World Grand Prix Championship 21 [RP/results]

[Aji No Moto]

KISMO acknowledges Azalia Kawakai's entry into the Day 2 of the KISMO Driver Trials.

---

KISMO Driver Trials: Feature Race Qualifying

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:31.136
Qualifying Type:	Traditional
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit

POS # DRIVER                   	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER  POINTS
 1 84 Angela Stella Tan        	00:01:33.447	00:00:00.000        5
 2 63 Nepö Kinder              	00:01:33.450	00:00:00.004        4
 3 96 William Archer           	00:01:33.454	00:00:00.008        3
 4 88 Ted Pressley             	00:01:33.467	00:00:00.021        2
 5 37 Laura Haukanna           	00:01:33.478	00:00:00.032        1
 6  9 Batu Tüvshinbayar        	00:01:33.481	00:00:00.035
 7 21 Otto Markul              	00:01:33.496	00:00:00.049
 8 77 Abdoulaye Goita          	00:01:33.519	00:00:00.073
 9 40 Adriana Kowalski         	00:01:33.534	00:00:00.087
10 74 Adonis Fitzpatrick       	00:01:33.536	00:00:00.090
11 51 R.L. Cruisin             	00:01:33.666	00:00:00.220
12 69 Zsanett Bokor            	00:01:33.728	00:00:00.281
13 12 Ron Sommer               	00:01:33.730	00:00:00.284
14  7 Anneliese Devereux       	00:01:33.753	00:00:00.307
15 19 Nik Hazrin Lutfi         	00:01:33.790	00:00:00.344
16 13 Azalia Kawakai           	00:01:33.825	00:00:00.378
17 55 Gil Langdon              	00:01:34.022	00:00:00.575
18 41 Cosmin Fotellis          	00:01:34.153	00:00:00.706
19 11 Lane Carter              	00:01:34.346	00:00:00.900

KISMO Driver Trials: Sprint Race Qualifying

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:31.136
Qualifying Type:	One Shot
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit

POS # DRIVER                   	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER  POINTS
 1 41 Cosmin Fotellis          	00:01:34.017	00:00:00.000        5
 2 21 Otto Markul              	00:01:35.484	00:00:01.467        4
 3 88 Ted Pressley             	00:01:36.393	00:00:02.376        3
 4 13 Azalia Kawakai           	00:01:36.792	00:00:02.775        2
 5  9 Batu Tüvshinbayar        	00:01:37.582	00:00:03.565        1
 6 84 Angela Stella Tan        	00:01:37.888	00:00:03.871
 7 51 R.L. Cruisin             	00:01:38.277	00:00:04.260
 8  7 Anneliese Devereux       	00:01:39.439	00:00:05.422
 9 63 Nepö Kinder              	00:01:39.549	00:00:05.532
10 55 Gil Langdon              	00:01:39.766	00:00:05.749
11 69 Zsanett Bokor            	00:01:40.458	00:00:06.442
12 11 Lane Carter              	00:01:40.660	00:00:06.643
13 12 Ron Sommer               	00:01:40.891	00:00:06.874
14 37 Laura Haukanna           	00:01:42.939	00:00:08.922
15 74 Adonis Fitzpatrick       	00:01:45.296	00:00:11.279
16 19 Nik Hazrin Lutfi         	00:01:45.603	00:00:11.586
17 40 Adriana Kowalski         	00:01:46.218	00:00:12.201
18 96 William Archer           	00:01:46.219	00:00:12.202
19 77 Abdoulaye Goita          	00:01:46.984	00:00:12.967

KISMO Driver Trials: Feature Race

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Laps:              	46
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit
Event:	KISMO Trials Day 2 - Feature Race
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:	19

POS  # DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts		
  1 88 PRE Ted Pressley             KISMO KS01x              	01:19:44.018	25		
  2 63 KIN Nepö Kinder              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:07.090	20		
  3 12 SOM Ron Sommer               KISMO KS01x              	00:00:15.640	17		
  4 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita          KISMO KS01x              	00:00:33.722	13		
  5 55 LAN Gil Langdon              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:51.409	11		
  6 74 FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick       KISMO KS01x              	00:00:58.671	9		
  7 37 HAU Laura Haukanna           KISMO KS01x              	00:01:01.354	7		
  8 41 FOT Cosmin Fotellis          KISMO KS01x              	00:01:12.789	5		
  9 84 ANG Angela Stella Tan        KISMO KS01x              	00:01:17.360	4		
 10  9 TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar        KISMO KS01x              	00:01:23.341	3		
 11 51 CRU R.L. Cruisin             KISMO KS01x              	00:01:30.060	2		
 12 11 CRT Lane Carter              KISMO KS01x              	00:01:34.112	1		
 13 19 HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi         KISMO KS01x              	00:01:34.640			
 14 21 MAR Otto Markul              KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 15 96 ARC William Archer           KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 16 13 KAW Azalia Kawakai           KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 17  7 DEV Anneliese Devereux       KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
DNF 40 AKS Adriana Kowalski         KISMO KS01x              	Ret. lap 39			
DNF 69 BOK Zsanett Bokor            KISMO KS01x              	Ret. lap 34

KISMO Driver Trials: Sprint Race

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Laps:              	23
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit
Event:	KISMO Trials Day 2 - Sprint Race
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:	19

POS  # DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts		
  1 51 CRU R.L. Cruisin             KISMO KS01x              	00:40:20.139	15		
  2 21 MAR Otto Markul              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:13.303	11		
  3 13 KAW Azalia Kawakai           KISMO KS01x              	00:00:16.589	8		
  4 11 CRT Lane Carter              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:36.200	6		
  5 55 LAN Gil Langdon              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:36.971	4		
  6 69 BOK Zsanett Bokor            KISMO KS01x              	00:00:52.414	3		
  7 88 PRE Ted Pressley             KISMO KS01x              	00:01:04.352	2		
  8 84 ANG Angela Stella Tan        KISMO KS01x              	00:01:10.950	1		
  9 41 FOT Cosmin Fotellis          KISMO KS01x              	00:01:14.050			
 10  7 DEV Anneliese Devereux       KISMO KS01x              	00:01:23.819			
 11 12 SOM Ron Sommer               KISMO KS01x              	00:01:23.984			
 12 19 HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi         KISMO KS01x              	00:01:27.619			
 13 74 FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick       KISMO KS01x              	00:01:34.807			
 14 63 KIN Nepö Kinder              KISMO KS01x              	00:01:35.263			
 15 40 AKS Adriana Kowalski         KISMO KS01x              	00:01:42.075			
 16 37 HAU Laura Haukanna           KISMO KS01x              	00:01:43.534			
 17 96 ARC William Archer           KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 18 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita          KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 19  9 TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar        KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1

Final Standings

RK  DRIVER                                   T1  T3  A1  A3  B1  B3  FQ  SQ  FR  SR PTS
 1  Gil Langdon                               6   6   8   6   2   3          11   4  46
 2  Ted Pressley                                      5           4   2   3  25   2  41
 3  R.L. Cruisin                              5              10   8           2  15  40
 4  Cosmin Fotellis                           2      10  10       5       5   5      37
 5  Nepö Kinder                                               3   2   4      20      29
 6  Adonis Fitzpatrick                                2   2   5  10           9      28
 7  Otto Markul                                   8                       4      11  23
 8  Abdoulaye Goita                           1   1   1       6              13      22
 9  Nik Hazrin Lutfi                          3  10   4   4                          21
10  Batu Tüvshinbayar                        10   2   3   1               1   3      20
11  Laura Haukanna                                    6   5           1       7      19
12  Ron Sommer                                                               17      17
13  Anneliese Devereux                        4           3   8                      15
14  Angela Stella Tan                             5                   5       4   1  15
15  William Archer                            8   4                   3              15
16  Zsanett Bokor                                 3       8       1               3  15
17  Lane Carter                                               4               1   6  11
18  Azalia Kawakai                                                            2   8  10
19  Adriana Kowalski                                          1   6                   7

Based from the results of the Driver Trials, KISMO offers the remaining driver spot to Gil Langdon, extending the offer to Ted Pressley should the former chooses to accept a seat elsewhere. RP based on the events of the driver trials to follow.

[Quirhoshe]

KISMO acknowledges Azalia Kawakai's entry into the Day 2 of the KISMO Driver Trials.

---

KISMO Driver Trials: Feature Race Qualifying

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:31.136
Qualifying Type:	Traditional
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit

(Image)

POS # DRIVER                   	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER  POINTS
 1 84 Angela Stella Tan        	00:01:33.447	00:00:00.000        5
 2 63 Nepö Kinder              	00:01:33.450	00:00:00.004        4
 3 96 William Archer           	00:01:33.454	00:00:00.008        3
 4 88 Ted Pressley             	00:01:33.467	00:00:00.021        2
 5 37 Laura Haukanna           	00:01:33.478	00:00:00.032        1
 6  9 Batu Tüvshinbayar        	00:01:33.481	00:00:00.035
 7 21 Otto Markul              	00:01:33.496	00:00:00.049
 8 77 Abdoulaye Goita          	00:01:33.519	00:00:00.073
 9 40 Adriana Kowalski         	00:01:33.534	00:00:00.087
10 74 Adonis Fitzpatrick       	00:01:33.536	00:00:00.090
11 51 R.L. Cruisin             	00:01:33.666	00:00:00.220
12 69 Zsanett Bokor            	00:01:33.728	00:00:00.281
13 12 Ron Sommer               	00:01:33.730	00:00:00.284
14  7 Anneliese Devereux       	00:01:33.753	00:00:00.307
15 19 Nik Hazrin Lutfi         	00:01:33.790	00:00:00.344
16 13 Azalia Kawakai           	00:01:33.825	00:00:00.378
17 55 Gil Langdon              	00:01:34.022	00:00:00.575
18 41 Cosmin Fotellis          	00:01:34.153	00:00:00.706
19 11 Lane Carter              	00:01:34.346	00:00:00.900

KISMO Driver Trials: Sprint Race Qualifying

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:31.136
Qualifying Type:	One Shot
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit

POS # DRIVER                   	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER  POINTS
 1 41 Cosmin Fotellis          	00:01:34.017	00:00:00.000        5
 2 21 Otto Markul              	00:01:35.484	00:00:01.467        4
 3 88 Ted Pressley             	00:01:36.393	00:00:02.376        3
 4 13 Azalia Kawakai           	00:01:36.792	00:00:02.775        2
 5  9 Batu Tüvshinbayar        	00:01:37.582	00:00:03.565        1
 6 84 Angela Stella Tan        	00:01:37.888	00:00:03.871
 7 51 R.L. Cruisin             	00:01:38.277	00:00:04.260
 8  7 Anneliese Devereux       	00:01:39.439	00:00:05.422
 9 63 Nepö Kinder              	00:01:39.549	00:00:05.532
10 55 Gil Langdon              	00:01:39.766	00:00:05.749
11 69 Zsanett Bokor            	00:01:40.458	00:00:06.442
12 11 Lane Carter              	00:01:40.660	00:00:06.643
13 12 Ron Sommer               	00:01:40.891	00:00:06.874
14 37 Laura Haukanna           	00:01:42.939	00:00:08.922
15 74 Adonis Fitzpatrick       	00:01:45.296	00:00:11.279
16 19 Nik Hazrin Lutfi         	00:01:45.603	00:00:11.586
17 40 Adriana Kowalski         	00:01:46.218	00:00:12.201
18 96 William Archer           	00:01:46.219	00:00:12.202
19 77 Abdoulaye Goita          	00:01:46.984	00:00:12.967

KISMO Driver Trials: Feature Race

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Laps:              	46
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit
Event:	KISMO Trials Day 2 - Feature Race
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:	19

POS  # DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts		
  1 88 PRE Ted Pressley             KISMO KS01x              	01:19:44.018	25		
  2 63 KIN Nepö Kinder              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:07.090	20		
  3 12 SOM Ron Sommer               KISMO KS01x              	00:00:15.640	17		
  4 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita          KISMO KS01x              	00:00:33.722	13		
  5 55 LAN Gil Langdon              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:51.409	11		
  6 74 FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick       KISMO KS01x              	00:00:58.671	9		
  7 37 HAU Laura Haukanna           KISMO KS01x              	00:01:01.354	7		
  8 41 FOT Cosmin Fotellis          KISMO KS01x              	00:01:12.789	5		
  9 84 ANG Angela Stella Tan        KISMO KS01x              	00:01:17.360	4		
 10  9 TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar        KISMO KS01x              	00:01:23.341	3		
 11 51 CRU R.L. Cruisin             KISMO KS01x              	00:01:30.060	2		
 12 11 CRT Lane Carter              KISMO KS01x              	00:01:34.112	1		
 13 19 HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi         KISMO KS01x              	00:01:34.640			
 14 21 MAR Otto Markul              KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 15 96 ARC William Archer           KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 16 13 KAW Azalia Kawakai           KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 17  7 DEV Anneliese Devereux       KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
DNF 40 AKS Adriana Kowalski         KISMO KS01x              	Ret. lap 39			
DNF 69 BOK Zsanett Bokor            KISMO KS01x              	Ret. lap 34

KISMO Driver Trials: Sprint Race

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Laps:              	23
Nation:         	ANM
Circuit:        	Serizawa Racing Circuit
Event:	KISMO Trials Day 2 - Sprint Race
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:	19

POS  # DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts		
  1 51 CRU R.L. Cruisin             KISMO KS01x              	00:40:20.139	15		
  2 21 MAR Otto Markul              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:13.303	11		
  3 13 KAW Azalia Kawakai           KISMO KS01x              	00:00:16.589	8		
  4 11 CRT Lane Carter              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:36.200	6		
  5 55 LAN Gil Langdon              KISMO KS01x              	00:00:36.971	4		
  6 69 BOK Zsanett Bokor            KISMO KS01x              	00:00:52.414	3		
  7 88 PRE Ted Pressley             KISMO KS01x              	00:01:04.352	2		
  8 84 ANG Angela Stella Tan        KISMO KS01x              	00:01:10.950	1		
  9 41 FOT Cosmin Fotellis          KISMO KS01x              	00:01:14.050			
 10  7 DEV Anneliese Devereux       KISMO KS01x              	00:01:23.819			
 11 12 SOM Ron Sommer               KISMO KS01x              	00:01:23.984			
 12 19 HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi         KISMO KS01x              	00:01:27.619			
 13 74 FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick       KISMO KS01x              	00:01:34.807			
 14 63 KIN Nepö Kinder              KISMO KS01x              	00:01:35.263			
 15 40 AKS Adriana Kowalski         KISMO KS01x              	00:01:42.075			
 16 37 HAU Laura Haukanna           KISMO KS01x              	00:01:43.534			
 17 96 ARC William Archer           KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 18 77 GTA Abdoulaye Goita          KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1			
 19  9 TUV Batu Tüvshinbayar        KISMO KS01x              	Laps Down: 1

Final Standings

RK  DRIVER                                   T1  T3  A1  A3  B1  B3  FQ  SQ  FR  SR PTS
 1  Gil Langdon                               6   6   8   6   2   3          11   4  46
 2  Ted Pressley                                      5           4   2   3  25   2  41
 3  R.L. Cruisin                              5              10   8           2  15  40
 4  Cosmin Fotellis                           2      10  10       5       5   5      37
 5  Nepö Kinder                                               3   2   4      20      29
 6  Adonis Fitzpatrick                                2   2   5  10           9      28
 7  Otto Markul                                   8                       4      11  23
 8  Abdoulaye Goita                           1   1   1       6              13      22
 9  Nik Hazrin Lutfi                          3  10   4   4                          21
10  Batu Tüvshinbayar                        10   2   3   1               1   3      20
11  Laura Haukanna                                    6   5           1       7      19
12  Ron Sommer                                                               17      17
13  Anneliese Devereux                        4           3   8                      15
14  Angela Stella Tan                             5                   5       4   1  15
15  William Archer                            8   4                   3              15
16  Zsanett Bokor                                 3       8       1               3  15
17  Lane Carter                                               4               1   6  11
18  Adriana Kowalski                                          1   6                   7

Based from the results of the Driver Trials, KISMO offers the remaining driver spot to Gil Langdon, extending the offer to Ted Pressley should the former chooses to accept a seat elsewhere. RP based on the events of the driver trials to follow.

I don't see Azalia Kawakai in the final results. Is there a reason why?

[Liventia]

Please don't quote others' RPs wholesale to follow it with a single OOC post.

Where possible, all non-host posts in this thread should remain strictly in-character or to post results of team trials.

[Aboveland]

Ælund Stølskapp Invitational Trials
Vankkavalta Nopeupuistti
Vankkavalta, Aboveland

By divine intervention, the weather in Vankkavalta had cleared up just enough during the week to enable the Ælund Grand Prix trials to go ahead as planned. As part of the track renovations at Vankkavalta that had enabled the team to relocate to the capital circuit, the administrators had installed heat lamps around the circuit to thaw light coverings of snow and ice during the mildest of the winter months in Aboveland. Vankkavalta was far south enough that the sun shone above the horizon for a few hours every day in January; together, the heat lamps and the full wets turned inters, fitted to the old AGP cars during the familiarization runs the six drivers had carried out at dawn, had dried and heated the circuit just enough to enable a relatively normal, if still frigid, testing session. The outside air temperature hovered just above freezing; the asphalt was steadily rising above 10ºC.

Edvin, who'd opted to bask in the sun behind the separating wall in the paddock, between the two cars and six drivers and the telemetry room the team had set up in the next box, had been out peeking at the first set of runs of session one. Time-wise, the first runners, Pressley and Goita, would be at a disadvantage compared to the later pairs, who would have had more time to wear rubber and heat into the circuit in full qualifying trim. In any case, the drivers were scheduled to set off onto the circuit in reverse order for the second session, and then in reverse overall classification order for the final one-shot session, to equal any disparities in track conditions.

As he took in the rare, timid sunlight that crept towards noon, his mind wandered over to Piers Ivchenko, the new Doubeinese constructor that had late-surged onto the grid. Ælund CMYK had offered Piers Ivchenko to run one of their engines for the WGPC21 season at a huge discount — read: at a loss — in an attempt to rise to the challenge of becoming an engine supplier. He knew, however, that both Preston and UrGa would be breathing down their necks to get deals signed with them, too — be it through spammy marketing or barely legal coercion. All that was left for Edvin to do was hope: there was little more that he could say than what had already been done.

When the voices in the box to his right vanished, the separator door swooshed open into the telemetry box, and Terho pranced in with a printed sheet and a plate of sandwiches and charcuterie — cured reindeer and pickled walrus and all. He walked silently towards Edvin, pulled up a couple of garden chairs towards the end-table at the door of the garage, and slapped down onto it the plastic plate and the paper. His face — lightly sun-blasted from his week in Hapilopper — showed concentration.

"Session one. Here's how things stand:"

---

Ælund Stølskapp Invitational Trials

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:24.149
Qualifying Type:	Traditional
Nation:         	ABL
Circuit:        	Vankkavalta Nopeupuistti

SESSION ONE | 15 minutes/pair, 3 timed laps | All drivers' first, second, and third laps shown together. Driver pairs assigned in name order (see invite). Start list is left to right for session one.

Lap 1

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:25.952	00:00:00.000
 2 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:26.064	00:00:00.112
 3 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.318	00:00:00.366
 4 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:26.524	00:00:00.572
 5 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:26.661	00:00:00.709
 6 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:26.731	00:00:00.779

Lap 2

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:25.856	00:00:00.000
 2 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:25.935	00:00:00.079
 3 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:26.598	00:00:00.742
 4 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:26.751	00:00:00.895
 5 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.866	00:00:01.010
 6 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:28.991	00:00:03.135

Lap 3

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:25.901	00:00:00.000
 2 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:25.993	00:00:00.091
 3 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:26.000	00:00:00.099
 4 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.049	00:00:00.148
 5 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:26.241	00:00:00.340
 6 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:28.754	00:00:02.853

OVERALL SESSION ONE

POS #▍DRV Name          Time	        Gap prev.
1 96 ▍William Archer	0:04:18.161	—
2 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi	0:04:18.451	+0:00.290
3 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita	0:04:18.659	+0:00.498
4 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis	0:04:19.233	+0:01.072
5 88 ▍Ted Pressley	0:04:19.275	+0:01.114
6 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel	0:04:24.406	+0:06.245

---

Edvin pursed his lips and stroked his chin, hunched over the piece of paper. He ran his finger under the names as he read, the tip of his index tapping back and forth between times, and then lingering on the name at the top of the overall, pausing at the third and fifth spots. "Hazrin Lutfi..." he muttered. Terho hummed in implicit agreement, eyes narrowing with a nod. "The other rookie, pretty well too."

"This... Rahel, he's struggled," Terho quipped. "Snap oversteer at turn 10 and struggling on braking into turns 13 and 14. Went way off on his last lap, too." He reached over with his free hand to fold a slice of reindeer between his fingers and into his mouth. "Abs," he began, hooking his index over his mouth and swallowing harshly. "Abs went very well," he croaked after his gulp, and followed through with a sigh. "Six tenths faster than Ted, on the same track conditions..."

"Archer..." muttered Edvin, somewhat absently, his face morphing into an almost resigned frown. "Fucking quick guy."

As he lingered over the paper, a series of knocks sounded in the back of the box, before the separating door opened gently and the building's receptionist stepped in, flanked by two people who looked remarkably like that one Isthelousian rookie that was probably stuffing himself full of reindeer cheese out back. He'd only seen them enter the building — the briefing had been carried out by Terho in the conference room — so they hadn't had a chance to chat yet, but one thing was for certain: there was no need for the receptionist to escort them into the garage, and even less so for him to let them into the closed-off telemetry room.

"Excuse me," he said, standing and marching towards the back of the box. "Good day." He greeted the two Isthelousians, before shooting a side-eyed dagger at the short-standing receptionist. "Do not let anybody else into the room again without permission like this," he barked. Turning back to the Isthelousians, he softened his expression and led them back out into the garage, as his voice faded into the distance and the receptionist followed suit. "So you have business to discuss with me? Yes, yes — Cosmin has looked very quick..."

---

SESSION TWO | 15 minutes/pair, 3 timed laps | All drivers' first, second, and third laps shown together. Driver pairs assigned in name order (see invite). Start list is right to left for session two.

Lap 1

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:25.850	00:00:00.000
 2 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:25.906	00:00:00.056
 3 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:26.070	00:00:00.220
 4 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:26.115	00:00:00.265
 5 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.296	00:00:00.446
 6 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:27.072	00:00:01.222

Lap 2

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:25.869	00:00:00.000
 2 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:25.948	00:00:00.079
 3 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:25.997	00:00:00.128
 4 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.035	00:00:00.166
 5 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:26.270	00:00:00.400
 6 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:26.668	00:00:00.799

Lap 3

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:26.037	00:00:00.000
 2 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.120	00:00:00.082
 3 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:26.259	00:00:00.222
 4 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:26.372	00:00:00.335
 5 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:26.831	00:00:00.793
 6 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:27.955	00:00:01.917

OVERALL SESSION TWO

POS #▍DRV Name          Time	        Gap prev.
1 96 ▍William Archer	0:04:17.835	—
2 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis	0:04:18.451	+0:00.616
3 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita	0:04:18.770	+0:00.935
4 88 ▍Ted Pressley	0:04:18.833	+0:00.998
5 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel	0:04:19.714	+0:01.879
6 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi	0:04:20.067	+0:02.232

OVERALL BOTH SESSIONS

POS #▍DRV Name          Time	        Gap prev.
1 96 ▍William Archer	8:35.996	—
2 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita	8:37.429	+0:01.433
3 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis	8:37.684	+0:01.688
4 88 ▍Ted Pressley	8:38.108	+0:02.112
5 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi	8:38.518	+0:02.522
6 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel	8:44.120	+0:08.124

---

The sun hung low over the horizon at the end of session two as the drivers were herded away from the garage towards the snack table, where they were offered coffee, snacks, and some of the leftover pickled walrus that nobody had seemed to touch. When Terho swung the door open into the telemetry box, the acrid scent of the walrus preceded the sound of his shoes on the polished concrete floor. As before, Terho laid the time sheet and the plate of snacks on the table, the long shadows cast by the far-out waning sun forcing him to reorganize the objects.

With his nose scrunched, Edvin pushed the piece of paper around with the tips of his fingers and nodded, gently biting his bottom lip. "Makes a bit more sense," he concedes, his thumb swiping over the Fleftic driver's surname. He sighed heavily.

"Good performances from Abs and Fotellis this time," Terho said, nodding. "And Ted... well, he's improved..." His face occludes a twang of disappointment.

Edvin met his eyes complicitly, sucking through his teeth. "There are few drivers on the grid who I think can be as out of place and humanly unwieldy as William Archer, Terho," he began. "But, man... He's a class above the field out here."

Terho agreed with a shrug. "We brought him in as a benchmark, and if this is anything to go by, well, we have a hell of a benchmark — or there must be something in the air... But well, then again, it's only against five other drivers. We're not sure how th—"

The Abovian was interrupted by the swoosh of the dividing door that led into the telemetry box. The receptionist at the circuit entered the room first, pointy dress shoes leading him in, and with a hand outstretched behind him revealing an, incredibly, even shorter and more awkward woman clad in plain black overalls. She stood like an emoji at the entrance to the telemetry box, the long rays of the evening sun wisping shadows from her eyebrows across her eyes and into her shy, toothy grin. Terho and Edvin evaded each other's gazes, their mouths ajar and their brows warped sharply and inquisitive. The four of them crossed glares for what seemed like an eternity, as they all expected one of the other three to speak up.

With everyone's tongues seemingly shoved down their esophagi, it was Edvin who coughed up the courage to sit up and approach the diminutive blonde intruder. His mouth agape, he stammered a series of unintelligible sounds as he approached cautiously, the words in his scrabbled mind darting around the void like the screensaver on old video players, with any semblance of order and authority briefly forgone. "Wh— wha— whe— how—... who the... ffuck are you?"

The woman, over whom Edvin's not particularly large frame towered, stared blankly up at him. "I'm here for the test," she said matter-of-factly, but slightly frowning at being cursed at. "Nepö Kinder," she signed, extending her right hand to shake the team principal's. Unable to hide his shock, he extended his hand as he turned back to Terho with a piercing scowl, replied to with the biggest shrug he'd ever seen.

"Edvin," the Abovian replied, shaking Nepö's hand firmly. "Whatever," he whispered under his breath, perhaps too loudly. "Go get your seat fitted; we have one more one-lap session left."

---

SESSION THREE | One-Shot | Driver pairs assigned in reverse overall order. Nepö Kinder runs last and individually.

ONE-LAP SHOOTOUT

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                  	00:01:26.120	00:00:00.000
 2 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:26.137	00:00:00.018
 3 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:26.178	00:00:00.059
 4  7 ▍Nepö Kinder                      	00:01:26.217	00:00:00.098
 5 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                  	00:01:26.646	00:00:00.527
 6 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis                  	00:01:26.718	00:00:00.599
 7 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                 	00:01:27.315	00:00:01.195

OVERALL ALL SESSIONS

POS #▍DRV Name          Time	        Gap prev.
1 96 ▍William Archer	0:10:02.174	—
2 77 ▍Abdoulaye Goita	0:10:03.549	+0:01.375
3 88 ▍Ted Pressley	0:10:04.245	+0:02.071
4 41 ▍Cosmin Fotellis	0:10:04.402	+0:02.228
5 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi	0:10:05.833	+0:03.659
6 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel	0:10:10.766	+0:08.592

---

The track was bathed in the dying throes of lavender dusk as Nepö Kinder parked her car back in the garage. The six drivers were sent off back into the conference room while Edvin and Terho finished their analysis of the day's running, themselves burrowed in a cozy office far from the core of the main building and safe from the cold, bitter wind that blew harsher outside. It had been a long day, and Terho's eyelids hung heavy on his face, but they could let their invitees leave Aboveland without a verdict.

"So..." Edvin began, repeatedly tapping his fingers in quick succession over the page, his other hand framing his forehead and pulling back his eyebrows. "This one-shot thing, looks like experience played its part here. Experience, and intrepidity. Or whatever you can call that weird Hulkenberger."

Terho curled his lips inwards and shrugged, laying his hands suddenly on the desk. "There's a rational decision, a premeditated decision, or a fall-back decision to be made," he said. "And I really want to go home, frankly, but I don't want to leave this on the table."

Edvin smirked and clicked his tongue. "Why would we not sign Archer," he said, almost affirming his desire. "There's quick, and then there's class-of-his-own. Topped both sessions, only one lap out of the top three. And he's dragged Preston, for better or worse, to the brink of a championship before."

Opposite him, Terho sighed heavily. "I think so too... but at the same time... I think we need stability. Or, at least, someone that we know can play nice. You had your issues with iBen, of all people. I can't imagine your friction with William fucking Archer."

Edvin agreed with a low hum. "Now, if we leave him aside — beginner's luck, or however you want to ignore it — then something has played into our hands."

Terho grinned back. "Ted did well. He was the closest driver to Archer's best —"

"Actually," his peer interjected, "that was Hazrin Lutfi." He pointed to the top of session one, lap three.

"— sure," Terho conceded. "But the track was warmer then... and it was a different session. Still — I want to sign him, Edvin. I'm sure he'll manage to buff out the consistency throughout the season. He's done so before."

With his lips pursed, Edvin grabbed the page and turned it back towards him, reaching out unseen to his side to click open a ballpoint pen. He scratched out the bottom three names from the overall test results. "Hazrin Lutfi — I hope he gets a seat. Honestly, I think I'm most impressed with him out of everyone else — but that one-shot lap was nasty. The three rookies were bottom of the list. I think that goes to show how they cope with pressure, and we're going to have some pressure this year." Terho replies with a thumbs up, rubbing his eyes between yawns. "Fotellis was decent as well... But I think he'll be better off somewhere where his fat wallet can make a difference."

"If anything," Terho said after a pause, stretching back in his chair and pulling his fingers towards him. "I think we have our first driver set."

"Do we?"

Terho responded with fluttery eyes and raised eyebrows. "He was quick at Preston, and quick here, too. There's no toss-ups to his case, I feel. I think we're ready to say that Ælund Grand Prix offers Abdoulaye Goita a seat for WGPC21; Ted Pressley and William Archer will be informed that they are both top candidates to fill the remaining seat, and to expect a verdict no later than a day after the test in Crpostran."

"I've heard from Tropicorp, too," Edvin added. "They want to put Vialiv in our car as well — she was runner-up last year, and we did pass up on her for iBen before."

Terho shrugged back. "We can consider Skiia Vialiv too; but I can't help but feel it'd be weird to take her instead of renewing iBen."

Edvin crosses his arms and hums. "So that's four drivers for one seat, then. What would we be waiting for, exactly?"

"Sleep," Terho replies. "Let me think it through in my sleep."

[Tropicorp]

Jack, Stephen and the entire Pressley-Kim Racing Team,

I want to thank you for inviting us to present our vision for the 21st World Grand Prix Championship season. While our products are typically severable, with our Tropicorp TRE-2T24V8 from Tropicorp Engineering and the world famous Tropicorp Sifaka Tyre line from Tropicorp Racing Supply, these products are tailored to provide the ultimate combination of speed, handling and reliability.

The Tropicorp product line has been a selection of choice for Motorsports champions throughout the multiverse and there is no brand that can claim as many championships. But, while we have a decorated history, for me, the most important thing you should consider is what we can do for you now. For that, I have brought our chief engineer from Tropicorp Engineering and a representative from the open-wheel team at Tropicorp Racing Supply.

The meeting continued with a review of some of the Technical Specifications of the Tropicorp TRE_2T24V8, discussing the lessons that the Engineering Team have learned after years of evolutionary improvements and most importantly, how they continue to find a balance between speed and reliability that other brands, such as Preston, often are unable to achieve.

Thanks again, Zantu, for sharing all those details about the Engine. Of course, that level of detail is really only shared with our partners, which we are very optimistic about the things that we can do together this season.

Of course one thing that sets Tropicorp Engineering apart is our focus. We are prepared to offer Pressley Racing a primary relationship with Tropicorp Engineering which would guarantee our top performing engine on the bench is delivered to Pressley Racing this season. Our prior relationship with Nini Johnsilvaturr at Race Eelandii had proven Johnsilvaturr as a driver who meshes well with the Tropicorp powertrain/tyre combination including a podium finish in the AOGP at the Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit and a 4th place finish at the Fjellutfordring, two tracks that will combine for 20% of the points paying events on the upcoming World Grand Prix Championship 21 schedule. Setting up a rookie driver for success with a familiar engine and tyre combination could make the difference between a learning campaign and a succesful campaign and we would love to be the difference that pushes the team to the succesful side of that bridge.

A brief presentation showing the legacy of Tropicorp Racing Supply, their historic run of consecutive World Grand Prix Championship titles including the reigning drivers and team champions before tyre specialist Jikuri Klyznakos discussed that Tropicorp's success in the tyre market was riding on three pillars: Rubber, Math and Testing. The unique combination of tropical and dessert environments provided a specific chemistry in the rubber used to make Tropicorp tyres. The Sifaka Lab ensures the quality across each batch of matched Tropicorp Tyres and that no tyre is statistically inferior to the rest. But the Sifaka's real success is on the track, with constant testing at their private test tracks, in their custom "burning rubber" simulators designed by Simulation Engineer Euroli Islander, and translating all of that data into each evolution of the Tropicorp Racing Supply tyre offering.

Canifor Agifalous picked things up from there:

Our success speaks for itself, but there is a lot more to a Tropicorp partnership then just being associated with a proven brand. Tropicorp Engineers care about the details, the little things that will help the tyre perform. This is not World Grand Prix 2 or a regional circuit. These races can be long and grueling and while you can't win a race if you don't have speed, you can't score in the points if you don't finish the race. As demonstrated by the World Grand Prix Championship 20 final standings, the Tropicorp team have a unique product, with both tyres and engines, that no other brand is offering. Power. Handling. Reliability.

We don't spend our money on flashy ads and we aren't in it for the profit. As a quasi-governmental R&D operation, our only goal is to produce the best product and achieve success for our customers. Don't compromise. Use Tropicorp.

With their presentation over, Canifor Agifalous once again thanked the Pressley Racing team for their time and asked if there were any other questions for the team that could help the Pressley team feel comfortable in choosing Tropicorp as their supplier partner moving forward.

---

SKIIA VIALIV ✓

@Skiia

Sorry, Don't have anything to announce yet about my WGPC21 prospects. Was a bit late to the game regarding the Trials after getting confirmation that I wouldn't be returning to @UrGa but hopefully I've already proven myself with a win and a 2nd place in the standings last season? Still a few seats left on the grid. Maybe we can find one of those and turn some heads just like we did last season! Ælund? HMG? Piers Ivchenko? Nice to see some new teams on the grid, would be interested in seeing what they have planned for the season.

#WGP21

[Quirhoshe]

Azalia took in the smell of her Amana cooking dinner after a long day of training. Azalia was one of eight children, and Azalia's success way key to keeping her younger siblings fed. She was the third child, and her two older brothers Tuku (25) and Rabado (23) still lived at home. They were mechanics, and they worked on fancy cars. That's how she had gotten into racing, after seeing a famous racer come and get his car fixed up at their shop. She had five younger siblings, Jolina (20), Abaku (18), Kristeyna (15), Aliza (12), and Lekoko (8). She knew how hard her Pata worked to support her five siblings, and she knew she had to chip in.

The family had fallen on hard times after her Amana had lost her job, and now was a street vendor on the road. Her mother had always been skilled at basket weaving, but it didn't bring in a lot of money. Her Pata had been struggling to complete as much in his old age. Luckily, Tuku and Rabado could work, and they helped Pata out a lot. Abaku was going to university, the first in their family to do so.

Azalia had just arrived from Aji No Moto, and she was disappointed. She had done very well at first, but she had struggled in the second laps. She hadn’t seen her name on the final results, but she knew she needs to find a team. She sent emails out to several nations, hoping they had an opening.

Liventia
Crpostran
Auruna
Hapilopper
Esmerel
Turori
Nimbania
Aboveland

She hoped they would respond or be interested in recruiting her. Azalia put her computer away, and made her way into the kitchen for dinner. She had been training even harder ever since her struggle at the racetrack at Aji No Moto. She hoped she could prove how good of an athlete she was.

“Azalia, how did it go? Did you make the team?” Her Amata asked excitedly.

“Not exactly. I made it into and placed well on one, but the other one was a bust.” Azalia said, feeling ashamed.

“You’ll make the next team. There are lots of chances for you to make the team.” Her Amata assured her, kissing her head.

“Thanks, but I’m worried. I sent a bunch of teams an email. We’ll see what they say.” Azalia pursed her lips nervously.

She knew that her family depended on her success. She needed to show how good she was and start trying out for every team available.

[Valentine Z]

Part 3 – Maybe they smell the desperation seeping out of Angela’s lab clothes. Adriana, however, has the same plan and people to go to.

Zastępca Strażnika Adriana Krystal Desiree “Cudowny Manipulacja Światłem” Venus Kowalski Faith Stanisława Engelse I. Cherise Krystyna Zaborowska Sztormowska Pamela Alina Re. T. Lillian: I analysed the results that both I and Angela have obtained from the KISMO Driver Trials. Well, the full version and analysis took me a few seconds of run-time, but the dataset is pretty large, so it the Valentians would like to take a look, all they will need to do is to ask. In the meantime, I am going to store it in my extradimensional storage once I am done with it. Oh yes, the conclusion and the analysis. Let me start out about myself. First and foremost, I would like to thank the wonderful and nice folks at KISMO for letting the both of us – along with the rest of the drivers – do these trials! These really do help us prepare for what is to come. I’m sure some of us have not been driving a Grand Prix vehicle for quite some time. As for myself, I have to readjust myself a little bit to the specifications of the car that KISMO got for us. I have been in NSSCRA for so long, after all. I mean, sure, I can grab the old data that I got and they all do help, but it will also need to be updated for and with this trial. You see – new parameters and datasets that emerge out when you are handling cars that are quite aggressive. I can make up for the technicality, of course. If I am being very honest – to be clear, I do appreciate and love that KISMO as a whole has done for myself, Angela, and the other drivers. As for myself? I am not sure if I will be able to handle these cars, and being DNF is already a sign that things are not going to work out with their cars. They do not seem to do too well with technical circuits, even with my techniques trying to make up for it. It is once again really aggressive, so if you pile up both the aggressions of the driver and of the cars, would it become successful? I definitely think so, no doubt on that. But that will also mean that they are very, very prone to crashing. So with that, I said my thanks and then left, looking at the backup.

Eminent Racing. I certainly have not forgotten about them and in fact, I promised them that I will come back to them and will confirm myself to be with them once I am done with the tests. Well, there is still the HMG left, but I’ve feeling that I will need to start making that decision quickly. It’s a shame about Angela though. I do wish that there are better prospects for her but as she has said before, she is not going to make a lot of good rep with that single pointer of a season. It does seem like not a lot of teams wanted to give her a chance. Understandable, but also very devastating. There are tryouts like HMG that I got into but she didn’t. Then… tsk, well, there are those like Ælund Grand Prix that was really, REALLY selective. I think only six of them went in from what I have heard, and it was also pretty hush-hush. Please don’t quote me on this though, I am only reflecting what I have hear about, could be really hearsay. For me, that is more or less the end with team-hunting. As I have already promised, I will still be attending the HMG trials because it would be a little impolite to reject, but after that, my confirmation is to Eminent.

1st Cpt. Angela Stella Trista Josephine Natalie Rv. E. Tps. “The Eternal Explorer” Bethany Alyssa Valeska Payton. Mikayla Gosling Josie Rowan Serenity Chelsea Lynette Hannah Tan Fang Ling: Well, I know this is coming, really. To echo what Adriana said, it’s really difficult to sell myself thanks to that previous season. Dr. Emerson is nice enough to get me a trial run with the condition that I will not be trying to sign up for their team; it’s just a favor from the team and himself for the sake of it. All good, that’s okay with him and Cygnus, so nothing against them. The other teams, hmm… at this point, I have a hunch that I might be in one of those teams – yeah, you know the one, right? WGPC Motorworks, that’s right. Here’s also the thing – it’s not in the 13 teams as of the moment, something about the other teams still finding prospective drivers and the like. That will be the fallback option. It does make me wonder though – how does one sign up for WGPC Motorworks? Things are getting desperate for me a little, isn’t it? Then again, how do I prove such a thing? I obviously cannot get into the race without a team – hrm, maybe the Valentians should have gotten a team in, but that’s also provided that they managed a team in. I cannot simply prove it with domestics because there are those that are very seasoned and even great at the domestics, then comes the international scene and they fell apart; no, I am absolutely not insinuating that the domestics are rigged. A fair-and-square winner can have difficulty in WGPC or even WGP2. This is a vicious cycle, and I am very sure that maybe some of the teams out there- I would rather not say that comment, so let’s zip it, eh? Anyway, ehh… if all else fails, I will see if I can ask Eminent as to if I can tag along. Not as a driver, but as an assistant of sorts and also to help Adriana out. That can work, ain’t it? I am technically not their staff or a pit crew, I don’t even need or want to be in their facilities if they do not allow it. All I need to do is to be a cheerleader for Adriana, and I mean that well.

It’s quite a difficult thing to do. From what I hear about NSSCRA, all they have to do is sign up as a team, and bam – all the Valentians are in there. 3 in Multiversal, 3 in Everlong, done. The procedure here is something that I am not to be surprised by but I will admit that I am slowly starting to resent it. Then again… who is the one that only got a single point for a season? No wonder Jolyn left, she’s doing better elsewhere. This is as much as I will think about for now. Maybe there will be a miracle; after all, not all the teams have filled up their spots, so there is that. Hope or not, I am not holding my breath for it. I will just chalk this as my fault… but also the exclusionary nature.

[Great Thandoria]

Occurred After KISMO Trials

It had been a long day for Otto this was, in fact, his first trial for a WGPC team.

When Otto walked into his hotel room, number 311, he layed down on the memory foam bed and opened his laptop. He already knew the results of the trial but wanted to look again. He was absolutely ecstatic about finishing second in the sprint race it gave him newfound confidence, but he knew he could do better overall. After reviewing the results, he opened his email to find a message from his manager.

To: Otto Markul
From: Mara Hansen
Subject: KISMO Trials

Hello Otto,

I just wanted to congratulate you on completing your first team trial. You didn’t get the spot, but you showed some good racing out there. Maybe that will get the attention of other teams. I’ll go ahead and send your details to them.

Best Regards,
Mara Hansen

After reading the email, Otto knew this was just the beginning. He had finally shown teams what he could do, and even if he couldn’t secure a WGPC1 seat, he hoped for a chance in WGPC2 or even WGPC3. Any seat was worth the time and effort for him. He began to doze off and, in the morning, he saw the emails sent to the teams.

To: Urotovsky-Gatutin, Eminent, HMG Grand Prix, Ælund Grand Prix, Viska, Race Eelandii VTGP, Piers Ivchenko
CC: Otto Markul
From: Mara Hansen (Manager of Otto Markul)
Subject: Driver Available for Trials

Hello all,

I have a driver available for trials if interested. He is a rookie but a talented one he finished 7th in the KISMO Trials. I encourage all of you to give him a shot if you are doing trials. I hope you take this into consideration not only for yourselves but for him.

Best Regards,
Mara Hansen

After Otto saw this email, he knew only time would tell what would happen next. Now, he had to catch a plane back to his studio apartment in Tasmania, Great Thandoria, where he would wait and see if any trial offers came his way.

[Tumbra]

Pressley Racing announces their use of Tropicorp engines for the upcoming season.
Pressley Racing announces their use of Tropicorp tyres for the upcoming season.

Foxchester, Grantfeldt, Tumbra

"And it's 9pm. We've been going around in fuckin circles since dinner —"

"— not unlike our cars, then —"

"Shut up, shut up, Ben, holy shit —"

"Alright. We've parsed through the data god knows how many times since this meeting started at 2. We adjourned for lunch, and then tea, and then dinner — great choice on the mala, by the way, really woke us up, I thought —"

Stephen Cheung, the only person with Yueren heritage, nodded his head slightly — he'd been the one to suggest the mala — before he spoke up.

"I think the case is pretty clear. We're running low on time of all sorts, development time, familiarisation time, and I really want to get this out of the way before anything else happens and we get lumbered with a supplier that we don't want," he offered.

"Hmm? You think so?"

"It's for Tropicorp. Very fine-margin thing, but...you know. The V8 is simpler, more powerful...that record isn't exactly something to be sniffed at, either. They're probably going to only supply two teams when it comes to engines, which means there's a higher chance they actually make good on the promise that we're their number one partner. Can't hurt that they're probably the name when it comes to tyres."

"They're only supplying two teams this season?" Kelly enquired, suddenly looking very interested.

"Well, that's what I think," said Stephen. "It's a...fragmented landscape, to be clear, this season when it comes to powertrain suppliers. Us and the new team, Piers Ivchenko, are probably the only big fishes left. In fact, along with the Hodoran effort, we are the only fishes left. Ajinomotoan supplier Kissan seems to have picked up on this, and they sent us a tyre+engine partnership proposal, too."

"Hate to turn them down," murmured Mark Butterworth, the head of the pit crew. "The pit men rather liked the looks of those Solymok tyres."

"Aye, but we really only had our eyes on those two."

"I'm convinced that going for the more reliable option gives us more options when it comes to race strategy," piped up Samantha Houghton, who'd spent most of the meeting peering blankly into space. "Do we know if the Tropicorp engines have any major technical flaws?"

"None thus far, and it seems adaptable. They managed to stuff it into the creaking wreck they called the AGP-005 and the winning Cygnus technogizmo, so it really depends on how good the car is."

"And is it?" asked Jack Brook, team principal. He seemed particularly insecure when it came to matters of how good the cars were in general, seemingly worried about both his job and for old man Charlie Pressley's health up top.

"God knows. In a vacuum, it's hitting all its benchmarks. Nothing major from Dario, and remember he did test whatever this car was going to be for most of last year. What we're missing is head-to-head performance, and we're going to have to solve that a Crpostran."

"Whatever, it's...secondary."

"I think the case for the Tropicorp is clear. All of us are here, so..."

Jack nodded. "Let's take a vote. Instead of preferences, I think we'll go with whether there are any violent objections to Tropicorp. I'm tired, I think we can come to a consensus. So. Anyone?"

Every hand stayed down.

"No problems on the side of Comms? Interesting."

"Well, certain countries seem to be less than happy about the continued presence of Tropicorp in the series as is, and there is a test being conducted in Hodori. But we'll make do," replied Communications Director Marcus Abreu.

"Well, there it is. Thank you, everyone," said Jack, We'll begin preparations tomorrow afternoon. Stephen, Kelly, a word, please."

The members of the Operations Team slowly filed out of the meeting room, which had a peculiarly spicy smell from the stir-fried mala they all had for dinner. Half of them would probably end up regretting it tomorrow.

"Mhm?" Kelly asked.

"I've got you two to stay because I can trust both of you with my lives," began Jack. Stephen nodded, knowingly. "Kelly, I'm bringing you in on this because you're going to all the races this season, while Stephen will be holding the fort down at home."

'What's this about?"

"We're going to stage a coup," replied Jack, almost nonchalantly. "Thomas Kim must go, and he has to go by the end of the season."

[Liventia]

Host announcement:
GPA Pryfors Bilar is provisionally reinstated to WGPC21, with a total of 14 teams this season. Should a team lose its license (suffer from a lack of RP) during the season, no replacement team will be found unless it would result in fewer than 13 teams on the grid.

Quirhoshe: Please only contact users with teams (and teams with vacancies at that), not anyone and everyone you can think of. Nimbania (who??) is also not participating. Please refer to the opening post of this thread.

Latest confirmations should be reflected in the OP. A reminder to all teams that if engines/tyres are not confirmed by tomorrow, the spec option will be assigned for the entire season.

[Doubeia]

Piers Ivchenko will hire the services of UrGa as its engine supplier.
Piers Ivchenko will hire the services of Brimstone as its tyre supplier.
Piers Ivchenko invites all free agent drivers to their Official Driver Test.
(OOC: Please indicate whether you would like to attend the test! The test will probably be held sometime next week; I will update in the OOC thread)

---

Ever since Piers Ivchenko had received confirmation of their WGPC participation, Kokomiya’s life had gone into overdrive. Between crossing an entire sea to check on the factory to liaising with potential engine and tyre suppliers, she had probably spent thousands of gins just travelling to and fro. It was tiring business for her, but dare she say it did excite her somewhat.

Kokomiya didn’t know, really. As much as she really wanted to go back to her beach vacation, going back into the ebb and tide of being a team principal was weirdly calming. Maybe it was the familiarity, maybe it was the people she worked with.

Still, the immense pressure of being a team principal was taking its toll on Kokomiya, and she had one remedy for the stress: a coffee “date” with Oliveira.

“So, I assume we’ve struck a deal with UrGa?” he queried, to which Kokomiya nodded her head.

“We’ve worked with them before anyway, and they delivered considering the circumstances,” she mused, “If we had a stronger driver pairing, I’m sure we’d have performed way better than how we did.” It wasn’t a secret that had Tati been swapped out with another, much better, driver, JMoD would have finished higher than ninth in the WGP2 6 Constructors’.

“What about tyres then?”

“Brimstone,” Kokomiya replied. Oliveira’s face seemed to be a mix of doubt and intrigue.

“Aren’t they new?” Oliveira quipped, “I was expecting us to go for… well, someone more experienced. Why didn’t we stick with Tropicorp?” Kokomiya’s old team JMoD Racing had used Tropicorp tyres.

“Brimstone’s tyres suit our profile more,” Kokomiya explained, “More aggressive, suits our car, y’know?” Oliveira nodded in response. The two sat in silence for a while and sipped on their coffee. The both were more than fatigued, having spent the entire morning and afternoon walking around and stressing about. There was a palpable nervosity in the headquarters as the staff prepared for the season. However, with the nervousness came excitement and adrenaline. People were eager to kick off the season with a bang. Some were excited at the prospect of travelling to other countries for the first time, while others were prepping up for their largest challenge yet.

“Y’know, Oli…” Kokomiya suddenly said with a lilt, and Oliveira almost spit his drink out, “I got quite a few interesting emails today. Apparently, RL Cruisin is interested in driving with us. Their agent reached out to me.” Oliveira’s eyes lit up, having recognised the name.

“Cruisin? The one with 10 seasons to their name? The most seasoned WGPC driver?” Oliveira squealed. Kokomiya could sense his subtle excitement, and it was cute to see it. She knew that he was far more knowledgeable about WGPC than her, and his passion for it was quite admirable. She couldn’t help but break a smile seeing his joyous disposition emerge.

“That’s right, Oli. Still, I don’t know whether I should just give them an offer, or maybe invite them for a test drive,” Kokomiya mused, “I’ve been thinking of hosting a test drive. There’s still quite a few drivers out there with, like, no seats at all. We could use the test drive as some sort of qualifier.”

“Mmh, I agree,” Oliveira replied, “I feel like it’s worth giving them a seat just for his experience alone. They could provide us with information more valuable than the gin.” Kokomiya hummed in agreement. In a few days’ time, she’d have to present in a board meeting her plans for driver hiring. Oliveira was right in the sense that Cruisin would be a great source of car feedback, but she had her reservations. Was experience really so valuable that she should sign them? Their results haven’t exactly been the most impressive either. Still, it did make sense for her to seriously consider them. If anyone had a chance at hiring a seasoned veteran, who wouldn’t take it up?

“I’ll probably bring it up during the board meeting,” Kokomiya said, “I do have a list of drivers I’m interested in. Oh, would you look at the time.” She took a look at her watch. 9.30 pm, far past the usual time she came home.

“Think it’s time to go home?”

“Yeah.”

The two sipped what was left of their cold coffee and bid each other farewell as they headed back to their homes. Kokomiya’s excitement was barely contained in her. Driver negotiations were, however unusual it may sound, a very exciting aspect of being a team manager. She had so many drivers in mind, so many dreams and ambitions of gunning for the Constructors’ Trophy… She was called delusional for having high expectations, but to her, having that little bit of hope was what got her through the tough times.

Suddenly, she heard more buzzes from her work phone. She opened her phone to see her email with a few unread emails.

“...new suitors?” she thought excitedly.

---

To: All WGPC Free Agents
From: naganomiya.kokomiya@doubmail.com <Team Principal, Piers Ivchenko>
Subj: Piers Ivchenko Official Driver Test

Dear Drivers

We at Piers Ivchenko are pleased to announce we will be hosting an Official Driver Test in a month’s time. The test will serve as an avenue to promote yourselves to us as a potential driver, on and off the track. After the conclusion of the Driver Test, we will offer a contract to the best-performing drivers, with the possibility of becoming a WGPC driver for Piers Ivchenko.

The test will be held at the Former Fromisian Grand Circuit in Karnerkarnen State, Doubeia. The circuit is accessible from Pruxxé City via a 45-minute drive, and drivers are recommended to book their accommodation in Pruxxé City. All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by Piers Ivchenko.

The Driver Test will comprise an on-track component where drivers will have 5 laps to set their best times on the Former Fromisian Grand Circuit, as well as an off-track interview with some of Piers Ivchenko’s staff.

We look forward to seeing you in Doubeia.

Signed,
Naganomiya Kokomiya
Piers Ivchenko Team Principal

To: RL Cruisin’s agent
From: naganomiya.kokomiya@doubmail.com <Team Principal, Piers Ivchenko>
Subj: Re: Interest in Driving for Piers Ivchenko

Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs Agent

We at Piers Ivchenko have received your email regarding RL Cruisin’s interest in driving for the Piers Ivchenko WGPC team. We are aware of Cruisin’s seasoned history as a WGPC driver, and believe that Cruisin and Piers Ivchenko will mutually benefit from a potential signing. However, before we offer Cruisin a contract, we would like to meet with Cruisin during our Official Driver Test. They will need to take part in the test, but they will not have to attend the interview as I would like to meet with Cruisin myself.

We hope to hear a response from you soon.

Signed,
Naganomiya Kokomiya
Piers Ivchenko Team Principal

To: Kristian Szusza <CEO, Solymok>
From: naganomiya.kokomiya@doubmail.com <Team Principal, Piers Ivchenko>
Subj: Rejection of Tyre and Driver Offer

Dear Mr Szusza

We at Piers Ivchenko have received your email regarding your offer of the services of Solymok Tyres and Zsanett Bokor to Piers Ivchenko. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept the offer as we have already agreed with a tyre supplier before the delivery of your offer.

We wish you the best in your WGPC endeavours.

Signed,
Naganomiya Kokomiya
Piers Ivchenko Team Principal

To: Ælund CMYK’s Representative
From: naganomiya.kokomiya@doubmail.com <Team Principal, Piers Ivchenko>
Subj: Rejection of Tyre and Driver Offer

Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs Representative

We at Piers Ivchenko have received your email regarding your offer of the services of Ælund CMYK to Piers Ivchenko. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept the offer as we have already agreed with an engine supplier before the delivery of your offer.

We wish you the best in your WGPC endeavours.

Signed,
Naganomiya Kokomiya
Piers Ivchenko Team Principal

[Auruna]

Viska Factory
Sterlennau, Auruna

Viska's driver selection has always been unconventional, forgoing any kind of tests and generally "winging it" with its preference of getting a new name in one of the seats. It has been practiced ever since Artur oversaw the team's driver development programme and the VJF and it was relatively successful. Although in the previous season, it was quite problematic. This time. Jöna decided that Artur chooses the drivers again, putting his complete trust in his decision whatever it may be.

Looking at the current driver market, Artur still felt perplexed thanks to the changes that happened. Looking at his top candidates, and with Kinu going to Preston, it was going to be tough if not nearly impossible. Especially since he's basically going at it blind but this was a chance to start with a new duo in Viska.

For the team, it was always ideal to go with someone that they are familiar with but there are a few options for that and it was the hardest part. Kinu was immediately out of the question and Artur wasn't sure if it would be wise to contact Olivia and try to get her back on the team considering what happened last season. Goita was another one and it would be difficult to convince him to return to the team since there are other, more capable teams that are interested in him.

Although there was still hope. After receiving news of PB's sudden uncertain status, Artur should be able to discuss a possible seat with Laura Haukanna if she couldn't find one herself or that no other team is looking to sign her. He has to wait first as she has the UrGa trials to attend to but he still informed her about it through an email before her trip to Pridnestrovia. Hopefully she saw it.

And for Artur's second choice, it's always a risky move as usual for him but he has full confidence of his driver choices. It may be an insane wildcard to sign an absolute rookie but in Artur's mind, starting from scratch is just a minor setback. He still did a few comparisons from what he knew and after some careful consideration, there was one that piqued his interest.

Artur briefly informed Jöna about his choice and the latter's face showed some reluctance but eventually gave Artur the greenlight to contact his top choice, rushing to return to his office to finally get it done.

MNA NEWS
- In an official announcement directly from Artur Iljakov says that Viska Racing offered a seat to Ron Sommer. It was a move that was immediately compared to the sudden signing of Aaron Deering by the WGPC team which was heavily criticised by fans and certain motorsport journalists. Artur Iljakov remained confident in his choice, responding to critics saying "It is in the nature of the team to bring in new names to the sport and give them an opportunity to show as well as improve their talents."

While there's still a lot of work to do, giving the responsibility of choosing the drivers back to Artur certainly relaxed Jöna a tiny bit. It was soon replaced by distress after being called to the engine department by Hori Nÿkkänö, who led the currently problematic Re:Genesis programme.

Jöna groaned before grabbing a cup of coffee and heading to the engine department, always preparing for the worst.

After arriving, he was immediately greeted by Hori who was excited to show him something but questioned his stressed look. The sudden mood change shocked Jöna who couldn't believe what he's seeing.

"Ugh... s-so... anyway... what did you guys do?" Jöna asked, looking around the area.

Hori showed him a whiteboard of the results of several extensive tests on the new engine spec. "These are our findings from our tests of the new VT-250F/H-IIS Kiiruja. So we increased the displacement to 2.5 since our technical team and our machines can produce more reliable parts with available materials for displacements of 2 litres and above which also meant we could get more power without stressing the engine that much. Also, this was after consulting Livanen and Schkeska."

Jöna nodded after sipping on his coffee. "Great, anything else?"

"Our peak horsepower was around 1100 at 10000 RPM and can push to around 1300-1500 with energy from VSEB for a limited time. But realistically, our peak would be 980-1090 horsepower at 10500 if we heavily consider the engine's reliability. We can reliably hit those numbers with our current configuration and also with our new turbochargers. We did several extended tests to determine its relative reliability compared to the previous unit and..." Hori pointed at some numbers at the whiteboard. "We saw a reliability increase of 48% in extended high power settings and 72% in normal configurations. It was honestly difficult to do with our limited initial budget."

Jöna stood there, relieved. "Ah, that's good to hear."

"Yeah, and we're not done yet. We're using this season to research more for the programme, develop the Kiiruja, and hopefully could get a different kind of engine for the WGPC car... possibly an I6 just like the Vezrel if we're being realistic or maybe a V10 if we're mad and have more money, probably a V12, or maybe a turb---"

"Alright, alright." Jöna cut her off before she continued with any wild ideas. "I'll relay this information to Artur and Kiiro to know what they thing. For now, just keep at it, we still have time to figure out the kinks of this cursed design."

Hori had a look of confidence. "Heh, well, it might be cursed but we can still master it and shape it to our own benefit while we still can. It might be trying to work against us, but we still managed do well after three seasons with it... maybe more."

"That's right... we're stuck with it for a while... and we're on our own."

Etä kuukkia... kirohaankuukkian peidattanokkuset on okkusea koskutaa.

This flower... this cursed flower has hidden thorns for those who touches it.

[Gergary]

Zsanett Bokor confirms her attendance to the Piers Ivchenko driver trials and requests her name to be redacted as "Mika Kalocsay".

---

Bokor Residence
Pas, Gergary

Zsanett went back to her home after attending the KISMO trials. She was disappointed on her performance on the trials in presence of key Solymok officials, with Kristian giving her a cold stare after the sprint race on that cloudy afternoon. She received messages from him that he expected better of her if she wanted to take a driver seat in the defending WGPC constructors' champions, UrGa.

Of course, she wanted to attend the Preston Autos test in Hapilopper, however, as the team already committed to using Brimstone for the upcoming season, Kristian sent Preston team officials a scathing email to "fuck off" and decline the invitation on behalf of her. She had also received news from Doubeia that Piers Ivchenko would use another tyre supplier, declining Kristian's offer of a deal of tyre supplier and her getting a potential seat to that team. However, the doors were not fully shut yet, as she received a personal email from the team inviting her to attend their driver trials.

"If that communication had gone through Kristian, he would tell the same thing he said to the guys at Preston, to 'fuck off and get their dirty hands off me', but this shouldn't continue." She tried to communicate to Karl Lux about her situation, but then she had realized that he had ties to Solymok as well, having the tyre company bankroll their NSSCRA operations. Barney isn't an option as well, being Solymok's golden boy, and he is also busy racing stock cars as well. She had to contact a close friend of her, Miki Kalocsay, a fellow open-wheel driver and one of her close confidants during her time in WGP3 Filindostan.

"Miki, this is Nett. Would you mind listening to me for a bit?"

"Hey Nett, it's been a while since I heard anything from you. What is it?"

"Do you have any contacts to Fabermeister?"

"I do. Why?"

"Can you help me get in touch with them with a potential personal sponsorship offer? I am planning to attend a driver trial without permission from Solymok. They would most likely catch wind of my participation in the trials in Doubeia, and that might cost me my job as the official tyre tester of Solymok."

"I'm not sure if this is the right move, Nett. You should think over it. There's still WGP2 if you cannot get a seat in WGPC this season. I believe you are a shoo-in for any plans KISMO have for their WGP2 operation. That might be your road to being a WGPC driver."

"That's what I am thinking too. However, Kristian is an ass, and I would not want to work with him any longer. I am willing to take the risk, but I am still finding a way to keep it under wraps from Kristian."

"Okay, if this is what you want, then I can help you. I suggest you taking my sister's name for the test. I'm sure she'll understand the circumstances."

"Fine then, let me know once there are updates from Fabermeister. Thank you so much for your help!"

With a positive response from Fabermeister, with the company willing to guise Zsanett as "Mika Kalocsay", she drafted an email communication to Piers Ivchenko:

To:      Piers Ivchenko WGPC Team
From:    Zsanett Bokor
Subject: Confirmation of Attendance in the Piers Ivchenko Driver Test

---

Good day!

My name is Zsanett Bokor, one of the aspiring drivers for the upcoming WGPC season. You may already heard of me from Mr. Kristian Szusza, CEO of Solymok Tyres. I am writing this email to you not to reconsider your decision on your choice of tyre supplier, but to express my intent to attend the driver test that the team will be conducting next month.

I currently have a significant sponsorship package from Fabermeister which may help your team financially, but I will still prove my worth in the upcoming driver test. However, may I request that any published mentions of my name in the driver test would be replaced by "Mika Kalocsay", should I not be offered a race seat after the driver test? This is because I am attending the test without Solymok's knowledge and consent, and I would want to retain my current relationship with the company.

I hope you would consider my request as this would help me continue my aspirations to be a full-fledged WGPC driver. Thank you.

[Quirhoshe]

Host announcement:
GPA Pryfors Bilar is provisionally reinstated to WGPC21, with a total of 14 teams this season. Should a team lose its license (suffer from a lack of RP) during the season, no replacement team will be found unless it would result in fewer than 13 teams on the grid.

Quirhoshe: Please only contact users with teams (and teams with vacancies at that), not anyone and everyone you can think of. Nimbania (who??) is also not participating. Please refer to the opening post of this thread.

Latest confirmations should be reflected in the OP. A reminder to all teams that if engines/tyres are not confirmed by tomorrow, the spec option will be assigned for the entire season.

Ok. Sorry-I thought the people had teams. Someone told me to check yesterday but I forgot to. Sorry!

[Hodori Motorsports]

HiTEN.gpt will use the Franklin Motorsport WGP-X2 engine
HiTEN.gpt will use Brimstone tyres
(Getting this taken care of while I can)

[Liventia]

Host announcement:
GPA Pryfors Bilar is provisionally reinstated to WGPC21, with a total of 14 teams this season. Should a team lose its license (suffer from a lack of RP) during the season, no replacement team will be found unless it would result in fewer than 13 teams on the grid.

Quirhoshe: Please only contact users with teams (and teams with vacancies at that), not anyone and everyone you can think of. Nimbania (who??) is also not participating. Please refer to the opening post of this thread.

Latest confirmations should be reflected in the OP. A reminder to all teams that if engines/tyres are not confirmed by tomorrow, the spec option will be assigned for the entire season.

Ok. Sorry-I thought the people had teams. Someone told me to check yesterday but I forgot to. Sorry!

Another point of etiquette – Please stop using the RP thread for posts which are entirely out-of-character (OOC), such as this one. All posts from competing users should contribute something to the season. The only OOC posts in this thread should come from me making a host announcement or a moderator discharging their duties. If you have to make an OOC point, you should preface it was "OOC: [Your OOC statement here]", and then follow it up with a roleplay or otherwise in-character post. Otherwise, use the Signups thread which serves as the OOC thread for making such posts not related to roleplaying.

[Lisander]

Back to Lisander, after KISMO Trials, Anneliese received a message from Carolina Lasseps. The Eminent team principal sent her a location. Looking at the map application on her phone, she noticed it was an office building in downtown Soria. "It's a moment for you to relax after the preseason. Go and talk to Catherine Zelwegger, tell her Carolina Lasseps sent you." At that moment, Anneliese stayed in a hotel and changed into the most comfortable clothes in her suitcase. It must have been a massage session, a podiatrist or something. But when she arrived at the place, his expression turned into one of disappointment. PRIMA DONNA, Personal Stylist for Women.

"You can't do that to me, Lasseps. I'll make you pay for it later." She thought, entering the room, where the owner, Catherine Zelwegger, an overly-happy person, waited her. She was wearing flowers from head to toe, in her tunic, blouse and pants. Anneliese felt a little bit in the seventies looking at her.

"Welcome, Miss Devereux! Please make yourself at home in our little happy space here. Do you want something to drink? We have water, hibiscus tisane and melon soda."

Anneliese cringed that profusely. She felt bad that the person in front of her was being polite and dedicating herself to serving her. But that was risible, almost comic. At least for Anneliese, it was like meeting the "anti-her". She had to control herself to not laugh at the poor woman's face. Hibiscus tisane? Flannel dresses? Personal stylist? For Anneliese, who was a mechanical engineer by profession and used to overalls soiled with oil and tyre rubber, that place was utterly foreign. What was to be next, husband hunting? knitting classes? flower nail painting? She always resisted most of those female stereotypes. Not because she thought painted nails were ugly or because flannel dresses would make her look like Aunt Bertha. She didn't have a problem with looking like Aunt Bertha. But she never felt comfortable with those things. Many people would certainly look very beautiful in that little standard, but she didn't feel like one of those many people.

"So, how do you feel about your work? I've been made aware you just arrived from the east." - the woman asked, as Anneliese made herself comfortable in the "meeting room", which was like a grandma's house porch. There were artificial plants, plenty of framed photos of the woman, posing with a man and a couple of small kids, whom Anneliese surmised were her husband and children. The entire place had such a sucré aura that she felt uncomfortable. She sat with her hands on her lap and answered, In the happiest tone she could fake, pretending that she was enjoying the place.

"I feel great. I do what I like and I earn heaps of money doing that. To be honest with you, Ms Zelwegger, I'm certainly the national reference in my field of work. The results back in Serizawa were the expected. I already had my seat in Eminent for the season, but for some reason, Lasseps still hasn't announced me. I'm not exactly sure why. But I don't ask. I just enjoyed my vacation in Saint Ianina. The days on the beach were awesome. I spent so many mornings on the beach that I even had beach fungus, can you believe that? Well, long made short, I love my work."

She could see the woman's eyes widen when she spoke about the beach fungus. It looked like the woman was seeing a leper.

"Don't worry, I've taken my medication properly and there's nothing left on my skin. I'm just relaxed after long vacations, not a slob."

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't thinking about that. You seem very happy with your life, and this is the way to go. I almost envied your tropical summer, so I could say that you certainly don't feel an urge to come into this building, Mrs Devereux. As you say, you are relaxed, and looking at your clothes, there's nothing wrong with them. However, We must admit that we both have some idea about the motives Mrs Lasseps sent you here... The most common prescription glasses, a football shirt, skinny trousers, trainers, and hair up in a sloppy bun. It's not hard to believe one of the most celebrated athletes in the nation looks like this, because athletes are prone to wear athletic apparel. Yet, it seems a little bit unprofessional, to say the least, for a Grand Prix driver, with all of that glamour aura that is kept around the sport of motorsport. But, you see, even if this is an image consulting company, we don't shame people based on their style. My words are not intended to offend. We certainly want you to bring your lifestyle to the table, so we can support you by developing something unique and authentic, yet appropriate to every occasion. What about looking at some clothes that could fit your height and measurements?"

She hadn't been there for ten minutes, but she already wanted to leave.

"What a bummer". Anneliese felt a little offended. She was there to relax, not to have her style discreetly roasted. She even thought about saying "So, can we cut to the chase and you offer me the less Barbie-ish outfit you have here? I'm a mechanical engineer and racing driver, lady. I don't need to look like a supermodel, a rich girl or a stay-at-home mum back from the fifties. If I want a woman like that in my life, I'll sign up for DateApp and get a girlfriend", but she decided to endure. The best for her image wasn't to be dressed like a coquette, but to act nicely and politely. She replied, almost condescendingly, as if she felt superior to that rubbish that people call ‘fashion’.

"So, those glasses are fake. Or rather, they're real, but the lenses aren't a prescription, they're just anti-blue lenses for reading and screens. I don't have sight problems, but I'm sponsored by Mirage Eyewear, so I'm well-served in this sector. I can see the problem with the football jersey, our national team sucks. As I said, I'm still not under a contract, so I can't be wearing any team apparel. I am a person that prioritizes comfort, as much as possible. If I could, I'd always be wearing trainers, leggings and hoodies. Why do all these luxury clothes have to be so uncomfortable? I hate that Martina Navarro doesn't make fleeced hoodies. My last girlfriend gifted me a Discreet Vectoria brassière for Christmas, and it was awful, I felt my chest being pressed... That's why I only have sports bras, and I would surely not wear anything with metal and lace. I hope you have more comfortable than uncomfortable stuff."

Poor Missus Zelwegger looked lost, hopeless with all that ‘I don't care about fashion, I just want comfort’. Both women weren't clearly on the same page.

"Oh... Nevermind! that's something we can overlook. Here at Prima Donna, we want to uncover the strongest, most beautiful version of you. We have worked with hundreds of women to..."

---

The following day, Eminent office, Soria.

Anneliese arrived at the final meeting with Carolina Lasseps, where they should discuss the results of the trials. But it soon became a different talk.

So, have you liked the "personal stylist" meeting? - Lasseps joked.

"Awful. The woman who attended to me was noisy and chatty, and her voice was as annoying as a parrot's... We want to respect your natural beauty, loro loro, yet appearing with a football jersey shows a lack of professionalism on your part... loro loro loro gimme biscuit" Anneliese mixed up the words the Prima Donna attendant had said to her with parrot noises. - "Why the hell do I have to do this, Carolina? Do you think I'm some kind of rude, ill-mannered bloke? Do I dress badly? People like this style, you know? They like to feel represented by their idols. Yes, this is not elegant, but it's as comfortable as heaven. If I'd known I was going to such a backwards and tacky Personal Stylist, I would have gone with riding boots, white trousers, a velvet jacket and an equestrian helmet, complete with the jockey club crest".

Come on, don't get that sour. Attending our sponsors is a good thing. Prima Donna is a prospective sponsor. - Carolina Lasseps brushed off Anneliese discontent.

"That company? Clearly, it was founded by Miss Zelwegger to support her future career as a Positivity Whotuber? Do they have the money to buy a space in our cars? Either her audience is too stupid to give her that much money, or we're charging too cheaply for advertising. I wish you'd seen that office, full of all those cheesy, clichéd posters about positivity, harmony, and success. ‘Be your best today’. ‘Don't give up on your dreams’. ‘A happy personal stylist works here’. The place was cheerfully decorated in pastel colours, handicrafts and artificial flowers. That place was so awfully happy that I ended up feeling like ripping the head off a teddy bear or entering the most foul-mouthed server on MyRacing to cure me. That's brainwashing. For allowing you to send me shitty places like that, instead of sending me right to Neomaris to test the car already, I must be going mad."

"You'll be driving for Eminent, as well as Adriana okay? And you'll be the first driver. But having a team is more than picking up a digital car in MyRacing or Virtua Racing. I have to manage supplies, salaries, travel, car parts and stuff you never thought it was needed. There's a lot of things to do. Tell me, where you will live in Neomaris? Where do you buy groceries there?"

"I'll ask my accountant to make that work somehow."

Wrong. I've already dealt with that. You'll be living at Asteras Executive Housing, 14th floor. There are ten brand-spanking-new apartments on each floor, and three entire floors are reserved for Eminent as part of our sponsorship contract. Your teammate will be granted one too, however, I barely believe she'll make use of that. Now just imagine if I hadn't spent an off-season dealing with prospective sponsors. You'll be sleeping over cardboard, driving a year-old single-seater, and eating dust on the backmarkers. This is what you wanted to know. You're in. Now just go please your sponsors. Maybe some of them could remove from your mind the idea that football jerseys are acceptable in a corporate environment... Time to grow, Sissie. I sent the contract in your mail. Now I'll leave you. I have lunch with a famous gallery owner, then I'll have to sign our tyre deal with Blue Sulphurate. They want to have one of our cars in a gallery somewhere out there.

---

Eminent signs up Anneliese Devereux as its first driver and Adriana Kowalski as its second driver.
Eminent signs up Blue Sulphurate as its tyre provider.

[Great-Thandoria]

Otto Markul Announces Particpation in Piers Ivchenko Official Driver Test trials

The Management of Otto Markul has confirmed that he will be participating in the Driver Test for WGPC team Piers Ivchenko

To: Piers Ivchenko WGPC team
From: Mara Hansen <Otto Markul Manager>
Subject: Piers Ivchenko Official Driver Test

Good Afternoon

I hope this email finds you well. I am excited to announce that my client and rookie driver Otto Markul will be participating in your upcoming driver trials. Yes, he may be a rookie, I have no doubt that he will make a strong impression. Otto has been training very hard and is eager to showcase his skills on the track for another team. His commitment to racing makes him a good contender. And I hope that he is a good fit for your team.

Cheers,
Mara Hansen

Otto knew that he could do better in the KISMO trials even though he got 7^th as a rookie he felt he could do better. He also knew this was the second chance and to not let it slip away he packed his bags and headed for the airport to catch his flight. If he did get the seat he would do everything in his power to make sure he keeps it for next year.

[TJUN-ia]

TL:DR
Lane Carter and Batu Tüvshinbayar accept the invitation to test for Piers Ivchenko.
They also send emails to all remaining teams yet to complete their driver lineups, namely: UrGa (worth a shot), Cygnus, HMG, Viska, Race Eelandii VTGP and GPA Pryfors Bilar (if they do partake).

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TJUN-ia
Portside, JB TJUN-ia and Shinebaishin, CEA Zone
Time: Days before Crpostranian Test Event (not that they can make that)

This was not how things were supposed to go. When both Lane Carter and Batu Tüvshinbayar realized that both of them had unknown plans for WGPC21, they didn't quite know what to do at first. The fact that both of TJUN-ia's finest open-wheel racers were seemingly out of a job was seen in the local sports media as almost a black stain upon TJUN-ian Motorsports, compared to the success of Jaguar Racing over in NSSCRA. While Lane expected to be in this position and knew he had to potentially find a new place to go, Batu only knew SOC was pulling out a month ago and now had to uproot themselves from Baker Park and try and do something this season. Both drivers knew that they were, more than likely, going to have to battle each other to get themselves onto this grid...but if that's what it took, then so be it.

Preston
Up first on the schedule was a team that would certainly have caused a stir if one of them joined, but one that was open to anyone - Preston Autos. Rudy Edwards was seemingly already there but with William Archer on the move himself, 15 drivers arrived at Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit looking to impress one of the most boisterous and passionate racing brands in all of motorsports. Drake Stevenson himself, the defending NSSCRA Multiversal Cup Series Champion, would be overseeing events here and there were certainly some good names amongst the field - Ted Pressley, Anneliese Devereux, Laura Haukanna, Kinu Luminna, Abdoulaye Goita and even Mr "P3 in the Drivers Championship" Adonis Fitzpatrick was here - which got a "what are you doing here?" out of Batu, but nothing more since the mask task was still at hand.

When it came down to it, Lane struggled out there - 1:31.412, P12 out of the 15. It sucked because he was the one that initiated contact by giving Preston his card and now, it blew up in his face. Batu, on the other hand, did much better and ended up in P4 - not good enough to get that seat, but still a good effort he could take into KISMO. After Edwards' issues caused him to step aside for a testing role, Kinu Luminna and Abdoulaye Goita were offered the seats. Nik Hazrin Lufti, a debutant from Sharktail, is next in line.

KISMO
Kissan Motorsport, better known as KISMO, is making a bit of a comeback and while their NSSCRA counterparts had already started up and have done well for themselves, KISMO WGPC are looking to try and build where former Constructors Champions Badai Agin and ANMARA left off. Shuhei Kamado was already on their books, but a series of test would look to find driver #2 across two venues across the region. 18 drivers, many from the Preston Test, took part - with Will Archer and R.L. Cruisin also involved.

Up first was Jukulta (where Top 8 score points) and three separate layouts, all with points on offer to determine overall performance. On the technical Kajtalu (T) layout, Batu scored the fastest lap by 0.007 over Archer and Gil Langdon of Katzeburg, with Lane a quarter of a second down in 15th. On three lap pace, Batu was 7th and Lane 13th with Lutfi leading. On the aggressive Kajtalu (A) layout, one-lap pace belonged to Cosmin Fotellis of Islethous with Batu very close behind in 6th and Lane in 12th while Fotellis also took three-lap pace with Batu 8th and Carter 14th. On the Grand Prix layout, Cruisin showed his stuff on 1-Lap with carter scoring for the first time in 5th and Batu dead last, while Fitzpatrick took 3-Lap with Carter 13th and Batu 16th. So after Day 1, Langdon led the way on 31 points while Batu was 6th on 16 and Lane 17th on 4.

Then the process moved to Serizawa for a WGP2-style event, involving two qualifying sessions (Top 5 score points) and two races (Top 12 in Feature, Top 8 in Sprint). Feature Race Qualifying would see Angela Stella Tan on pole over Nepö Kinder and Archer, with Batu just missing out on a point in 6th and Lane dead last in 19th (Azalia Kawakai joined in the interval). Sprint Race Qualifying was a One-Lap Shootout and Fotellis would end up making the least mistakes over Otto Markul and Kawakai with Batu getting a point in 5th and Lane down in 12th.

Then it was down to the racing. The Feature was 46 laps long and that was enough to see Ted Pressley claim the win over Kinder and Ron Sommer with Batu getting 3 points for 10th and Lane getting one point in 12th. The Sprint was only 23 laps long, with Cruisin taking it over Markul and Kawakai with Lane pulling off their best performance in 4th while Batu had a nightmare and ended a lap down in dead last. That meant, in a bit of an upset, Gil Langdon took the event by 5 points over Pressley and 6 over Cruisin, claiming his spot in the KISMO ranks. Batu was 10th with 20 points, with Lane 17th on 11.

So after all of that effort, both of TJUN-ia's drivers remain on the Free Agent List...but both were feeling different about that fact.
- Lane Carter struggled in both test sessions he took part in and now, the nerves were starting to kick in. He was a two-time race winner in this series and yet, it seemed that the sport had left him behind. Maybe letting his contract lapse with Race Eelandii was a bad call after all, but he can't give up now.
- Batu Tüvshinbayar hadn't gotten a drive yet, but he performed well enough that his agent seemed confident that he would be on the grid at some point. Not in time for Montelago, but before the #RepealSCR309 Test Event in Ikasamo seemed like a potential possibility. So a little bit of confidence appeared in his mind, but would that translate to a contact?

TJUN-ia hopes, in baited breath, that these two can find their way onto this grid. Will that happen? Right now, it is hard to say.

[Sharktail]

Nik Hazrin Lutfi Confirm participant in Piers Ivchenko test invitation Session
Nik Hazrin Lutfi request to participate in test from Urotovsky-Gatutin,Cygnus,HMG Grand Prix, Viska, Race Eelandii VTGP, and GPA Pryfors Bilar

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Hazrin Family House, Kota Sultan, Sharktail

Hazrin laid down on the sofa in the living room. The atmosphere in the house at that time was quiet, empty without any other residents adding to the loneliness, annoyance and pressure on him. He stared at the ceiling, trying to fix the broadcast that was pictured in his mind. Many things mix up together.

A test with Ælund not edning well.. He has few good laps but later session, the pressure caught up. Other than finishing 5th after all sessions, surely he is not really much in consideration for a seat with Ælund. However, the test was only part of the things that caused him annoyance. In the recent update, he also got an offer to test with KISMO. The result at KISMO is very painful. The first day, at the T and A circuit, Hazrin can consider himself a contender for the driver spot. However, big problem as he entered full length gp track during KISMO test, everything going downhill. Nothing to be proud, he miss all chance to provide good impression to KISMO as why should they hire him.

For now, nothing looks good at all. He has to run and push until very dead last.His chase is far from over or done. As he reached out to the management team in Royal Athlete led by Miss Izara, he requested a third follow up email of requesting for an opportunity to test with the rest of the team who still have a seat available. He also requests Royal Athlete to back it up with a second enquiry which will be sent later as he seeks a test/reserve driver seat in all teams in WGPC 21 in case he might end up with no seat.

His phone alarm rang. He got a few schedule to follow after it was postponed during his test session with Ælund and KISMO. He should get going as this arrangement is important for him to keep sponsors relationship on good terms. As his fate unknown, sponsor will be hid lifeline for him to secure a dream that he had set since he started as racing driver.

[Quirhoshe]

Doubeia

Dear Diary,

I got invited to the Piers Ivchenko race trials! I have another shot to qualify to a team, I’m really excited. I was so disappointed with my performance during the race trials at KISMO in Aji No Moto. One of my favorite parts of being an athlete is traveling, and Aji No Moto was gorgeous. I got treated to nice meals and gave lots of autographs to fans. But I didn’t get the spot, and that was really disappointing.

Speaking of which, I’m on the plane to Doubeia now. I publicly confirmed my involvement and I’m really excited. This is one of my last shots to qualify for the WGPC2 season. I need to perform well if I want to qualify. I know I’ve got the skills, but I need to show up now. I’ve come so far.

I hate that the media makes my meningitis out to be the biggest tragedy ever to exist. However, it was hard. I’m really excited to be racing again and I’ve got a lot to give to the sport. People are very excited that I’m participating, and I’m really excited that I get to be out there. Uh oh, gotta go, plane is landing.

Azalia Kawakai

[Turori]

Too Late for Toralmintii??

It has been a long time since iBen Toralmintii considered themselves an 'open market' driver on the World Grand Prix Championship circuit, but that may be the case as negotiations between Toralmintii and their long-time Abovian partners have yet to result in a seat for the World Grand Prix Championships 21st season. While many expected Toralmintii to step away after the disasterous season with the Abovian Colourworks team during WGPC season 20, the return of the Grand Prix of Turori to World Grand Prix Championship 21 schedule has reportedly had Toralmintii re-thinking their status with the Turorian still having that one empty space on an otherwise very-full trophy wall in Eelandii. It would come as no surprise that Toralmintii is one of the most succesful drivers in the history of the Eelandii Grand Prix course but in four prior open-wheel appearances at their home track, Toralmintii has finished runner-up... every. single. time.

After having last appeared on the calendar during WGPC Season 19, the Grand Prix of Turori will be the 4th event of the WGPC 21 schedule, replacing the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix that made its debut on the calendar last season establishing what could be a new Grand Prix rotation in the cove region. Toralmintii is unlikely to have interest in establishing themselves with a new team and with 28 cars already projected on the grid, a one off ride just for the Grand Prix of Turori seems an unlikely route. It means Toralmintii would likely need to commit to a full season if they were to compete in World Grand Prix Championship Season 21 - but are Toralmintii's partners ready to commit to the same?

In Aboveland, it is rumored that despite the teams loyalty to their winningest driver, their are pressures to hit a full reset button after the Colourworks disaster and that would include moving on, for the second time, from Toralmintii. Some of Toralmintii's sponsors are also concerned about the impact to Toralmintii's legacy should they continue competing for the Abovian outfit and experience another low-performance season, with many preferring to focus on reminiscing about the good times without having clips of another DNF-laden season hogging up the media. Long time driver and team partner Tropicorp is also reportedly willing to move on as they continue to search for a seat for last seasons' Drivers Championship runner up Skiia Vialiv who continues to await offers from Tropicorp partners Ælund or HMG for the upcoming campaign.

Is Cocoabo #23 the future?

After a quiet offseason, things are ramping up in Eelandii where the team have confirmed the renewal of their sponsorship from twii.tur who will again be leveraging space on Race Eelandii VTGP's Tropicorp TRE-2T24V8 / Tropicorp Racing Supply powered entry to promote their partnership with Cocoabo Park with the @CocoaboPark handle to be displayed prominently on Cocoabo #23's Race Eelandii VTGP entry. Many were surprised when the team signed the Cocoabo driver during World Grand Prix Championship season 20, as the creatures best prior showing was a 4th place run for the struggling Eminent-Fireline team during WGPC Season 18. However the Cocoabo quickly proved how they could perform in quality well-meshed equipment, leading the WGPC 20 Driver Standings until the final races when they slipped down to 4th in the final overall standings after a dominating closeout to the campaign by eventual champion Brendan Faloe.

After WGPC Season 20, it seems clear that Cocoabo #23 will be the #1 driver at Race Eelandii this season and will be representing the team at the seasons first test event(s) while they work through the complications regarding the teams second seat. After 3 seasons behind the wheel of the #11 entry for Race Eelandii VTGP, it seems the Lane Carter era may have turned its last page. With the ride having been funded by The Dart Group for the past two seasons, Carter's consistent performances and the relationship between TJUN-ia and The Dart Group made the partnership a natural fit. Now, however, with the Dart Group's influence having been minimized by the production of the Ddraig and the company's own entry into internationstatal motorsports, it may be back to square one for Race Eelandii VTGP as they prepare their second car for the WGPC 21 campaign.

To: naganomiya.kokomiya@doubmail.com <Naganomiya Kokomiya, Team Principal, Piers Ivchenko>
Subj: Re: Interest in Driving for Piers Ivchenko

Thank You very much for the offer to meet directly with my client, R.L. Cruisin, at the Former Fromisian Grand Circuit, though we would also offer a more immediate opportunity to meet if you are available at a time and place of your choosing! R.L. would love to discuss with you the opportunity to not onlyoffer R.L. Cruisin' services to be a full time driver for Piers Ivchenko this season but to help share their knowledge from over 10 seasons of World Grand Prix Championship experience into getting the team prepared for the season, and, in helping whichever second driver the team identifies that may benefit from the experience and tutoring that could be offered by a 6-time Grand Prix winner. Cruisin has demonstrated season after season throughout their career the ability to get the most out of the equipment they have provided, often out-performing their teammates in under-spec'd equipment and even having been responsible for providing multiple teams their first ever Grand Prix victory. Cruisin is particularly excited about the prospect of driving for Piers Ivchenko considering the schedule for this seasons campaign which will see the WGPC competing on the streets of Queensland in Doubeia's capital city. With the imminent start of official World Grand Prix testing in Crpostran, Cruisin emphasizes the importance of track time in shaking down the teams brand new UrGa powerplant and the debutant Brimstone tyres which have never before been used on the Grand Prix circuit. R.L. Cruisin has experience with numerous different tyre compounds and in fact may have driven on more different tyre compounds than any driver in the history of the World Grand Prix Championship. We would love to close a deal prior to the start of testing so we can prepare to get the car on track at the Montelago International Circuit, but welcome discussions upon your timeline and hope that we can come to an agreement that will benefit all parties!

Looking forward to a successful partnership,

Arcadii Worldino on behalf of R.L. Cruisin
Cruisin Sports Management

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

Olivia and Baxen’s Apartment, Avant Community, the Second City, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
18th of January

From: Baxen Aurora <baxen.aurora@questnet.nim>
To: Dr William Emerson <wemerson@cygnus.co.em>

To Dr Emerson,

Your expression of interest in Olivia for the upcoming season is welcome and reciprocated; we would be delighted to meet to outline the prospective shape of any contract.

To ensure that such negotiations open smoothly, it seems beneficial to outline our hopes for Olivia’s and my own responsibilities within the team. It is Olivia’s firm belief, and mine with her, that she thrives best in an environment of combined competition and collaboration. We would both be delighted to support a second Drivers’ Championship bid from Brendan should such circumstances arise again, just as we would be delighted for Olivia to spearhead such a bid herself if she meets with such success or for the success of both to carry Cygnus to the Constructors’ Championship. Similarly, Olivia has historically performed well with me in a race engineering role; I would be grateful to slot into such a role as part of your broader race engineering apparatus and discuss its place and form within it.

Finally, noting and backing Cygnus’ current efforts in expanding its motorsport operation, Olivia and I would be gladdened to contribute to the team’s efforts after her signing by providing contacts of graduates with successful experience in WGPi (the Nimban third-tier WGP series) to commend them, from our time leading the winning University of the Second City Challenge team. This would have the additional positive effect of introducing elements familiar to Olivia into the team; combined with her experience at Cygnus last year, I would hope that the two combined would integrate smoothly.

I eagerly await the opportunity to speak with you further.

Baxen Aurora
Race Engineer to Olivia Stone, World Grand Prix Driver

“You really think he won’t assume we’re mounting some kind of coup?”

Sky blue light plays across Baxen’s tablet, making another adjustment to the message, even as a slight part of his awareness traces up to the slightly fidgeting woman behind him, her arms crossed. “It would be a strange kind of coup, certainly, to send all the weapons to the authority being overthrown for approval.”

A puff of air sounds from behind him, followed shortly by a closed fist gently bumping his shoulder. He smiles. “This is counting on him knowing us well enough to understand that it isn’t any king of Typhonic scheme like that. Influence-seeking, yes, but transparent and with beneficial outcomes for all involved. We proved our good intent thoroughly last season.”

“So long as he thinks it wasn’t all talk and posturing…”

“You don’t believe that – unless you believe his assertion of your good character was talk and posturing too?”

A chuckling sigh, this time; Olivia Stone leans forward, then leaps up, kicks off the brightly painted wall behind her and swings herself up and over the sofa of their apartment, landing with a thump next to him, leaning in. “You know me far, far too well,” she murmurs, eyes scanning the return email.

“A decade of teamwork will do that.”

Olivia lets out a laugh, gaze still tracing the screen. “Well, all looks good to me…” Her expression crunches.

Baxen channels empathy. “This is an overture. It doesn’t lock us out from attending the Preston test if that looks like it may be a better option.”

“No, it doesn’t.” She slumps back in the seat, then runs her hand up through her hair. “Good problem to have. More than one team attempting overtures is…” She smiles wanly. “Atypical for us.”

A moment passes.

“Well, go on then.”

“So long as you do think that the tone –”

“It’s fine, Baxen!”

Olivia Stone expresses interest in a seat at Cygnus.

---

Next Chapter
2. Illuminated

Back to Hub

[Recuecn]

Abdoulaye had not expected his schedule to be this packed. He’d planned to briefly leave Hapilopper to attend first the Ælund driver trial in Aboveland, then the KISMO driver trials in Aji No Moto, then to Pridnestrovia for UrGa’s, and then return to Hapilopper for the Berman Bros classic. Ælund, however, had repeatedly delayed its trials. So Abdoulaye flew to Serizawa first.

The KISMO tests were not quite what he’d expected. The first day took place entirely on the racing simulators—Abdoulaye didn’t actually lay eyes on a car until day two. He was able to avoid totally embarrassing himself, finishing a bit below the middle of the pack on the first day, but it was nothing like his impressive showing at the Preston trials.

That evening, Abdoulaye called his father to give him an update.

“Fa, things are going well. I got an offer from a team a couple days ago, but I have three more trials scheduled, so I’m going to see if I get any other offers before I make a decision.”

The responding voice sounded tinny over the phone, but Abdoulaye would recognize his father’s gruff tone anywhere. “I thought the one with the mustache said you could drive for him.”

Safe in the knowledge that his dad couldn’t see him, Abdoulaye rolled his eyes. Terho Talvela was not the only man in the world with a mustache—except as far as Abdoulaye’s father was concerned. Moussa Goita said that he “couldn’t remember foreign names”, but he regularly assigned epithets of his own, and once he’d given a nickname of his own creation, he never forgot it. “The one with the mustache” was Terho Talvela.

Once, Abdoulaye had pretended not to understand who his father was talking about, in an effort to force him to actually use a proper noun. But Moussa had refused, point blank. “You know who I’m talking about,” he’d said, and refused to elaborate. It was true, Abdoulaye did know who he meant. But that didn’t mean he thought it was any less ridiculous that his father refused to put in the effort.

On the other hand, if Abdoulaye ever intimated to his father that he thought anything he did was ridiculous, Moussa would have his hide. It didn’t matter that Abdoulaye was a full-grown adult. Fathers were to be respected. “Awfully convenient for the fathers,” thought Abdoulaye. But he didn’t say it.

Instead he said, “He didn’t say I could, he said I probably could.” Those hadn’t been Terho’s exact words, of course. Terho had said “I’ve got three drivers in mind and you’re one of them.” But there was no point confusing Moussa with details. “I have to go show the rest of his team how I can drive, and then I think I have a good chance they will want me on the team.”

Moussa grunted noncommittally. Not so much approval as assent. Abdoulaye floundered for some way to keep the conversation afloat.

“Fa, do you remember last time I was in the WGPC, how we would call every week to catch up?”

“Oui.”

“I want to do that again. I can tell you how my races are going, and you can finish telling me that story. I don’t think you ever finished it.”

“Which story?”

“The one from when I was a little kid? From before we left Mali?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long moment. Then: “I remember.”

“I don’t mean right now,” said Abdoulaye. “Once I start racing.”

“That would be nice,” said Moussa.

Abdoulaye smiled. That was as much affirmation as he was going to get.

The second day of the trials went better than the first, but there were no miracles. Abdoulaye qualified dead last for the sprint race and finished all the way at the back of the pack, a lap down. The feature race went better; rather than middlingly below average, as he had been the day before, Abdoulaye was middlingly above average. A pleasant change, but nothing that was going to get him a job.

Indeed, distinguishing oneself enough to earn a spot on the KISMO team felt almost impossible under the conditions. Another driver had shown up the evening of the first day, so there were now nineteen racers competing for a single spot. The track was so full that the races felt like regular WGPC races. Abdoulaye congratulated himself that he’d already had an offer from Preston—he felt much less anxious about his results. He could remember how stressful it was to be a rookie trying to break out and earn a spot on a team for the first time, unsure whether anyone would take you, or you would be left behind to wait another year for another chance. It was not a situation he envied.

Sure enough, at the end of the day, with an eighth place final standing, Abdoulaye was not offered a seat on KISMO. He didn’t let himself feel beat up about it. Instead, he made a point to congratulate the drivers who had done well. Gil Langdon had taken first overall and been offered the seat. But Abdoulaye especially made sure he got a chance to shake hands with Ted Pressley and say a few congratulatory words to him. Ted had won the feature race, but he was on Abdoulaye’s mind for a different reason; Abdoulaye could have sworn he remembered Terho mentioning Ted as one of the other two drivers Ælund had had its eye on. If they were going to end up teammates, Abdoulaye wanted to make a good first impression.

As the KISMO trials wrapped up, Abdoulaye headed straight for the airport, without even returning to his hotel. He’d received word that the Ælund trials were going to start early the next morning, so he had to be in Aboveland tonight. Waiting at his gate at the airport, he noticed a handful of the other drivers who’d been at the KISMO trial. It seemed there was a decent gaggle of them all going to the test drive for Ælund. Well, some competition was good, surely…

---

---

Moussa spent a few days mulling over the phone call from Abdoulaye. It flattered him that his son wanted to hear his old stories. There were plenty Moussa was excited to tell. Abdoulaye had been such a young child when they’d left Mali that he said he hardly remembered anything.

Moussa thought it strange that Abdoulaye remembered so little. He’d been very young, certainly, but not an infant. His brother Malick, who was only a couple years older, talked very little about the time before the family had emigrated to Reçueçn. But every so often Malick let fall a comment that revealed he remembered everything perfectly. Moussa didn’t know why Abdoulaye didn’t share most of those memories.

Moussa would be happy to help Abdoulaye remember. He thought back to the first time he had started to tell Abdoulaye the stories about his childhood. The parallels between himself and his son seemed remarkable to him. There was a chiastic symmetry to their stories: both of them always seemed to be running—Moussa fleeing his old home so that Abdoulaye could chase his dreams in their new one.

And of course, there was that nexus at the center of the chiasm. The twisted knot of narrative toward which Moussa’s entire life story flowed and from which all of Abdoulaye’s emanated. Moussa had felt that moment looming ahead of him when he’d told Abdoulaye the old stories—a chapter he was unable to tell.

Moussa didn’t know how to speak of that moment—which meant, of course, Abdoulaye had no idea what had happened. He was living his entire life indelibly marked by an event he couldn’t even remember. Moussa knew Abdoulaye could sense its existence. It was no surprise he had asked Moussa to pick up his childhood stories where he’d left off a couple years ago. They had felt unfinished. Even if Moussa hadn’t made it to that climax, it hung over the rest of the story, altering the tone. If someone else had overheard snippets of the tales that Moussa had told his son, they might see in them only carefree, childhood vignettes. But Abdoulaye and Moussa were both aware of the deep sense of melancholy that pervaded every story about their family.

---

---

Abdoulaye warily eyed the pickled walrus. It was incredible what some people would eat. There was no way that shit was halal, a fact for which Abdoulaye was deeply grateful. Not that he needed another excuse to avoid it, but at least this excuse was one he could give without being rude. Instead, he took a cracker and swabbed it at a lump of something wet—cheese, he hoped.

“This is uh, cheese?” he asked Ted Pressley, who also stood nearby the snack table, looking for something edible.

Ted peered at it and shrugged. Abdoulaye was not very reassured.

“It doesn’t have meat in it though?”

“No, it shouldn’t.”

“No pork though? No gelatin I mean?”

“Oh, uh… I don’t know. Maybe.” Ted shrugged again.

Abdoulaye decided to play it safe and stealthily returned the cracker (and the… cheese?) to the table. He contented himself with a cup of coffee—the warmth was welcome after a lap in the cold Abovian weather. Abdoulaye glanced out the window. The sun was already low in the sky, and it was only three p.m..

The low sun glared in his eyes, but he could make out the silhouettes of Archer and Fotellis heading out onto the track for their session. You had to admit, the Abovians were efficient with how they used the track. The Ajians had taken two full days to do what the Abovians were doing in just a few hours. Of course, the Abovians were constrained by the lack of daylight this far north. Necessity, the mother of invention. But after what was now his third driver trial, Abdoulaye appreciated that this one felt like a little bit less of a slog.

He had just one lap left to drive. As the drivers with the fastest overall times, he and Archer would go last this time—well, except for one lady who’d just shown up a few minutes ago and inexplicably was immediately fitted for the car. She was going to go out and get her own lap in once the trial was over, apparently.

The lap was over in the blink of an eye. That was good. Fast was good. Abdoulaye looked at the times. He’d beaten Archer in the shootout, but not by enough to take first place from him overall. Would second be enough to get the seat?

Abdoulaye fidgeted nervously, sitting in the conference room and waiting for Terho to return with news of some kind. A simple yes or no was all Abdoulaye needed.

Who was he kidding? He needed a yes.

The moment he saw Terho walk back into the room and lock eyes with him, Abdoulaye knew he had it. He couldn’t stop beaming as he shook his new boss’s hand. He was officially back. Back in the WGPC.

Abdoulaye had a few calls to make. He called UrGa to let them know he would no longer be attending their test drive. He told Terho he had to head back to Hapilopper City for the Berman Bros classic that weekend, the moment the checkered flag waved, he would be at Ælund’s disposal until the end of the season. Even though he was heading right back to Hapilopper, Abdoulaye figured he should give Drake Stevenson a call right away too, just to let him know that sadly, Abdoulaye had to decline the offer to drive for Preston.

Was that it? Abdoulaye racked his brains to think of any other loose ends he had to tie up to conclude his chapter as a free agent. Nothing came to mind. There was just one call left to make.

He picked up the phone and dialed his dad.

“Ælund gave me the seat!”

“The one with the mustache?”

---

Abdoulaye Goita accepts the offer from Ælund Grand Prix.
Abdoulaye Goita declines all other offers and if possible withdraws from any remaining trials.

[Abanhfleft]

William Archer offers his services to HMG Grand Prix and Piers Ivchenko.

Adonis Fitzpatrick offers his services to HMG Grand Prix and Piers Ivchenko.

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“Hanna Berezowska joins HiTEN.gpt as their second driver,” “Nexus Racing confirms Laukkanen-Lane line-up for Season 21…” William Archer had always known that he was taking the mother of all risks by not re-signing with Preston Autos and plunging right back into the free agent market, but just one month into the preseason and he was already questioning his own decision. The previous season had been terrible, not just for William himself and for Preston Autos but also for his own mental health. Preston had promised him that they would back William in his challenge for the WGPC drivers’ title, but instead the entire team went backwards. Nobody could really tell why or how Preston regressed just when they had shown great promise way back in Season 19, but at the end of it all William knew that he had to get out of there and move to a different environment. Part of William understood that there was no way that Preston could have known that the upgrades that they had fitted to their car for Season 20 would actually drag the car backwards instead of take it forwards, but another part was convinced that Preston never really intended to live up to the guarantee that they had given William. In any case, the mere fact that William was second-guessing himself and everyone else in Preston was more than enough proof for him to recognize that it was time for him to leave the team, at least for the foreseeable future.

Now though, William was once again second-guessing himself, but this time it was about his decision to become a free agent once again. He knew that this was going to happen without the security blanket of an immediate contract offer from Preston, but this was what William wanted after last year’s debacle. He wanted to have another shot at the title with another team, another team that actually knew what they were doing and wasn’t there just for the publicity. But four teams had already announced their full lineups for the coming season, and William did not feel confident that he was actually going to have a shot with the teams that he actually wanted to join. William had wanted to get as far away from Preston as possible, and with the news that Preston was willing to give any team that wanted to bring William onboard their own engines, William knew that his best shot of escaping Preston’s influence was by joining a team that already had their own engines. The problem with that though was that those kinds of teams already had their own established lineups that he would be hard-pressed to break through. William knew that it was a long shot aiming for Nexus Racing and their eight-wheeler trucks, but in the back of his mind he always knew that he was not going to dislodge either one of Ryker Lane or Janne Laukkanen from their spots in the team.

As for the other choices… HiTEN.gpt was kind of a weird team in William’s opinion. The Hodoran team had boasted of a well-balanced car capable of maximizing results no matter the track or its characteristics, but he hadn’t actually seen any pictures of the car itself, not even 3D renders of potential designs, configurations, and liveries. Then again, it appeared to be a new start-up team and not a venture backed by a government or a corporation, so maybe it was too much to expect from HiTEN. On the other hand, William had to admit that it stung just a little bit when he read that HiTEN had gone for a literal newcomer in Hanna Berezowska instead of a proven WGPC driver and race winner like him. But teams often made decisions that didn’t make sense to outsiders, so William knew that he would just have to shrug it off.

Cygnus was another long shot for William. On one hand, surely the team with the defending drivers’ champion would want to have the driver that held off their guy for all 47 laps on their home track. But on the other hand, did William really put in a performance that made him worthy of joining the team with the defending drivers’ champion? Yes, some of it was down to Preston shitting the bed on most race weeks, but at the same time, William had also barely bothered to do anything once he saw that he was faced with a Sisyphean task because of Preston’s troubles and failures. Trying to get a seat at Cygnus was, at the end of the day, the longest shot that William had taken, and it was clear right from the start that it wasn’t going to land. They would probably be better suited with bringing in a more mentally stable pair of hands like Olivia Stone, if rumors were to be believed.

And now, with KISMO, William was not feeling any confidence at all that he could land their second seat and drive alongside Shuhei Kamado. William couldn’t really explain how or why he felt like that, but in his gut he just knew that he was not going to get that second KISMO seat. Which was an absolute shame, really, because William had a good feeling about their car almost as soon as he got into one. He thought it complemented his own style of racing, but maybe he shouldn’t have trusted the feeling because the results that the… what was this track called again? Jakulta or Kajtalu? William remembered it being called Jakulta International Raceway before, but the place must have been renamed during Aji No Moto’s withdrawal from international affairs. In any case, William’s results at the track were confusing to him, to say the very least. KISMO’s testing track had three configurations, one of which favored technical drivers and another that favored the aggressive ones. William thought he would do well at the aggressive-minded layout, but instead the data seemed to indicate that he was actually doing much better in the more technically minded layout. That just wasn’t supposed to happen, and the outcome of the first day of testing with KISMO left William more confused than anything. And whenever William was confused, the first thing that he wanted to do was to talk to a friend. Luckily for him, his close friend Adonis Fitzpatrick was also in the KISMO trials, so he was just a short distance away should William actually want to talk to him.

Speaking of Donny Fitzpatrick, he was also surprised at his own performances in the KISMO trials, but it was more of a pleasant kind of surprise than anything else. Donny had gone into this test without much in the way of expectations, as he didn’t really know what to expect from KISMO. He knew that KISMO had a long history in WGPC, although they hadn’t been around when Donny had made his debut last WGPC season, but he was always willing to try things out once. Maybe their car would suit his style, or maybe they wouldn’t. As long as the engine didn’t die on him as soon as he got into the car, Donny was willing to work with KISMO’s equipment. It took some time for him to adapt, but once Donny did adapt, he was able to show his pace. He wasn’t the fastest out of the testers, but Donny did see that he had managed to top one of the sessions, and he was hopeful that that would give him at least a shot at being considered for the second KISMO seat.

It was just a few days since Donny had gone to Hapilopper to try out for Preston Autos, specifically the seat vacated by his good pal William Archer. Ever since William burst into the WGPC scene courtesy of the Hapiloppian team, Donny had always believed that William was going to be with Preston for life, or at least the entirety of his racing career. However, Preston fell flat on their faces last season and were unable to capitalize on the hype and momentum that they had built up for themselves over the past two years, and because of that William thought that it would be best for his career to move on to another team. However, Donny was pretty sure that wasn’t the only reason why William had decided to leave Preston. Donny could still remember the handful of times that he caught William screaming at nothing but air every time he had a poor result in the previous season, which at the time was practically every race. And whenever Donny would catch William in such a moment, the younger driver would have a crazy look in his eyes, as if he wasn’t all there anymore. William would come back to his senses quickly every time Donny called out to him, but the latter could definitely tell that Preston’s issues were taking its toll on William. Getting away from that environment was definitely the right move for him, even if it did run the risk of William missing out on a seat in what had proved to be a surprisingly competitive free agent market to start off Season 21 of the World Grand Prix Championship.

Heck, even Donny himself was running the risk of not being able to secure a seat for himself for the coming season. It seemed almost unthinkable for the man who came in third in the previous season’s championship to not even have a seat, especially considering that he drove for the now-defending champions Urotovsky-Gatutin, but sometimes that was just the way the cookie crumbled. To be honest, Donny was surprised that UrGa had allowed him to walk away from the team just like that. They didn’t even bother with offering him a place as a reserve or testing driver like some of the other teams were doing for their drivers. He came from UrGa’s academy, for God’s sake! No less than Vasily Gatutin himself had said that he saw Donny Fitzpatrick as the future of UrGa Motorsports! And now it was as if Donny didn’t even exist to the Pridnestrovians. Maybe there was some truth to the rumors that Vasily Gatutin had been removed from his position as UrGa’s team principal, or at least had the decision-making power taken away from him. Maybe Yurievsky, that old son of a bitch, had finally got the backing of the UrGa board, now that the team were defending champions. The Pridnestrovians had such weird ways of conducting their business.

Donny Fitzpatrick was lying in bed watching extended highlights from the last WGPC season when he felt his phone vibrating beside him. When he picked it up, he saw that it was William Archer who was calling. “Sup, Will?” he said when he answered the call.

“Hey Donny,” William said back. “Hey listen, can we talk?”

“Sure, man,” Donny replied. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“Not on the phone, man,” William said. “In person. I wanna talk to you in person. I would really like to talk to you, or literally anyone else for that matter, in person. It just… feels right. Can you tell me where you’re staying, what room number you have?”

“Yeah, sure, just give me a moment,” Donny said, and then he told William his room number. “That sound okay to you?”

“Yeah, just fine,” William replied. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Six minutes later, someone knocked on Donny’s door. He took a peek through the peephole just to make sure, and then he opened the door to let William in. “Thanks, man,” William said as he walked inside Donny’s room. “I just need to get this off my chest, and then I’ll be out of here.”

“Hey, Will, don’t sweat it, okay?” Donny said back. “You’re not imposing on me. I’m happy to hear you talk about whatever.”

“I know, Don,” William nodded. “I just really feel like I’m taking up too much of your time. I just really need to talk about this to someone else in person. And it’s late, so you might have been about to sleep when I called you.”

“Nah, man, I was still watching some of last season’s highlights when you called,” Donny shrugged.

“Not a lot of Preston in those, right?” William said with a soft and sad laugh. He then took a deep breath and said, “Can I be honest with you, guy?”

“You’re always free to be honest, man,” Donny said. “Don’t need my permission to do it. Or anyone else’s, for that matter.”

William took another deep breath, and then he said, “I’m afraid, Donny.”

“Afraid?” Donny repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Afraid of what?”

“I’m afraid I’m not gonna get a seat this season, man!” William almost cried out. “I mean, I knew that this was going to happen when I decided to leave Preston, but you know what they say about knowing something and actually experiencing it. I just… I don’t know what to do! I don’t know how to feel. It feels like chances and opportunities are slipping through my fingers by the second, and I don’t know how to catch any of them before they get away! I already wasted one year of my career with the shit that went down with Preston last season, and if I don’t get a seat this year, that’s another one right down the toilet! I do not want my career to go down the toilet, man! I don’t want it!”

Now it was Donny’s turn to take a deep breath. “Do you actually want me to say something, Will?” he asked. “Or do you just want somebody to listen to you rant?”

“I don’t know, man,” William admitted. “A bit of both, maybe? I want you—no, I need you to tell me that everything’s gonna be all right, that everyone goes through this bullshit and that I’ve got a fighting chance to get another seat with another team before the season starts. I don’t know! I just want to be reassured that I made the right choice, I think.”

“Okay, that’s what you wanna do? That’s what we’re gonna do,” Donny nodded. “Brother man, you are a WGPC driver. You’re not gonna be a WGPC driver, you’re not a former driver, you are a driver! You’ve been in this business three years already! You’ve got what it takes to succeed in this competition, and everyone and their mother knows it. So what if you had an off season with Preston last time around? You know who else had an off season? iBen fucking Toralmintii. The freaking defending champion. I read somewhere that he set the lowest points tally for a defending WGPC champion since someone from five or six seasons ago? Real crazy shit. My point is that everyone will at some point in their lives have an off day. Sometimes it lasts for only a day, sometimes it’s weeks, and sometimes it could be an entire year or even two. What’s happening to you right now, William, isn’t all on you. You had a shit year at Preston, and you needed to get out of there for your own sake. But one shit year doesn’t erase all of the good things you’ve done in the previous three! Sure, KISMO might not be the best fit for you. Sure, Nexus and Cygnus and even fucking HiTEN might have picked someone else before you. But that doesn’t mean nobody wants you. You just have to keep pushing yourself even further!”

“But what if I don’t want to go any further?” William asked back. “The rest of the teams that still need drivers don’t have engine suppliers yet. And I read that Preston is willing to throw money and engines at any team that’s willing to give me a chance. I don’t want that! I don’t want to be around anything Preston-related for this season!”

“Even if it means not getting a seat this year?”

Donny’s question looked like it took William completely by surprise. “What?” he asked back. “What do you mean?”

“Look, man, I know I said that the teams out there want you,” Donny explained. “But when you say you don’t want Preston’s help, it’s almost like you’re saying you don’t want to get a seat. Okay, let’s ignore everything that happened to you in Preston itself. I know it’s hard, but just ignore it for now. Preston engines still won the constructors’ championship last season. You may not like it, and UrGa sure as hell doesn’t like it, but it’s true. Preston proved through UrGa that their engines can win titles even when their cars can’t, and for a lot of teams out there who don’t have their own engines, that’s more than enough! They’ll want to have those championship-winning engines in their cars, and you saying you don’t want Preston’s help says you don’t want to get a seat in the teams that still have at least one up for grabs. There aren’t a lot of teams with their own engines out there who still have a seat open. You wanna limit yourself to a rapidly shrinking market, Will? Or do you really want a chance to prove that last season was just an otherworldly fluke?”

William went silent for what felt like an eternity as he seemingly pondered Donny’s words. Eventually though, he seemed to finally find his words as he turned to Adonis and say, “Was that supposed to be an inspirational speech or something?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be,” Donny shook his head. “But if you want to treat it like one then be my guest.”

“Don’t let it get to your head,” Will said with a chuckle, and the two shared a short laugh that broke the tension. William then sighed and continued, “Maybe you’re right, Don. Maybe I need to swallow my pride and just… go for it. KISMO looks like it’s going to be a bust anyway. If I get too picky then eventually there’s going to be nothing left to pick. God, I don’t want to do it!” he suddenly shouted. “But I have to,” he continued in a more normal tone. “For the sake of my season, my career, I have to do this.”

“Now that’s more like it,” Donny said.

“Hey man, I don’t wanna take up any more of your time,” William said after glancing at his watch. “I know I kinda just barged in on you when I went here, but I really needed to hear your voice. I don’t know if I liked what I heard from you but it was still nice talking to you anyway. Feels nice to talk to someone else again, someone who’s in the same boat as me.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?” Adonis shrugged. “Oh, and Will,” he called out just as William was about to leave, “you know you can always talk to me whenever you need it, right? If you’ve got anything else that’s bothering you, you know you can talk to me about it, right?”

“Yeah,” William nodded. “I know.”

“I’m right here,” Donny continued. “If you wanna talk about anything else.”

“Yeah, I think I’m good for now,” William nodded again, and then he left the room. Adonis sighed as he sat back down on his bed once again, but now it appeared as if it was his turn to think about his future, and the future of his career. He would love it if KISMO offered him their second seat, but he also had to think about the possibility that he wasn’t what KISMO was looking for. Where else could he go? William had a test with Ælund to look forward to. What did Donny have? A big fat bunch of nothing.

Or maybe not. There were still teams with vacancies out there. HMG, for one. And then there was that new team from Doubeia, Peter Shevchenko or whatever it was actually called. Surely they would need at least one driver right now, right? Donny wrote himself a reminder on his tablet to email both of those teams about his desire to drive for them the next morning. His mind wasn’t really in any condition to write flattering stuff about himself this late into the night. However, just as Donny was about to close his tablet, a new email notification popped up at the top of the screen. Donny tapped the notification, and once he saw who it was from, he gasped.

It was from UrGa.