World Grand Prix Championship 21 [RP/results]

by **Quirhoshe** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 7:07 pm

Liventia wrote:A very quick but important OOC host note:
Please keep RPs in here semi-related to the WGPC season. If you're only signed up for a non-WGPC series, please don't post your RPs related to that series here. After all, WGPC driver signups are always open – but if you're not participating, then it does not make sense for you to post about a different tournament here.

Azalia Kawakai took a deep breath before putting her helmet on. She had been racing a lot lately, and she was very tired. However, she was determined to win the world cup. She had done fairly well in qualifying of some of her races, but in one she had finished near the bottom at 30th. She knew she had to work hard to win. She had been logging eight hours at the training centers, so much that she barely saw her family.

Her coach often kept her back after practice to do extra runs. Her coach, a former champion, said that she needed to "Breath sweat and victory" if she wanted to win. She made sure to eat extra healthy. This meant no more Ayamas, Dualikas, or Taratis, which were Quirhoshan deserts. Ayamas were often eaten as a delicacy for the moon festival. They were cream filled fried dough with jam sauce on top. She was craving one right now. It was her favorite desert.

Azalia took a deep breath and smiled, all of this was for one thing, winning. She had to make her family proud.

by **Esmerel** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 7:43 pm

Chapter 2
Clockwork

Queensland, Doubeia
Friday, 28 February 2025 - Practice

There was still a noticeable advantage to the C102 on a street circuit, it turned out.

While the car hadn’t been generally set up for complex, technical circuits- and by all standards Queensland was one- its small size meant it had less to worry about in terms of dimensions- trying to fight past other cars, trying not to hit close walls, et cetera. Whoever was at the wheel could easily get through a lap of the numerous tricky corners without the fear of a blind spot in the car’s size causing any incidents. Provided such a driver had the skill to rip around the streets, the car would let them.

At the moment, however, Brendan Faloe was not doing any ripping. As the weekend’s Friday practice session had since gotten underway and Brendan had begun turning laps (at decent pace initially), a fault seemed to be developing in the car; the supercapacitors were down on power, handicapping the C102 significantly past its first few laps. Devin had assured Brendan that the problem could be fixed in time for qualifying, that it wasn’t anything major; it still prevented him from getting as much track time as he would have liked, given that it was a street circuit (and one entirely new to the WGPC, let alone Brendan), which naturally meant simulation runs were either unavailable or potentially inaccurate to the actual street conditions.

Brendan could suppose that, at the very least, he was doing better with the weather. While only a week after the previous race, and still in the middle of winter, it felt much warmer in Doubeia than it did in Aboveland. Though as he thought about it more, he was unsure how much of that warmth came from the weather, and how much of it came from his current improved outlook on the season. It had started fine- a reminiscence here, a negotiation there; it did what it needed to do, functionally. But with almost a month between things getting started and the first actual race happening, the slowness of it all definitely had gotten to Brendan.

There was no help that despite his regained clarity, he still had more than a few worries. Worries about his place not just at Cygnus, but in the world at large. It still seemed like one could describe the Cygnus team first by describing the team in general, then people like Dr. Emerson and Lianna, and all the other critical parts, before finally ending with ”...and then there’s Brendan”. Which was a weird way of putting it, given how central he had become and was still becoming to the Cygnus project. Brendan had captured lightning in a bottle two years prior and now had to try at it again, and still being only twenty-four years old and having his entire life ahead of him only muddled things further.

There was a sense of… inadequacy. Of failing to live up to the legend he had so hastily thrown together and yet seen shine brighter than most others in such a timespan. Switching between career plans on such a rapid basis- first coming out of college straight into a motorsport career instead of the engineering he had envisioned, then winning perhaps the biggest solo prize in motorsports, before choosing to return to school to further his degree- the WGPC was not a constant whether in Brendan’s ability to perform or even for the season to be held at all, given its now seemingly-biannual status. Yet even that was now on hold just a semester out from Brendan earning his master’s degree, throwing his life into chaos ever further. Choosing his path could not be done easily if both his biggest options were getting in his face.

It was a lot to deal with for somebody without much on his plate but his numerical successes. No love stories, or political drama, or interservice rivalries, or the like were really present at Cygnus the way they could be elsewhere in the paddock. It added to the weight of wondering something like whether the WGPC could really be his forever home- or if his life had other callings he had to attend to, success in racing or not.

As the clock continued to wind down and Brendan’s C102 still sat in the garage with no end to the repairs yet in sight, he finally had the thought that these feelings were a bit too much for one person to shoulder alone. Yet at the same time, with Cole and the engineering team busy with repairs, and Dr. Emerson focusing on Olivia’s practice runs, there weren’t many people to talk to.

Except for one- probably busy herself, but Brendan supposed she would be his best bet. He got up and left the garage, heading for the temporary paddock.

-

Lianna Alphonse sat in a tidy, precisely-organized Cygnus motorhome studying the team’s data, both from the weekend in Aboveland and the maelstrom of data from the previous season.

Such was her role, more often than not. It was her primary objective to design the team’s cars, yet despite the shuffling and assignment of other roles in the team, particularly with the many new hires brought on by Dr. Emerson this season, Lianna was one of the few qualified for the task. Brendan probably was as well, but he was much too busy with driving the cars to devote any meaningful time to data analysis. He was also better at refining the data into something that Lianna could interpret in the first place, rather than being an interpreter himself.

Despite initial concerns, Cygnus’s sophomore campaign had started decently well; much better than their first go at the WGPC. Fifteen points at the frigid Fjellutfordring left the team in third place, well ahead of the eleventh place they had started in prior. Not to mention Brendan had now made the podium four out of the last five races (stretching back to Hapilopper in the previous season), an impressive show of consistency in a series that usually lacked it, or at least made it hard to guarantee. Olivia hadn’t yet done as well, though she still qualified impressively and kept herself in the points, which already boded better for the team’s combined efforts than the previous season.

It didn’t seem much like Lianna had anything to worry about. But under her analytic and decisive exterior still sat a human heart. She privately felt plenty of what Dr. Emerson and others felt as the team had journeyed forth into the breach a second time- pride for their project, and a desire to see it succeed better than it did prior. Considering what exactly the team already managed, improving on that might be a big ask. One she felt compelled to achieve regardless. She had to be able to do it. She was the only one in Brendan’s classes that bested him in grades. In fact, she had bested everyone in grades, down to the sheer determination she always expressed in college. It wasn’t to impress anyone in particular, and it wasn’t to earn any improved scholarships- Esmerel already guaranteed free four-year degrees at all its colleges. Lianna just believed that if she was to act exceptionally and indomitably, so too would anyone that benefitted from her efforts- and that life would simply come easier once she had done all she needed to. Whatever that meant.

That was perhaps the same mindset she was going by in her current role. Prevent every flaw. Find every weakness. Deny them however possible. So Lianna stuck to whatever might help those ideals, and analyzing data- lap times, wear rates, driver comments, anything under the sun that could be quantifiable- was chief among that. The data consumed her in her thoughts so vividly that she barely even noticed Brendan entering the motorhome to talk with her- though a mind as forward-focused as hers wouldn’t admit to failing such a spot check. “Brendan?” she began, still slightly startled. “I wouldn’t have expected you to be here now.”

“Capacitor’s faulty,” Brendan explained. “Everyone else is busy working on the repairs, and… I needed someone to talk to.”

“Talk to? Brendan, what for, precisely?” she asked, almost bewildered. “Not only do I need time to analyze team data, I’m not one to talk. Find Dr. Emerson.”

“He’s busy with both the repairs and with Olivia’s practice program,” Brendan continued.

“Then wait for him to not be busy. I’m busier,” Lianna tried to retort.

Brendan grimaced a bit and sighed. “Indulge me, would you? I don’t want to wait to discuss what’s on my mind,” he said. “If I do, I might lose the chance.”

Lianna gave it a few seconds to think. She began to reason that, having been Brendan’s classmate for several years at Cygnus, and considering the success he had brought the team- her designs, especially- she might as well hear him out. Provided his impetus wasn’t entirely unfounded.

“I… suppose I can sympathize with that,” she finally responded. “Alright, Brendan. Tell me what’s so important that you have to say it now.”

Brendan cleared his throat, pausing. “I feel a bit lost, Lianna,” he said. “About what I’m doing here. About making it my future.”

Lianna felt uncertain about how to reply. “Is that… really the case?” she asked, with honest trepidation. “You’ve proven your skills in driving for us. You’re the defending champion, and despite our team’s start being slower than we anticipated, you still kept to the podium last weekend. Unless I’m missing something, you don’t seem like someone who’s still looking for a reason.”

“You are missing something- but I guess it’s not your fault that’s the case,” Brendan explained. “Not as if I’ve really told anyone this. I just… Last weekend felt like the biggest fluke of my life. I got the results we wanted, at least a bit, but I wasn’t focusing as much as I could have. If I had, I might have done better. Second, heck, maybe even first. It was all just… a blur. I was aware the whole time; I got to the end in one piece, after all… but I felt distracted. Disloyal to my own senses.”

“I’d counter that your senses are alright. Phenomenal, even,” Lianna replied. “It takes a serious level of focus and fitness to drive the way you do for just a few seconds, let alone an hour and a half or more.”

“Lianna… I’m not asking you to be a sycophant, but could you at least, I don’t know… care?” Brendan asked, unsure.

“...Alright. I can tell you want to explain why you feel that way, and I’m slowly getting more interested in listening,” Lianna acknowledged. “So go on.”

Brendan sighed. “Just… the balance of my life, within and without this series,” he said. “You know I was in the graduate program at Cygnus after I won the championship. I wanted to explore my options. In case anything here went south and I needed a fallback. And… well, I guess it took over my priorities. As it would, of course; there wasn’t WGPC to worry about and graduate school has plenty of hours of work. I just feel… messy, dropping all that even if Cygnus understands and even if I can pick it back up next spring or whenever the chance next comes.” Brendan took a deep breath. “It’s just too much for me to handle all at once. So I wanted to try and explain it to you.”

“Is there anything or… anyone pressuring you towards that?”

“Probably just myself,” Brendan thought aloud. “I don’t want to lock myself into a single option and then have it go wrong. Too many eggs in a basket never helped anyone.”

“Neither does not enough eggs,” Lianna retorted. “Just my thoughts, I mean. I know it’s delicate to you. I know how you go about things; we’ve been acquainted for six years. Being second best was always your “good enough”, and now that you’ve shown you can be first and everyone here’s expecting it of you again it’s throwing you off. Is that what this is about?”

“I guess.”

“I have an… idea. Care to indulge me, Brendan?” Lianna asked. “Any… direct comments you’d like to make on the state of the car?”

“...That’s catching me at an imperfect time, Lianna,” Brendan replied. “Not a lot for me to say that the others already haven’t. Make adjustments for the technique-heavy tracks however you can.”

“Which is what I’m doing here and now,” Lianna snipped. “Much as we can never be sure, this race isn’t going to be in our advantage. I’m doing everything within the team’s resources and WGPC rules to close the gap. Given your… willingness to approach me now, of all times, you must have enough energy in you to do the same on your end.” She paused. “See? Not that everything else isn’t viable, but you’re well focused on the current matter.”

“I am now,” Brendan acknowledged, “just not before I got onto the podium in Aboveland. And I don’t want to slip back into that. Going through the motions when most everyone else is reaching beyond won’t get me far.”

“I’d like to say this to you with confidence: that won’t happen, Brendan,” Lianna enforced. “You’re much better than that. Even if you become occupied, you’ll find your time. Really, I… must get back to studying these data.”

“Okay… I appreciate you giving me even five minutes,” Brendan said, as he stood up and started to leave.

“Brendan?” Lianna’s voice made Brendan stop before he reached the door. “...I appreciated you coming to me, as well,” she confided. “Talk more later?”

Brendan smiled at Lianna, his long-time acquaintance yet little beyond- until perhaps now, at least. “Deal.”

-

Sunday, 2 March 2025 - After The Race

The rest of the weekend went by like a blur for Brendan. Not the same out-of-control blur that some of the preseason had been to him, but nothing much of note happened until car #01 took the checkered flag in Doubeia in sixth place.

From the moment the schedule had been finalized, everyone at Cygnus had reasoned that the Doubeinese Grand Prix would be damage control at best, given the C102’s performance balance- not by any means completely lopsided, but still out of the team’s favor. Sixth place for Brendan was probably the best he could ask for- given his new preference for technical handling in place of the car and his already-impervious driving style that meant, short of a mechanical failure as haunted him last season in Aboveland, he wouldn’t be retiring due to any serious error. Hopefully, at least.

Beyond at least some belief, the damage control had left Brendan still in third place in the Drivers’ Championship, and Cygnus still third in the Constructors’- though distant in both cases to the top two drivers and teams, who were facing much better fortunes overall- Ælund especially. Brendan hadn’t really known that team in their prime, but he knew that before he was around, before their scandalous struggles last season, they were a force to be reckoned with- and now it felt like they had never left the top.

Their performance so far managed to truly highlight how Brendan’s championship was one in a million. His early season had its highlights, but wasn’t good overall, and his late season was impressive but far from impervious. Yet the never-before-seen level of parity that last season had featured let his charge be enough to steal it all. Barring a sudden change of fortune, that wasn’t really going to happen again. It only added more pressure for him to step up where and when he could- pressure that would certainly bend Brendan’s will. He only had to make sure it didn’t break him.

On the other side of the Cygnus garage, and of such fortune, Brendan had a thought about his new teammate, Olivia Stone. She had qualified very well in Aboveland before unfortunately slipping down the order due to mistakes; she had at least been fortunate enough to stay in the points. This time around, she hadn’t run anywhere near the front; her saving grace was a flyer of a lap that netted her a bonus point on top of the one she had earned through position in the previous round. Yet again- perhaps disturbingly so- Brendan was disproportionately carrying Cygnus’s efforts in the points. He didn’t want to make assumptions. Olivia had shown her pace; she did still earn that fastest lap, and she had experience enough to back up her place in the sport. It just left a bad taste in his mouth, and a bad image for Cygnus to handle- the rumor, much as it could be fought, that Cygnus only cared about their home driver and left the other one to rot would be harder and harder to fight the longer this continued. So if there was a way to make it not continue, Brendan was happy to look for it.

It so happened that Olivia’s home race was next week. A race she had done well at before, though the same could be said for most home heroes. Better still, it would be an opportunity for her to relax, or at least enjoy herself in the culture of the Wardship as she was used to- maybe even with Brendan along for the ride, trying things her way as she had introduced him to combat training a few weeks prior.

Brendan Faloe had found his chance- his spark- in the passion of success, and the confiding in his team. Maybe Olivia Stone could do the same.

by **Aboveland** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 8:20 pm

Queensland Street Circuit
Queensland, Doubeia

This Sunday, Terho sits. His headset gently cups his ears; there's no nagging fear in the pit of his stomach, no gnashing of teeth, no trembling pulse in his neck or the weight of impending despair on his eyebrows. Gone is the ever-sinking dread in his chest that had become all too familiar last year What there is is one of Ælund's best starting grids of all time, a talented hotshot finally coming to the surface and a returning feeder series champion hitting his stride just in time, and a car that had left everybody — even him, certified test driver — dumbfounded. All of their pace predictions and their braces for impact folded after qualifying — either their simulators need some heavy, urgent recalibration, or AGP007 is a revolution.

What there also is, because there must always be a physical manifestation of Terho's emotions, is a tight grip around his mouth, the fingers on his other hand pinching and picking at the prickly skin above his Adam's apple, because he can hear the radio check from the pitwall to Abdoulaye's car through his speakers, and he hears the Reçueçian respond with assertive confidence, and then suddenly the engines on the grid begin to rumble and grumble as the strip of lights at the end of the pitlane light up — and when they fade, he pulses through a violent, sighing exhale, and springs from his lawnchair towards the telemetry monitors on his side of the garage. He's almost as locked in as if it were him in the #89 car; his eyes dart away across the garage floor towards the TV screen when the garage erupts into cheers and fist pumps, a yellow-cyan nose eking into frame past the sweeping turn one. A hot rush overcomes him and pools at his scalp as his throat strains for words, and his mouth morphs into an unkillable smile.

Janne inadvertently whines into his radio, grunting and huffing as he barrels out of Convention. His car is sideways through the apex, and twiddles on its wheels as it careens towards the finishing left-right-left sequence. Into the first corner, his tyres screech, neck straining forwards and to the right, then back the other way, and back right again, before he's pinned into his seat into the main straight. The black PB of Haukanna comes back into view as he rounds the final turn, but he's panting into his helmet, tongue out and all.

"Gap Haukanna, one-point-three; you gained point-five this lap. Safe behind from Faloe, plus seven." The Abovian coughs back at his Esmerelian engineer, who follows up with a pang of concern. "Everything fine, Janne?"

"It's..." he gasps for air, puffing his cheeks as he brakes into turn one; the cumbersome front end on his Chase Cutter forces him to cut it so close to the inside wall of turn two on braking that his front left fenders pulse in scintillating cerulean. Haukanna had come within reach before the braking zone, but she's through the hairpin like she's on rails; her car looked as much like a Scalextric around the corners as Janne's a first generation fighter jet. With a pulse of the throttle, he's back onto the straight — and gaining fast on the Pryfors Bilar. "It's undriveable, Max," he manages to spit through a huff, releasing the pent-up stress he'd held into turn one. He all but skims over the track surface as the circuit turns right, and right again, to enter its most technical section — where the lurching and croaking and whirring of the Nimban machine turns his stomach. "I... how many laps left?"

"Five," Max replies calmly. "You can get Laura in two; your tyres will hold."

Janne groans. "Hopefully this g-suit will, too." Rocketing towards the left-hander before Convention, having lost time in the middle sector, the carbon layup on the Aurunan's diffuser reveals itself as the apex nears. Trade-offs, I guess, he self-concedes, clenching his jaw and spitting dryly into his helmet.

"Haukanna point-four now," Max informs as Janne nears the end of his lap. "Ted leads by almost a minute."

And just like that, Janne finds a new, eleventh-hour wind; by the braking into turn one, he's shutting the Aurunan's door.

And now, there is, in fact, all the things in whose absence Terho basked: the sinking pit of his stomach, the gnashing of his teeth, the trembling pulse in his neck and, while not with the weight of despair, the fallen eyebrows that clamp his face into a consuming state of alert. He's hijacked the comms with Abdoulaye in the closing stages of the race, having perhaps overstepped his role as sporting director since the start, anyway. His messages are short and sweet, coaching at best and redundant at worst — "watch the fronts"; "easy does it", "hug the inside", "trust the car."

Trust. The. Car.

There's a mix of pride, responsibility, and relief rallying inside him, building and pushing against the backs of his ears and the seat of his molars, all three resting on the ten digits that grip the wheel of car number eighty-nine. He and the team had weathered the cyclone of WGPC20 — had witnessed the fall of a giant, the demise of a legend, the fleeting, wispy spark of an enigmatic, misunderstood soul — a torment so profound that they had almost become desensitized to failure. The glory of days past had begun to feel like an erstwhile myth — would any of it ever happen again?

He cheats a glance at Edvin, whose lips are pursed between his fingers. His glasses reflect his glassy pupils on one side and the dizzying array of timings sprawled across the pit wall on the other. He looks stoic, frozen, entranced, and might not even be breathing. The microsectors under the trigram GTA flash in alternating shades of green and red; Cruisin's chasing Piers Ivchenko as reference. Terho, from inside the Goita radio feed — he is the radio feed — is just as aware. Cruisin's Brimstones are supposed to be weaker than Ælund's Sifakas, but the Vilitan's ten seasons have flat-lined Abs' sabbatical. The gap has been steadily trickling down for a few laps now, and the rear end of the Reçueçian's car has begun to come undone in the malicious braking zones scattered across the bumpy circuit.

And then, amidst the looming threat of absolutely anything happening between Junction and the end of the lap, the checkered flag floods the TV broadcast; the grandstands erupt in fervor, and cheers and kicks and wails fill the garage behind Terho and Edvin and the rest of the pit-wall crew. His eyes dart between Abs' cluttered and Ted's empty screens, then between the frenzy at the back and the expressionless face on the team principal. Another hot rush begins to spread from the tip of his tailbone up to the ends of his hair as he cups his own face in between both his hands and soft weeps echo throughout the speakers on the circuit.

It's only when Abs shrieks into his helmet, his fists punching the air live on the broadcast, that Terho catches a glimpse of the climax: from numb to fractured, Edvin collapses, his face morphing into a wretched, wrinkled pit of tears and trembling lips, face caught in his own hands, which reach at his eyes from under his lenses. Terho, possessed, cackles hysterically into his headseat, hearing his jubilation echoed and ringing out across the circuit. Acutely aware of the fact, Terho tries to muster up a soundbyte for the cameras. "Ted Pressley, Abdoulaye Goita," he begins, trying to buy himself some time, but he chokes up before he can think of anything much more sentimental. "Welcome to Ælund Grand Prix!"

Weeps, chortles and chants fill the air all around him.

Spotted across the internet and social media...

And since I couldn't fit this in otherwise: Janne Laukkanen, Terho Talvela, Abdoulaye Goita and Ted Pressley (the latter two on recommendation from Talvela) will participate in NRCU.

by **Auruna** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 10:30 pm

Queensland Street Circuit
Doubeinese Grand Prix

It was a hard fought battle. Well, not quite. As soon as the Ælunds went ahead of Laura, she knew that she is immediately out of the fight and will be unable to challenge them any further. There were not much that she could do so "plan B" came into play as she shifted her focus on getting the most points as she possibly can as PB's sole driver. She couldn't ignore the pressure and it's making her lingering headache worse but she still pushed forward.

Just before her first pit stop, she went on the radio to ask Erik, suspicious about something concerning her car. "Erik, something feels off. Does it say anything for you there?"

"Negative." Erik said. "Sensors show nothing unusual."

"Huh, weird."

Later on, Laura tried her hardest to remain somewhere at the top. A podium would be a distant miracle as she was stuck at fifth while the Ælunds runaway with a 1-2 victory. Still, the result and performance was worthy of praise from her team as they add on 8 points to their tally. It wasn't much but for PB, it was more than acceptable and Laura, even though she missed out on a podium by a long shot, was still satisfied with her performance.

As she went around for her cooldown lap after several words of praise from Aldauren and Erik, she couldn't help but feel that something is off about her car.

"Are you sure that there's nothing wrong from your data?"

"Yeah, all data looked fine. Tyres, transmission, engine... all showed no signs of any fault."

"Still, something doesn't feel right."

"Let's discuss this later."

Laura sighed and placed her hand on top of the steering wheel. Aina, you did well. Although... are you also unwell? I can't get you to your best.

At parc fermé, as soon as Laura got out of her PF-3, she did a walk around to check certain parts of her car. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary at first as she started at the front. The nose and front wing, aside from some scratches, dirt, and chips, everything seemed to be in order. The front wheels showed not significant issues among the intense wear they have. However, as she got to the rear of the car, after skimming past the rear wing, her suspicions were confirmed after feeling the tyre pressure using her foot. Laura double checked with her hand and compared to the front tyres, the rear tyres showed significant loss of pressure, especially the rear-left which felt unusually soft to the touch and it was somehow not picked up by any of the sensors. She was seen shaking her head after discovering this as she went over to Erik to tell him about it.

"Erik, jokana takainarenkaste väärista." (TL: "Erik, there's something wrong with the rear tyres." Laura said and shared her findings afterward.

Erik looked shocked as he was told about it since the problem was completely overlooked until Laura decided to figure it out herself. "Ihmenie Sam on tähkkünähennä..." (TL: "No wonder Sam had her incident...") He quietly muttered to himself. He then thanked Laura before relaying the information to Aldauren and the other engineers present.

Meanwhile, Laura returned to the motorhome to get some rest before debriefing. Her body was aching and she felt more than exhausted after getting through the race with a pounding headache. She might need a few more days to fully recover, hopefully just in time for the next race weekend. Then she unknowingly fell asleep, losing track of time until she was woken up and dragged toward the briefing room by Erik.

No points and an incident that sent one of their drivers down from a promising start. Viska was quite unfortunate for this round, and even though it was just two races in, this season is showing signs of a repeat of the previous season which was an extreme headache for everyone in the team. Even more so for Jöna who was informed by Kiiro about a threat of a significant budget cut by the mid-season if their performance doesn't improve by then with the funds possibly diverting towards the ARC and AEC teams. Now the team is under immense pressure from all sides and Jöna doesn't have much choice in the matter. Luck doesn't favour them after all.

Even though that was the case, optimistic hope still remains in the team as Artur briefly takes over running the team trackside while a stressed out Jöna deals with their issues behind the scenes for the next two race weekend. Pushing through with a planned upgrade package that features Viska's new front wing concept in hopes to utilise its capabilities to alleviate any issues with the new design philosophy of the chassis. Adding on to that, Ron Sommer, Viska's first driver choice, underwent some training and practice to help him realise his full potential. All of this was a small part of Artur's plan to at least help the team improve throughout the season. Although he doesn't know what to do with Archer's... issues.

Meanwhile, VRG moved on to more ambitious projects as the heavily improved Kiiruja isn't as problematic as before. PB's VelFire provided significant insight on the viability of a V10 engine but they still wanted to retain their hybrid system. While the Inline-6 project has top priority, there's no stopping them in trying out the V10 concept especially since they already worked on one: the Viska VX-20R, a 2.0 Litre V10 hybrid engine that was originally made for an old AEC prototype and was tested with a modified Schkeska Kana. Taking advantage of Ron's practice sessions, they scheduled a test session with two VK-03H/Bs, one fitted with the VX-20R and the other being fitted with the VTG-25TR sometime before the Nimban Grand Prix to gather data about the engines.

Additional help then came from an unlikely source. With TTGP running alongside WGPC, Viska couldn't divert much resources to entering it until they were approached by none other than Raiko Meirokana of VSK-Maarukanna who expressed interest in the support series and personally asked Viska for a potential joint entry. Of course, Viska couldn't turn him down as they also wanted to have their own entry in the series. They, however, needed to get approval for their joint entry from the MNA which took quite some time but was eventually successful resulting in the MNA Viroluki-Viska Racing. This allowed Viska access to VSK's expert aerodynamicists to assist the team with their aero projects, especially the swing wing concept in which VSK provided helpful advice to utilise it to the fullest.

The team is significantly busier than before as they strive to better their performance on track. Maybe for the third race, their fortune might turnaround. It's a possibility but not a guarantee as far as they knew. Still, they're far from giving up completely as their recent actions showed. All in hopes to prove that they are still a challenger out on track.

Mÿstainenauri jääre vairevasti säi es katsaisse himassan settäikun pihäkäisettänää esain katkiiainasiivaitta. Valean silmänet nie kuihtunie säi es iikana tuoviskassa nä tähte sentajälee lentajaa.

Kinu initially never had any trouble adapting to a new team even if the team were as unfamiliar as Preston, he usually handles it pretty well. But most of his problems lie on the dynamics of the new car in actual race conditions and his PGP-04 wasn't too kind to him at the start. When it all seemed to be doing well, something always goes wrong soon after and it's always with the car or possibly the engine if it decided to shoot out smoke signals. Unaware if his teammate shares his sentiments but Kinu always had to force the car to comply. Although, even a result so insignificant, it feels oddly satisfying when Kinu manages to pull it off.

"That's P9 Kinu, P9, and your first points for us." The words from his race engineer fills his ear as he became speechless, it felt weird as he believed that he was out of the points at somewhere like 15th but no, somehow he managed to breach into the points-giving positions and end up in 9th. Far off from anything remarkable but it was a commendable effort from him. Even then, he still had mixed emotions after the race. He's happy that he finally scored some points but he also had some "colourful" Aurun expressions for Kuumikaho as among the other issues he encountered throughout the entire weekend, he nearly drowned when he attempted to have a drink during the race as he was involuntarily waterboarded with warm liquid. After blowing off some steam with his Aurun rant, he never forgot to praise Kuumikaho even if it had other insane ideas that will mess with him. Still, there are signs that the two are starting to work together.

Maybe things are starting to look up, progress is just slow for now, taking a few steps at a time. Although with the unpredictable nature of WGPC and, at this point, the entire team, there's no knowing what will actually happen. A number of wild ideas popped up. Maybe the engine might actually explode, or a suspension arm snapping off. Or maybe, just maybe Kinu could get another points scoring finish. No one can be so sure.

But one thing is for certain: whether it be terrible or successful, it's going to be an eventful albeit exhausting weekend for Kinu knowing what kind of luck he currently has. He just hopes that he didn't make a bad roll.

by **Recuecn** » Thu Mar 06, 2025 11:47 pm

Vincent barged into Yakov’s office, followed by Valérie, as usual.

“Yakov, I believe we have a problem.”

“What a coincidence,” said UrGa’s financial advisor. “So do I.”

“Well do you want to go first, or me?”

“After you,” said Yakov, gesturing magnanimously toward Vincent with an open palm.

“This team—you know I love driving for UrGa and working with you, Yakov.” Vincent was apparently heated enough that he had dropped the formalities of referring to the UrGa financial advisor as “Monsieur Yurievsky.” “I appreciate that you’ve given me this opportunity to be a part of UrGa and the WGPC, and as I’ve said before, I think that we are two individuals who can work together quite well,” continued Vincent. “But that’s not true of everyone on the team.”

Vincent paused for breath. Yakov waited patiently for him to continue.

“This team is driving me up the wall. There is no trust, no cooperation. Just now I was in the garage after qualifying, and Illarion and his team stripped my entire car down with no warning. No heads up at all. Zero communication.”

“Osipov?” clarified Yakov.

“Yes. And not only is my race engineer failing to communicate with me, I’m also quite sure that they took the car apart in order to examine it and spy on me. I don’t know what they suspect me of, but I’m insulted and offended.” Vincent crossed his arms over his chest to drive home his point, like a petulant child. “Illarion has been nothing but trouble. Actually, I intend to talk to Vasily about it, and demand a new race engineer immediately. This is unacceptable.”

“But now you’re telling me instead of Vasily because you expect me to go over his head?” asked Yakov. “Technically, he’s in charge of hiring for the team. But between you and me, I wouldn’t be surprised if he backs up Illarion. As likely as not, he put him up to the espionage in the first place. I believe he thinks I’ve been tampering with your car.”

“Have you?” Vincent eyed Yakov with suspicion.

“Of course not!” Yakov was indignant—although it was impossible to say whether it was a genuine reaction, or a part he was playing. “Come now,” he added, his tone more conciliatory now, “you and I, at least, need to work together. If you want Illarion fired, you may be out of luck—I imagine Vasily will put his foot down. But I can ask him if it’s possible to find a new race engineer for you.”

“Valérie could do it,” Vincent blurted out.

“Avec tout respect, Monsieur, I most definitely could not. I know nothing about formula cars.”

“You could learn,” said Vincent. “You’re very capable.”

Valérie was standing behind Vincent, who sat at Yakov’s desk face-to-face with the financial advisor. From where she stood, only Yakov could see her face. He thought he glimpsed perhaps the first trace of emotion there he’d ever seen—a raised eyebrow, and a doubting look.

“Well, it seems your assistant may not agree,” said Yakov. “But we can see what our options are.”

Vincent let out a snort, seemingly unconvinced.

“If that was a conversation you meant to have with Vasily,” asked Yakov, “then why did you come to my office?”

“You’re right, there was another reason,” said Vincent. “I got carried away when the engineers pissed me off…” He trailed off, trying to remember why he’d come to Yurievsky’s office in the first place.

“Les douaniers, Monsieur,” prompted Valérie, helpfully.

“Ah yes. Unfortunately, I come bearing bad news.”

Vincent paused again, expecting Yakov to ask what that might be. Yakov simply waited in silence.

Seeing that he was not going to get any audience participation, Vincent went on. “The Reçuecian Ministère des Douanes et Impôts—our ministry of tax collection and border patrol, essentially—contacted me to ask for help with an investigation they’re leading. They’re looking into the illegal exportation of Reçuecian currency. Apparently they’re aware that there’s a large amount of guilders abroad.”

Vincent paused, swallowed, continued. “As you might imagine, I have not been reporting my payments to you to the authorities. Fortunately, since I own my own bank, I was able to withdraw a million guilders in cash without having the bank file a report to the MDI, which would normally be an automatic process. I also neglected to mention to border security that I was carrying the money with me when I left Reçueçn. Of course, neither the withdrawal, nor taking the money out of the country is illegal, but given the money’s destination, were the MDI to find out, I would certainly be accused of money laundering or colluding with foreign powers.”

“So far, we’re in the clear. I can make up a million guilders in the ledgers somewhere, and at the end of the year everything will look fine. But if I continue to make regular large cash withdrawals to continue my payments to you, as planned, I think the MDI will be onto us in no time.”

Yakov grimaced. He could see where this was headed.

“So, given all of that, and les douaniers snooping and hounding me like a pack of hyenas, I’m afraid I’ll have to suspend my payments to you for the present. Of course I still intend to get you the money somehow. But it will take some clever accounting to make it all look clean, and so far, I don’t have any ideas on how to do that.”

“So the long and short of it is…” said Yakov.

“I can’t give you any money anymore. So don’t ask. Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Valérie was used to doing all kinds of tasks for Vincent, but this was a particularly unusual one; drafting a love letter. It crossed Valérie’s mind that if Vincent wanted someone else to write his love letters, he might as well ask ChatGPT, but he probably wanted the human touch.

Not something Valérie was known for.

She would do her best anyhow. Setting pen to paper, she jotted down a brief missive to hand to Nepö Kinder later.

Dear Nepö,

I know we’ve hardly spoken, but I hope you’ll excuse such an old-fashioned and distant method of communication when you understand how much my heart flutters every time I see you in person. I simply can’t stand to be in the same room as you—you are like the sun; your beauty is too bright to view directly. And like the sun, you’re really hot.

You and I have so much in common. You are a WGPC driver. I am a WGPC driver. You race for UrGa. I race for UrGa. You’re quite good-looking. I am drop-dead gorgeous. Clearly we are fated to be together.

I know we have had some rocky encounters, but I have a deep respect for you. I saw the way you overtook me and so many other drivers in the last race. Maybe you and I could go for a drive together and you could show me some tips?

Please say yes. With every breath I take, I hope that the passing time brings us closer to our next encounter.

Avec tout mon amour,

Vincent Von Visp

Valérie set down her pen with a contented smile. She thought she’d done a decent job guessing what Vincent might want to say, and with her persuasive words, she was quite sure that Nepö would be convinced.

Vincent, however, added a postscript before he let Valérie give the letter to Nepö.

P.S. You know that this season’s two first race winners are fuckin on the regular, right? I know what they say about correlation and causation, but maybe it’s worth a shot?

by **Katzeburg** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 4:46 am

The Treehouse, Axmund

I’m not going anywhere.

That was all that was running through the mind of Gil Langdon as he sat waiting just off stage in the grand ballroom of the Treehouse, the fanciest event venue in Axmund (not that there is much competition, to be fair). Langdon Logging, in their position as a sponsor for this season’s KISMO car (and directly being a key reason why Gil has a seat in the top tier to begin with), are hosting their annual charity benefit dinner. As one of the newest Katzeburgians on the world circuit, Gil is a guest of honour.

It’s not something which struck too fondly in his heart though - his father was the owner of the company pushing all this money over to KISMO to fund his racing career and the attendance at the gala was very much a strict condition of the sponsorship. Gil had never loved coming to these type of events run by his father’s company - they always smacked of nothing but ass-kissing and pushing his company fraudulent responsible business claims; after all, is it really responsible if you chop down large swathes of Katzeburg’s lush forests only to make it all ok by having a get-up where you donate less than 1% of your yearly profits to a local charity for forest replacement?

But a condition is a condition, and he found himself more willingly accepting of the invite this year than he had done in the past - no doubt due to the positive turn in fortunes he experienced on track in Doubeia. He had guided his KISMO car to a respectable 7th in qualifying while his on-track partner Shuhei Kamado failed to even qualify under the WGPC qualification rules, leaving the Katzeburgian the sole Kissan representative on the grid.

It wouldn’t be a comfortable finish in the points though for Gil, as the KISMO car still seems to be a little off the fierce race pace seen by the leading teams - he quickly found himself dropping down the leaderboard after the first few laps. But after the first pit stop, Gil would lock in. He found himself as part of a small pack fighting for eighth alongside Nepö Kinder and Kinu Luminna, but ultimately the KISMO car wouldn’t be able to compete with the vehicles from UrGa and Preston. Gil fell more and more behind the pair, but still comfortably found himself finishing in 10th, more than 12 seconds ahead of UrGa’s Vincent Von Visp.

It was enough to end in the points, the first for KISMO this season and for Gil, that was more than enough in his books to show that he was capable of not only racing in this division, but leading the team. Kamado was well off the pace in Doubeia, so much so that he failed to make the starting grid. It would only serve to heap the pressure towards his Ajian teammate and off himself. It made for a week of relief over at the KISMO headquarters for Gil, as he could turn his mind away from the atmosphere building around the team and just focus on the race and preparation.

So by the time it came to board the flight back to Katzestadt to head over to the Langdon Logging event he was keen to turn his mind back to thoughts of home. Having finally gotten in the points was something he could happily raise to his ever-demanding father and maybe, finally, get a positive reaction. As he peeked out behind the lavish red curtains of the stage, he could see his father proudly prancing around at the front of the room, packed out with many of North Katzeburg’s socialites and people of power. Archie always had a way to turn on the charm whenever he was in a room of people that ‘mattered’ and at an event like this, it was one of the best ways he could continue his move up the ladder of power in the nation. Gil leant back and sighed. He could do little but wait for the moment he would be called out, which thankfully wasn’t too far away. As his father fake-jogged up the steps onto the stage and strode towards the mic, Gil took a deep breath in. Here we go.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Axmund and beyond, I just want to thank you all for coming down tonight to celebrate our commitment to acting responsibly as a business while also taking in the brilliant success we’ve seen over this past year,” said Archie Langdon.

“Langdon Logging has gone from strength to strength over the last year, not only hitting record profits, but growing our family and starting important conversations about how we can support other nations overseas by bringing the strength of the Axmund logging industry to the world. In fact, that leads me quite nicely to our guest of honour tonight - any of you racing fans may have spotted our little logo affixed to a certain racecar in the World Grand Prix Championship this season. We’re proud sponsors of Kissan Motorsport and one of their star drivers is here to greet us all tonight, someone with a very personal link to our company. In fact, you could even say he’s keeping the sponsorship well within the family!”

Chuckles echoed around the room, the kind of polite laughs you’d get from a dictator telling an unfunny joke.

“Please welcome to the stage, my son and Kissan racer, Gil Langdon!”

Gil shut his eyes quickly, saying a little prayer this would be nice, quick, and painless. And then walked out on stage with a beaming smile across his face. As he waved to the crowd to rapturous applause, he did a faux-embrace of his father like someone coming up on stage receiving an award. But as he wrapped his arms around his father - his first hug with Archie in years, mind you - Gil heard his father return to his normal icy-cold demeanor.

“Don’t fuck this up, son.”

Gil swallowed and nodded along, before resuming the big smiles and waltzing up to the mic.

“How about it, ladies and gents - there’s no-one like Archie Langdon in Katzeburg, is there?” Gil said feigning sincerity to the crowd. The crowd didn’t care, they were drinking the Langdon family punch by the bucket load.

“A huge thank you to my father and the whole Langdon Logging team for their sponsorship of our team this season,” Gil continued. “I’m glad to say it’s already paying brilliant dividends as anyone who may have spotted our team last time out in Doubeia would have seen me rocket into the points for the first time this season! The first of many, many more to come!”

The crowd erupted in applause as Gil cracked a wide smile. He turned his head slightly towards his father to gauge his reaction, only to see the logging magnate shaking his head in dismissal at his son’s achievement. Inside, Gil was cursing himself for thinking that this would have been enough to please his father. He might not be going anywhere from KISMO, but he wasn’t making any progress with his father.

“Anyways, let’s talk about the great charity that really sits at the heart of tonight’s dinner, shall we?”

Viska Racing Headquarters, Auruna

“I’m not getting anywhere.”

Ron Sommer was speaking aloud to himself in a little office deep in the heart of the Viska headquarters as he poured over the strewn-out documents in front of him. His race weekend over in Doubeia hadn’t been as successful as he had hoped; a poor qualifying saw him start down the back of the grid in 22nd, but to his credit the rookie had powered up the grid during the race itself - finishing eight spots higher than he started in 14th and somehow a spot higher than his team-mate William Archer - who started the race all the way up in sixth.

He had been the best performing of the two so far this season, but two points from two races wasn’t anything to write home about and he knew he could do a lot better on the track. It was his consistency which was seemingly letting him down - he was doing great rising up the ranks, but the mistakes which rookies tend to make on the circuit haunt you and for Ron, he had seen it more often than not over the first two races. A wide turn here, an over-eagerness to break ahead of the corner there; it was simple stuff which irons out with time, but for Ron it was starting to demolish his confidence. The slow qualifying in Doubeia hadn’t helped - he was thanking his lucky stars he didn’t end up missing out on the race day entirely - but to their credit Viska had been willing to roll with the punches so far.

Ron was out on the track a lot ahead of the Nimban Grand Prix as the team had let him take the reins of his own training and development - as long as they could also use the time to give a few new concepts a run too. Ron tried to soak it all in - to him, knowing as much about the car and its various elements was crucial to getting over the line and improving, and the two new engine concepts seemed to give him a good idea of what he would personally be wanting in a car - enough acceleration off the line to give him a leg-up, while ensuring enough sustained speed to challenge at the front of the pack. Viska would be heading to the next race looking in the right direction as a team, with a flurry of workers swirling around the headquarters to get the upgraded packages prepped in time for the practice and qualifying, leaving Ron to spend a good chunk of time by himself as he continued to get to learn all he could.

But as he poured over whatever telegrammatic data he could get his hands on, he just found himself more and more confused. It was leaving him a little frustrated, truth be told - especially as he couldn’t help getting a glimpse of his team-mate wandering around the facility over the week. William looked like everything was almost of second-nature to him, like he didn’t need to put in the hard yards Ron was doing to basically get the similar results. Hell, on the track Archer was outperforming him with ease in qualifying. Yet after two races, it was Ron who had finished ahead of him both times. Something did seem off with him, but Ron was not going to broach the subject any time soon. How could he? For all his showings on the track so far, Ron still felt like he was in the midst of an alien world - as if he wasn’t fitting in. Was this something all rookies were feeling? Surely not someone like Gil, Ron thought to himself as he closed a notebook and leant back in his chair to gaze up towards the ceiling.

Maybe that’s why he leant so heavily into practice and study between race weeks - he felt so out of depth, so unlike many of those on the grid, that he didn’t know what else to do but try and apply himself. It was an approach his father had instilled from him at a young age - the Sommer’s were never the richest family, especially on the racing circuit in Katzeburg, so they had to work for everything they wanted to achieve. Ron took this to heart - from his odd jobs delivering papers to pushing hard into his studies at school in anything which could even tangentially be racing-related, he had always been a hard worker. But normally, it had paid off in some way. His studies and work led to racing opportunities which ultimately led him to the Katzeburg Qualifier and a spot at Viska. But now he was here? Nothing seemed to be sticking.

The only thing he could proudly point to so far was his commitment on the track - he had been great at working his way up the grid through the first two races, but that felt a lot less about the theory and more of just the instinct. His thinking had often gone out the window for the first two races as it had been swept away by almost pure panic at times - panic realising where he was, panic realising there were cars in front of him and behind him, and panic knowing he had to keep going no matter what.

But as his father would say numerous times over the years - Never Give Up. Never Say Die. Ron wasn’t giving up yet, but he could see the light fast approaching. He hadn’t even thought to bring it up to Viska yet as that would surely be a suicide move - a rookie who was having a crisis of confidence? There are better drivers out there who would kill for a seat, and they’d surely be way too happy to off the driver who had worked up from nothing. Ron was thankful for the support Artur and the Viska team had given him so far; the full commitment behind his approach to study and practice, the involving of him in testing the next step of the Viska machine, and the overall feeling that the team was a long way from being one to count out just yet. But he was nervous. And as he swept up his papers to signal the finish of his study, Ron couldn’t help but think about the Nimban Grand Prix. He had to make an impression there, if only to prove to himself that something, anything, was sticking.

by **Nico Hulkenberg** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 6:09 am

Nepö

To most observers, it was clear that the UrGa of last season had not quite made it to this season. For starters, as if it wasn’t clear enough, the championship-winning lineup had long-since departed - not that they were doing particularly great for themselves at HMG. Unlike UrGa, however, they had actually managed to score points, whilst Kinder and Von Visp’s efforts in the first race were somewhat fruitless. With another grand prix on the horizon, the opportunity to reverse the team’s fortunes and get the season back on track could not be missed, and nobody understood this more than young Nepö who - if you believed the rumours - already had her position within the team being called into question. Thus, as she took her position on the grid with Vincent mere metres in front (and crucially, in the top ten), she had decided that her goal was not just to beat her teammate, but to make a real statement to the rest of the team that not only could she be their best driver of the season, but also their best driver for the future. Lofty ambitions considering she was starting fourteenth, but she’s literally just a girl. She’s allowed to be a bit delusional. Revving the engine with the start lights counting up, she heard an unexpected voice coming through the radio.

”Keep it clean.”

With no communication allowed between engineers and drivers from the start of the formation lap until the start of the race, Nepö couldn’t even bite back to ask why. Then again, maybe that’s what they wanted. The lights went out, and a good start meant that she had already closed up to Von Visp, but the concertina effect of the pack meant that it was too risky to try anything yet. Around the lap, it was clear that he was slower. Whether it was down to tyre strategy or something else - not like she would know his strategy, given she never talked to him - it became rather clear that she would get by him sooner rather than later. Coming round the final corner, she watched as the rear end of Vincent’s car kicked out, giving her a much better run. As edged closer to the rear of her teammate towards the end of the start/finish straight, the overspeed she had built up had gotten far too high to stay in the slipstream, drawing alongside and passing him with relative ease. Vincent hadn’t tried to make it easy for her, but perhaps the situation at hand - whether to do with his tyres, his money or indeed his affection - enabled him to relent a little. Nevertheless, making a move on Von Visp had gotten her up into the points, and the remaining grip on her tyres seemed to be suggesting that a few more positions weren’t out of the question. Lutfi and Langdon would soon follow, but a stop would soon be put to her progress up the field, as Otto Markul was just too far in front. By now, she was more focused on retaining the points she was now in a position to earn - but a brilliant strategy and even better pace from the hard-charging Preston of Kinu Luminna was going to make that rather difficult.

”Bring it home.”

And that she did, crossing the line in eighth and netting UrGa’s first points of the season. Now, it was her turn to speak over the radio.

”First of many, guys! Woo! Great race, great car, decent result. We’ll be up there soon enough.”

Pulling into parc fermé, she struggled out of her car, the characteristics of the track having taken a toll on her. Finally getting her feet on the ground, she took a moment to rest against the car, and got a surprise when her teammate came over to congratulate her. Nepö suggested he take better care of his tyres, whilst Vincent suggested he should read the note. Despite having not said a word to one another, she felt that he was distinctly more hospitable than she’d expected. She gave him the courtesy of reading his note much later, after the debriefs and the interviews and everything else had ended, allowing her to finally settle. Yanking it out of her coat pocket, she glanced at what had been written on the front.

”Nepö… with a love heart. Huh. Good handwriting, too.” she thought, unfolding the small sheet of paper.

Her eyes scanned along the lines, and the more she read, the more she began to laugh.

”’When you understand how much my heart flutters…’ only thing that flutters is your money when you fling it at people, mate. ‘You’re quite good-looking… I am drop-dead gorgeous’? Little bit full of yourself, but nothing unusual coming from you… and now you want tips. Hah.”

Despite her laughter and general demeanour, she wasn’t entirely disinterested - particularly when she neared the end of the letter.

”’Please say yes’… the man has manners? ‘I hope that the passing time brings us closer’… Where was this Vincent for all of the last year?” she thought, recounting the times their paths had crossed without so much as a word. ”’With all my love.’ Hah, who are you and what have you done with the real Vincent?” she jokingly thought, still thoroughly surprised by the penmanship and wording.

As she got to the final line, the abrupt change in tone - and handwriting - clued her in to what was really going on.

”’The first two race winners are fucking on the regular…’ Ah, there he is. Still, A for effort.”

She momentarily paused to think about how to respond, laughed for a bit, and penned her own note to hand back to Valérie.

Dear Vincent,

Thank you for your kind words. I must say, I was surprised that you were so open in your initial letter. Perhaps it is a Reçueçian thing, as us Hülkenbergers are a bit more reserved when it comes to this sort of thing (unless you’ve met Dario, who is an enigma).

Your assistant seems lovely. Too lovely, in fact. If it was her that you got to write the letter, then well done - clearly you have good taste in one aspect. I do swing both ways, but I suspect she may be a little old for my taste. This brings me to my first tip for you - write your own damn letters. I’ve seen and heard you in the garage, you are not this much of a charmer. But I can vibe with that.

Perhaps, with the vast array of cars at your disposal, I can show you how to drive one of them without the tyres and engine begging for mercy. Seems like you need it.

Yours,
Nepö

P.S. At least take me out to dinner first. You’re paying.

She sought out Vincent’s assistant, delivered the note, and got back to the important task at hand - preparing for the Nimban GP.

Dario

”Well that was a fucking disaster.” began Dario, somewhat fuming after spending an entire race distance sat in P-nowhere. ”What happened to Nini, and what happened to our pace? I almost didn’t qualify, for god’s sake!”

”We don’t know, and we don’t know.” clapped back his engineer, who had already been forced to deal with his radio frustrations throughout the race. ”The car evidently isn’t suited to tracks like this, and it showed.”

”Didn’t it just! Twenty-third and twenty-fourth - an unmitigated disaster. Surely Crossbay goes better, right?”

“Crossbay isn’t a street circuit, you’ll remember. After all, the force field stopped you from driving straight into the water a few seasons ago.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s just so demoralising to have so much pace in testing only to be beefing with the rear of the pack at the second race.”

“Cool your jets. This circuit is vastly different to where we tested, there’s no point comparing. We’ll be back, Dario.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

HMG

Adrian and Jöhan watched on as their cars whimpered towards the finishing line, arms folded, stoic demeanours.

”Well Jöhan, I bet you wish I had fiddled with the setups now, eh?” joked Adrian, making light of the situation.

”I don’t understand where the lack of pace is coming from. The car looked so hooked up in practice!”

“It’s the conditions. The balance can get screwed up by all sorts of things - heat, grip, et cetera - and there’s not a lot we can do about it except play around with setups. I know you don’t like risk, but surely it’s better than this?”

Jöhan turned to look at Adrian, before diverting his attention back to the timing screens.

”I’m just glad they finished the race, to be honest with you.”

“So did everyone.”

“Yes, but we are not ‘everyone’.”

“Then what are we?”

“Sh…pectacular.”

“Shpectacular? Have you got a lisp now? Are you the star of a spy film?”

“No, I was just…”

“You were going to say ‘shite’ weren’t you.”

“I would never!”

“You would. And it wouldn’t necessarily be wrong.”

by **Quirhoshe** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 8:48 am

Azalia, in between all of her races, had decided she would participate in the Quirhoshe national championships. She knew she had to do this to prove she was still the best in the nation. She could smell the oil and dust as she rounded each corner with ease. Competing was Azalia's favorite thing to do. After all the injuries, after all she had done...

Azalia woke up from her dream covered in sweat. She remembered winning the national championships last summer. She woke up and got out of bed. She looked at the clock, she had to be at training in twenty minutes! She had way overslept. She grabbed an apple and headed out the door, fixing her hair while she went. She grabbed her gear and quickly ran out the door.

Once she was there, she geared up. She warmed her car up and got in. Her coach had been silent ignoring her. She had been 5 minutes early to practice, but her coach wanted her there ten minutes early. Her coach said, "to be early is an expectation, to be on time is a crime." She geared up and ran lap after lap, hoping she would get a personal best.

But every time it got worse and worse. She felt knots tie in her stomach, her coach hadn't helped her once today! With tears in her eyes she took off her gear, but she heard a voice behind her. "Azalia, where in the world do you think you're going? Get your gear back on and run ten laps, now. Champions don't quit and pout. I was ignoring you because I was testing you. You need to know what to do in a situation like that, because I won't be able to help you in competition. Get back out there." Her coach barked, think briskly walking away.

Azalia took a deep breath and laughed, everything her coach did was a test. She knew it was worth it.

by **Doubeia** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 10:14 am

Race
There was never a worse place to have a stinker of a race than one's own country.

Nini had never felt so uneasy with a racecar. She wasn't sure if it was her own racecraft or that the Pressley car managed to shit itself overnight, but navigating Queensland felt like steering a tractor with a loose wheel. She had dropped three places to twentieth, and her gut feeling told her she was going to finish even lower. It just felt so embarrassing. So embarrassing to put on this kind of show in front of her own fans and compatriots. She was truly trying her best, but her efforts just didn't translate onto the circuit.

"Nini, box this lap," Nini's engineer told her over the radio, "Box confirm?"

"Confirm."

At that point, Nini was focused on nursing the car back into the pits and making the most of her next, final stint. Even if the Pressley didn't have the pace, she was hoping that her own racing and the new Tropicorp tyres would at least give her an advantage over others. As Nini navigated the second sector, she could see how worn out her front tyres were. They were grasping onto dear life, and so was Nini as she tried to make it to the pit lane in one piece. All she needed to do was keep the car intact for the rest of the race, and that would be enough for this sordid race weekend. Entering the third sector, she prepared to enter the left-hander as normal...

...why wasn't her left tyre turning?

Nini's mind was in a mess as her car locked up and went straight into the runoff area. Letting go of the steering wheel, she slammed onto the brakes to stop the car. Everything happened in milliseconds. Nini checked her mirrors for any driver up close, and in the periphery of her vision she could see the stewards waving yellow flags. She reversed the car onto the track and tried to continue the march towards the pits, but her front wing just had to hit the barrier. As her right endplate snapped off the car, Nini realised just how large of a predicament she'd set herself up in, and also how big of a fool she'd just made herself out to be.

It was a drive of shame towards the pits as she could see people leaning over their balconies, taking videos of Nini's little oopsie. She just knew that her moment just now was going to be paraded all over social media, and she was going to get so much stick for it. She looked at all the cameras and phones staring at her car, and she felt violated. All of these lenses capturing her mistakes, and showing them to the world for them to laugh at made her feel so insecure. She hated all of it. No one giving her a moment of peace, everyone's eyes on her every step, her friends' expectations... All of her worries started piling onto her, and she could feel the millstone of doubt weighing on her shoulders as she drove through Queensland.

To others, the Doubeia race lasted 51 laps, but for Nini, it felt like an eternity.

A few days after the race
Nini hadn't left her house since she came back from the race. It seemed silly, but looking at the number of meme posters and tomatoes thrown at her doorstep, it was a wise decision. Maybe it was something in the Doubeinese water supply that made them so negative, but everyone seemed to be more fixated at Nini's apparent "downfall" than their own local team getting a podium in their home race.

The social media response to the race was so scathing too. The day after the race, most trending posts in Doubeia was about Nini, and one would be hard pressed to find even a slither of positivity in those posts. Nini didn't even want to look at her phone. She'd spent the past few days working out and driving on her simulator, but it all got boring pretty quickly. She did anything and everything to get the race out of her head, but the memories she tried to repress would just come back like a boomerang. She tried cooking — eating out was out of the menu — and she even tried picking up a new D-drama, but the WGPC stress always lingered in the back of her mind.

Was she good enough for this caliber? Did she make the step up too early? Those were all questions that Nini asked herself, even before putting pen to paper for Pressley. Now, however, these questions were even more relevant than ever. It was daft to write herself off after two mere races, and she didn't want to believe that 14th was her ceiling, but at the same time the pressure of being a WGPC driver seemed like a burden too heavy for herself. Maybe she didn't want to be a racer. Maybe her true calling was to become a streamer, or a micro-celebrity. Maybe she would find her real passion elsewhere.

But Nini really wanted to be a racer. She knew for sure that her true calling was not to become a streamer, and that she had already found her real passion: racing. There was a reason why she left behind her internet career, and she wasn't about to derail this golden opportunity at hand. Still, Nini found herself doubting herself regularly. The thought that she should have waited for another WGP2 season always recurred in her mind, but she wanted to believe she was better than that.

As the sun set, Nini found herself lying on her bed. She scrolled through her messages. She found it amusing how nobody ever bothered to message her ever since the race ended. Three days passed without anyone thinking of dropping her a message. It was funny, really. Before the race, everyone seemed to be wishing her a good race, and even promoting her on their socials. Everyone from Nini's streamer friends to random nobodies were all cheering for her. But when everything in the race had transpired? Crickets. You could hear a pin drop with how silent Nini's "friends" were. All interactions had dropped off like a brick, and Nini was left to cope with her shitty result herself. She contemplated getting closer to the Pressley staff, but what was the point? It wasn't as if they would meet often anyway. Dario? She still felt a bit awkward around him.

As Nini drifted to sleep, the cold air blew against her skin. The sharp breeze made Nini realise just how much she missed the warmth of having someone next to her.

by **Valkea** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 10:33 am

Portion of a transcript taken from Racecraft, a Valkean sports news podcast focusing on motorsport throughout Valkea, Astyria, and the wider world. Hosts include Henri Saarela, Aleksi Jantunen, and Valtteri Soro.

Translated from Valkean into English.

Henri: So yeah, Pryfors Bilar seem to have taken a major step forward in this race, time will tell if they'll be able to keep this up.

Aleksi: Indeed.

Valtteri: It ummm, actually makes you wonder if maybe that Sidus engine that they had last year was holding them back. After all, the V10 that they have as we've discussed in an earlier episode is much lighter than the V6 turbo hybrid powertrain of Sidus, and weight on these cars - as with other grand prix series - can shave off milliseconds from a lap.

Henri: Well, I don't think so, given the cars in WGPC remain quite close. Also, because of the variety of innovations that we've seen from the series over the years, with so many teams bringing different car concepts, you'd see performance advantages swing from track to track, as well as from team to team. So one team could be dominant in one race only to fall back in the next.

Valtteri: Yeah yeah, I agree, but if we're going to compare where Pryfors Bilar was last year compared to this year? I'd say they're in a much better place now. Even though they do need to work on their pit strategy - I do think with the pace Haukanna had as well as a cheeky undercut she could've won it - they have demonstrated that their car is quick, right in the mix with the front-runners.

Henri: Mm.

Valtteri: Still, I don't think that switching to the V10 necessarily was why Pryfors Bilar are doing well while Eminent isn't. We know that with a car concept that is actually competitive, that Sidus powertrain could just offset any weight disadvantage with brute force. Just 12 months ago, Eminent built a car that could challenge for wins. Devereux won the very first race of last year's season, leading a 1-3 finish. If we're going to be honest, it's all the uncertainty currently hovering over Eminent's future that is a bigger reason for their poor form. You had a major ummm, backer that just pulled the rug under them in the middle of last season, a lot of staff has left, and they're still in the process of transferring to a new campus. All of that has taken time and resources away from focusing on car development and it's genuinely hurting them.

Aleksi: Yeah, the move to Neomaris doesn't make the most sense to me. You have what, lots of equipment to move overseas and to get settled in their new campus, lots of staff that will be uprooting themselves to work at the new campus, some operations would have to move as well and cause disruptions. Like come on, it's just needless to me.

Henri: Especially since they're really running out of money.

Aleksi: Exactly! With the way Eminent is going about it, I'll be surprised if they have enough finances to keep the lights on and last the entire season.

Henri: *laughs* Yeah.

Aleksi: It makes me sympathize with the drivers in a way. Both Kowalski and Devereux don't seem to be too happy with the amount of progress the team has been making. Devereux especially since we all know what she's capable of, she showed us all that last year.

Valtteri: I hear there are rumors that Eminent's new title sponsor, Asteras, might influence the team to actually look for another driver to be put in the car. But to be honest I think that's rubbish, there's no way that they're genuinely considering to get rid of her mid-season. She's their number one driver, she's won races with them, she's been very instrumental in the team's performance last year. They're not going to get rid of her just because the relationship is strained right now.

Henri: Devereux has been with the team since the beginning, she's given them plenty of success over the past year she's driven for them, and she's been rewarded for it. But if I were in her shoes, I'd definitely be looking for options right now because she might be out of a drive sooner rather than later if the team continues to fall apart.

Aleksi: I'm sure she must be right now, no driver is that stupid to just stay put and not look for a drive elsewhere. Whether that will be another team in WGPC or another racing series entirely, we don't know just yet. Devereux is the only one who knows that, really.

Valtteri: Same goes for Kowalski, who I'd argue is more likely to lose her drive than Devereux.

Henri: I mean - this goes for both drivers in the team - what if they are waiting on things to happen in terms of how the team might go in the coming weeks? There are rumors that there might be some sort of deal for a buyout coming on the horizon. Maybe it might be Asteras themselves who have just acquired more shares in the team. Maybe it might be Sidus themselves, who would want to acquire shares as well in exchange for more control in the direction of the car's development-

Valtteri: Whoa whoa whoa, you can't be serious right now, Sidus wanting to increase their involvement and buying out a WGPC team?

Henri: Yeah, I think it's a possibility.

Valtteri: Errr, I don't know, I have to disagree with you on that one. They just started testing the waters with WGPC, I doubt that they'll want to fully commit to fielding a works entry. Especially after the terrible start their engine customer has just had this season.

Henri: No no no, think about it.

Valtteri: I am thinking about it. Sidus currently has so many racing programs that it has committed itself to already, right?

Henri: Right.

Valtteri: There's the AstyF1 team, which is the dominant force in that series especially with Lauren Blake currently leading the way in the Drivers' Championship. They also have factory entries in AMGP¹ and MSS², where they've also seen tremendous success. They have entries in endurance racing through their JLC sub-brand as well as in touring car racing. Adding WGPC to the list, even though they have so many racing programs, would just stretch them thin. It would even take some staff away from the AstyF1 team, which would hurt their progress in preparing for the upcoming regulation changes.

Henri: Mm.

Valtteri: There's also the arms race that Sidus would have to contribute to. As we all know, WGPC has no budget cap in place. That's because some of the teams have engineered technologically advanced vehicles that cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Some of them such as Nexus Racing currently spend many times more on their team than the current budget cap in AstyF1, which is currently at $150 million. So a budget cap for WGPC doesn't exist. Now what happens in a series without a budget cap is that the teams inevitably enter a development arms race, who can throw the most money at their F1 teams to build their cars to challenge for the title. As much as Sidus is currently in a profitable period right now, I don't believe they have enough financial resources to enter an arms race with the other WGPC teams. I-i-in fact, the budget cap in AstyF1 was specifically lobbied by Sidus for years before they made their return in 2006 because they wanted to avoid having to spend lots of money to be competitive - to beat Phaeton, MacGregor, Delaney, and all the other top constructors in the 2000s. At the time they were running their teams with a budget of upwards of $400 million, an enormous amount of capital.

Henri: Yes, all of that is true. However, there has been paddock talk floating around recently that Sidus management is already talking with investors as well as with high-ranking personnel at Eminent about a closer technical partnership of some kind. A really close one as well. In fact we've been starting to see them more and more coming by the Eminent motorhome. I wouldn't be surprised if those talks would involve a buyout of the majority of the team's shares for a controlling stake in the team. Sidus has been an engine supplier in WGPC for, two years now?

Aleksi: Yeah, it should be two.

Henri: Right. And this is the third year in the sport. In those years, Sidus tasted victory powering Eminent to a race win last season in a car that was developed with fewer financial resources than the other teams. I imagine that would have turned some heads in the board of executives at the Sidus headquarters, and that they're currently considering a bigger investment into WGPC in order to get that team to the next step and win a championship. If they are already winning races with a customer team with limited levels of engine and chassis integration - and mind you, Eminent led both championships for the first few races - how much more would they win if they actually got full backing from Valkea, especially from one of the country's largest car manufacturers? It could be in the form of a close team and engine partnership, it could be in the form of a team buyout and the creation of a proper works team, I don't really know. But I do believe that they are considering getting into WGPC and building towards a constructors' title challenge.

Valtteri: Their race victory at Liventia was more of a fluke, they never won another race all season and even lost the lead of the constructors' championship to the eventual winners, UrGa, within three races. Not to mention the issues within the team off-track that are still plaguing them until now. I kind of agree that they would want to have more say in the direction of Eminent's car or even offer some technical expertise to the team, but I don't really see that happening just because they powered them to a race win one time. I don't believe Sampsa Alho³ would be that stupid.

Aleksi: I'm sort of in the middle for this one. I certainly don't think that Sidus is fully prepared yet to fully commit to a much closer partnership or even a buyout, the amount of investment that would be going into it wouldn't be sustainable. But I'm also not going to dismiss that they would be exploring those possibilities. The fact this kind of paddock talk has been going on is proof enough that Sidus is looking into deepening their involvement in some way.

Valtteri: They should probably start by trying to court other constructors into running their powertrains to be honest.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 11:12 am

YITZHAK ROSENBAUM ✓ Join twii.tur blue services to unlock extended messages like this one!

@Yitzhak_Rosenbaum
Rosenbaum’s Receivers! I am so pleased to announce that I will be at the Crossbay Circuit in the Nexus Wardship this weekend to deliver my lecture titled “The Long Hard Arm of Internationstatal Soft Power: How Nations Use Sports to Spread Their Influence Throughout the Multiverse”! Based on my article of a similar name published in Farmer’s Creek Media talking about how Pridnestrovia, through Urotovsky-Gatutin, has used motorsports to gain power and influence in the most diverse places, my lecture expands my research to different countries such as Tumbra, Hapilopper, Diarcesia and the like to examine how all of these nations and more have used different sports in all disciplines to become household names in even the most far-flung corners of the multiverse. And after my lecture, I will also be hosting a live Q-and-A session in Crossbay that will also double as the next episode of the Yitzhak Rosenbaum Broadcast. I hope to see you all in the Nexus Wardship this weekend, and don’t hesitate with those burning questions of yours! This should be the spiciest episode of the Broadcast yet.

#TheYitzhakRosenbaumBroadcast : #PodcastAd : #WGPC : #NexusWardship : #CrossbayCircuit : #Lecture : #LivePodcast : #ForeignRelations : #ThroughADifferentLens : #BalancedNews : #FearlessViews

(Yitzhak Rosenbaum is a political analyst and commentator who has contributed numerous times to news agencies in Abanhfleft and abroad.)

MADDIE ERICSSON ✓ Join twii.tur blue services to unlock extended messages like this one!

@maddieericssonreally
Wow. I can’t believe this is actually happening. I just turned my passion for shitposting and reacting to everyone else’s shitposts into one of the most popular podcasts in Abanhfleft today! And now I just got myself a spot to deliver a lecture to hundreds of people! It’s going to be called “How Memes Made Me a Fan of Motorsports,” and it’s exactly what it says on the tin! Honestly though, memes is a really great way to get people to tune into something that they think they might like. Someone sees a funny meme, they want to get the context behind it, and next thing you know, they’re hooked on the thing that’s being memed. I’ve got a lot more to say about this, but you’re going to have to come to the Crossbay Circuit in the Nexus Wardship if you want to know more! Also, if you aren’t already subscribed to my podcast Straight Talk with Maddie Ericsson then what are you waiting for? It’s available on all major streaming and podcast platforms!

#StraightTalkWithMaddieEricsson : #PodcastGirl : #PodcastLife : #PodcastAd : #LectureAd : #IsThisEvenAThing : #SocialMediaPower : #NexusWardship : #WGPC : #Motorsports : #Networking

(Maddie Ericsson is a TV actress turned podcaster and social media personality. Her podcast features reactions, commentary, and sometimes analysis of social media trends. Yes, that includes memes.)

William Archer had always hated the Akresna Circuit. He knew that such hatred was as irrational as it could be, but he just couldn’t find it in him to acknowledge the fact that his hatred of Akresna was irrational. Something about the way that straight turned right into hairpins and vice versa made him uncomfortable. It just didn’t look and feel right to him. He understood that the surrounding terrain didn’t provide a lot of room for smooth arcs and turns, but William could almost always feel his skin crawling every time he looked at a map of Akresna. But much as he hated the damn place, he would have to get used to seeing it more than once a year now that he was driving for Viska Racing. Akresna wasn’t necessarily the home of Viska Racing, like how Myrilsk in Pridnestrovia was supposed to be the home of Urotovsky-Gatutin, but it was still an Aurun track, and with Viska being an Aurun team, William figured that he would have to learn to love Akresna sooner rather than later.

At least it would only be used for testing this season. Akresna would be the host for the third and final WGPC-sanctioned test day, so William didn’t have to worry about seeing that ungodly combination of straights and hairpin turns anytime soon again this year. But he still had to stomach the two days that WGPC would be spending there before the official start of the season, and he wasn’t looking forward to those two sessions at all. William wasn’t the kind of person to get carried away by the results of the test sessions, but he couldn’t help but notice that he had not done well during his very first time in a Viska machine. Most of that was probably attributable to the fact that this was the first time William had driven a Viska in anger; he was still used to the feeling of driving a Preston more than anything else. Already he could feel some key differences between the cars. Viska’s rotary engine was definitely nothing like Preston’s roaring V6. Whereas Preston was all about power and delivering said power to the wheels with all the subtlety of a freight train, Viska was more… smooth in its transition from the engine to the wheels. The thing also sounded smoother while accelerating and revving up, things that didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things but was still needed to get William into a new mindset with his new team.

William was not expecting a lot in Akresna. He knew that the home fans would have wanted Viska to smoke everyone else due to their home field advantage but he tried to push those thoughts aside. All he really should be doing was get used to the car, its handling characteristics, and how he was supposed to squeeze every single bit of speed and horsepower out of it. The Viska was surprisingly compliant in William’s hands, although whether it was actually part of the design or if William was just used to wrestling the Preston to bend to his will was still up to further interpretation. In any case, William pushed his hatred of Akresna’s design out of his mind, and he went out there and ran the programs that Visk told him to do. There might have been a chance for him to go for a glory run or two, but William most certainly wasn’t expecting him or his teammate or Viska to be at the top of the standings at the end of the first test in Akresna. It was great for him and for the team, sure, but at the end of the day, it was only for testing. If Viska could replicate that 1-2 during the season, then William would probably actually feel more hyped up than he actually was.

William Archer was right to not feel absolutely hyped up by Viska taking a 1-2 in the first test session in Akresna because, just as he had thought, the team couldn’t take that result and replicate it in an actual race. The conditions in the Fjellutfordring weren’t the best; in fact it was some of the coldest that William had ever experienced in his life. And maybe that had something to do with the fact that he and Viska couldn’t get anywhere beyond 11th place. But if William was being honest with himself, none of the qualifying results really made sense. He could see how the Imagination-infused tires of Nexus Racing’s eight-wheelers could find a way to keep themselves much warmer than usual in the freezing cold of Asvides-whatever. But how in the world was someone like Hanna Berezowska starting this race in P3? No offense to Berezowska, but neither she nor her car was supposed to be up there in the sharp end of the grid. Or maybe HiTEN.gpt was supposed to be up there, but people’s perception of the car and team had been massively skewed by the terrible performances of its owner-driver Ankei Souzare. William was just thankful that he wouldn’t have to share the track with the crazy bastard beyond practice and qualifying. If he got taken out by the mobile chicane, the doubter was going to have a field day.

In the meantime, William knew that there was still a lot for him to learn about Viska’s car. He couldn’t possibly pick up all of that in the time that he had left in the season, and he was already entertaining the possibility that he probably wouldn’t be in the title picture this season barring a sudden turn-around. William needed help to understand his car and its heart more, and he knew one man who not only managed to take the reins of a Viska-powered car but also managed to win a championship with it. It was time to call in some backup.

“Hoy! Luke, dito!” William called out once he saw the familiar figure appear from around the corner. He also waved his hands wildly in case the other person didn’t hear him through all of the noise coming out of the Viska garage.

“There he is,” Luke Ochoa, champion of WGP2 Season 6 with Archer Performance powered by VSK Motors, said as he finally saw William waving at him. The Archer in Archer Performance was not related in any way to William; it was a team from Patriotlandia, and the owner’s son (and Luke’s teammate) Pierre-Louis Archer was now also in WGPC, though driving for the Motorworks team. It was purely a coincidence that Ochoa won a championship with a team named Archer and was now helping out another driver named Archer, but it was the kind of coincidence that could make someone go “hmm.”

“Good thing you can come here on short notice, man,” William told Luke after the two had embraced each other in greeting. “I didn’t even know if you could come here anyway.”

“It’s okay, man,” Luke shrugged. “I’m not busy. I’m not even sure if I can still come back to WGP2 later on now that I’m a champion over there and all. Anyway, what do you need from me, man? What do you want to know about Viska?”

“Everything, man,” William replied. “I want to know everything there is to know about Viska. I want to know how to drive these things, I want to know how to get the max speed. I want to know how to drive this car to a championship.”

“Really?” Luke asked. “Are you serious, William? That is why you called me to ask me to come down here?”

“I’m serious, Luke,” William said with a straight face. “I want to take Viska and myself to the championship. And who better to ask for tips and tricks than the guy who won a title with a Viska engine?”

Luke sighed and shook his head. “What do you want me to say?” he asked. “Take it easy, ease it in, let the torque come to you. Is that what you want to hear?”

“Do you think I’m stupid, Luke?” William asked back. “Of course that’s not what I want to hear from you. I want to hear actual tips. I want actual tricks. Tell me your secrets to taking this thing to the top of the rankings.”

“You know it’s not that easy, right?” Luke shook his head. “It’s not as simple as stepping on the gas and pointing it wherever you want to go. It’s a lot more subtle than that. You gotta let her sing to you, man. That’s what I did when I was with the other Archer. I let the engine sing to me, figured out what her tune was, and then we… danced to the top. Wait, did I really say that?”

“Will you stop messing with me already?” William said in an exasperated tone. “You know I’m not into any of the music stuff, right? Give me something that’s actually useful to me!”

“What is useful to you, William?” Luke asked. “What information do you think I can give you that you can use?”

“I don’t know,” William shrugged. “You could compare it to something we’ve both driven before. Something like, I don’t know, UrGa?”

“All right,” Luke nodded. “That’s what you want me to go for? Fine then. You know how UrGa is pretty much just that guy that’s all gas, no brakes? You point that thing in any direction you want then tell it to go, it’s gonna go, everything else in its way be damned. The Viska is nothing like that raw power, William. It’s more like a horse. You have to make it want to go where you want to go. If you want to go right but it wants to go left, you’re shit out of luck, man. You’ll have to do some convincing, tell it that it’s better to go right than left. And you can’t just brute force it too. The more you want to take it in the direction it doesn’t want to go, the more it’ll fight back. I don’t how else I can explain it, bro,” Luke said with a shrug once he saw the skeptical look on William’s face.

William’s shoulders slumped down in apparent defeat. “I can’t believe I thought that this was actually going to be useful,” he muttered to himself while putting his hands over his face. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

Luke noticed the sudden shift in tone from William and immediately adjusted. “What’s going on, man?” he asked. “What’s up?”

“I got played like a fool, Luke,” William replied. “Like a damn fool! I got tricked into thinking that I could actually be championship material.”

“Yo, William, that’s just not true and you know it,” Luke said. “You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. Don’t be so hard on yourself, man. This is still your first year driving for a new team. Of course things aren’t going to be easy for you. Heck, I didn’t even think I was going to be anywhere near the championship when I first started in WGP2. I had to wait until some races and results started going my way again, and even then, I had to come from all the way back before clinching the title. So what if you’re struggling to get off to a good start? Everyone goes through that one time or another. It’s how you bounce back from that rocky start that defines the rest of your season.”

“But what if I don’t bounce back from the bad start, man? What then?” William asked. “It’s like I can’t trust myself anymore. I can’t trust myself to get myself back on track. I can’t trust my team to not throw all those promises and guarantees out the window like what Preston did to me last season. If I can’t trust myself or my team then who can I trust?”

“I don’t think I have the answers that you want, man,” Luke shook his head. “Heck, I don’t think I even have answers at all. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear from me, William, but I really don’t know how I’m supposed to help you with this. I thought I was only here to teach you the Viska driving style. I think you’re gonna need the kind of help that I’m not qualified to give you at all.”

“Gee, thanks a lot, Lucas,” William snorted. “Now I’m really never going to win a world title.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, William,” Luke said. “Your day is gonna come sooner or later. You will become a world champion one day. You just have to keep on believing that you can, and you will do it.”

“I really wish it was really as easy as that,” William muttered.

by **Aji No Moto** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 12:25 pm

Queensland Street Circuit
Doubeinese Grand Prix

Shuhei was forced to watch in the KISMO pit garage after a poor qualifying session costed him a starting spot in the Doubeinese Grand Prix, giving the team their first ever DNQ. "It seems that we cannot escape the DNQ bug the NSSCRA operation had stricken with earlier this season." Kousuke Kasai, the deputy team principal of the WGPC operation pat the back of the Ajian driver. Kousuke was around the pits this round as Hiromu had to go back to Aji No Moto to discuss matters related to several domestic series to be launched. "It seems that Ringo had a good start to the #OGP series as well, winning the first round."

"I have no time to be gaslighted with Ringo when I already giving Gil free passes in our battle." Kamado said in his mind, while Kasai continued to blabber about the ANMARA's success in the previous round at Aboveland. "Kai Sano was now heading the ANMARA operation, and probably taking notes, and probably would talk to Hiromu about a potential KISMO seat next WGPC season... Oh, he will be there in Crossbay to participate in the event the Nimbus will have. Interested?"

"No, I need to focus on racing. I left something at the motorhome, be right back." Shuhei found a way to get out of Kousuke's sights, with the latter obviously trying to rile him up due to the DNQ. "If those engineers did not skew the car's characteristics, it would not have to happen so soon." He murmured to himself as he walked back to the motorhome, and watched the race from there. He lied on his bed and accidentally slept.

Upon waking up and going back to the pits, the race have just concluded with Gil bagging KISMO's first point of the season, a far cry from the WGPC 16 performance with the team already having 5 points in the bag and almost bagging a race win on their home track in Serizawa.

Speaking of Serizawa, back home in Aji No Moto, rumors have quickly spread that the Serizawa Racing Circuit will undergo major renovations, and a host of tracks will be lodging their applications to be the Ajian representative for next season's international racing events. One of which is the recently refurbished eFini Speedway in Iwaya, which is a stronghold of Takahatsu, which is starting to pour investment to motorsports and is set to challenge Kissan's majority share in ANMARA after Dahon, the supposed to be the one to topple Kissan's dominance, divested much of their budget from motorsports and re-allocated it to sustainability initiatives. Time will tell if eFini Speedway would usurp SRC as the the nation's premier motorsport gateway

by **Hodori Motorsports** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 1:08 pm

Queensland, Doubeia
Garage set up

“Hey guys I think we got screwed again.” Andema Yaraza, in a Project Zenethra WSRC mechanic’s jumpsuit, looked over HiTEN’s tyre allocation for the weekend before calling out to the rest of the TACH coalition. By you know who, unsaid because the target was within earshot.
Said target, Ankei Souzare, sauntered over, looked at the situation, and opened his mouth.
“This is accordance with Jeff’s recommendations.”
Are you really this stupid or is this deliberate sabotage? “We have one set of softs.”
“And?” Ankei was completely unconcerned.
“We have ONE set. Of soft tyres. For the entire weekend.”
“Yes. And?” Thoroughly unbothered.
“How are we supposed to make this work?”
“Oh so now you come to me for advice. Now you acknowledge that you’re not so smart. Now you acknowledge my rightful place as your intellectual sup–”
Yaraza decided he’d had enough of this fucking idiot and screw the consequences, and punched Ankei in the face before storming off as this asshole crumpled to the ground.

Practice

The good news: that one set of softs was earmarked for Berezowska. Also, Yaraza through keeping out of sight was still around.
The bad news: that was her only set of softs. And Ankei Souzare definitely now had it in for Yaraza.

The useless Ankei did his useless laps guided by his useless pet project Jeff, and naturally smacked a wall out of the left-hander onto Orchard Street leaving him to – as suggested by Jeff – limp back to the pits with a wounded car, progressing around the circuit even slower. Because that was clearly somehow possible.

Further good news: he was not going to be a factor for the rest of the session.
Further bad news: the already slim stockpile of spare parts was in danger of running out, only two races in.

Kato Kutamicha, of Mazaregi Engineering and serving as Berezowska’s engineer, muttered under his breath in disbelief as he watched Ankei slowly crawl around the track with a badly crabbing car. “Kinaramo naja.” Roughly, “You gigantic dumbass.” Kutamicha wanted to scream at this disphit. Find an escape road. Park the car there, we’ll retrieve it later. Stop causing problems for everyone. He took a deep breath to recompose himself, reviewed the weather forecast, reconfirmed with the rest of the garage team, and contacted Berezowska over the radio.
“Hanna, we have you on mediums. We’re going to do a race simulation for the next thirty minutes. You copy?”

Qualifying

Congratulations dumbass you damaged the car again you complete useless fuckwit. Kutamicha watched Ankei Souzare smack the wall approaching turn 14 after setting a par-for-him uselessly slow lap...and then somehow manage to miss a turn and get stuck in an escape road, struggling to get the car turned around. You absolute dumbass. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he noticed something happening with the other car through his squinted eyes.

“We didn’t see anything, pull into the pits.” While Kutamicha was inclined to take Berezowska at her word, he hadn’t seen anything that led to the lockup and damage. That would be something to review later. As she made her way back to the pits, he began barking orders at the rest of the pit team. Orders that they were already beginning to execute even without his instruction. Get a new wing ready. Prepare to check the tyres; make sure they aren’t too badly flat-spotted. Have a set of mediums on standby.

Last bit of good news: tyres were still good.
Additional bad news: Berezowska couldn’t improve her time, and so failed to qualify.
Still more bad news: The weekend still wasn’t over, and this asshole in charge of the team was absolutely going to spent the rest of today and all of tomorrow blaming everyone else in the garage for his failures. As usual.

All of the pit team were entirely content to let him sulk and moan and whine on his own; all of his sycophants were at HiTEN’s new home base in Neomaris, still getting the rest of HiTEN’s infrastructure up and running. Those idiots had clearly prioritised Jeff, and also clearly lacked the domain knowledge as they saw no issue with the nonsense it was spouting.

bfr.himeblog.net
The Blue Flag Report

Circle: Blue Flag Report
Post by 87 Pigeons

User: Pigeon_87

AAAAAAHH Site visual update AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!

With that out of the way

Hello everybirby and welcome to our first Blue Flag Cup roundup!

Two rounds in, and we already have a clear loser here.

Dumbass Cryptofucker AI Techbro Idiot Ankei Souzare.

First a rules update:

I did not account for a maximum grid of 26.

So, drivers that will not start because they are the bottom six but faster than 107% of pole or among the slowest two Motorworks drivers will get 10 BFP. Drivers that set qualifying times slower than 107% of pole will get the full scheduled race distance of BFP.

Drivers that do not participate due to getting dropped or unsigned will not earn any BFP or MPB until they are registered to compete in at least one round.

The driver’s Blue Flag Cup standings are as follows:

 P  No  DRV  Driver               Constructor             LNC    BFP    MBP    Lap Rate
 1  88  PRE  Ted Pressley         Ælund Grand Prix          0      0      0    100    %
 2  17  LAU  Janne Laukkanen      Nexus Racing              0      0      0    100    %
 3   1  FAE  Brendan Faloe        Cygnus                    0      0      0    100    %
 4  66  VVV  Vincent Von Visp     Urosovsky-Gatutin         1      1      0     99.180%
 5  21  HAZ  Nik Hazri Lutfi      Piers Ivchenko            1      1      0     99.180%
 6  55  LNG  Gil Langdon          KISMO                     1      1      0     99.180%
 7  74  FTZ  Adonis Fitzpatrick   HMG Grand Prix            1      1      0     99.180%
 8  94  LAN  Ryker Lane           Nexus Racing              1      1      0     99.180%
 9  27  NÜL  Dario Nülkeschlager  Pressley Racing           1      1      0     99.180%
10  37  HAU  Laura Haukanna       GPA Pryfors Bilar         1      1      0     99.180%
11  51  CRU  R.L. Cruisin         Piers Ivchenko            1      1      0     99.180%
12  22  JOH  Nini Johnsilvaturr   Pressley Racing           2      2      0     98.361%
13   7  DEV  Anneliese Devereux   Eminent                   2      2      0     98.361%
14  12  SOM  Ron Sommer           Viska                     2      2      0     98.361%
15  63  KIN  Nepö Kinder          Urosovsky-Gatutin         2      2      0     98.361%
16  77  TII  iBen Toralmintii     Race Eelandii VTGP        3      3      0     97.541%
17  96  ARC  William Archer       Viska                     3      3      0     97.541%
18  23  C23  Cocoabo #23          Race Eelandii VTGP        4      4      0     96.721%
19  84  ANG  Angela Ling          Preston Autos             5      5      0     95.902%
20  85  STO  Olivia Stone         Cygnus                    5      5      0     95.902%
21  82  LMN  Kinu Luminna         Preston Autos             5      5      0     95.902%
22  13  PLA  Pierre-Louis Archer  WGPC Motorworks           6      6      0     95.082%
23  30  MAR  Otto Markul          WGPC Motorworks          10     10      0     41.803%
24  95  BZW  Hanna Berezowska     HiTEN.gpt                10     10      0     58.197%
25  40  AKS  Adriana Lillian      Eminent                  11     11      0     40.984%
26  14  VIA  Skiia Vialiv         HMG Grand Prix           11     11      0     40.984%
27  58  KAM  Shuhei Kamado        KISMO                    11     11      0     57.377%
28  33  BLA  Sam Blaatschapen     GPA Pryfors Bilar        12     12      0     56.557%
29  18  RAH  Giancarlo Rahel      WGPC Motorworks          20     20      0      0.000%
30  16  KAW  Azalia Kawakai       WGPC Motorworks          20     20      0      0.000%
31  89  GTA  Abdoulaye Goita      Ælund Grand Prix         70      0     70     42.623%
32  10  ASZ  Ankei Souzare        HiTEN.gpt               122    122      0      0.000%

Bouncing back from an early DNF in Aboveland, Goita finishes on the lead lap in Doubeia. Ted Pressley leads the standings in both the official rankings and here with all laps to date completed. Janne Laukkanen and Brendan Faloe are the only other two to have done so up to this point.

Other notable contenders are Cryptobitch Devereux in P14 with 2 LNC and the WGPC’s Certified #1 Most Voreable Competitor Cocoabo #23 in P18 with 4 LNC.

Of the Motorworks drivers, only Pierre-Louis Archer has started both rounds and has so far finished a cumulative six laps down.

For Goita with 70 MBP and thus LNC, the only way he can climb out of this pit he found himself in is for everyone else to suffer.

Waste of grid space ASZ has posted slow enough times in qualifying to earn BFP for every scheduled race lap he did not complete. The only other possible way to have scored 122 LNC of 122 scheduled laps would have been to DNF on the first lap of both races so far.

Serious question, though: Where and how did this man get his super license? I can’t find anything about him taking part in any domestic or overseas races that isn’t purely fabricated AI-generated slop. Admittedly, unlike the digging my guest writer’s doing in addition to her usual work my search wasn’t very thorough, and it is possible that he used an alias to compete, but if he had done so he would have shown far more competence on track than he has to this point. So I’m starting to suspect he may have been less than honest in any paperwork that he filed. But this is only suspicion; I have no firm evidence to support any such assertion.

Now then.

(Un)Constructors Standings!

 P  Constructor             LNC    BFP    MBP    Lap Rate
 1  Nexus Racing              1      1      0     99.590%
 2  Piers Ivchenko            2      2      0     99.180%
 3  Pressley Racing           3      3      0     98.770%
 4  Urosovsky-Gatutin         3      3      0     98.770%
 5  Cygnus                    5      5      0     97.951%
 6  Viska                     5      5      0     97.951%
 7  Race Eelandii VTGP        7      7      0     97.131%
 8  Preston Autos            10     10      0     95.902%
 9  HMG Grand Prix           12     12      0     70.082%
10  KISMO                    12     12      0     78.279%
11  GPA Pryfors Bilar        13     13      0     77.869%
12  Eminent                  13     13      0     69.672%
13  WGPC Motorworks          56     56      0     68.443%
14  Ælund Grand Prix         70      0     70     71.311%
15  HiTEN.gpt               132    132      0     29.098%

Techbro Racing Original Flavour leads the pack with one singular cumulative lap not complete. At the complete opposite end of the table we have Techbro Racing AI Slop Flavour thanks to Dumbass Cryptofucker AI Techbro Idiot’s total incompetence in just about every possible aspect. Berezowska’s unfortunate qualifying result in Doubeia really won’t affect much in the long term here.

The only team in the running for the Linco McPahan Unaward for Unreliability so far is Arcticorp thanks to Goita’s lap 2 DNF in Aboveland. Preston Autos managed to avoid collecting meatballs thanks to Luminna retiring past the classified finish threshold. But we still have the entire rest of the season to go. There is still p l e n t y of time for Ælund Grand Prix to be joined by the other teams in having nonzero MBP.

Round 2 in Doubeia was met with no retirements, and thus no collected meatballs. Practice and qualifying mishaps don’t count towards MBP, so HiTEN is lucky in this aspect.

Let’s see how things shake out in round 3, in ~~Techbrolandia~~ the Nexus Wardship.

(We all know Dumbass Cryptofucker AI Techbro Idiot’s going to find an innovative new way to trash the car and then he’s going to fail to qualify so nothing otherwise new will happen here)

Crossbay Circuit
Two hours before practice

Yaraza entered the HiTEN’s assigned garage, and let out a loud stream of Hodoran vulgarities as he saw the two cars.
“Oh what the fuck did you do this time you fucking idiot!”
What Ankei had done was (messily) swap over the number and name decals and camera covers, so his name and number were on what was previously Berezowska’s car, while she was now saddled with his patched-up wreck. And then the colour-coded camera covers atop the air intakes were cracked due to his inept handling.
Kutamicha put a hand on his shoulder. “Just roll with it. Save the energy for getting Hanna’s car up and running.”

by **Valentine Z** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 2:23 pm

Part 7 – What do you do when nothing so far seems to be working? And when your biggest opportunity has already passed?

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 would ask for both the time on the simulation, as well as the practice with the actual car on the actual tracks. The simulation time can and would be given to her on a relatively shorter notice since it’s something that can be set up easily and already something that she has asked for. Driving on the actual car for practice, on the other hand, would be a little difficult to procure, but the situation is not looking nice enough even after just 2 races. “This course was supposed to be an easy one for me to go through, and yet here I am struggling,” she explained her predicament, “To be absolutely clear from my side, I am not blaming you all for this problem. Instead, I just feel that I need to do and finish my end of the bargain and deal. You have done your best to accommodate for me and my driving, let me practice like there is no more next race.” With the actual car, however, it is a bit of a trick. They will need the space to do so, and it would seem like the Hapilopper City Grand Prix Circuit – the circuit for the origin city of Preston Autos – is a good idea. In terms of logistics, this would be quite a heavy commitment required. “We do appreciate and are thrilled by the enthusiasm,” the team would tell her politely and informally, “And we will indeed try out best to look into this. For the time being, however, I think the simulation is the only one that we can look at.” Angela nodded, understanding of what she is asking for the time being, “Don’t worry about it, thank you for taking what I said into account as well!” As she was pacing around, switching between looking at the staff and the floor, she came up with an idea for the simulation.

“I am thinking of something, if you don’t mind hearing me out,” she proposed, to which the others nodded and agreed to look into, “Can you make the simulation so that it is more challenging than what I would experience and feel on the actual day itself with the car? In other words – do provide me with much more difficult tracks, and perhaps make the car tuned up so that it will need a bit more aggression out of me, to test me in a lot more ways. My idea is something out of the tests and exams that other worlds have done, please do pardon me for going there. So getting to it – so the fact is that the preliminary examination are much more difficult than the actual examination itself. It’s not something that we do not do anymore but I am not here to share about the Valentian education system, haha! Anyway, the idea is to make the drafts and preliminaries to be difficult, but not to the point of insanity. Then, an actual one will seem like a piece of cake.” Angela would take a bit of time to reflect and gather her thoughts again. “Ahh, yes! There is also a pain point involved with this. This is different from an exam, after all. With this change, will come problems such as misleading data, and it will also get difficult for me in ways that, well, let’s say that I do not need in my actual races. Hmm, maybe for the simulation itself, can you make it a little possible for me? Allow me to do the changes to the simulation itself with another profile, I will make sure that the actual one is saved and untouched.” It would be a rather daring proposal, but considering that her teammate already got a few points and she has not, Angela felt that pressure to work for them to the best of her ability. While she does not feel that she is forever indebted to them, Angela wanted to return her form of thanks by doing her best for the rest of the season.

Zastępca Strażnika Adriana Krystal Desiree “Cudowny Manipulacja Światłem” Venus Kowalski Faith Stanisława Engelse I. Cherise Krystyna Zaborowska Sztormowska Pamela Alina Re. T. Lillian is also in a similar situation of her own. “I sincerely do not understand,” Adriana started off the dialogue with her engineers and staff members that were allocated to her for Eminent. “Oh and to preface, this is not a blame at any of you, please don’t take it that way! I simply feel that I should air and voice out the problems that we might be facing right now. First and foremost, perhaps about myself at the Queensland Street Circuit. That was a technical circuit as far as I am concerned. And as of right now, I am trying to ascertain and gather the data as to why I was unable to do properly. I barely made it past the qualifications after the disaster that was the first race, and then I ended up as 18th with one lap down.” She then accessed the result data again, re-realizing the fact that Anneliese Devereux got a 22nd. Poor Angela Stella Tan Fang Ling, she thought, dead last in the list. “I can only hope the best for her, she has quite a passion and she just need that break with the Preston Autos, I’m sure. Going back to us, I am not sure as to what is happening, but I believe both Adriana and Anneliese – if I may talk about her and not on behalf of her – were doing not well in the slightest. We do not have a single point attached to our names and our team, and I think we need to do something about it.” Adriana shifted her eyes towards the engineers, but not in a way that would make them nervous. Rather, it’s a sign and look that simply wanted them to work with her more. “I can provide my racing data to you all later – though of course, I may need to compress and cut off some of the data here and there. There is a LOT of data that I have gathered just for myself, and there are also quite a heavy load of things that I feel that I should not disclose. Trade secret of my architecture! Anyway, I would like to work with you more on this, so let us do this more often.”

The situation is not looking too good. With the upcoming race being Crossbay Circuit – a track that Adriana is no stranger to, she knew that it will be a difficult course for her. After the NGP, come seven more races, out of which the three of them were only marginally more technically demanding. The biggest opportunity in the form of Queensland Street Circuit has just passed and her performance was abysmal. “It’s either do or break, and I do want the best performance to happen out of all those upcoming races. Actual race, sprint, whatever – I would like those points both for myself and for the better of the team. Crossbay Circuit will need to be studied by me, and I will need new and better data in order to make it just work for me. I know I repeat it a lot – we must do this, this must work, we need to practice more. I suppose we need to do more of that when the previous data I got had an expiry date!”

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 2:34 pm

Nexus Racing HQ, Crossbay Circuit, Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
15th of June
Two years ago

Go on, Victoria. Just… Just say it.

She screwed her eyes shut, balled her fists just for a moment. Walking alongside Ryker should not be like this… They had a good time today, taking a moment before the race weekend proper began to mingle with the crowds at the Nimban Grand Prix. She’d set a fantastic time at the remote-controlled racing, whiling away half an hour or so chatting with Ryker’s parents, and now they were taking a little time away walking on the clifftops away from most of the noise.

It was good. It was very good – and yet, in the back of her mind echoed the realisation she’d had in her therapy session with Thomas Clares. It felt… Fearful. Ryker was meant to be her partner, her trusted companion, someone she could talk to about anything – and he, far too kind and self-effacing as he was, would listen! She knew it!

Right?

There was a hand around hers; she opened it just a touch in her surprise, and in doing so it intertwined with her own. Ryker smiled gently, a little sadly, and squeezed. “You look beautiful when you’re focused on something, you know that?”

Victoria chuckled. “Imagination, Ryker.” Of course he can tell. I’m meant to be the perceptive one, but he’s always… She drew in a breath. “Okay, okay – can we…” She didn’t finish the thought, instead pulling the two of them off the path and leading them around and behind a small hillock. The weather was clear enough, dotted with a few clouds formed in the cauldron of the bay, but the wind blustered. She didn’t feel it like she had done for so long, weighty in her flowing hair, flowing like the long sash over Ryker’s shoulder did now; instead, the back of her neck prickled with the cold of it.

That feeling abated slightly as the two gathered themselves in the shelter, and Ryker, Imagination-blessed be his spark, waited, concern on his face.

Slightly.

Victoria marshalled her courage.

“I’ve been trying to find the words to tell you this for a couple of days,” she imagined herself saying. “I was so worried about what when wrong between us during the Dullness, and so concerned about determining what it was before it went wrong again, that I lost sight of the fact that the deterioration of mental states and deleterious encodification of behavioural patterns during that period was far more likely to have done so. I love you too dearly to continue unconsciously distancing myself from you as a result of that and want and need to ask your forgiveness for doing so.”

Inevitably, it wouldn’t come out quite that coherent and polished.

Here, it didn’t come out at all.

She tried to speak. She tried so, so hard – and whenever she did, she was struck by the same chilling, fearful sense.

It was wrong.

I’m doing it again, I’m sensing something that’s not there –

And yet, it was wrong.

It’s Ryker for Imagination’s sake, it’ll be fine!

Nonetheless, it was wrong.

“I… I…”

Victoria screwed her eyes shut, sucked in more breaths in her panic, raised a hand to worry hair that no longer existed…

And, somewhere in all the weight of the horror and confusion and fear and sense of encroaching chill, the dam broke. And even as she began to sob and cry her apologies, she felt Ryker’s arms rushing to wrap around her, and in turn clutched herself to him like a lifeline.

How warm he was.

Nexus Racing HQ, Crossbay Circuit, Nimbus Bay, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
4th of March

“Imagination, you work quickly.”

“I mean, it’s not done just yet, we are having to rebuild the TC code from the ground up, but… Victoria grins, her words belying the wondrous spark of triumph and joy in her eyes, lit by the framing of the doorway. “Blame Tiffany for helping crank out the low-level stuff faster than I ever could. Shouldn’t take long to see whether it’s working in simulation, in any case, but we could use all the data you can give us.”

Ryker’s gaze sweeps across the familiar shadows of the simulator room, running his hands across, then leaning against the seat. Not sitting yet… Not yet. “More than glad to help where I can. Just watching the handling, right?”

“Sure! I mean, everything else would be great too, but –”

Ryker laughs. “I hear you. I hear you.” He glances down at the seat of the simulator again.

That sense of… Friction. Distance.

Not Coalescence yet… ‘Yet’.

He wanders around and lowers himself down, feet meeting pedals and hands, slower, coming up to the steering wheel. “I’ll see what I can manage.”

Previous Chapter
5. Calculus

Next Chapter
7. Guilt, Fear, Sorrow

Back to Hub

by **Liventia** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 2:39 pm

Host announcement:
Hapilopper has asked to transfer his ownership of Preston Autos for this season to Valentine Z.

As Val Z didn't sign a team up on their own, I have decided to assign Preston Autos a dual-nation trigramme, such that RP bonus already accumulated by both Hapilopper and Valentine Z will count for the team, instead of just Val Z's RP bonus alone – which would not be fair.

I will also take this approach to any other team ownership changes, if there are any, going forward this season.

RP cutoff will be in approximately 30 minutes.

by **Tropicorp** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 2:58 pm

SKIIA VIALIV ✓

@Skiia
Felt good to get back on the track finally under race conditions. Obviously, the result wasn't what any of us were hoping for. The car clearly struggled on the street circuit and by the end Donny and I were just making laps. We tried making a run for fast lap at the end but yet there was an ever faster car behind us, so still without a point. At least we'll be going somewhere familiar next. I had a solid 4th place at the Crossbay Circuit last season, a repeat performance would be great!

#WGPC21 :: #ForzaHMG :: #Queensland

INDORI VOLCANASAUR ✓

@IndoriV
Slowly getting things together, getting faster and faster. Knocking on the doorstep of the podium. Next step... the podium itself/ Shame we are off to Auruna this week I heard folks are going to have some fun with R/C cars at the crossbay Circuit!

#SupportSeries :: #WGPC21 :: #WGPC

by **Turori** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 3:09 pm

R.L. Cruisin ✓

@Cruisin
Equal parts thrilled and dissapointed with our on track effort this Sunday. Its incredible that in just our second ever race we were able to get the #51 car onto the podium for @PiersIvchenko in their home race. I'm just replaying if there is anything possible we could have done differently on the start to get ahead of those Aelund machines. If we could have gotten in front of them then, maybe we could have kept them behind and competed for the win. Oh well, can't complain with 3rd place! Feels Great to be back.

#WGPC : #PiersIvchenko : #Queensland

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat
The struggles for @iBen77 in the World Grand Prix Championship have continued thus far two races into the #WGPC21 campaign. After being dropped by an under-performing Colourworks team at the end of last season, Toralmintii fell seemingly upwards into the second seat at @RaceEelandii, a team which finished 4th in the constructors standings one season prior winning two races. Now, however, it looks like the lack of pace has following Toralmintii to Eelandii as despite a strong finish to the pre-season testing, Toralmintii and teammate Cocoabo #23 have not yet looked to mount a serious challenge on the points. The real test may come this week at the Crossbay Circuit, a track that Toralmintii has competed on as much as any driver in the field with the exception of Ryker Lane. Toralmintii will look to the familiar circuit to provide a much needed boost to their slumbering campaign.

#WGPC21 : #Media : #CrossbayCircuit

V&T RACER Online ✓

@VTRacer
Hearing that Race Eelandii will be represented at the upcoming NRCU Open Radio Car Challenge by Technical Director Intoreil Palmsti'i and overseer and reserve driver Juracai Klianiota. Reportedly the teams race drivers iBen Toralmintii and Cocoabo #23 were not permitted to participate, as they were told there would be no off-track distractions while at the track until they start scoring some points on Sundays.

#WGPC :: #RadioCarChallenge :: #Media

by **Liventia** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 3:24 pm

CUTOFF

for Practice and Qualifying at Crossbay Circuit

by **Liventia** » Fri Mar 07, 2025 3:40 pm

Week 6: Practice

Conditions:      	Cloudy
Lap Record:      	00:01:26.018
Session Length:		75 minutes
Nation:         	NIM
Circuit:        	Crossbay Circuit

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

POS # ▍DRIVER                                               	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER		
 1 94 ▍Ryker Lane                                           	00:01:33.528	00:00:00.000		
 2 63 ▍Nepö Kinder                                          	00:01:33.528	00:00:00.000		
 3 27 ▍Dario Nülkeschlager                                  	00:01:33.564	00:00:00.036		
 4 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                                      	00:01:33.572	00:00:00.044		
 5 22 ▍Nini Johnsilvaturr                                   	00:01:33.606	00:00:00.078		
 6 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                                       	00:01:33.610	00:00:00.082		
 7 12 ▍Ron Sommer                                           	00:01:33.636	00:00:00.108		
 8 89 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                                      	00:01:33.676	00:00:00.147		
 9 40 ▍Adriana Ela Kowalski Lillian                         	00:01:33.705	00:00:00.177		
10 96 ▍William Archer                                       	00:01:33.706	00:00:00.178		
11 85 ▍Olivia Stone                                         	00:01:33.722	00:00:00.193		
12 33 ▍Sam Blaatschapen                                     	00:01:33.766	00:00:00.238		
13 58 ▍Shuhei Kamado                                        	00:01:33.791	00:00:00.263		
14 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                                         	00:01:33.881	00:00:00.353		
15 82 ▍Kinu Luminna                                         	00:01:33.897	00:00:00.369		
16 77 ▍iBen Toralmintii                                     	00:01:33.945	00:00:00.417		
17 66 ▍Vincent Von Visp                                     	00:01:33.975	00:00:00.447		
18 84 ▍Angela Stella Tan Fang Ling                          	00:01:33.981	00:00:00.453		
19 95 ▍Hanna Berezowska                                     	00:01:33.996	00:00:00.468		
20 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                                     	00:01:34.013	00:00:00.485		
21 88 ▍Ted Pressley                                         	00:01:34.037	00:00:00.509		
22 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                                         	00:01:34.093	00:00:00.565		
23 74 ▍Adonis Fitzpatrick                                   	00:01:34.134	00:00:00.606		
24 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                                          	00:01:34.145	00:00:00.617		
25 55 ▍Gil Langdon                                          	00:01:34.309	00:00:00.781		
26 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                                      	00:01:34.371	00:00:00.843		
27  1 ▍Brendan Faloe                                        	00:01:34.455	00:00:00.927		
28 16 ▍Azalia Kawakai                                       	00:01:34.582	00:00:01.054		
29 30 ▍Otto Markul                                          	00:01:35.552	00:00:02.024		
30  7 ▍Anneliese Devereux                                   	00:01:35.709	00:00:02.180		
31 13 ▍Pierre-Louis Archer                                  	00:01:36.253	00:00:02.725		
32 10 ▍Ankei Souzare                                        	00:01:55.052	00:00:21.524

Week 6: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:26.018
Qualifying Type:	Elimination
Nation:         	NIM
Circuit:        	Crossbay Circuit

POS # ▍DRIVER                                               	FASTEST Q1	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q2	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q3	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q4	GAP TO LEADER	
 1 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                                      	00:01:27.732	00:00:00.210	00:01:27.776	00:00:00.043	00:01:27.508	00:00:00.000	00:01:27.304	FASTEST : Q4	
 2 74 ▍Adonis Fitzpatrick                                   	00:01:27.852	00:00:00.330	00:01:27.902	00:00:00.169	00:01:27.508	FASTEST : Q3	00:01:27.311	00:00:00.007	
 3 63 ▍Nepö Kinder                                          	00:01:27.709	00:00:00.187	00:01:27.853	00:00:00.120	00:01:27.548	00:00:00.040	00:01:27.338	00:00:00.035	
 4 40 ▍Adriana Ela Kowalski Lillian                         	00:01:27.915	00:00:00.393	00:01:27.869	00:00:00.136	00:01:27.535	00:00:00.028	00:01:27.339	00:00:00.035	
 5 55 ▍Gil Langdon                                          	00:01:27.939	00:00:00.417	00:01:27.862	00:00:00.129	00:01:27.541	00:00:00.034	00:01:27.348	00:00:00.044	
 6 94 ▍Ryker Lane                                           	00:01:27.598	00:00:00.076	00:01:27.760	00:00:00.027	00:01:27.512	00:00:00.004	00:01:27.356	00:00:00.052	
 7 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                                         	00:01:27.924	00:00:00.402	00:01:27.912	00:00:00.179	00:01:27.562	00:00:00.055	00:01:27.386	00:00:00.082	
 8 88 ▍Ted Pressley                                         	00:01:27.683	00:00:00.161	00:01:27.821	00:00:00.088	00:01:27.561	00:00:00.053	00:01:27.392	00:00:00.088	
 9 85 ▍Olivia Stone                                         	00:01:27.782	00:00:00.260	00:01:27.884	00:00:00.151	00:01:27.564	00:00:00.056			
10 82 ▍Kinu Luminna                                     	00:01:27.522	FASTEST : Q1	00:01:27.733	FASTEST : Q2	00:01:27.564	00:00:00.056			
11 95 ▍Hanna Berezowska                                     	00:01:27.713	00:00:00.191	00:01:27.815	00:00:00.081	00:01:27.571	00:00:00.063			
12 21 ▍Nik Hazrin Lutfi                                     	00:01:27.871	00:00:00.349	00:01:27.872	00:00:00.139	00:01:27.582	00:00:00.075			
13 58 ▍Shuhei Kamado                                        	00:01:27.863	00:00:00.341	00:01:27.852	00:00:00.119	00:01:27.634	00:00:00.127			
14 77 ▍iBen Toralmintii                                     	00:01:27.787	00:00:00.266	00:01:27.912	00:00:00.179	00:01:27.658	00:00:00.150			
15 96 ▍William Archer                                       	00:01:27.674	00:00:00.152	00:01:27.875	00:00:00.142	00:01:27.678	00:00:00.170			
16 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                                          	00:01:27.762	00:00:00.241	00:01:27.957	00:00:00.223	00:01:27.717	00:00:00.209			
17 84 ▍Angela Stella Tan Fang Ling                          	00:01:27.755	00:00:00.233	00:01:27.974	00:00:00.241					
18 27 ▍Dario Nülkeschlager                                  	00:01:27.928	00:00:00.406	00:01:28.084	00:00:00.351					
19  7 ▍Anneliese Devereux                                   	00:01:28.391	00:00:00.869	00:01:28.132	00:00:00.399					
20  1 ▍Brendan Faloe                                        	00:01:28.121	00:00:00.599	00:01:28.224	00:00:00.491					
21 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                                       	00:01:28.262	00:00:00.740	00:01:28.234	00:00:00.501					
22 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                                         	00:01:28.186	00:00:00.664	00:01:28.275	00:00:00.542					
23 89 ▍Abdoulaye Goita                                      	00:01:28.250	00:00:00.729	00:01:28.285	00:00:00.552					
24 12 ▍Ron Sommer                                           	00:01:28.270	00:00:00.748	00:01:28.427	00:00:00.694					
25 22 ▍Nini Johnsilvaturr                                   	00:01:28.433	00:00:00.911							
26 66 ▍Vincent Von Visp                                        	00:01:28.478	00:00:00.956							
27 30 ▍Otto Markul                                          	00:01:28.571	00:00:01.049							DNQ
28 13 ▍Pierre-Louis Archer                                  	00:01:29.041	00:00:01.519							DNQ
29 33 ▍Sam Blaatschapen                                     	00:01:29.196	00:00:01.675							DNQ
30 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel                                      	00:01:29.431	00:00:01.909							DNQ
31 16 ▍Azalia Kawakai                                       	00:01:29.479	00:00:01.957							DNQ
32 10 ▍Ankei Souzare                                        	00:01:30.142	00:00:02.620							DNQ

by **Doubeia** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 11:29 am

"Franz, you cannot be serious. I am not throwing your daughter into the car!"

"Listen, Koko, you're underestimating my baby."

Kokomiya rolled her eyes annoyance. She hated being called Koko, and she also hated dealing with obstinate bosses who wouldn't admit they were ever wrong. She slumped back on her chair, creasing her forehead as she shot daggers at Franz Bungschen. She wanted to rip into the burly guy sitting across him but she could only chew her criticisms. After all, she was still Franz's subordinate, and the last thing she needed was to unceremoniously lose her job over something minor.

"Look, Franz, I know you think Tati is a great driver, and I think she has potential!" Kokomiya said whilst sitting back up, "I just... well, I think she would be better suited for another round of the DRL. She still needs more seasoning before we can even think about making her our reserve driver." Kokomiya was worried Franz would take offence at what she said about Tati, even if she had already tried to soften her words. Franz, however, seemed unfazed. Biting on his lip, he ruminated his choice of words for a moment.

"I don't know why you're so against my baby being your reserve driver," he quipped, "It's not as if she'd have to drive the car any time soon. She'll get her practice in elsewhere. Just think of this as... payment. Payment for my unwavering funding and support of this entire Piers Ivchenko operation." Franz's expression remained nonplussed, but Kokomiya could hear the lilt in his voice. She hated the way he said "payment". It was as if she and the team owed him something for the money he was putting in. What about the Bungschen stocks rising? What about the team's relative success? Cruisin's podium? Weren't they all payment enough? It vexed her that he would be so blatant as to give his daughter a position she didn't even deserve. Tati was effectively last in her WGP2 season, for crying out loud!

The silence in the room remained for a while. Kokomiya wanted to fight back, but she was struggling to find the right words. Franz looked on as a small smile creeped onto his face.

"What's so amusing?" Kokomiya asked defiantly.

"You can't seem to come up with an excuse to why Tati shouldn't be the reserve driver," Franz responded.

"Well I can," Kokomiya squeaked in annoyance, "Her talent's too raw for the WGPC, and I can tell you her poor soul might not be able to stand the pressure and scrutiny of the WGPC. Besides, I really don't want us to be seen as a nepotism team. People couldn't even take JMoD seriously because Tati was at the wheel!" She stood up as she went about her quibble, and Franz relished in seeing her this worked up. He leaned back on his chair and swiveled round and round on his seat like a child. It was all infuriating for Kokomiya, really. Everything about Franz seemed to be engineered in a way to specifically piss her off: an immature twat who doesn't like being told no, and unfortunately has way too much money to count.

"Koko, I think you of all people should know that a reserve driver is different from a full-time one. Like, come on, got a better excuse? I'm tired of waiting," Franz said, spinning on his seat. Kokomiya remained standing, arms crossed and expression grim as she tapped her foot on the ground. What else did this muppet want to hear? If straight up telling him his daughter was Not Good at racing wouldn't change his mind, what would? She couldn't even conjure a bullshit excuse about how it'd affect his stocks, she knew next to nothing about business. It wasn't as if she hated Tati either; in fact, she saw her as some sort of niece. Kokomiya just wasn't sure Tati was the right driver to be giving the role of reserve driver to.

"Cat got your tongue?" Franz taunted, "Or you can't think of a good reason?" Hearing him speak to her with his playful tone pushed only made Kokomiya even more annoyed, and it felt awful that she didn't know how to respond to him.

"Fine, I'll... I don't even wanna say it. You get my point," she puffed. She still didn't like the idea of giving Tati the reserve driver role. It felt performative and frankly useless. Unfortunately, she had no say in the matter, but if she could sweeten the deal...

Kokomiya thought about it for a little while. Would Franz be alright with what she had in mind? Generations of accummulated wealth made money barely an issue for the Bungschens, but Kokomiya was worried Franz might freak out a bit if she asked for a bit more funding for the team. She couldn't find a good way to correlate having Tati as a reserve driver to asking for more money, but more money to help support the team seemed to balance out the blatant nepotism Franz was suggesting.

"Well," Kokomiya put one hand on the office table, "Sure, I'm okay with having Tati on board this time round, but I think it's good to be aware of the additional strain this can impose on our finance. Y'know, things like extra accommodation, more cars for her to test, simulators, funding potential entries in other series... I'm not asking for much, I'm ju—"

Franz stood up.

He was easily an arm's length away from Kokomiya, but she could see just how much she towered over him. The suddenness of his actions stunned her into silence, and for the first time in a while, she felt threatened. Was he going to lash out at her? Was she going to get an earful? Demotion? Or even get fired? Well, she didn't think he would go to that extent, but you never knew.

"I've done so much for the team. I laid the foundations, made the right connections and put in my time and money into making Piers Ivchenko happen. Now I'm just asking for a favour, and you want me to do something in return?" The face that was on Franz's face disappeared, but he didn't look or sound as fussed about what Kokomiya said. Still, she gulped, anticipating his next words. What she didn't anticipate was him breaking into laughter.

"Caught you scared, didn't I?" he joked, "Alright, if it'll really make you set your mind on it, I don't mind funding the team a bit more. What's a bit more money, am I right?" He beamed as he picked up his bag. Kokomiya couldn't feel more flustered as she watched Franz make his way to the door. He'd been acting like a child the past half-hour, but what he did just now? She felt like a child. It was horrific.

"Well, I've got places to go, Koko. Just gotta vouch for me during the meeting, and I'm sure those Piers Ivchenko slouches won't say no. Toodles!" As he bode farewell to Kokomiya, he gave her a quick wink before walking out the door. Kokomiya could only look on in horror as Franz didn't bother closing the door.

What just happened that past minute? It all happened way too suddenly. One moment it seemed like Franz was about to tear her a new one, and the next he was laughing about it. And he had the audacity to wink at her too! He'd acted like a child the entire time they had this impromptu "meeting" and thought the best way to top it all off was to flirt with her. He was outrageous for doing what he did, but the worst part was that she... she didn't mind it at all.

Kokomiya would be a liar to say she didn't once fancy Franz. He had the build, but his personality turned her way off. Still, there were moments where she didn't find him too bad, and if she was honest, that wink might have given her some butterflies. Kokomiya didn't want to linger on it for long, though. She simply didn't see a future with someone who acted like a 12-year-old no matter how they looked. It also felt a bit taboo to have some sort of relationship with him, but she couldn't put a finger as to why...

...whatever, there was more things to spend her precious time on. Kokomiya looked at her timetable. The new innovated floor should have completed development soon, and her eyes were set on the Nimban Grand Prix happening a while later. She scratched her head. How was she going to explain why she agreed on signing Tati? Well, that was a conundrum for later.

by **Tumbra** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 11:49 am

Tumbra

Holding down the home front while also being a direct link to the enemy had become very tiring for deputy team principal Stephen Cheung. The role of deputy TP had been presented to him as a consolation prize, as well as a carrot to tempt him to stop trying to go for his superior, Jack Brook's, seat while said superior tried to wrangle with bigger matters. A few months on, however, he realised he'd been had; the role had been a poisoned chalice. Full control over factory operations and overseeing the team's Tumbran Super Formula campaigns — once the primary focus of the team, now a sideshow when focusing on the international stage, but one that Cheung had always held near and dear to his heart — meant that he was now the top man, mostly, at the Pressley factory.

It also meant that he was the person most in contact with the team's biggest investor, Thomas Kim Yong-an, the controversial tech billionaire whose endgame with Pressley wasn't clear.

Amidst the fog of intentions — Kim seemed to spit out about a million ideas and signals a minute, almost all of whom were contradictory — Cheung had been tasked with trying to suss out what exactly Kim wanted with the team, while also handling the potential for a joint effort between the Xinhuanese sovereign wealth fund, and one of the many Kotzellacher sovereign wealth funds, to buy out Kim's stake in the team for as little as possible. In short, he was playing double agent.

It helped that Cheung's previously-prickly relationship with Brook made him the natural choice for the role. Kim always suspected — correctly, as it turned out — that everyone in the team had a vendetta against him. The team had adopted an approach of a soft stonewall. In practice, it meant that most of the line staff at Pressley adopted the three Ds when it came to dealing with the moneyed man:

Delay whatever information got to Kim.
Deny everything except the most reasonable, the most basic of requests for information.
Defend said gestures by using whatever excuses possible.

This meant that most of what Kim had gotten was a financial picture of the team, rather than anything truly technical; the last thing the boffins over in the Research and Development wing wanted was a tech magnate with a minor case of a God complex sticking his fingers in the pie. They were slightly more nervous than usual, however, in the week since the Doubeia race; they were never really expecting to do well on the streets of Queensland, but the P23 and P24 finish had set the alarm bells ringing that their results in pre-season testing had largely been a fluke. Bleary-eyed, Cheung stirred his coffee while he read increasingly harried updates from the R&D team that looped him in; they had wanted to move the only big update package for the car up a race from Patriotlandia to Turori. Rushing the update would mean that there would be less time to simulate its effects, but would allow for more field time; on the other hand, the simulation processes were vital.

He clicked off. Too early for this decision.

And then another email popped up as he lifted the cup to his lips, the warm liquid meeting his lips. "aymikt024@pressley.com" had sent it. Sighing, Stephen lowered his cup; it probably wasn't going to be anything good.

RE: Disappointing results at Doubeia and team efficiency

S.

Just saw what happened in Doubeia. Very disappointing. I thought we were faster than that - what happened? Will schedule one-on-one post mortem. Will be in Grantfeldt Wednesday, expect improvement plan for next race onwards.

Financial numbers are worrying - I want to make this team more efficient. I want more productivity; we need more upgrades, we need to be the most innovative team on the grid. Discussed with the board and I am going to hold everyone's feet over the fire. Every week employees need to summarise what they've done to improve the prospects of the team and send them to me. If they don't, fast-track to dismissal.

I will send the first email out on Thursday.

Yong

Several things started happening at once; Cheung felt his blood pressure rising, his heart pumping quicker as he read through the email. How the fuck did one deal with this? It was his job, of course, as the resistance's resident Kim-wrangler. But Kim was well within his rights to start such a programme; he had the board bent round his little finger and they would say yes to whatever he wanted. An immediate response was needed. But an email wouldn't be strong enough, no; this one needed a direct call and Kim needed to be told in no uncertain manner that this could not do.

He dialed a number on the teleconferencing software; soon, he was connected.

"Stephen, I trust you saw my email? What's so important that you needed to call?" Kim was wearing sporting clothes and was seemingly on a run; Stephen recognised the Couno skyline in the background.

"Mr. Kim, this cannot happen. This will destroy team morale; it will make everyone suspicious of each other —"

"Why so worried, hm? It'll make everyone suspicious of each other, but it'll also make them work harder. And we need them to work harder. I cannot have cars with my name on them finishing twenty-third and twenty-fourth. Why, I even saw that girl that everyone defended to high heaven as the next great talent lock up and skid off the escape road. Is that what we want here?"

"Nini's a rookie, we have to be patient with her —"

"And I want results. I listened, alright? I wanted Archer, Billy Archer, I knew he'd be fast, you guys said no, he was too volatile. We could've poached Haukanna when that Latin team or whatever was briefly out of the championship; now she has 11 points and a pole position. Toralmintii, bagfuls of experience, world champion, down on his arse but fired up. Edwards, demoted from his seat at the team, could've stolen him and all the tech know-how those Hapilopper rednecks haveve got. But instead, the girl. Fourteenth and twenty-fourth. She'd do well to be on watch, I think."

"I have to ask you to reconsider."

"Stephen, Stephen, look at me. We've both got Yueren heritage; we both know how to handle money. Alright? And I know both of us have seen those financial statements; and I don't exactly feel like I'm getting a good fucking return on my investment right about now, Stephen, and I know you'd agree with me. We need changes, big dog, and we need them now."

"I guess...I guess we could give it a shot." There was no dissuading the billionaire; Brook had advised him to give in if there was nothing he could do directly, and simply focus on reducing the level of harm Kim could do to the organisation. It felt like hell, a personal betrayal of everything he stood for. But there was a faint light at the end of the tunnel, a moment where everything could be turned on its head; Kim's money without Kim, and the long-term financial future of the organisation, if they could just endure until the right moment to strike.

"Good man. Anything else?"

Stephen shook his head.

"Alright. Meeting over. See you Wednesday for the post-mortem." Kim ended the call without even saying good-bye.

It was probably a good thing the camera only showed the upper half of Stephen's body, because underneath the table his left fist had balled up in rage as the call had gone on.

by **Former Citizens of the Nimbus System** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 8:00 pm

NRCU Open Radio Car Challenge Tournament

OPEN QUALIFYING
Conditions:      	Dry
Nation:         	NIM
Circuit:        	Downscaled imitation of Crossbay Circuit

POS  DRIVER                                  	FASTEST LAP
 1  Olivia Stone                            	00:00:34.000
 2  Ern Brockley                            	00:00:34.158
 3  Aldin Lane                              	00:00:34.218
 4  Bethany Forgestrike                     	00:00:34.287
 5  Xavier Bakerson                         	00:00:34.337
 6  Juracai Klianiota                       	00:00:34.512
 7  Hayden Walcon                           	00:00:34.545
 8  Abdoulaye Goita                         	00:00:34.683
 9  Lian Pelt                               	00:00:34.710
10  Intoreil Palmsti'i                      	00:00:34.815
11  Ryker Lane                              	00:00:35.917
12  Sara Valens                             	00:00:34.917
13  Vance Fleetfoot                         	00:00:34.924
14  Aimee Strongheart                       	00:00:34.934
15  Ted Pressley                            	00:00:34.993
^ QUALIFIED ^ -------------------------------- ^ QUALIFIED ^
...
18  Naiomi Echell                           	00:00:35.271
19  Cole Schmied                            	00:00:35.389
20  Janne Laukkanen                         	00:00:35.393
...
35  Honour Wellen                           	00:00:35.703
...
37  Virgil Swordspark                       	00:00:35.795
...
72  Terho Talvela                           	00:00:36.175
...
198  Victoria Light                          	00:00:37.614
...
256  Carol Schmied                           	00:00:38.227
...
311  Baxen Aurora                            	00:00:38.610
...
434  Brendan Faloe                           	00:00:39.359
...
510  Henriesse Lane                          	00:00:39.613
...
578 Paige Jarls                             	00:00:39.831
...
612 Vertilan Thompsonas                     	00:00:39.917
...
635 Gertrude Thompsonas                     	00:00:40.095

RACE
Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:            	46
Nation:         	NIM
Circuit:        	Downscaled imitation of Crossbay Circuit
Cars on Grid:		15

Start           After 11 Laps           After 23 Laps           After 34 Laps			
 1 STO       	 1 STO +0           	 1 STR +0           	 1 STO +0           
 2 BRK       	 2 KLI +2.076       	 2 PAL +19.798      	 2 STR +3.896       
 3 LNE       	 3 STR +3.506       	 3 KLI +23.292      	 3 PAL +Laps: 1     
 4 FOR       	 4 LNE +7.85        	 4 STO +Laps: 1     	 4 BRK +Laps: 1     
 5 BAK       	 5 BRK +9.359       	 5 BRK +Laps: 1     	 5 WAL +Laps: 2     
 6 KLI       	 6 BAK +14.283      	 6 WAL +Laps: 1     	 6 LNE +Laps: 2     
 7 WAL       	 7 PAL +18.911      	 7 LNE +Laps: 1     	 7 GOI +Laps: 3     
 8 GOI       	 8 FOR +26.594      	 8 FOR +Laps: 3     	 8 FOR +Laps: 3     
 9 PEL       	 9 PEL +Laps: 1     	 9 LAN +Laps: 3     	 9 KLI +Laps: 3     
10 PAL       	10 WAL +Laps: 1     	10 GOI +Laps: 4     	10 PEL +Laps: 4     
11 LAN       	11 LAN +Laps: 2     	11 PEL +Laps: 4     	11 SAV +Laps: 5     
12 SAV       	12 PRE +Laps: 2     	12 BAK +Laps: 5     	12 BAK +Laps: 6     
13 FLE       	13 GOI +Laps: 2     	13 PRE +Laps: 5     	13 LAN +Laps: 7     
14 STR       	14 SAV +Laps: 3     	14 SAV +Laps: 5     	14 FLE +Laps: 7     
15 PRE       	15 FLE +Laps: 3     	15 FLE +Laps: 6     	15 PRE +Laps: 7

POS  # DRV Name                                    Time      	 Fastest Lap
  1  1 STO Olivia Stone                            00:30:00.352			
  2 10 PAL Intoreil Palmsti'i                      00:00:53.225			
  3 14 STR Aimee Strongheart                       00:00:53.850			
  4  2 BRK Ern Brockley                            Laps Down: 1			
  5  7 WAL Hayden Walcon                           Laps Down: 1			
  6  3 LNE Aldin Lane                              Laps Down: 1			
  7  8 GOI Abdoulaye Goita                         Laps Down: 2			
  8  6 KLI Juracai Klianiota                       Laps Down: 2	 0:35.008	
  9  4 FOR Bethany Forgestrike                     Laps Down: 3			
 10  9 PEL Lian Pelt                               Laps Down: 3			
 11 12 SAV Sara Valens                             Laps Down: 4			
 12  5 BAK Xavier Bakerson                         Laps Down: 4			
 13 15 PRE Ted Pressley                            Laps Down: 4			
 14 11 LAN Ryker Lane                              Laps Down: 4			
 15 13 FLE Vance Fleetfoot                         Laps Down: 5

by **Tropicorp** » Sat Mar 08, 2025 11:19 pm

New Favorite Emerges as Pressley takes Doubeinese GP

WGPC21 Supplier Performance Standings (After Week #2)
[1] - 43 :: Tropicorp Racing Supply
[2] - 35 :: Phoenician/InMotion
[3] - 28 :: Brimstone
[4] - 3 :: Solymok
[5] - 0 :: Blue Sulphurate

Doubeinese Grand Prix, Queensland Street Circuit, Queensland, Doubeia :: The first of three events making their first ever appearance as a full event on the World Grand Prix Championship Season 21 Schedule, the Doubeinese Grand Prix would also be the first Street Circuit of the season and many would come into the race weekend being prepared for either thrilling chaos or uneventful boredom. Ultimately, the result was something inbetween although for those hoping for any kind of excitement at the top of the leaderboard, there wasn't much to be found on the streets of Queensland.

It was a race that was effectively decided in the opening sequence of turns, a deceptive quick right followed by a long and tighter left hand turn. Auruna's Laura Haukanna had the Pole Position but it was Ælund Grand Prix driver Ted Pressley who got the advantage from outside pole. 51 laps later, the first ever Doubeinese Grand Prix came to a conclusion with Ted Presley taking the checkered flag, the Abovian outfit's first victory since WGPC Season 19. The celebration was already starting to slow down when, about a minute later, the race for second finally came around to the finish. It was Abdoulaye Goita v. R.L. Cruisin for the runner up spot - Goita looking to make it an Ælund Grand Prix one-two finish while Cruisin looked to get one peg higher on the podium for the debutant team, Piers Ivchenko, in their first ever Home Grand Prix. In the end Goita's Tropicorp rubber had the grip needed to outlast Cruisin to the finish.

While there was perhaps little surprise at the makeup of the podium finishers, particularly considering the speeds shown in practice and qualifying, perhaps the most surprising outcome of the race was taht all 26 drivers who started the race would make it to the finish. Most concerning perhaps was that while Tropicorp Racing Supply found themselves atop the podium through Ælund Grand Prix, the two Tropicorp Factory powered teams, Race Eelandii VTGP and Pressley Racing found themselves out of the points entirely. In fact, two races into the World Grand Prix Championship season and three of the four drivers between Pressley Racing and Race Eelandii VTGP were without a point - all three of which had ties to Race Eelandii VTGP with its two current drivers, iBen Toralmintii and Cocoabo #23 as well as former Reserve and AOGP driver Nini Johnsilvaturr, the video game-trained racer also still searching for not only her first point of the season but the first of her World Grand Prix Championship career.

With the next event on the calendar being the Nimban Grand Prix at the Crossbay Circuit, Tropicorp Racing Supply's primary challenger in the Tyre market Phoenician-In Motion will look to re-gain momentum after falling behind Tropicorp in the supplier performance standings. With Ælund Grand Prix having so far scored triple the amount of points of the other three Tropicorp Racing Supply supported teams, the Tropicorp Racing Supply team is reportedly looking to arrange a meeting of Technical Directors to discuss ways to strengthen the partnership between the teams in an attempt to help HMG Grand Prix, Race Eelandii VTGP and Pressley Racing close the gap in pace that the Ælund cars have shown in the first two weeks. Race Eelandii technical director Intoreil Palmsti'i confirmed that invitations were sent for the Technical Directors to meet up in Tropicoast following the Nimban Grand Prix, while teams are en-route to Eelandii for the Grand Prix of Turori where they will have three races worth of data to assess should the other three technical directors accept their invitations.

Tropicorp Supplier Performances Standings are calculated by taking the points total of the best finisher of each supplier into consideration each week. Fastest Lap is not a consideration in the standings as presented.

. Drivers Standings:  0 pts  (N/A)
       Average Qual:  17.5   (23rd)
     Average Finish:  19.0   (23rd)
Positions Over Grid:  -1.5   (18th)

It was another quiet mid-pack effort for Cocoabo #23 and the Race Eelandii VTGP team at the Queensland Street Circuit. It is evident that the Race Eelandii team has taken a step backward this season - or at least have not made the same forward strides that their competitors have accomplished in the offseason as the not-so Fast Cocoabo has struggled to break into the Top 10 in any session after being one of the fastest cars on the track just one season ago. The Cocoabo was 12th fastest in the Friday practice on the Queensland Street Circuit while teammate iBen Toralmintii was inside the Top 10 giving the team some optimism that they had found enough speed to be competitive inside the points in Doubeia. It would all go sour in the Qualifying Session however as Cocoabo #23 was just 18th fastest on the time sheet.

There just wasn't space on the track or quite enough power in the car for Cocoabo #23 to make much progress on the track. After 51 laps, the Cocoabo driver had only advance two places from the start though it mattered little as they were still well outside the points paying positions. For the second straight week Cocoabo #23 failed to finish all the laps - finishing a lap down to the dominant race winner Ted Pressley, and otherwise just grinding laps out. With the team not expected to introduce any major upgrades until after the Nimban Grand Prix, Fast Cocoabo will have to hope that the less technically challenging layout in Nimbus Bay will allow the existing Race Eelandii to be more competitive and more capable of enabling the Cocoabo to advance through the field should they continue their struggles with just the 23rd best qualifying average of all drivers in the WGPC field.

. Drivers Standings:  0 pts  (N/A)
       Average Qual:  20.0   (20th)
     Average Finish:  19.0   (24th)
Positions Over Grid:  -6.0   (25th)

Considering the way the season started for Skiia Vialiv, failing to qualify for the season opening Abovian Grand Prix at a track the Tropicorper should have been able to shine at after having finished as the runner-up on the podium there just one season ago, simply qualifying for the race at the Queensland Street Circuit was at least a step in the right direction. Vialiv would post the 13th fastest time in qualifying and would have an eye on the points from the start. Unfortunately, while all the drivers in front of her seemed to capitalize on their starting spots, Vialiv was unable to do so. Minor contact with Pierre-Louis Archer got the #14 car loose in the opening turn and forced Vialiv wide losing a handful of spots. As was the story throughout much of the race, Vialiv was unable to recover or gain back any of the positions, in fact, she would lose even more positions midway through the event after some questionable pit strategy on the HMG Pit Box. In the end it was teammates Vialiv and Adonis Fitzpatrick riding around a lap down in the back. Adonis would come in for fresh tyres late in an attempt to use the draft from Vialiv to earn the fastest lap point and it seemed they had done it, temporarily topping the time table until the very last car crossed the line, Cygnus Motor Rating's Olivia Stone from the 25th position taking the fast lap and the one extra point leaving HMG Grand Prix shut out for the race.

After the race, Skiia, Adonis and the HMG Team stayed in the paddock to do a post-race review. It was obvious that there was plenty left to be desired from their performance over the first two races, just four points. Sensing a lack of optimism in the room, Skiia went over to the screen that showed the current constructors standings and stuck her finger just under the line where HMG Grand Prix was listed. "Look, we're still beating UrGa. So, clearly we made the right decision coming here. Now we just have to build on what we have week after week and we'll get better. Eventually we'll get back to where we were last season and where I know we can be." There were some half-hearted chuckles. Of course, everyone was pleased that they were ahead of UrGa in the standings, but it was also likely that everyone could sense the reality in their own thoughts. Urotovsky-Gatutin would likely be higher in the standings if they had Vialiv and Fitzpatrick driving for them instead of having sold their seat to a rich hot-head who has themselves yet to score a point in their WGPC career. Still, it was early in the season. In fact, both Skiia Vilaliv and the series champion Brendan Faloe failed to score any points in the first two races of World Grand Prix Championship Season 20. So there was plenty of time to turn things around. Really, that was the message for the HMG Grand Prix Team. Don't give up. There are plenty of points available. They will just have to go out and earn them.

The Tropicorp Engineering @OGP Team competing in the twii.tur Support Series have officially taken on the Moniker of "Tropicorp Orangeworks" for the coming season. After the disastrous experimental Tropicorp Colorworks season during World Grand Prix Championship Season 20, Tropicorp have scaled back their World Grand Prix Championship effort and have returned to the roots in an attempt to re-build their legacy as a three-time World Grand Prix Championship winning outfit. Looking to show strength and unity with their employees back in Tropicoast, the Tropicorp Engineering AOGP team have replaced the Colorworks moniker representative of the partnership with CMYK and replaced it with "The only color that matters" - Tropicorp Orange.

In addition to providing the motivation for the change in naming for the team, Tropicorp Orangeworks have picked up something else from the Tropicorp Colorworks team - its reserve driver Igne Spupuo. The Royal Prince from Deiorous known affectionately as the "Lizard King" by many of their fans, Spupuo is a former World Grand Prix Championship driver who has recently sought a return to the top levels of Motorsports after taking a break to serve their responsibilities within the Lizardverse. Spupuo has recently set a record with three consecutive podium finishes on the AOGP/@OGP series and after two races sits joint-top of the twii.tur Support Series drivers standings after back-to-back runner-up finishes to start the season. Joining Spupuo on the Orangeworks team is Indori Vulcanasaur, the hot prospect from the Tropicorp ranks who made their debut in the OWARS NSGP and then quickly shot up through to compete in the most recent World Grand Prix 2 Championships. Volcanasaur is one of two drivers from the most recent World Grand Prix 2 Championships to make the move to the twii.tur Support Series in ana attempt to keep fresh eyes on their talents and build their skills while the World Grand Prix 2 takes a back seat to the World Grand Prix Championship action. The other driver making the crossover is the reigning WGP2 champion Iina Konoa who is competing for MNA Viroluki-Viska Racing. Volcanasaur's best finish on the WGP2 circuit was a 3rd place finish, just sneaking on the podium on two separate occasions, first at the Tropicoast Beach Course and then on the WGP2 Tumbran Grand Prix at the Couno Harbour Circuit. Tropicorp will be hoping the experience at the WGP2 level will help Volcanasaur compete for race victories during the twii.tur Support Series season, and perhaps there is something the youngster can learn from the more experienced Lizard driver Igne Spupuo.

by **Recuecn** » Sun Mar 09, 2025 3:16 am

Race day[/b]
Abdoulaye could tell Ted was nervous. As if he had anything to worry about. But it was a totally normal reaction to being in Ted’s position; every WGPC driver set high standards for themselves. That was what made them successful in this sport. At this point, Abdoulaye knew if Ted didn’t straight-up win the race, he’d feel it as a disappointment.

Honestly, the anxiety emanating from Ted made Abdoulaye feel more at ease, as bad as that sounds. Abdoulaye had plenty to worry about too—if the race went anything like last week’s, Abdoulaye might as well write off the whole season. But the sheer intensity of Ted’s desire, emotion, and stress rose off him like heat from a fire, and the blaze drew Abdoulaye’s attention away from the cold sinking feeling in the back of his own mind. Sitting on the other side of the table and dutifully sawing away at his chicken breast with a dull knife, Abdoulaye tried to think of something to say to ease the tension.

He drew a massive blank. It was almost painful to see how tense Ted was. But the benefit was that his clear emotional distress took Abdoulaye’s mind off his own race. Not that he didn’t need to focus on the task at hand. But with so little time left before lights out, letting himself run mental circles around the race over and over was anything but helpful. Trying to put on a brave face to encourage Ted served as a helpful placebo—fake it till you make it, they said.

By the time they were at the circuit, doing a lap in the open-topped bus to wave at the spectators, Abdoulaye had somehow convinced himself he was confident about things. Confident enough to finally find a few hopeful words to say to Ted, and rub him on the shoulders.

When he had first participated in World Grand Prix racing, the sheer number of pre-race formalities, procedures, and rituals had been intimidating. No, you can’t drive the car yet, first we have to do another checklist. And say a prayer. And the officials have to speak with you. And the venue organizers want all the drivers to wave at the fans. And another checklist. And another prayer. Back then, Abdoulaye had wanted to scream: just let me race! But now, with the familiarity of repetition, the procedures and routines had all faded into each other, becoming one big ritual. Abdoulaye no longer saw them as distractions—the routine helped to center his thoughts before the race.

Caught up in the meditation of pre-race checklists, it felt like just moments before Abdoulaye was lined up with all the other drivers in the starting grid. The back of Ted’s car stood immediately in front of him. Just you and me, thought Abdoulaye. I’ll stick on your tail, and let’s ditch these losers!

Lights out; the world exploded forward.

No excuse to blame the car this week; the AGP007’s new engine gave Abdoulaye all the acceleration he could want. In front of him, Ted burst into P1 before the first corner, and Abdoulaye followed him. As Ted began to increase his lead, always thinking forward, Abdoulaye focused on the cars behind. He threw himself into a defensive mindset almost immediately. The knowledge that he was defending for two, guarding not just his own spot but also Ted’s ahead of him, was gratifying. Sacrificing some of his speed to hold off the pursuers was a trade-off made more worth it when his teammate could benefit at the same time.

The race settled into its flow. Abdoulaye allowed himself to breathe again after a few laps. Already, he’d lost sight of Ted out in front. Behind himself, in turns, he caught glimpses of Haukanna, Cruisin, and Laukkanen.

At some point, when the race was far enough along for Ælund to raise its hopes, Terho came on the radio. Accepting coaching was never easy, Abdoulaye knew, and the better one was at something, the harder it was to accept someone else telling you how to do it. But it was different with Terho. For one thing, he was the best in the world. There was no point letting your pride get hurt—Terho did know better, so you might as well listen to him and hope he could help you do better, too.

Abdoulaye guessed it was unlike Terho to say so much during a race. Maybe not—after all, Abdoulaye had only done two laps this season before literally crashing out, so he hadn’t spent long enough under Terho’s direction to say if this was always his method. But as the last lap drew nearer, Abdoulaye realized that Terho, too, was nervous. Except for Terho, nervousness prompted an active response. The abovian could never be passive—he grasped every situation with both hands and the worries were forgotten in the thrill and focus of action. In that moment, without a wheel in his own hands, all Terho could do was talk to Abdoulaye, and so he did that, even if there was little left to say that Abdoulaye didn’t know.

For Abdoulaye, Terho’s voice over the radio was reassuring. Abdoulaye still had a lot to learn from Terho, and often, in conversations over simulations or after practice, he found himself remembering their WSRC drive together. Abdoulaye knew nothing about rally driving—it had just been a whim to call up Terho, merely an acquaintance back then, and ask if he still needed a co-driver. But learning something totally new helped Abdoulaye let go of the shame of ignorance. There was no reason to let his pride be wounded by instruction, because in the end, he didn’t know anything about how rally worked.

Abdoulaye reminded himself that compared to Talvela, he would always be a beginner. Even in formula driving, with more than two years of experience, he was a rookie next to Terho. And so each time Terho offered any insight, no matter how trivial, Adoulaye returned to his old WSRC mindset from Nordenflyg, embracing being a learner again. I want to get better, Adoulaye reminded himself. I need to be moldable, teachable.

“Trust the car,” said Terho.

Well, maybe some of his pearls of wisdom were more helpful than others.

By the last lap, Abdoulaye knew that Ted had the race in the bag. Ted must be across the line by now, but Abdoulaye’s radio stayed silent, thank goodness, as he concentrated on the last lap. Cruisin was right there with him now, trying to steal second. They raced down the final stretch, less than a second apart. Abdoulaye, without noticing it, was holding his breath again.

The checkered flag waved.

Abdoulaye punched the air with a tight jab. “Yeeiieauh!” His voice cracked, and his little victory shriek sounded weird to him inside his helmet. What was that, he thought to himself. He glanced up at the stands as he flew down the far end of the start/finish stretch. The fans were all on their feet cheering.

Terho came on the radio again, but now the stress was breaking, and Abdoulaye could hear his voice, too, cracking with emotion. “Ted Pressley, Abdoulaye Goita… Welcome to Ælund Grand Prix!" Abdoulaye grinned. As soon as his car was stopped, he climbed out of it, ran over to Ted, and pulled him out of his car too, into a tight hug.

Abdoulaye felt giddy, like a child told he’d just won a prize. He had to keep telling himself, this is real, this is real, this is real. Sure, it’s only second place for him, but the one-two finish was deeply satisfying, and Abdoulaye felt he’d done the team proud.

He’d have another chance to win his own race. Today he could celebrate with Ted and Ælund. The teamwork, the feeling of cooperation; that was its own reward.

World Grand Prix Championship 21 [RP/results]

Practice Race: Quirhoshe Nationals (Dream)

6. Distance

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