will start by deporting most immigrants and enforcing the Sahuaritan National religion of Protestantism to the great people of this nation. We shall no longer suffer under the deadweight of the immigrants.”

While Montreal tries to hide the fact that he has bad intentions, he had stated many Xenophobic and racist remarks against minorities of Sahuarita, and if he is in power, who knows what will happen to this nation.

(580 Words + 289 = 869 words this session)

World Cup 81/82/83/84

Saturday night, 10:45 in the team motorhome (rented)

After the post race de-brief with Jordan and Pedro, getting the mechanics, drivers and the rest of the team personnel out of the garage and back to the hotel, It was just Lambert, Marzetti, Ed O'Malley, Paul Valentini, Kevin Ammaker, Vaughn Estes and Sunil Choudhary left in the paddock for the Orange Cow "Gang" (Ammaker had started that usage on the first day they'd arrived in Vilita, and everyone started to pick up on it as the previous 48 hours or so had progressed).

The data from both cars was studied in the aftermath of the Feature race at Alikki-Corra, 53 laps on a brutal street circuit without much margin for error; this was more valuable than the info gleaned from practice on Friday, and qualification for the race a few hours later in completely different conditions.
Pedro Carballal had gotten 42 miles driving under his belt before the team had packed up to head off while Jordan Crowe had put in 478 miles, usually under restriction and with specific test targets to meet.

The slow corners and short distances between gear changes worked to Crowe's advantage, due to the nature of the "test" track at the PRL Center, set up on a paved area that included part of the employee parking lot and corners defined only by yellow cones or empty 55 gallon barrels. On the days the team had made the hour long trek to Drummond Vale, Jordan had proven he knew the Vale course by rote; he was able to continually push the car faster around the short mile and a half layout with ease, despite his inexperience with the horsepower and braking force of a car designed for WGP2 specs.

When the 1 hour, 15 minute free practice was checker flagged, Crowe sat second on the timing screen just .051 off the fastest single lap time of the 27 cars taking part at 1:53.441, which he'd set on the second to penultimate lap, following a live pit stop tire change and ensuing out lap (his final lap would've put him 3rd as well at 1:53.606).

Both he and Pedro had been put through controlled conditions testing for the better part of the session; each were given a target delta time to maintain over a number of laps (Crowe 20 at 1:55.25, Carballal 15 at 1:57, followed by a live pit stop tire change then 15 more laps at 1:56.2) then given an opportunity to push as hard as they wanted. Pedro's best time--1:55.890-- was only good for 18th, both he and the team were happy with the progress made over the session.

The skies opened up ahead of the qualifying session for the main race on Saturday, highlighting the format of a single hot lap around the course as an additional challenge. The blind draw for the order saw Crowe get 10, while Carballal drew 18.
The team did feel confident, as they'd spent a good deal of effort on high downforce setup owing to the limitations of the 'Circuit de PeRiL' as it had become known.

Sunil Choudhary had been giving Jordan an enormous amount of encouragement and praise; the young driver knew this was his Grand Prix, as the team had agreed in principle with a second driver to take the seat he occupied, which he'd accepted at the point when he was offered a full season contract to be test/reserve driver. He had earned the respect and admiration of everyone in SOC, with Mike Lambert sitting next to him for part of the flight from Oceana to Vilita, assuring Jordan that he was an important part of the organization.

As the rain began and the mechanics worked to change the cars over to wet weather, high downforce setups, Pedro and Jordan had a few minutes by themselves in the motorhome, the first time all week they'd talked as individuals.
"Jordan, this will be the first of many times I say this, but I cannot ever thank you enough for the hours you've put in this week to help me. You know, everyone--including me--were overjoyed when you got P2 earlier. I've never experienced that kind of excitement in any race team I've been part of, and it's made me feel proud to be part of this."
The younger driver was a bit taken by surprise at his teammates confession. "I appreciate that, Pedro. I know once you get more miles in the car, you are going to be formidable. I could sense that from day 1. We'll all be fine--you, me, Kuyara, the crew--because I'm sure the people at the very top want us to succeed. Together."

They gave the clasped handshake and then "Smitty"--Ben Smith, the media minder for Pedro--knocked on the door and stepped up.

"OK boys, it's showtime, Vilitan Cove style!"
(815)

by **The Licentian Isles** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 5:39 am

Joy was not thrilled with how these last few laps were shaping up.

She had come in to the pits for a set of softer tyres on lap 42, hoping to pick up the pace on the final stint of this feature race. Of course, luck was not on her side. Two laps later came the safety car. Indra Vartak had gone off in the PB Viska. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to maintain a position on this street course, she was now losing the best of her tyres to the safety car, with Ted Pressley behind her in the Kaylan able to pull ever closer.

Of course it was one of the Kaylans. The team she turned down to sign for TMW. She didn’t know if there were hard feelings. She certainly didn’t have any, but it was entirely possible that the team from Togonistan had been cursing her ever since she sent the rejection. The safety car didn’t last long, heading back in after just a couple of laps, but it was enough for her to see Pressley get in behind her.

“Kaspar, how’s Pressley looking behind me?” She knew what answer she was hoping for; his tyres were going downhill, or he’d just radioed in with a minor mechanical problem.

“He has pace Joy, he has pace. You’ll have enough to keep him behind you, but just be careful.”

Shit.

As she got the news that the safety car was coming in, she awaited the green flags nervously. She needed a good restart to put Pressley a few seconds behind and keep him from benefiting from the slipstream. She hit the pedals as soon as she could, launching down the pit straight to try and get some separation from the Tumbran. She soon realised though that she hadn’t been able to keep her tyres up at the right temperature with the safety car. She would have to play it safe to warm them up.

Shit.

She knew this wasn’t a battle for the points. She was a lap down on the leader Kowalski, and she hadn’t had as good a run as her teammate, who seemed to be up towards the podium. She needed to at least stay in the position she was in.

There was a part of her brain telling her it wouldn’t be that bad to drop back a place or two. The sprint race went in reverse grid, so as long as she didn’t drop past 14th, she would be well placed for a good run tomorrow. The more she thought about it though, the more she shut down that suggestion. She wasn’t going to be happy if she dropped places. She wanted to get as far ahead as possible, maybe even see if she could catch Jukkenna who was running in 10th.

Those esses were still causing her problems. Every time, she would get a good run through the rest of the lap, and start to get some separation from Pressley, but then she would have to negotiate the section that ran through the Alikki-Corra Academy of Sciences, and Ted would have an opportunity to pull back into sight. She just couldn’t shake him.

There was a bonus of being a lap down on the leader though. It was one less lap to have to try and fight off the Tumbran driver. She would be finished on the 52nd go around, rather than the 53rd. Maybe that would be what saved her from being passed, as she continued to see the Kaylan in her mirror.

“8 tenths to Pressley,” Kaspar said going into her final lap. “You’ve got this, just keep him behind.”

“Affirm.” She wasn’t one for talking when the pressure was on.

She managed to keep him in her mirrors for the rest of the lap. She could see him pulling closer in the final sector, but it just gave her more motivation to get to the line.

He wasn’t close enough.

by **Kyoki Chudoku** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 6:24 am

It felt like an eternity ago, when this had all begun. When Sakinomi Rikikida had first taken the step from being a mere hobbyist in the remote outskirts of Nogyo District to being a government-authorised internationally-recognised participant in the racing community. She remembered all too well the first race she’d ever taken part in on foreign soil. The beds had been too soft. The stars had been in the wrong place. And she had burst onto the tracks, with all the might of tyranny behind her, unshackled from the limits of the ground, soaring amidst the clouds once again in spirit and in soul-

And she had failed. Utterly, completely, failed. And no experience could wash over her again quite like that- certainly could not compete with the horrors of the Nightmare- but if it could, if anything could come close to scratching those sensations, it would what she felt in the seconds after tearing open the door of her livery-enriched vehicle and ripping off her helmet. Others had been behind her- but not many others. Some hadn’t finished. Some had succumbed completely to the weather. But she had been one of the final survivors to reach the finish line. Every training session felt diminished. All those qualifiers, alternating from the front to the rear, telling herself time and time again that she would annihilate the competition when it counts- those dim, pathetic excuses fell away to the harsh spotlight of reality.

It felt like a blur. It had happened not even a day ago and it felt like an utter blur. The details all coalesced together into one abominable whole, it’s every aspect reminding her only that she was a disappointment. She had been forced to give up her career in the Kyoki Chudoku no Kugun, forced to embrace the leadership of foreigners who knew nothing of order or the Aozoratarian way, all for...what? This? This despair? A few hours of adrenaline, coming to crash and burn when all didn’t go her way? She knew it was pathetic to think like this. She was better than this. She was better than all of them! How many of them had soared above the mountains? How many of them had seen combat? How many of them fought for a cause other than fame and glory and money?

She threw herself onto bed by the time she got back at the latest of these overdeveloped bedrooms she was forced to call a home on her journeys. There was no denying that all this travel in such rapid succession was wearing her out. Chudokurens flew between islands from time to time, but none save for the greatest of emissaries or soldiers on campaign journeyed from place to place this often, and even the soldiers at least stayed until they’d achieved victory.

Rikikida spent what felt like an hour- but was probably closer to twenty minutes- just staring at the ceiling. Reiyomi knocked, of course- no doubt picking up on the frustration through all the ride back here- but there came no answer from the racer, and she was left well enough alone. All those hours spent secretly chastising the technicians for lack of protocol. That sense that she was betraying her country- that despite all her authorisations and permissions and agreements, it still made her lurch to think she could be serving a foreign power’s interests.

Sakinomi Rikikida was a veteran of the Nightmare War. She had bore witness to the brutal annihilation of three-fifths of her country’s people. Those were not scars that healed in the course of a lifetime. And so like most Chudokurens, she had developed her coping mechanisms. This obsession with reaching had begun as just that- a passion project. A hobby. A way to get things off her mind. And now her own entertainment felt like it was going to weigh her down. These sensations, this concession that she was a failure, it was far too reminiscent of those turbulent times. It was far too close, and she knew all too well what happened when things got close to those haunting echoes.

What she’d give for a veteran’s centre. Instead she was probably stuck doing more lap tests and tech trials and half-baked translation efforts with the corporate authorities that now ruled over her. She missed Kyoki Chudoku. She missed the dying-out treelines and the freshness of the country air. She missed the sight of Ganseihiro jet fighters soaring overhead every once in a while. She missed the food, and the company, and the knowledge that everyone there at least understood how it felt to lose everything. There was none of that here. Just foreign landscape after foreign landscapes, fed to her in portions the size of a hotel or a racetrack, grinding wheels against the asphalt and seeing which was first to burn.

But time ate at her frustration. Gave her the chance to recompose herself, and look at things in a different light. This battle was over, and she had lost, but one battle was not the war. False Heaven had fallen in the end, for all the struggles it had one. So too would it be with the Chudokuren domination of the tracks. Rikikida scratched at her cheek, and for a moment she relished the fleeting pain that followed. It was a reminder. A reminder that she could suffer and endure. That from suffering could come victory.

She swore it to herself. To her country and its people. To all the watching world. That she would not let such a failure happen again. That she would rise above her competitors, terrorise the tracks, and prove the supremacy of her order over their chaos.

It was enough to hold her together for now. But there were only so many perceived slights and defeats that the Chudokuren could take before it took a more persistent mental toll…

944 words

by **Valentine Z** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:53 am

Post 9 – Optimized.

As the expression goes - everything happened in a flash. For Adriana, however, it wasn't a blur, because her mind was able to process all of it. Armed to the teeth with the practice and qualification data - for both dry and wet situations, it was all down to her showing what Valentians can do when they are determined and prepared for the challenge. With her team's constant communication and callouts, as well as being optimized for the dry course conditions, Adriana made strides ahead of Sikka as soon as she left the starting line, while keeping Janna at bay throughout. "Overall, very good challenges, but I would like to thank you all for believing in me," Adriana gave some of the willing Fireline members a hug after taking her very first victory in the very first race, "Let's hope for great things on the Sprint Race!"

147 words (1250 limit exceeded after red word).

by **Hodori Motorsports** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:53 am

“Okay, just, uh...” An’ue pointed at the screen showing a replay of Zoomtwat’s incident, making sure Kuyara was looking. “Just don’t do that and you should be okay. Lambert’s already used up his one allotted driver change, and we absolutely do not want him to feel like he made a mistake doing so.”
“Understood.” Kuyara’s ears twitched, her tail swishing to and fro, with one thought presently dominant in her mind. What kind of name even is ‘Zoomtwat’?

What went wrong, and how do we improve?
What went wrong, and how can we better effect a remedy?
What went wrong, and what is the fastest and most effective solution?
Turning in for the night, preparing for tomorrow’s sprint race, these questions kept running through Sako Reitoude’s mind. As part of the first class to graduate from the Engineering Academy, assisting her grandmother in her duties, the younger Reitoude and her classmates were constanly asked these questions by the elder Reitoude.

What went wrong, and how do we improve?
Failures at multiple points, between pit stop fumbles, strategy errors, and driver mistakes. Solution: Practice for the pit crew, the six positions filled by students from the Academy rather than the experienced pitwork team used back home by Arada. A full autopsy would reveal where the weaknesses in the strategy were, but she suspected an insufficient bank of data to rely on was a major factor. The only driver errors the team had any realistic hope of controlling were their own; incidents like whatever happened to Zoomtwat were outside of their influence.

What went wrong, and how can we better effect a remedy?
Valkyria ending up missing half a front wing in what race control ultimately deemed a racing incident, and better familiarity with the process would allow the limited pit crew to replace the damaged part faster.

What went wrong, and what is the fastest and most effective solution?
A full analysis would reveal all, but spending all night thinking about it wouldn’t be very productive. Sleep on it and figure it out tomorrow.

Started fifteenth, fought for 53 laps, ended fifteenth.
“What am I doing wrong?” Hakusoe, on her bed and half-buried under her small pile of plushies, reviewed her course notes, tracing the lines she had taken through the corners with a finger, then the lines taken by her competitors. “Where am I losing most of my time? Corner entry? Exit?” She flipped through the pages, rechecking her braking points, reexaming where she tried to get back on throttle.

Yawning and flipping her notebook closed, she emerged from under her layer of plushies. Before turning off the lights, she looked at the extra rabbit-girl plushie she had set aside earlier. “Maybe I’ll give you to Sakinomi tomorrow.”

by **Trans-Dniesters** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 7:57 am

"Well, Taras, I have good news and bad news for you."

"Give me the bad news first, Vladimir," Taras Matviyenko told his engineer.

"The bad news is you are P14, Taras," Vladimir Gennadiyevich Kripchak, Matviyenko's engineer, replied. "No points for UrGa in this race."

"Mr. Gatutin will not like that," Taras muttered. "What's the good news then?"

"Since you are P14, you will have pole position for the sprint race tomorrow."

"Hah!" Taras laughed softly. "Not the way I would have expected to get my first pole position, but it's still a pole nonetheless."

"Taras, this is Vasily Semyonovich," the UrGa team principal said via the radio. "I know this has been not the best of days for you but I would still like to congratulate you on your first pole position for the sprint race tomorrow. They give out more points across more positions in the sprint race, Taras. Tomorrow, let's make it count."

"Yes, let's make it count, sir," Taras nodded.

Back in the UrGa garages, Vasily Gatutin remained stone faced. There was little cause for celebration at the moment. Taras Matviyenko may have been able to take pole for the sprint race tomorrow, but only because of his lowly finish in the feature race. Not to mention the fact that UrGa's second driver Harry Zoomtwat retired from the race at just the third lap. Gatutin's displeasure about the board choosing to sign Zoomtwat over other drivers whom he thought were better suited for the role. Gatutin didn't want to be too hasty in his own judgment though; he acknowledged that preseason testing was not the best time or place to judge a driver's merits. Zoomtwat had performed well during practice, and everyone in UrGa had already accepted that UrGa cars were shit in the wet. But retiring from a race just three laps in...

"We really should have gone for Vialiv," Gatutin muttered for what had to be the thousandth time this weekend.

(326 words, not including these. 966 words total)

by **Featherstonehaugh Cholmondeley** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:03 am

Standing tall and trim in his formal attire with shoes polished to a finish one could use to adjust one’s tie (assuming one did not have a manservant to adjust one’s own tie), Sid cut quite a different sight to the mechanics running around the UrGa technical area. His back was ramrod straight, yet close inspection would reveal a whisker or two trembling in unease. He wasn’t nervous about Harry’s forthcoming race – but he was outraged that he had not been permitted to serve his master a light repast on the start grid. The “safety regulations” of this uncouth universe proved this world a veritable Yahoo; back in the world of Featherstonehaugh Cholmondeley no one would have dared come between Sid and his master.

He had observed the angry mutters of the pit crew, the jealous glances towards the impressive times set by the likes of Vialiv, the hostile glares directed at Harry as his tremendous bulk, worthy of a circus strongman’s but not exactly suited to being squeezed into the cockpit of a racing car, popped out like a champagne cork having had too much walrus blubber (the trip to Aboveland having not been totally in vain) slathered on him. Sid felt they should be walking on eggshells, but Harry wore a broad boot and was more used to stamping along at parade march tempo, eggshells be damned. This was not going to be a happy season.

There had been much debate that the car was too light, the chassis designed with a different, heavier engine in mind. (Harry’s suggestion of packing the back down with a few crates of whiskey had met with a predictably frosty reception, much to Harry’s bemusement. “Think I should have suggested vodka,” he later mused, idly twirling his ineffable moustache.) This had been blamed for the problems gripping in the rain. Sid recalled how Harry had described the course as wetter than Lady Rumple-Falwell-Smythe’s… well, his master certainly had a way with words, in any case. Less of a way with controlling a car whose rear wheels seemed more interested in going sideways than forwards.

Though he had never shared his master’s passion for the sport of auto racing, Sid could understand the excitement that came with roaring along twisty Alpine passes or sweeping through majestic golden fields. He could not even comprehend, though, the attraction of a race such as this, all angular turns set amid hideous buildings. What artistry could there be in these constant turns, never allowing the admittedly impressive engines this world was capable of producing to really let rip? With Harry so far at the back of the starting grid, Sid felt sure his master was in for a long, boring, frustrating race, stuck behind congested traffic, unable to show off any of his flair.

And Sid, for once, was wrong. For Harry’s race was not frustrating, nor was it boring. And nor was it long.

Harry had spent the first three laps sniffing Taras Matviyenko’s tailpipe, before Attempting an aggressive overtake on the back S’s. It didn’t seem to matter to Harry that Matviyenko was his teammate, and one already not exactly charmed by his co-driver’s whiskery insouciance. Nor that there wasn’t anywhere close to enough room to actually make the turn. His car certainly appeared too light as it went airborne. For one, glorious moment it was like Major Zoomtwat was back in his Air Corps days, launching a strafing run. Then he landed, and the dream was over. His car collided with the side railing in a tremendous shower of sparks and a terrific crash that Sid could hear from the other side of the track. Debris sprayed the road – somehow avoiding seriously damaging Melani’s car – as various parts of the UrGa livery flew off in assorted directions.

Alarmingly, flames spouted up from the wrecked car and for one hideous moment Sid feared the worst: his master might have singed his moustache! Then he remembered the helmet. Not something Harry was used to wearing and forced on him with great reluctance, but doubtless a source of much relief now. As safety crew hurried over with extinguishers, Harry, seemingly unhurt, hauled himself for the car, and briefly tried to assist, swatting at the flames with a rolled-up copy of the Times. But soon he was being shepherded away from the crash zone.

Without needing move his head, Sid’s keen eyes darted around the paddock, taking it all in. There were heads in hands in the UrGa garage, and those were frankly preferable to the heads loudly expressing their rage at Zoomtwat. Sid (who had quickly mastered Pridenstrovian) even picked up a comment wondering whether “Zoom” meant “twat” as well in English. There were anxious glances at the monitor but it appeared that Matviyenko had managed to avoid any damage from the crash. Harry hadn’t even touched him. That, at least was a comfort, but Sid wondered just how much nearly taking out both team cars in one would further erode trust in his master’s skills.

A few minutes later, having been checked over by the medic, Harry stormed into the paddock with a face like thunder. “The bally cheek of it, ‘concussion protocol’ indeed,” he fumed, clearly put out by the questions the doctors had asked. Sid privately admitted that they would probably have had considerable difficulty assessing whether or not Harry was concussed given the profound disorientation with, well, everything that Harry expressed even on a perfectly routine day. The cars were trundling around the course following the safety car as debris was cleared away; Harry glowered and twisted at his (thankfully unsinged) moustache.

“If I may, sir…”

“Yes, Sid. And make it a double.”

by **Lisander** » Sun Apr 04, 2021 8:43 am

Sunday, 00:54
Motorsport Lisander chatbox log

Andrea Lanza: So, after the first WGP2 Feature Race, Lisanderian drivers earned 13 points. This is a good sign. Two fronts are guaranteed, and this result is already more promising than last entire season. How are things going with PrismRiver?

Darius Castellammare: They're quite pragmatic, so it wasn't a bad choice to have Sissie here. It's the gentle art of balancing technique and force. The Training conditions weren't the better yesterday and they decided to pull out earlier. In my point of view, Sissie made a safe race and was able to bring the first five points for the team. I don't have access to team meetings yet, since I'm being regarded more as a manager than exactly a part of the team.

Andrea Lanza:That's kind of bad...

Darius Castellammare: Other than that, I must admit Athan was the Driver of the Day. That steampunk wacko made a great service keeping the pack tight for the first laps. Even better, they took four laps to clean the entire mess, so he had time to make a nice plan and win a lot of positions as soon as the Safety Car went out. The coup-de-grâce was the aggressive pitstop planning. Seems like the bad qualify was just a one-off, minor worry, just caused by the rain.

When their second driver finally joins, they can make a big impact. BTW, do you know anything about their second driver? Seems like the Kraininian driver didn't answer.

Andrea Lanza: I received a voice message from Marc, she was frustrated as a man that discovers his wife is having an affair with the milkman. Turned out Ms. Elise Shaw sponsor is a Watches brand.

Darius Castellammare: I can't... Leinas won't accept that. Leinas surely won't like. What that girl have in mind? Didn't she notice the team is sponsored by a company in the same activity sector?

Andrea Lanza: Surely not.This sponsor will only pay support for five rounds. What a big problem they're in... Do you think he will still accept Shaw?

Darius Castellammare: He's stingy, but isn't that much strapped for cash this season. The contracts with the current sponsors and suppliers are enough. He can hold both even without sponsoring, probably.

Andrea Lanza: Well, I just received an e-mail from Schwarcz, their Hospitality Coordinator. Let me post here.

Andrea Lanza sent an image:

Miss Shaw, we received your message with some concerns.

Firstly, we wish that your family matter can be resolved as soon as possible, but reiterate our need for quick responses. We need a person who is proactive.

Secondly, we will unfortunately not be able to accept the planned support from Royal Watches, given that one of our sponsors is a company in the same industry, Leinas Timepieces.

Having the contractual obligation to display our sponsor, we evidently cannot display or allow you to display yours, which would imply a breach of contract. This is a stalemate, and we will understand if this causes you to lose interest in the position we offered.

These two concerns will not prevent us from welcoming you to our team in the first moment, as we are short of drivers. So nevertheless, we expect you to be present at Drummond Vale. However, both your proactivity and ability to bring a financial return to the team will need to be evaluated. It's not a decision we want to make, but should it become necessary, we will reconsider your permanence in the team.

Darius Castellammare: "We're giving you the seat, at least for now, please don't make us wait and try to find a sponsor that won't ruin our biggest contract." But in Wiel's usual gentle words.

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WGP2 Season 4 – RP/results thread

Round 1: Vialiv Pole in Alikki-Corra

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