World Grand Prix Championship 21 [RP/results]

[TJUN-ia]

Breathe in...
Breathe out...
Breathe in...
Breathe out...

You are Batu Tüvshinbayar.
WGP2 Champion, Pride of Shinebaishin.
Aldagdsan ch martagdsangüi.

Breathe in...
Breathe out...
Let it all out...
Let it all play out...

---

The culture of Shinebaishin and Busadger in the CEA Zone and Ak-Tuva and Soyuzsky in the CSTO Zone are pretty unique, even by TJUN-ian standards. With a bloodline carved on horseback by a conqueror of Heaven and of the Steppe, the dreams of strength and power are never too far away from the people of these towns...but through the teachings of the Buddha, those thoughts can be tempered and controlled. The people of these lands, far removed from their genocidal past in another place in another universe, are some of the friendliest people you may ever meet in the borderlands between two of the most culturally significant Zones in all of TJUN-ia. They have come to learn that things can be tough and that things may not go to plan, but they have a saying that allows them to carry on, passed down through the generations: If you endeavour, then fate will favour you.

Ever since he first stepped foot at Crossbay Circuit in this magical place associated with the Nimbus System, Batu Tüvshinbayar has endeavoured to be something: a face, a name, a person you might stop in the street and ask for an autograph. His parent certainly contributed to that mindset, sheltering him for so long from lessons he should've been taught, but once he finally was free to find his feet, he has strived to be more than what he was. Sometimes, the going does get tough, but in his meditative state, he always thinks of the same thing: If you endeavour, then fate will favour you.

He felt that fate did favour him once upon a time, when he won the WGP2 title with Orange Cow, carried them up to WGPC and had a few good results last season. He felt that he was on the right track, that his journey thus far from NRDAS to the big leagues was only going in one direction...but then another lesson was taught - Nothing ever goes exactly to plan. When Orange Cow decided not to come back for this season, Batu knew he would have to endeavour to find a new seat...but nothing seemed to work, over emails or in trials. In the end, he found himself without a full-time drive - contracted as a Test Driver with KISMO and competing for ANMARA in the OGP support series. He was happy, of course, to at least have some sort of goal to attain for, a drive he could perform in...but it did sting to be cast off just like that, for both him and countryman Lane Carter to go from seat to no seat in the blink of an eye. Lane is back at UrGa in a testing capacity and seems content to be back where his career started...but Batu? He didn't have that luxury. Kismo and ANMARA were all new, his last two teams either folded or withdrew from the championship. He was on his own...and it hurt to feel that way.

But then Jungle Fever happened, back in his homeland in Peninsula. With Tshering Gyeltshen preparing for a lengthy chess tour season and Lam Chow-Cheung preparing for another run at NSSCRA's Chase, that night at The Greenhouse of TJUN-ia felt like the last time in a long while all three of them would be able to meet in person...and so they made the most of it. Dancing, singing, having a good time...it was the boost that everyone seemed to need and at the end of it all, everyone was in agreement on one particular principle: "No matter what happens now, you are loved. Don't forget that", as LCC put it.

That support was desperately needed and so far this season, he has carried that love and support towards his racing interests. He's his best to be the Test Driver that KISMO need, providing data and analytics that could help Shuhei Kamado and Gil Langdon in their quest for points. That didn't go to plan at the Fjellutfordring with 13th and 15th the best the team could manage and while Kamado failed to make the start list in Queensland, Langdon qualified 7th and did enough to take home a solitary point for the team. Both of them will be in this weekend in Crossbay, P5 (Langdon) and P15 (Kamado) as the lights go out...

As for Batu? His time in the OGP has been interesting to say the least - P8 in Aboveland with teammate Ringo Kawagishi winning the race, P10 at the Demetris Dome and he's come off his best weekend so far at Veratuna Circuit in Auruna. It wasn't looking good for him on the Saturday, qualifying in P19, but he sliced his way through the field to come home in P5 when all was said and done. He now sits 8th in the Championship, 2 points off Carter and 8 behind Kawagishi for a team 3rd in the standings as things stood. He has even represented his country at the Esportivan Sporting Festival, coming home with a P7 and a P5 thus far in his quest for Top 6 and the Championship Race. He may not have a WGPC drive but right now, he's just doing his own thing...and that was OK.

Does he miss the WGPC? Of course! But as things stood, he had to focus on what he could focus on. If opportunities were made available to him, then maybe things would be different. But right now, the only real point of concern on his mind...was Adonis Fitzpatrick. Donny was focused on his new era at HMG, qualifying 2nd for the race to come tomorrow in Crossbay. Batu wasn't there in person, of course, and he doubted he would be in time for that race, but he did manage to send Donny a text of encouragement ahead of tomorrow. "You've got this!" he wrote, "I know you've got this!"

But was this enough for Batu? When Donny made it clear he wanted time to heal, Batu respected his wishes to the letter...but maybe he needs to actually spend more time with him as friends instead of just communicating here and there without rhyme or reason. The ice will need to be broken, but Batu felt that that was the only way things were going to get back to 'normal'. But that would come at a later time. Now, Batu could only watch on TV and hope that Donny could get a great result.

Let it all out...
Let it all play out...

[Sharktail]

Crossbay Circuit, nimbus

Q: "12th on the grid for tomorrow, is everything going well?"

"The car is good today. Same when we are in Doubeia, as i finish 8th during qualifying. Look like practice and qualifying went more smooth now. Sadly, i have to bow down after Q3. We are improving day by day. I am happy and everything is clear. We will gather every opportunity tomorrow, review every part that can be improved. I will sit together with all crew members and see what can be done and ofcourse we will try to add more points for Piers Ivchenko."

Q: "Cruisin podium last race. Does it cause high pressure for the Nimban Grand Prix?"

"As much as I want to get quick success, for me, the position she got is the best for the whole team. If you want to say pressure, no matter which position we both occupy, the pressure will not disappear, so I will just go with the flow. See result just now, she placed 7th in qualifier, so i will have more work to chase after her a bit tomorrow."

Q: "Last Race in Queensland Street Circuit, you started well at 8th place but dropped out of points to 12th; anything to comment on that?"

"Sorry to the team, to all Doubeinese fans who came to cheer for their home team. I do regret a bit, but things have happened, so nothing other than admit what i done was something i can and should prevent from happening. I tried to be a little aggressive at the start of the race, and as a result, I got a penalty for exceeding the track limit, so I apologize again and try to be more careful at Nimban and steal more points for Piers Ivchenko and for myself."

Q: "Target for Nimban Grand Prix and maybe have some words for anyone?

"Can I still keeping the good guy character? (while smiling), so besides avoiding any controversy or any comments to fellow drivers, for now, I hope there will be a satisfactory result tomorrow. That's it. Hope me, team, all Sharktalian plus Doubeinese can smile brightly tomorrow, that's it. So, thank you all."

Hazrin walked away, leaving the group of journalists. He walked back to the garage together with all the team. Now, his focus is to prepare as much as possible add more points and move on from 16th place in overall standing. He envied Cruisin passed him by 13 points in the second race, so he vowed to close the gap a bit and not fall behind by a big margin.

[Trans-Dniesters]

“Mr. Yurievsky, Mr. Radchenko is here to see you.”

“Send him in,” Yakov Leonidovich Yurievsky said, and a few moments later Ivan Iosifovich Radchenko, owner and leader of the Zimmer Private Military Company, entered his office. “Ah, Ivan Iosifovich,” Yurievsky said as Radchenko sat down in front of him. “Just the man I wanted to see. I have a lot of things to talk about with you.”

“I don’t know if I should feel happy or nervous about this,” Radchenko said in reply while displaying neither emotion. “I want to talk about a few things with you too, Yakov. But for courtesy’s sake, I’ll let you start first.”

“There has been a politician or two that’s been getting on my nerves,” Yurievsky began. “These two bastards have cost me a lot, and they have also cost Pridnestrovia a lot with their actions. They don’t know it yet, but these politicians have delivered a dent to my bottom line. They’ve hit my wallet hard, and they’ve hit our country’s wallet hard. They have to be made to pay for their mistakes. I know that this is not the kind of work that you and your boys usually do, but I can’t go to our mutual friends in the insurance company just yet because of my own outstanding debts.”

“Let me stop you right there, Yakov,” Radchenko said, raising his hand. “I know what you’re trying to pull here. You can’t go to Birsakov or Kutuzov or any of your other friends in the government because Boris Borisovich has told you that you need to pay it back for the cost of setting up all those bot farms to try to get Hapilopper to get the electric vehicle ban passed, so you thought you could go to me. Well, I’m sorry, Yakov, but I can’t help you out with that. Boris and Lyudmila told me all about it, and Boris himself warned me that you might try a stunt like this. I can’t help you out with your plots to assassinate those Hapiloppian politicians, Yakov. I mean, I actually can, but I don’t want to. Not until you’ve paid your debt to the government.”

“I knew you were going to say that,” Yurievsky muttered while shaking his head. “You were always a part of Fedorenko’s clique, so it’s not really a surprise that you’re taking their side over mine.”

“All I will say is that the government hasn’t missed or defaulted on a single payment to me yet,” Radchenko shrugged. “And that’s across the twenty or so contracts they’ve signed with my company.”

“But you’re a man who likes deals, Ivan,” Yurievsky continued. “And I’m a man who likes to make deals. I have some problems, and you have the solution to my problems, but you’re not going to help me out until I’ve solved my problems. So how about we make a deal, Ivan? Your friend Tokarev wants me to pay up for all of the bots that are spamming social media right now trying to get Hapilopper and TJUN-ia into an extended spa with each other. I have a way to pay for all of that maintenance, but my new source of funding has just told me that he can’t send any more money my way because the customs and finance people are taking a closer look at his books. It sounds like it’s a no-win situation for anyone, yes?”

“I’m still trying to find the point that you want to make, Yakov,” Radchenko said skeptically.

“Tokarev wants me to pay for my social media spambots,” Yurievsky said slowly and carefully. “To that end, Tokarev doesn’t want plain old cash anymore. He wants gold, specifically the gold that my Recuecian friend has. My Recuecian friend can’t make any more withdrawals, cash and perhaps otherwise, from his own bank without setting off alarm bells from the authorities of Recuecn. He told me about his cash flow problems, and I told him about my own golden dilemma. To an outsider, it would sound like we are both shit out of luck. Are you following me now, Ivan?”

“I will, if you will just stop talking to me like I’m a child,” Radchenko said. “Just spit it out already!”

“A heist, Ivan! A heist!” Yurievsky proclaimed. “We’re going to steal his gold! I don’t remember Tokarev saying that he wanted Von Visp to give me the gold so I can turn it over to the Finance Ministry. In fact, I seem ti recall that his exact words were, ‘I don’t care how you get the gold as long as you actually get it.’ I don’t know if Boris Borisovich considered the possibility that I would actually try to steal Vincent’s gold, but here we are. That’s my plan to pay back the debt that Tokarev has saddled me with. As someone who knows our Minister of Finance, what can you say about this plan?”

“To be completely honest with you, Yakov,” Radchenko chuckled, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually what Borisovich wanted you to do in the first place. The bots on twii.tur were your idea, after all. He’s just telling you to use your connections to give back to the state after you had asked so much from it. But let me come back to what you said earlier: you want me and my men to steal your friend Vincent’s gold? What was the point of your friendship then if you can’t just ask him for a loan?”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Yurievsky shot back. “Vincent Von Visp has too many eyes on him back in Recuecn. He won’t be able to make the payments that allow him to pretend that he’s a bloody pay driver in this damn motorsports thing. He gave me the impression that if he took out so much as another stotinka from his banks, the authorities were going to pounce on him. So theft is the only option remaining. I will let him know of the plan, of course, just so he isn’t blindsided and knows what to expect. But first, Ivan, you will have to agree to the plan as well.”

“What’s in it for me though?” Radchenko asked. “Why should I help you out to clear your debt when I have been told, in no uncertain terms, that I am not allowed to do so?”

“You’ll get a cut of the take, of course,” Yurievsky said. “You’re the one taking all of the risks, and I believe that you should be fairly compensated for that. And I can get you in touch with your old pals in the paddock. Sir Igne Spupuo. Thomas Kim. Heck, if you want to diversify your logistics even further then you can reach out to Berezowska and her family’s shipping company. That’s what’s in it for you, Ivan. Gold and connections. Come on now. You know you want it. I know you want it. I know that you know that I know. So what do you say, Ivan Iosifovich? Shall we shake on this, as the Westerners like to say?”

“You’ve always driven a hard bargain, Yakov,” Radchenko said after thinking about the offer. “And you always seem to know what I want the most. Fine. You’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll have to borrow some of Boris Faddeyevich and Mikhail Yevgeniyevich’s best and brightest once again, but if they can pull this off, I will expect a windfall. I expect a windfall in gold, I expect a windfall in contracts, and I expect a windfall in minerals and natural resources. This had better be worth my while, Yakov.”

“Believe me, Ivan, it will be worth your while and much, much more,” Yurievsky assured him. “Now about those troublesome politicians…”

“Not today, Yakov,” Radchenko interrupted him. “First the gold, and then we’ll talk about everything else.”

[Hodori Motorsports]

bfr.himeblog.net
The Blue Flag Report

Circle: Blue Flag Report
Post by 87 Pigeons
Pigeon_87

Hello everybirby!

Mid weekend update here!

In qualifying, dead last is as we expecte-


Wait. Enhance.


Enhance.


...




waht

how did this happen

the guy’s usually an entire order of magnitude slower

what the hell

Also I like how the gap-to-pole information goes out to the hour, as if somebody could possibly be that slow *cough* ankei *cough*


Anyways

Since I forgot to plug this in my last post and it’s not like anyone cares, signups for the Blue Flag Report Pigeon’s International Silliness Season are still open.

And with a new, sexier registration procedure!

Engage in fun silliness with simulated teams here and pretend drivers here.

In the event there are more than 15 team and/or driver registrations, I’m going to take the teams and numbers, first drivers, and engines of the first 15 and chassis name, second drivers, and tyres from the last 15.

Cutoff for that will be...oh let’s say the start of qualifying in Aji no Moto. Or in the event we get 30 responses, as unlikely as that is.

---

---

---

Crossbay Circuit
Practice

As usual, Ankei Souzare found the wall and damaged the car in practice after setting one of his typical agonizingly slow laps.

As usual, Yaraza hid from Ankei as the rest of the group juggled repairing his car and fine-tuning Berezowska’s post-swap.

As usual, Ankei bitched and moaned to an unreceptive audience about how he was being held back by anything and everything except him.

As usual, one of Ankei’s assigned Soeshu Metropolitan Police escorts uninvolved with the investigation leaned against a wall in the garage, keeping an eye on him and waiting for any excuse to call for local authorities to detain the man.

As usual, the Mazaregi-Reitoude-Zenethra alliance members tried their best to grit their teeth and suppress their urges to just murder the guy, their supplies of spare parts and patience with the man rushing dangerously towards depletion.

As usual, Kutamicha was perched atop the pit wall, serving as the relay between Berezowska and the garage to get her car dailed in.

Eventually, practice came to a close. The team felt there was still more pace to extract from the car, but with how beat-up it was an hour and fifteen minutes was entirely too short.

---

Qualifying

Kutamicha was stunned when the timing monitor updated to show Ankei’s lap.

Even through his protective headset, even above the typical din of an active racing circuit, he could hear the HiTEN garage falling silent, equally shocked by the lap Ankei had set.

Ankei Souzare had finally shown a flash of brilliance, and set a lap that was within 107%.

Kutamicha finally spoke, paging the team’s owner. “Ankei, more laps like that and everyone would be more willing to tolerate your antics.”

And then of course Ankei immediately went and threw away any sprouting appreciation by beaching the car at the next available opportunity, having been distracted by trying to find the push-to-talk button on his wheel.

At least Berezowska was doing well; ultimately P5 in Q1.

---

The chequered flag waved on Q3. Berezoswka’s last lap came in, but it still wasn’t good enough to advance to Q4. “Hanna, bring it home. We’re starting from P11 tomorrow.”

Ankei Souzare had retreated back to his motor home at the end of Q1 to the relief of everyone else in the garage, so they awaited Berezowska’s return to debrief and formulate a strategy for the race.

And in other good news, Ankei hadn’t screwed with their tyre allocation this time.

[Auruna]

Viska Headquarters
Sterlennau, Auruna

As the WGPC team set off for Crossbay for the race weekend, Jöna remained in Auruna entrusting the entire team under the capable hands of Artur, supported by Nils and Hori. After getting through a substantial amount of stress-inducing paperwork, he left his office to visit Kiiro for clarification of the WGPC team's situation. He couldn't get his mind off it and is uncertain if the threat was serious or just an inappropriate joke. Viska was already in a bad spot and anything that makes it worse will just make him lose his mind. He just hopes that it wasn't anything too concerning amidst all of the issues that he has been dealing with.

Standing nervously infront of Kiiro's office door with his hand about to knock, Jöna contemplates following through with the meeting. He dreads knowing what Kiiro would tell him, if it's actually worse than expected and will be another addition to his already lengthy list of problems. He groaned internally as he suppresses his headache before taking a deep breath as he knocked on the Viska CEO's door.

"Sisäännä." (TL: "Come in.") An all too familiar voice commanded from the other side.

Jöna twisted the doorknob and entered the room. He was greeted by a dimly-lit office with Kiiro, on his fourth cup of coffee, sitting behind his computer that illuminated his stern face.

"Ahem." Jöna cleared his throat as he walked up towards the desk. "Kiiro, I think you already know what I'm here for." He said as he sat down.

"You finally realised that I lied?" Kiiro looked up to see Jöna's stunned face. "Well, it's not entirely true. Let me explain."

Jöna didn't know how to react as he tried to remain composed infront of Kiiro. "W-wha--? Please, do explain to me. I genuinely don't know what's going on."

"I'll get straight to the point." Kiiro started off his explanation. "We are under threat by Schkeska Racing's bullshit. Firstly, they wanted to fine us for our takeover of their WGPC engine programme as well as part of their involvement in our first WGP2 and WGPC seasons. Secondly, another fine for breach of contract by teaming up with VSK in TTGP. Then compensation for 'stealing' customer teams under their influence and another for using their engine designs from their parent company. And worst of all, they threatened to buy our WGPC team. And you know that they hold significant power within the MNA so they are serious with these cases."

Furious, Jöna slammed his fists on the desk, allowing his true emotions to briefly take over. "Are you fucking serious?! First it was Sport Mikuren in WSRC then they come after us?! When will they just leave us alone?! Neje vitun küjettään s­ÿzhetäähennä..."

Kiiro remained unfazed by Jöna's sudden outburst. "They will not stop even if we get support from the others. I'm still thinking of what our best course of action will be. I know it's best if we could stand our ground but we can't afford to risk it right now with your limited budget for this season."

Jöna sighed deeply after calming down while massaging his temples. "Schkeska is honestly great but their racing division is just stupid. How the hell did Aira not get stressed out by them like I do right now. It just doesn't make sense what they are trying to achieve here."

"Don't worry about it any let me deal with it." Kiiro tried to reassure Jöna. "Just give me some time to find a way to make them back off for good like what Mikuren did."

"What the about the money Preston gave us?" Jöna asked. "It's a large amount but will it be enough to help us? I know it's just sitting somewhere out there gathering dust."

"I'm reluctant to use those funds right now." Kiiro said. "But I'll keep it in mind. Just let me do what I can for now."

Jöna nodded back. "Alright then... another thing: was this announced publicly?"

"No. This was sent to me via close channels within the MNA." As Kiiro explained it, he realised that they actually have a chance to counter Schkeska. Looking over to Jöna, unaware of what he said considering his knowledge of the entire situation, Kiiro decided to keep it to himself for the time being.

Out of ideas, Jöna leaned back on his chair with a groan. His forehead wrinkled as he did his best to come up with a solution in an attempt to help out and save his team.

"You look stressed out, you got bags on your eyes and you are pale. I suggest you take at least a week off. You need it."

Jöna tried to argue back but decided to go along with it and just accept it. "A-alright. Thanks Kiiro."

"Now get out of here and go back to your family at Akresna. Take your mind off WGPC. Leave all of this to me, I'll also take your place trackside whenever I can. We're not that powerless, we just need some time."

"Okay, okay... thanks again." Jöna then got up and left Kiiro's office. As he made his way through the winding hallways of the main building, he sent a voice message to Artur, notifying him of his extended absence from the team.

Even though he was told to relax, Jöna still couldn't help but be worried about his team's ongoing situation behind the scenes. He just couldn't ignore all of it even when he tried to take his mind out of the situation. It was becoming too much for him as his head is starting to get burned out. Kiiro was right, he needed to take some time off. But he is also uncertain how long it will be, whether or not he will actually make it back.

---

---

Crossbay Circuit
Nimban Grand Prix
Qualifying

Kinu was puzzled, he was left questioning where all this performance came from after all the volley of troubles that Kuumikaho threw at him in the previous weekends. He wasn't prepared for this sudden shift with his race engineers words of "Q1 provisional pole" catching him off-guard as he continued to do several laps with the remaining time. No way that is true. No fucking way. He kept denying it in his thoughts thinking that it was just his race engineer messing with him. But of course, it was far from the truth.

At the garage, his jaw dropped when he saw the finalised times of Q1. Kinu looked back-and-forth between the times and his PGP-04, speechless as he never really knew that it was possible. This newfound confidence, however, was not something to rely upon as Q2 drew near. With not much time to cool off, he hopped into the cockpit. Alright Kuumi, let's see if it wasn't a fluke.

Pushing his luck with the engine settings, Kinu attempts to emulate his Q1 laps. After several warm up laps, "Purple sector 1" his race engineer informed him. Hearing those words filled him with excitement as he pushed throughout his lap. Maybe Kuumikaho's speed is finally realised and Kinu was finally allowed to let it all out. He didn't want to waste the chance. Mehä tuleä mehää! (TL: Come on! Go! Go!) He was willing it on, for once being in complete control of his unpredictable machine.

Then good news resonated through his ear piece. "1:27.733. You have provisional pole."

Kinu stifled a giggle upon hearing it but he eventually couldn't hold back a smile. He still couldn't believe that it wasn't just a fluke but slowly, from that point on, he is starting to. As the times were finalised, amidst the cheers from his team, Kinu knelt down by the side of his PGP-04 with his hand on the sidepod and whispered to it. "Mennä nie tähüniesasetta!" (TL: "We're not done yet!")

But unfortunately for Kuumikaho, Kinu, and his team, their streak of pole times was finally broken when Kinu was eliminated in Q3. They were all hoping for something more. Kinu more so than the others, he couldn't wring out more performance from his car but he didn't just chalk it up to Kuumikaho just messing with him. They were actually working together in harmony through their attempts. No more forcing the car to do what it needs to do, no more shouting, no more Aurun expletives, and no more waterboarding. Everything went unusually well. But Kinu remained skeptical as he knew that it might change when it came to the race as the inconsistencies continue to haunt him.

Still, it felt... satisfying.

---

---

AUR OOC: The following RP below is from Diarcesia (link to a screenshot of the DM from Diarcesia stating what I should include)

OOC: I, Diarcesia, can't post for the 9 Mar cutoff, so I'm letting Auruna post it in my behalf

Doubeinese Grand Prix
Qualifying

You were in a good place. Your teammate put a monster qualifying lap to edge out Ted Pressley for provisional pole.

"Laura clocked 1:48:388. Provisional pole," Creusa Nárë, your race engineer, let you know over the radio.

As expected from her, you thought, while you juggle several mental tasks at the same time as part of driving your car, the PB PF-3. No sweat.

What a machine it was, kilometers ahead in craftsmanship versus the last season's car. The engine's sounds were music to your ears. And so you activate your DRS and put pedal to the metal for your pole lap.

"I'm going full send," you radioed.

"Affirmative, DRS is on. Good luck."

Everything was going well. For you, it was sent by the gods, full bliss. You were sure of it.

Purple first sector...

Purple second sector...

One more to go, and we're clear.

But it was not to be. In your heart of hearts, you could tell you miscalculated ever so slightly in Turn 19 and sent you spinning as a consequence.

You were now stationary amidst the gravel off the track. Not now, not now....

"Are you okay over there?" your race engineer broke the silence.

You sighed. "I am stupid. What a stupid mistake... Fuck... I'm sorry."

You removed your steering wheel to disembark, to see what was wrong. You identified it immediately. Perhaps it was an errant piece of stone, or a tiny foreign object, but it was enough to punch a hole in your rear left tyre.

Aaaaargh..., out of frustration, your foot kicked the tyre. Hey, it's too late for testing if it was good to go. Your qualifying lap was over. You were sure your previous laps ain't enough to get you to race.

That sinking realization was confirmed upon the final classification. Few things disappoint you more than seeing a "DNQ" beside your name. One of those season gimmicks, huh?

You never encountered something like this before...

...

Next thing you know, you are in the room with your employer, the celebrated Aldauren Ginintella. Staring at nowhere in particular, your ears receive the dark elf's words.

"I know its unfortunate. It happens. You know it as a driver in the top tier of motorsport. Erik told me about your concerns. Creusa is worried about you. Is something bothering you?"

"Yes", you answered, "nodding ever so slightly. I still have more to work on. If I could have turned the steering wheel a degree more to the left. If..."

"Samantha Blaatschapen," Aldauren asked calmly. Something straightened your back. His voice was gentle, but you could tell behind it was him telling you: Cut it out. Get a grip of yourself. "You're overthinking it. I know it when I see it. I know colleagues who fall to the same trap. Get some rest. Once you get rested, that's when you reflect on your actions. Hint: maybe you're trying to make the car into something it's not."

You just nodded. "Can you promise me that you'll rest?"

"Y-yes."

"Good. You can leave."

You entered the garage and saw your teammate there. Your eyes locked. You're still not in the mood, but you mustered all the tact and cordiality your tired mind can gathered. You're about to say "Congratulations," when she suddenly darted for the toilet. Okay... whatever.

It was not in your mind at the moment, but your desire to be the best WGPC driver in the grid—also meaning surpassing the PB's #1 driver Laura Haukanna—was still alive and not completely doused.

[Lisander]

So you ask me. Why did a clean energy company decide to enter one of the most old-fashioned and polluting sports on the planet? Fossil fuels, tonnes of wasted rubber, all sorts of visual and auditory pollution... Some might simply say: Why not choose a more ecological competition, like road cycling? So... we have plans for a cycling team too. And a sailing team. And for more "clean" racing series. What drives us is taking our technology to the next level.

I'm Alex Martins, Asteras CEO, and I've loved electricity, or better said, energy, ever since I was little. I was mesmerised by the Christmas lights and the mechanisms that made my battery-powered cars work. At school, I was rubbish at physics, but when they started teaching me about electricity, I began to dedicate myself like a convict, because that's when I realised that it was possible for me to do those things that I'd seen since I was little, and thought were incredible. That was the moment of my ‘complete awakening to the light’ if you can put it that way, literally. I started taking things apart, and testing how they worked. I broke a few electronics at home, but in the end, everything worked out.

The electronics engineering course at university introduced me to new ideas. Including the one that made me the person I am today. I feel like a gourmet electrician. Because that's what I am. When I wake up next to my beautiful secretary, Lia... May my wife not hear...

(A voice shouts from offstage: I'm your wife too, you idiot!)

And I love you too, Lia... Sorry, I digress.

What I was saying, other than I'm a damn egotist? Oh, A gourmet electrician. Okay. Let's be honest. Clean electricity is the most expensive form of cheap energy. Have you already thought why good man John Doe, back in the suburbs of Soria, living paycheck to paycheck, doesn't care about clean energy? Because a solar panel may cost him a third of his monthly. I can't sell him a kit because he can't go and make it himself. If he wanted to put an entire solar energy structure and have his home paying zero bills, like me, he would have to mortgage it. My idea was, from the start, to make it available to all people, but unfortunately, this isn't cheap. But that's good in a sense because there's space for improvement.

We, at Asteras, and I said me because after this ego-trip, from the College until today, I found lots of awesome people that like electricity, energy, electronics, materials, sustainability and so on. We started this company because we want to find the best ways to provide clean, safe, reliable and accessible energy to everyone in our reach.

And that's enough of Asteras from now on. You can read about our solar plants, wind farms, nanotechnology translucent solar panels, the Quixote line of 70% more silent wind turbines planned for farming spaces and AI-powered inverters in our brochures. You wanted to know how we'll support Eminent, that's it.

Well, at the first moment, with a large influx of personnel, especially in the R&D sector. One of the team's biggest difficulties with the departure of Falconer seems to be the need for a new electronics department. We already had this idea last year, and the marvellous coincidence of having a ship bringing material to Neomaris was the start of this relationship. With Eminent joining the Asteras family, a whole new ‘high-performance energy’ sector is being created, with engineers being transferred or hired. We want to deliver a perfect electrical system for the E21, and from the discoveries we make in it, we want to bring this technology to our customers. From kinetic energy recovery systems to thermal panels for recovering the energy generated by the engine... It may be crazy of me at the moment, given the state of the technology, but imagine in the future a single-seater category with cars powered only by solar energy. The whole fairing of the cars is made from photovoltaic material... ultra-quiet electric motors... Okay, that part won't please the petrolheads, but it would be cool!

Well, to be brutally honest, this addresses the future of racing and the future of Eminent. But not exactly the present of Eminent. For that, we can offer only three things, and all of them are currently out of my scope. Financial support, technical expertise and sincere encouragement. A team of Asteras engineers is currently searching for improvements in our systems, and with the investment that Asteras is injecting into the team, surely some aerodynamic solutions that are already in the process of development will become faster. Anneliese, isn't it? It's a pleasure to meet you. You're much prettier in person. Lia, calm down, I'm only joking! Well... I'm sorry about that. I hope I can count on your support as the season continues. Maybe the results won't show up right away, in the next race, but that's why they call it ‘a series’. Thanks to everyone who's here, and let's move on.

[Aboveland]

Nimbus Bay, Nexus Wardship
Crossbay Circuit
Qualifying

To say that morale ran high in the #17 car was perhaps an understatement. To find himself second in the championship, off the back of an incredible home win and a heavily improbable top five, was the most confidence inspiring season start he could remember. Even better, the championship race had started off as a two-horse affair, and it was nobody other than Ted who was pipping him to the top spot. It was an idyllic situation, so perfect it felt as if he had made it all up in his head. He was happy; Ted was happy. The post-race celebrations that ensued had become something of a tradition by now, even if Ted had already been left pre-sucked dry of energy and somewhat dissociated for a while as the realization of his first win settled in. After the comedown in Doubeia, the two agreed that the Tumbran would fly into the First City earlier in the week, so that they could spend some time together before the buzz of the Nexus home race weekend, during which Janne would be impossibly busy. The view from Janne's high-up flat was breathtaking — certainly a romantic backdrop late at night, as the shimmering glow of Imagination shot up across the glassy facades of the downtown cityscape, meshed together with splashes of brake-light red, blinker yellow, and emergency vehicle blue, to smatter across their chests and twinkle softly in their eyes. For a couple of days, the two fell into their all-too familiar habit of seclusion — but what more could Janne ask for than to cocoon himself on his lover's chest under the moody Nimban city lights?

Well... to top him — and everyone else — at his team's home race. Again.

---

Q3

His Chase Cutter comes out screaming from turn 17 — and ungodly mashup of tyre squeal, electric whirr and Imagikinetic screeching, about as screamy as UHSGV-6 can be. He has to give a bit of opposite lock on the switchback to the left, his car's suspension creaking and squatting as it desperately attempts to settle on an attitude through the incoming apex, its snout aiming for the start finish straight as soon as he's past the apex. All established grand prix formula racing logic suggests that, with his style of driving, he should be battling Ankei Souzare for last place, but be it through stomach-turning acceleration or sheer willpower, the Laukkanen-Nexus pairing always manages to do just enough.

When he crosses the line and enters his cool-down lap, his HUD pops back into life, the session clock twinkling at zero as the standings tree comes into view on the far left of the inside of his visor. His trigram lurches forward into first place, leapfrogging a certain yellow-marked PRE — he know he's the first of the runners to finish his last lap of the session, but the pace is encouraging all the same. If he's so quick now, Q4 is bound to be a similar story.

He slows as he exits the turn four hairpin and exits from the tunnel back onto the bridge that overlooks the bay, and immediately, the standings start to shift again. First, it's Kinder, slotting into second behind him; then Stone and Luminna, almost at the same time, and clocking the same exact lap as well, pop up behind the Tumbran. A couple more times flash and swap at the very bottom of the leaderboard as he makes his way around turn nine, the names cloaked in dark gray as they bow out of the incoming session; and in quick succession, it's Ryker than blips behind his own name, before a purple glowing name knocks him off the top step.

Equal times to the thousandth, advantage Fitzpatrick. He groans into his helmet and grips his wheel tightly.

"Excellent work, Janne, P2," affirms Max as he enters the second tunnel to rise up back towards the main straight. Janne shakes his head silently.

"Frustrating," the Abovian replies. "We should be on pole this weekend."

"Janne—" his engineer is soothingly calm — "Equal times. Head down and just get on with it next session."

The Abovian clicks his tongue. "I hate games of chance."

---

Q4

There's little time to lose in the final session. Janne is out immediately on his benchmark lap. His knuckles have gone sore from the grip he holds on his yoke; his g-suit, imbued with Imagination for the weekend upon his request after the excruciating race in Doubeia, holds him supply in the monocoque.

Gliding across Crossbay is never an ordeal for the practically local Abovian — six years on from his Nexus Racing debut, he's more familiar with the choreo than with anything else in the world. Hard brake into turn one, squat the fronts, ease off the brakes around the apex. Pump the accelerator and swarm away towards two, holding the apex and cutting it razor-close to the outside wall to hug the inside around three and four — with the latest Chase Cutter, the downhill spiral takes a bit more effort and a whole lot more grit.

The pearlescent fenders on the car gleam against the wall as he shoots out braking towards turn five; the chassis croaks and the tyres squeal around seven as he flies out towards eight. A wave crashes against the pillars of the bridge section and sprays a dusting of water droplets high over the tarmac; he punches a Chase Cutter shaped silhouette into the mist.

His body lunges forward, to the right, and then back and to the left; he clings onto the line around nine, like wrangling a cybernetic bull down an alleyway, just about hovering over the tarmac through turns ten and eleven. He's absolutely in tune with the car, as per usual, as always — in the first Chase Cutter in years that must be driven more than it must be simply understood.

Barreling down and up towards fourteen, he clenches his teeth through the kink; brakes hard for fifteen, and shimmies out through seventeen to close his lap. It feels utterly identical in feeling to his Q3 lap — neither then nor now could he pinpoint where to gain a single microsecond.

His screen flashes purple, but Fitzpatrick knocks him down a rung again, this time by twenty-hundredths. Janne moans into his radio, but Max is quick on the task.

"NO abort, Janne, NO abort. Clean through turn six and seven please."

So it is. Maybe it was the sea spray, or the cosmic alignment of the past minute. Regardless, he lunges into turn one with his knuckles turning white under his gloves. It all comes like clockwork, corner through corner — clean through turn five, grazing the inside wall at six to edge the outside wall out of seven, and through the long straight towards nine with no sea spray to punch through. At every braking, every apex, every exit, the Chase Cutter responds: squatting, lunging, churning, weaving. Through the final two corners, he's cleaner than before, his tyres aiming at the straight further into seventeen to slew gently onto the final stretch and cross the line...

"P1, Janne, P1," Max confirms; his HUD blips into life to support the statement, and Janne breathes again. "We'll see how that time h—"

FTZ P1 -0.000

"FUCK!" The Abovian's voice escapes Max's headset in the garage.

"Bring it in," the Esmerelian says solemnly; muffled chuckles sneak into the message from among the background noise. "We'll do new tyres for the final run. All OK on your side."

---

Janne swerves across the track down towards turn eight during his final outlap, a chatty Max keeping tabs on the parameters splayed across his own devices in the paddock. "Remember that the tyres heat throughout the lap, Janne," he reminds, among an assortment of indications to keep tabs ons, watch out fors, and try tos. Their pit-stop debrief had lasted all of two minutes, with the session clock ticking tantalizingly close to the practical limit left for him to open his last lap — a strategic decision to avoid the events of Q3. With such tight gaps, so tight that the timing systems can barely confirm the results without falling into their own margins of error, there's practically nothing left to tweak, refine, or re-evaluate. Less than a thousandth is an eighth of a blink of an eye; a tenth-radian per second of steering angle more along the pit straight; a couple of grams of sea spray deposited on the Chase Cutter's nose throughout the lap. It's, as Janne had bemoaned, a game of chance. But Max won't give up on gaming the odds in their favor, even when the task is to overcome a nonexistent gap.

No time for permutations as the lap clock milliseconds start to stack, the session timer falling to zero once Janne is mid-turn one. His HUD is off, save for the visual indicators of the car's attitude and the unhuman effort Imagination control systems to keep the car pointed in the correct direction. Down through the turn four spiral, he feels faster than before; but he's felt faster every single lap, every single sector, every single apex.

Nothing to gain into turns five through seven; every micrometric correction is already ingrained into his forearms and shoulders, down to the way he's found to clench his abdomen and legs such that his body stays stable enough to stamp on the throttle just a bit quicker towards the straight. Into the esses that lead down to turn twelve, it's as if the world has gone mute — there's no more whirring, buzzing, creaking, croaking, snapping, churning, whining, screeching, squealing; only the deafening tinnitus of rushing blood in his ears. He's a man possessed, just about driving from memory as his vision blurs and vignettes in black to leave a pinhole in the center; his mind prepares for the next swing of his arms before he's even started the one that comes before, and he's almost oblivious to the fact he's closing his lap when his visor flashes purple.

LAU P1
FTZ P2 -0.007

He sighs heavily as the sounds rush back into his helmet and the world around him starts taking shape again. A heat pools in his stomach and rushes up his spine to engulf his entire body. He sighs, gasps, and chuckles hysterically.

"Excellent work, Janne. Pole position again!" Even Max, ever the strong-stanced professional, sounds worn and deflated from the ordeal.

The Abovian can do nothing more than laugh and growl into his radio; his tongue is rough like sandpaper against the insides of his cheeks, and the tips of his ears burn red with passion.

[Nico Hulkenberg]

HMG

Adonis’ lap was good enough to top the times in Q3 - but his time being matched by Nexus’ Janne Laukkanen proved to be a bad omen, as the Abovian found marginally more time and ultimately took pole position for his team’s home grand prix. Still, the team were in no position to be disappointed, and the surprise result provided the team with some much-needed solace following Bryce Yannec's pole and subsequent crash in the @OGP Support Series. Skiia, on the other hand, had exited in Q2. Evidently, the car could still only operate in the perfect window for one driver at a time, a problem that didn't seem to go away no matter how many brain cells they threw at it.

Nepö

For the first weekend of the season - seemingly brought about by her sudden good performance in Doubeia - it looked like Nepö had the edge on her teammate. Having matched Janne Laukkanen in practice, the young Hülkenberger had set two personal best sectors, and was solidly up on her Q3 time going through the third and final sector, she jumped up from sixth place to third place - netting her and the team's highest qualifying result of the three sessions thus far. With Von Visp having nearly failed to qualify for the race entirely, the relief within the UrGa garages was palpable as her time was matched - but not beaten - by Adriana Kowalski.

"That's P3, well done Nepö!"

"YES TEAM, COME ON! Car's felt fantastic all weekend, let's take this momentum into the race!"

As Nepö had a top three photo taken with Laukkanen and Fitzpatrick, a nagging thought began to emerge.

"How will Vincent take this?"

[Turori]

Cruisin Propels Piers Ivchenko to First Ever Podium in Doubeia

Doubeinese Grand Prix, Queensland Street Circuit, Queensland, Doubeia :: An hour before the race at the Queensland Street Circuit, R.L. Cruisin zipped up their driving suit and collected their bag, walking over from the team facilities into the paddock area for a pre-race meeting with the team. It had been quite some time since the expectations fell so largely on Cruisin's shoulders. There was little in the way of expectations after a tumultuous World Grand Prix Championship Season 20 campaign for the Carvenlo team as they transitioned their way out of full time WGPC competition. At the start of the week, there was little media attention on Cruisin and the Piers Ivchenko team, with all the excitement surrounding Doubeia's own World Grand Prix Championship driver: Nini Johnsilvaturr. The former Race Eelandii Reserve and AOGP driver is one of two graduates of the AOGP who made their way to the World Grand Prix Championship after competing in the AOGP along with reigning AOGP champion Nepö Kinder. After leaving Race Eelandii, Johnsilvaturr joined Pressley Racing and rode that momentum into a seat for Pressley Racing on the WGPC Grid this season.

Even though R.L. Cruisin was fastest in the Friday practice session at the Queensland Street Circuit, the attention was still firmly fixed on Nini Johnsilvaturr. The Pressley Racing driver was just half-a-tenth of a second slower than Cruisin's best time around the circuit and media outlets throughout the region were beginning to imagine the former CocoaboKart video game star taking a masterful race victory in just their second ever event competing in the World Grand Prix Championship.

Then came qualifying. Once again Cruisin was fast, but Johnsilvaturr was not. Over six-tenths of a second off the pole position, Nini Johnsilvaturr's dreams of driving into the lights on their home circuit were dashed as the Pressley Racing team was unable to turn up the wick when the rest of the field put the hammer down under flying lap conditions. All of a sudden, there was a lot more attention on R.L. Cruisin. Despite posting the third fastest lap in qualifying and earning a solid starting position, there was some disappointment in the Cruisin paddock as the team were bested despite having the fastest car in the practice session. With the uncertainty of how the Queensland Street Circuit would race - or even as simple a thing as whether the inside or outside lane would be more effective at the start of the race, falling short of the front row of the grid had major implications on race strategy for the Piers Ivchenko team.

Despite missing out on pole position, the fact that the local team put both of their cars inside the Top 8 made for great interest in their performance on Sunday. The local media were gathered outside the paddock waiting for the meeting to complete so they could get a word with the drivers. Not before the strategy, however. Cruisin's fate in the race would be decided by the car in front of them, Laura Haukanna. If Haukanna could get a good start and clear Ted Pressley then it would be up to Cruisin to hold the lane around the opening turns and get the angle heading around to Bullseye Junction. If Haukanna faltered, however, the other lane could capitalize with the Ælund Grand Prix teammates nose to tail on the grid.

The team agreed to a standard pit strategy, with the car that was higher in the running order taking priority for pit road access and timing. Cruisin offered some final words of advice to Nik Hazrin Lutfi, primarily around the need to be aggressive on the start - but not too aggressive so as to take themselves out on the opening lap of the race. With the meeting adjourned, Cruisin headed out and met the awaiting media swarm. An assistant quickly passed them a Vilaye Energy Drink hat to make sure Cruisin's long time personal sponsor got some visibility during the interview where Cruisin played down the effect of the local crowd at Doubeinese Grand Prix, though thanking the team for their effective insights that made preparing for the race weekend and the unique quirks of the Queensland Street Circuit far more effective than they would have otherwise been.

After the pre-race festivities, Cruisin climbed into the Piers Ivchenko #51 and began their routine, synchronizing mind and body with the moment, checking the car, checking the wheel and the belts one more time. As the crews and media began to exit the front straightaway, the moment was nearly here. 51 laps. As one of the reporters had pointed out, perhaps a fitting number for this day as Cruisin looked to end a winless streak that would now be a full 2 seasons long as of the drop of the green. It would all be up to the start however. Then the lights were on. The world closed in around the laser-focused drivers. Go.

There were no words over the radio, it was a beautiful chaos as the drivers quickly navigated the opening turn. As they came around and hit Orchard Street, one thing was clear. This wasn't the best lane. Haukanna was unable to clear Ted Pressley on the start, and Pressley pulled teammate Abdoulaye Goita with them through to second place. Just like that, R.L. Cruisin had dropped to fourth position. But the veteran was unphased. After 11 seasons of competition, they weren't about to give up now. Cruisin began working hard on the pole winner, Laura Haukanna. They needed to get by quickly as the Ælund Grand Prix machines were already getting away. It took eight laps, but finally Cruisin was able to clear Haukanna and get to work reeling in the top 2. Slowly but surely, Cruisin would catch up to Abdoulaye Goita. Like Cruisin, Goita was a former Race Eelandii VTGP driver - having made their debut with the team during the Mid-Season Practice session at the Facsgend Grand Prix Circuit alongside Drake Stevenson during WGPC Season 17. Now, Goita was returning again to the World Grand Prix Championship - but serving a blocking role as teammate Ted Pressley drove off into the sunset.

Ultimately, Cruisin wasn't going to push the issue. The race was already lost at the start. Ted Pressley was on the other side of the track. Pushing the issue with Goita could result in an incident and no points at all - and that would be a disaster for Cruisin who finishing outside the points in Aboveland. Cruisin would stay on Goita's tail, ready to pounce should the Recuecen make a mistake, but nothing major would come. It would be an Ælund Grand Prix one-two finish with R.L. Cruisin rounding out the podium for the local team, Piers Ivchenko. It was the only bright spot on the day for the locals with Nini Johnsilvaturr finishing 24th of the 26 cars on track and Cruisin's teammate Nik Hazrin Lutfi finishing in the 12th position, the final car on the lead lap, but there would be no Fastest Lap magic to get on the board this week for the Sharktail driver who would close out the day with absolutely nothing to show for a solid drive other than the experience gained.

So there it was. A first podium finish since the final event of WGPC Season 19. R.L. Cruisin flew the flag for the fans in Doubeia, smiling on the outside to match the excitement from the celebratory team. Yet, on the inside, Cruisin knew it was an opportunity missed. Just half a tenth in qualifying, and they could have had control of the start. It could have been them racing out in front of the field, and celebrating atop the podium one more time. But it wasn't, and it was time to start preparing for the next race at the Crossbay Circuit, a place that Cruisin hadn't scored points since a 10th place finish during WGPC Season 18.

R.L. Cruisin ✓

@Cruisin

Got the chance to spend a few extra days here in Doubeia with the team before heading out to the Crossbay Circuit. We had a great time taking pictures with our 3rd place trophy on the shop floor, and all the techs and engineers who don't get to travel with the team got to celebrate with us. Thank you all so much for everything you have done to get this team off the ground and to put a competitive car on track for Nik and myself! We'll keep fighting out there tooth and nail for every point we can get, and hope we can delivery a checkered flag before the season is out!

#WGPC : #PiersIvchenko : #Queensland

---

---

Toralmintii, Race Eelandii improve in Doubeia but still without Points

For the second consecutive race, iBen Toralmintii crossed the finish line as the checkered flag was unfolded, welcomed by a barrage of flash bulbs and the roar of the screaming fans. For a moment, it reminded Toralmintii of the feeling they had way back in WGPC Season 17 and 18, each with back-to-back race victories. Yet this season, the cheers were not for Toralmintii. There was a different Ælund machine taking the checkers. The #77 has been replaced by the #88 and Ted Pressley was the man of the hour. Toralmintii, the first car one lap down, crossed the stripe just moments after Pressley having conceded the spot to the Tumbran just laps earlier to not affect their momentum as Toralmintii was once again set to finish just out of the grasp of contending for points. From WGPC Season 17 through WGPC Season 18, Toralmintii matched Jessica Franssen's record with ten consecutive finishes inside the points. From WGPC 17 Through WGPC 19 Toralmintii went 36 consecutive races without finishing worse than 13th, excluding 3 retirements over that stretch. Of course, that expectation and been greatly numbed after the disaster of a season with the #1 on the nose of the Tropicorp Colorworks machine. It was supposed to be a marketing dream for Tropicorp that turned into a nightmare on the track.

Despite being well entrenched in the Blue Flag leaderboard, there was visible progress for Toralmintii. Starting with a new team for the first time in year, the Turorian was inching closer to the points. 18th in Aboveland. 13th in Doubeia. There wasn't much to take away for Race Eelandii VTGP in Doubeia. It was the first ever visit to a Street Circuit that won't be terribly comparable to anything else the series will race at later on this season. It was a nice opportunity for Toralmintii to separate themselves from the memories of WGPC Seasons past, but they simply couldn't keep the car fast enough to climb up into the Top 10. It was also the last chance for the team to wear an excuse on their sleeve. Street Circuit, New Track, No history. Plenty of reasons to explain away the lack of points. Now, after two events, Race Eelandii VTGP is the final team on the grid that is without a point. Even the WGPC Motorworks team have secured points before Race Eelandii.

The excuses stop here, as the next two events - the Nimban Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Turori, are two of the oldest events on the schedule outside of the Season finale in Liventia. iBen Toralmintii is very familiar with both tracks. Race Eelandii has seasons worth of notes on setup and performance at these tracks. As an experienced team with an experienced driver, the performance on these two circuits will certianly be a valid litmus test to determine whether it is time to hit the panic button, or, if they can slot right back in where things left off during WGPC Season 20.

In order to focus on driving, iBen Toralmintii decided to forgoe participation in the Nimban Radio Car Union Open Radio Car Challenge. Toralmintii even passed up the chance to pop down to the NSSCRA and compete in the Vilaye Energy Drink 314 on the way back from the Nimbus System, having learned the dangers of the distraction from last season. iBen Toralmintii will have a scheduled media availability on Saturday after Qualifying at the Crossbay Circuit where they are likely to recount the tale of their first win at the Crossbay Circuit during WGPC Season 17, which also kicked off the legendary run of four consecutive Grand Prix victories by Toralmintii while driving for Tropicorp Racing Ælund. It may be Toralmintii's last time on track in Nimbus Bay - at least as a World Grand Prix Championship Driver, and they will certainly be looking to soak it all in on Friday and Saturday. Once Sunday comes, however, it will be all business for iBen Toralmintii as they look to right the ship and get the team on the board for the first time this season.

---

---

Doubeinese Grand Prix, Queensland Street Circuit, Queensland, Doubeia :: After a strong start to the season for the rookies - particularly Hanna Berezowska of HiTEN.gpt, the tricky Street Circuit in Queensland was not terribly conducive to rewarding rookie drivers with points finishes. There was a surprise in the bunch, however, as WGPC Motorworks driver Otto Markul impressively finished the race in 7th position to score their first ever World Grand Prix Championship points. Nepö Kinder and Gil Langdon also earned their first points of their careers in 8th and 10th respectively, just sneaking into the Top 10 and separating themselves from the pack.

With Rookie points leader Hanna Berezowska on the sideline after failing to qualify for the Doubinese Grand Prix, there was a wide open door of opportunity that most drivers failed to capitalize on in the quest to be crowned Toys '4' All Rookie of the Season. Many expected local driver Nini Johnsilvaturr to make her way onto the scoreboard this weekend but it was not to be for the Pressley Racing driver. Despite having zero points in the first two events, one driver to watch out for will be UrGa Motorsports driver Vincent Von Visp. Though openly having acquired their seat as a pay driver, Von Visp thus far has the best average finishing position of Rookie Drivers, finishing the season opening race in 12th then doing one better in Doubeia with an 11th place finish. Von Visp's average finish of 11.5 is equivalent to that of fellow rookie driver Nik Hazrin Lutfi and with the difficulty of scoring points - with less than a third of the drivers who show up for qualifying each week eventually ending the weekend with points, some have suggested that the Rookie of the Season award be determined by average finish instead of points. It could be interesting as the season goes on to see if the top finishing Rookie Drivers continue to be out-paced in the standings by those with less consistency like current standings leader Berezowska, but only time will tell if the two statistics will converge after ten race weekends or not.

Pos # ▍DRV Name                                          Team [Engine]                          Pts
 1 95 ▍BZW Hanna Berezowska                              HiTEN.gpt [Franklin WGP-X2]             8
 2 30 ▍MAR Otto Markul                                   WGPC Motorworks [Franklin WGP-X2]       4
 3 63 ▍KIN Nepö Kinder                                   Urotovsky-Gatutin [UrGa Zh-S-1000]      3
 4 12 ▍SOM Ron Sommer                                    Viska [Viska RG Motors]                 2
 5 55 ▍LNG Gil Langdon                                   KISMO [Kissan Motors KS.APEX-01]        1
 6 21 ▍HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi                              Piers Ivchenko [UrGa Zh-S-1000]         1

-- 66 ▍Vincent Von Visp    	
-- 58 ▍Shuhei Kamado       
-- 22 ▍Nini Johnsilvaturr   
-- 13 ▍Pierre-Louis Archer   
-- 16 ▍Azalia Kawakai                        
-- 18 ▍Giancarlo Rahel
-- 10 ▍Ankei Souzare

twii.tur Support Series ✓

@OGP

The stars of the future were on display and it was a home-track hero taking the checkers for the @OGP Doubeinese Demetris Grand Prix! ( Rd. 2 Results ). Winston Klossovsky would hold off the #LizardKing Igne Spupuo to give @RaceEelandii their first victory of the season, moving atop the Constructors Standings by just a single point heading into Round 3 in Auruna!

#WGPC21 :: #SupportSeries :: #DemetrisDome

[Liventia]

CUTOFF

for the Nimban Grand Prix at Crossbay Circuit

[Liventia]

Week 6: Race

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	64
Nation:         	NIM
Circuit:        	Crossbay Circuit
Event:                	Nimban Grand Prix
Safety Car on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:        	26

Start               	POS  # ▍DRV Name                                         Team                                     	Time        	Pts	Fastest Lap	
 1 ▍LAU            	  1 51 ▍CRU R.L. Cruisin                                 Piers Ivchenko                               	01:40:36.269	25		
 2 ▍FTZ            	  2 63 ▍KIN Nepö Kinder                                  Urotovsky-Gatutin                            	00:00:21.294	18		
 3 ▍KIN            	  3 74 ▍FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick                           HMG Grand Prix                               	00:00:32.767	14		
 4 ▍AKS            	  4 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                              Nexus Racing                                 	00:00:44.333	11		
 5 ▍LNG            	  5 82 ▍LMN Kinu Luminna                                 Preston Autos                                	00:00:44.386	8		
 6 ▍LAN            	  6 12 ▍SOM Ron Sommer                                   Viska                                        	00:00:46.902	6		
 7 ▍CRU            	  7 66 ▍VVV Vincent Von Visp                             Urotovsky-Gatutin                            	00:00:54.416	4		
 8 ▍PRE            	  8 27 ▍NÜL Dario Nülkeschlager                          Pressley Racing                              	00:00:55.925	3		
 9 ▍STO            	  9 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                                 Ælund Grand Prix                             	00:00:58.500	2		
10 ▍LMN            	 10 55 ▍LNG Gil Langdon                                  KISMO                                        	00:00:59.561	1		
11 ▍BZW            	 11 94 ▍LAN Ryker Lane                                   Nexus Racing                                 	00:00:59.576	 + 1	1:30.096	
12 ▍HAZ            	 12 77 ▍TII iBen Toralmintii                             Race Eelandii VTGP                           	00:01:18.090			
13 ▍KAM            	 13 40 ▍AKS Adriana Ela Kowalski Lillian                 Eminent                                      	00:01:18.747			
14 ▍TII            	 14  1 ▍FAE Brendan Faloe                                Cygnus                                       	00:01:23.801			
15 ▍ARC            	 15 95 ▍BZW Hanna Berezowska                             HiTEN.gpt                                    	00:01:26.760			
16 ▍C23            	 16 21 ▍HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi                             Piers Ivchenko                               	00:01:31.143			
17 ▍ANG            	 17 89 ▍GTA Abdoulaye Goita                              Ælund Grand Prix                             	00:01:32.084			
18 ▍NÜL            	 18 85 ▍STO Olivia Stone                                 Cygnus                                       	00:01:34.283			
19 ▍DEV            	 19 22 ▍JOH Nini Johnsilvaturr                           Pressley Racing                              	Laps Down: 1			
20 ▍FAE            	 20 58 ▍KAM Shuhei Kamado                                KISMO                                        	Laps Down: 1			
21 ▍HAU            	 21 96 ▍ARC William Archer                               Viska                                        	Laps Down: 1			
22 ▍VIA            	 22 23 ▍C23 Cocoabo #23                                  Race Eelandii VTGP                           	Laps Down: 1			
23 ▍GTA            	 23 14 ▍VIA Skiia Vialiv                                 HMG Grand Prix                               	Laps Down: 1			
24 ▍SOM            	 24 84 ▍ANG Angela Stella Tan Fang Ling                  Preston Autos                                	Laps Down: 1			
25 ▍JOH            	 25 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                               Pryfors Bilar                                	Laps Down: 1			
26 ▍VVV            	 26  7 ▍DEV Anneliese Devereux                           Eminent                                      	Laps Down: 3

Drivers' standings

Pos # ▍DRV Name                                          Team [Engine]                                                                                Tyres                                        Pts
 1 17 ▍LAU Janne Laukkanen                               Nexus Racing [Nexus Racing Paragon Warp]                                                     Phoenician-In Motion                         47
 2 88 ▍PRE Ted Pressley                                  Ælund Grand Prix [Ælund CMYK-T20V8H]                                                         Tropicorp Racing Supply                      45
 3 51 ▍CRU R.L. Cruisin                                  Piers Ivchenko [UrGa Zh-S-1000]                                                              Brimstone                                    39
 4 63 ▍KIN Nepö Kinder                                   Urotovsky-Gatutin [UrGa Zh-S-1000]                                                           Solymok                                      21
 5  1 ▍FAE Brendan Faloe                                 Cygnus [Sturmburgher PD02/25]                                                                Brimstone                                    20
 6 89 ▍GTA Abdoulaye Goita                               Ælund Grand Prix [Ælund CMYK-T20V8H]                                                         Tropicorp Racing Supply                      18
 6 74 ▍FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick                            HMG Grand Prix [Preston Autos Skychief V6]                                                   Tropicorp Racing Supply                      18
 8 27 ▍NÜL Dario Nülkeschlager                           Pressley Racing [Tropicorp TRE-2T24V8]                                                       Tropicorp Racing Supply                      14
 9 37 ▍HAU Laura Haukanna                                Pryfors Bilar [Pryfors Bilar]                                                                Phoenician-In Motion                         11
10 82 ▍LMN Kinu Luminna                                  Preston Autos [Preston Autos Skychief V6]                                                    Brimstone                                    10
11 12 ▍SOM Ron Sommer                                    Viska [Viska RG Motors]                                                                      Phoenician-In Motion                         8
11 95 ▍BZW Hanna Berezowska                              HiTEN.gpt [Franklin WGP-X2]                                                                  Brimstone                                    8
13 94 ▍LAN Ryker Lane                                    Nexus Racing [Nexus Racing Paragon Warp]                                                     Phoenician-In Motion                         7
14 66 ▍VVV Vincent Von Visp                              Urotovsky-Gatutin [UrGa Zh-S-1000]                                                           Solymok                                      4
14 30 ▍MAR Otto Markul                                   WGPC Motorworks [Franklin WGP-X2]                                                            Blue Sulphurate                              4
16 55 ▍LNG Gil Langdon                                   KISMO [Kissan Motors KS.APEX-01]                                                             Solymok                                      2
16 85 ▍STO Olivia Stone                                  Cygnus [Sturmburgher PD02/25]                                                                Brimstone                                    2
18 21 ▍HAZ Nik Hazrin Lutfi                              Piers Ivchenko [UrGa Zh-S-1000]                                                              Brimstone                                    1

Constructors' standings

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                                                                Tyres                                        Pts
  1 ABL ▍Ælund Grand Prix [Ælund CMYK-T20V8H]                                                         Tropicorp Racing Supply                      63
  2 NIM ▍Nexus Racing [Nexus Racing Paragon Warp]                                                     Phoenician-In Motion                         54
  3 DOU ▍Piers Ivchenko [UrGa Zh-S-1000]                                                              Brimstone                                    40
  4 PDN ▍Urotovsky-Gatutin [UrGa Zh-S-1000]                                                           Solymok                                      25
  5 ESM ▍Cygnus [Sturmburgher PD02/25]                                                                Brimstone                                    22
  6 HÜL ▍HMG Grand Prix [Preston Autos Skychief V6]                                                   Tropicorp Racing Supply                      18
  7 TMB ▍Pressley Racing [Tropicorp TRE-2T24V8]                                                       Tropicorp Racing Supply                      14
  8 DCS ▍Pryfors Bilar [Pryfors Bilar]                                                                Phoenician-In Motion                         11
  9 HVZ ▍Preston Autos [Preston Autos Skychief V6]                                                    Brimstone                                    10
 10 AUR ▍Viska [Viska RG Motors]                                                                      Phoenician-In Motion                         8
 11 HDR ▍HiTEN.gpt [Franklin WGP-X2]                                                                  Brimstone                                    8
 12 WGP ▍WGPC Motorworks [Franklin WGP-X2]                                                            Blue Sulphurate                              4
 13 ANM ▍KISMO [Kissan Motors KS.APEX-01]                                                             Solymok                                      2
 14 LIS ▍Eminent [Sidus 616W-1]                                                                       Blue Sulphurate                              0
 15 V&T ▍Race Eelandii VTGP [Tropicorp TRE-2T24V8]                                                    Tropicorp Racing Supply                      0

The post-Race 3 activity check for WGPC Motorworks drivers will be finalised tomorrow (Monday 10 March).

[Turori]

Track Location: Eelandii, Turori
WGPC Lap Record: 1:22.409 (Jai Kardaeri, WGPC 12)
Track Lap Length: 3.23m
Precipitation Chance: 18%

Event Guide :: Grand Prix of Turori

Overview:

After being relegated to a pre-season Test Event during WGPC Season 20, The World Grand Prix Circuit will return to the Eelandii Grand Prix Course to contest the 4th event of World Grand Prix Championship Season 21. It will be the 10th consecutive season that the Eelandii Grand Prix Course has appeared on the Official World Grand Prix schedule, making a first appearance during WGPC Season 12 as a Mid-Season Test event then making its debut a feature race during WGPC Season 13. Overall there have been 5 previous races at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course and just one driver, R.L. Cruisin, has competed in all of them. Cruisin is also expected to be the only prior winner of the Grand Prix of Turori on the grid having previously earned three podium finishes at the track.

The area now known as Eelandii was purpose-built ahead of the Turorian hosted World Cup 63 Finals as a center of sport and congregation point for fans, players and media alike. Eelandii itself is not a town or a city but a purpose-designated area located midway between the Turorian capital of Almintora and the populous city of Cednia. . Initially consisting of just Eel's park - itself a state of the art sporting complex for football and athletics, the campus at Eelandii was expanded to include the offices of the Football Association of Turori and a permanent training facility for the Turori National Team. Eelandii has been dubbed a "Sportropolis" due to its ever expanding selection of sporting venues including the Multi-purpose venue constructed for Eelandii's participation as the Bandy Demonstration Hub for the 14th Winter Olympic Games.

Shortly after the World Cup 63 Finals, it was announced that Eelandii would be further expanded with a Grand Prix race course using the already existing central loop and large strip. The Eelandii Grand Prix Circuit was completed in time to host a testing session on the World Grand Prix 12 schedule. The 3.23 mile course was built in the shadows of Eels Park and, originally as one of the less regularly used of the sport facilities in Eelandii, relies on the infrastructure throughout Eelandii for its support. The first full top-level motorsports race weekend held at the Eelandii Grand Prix course was the Super Formula Round Turori held during the second International Super Formula Championship. The Eelandii Grand Prix Course is home to Race Eelandii VTGP and the Race Eelandii motorsports driving experience and training academy

While the Eelandii campus is more than sufficiently designed to host multiple team sporting events on a single day, the Layout and size of the Grand Prix circuit that cuts through the center of some of Eelandii's key locations including overflow and parking facilities limits the amount of concurrent events that can take place at the other sporting venues on a racing weekend.

The weather in Eelandii is mostly temperate. There is no defined Wet or Dry season but the Chance of Rain is typically constant between 10-30%.

Event History:

The first ever Grand Prix of Turori was held during the 13th World Grand Prix Championships. The pole was won by Moisés Delgado of Honso Nyrota at a speed of 1:22.649 and the race was won by McPahan's Alexander Lund with R.L. Cruisin finishing just behind in the runner-up spot for Frontiere Racing.

The Eelandii Grand Prix Circuit was relegated to a test event for the WGPC's 14th season but returned as a race day for the 15th WGPC campaign and once again, it was a near miss for a local driver as iBen Toralmintii, after stunning the field by putting the WGPC Eelandii Motorworks machine on pole position, came home in second place behind Juliano Lemos in the Bitten Heroes machine. With an increasing demand for World Grand Prix Championship schedule dates, the WGPC began a rotation between the Grand Prix of Turori and the Vilitan Grand Prix within the Vilitan Cove, with the Grand Prix of Turori being the lone Vilitan Cove event on the schedule for the 16th World Grand Prix Championships and the Vilitan Grand Prix the only Vilitan Cove event on the 17th World Grand Prix Championship schedule.

The Grand Prix of Turori would return for WGPC Season 18 in its standard rotational slot. For the 19th World Grand Prix Championship Season, the Grand Prix of Turori introduced the Sprint Qualifying format whereby a one-third distance race was held to determine the starting lineup for the Grand Prix itself. A One-Shot time trial session set the grid for the Sprint Qualifying race and the Podium finishers of the Sprint Qualifying race earned championship points in a 3-2-1 rundown. To date, nearly every major racing event ever held at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course has seen a local driver finish in the Runner-Up position.

Eelandii Grand Prix Course – Historical Fastest Laps by Event		
					
Event	Fastest Lap	Session	Driver			Team
WGPC12	01:22.409	PRAC	Jai Kardaeri		[STB]	Carvenlo-Franklin
NSFC2	01:29.887	QUAL	Juracai Klianiota	[V&T]	Vilita & Turori Motorsports
WGPC13	01:22.649	QUAL	Moisés Delgado		[SJG]	Hansa-Nyrota
EEL-14	01:22.640	TEST	iBen Toralmintii	[TUR]	
WGPC14	01:22.610	TEST	Terho Talvela		[ABV]	Vilita & Turori Motorsports
WGPC15	01:22.520	QUAL	Terho Talvela		[ABV]	MRT
WGPC16	01:22.571	QUAL	Alexander Lund		[AUD]	McPahan
EEL-17	01:22.688	TEST	R.L. Cruisin		[VIL]	
WGPC17	01:22.538	TEST	Jai Kardaeri		[STB] 	Eelandii VTGP
WGPC18	01:22.432	QUAL	Dom Falepeau		[TGN]	MRT
AOGP-1	01:29.142	TEST	Asuna Katsu		[ANM]	KISMO
WGPC19	01:24.844	SPRT	Gregori Krupin		[AUR]	Race Eelandii VTGP
WGPC20	01:29.160	TEST	Jordan Crowe		[CBP]	Scuderia Orange Cow

V&T Licensed Driver - Eelandii GPC Results	
					
Event		iBen Toralmintii @ Eelandii Grand Prix Course
NSFC2	2nd  (Vilita & Turori Motorsports)
WGPC13	N/A
WGPC15	2nd  (WGPC Eelandii)
WGPC16	N/A
WGPC18	2nd  (Tropicorp Racing Ælund )
WGPC19	2nd  (Tropicorp Racing Ælund )

Event		R.L. Cruisin @ Eelandii Grand Prix Course
WGPC13	2nd  (Frontiere Racing)
WGPC15	DNF  (Arada)
WGPC16	1st  (MSA SinVal)
WGPC18	1st  (Race Eelandii VTGP)
WGPC19	17th (Carvenlo)

Transportation:

Drivers and teams have access to the Eelandii Airstrip which is utilized by small and medium aircraft only. Access to the main Airstrip terminates on the Wednesday prior to the event to allow preparations for use as part of the racing surface. The secondary runway at the Airstrip remains active primarily for limited traffic throughout the weekend.

Travelers from outside the region who wish to come direct to Eelandii should note it is accessible by air through the Almintora Internationstatal Skyport (AIS). There is public transportation between Almintora, Eelandii and Cednia. Additional Ferry service connects Cednia and Yeaddin where alternative international transportation options may be available. Shuttles from the Tropiportal are also available.

Food and Drink:

Eelandii has a number of restaurants, shops and amenities which typically are only open on match days as well as a smaller selection of local eateries that are open on a daily basis to serve the towns full time employees and visitors which include Football Association of Turori, Eagle's Club as well as visitors to the Race Eelandii! Racing School and Driving Experience at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course. From Wednesday of Race Week all shops and eateries in Eelandii will convert to 15 hours daily operation.

There will also be Food Tent Villages in Turn 3, Turn 13 and along the Main Concourse with selections to include a full Cocoa-bo Eatery, a number of local selections from throughout Atlantian Oceania and even a popular transplant from Vilita, "We'll Fry It". "We'll Fry It"s profitable business model allows the customer to bring whatever they want... and "We'll Fry It" fries it for them for a nominal fee. We'll fry it also has a selection of things that fly, things that moo, things that swim and even candies that can be purchased and fried for an additional fee. "We'll Fry It" will fry anything under 2 square feet in size for just 7 tures or three separate items for 15 tures. Each item includes a full selection of condiments at no additional cost. An essentially stocked 'CoCo-Mart' location with a selection of food and essentials will be located in the campground area. A popular fixture at the Vilaye Mountain Challenge Course, "The Poultry Shack" has also confirmed they will be adding a tent this season.

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Support Events:

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The twii.tur Support Series will contest the 4th round of their season at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course, with both Qualifying and Feature Race events taking place on a busy Saturday of racing action. All fans with a Weekend Pass or Saturday Only pass will be able to watch the future stars of open wheel motorsports compete for the checkered flag as the @OGP comes to the Eelandii Grand Prix Course for the very first time. On Sunday morning fans will be invited into the @OGP paddock where local sponsor twii.tur will hold special photo opportunities with most of the twii.tur Support Series cars and drivers to help promote the series and its competitors as well as giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at an Internationstatal Motorsports Series close up. Long time support series driver Tomii'i Lopinka will host a Q&A with fans from 0930 and will stay in the @OGP paddock area throughout the duration of the Grand Prix of Turori providing commentary for fans as the race progresses.

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Sponsors & Activities:

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:: twii.tur is a short message communication service based in Turori allowing users to exchange content of 140 characters or less.... or more.

Twii.tur will have a photo booth set up where fans can get behind the cockpit of a Race Eelandii VTGP World Grand Prix racing machine and twii.tur representatives will instantly post the image to the users twii.tur account. Guests will also have the chance to spin a prize wheel to earn things such as Sunglasses, Socks, Pens and communication device grippers emblazoned with the Twii.tur Logo.


:: Inura Tea grew from a little known local Tea and Herbal offering business to a nation-wide popular hit during the World Cup 93 Finals thanks to a viral marketing campaign on twii.tur where Inura Tea leveraged the play on the word Tea and the growing rivalry between the Turori National Team and host nation Tumbra to bring attention to their brand. Inura Tea Leaves are extracted from the Inura Forests of central Turori. The brand name "Inura Tea" itself is a play on words as Inura is a region in central Turori consisting of lush Forests and many ancient sites. The Inurahtii (Inuh-ra-tee) were the most prevalent pre-Turorian culture to occupy the Island lands. The Inura (Inuh-ra) Tea (tee) company takes its name as an audible copy of the name of the sometimes mystically considered ancient culture of central Turori and uses some of the symbols and sites of the culture on its packaging. It is also believed that the origins of the Turorian Language come from the Inurahtii which also feature prominently in Inura Tea marketing material.

Fans will be able to receive free samples of Inura Tea products at multiple booths throughout the track. Inura's Tea Time Tee Time fanzone will see a large driving range set up on the Eastern end of the track grounds, and any fan who gets their digitally-chipped ball into the large moving tea cup will earn a free prize pack from Inura Tea including Tea Products, an Inura "T"ea-Shirt, a "T"ea-Ball set and a "Te"llurium Key Chain, among other items.


:: Race Eelandii is a high-speed driving experience based in the purpose built city of Eelandii, Turori located midway between Turori's capital, Almintora, and its most populous city, Cednia. Race Eelandii is based at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course and operates on select weekends when there is no other Grand Prix or major internationstatal sporting event being held at the Grand Prix course or the nearby Eels Park footsport stadium.

Race Eelandii offers multiple packages to professional drivers and thrill seekers alike from simply renting track time on the full Grand Prix course or one of the smaller sub-courses, all the way down to companion experiences where a professional driver is in control and the thrill-seeker rides along in a passenger seat as the race car is brought up to full speed around the high-G inducing race course.

During the time at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course, Race Eelandii will be putting on Demonstrations with driver Juracai Klianiota in the Lot J temporary course as well as Meet & Greet sessions with R.L. Cruisin, iBen Toralmintii and Cocoabo #23.


:: CoCoCo Logistics and Holdings company has been one of those behind-the-scenes entities that keeps the multiverse running without being a household name. Of the Holdings portion of the company name would be One of the most prominent public facing arms of the CoCoCo is Coco-mart, the big box store which originated in South Covello and quickly spread throughout Esportiva before expanding to other regions.

CoCoCo are the primary logistics company for the @OGP and will be offering Ride-along opportunities in a special two-seater open wheel car modified from an old Race Eelandii AOGP Season 2 chassis. The Ride-alongs will take place on a closed portion of the runway away from the official racing surface. CoCoCo entity Coco-Mart will have a drawing at 1000 each morning for one lucky fan to go on a 5 minute all-you-can-grab shopping spree from their infield location.

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:: Tiones Lumber Lumberjack Challenge ::

The Tiones Lumberjack Challenge is open to all fans and attendees at the Eelandii Grand Prix course and will take place over the course of multiple days where fans will have a chance to complete all the stations. In the full Challenge there are five distinct zones where fans participate in various activities. There are four 'competitive' zones where participants are timed and scored for their execution - whether they are truly competitive or not - with each days top times earning a prize and the best scores of the race weekend crowned champions. The fifth zone is a 'family zone' with events and challenges more suited for children to participate in.

The Lumberjack Challenge produced one of the most viral moments of the World Grand Prix Championships 16th Season when WGPC drivers championship leader and eventual champion Jessica Franssen lost her balance in the Log Rolling zone and splashed down into the waters below. Cameras were rolling from the many fans in attendance to watch the special drivers-only challenge after the Friday Practice session and mini clips circulated quickly on twii.tur of the Plaidly-attired Vannish Motors Racing driving going for an unplanned swim.

COMPETITIVE ZONES ::
Note, All competitive events will explicitly require a waiver and release of all liability against Tiones Lumber signed by the participant

Zone 1: Chopping & Cutting

There will be 3 distinct events available in Zone 1, the Standing Chop, the Firewood Split and the Saw-Through Cut.

Standing Chop: Tool: Standard Axe :: In the Standing Chop Challenge, competitors can be scored in two different categories: Time and Number of Chops. A single 12 inch diameter log will be stood vertically and the competitor will be tasked with chopping through until the log is severed. Competitive times are expected to be under 20 seconds.All contestants are required to wear chain mail protection from the waste down to protect against injury from errant chops.

Firewood Split: Tool: Standard Axe :: Like the Standing Chop, there are two separate criteria used to grade the Firewood Split. Contestants will have 45 seconds to split. as many firewood segments as they can. The first 10 segments will be pre-staged and the contestant will be timed in completion of the first 10 successful splits. Should they have time remaining on the clock after the 10th split they will be tasked with resetting and further chopping segments until time runs out. Winners will be declared both on speed and number of splits made. All contestants are required to wear chain mail protection from the waste down to protect against injury from errant chops.

Saw-Through Cut: Tool: One-man Bucking Saw :: Contestants will saw through an elevated, horizontal log with a 20 inch diameter using a one-man bucking saw. Competitive times are expected to be below 15 seconds.

Zone 2: Climbing

The Climbing zone will see three identical Climbing Challenge stations to allow multiple contestants to attempt the event at the same time.

The event consists of a 20 meter tall vertical log which the contestant must after starting from a position with both feet on the ground, climb and bypass the 18 meter mark. Contestants will have spurred climbers on their feet and steel-cored climbing ropes. Several safety precautions are taken in the event. A support pole next to the designated climbing log will support a belay rope system managed by event staff. Time will stop once the contestant reaches the 18 meter mark on the vertical log and the contestant will not be timed on the way back from the top of the climbing log to return to the ground. Competitive times are expected to be below 13 seconds.

Zone 3: Log Rolling

A new addition, the Log Rolling competition will take place in water. Multiple floating logs will stretch from one end of the log pool to the other with a dry dock on either side. Contestants will be timed on crossing the pool twice - or from the starting dock to the opposite dock, then back to the starting dock. If the competitor falls into the water they are permitted one attempt to re-mount the log and continue their run. If the contestant should fall a second time their run will be ended and they will be given credit for the number of total logs they have traversed.

Zone 4: Team Events

Team Saw-Through Cut: Tool: Two-man Bucking Saw :: Contestants will saw through an elevated, horizontal log with a 20 inch diameter using a two-man bucking saw. Competitive times are expected to be below 7 seconds.

Team Log Rolling: Multiple floating logs will stretch from one end of the log pool to the other with a dry dock on either side. Contestants will be timed on crossing the pool twice. Two team members will start on opposite sides of the pool and will have to traverse from their starting dock to the opposite dock and back resulting in two 'passes' where teammates will have to bypass each other on the same log. Contestants must bypass each other on the logs and can not use the docks or the water to complete a bypass. If the competitor falls into the water they are permitted one attempt to re-mount the log and continue their run. If a team suffers a total of three combined falls their run will be ended and they will be given credit for the number of total logs the least advanced competitor has traversed. Time will be stopped once the second of the two team competitors has returned to their starting dock.

NON-COMPETITIVE ZONES ::

Zone 5: Family Zone

The non-competitive family zone will feature learning zones where Firewood Splitting techniques will be taught; three single-log rolling pools including one with a picture zone where the log can be locked into place for an individual or family to pose for photos, two 7 meter climbing logs, a firewood stacking challenge area and a special tree planting zone that teaches youngsters and parents alike the value of Tiones Lumber's Renewable Lumber Operations.

:: Tiones Lumber Competition Event::
** This Special Event will be scorinated if there are at least 10+ participants **

While the Lumberjack Challenge will generally be open for fans to compete throughout the week, there will be a 4-hour window on Friday where the Lumberjack Challenge will be restricted to Drivers, Team Members, Media and select Invited guests including top performing patrons from prior Lumberjack Challenges and professional lumberjack competitors. Drivers and crew members who wish to participate in the Challenge will can compete in the following events:

- Axe Throw
- Chopping
- Log Run
- Saw Cut
- Tree Climb

Drivers, Team Members and Special Entrants may pre-register with the Tiones Lumber representative in the paddock if they need to reserve a specific time in the competition in order to maintain their schedules or sponsor activities and wish to prioritize specific events they might feel are better suited to their strengths.

Drivers, crew members or media representatives who are not pressed for time and do not pre-register with the Tiones Lumber representative may still walk-on during the 4-hour set-aside time period for the Drivers Challenge simply by confirming their interest in participating. While the Overall Champion will be crowned based on performance across each of the 5 events, a special Drivers Champion will be awarded based on the best 3 of 5 event performances, enabling drivers to opt out of an event which may have a greater likelihood of injury. Official World Grand Prix crew members may also participate, First-Come, First-Serve basis when showing valid Paddock Pit Crew credentials. There is no limit to the number of official entrants a single team puts forward into the competition, so long as all participants can complete their challenge within the 4 hour window.

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[Liventia]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The World Grand Prix Organisation confirms the following changes to the WGPC Motorworks lineup, effective from Race Event 4, for at least two race events:

• Naveen Kalkar (Indusse) replaces Otto Markul (Great Thandoria)
• Batu Tüvshinbayar (TJUN-ia) replaces Azalia Kawakai (Quirhoshe)

Markul and Kawakai return to the free agent pool and may be signed by any team, including WGPC Motorworks. The next Motorworks driver revision will follow Race Event 5.

OOC notes:
Lisander, Crpostran, and Patriotlandia are reminded to RP prior to the activity check which takes place following Race Event 5, or risk losing their teams and drivers.
Great Thandoria and Quirhoshe may continue RPing their drivers trying to get drives, or be noticed by Motorworks again, for the next activity check.
The WGPC Motorworks system will continue: only a maximum of two drivers will qualify each race. No team RP bonus is counted, only driver RP bonus, for these four drivers.
Otto Markul's points continue to be counted in the standings for both the driver and the team.

[Valentine Z]

Part 8 – A no-pointer. A meeting. More practices to follow that will hopefully help with her performance.

Marty Lewis had a mix of emotions looking through the results, especially the most recent one at Nimban Grand Prix. Kinu Luminna did a fantastic job, he thought, being able to pull off a 5th placement that would net the team 8 points, adding to a total of 10 for the entire team. The other two points also came from Kinu, and so there was that. Then there was Angela Stella Tan Fang Ling – no points from this race, finishing with one lap down. He wanted to tell her something, but not in a way that would be a reprimand. He let it get away at first, citing in the press that it was just a matter of getting the cars ready and then hopped up for the races; practice sessions do not give points, after all. And yet, 3 races later – Angela has not improved, especially at the Queensland Street Circuit. That was THE technical circuit, and yet she was unable to do it. What else was missing, he thought to himself, scrambling and sifting through the sheets of paper that were on his desk, along with occasionally looking at his laptop for any new messages – emails, instant messages, pings – from anyone. Someone who can make sense of this entire mess.

In the meantime, it was due for another meeting. “Mr. Lewis,” they said, “Your presence is much needed.” And Mr. Lewis indeed would go, making his way to the meeting room, with his laptop and some papers in his hands. What would he say, and what would they be doing, he thought once again. It was just 3 races (minus the practice sessions), and surely they cannot be thinking of replacing the Valentian, for instance. Jim Preston, thankfully, was not at the meeting in person, but via a conference call. It helped calm his nerves a little bit, seeing that the CEO himself was not in the meeting physically. “Shit has not hit the fan THAT hard yet, then,” Lewis mused to himself, only then focused on what he should do with the two drivers moving on forward. The meeting began once everyone that was needed was present, and with the usual greetings passed around. Then it was right down to the WGPC business.

Jim Preston would be the one who started off the meeting proper: “So far I do see that your team is doing relatively decently. Fantastic work from Kinu Luminna and the team that is attached to him. 8 points today, that is good. I would hold off on a big round of applause for now, if you all will. Now then, as far as I am concerned, while this is a small victory for everyone to celebrate, I am, however, concerned about the future of the team,” he paused for a moment, far from being finished. There was a slight tension in the entire room, everyone keeping mom about what they wanted to say. “I am concerned that we are not getting the points that we need, the performance that we’ve promised one another. 9th out of the 15 teams was not cutting it, and in particular, one Angela Stella Tan Fang Ling has been struggling quite a fair lot. I would like to ask as to what was happening to her, and her attached team.”

It was at that moment that murmurs started off as the staff tried to discuss what is up. Marty Lewis, in particular, knew he was the one mainly responsible for bringing her in. The Valentian has been struggling for the lack of any other better word. Even in the courses that she was able to do on the simulation, the actual race would simply see her ending up as one of the bottom of the barrel. So, what IS happening? “Mr. Preston, if I may,” Lewis chimed in first, everyone’s attention now on him, “As the main person that brought Angela into the group, I suppose that we just need to work with her a bit more – as clichéd as this might sound. My understanding is that she is not used to our car even with all the simulation time. This is her first time with us Preston Autos, after all,” he paused for a brief moment before continuing on, “With all of this said – I do not believe as to if we should let her go this soon, for this is just three races, and there are more to come. We will try to work with her and her team more often to see what is our pain points.” Jim simply nodded, “Very well,” is all he muster out. “If I’m honest, I’m not suggesting that you all fire the Valentian, and this is not just because she is from there. I see the potential in her, but with her getting only a single point in the previous one, I believe she may fare well in our team, but in WGP2 if we’re in it again.”

“I will leave you to this again, see if you can work with both Kinu and Angela on this matter. By the end of this season, however, I do expect to see the two of them getting points for the team. Do not disappoint me on this,” Jim continued on before moving onto the next parts of the meeting, just other facts and figures about logistics and the like. Lewis, in the meantime, was off the leash for a brief moment, the matters at the moment not being relevant for him. “How the shit am I going to turn her into a bonafide racing star on our car?” was his thought, “We only have 24 hours a day and that’s not all spent on practicing.” For the moment, he had few to no ideas, but to just talk to Angela. After all, nothing is better than talking to the source of the problem, not that Angela is a problem; rather, it will pay to ask her as to what she needs. With the meeting over, it was time for Lewis to take action (and to talk).

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 was on the simulation, practicing and running the Crossbay Circuit uncountable times. She was playing around with the temporary tuning settings, wondering if she could get that sweet spot that would do better for her. “Sigh, what am I doing wrong? You go to the simulation, there was no problem… and then you go to the race, then you were laps down and was at the bottom of the scoreboard,” she quipped to herself, clearly frustrated. “Maybe the car is still too aggressive. Not a good way to put it, but maybe? I don’t know. I should be overtaking, so why aren’t I? Not like I am hitting the walls and damaging the car either.” She was unsure as to what she can suggest to the team. Tuning the car is one thing, but that is not something that one can will and it will magically happen; it has to be something rather specific, after all, “Maybe I should ask Preston Autos for more time with the car…,” she trailed off before realizing that Marty Lewis was around and checking up on her practicing. “Oh, hi Angela! Sorry if I startled you,” he said, perhaps a little sheepish, Angela thought. “Oh no, it’s fine, Mr. Lewis,” she said, getting off the simulator to have a polite talk with him.

“It’s just that I am not sure what to do. Sure, I could go for more practice but it’s not really doing as much when I can do it on the sim but not on the real car. I was wondering as to if I, along with Kinu if he is up for it – can have more time on the cars?” Lewis thought about it. He can say yes, that’s for sure. It’s always the matter of time and logistics, specifically in terms of “How long and how much can they race on the actual car without wearing out the cars?” Which Lewis then replied back as a pain point, “We would like you to have more time with the car but, yeah, there is that.” Angela hatched up an idea. Not one whereby she would ask Eveline for more time, such as 48 hours per day instead of the usual 24 hours. “Actually, let’s not do that. That will definitely constitute cheating!” she thought to herself from the start of the season. Angela then went on to reply back to Lewis with that request, “I would like to request more time with the car and of the track – as much as you can allow before the limit of making sure the cars are not worn down before the actual events.” Lewis nodded with a soft smile, “I will see what I can do for that one. In the meantime, I believe and I think you should engage and talk to the team a little bit more. I know tuning is not a miracle worker, but it always helps to tell them about your experience with the car. Anything will help.”

[Recuecn]

Abdoulaye called his father after the Nimban Grand Prix to tell him about the race. Moussa had watched the race himself—he wouldn’t miss his son’s races for anything, often staying up late or rising early to catch the coverage when multiversal time zones were misaligned—but despite knowing the end result, the patriarch deeply enjoyed hearing about things from Abdoulaye’s point of view. And for Abdoulaye, having news he could share with his father was a welcome excuse to connect with the man.

Abdoulaye knew he had been defined by his father in many ways, but until recently, their communication had been sparse. For Moussa, communication was often non-verbal, and context was everything. A single word or gesture meant volumes. Affirmation was implied, never explicit.

But when Abdoulaye had gone abroad for WGPC, the avenues of communication that had existed between the two of them ceased to exist. His father could no longer give him the small gifts or touches that he had used to say “I love you”. Abdoulaye, realizing he was distancing himself from Moussa, began to call regularly.

At first the phone calls were difficult. For the two men, the father who was naturally taciturn and did not express emotion verbally, and the son who was mild-mannered and confrontation-averse, it was difficult to carry on a long conversation. After a few brief remarks on the weather, there was little to say about their personal lives, and after a moment of silence, one or the other would half-heartedly say goodbye and hang up.

The races, fortunately, gave them something to talk about.

Every week, there was a new race, a new subject of conversation that could provide hours of discussion. If Abdoulaye had time to call his father twice in the week, they would talk about how qualification had gone—Moussa watched that, too. Abdoulaye didn’t mind talking about work if it gave him an excuse to stay on the phone with his dad.

The WGPC conversations had been a great start—that had begun during WGP2. But what made Abdoulaye really happy was the tradition that had begun before his last WGPC season, when he’d been home at his father’s house and they’d bumped into each other in the kitchen in the middle of the night. After an unwonted moment of shared vulnerability, Moussa had begun to tell stories of Abdoulaye’s childhood.

For all his laconicism, Moussa was a gifted storyteller. If in conversation he was untalkative, when he began to tell a story, the floodgates opened. Abdoulaye had known since childhood that his father had storytelling chops a griot would envy; as kids, Abdoulaye and his brother Malick would literally sit at their father’s feet to hear him tell folktales. Even tales as mundane as the events of the day were transformed into narratives that were not to be missed.

Abdoulaye did not remember much of his early childhood—he had almost no memories at all of the time before he’d arrived in Reçueçn. When that midnight kitchen conversation had been forced to an early conclusion by the advanced hour, he’d leapt at the chance to force a promise from his father to continue the stories during their weekly phone calls.

It was the part of his week Abdoulaye looked forward to most. The evening after the race, he’d call his dad, and after going over everything that had happened on the circuit, Moussa would recount the next chapter in the story that had become the tale of Abdoulaye’s childhood. These moments on the phone were precious to Abdoulaye, and he would close his eyes, listening to his father’s voice, and imagining what Mali had been like.

Each time he closed his eyes and thought of Africa, the first image was always sand. Endless sand, stretching to the horizon, swelling up in large dunes. The dunes grew larger and larger, rising up above him until they crashed over him like breakers, forcing him under the surface. He would come up gasping for breath, wondering how he had lost control of his own imagination and memories.

Then, as quickly as it had come, the waking nightmare would dissipate, the wave washing away, crumbling into grains of sand that sifted through his fingers and disappeared. Then his memories would be his own again, once more under his control. He would latch back onto his father’s words, conjuring up images of Bamako, bustling under its palm trees and warm evening sun. The city was full of color: brightly painted taxis, street vendors with their fruit stacked in neat piles, and market stalls lined with bolts of bright bazin.

Now, however, Moussa’s story had left Bamako behind. After an accident that totaled his taxi, Moussa and his wife Fanta had left the city to find a better place to raise their two young boys. They’d packed all their belongings and caught a bus headed north.

“Fa, what happened next?” asked Abdoulaye. “Last time you told me the story, the bus had broken down.”

“Awɔ, I offered to try to fix it, but with a broken axle, there was nothing that could be done. We had not made it far from Ségou, and were still a long day’s journey from Niafunké. All the passengers came out of the bus, but it was hot on the side of the road…

---

---

The trip* was not going well. The noon sun smote down dangerously. Fanta had given Malick a blanket to put over his head and had undone her own headwrap to drape the cloth over baby Abdoulaye, tied to her back. She stood next to their baggage, once more heaped unceremoniously at the side of the road, and fanned herself with her hand.

For his part, Moussa had mostly been in the shade—he’d crawled underneath the back of the bus with the driver to look at the axle. A large pothole had snapped it in two. Moussa, still in denial, was looking at the fractured steel rod, trying to imagine a solution. The driver, on his back next to him, was gazing at it also, although less hopefully. He’d given up on fixing the problem as soon as he’d seen it, and was mostly under the bus at this point for the shade, and to avoid the angry passengers.

The passengers were understandably cross. Stranded in the Sahel, miles from home and even further from their destination, and with the tropical sun beating on their heads, it was hard to find a silver lining.

One of the passengers, a businessman, happened to have a cellphone. He called a friend in Ségou, asking for a ride back to town. When the others saw him make the call, they clamored for him to call their friends and relatives as well.

“I paid dearly for these minutes!” the businessman exclaimed. “I can’t afford to use them all up calling all your families!”

Hearing the row, Moussa and the driver climbed out from under the bus. The driver found himself forced to act as a peacemaker.

“Let me make one call to the travel agency,” he said, “and I will have them send a bus to bring everybody back to Ségou. Then nobody else will need to use your phone and you can keep the rest of your minutes.”

The compromise was acceptable, and the businessman gave the driver his phone. The driver dialed the agency and conferred with someone on the other end of the line in a low voice, while the crowd of passengers gathered around and tried to overhear the conversation.

Finally, he hung up, handed the phone back to the businessman, and turned to the crowd. “They will send the next bus to pick us up when it arrives from Bamako,” he said. “But it is not due to arrive for several hours still, and it will still have to drive here. A truck will come to tow the bus to the closest mechanic for repairs, but I don’t know when that will be, either. If you want to continue the journey, you can wait for it to be fixed and then I will bring you tomorrow. Otherwise you can return to Ségou.”

There was an instant hubbub. “When does the bus from Bamako get to Ségou?” “If we go back will we get a refund?” “Can we ride in the tow truck?”

Moussa, already too exhausted to deal with the commotion, left the bus driver to deal with the crowd and went over to Fanta.

“N jarabi." My love. "What do you want to do?”

Fanta looked at him helplessly as if to say, “What do you expect me to say?” She glance at the rest of the crowd and licked her dry lips. “I don’t know how long we can wait here,” she said.

Moussa considered her point. It was true that it was not good for the children to wait in this heat. But on a larger scale, they had several weeks’ journey ahead of them, and if they were to be continually delayed in this way, their money would run out long before making it to Reçueçn. In other words, going backwards was not a sustainable option either.

Even if the available choices were poor ones, however, they were still the only options. Moussa looked out to the horizon stretching away from the road. It was scrubland, dotted with dead grasses and stubby trees, and lacking any sign of human life. He sighed, and said a prayer under his breath. Already this journey was proving difficult, and they hadn’t even gotten to the dangerous part yet.

Moussa’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an engine approaching down the road. A truck, laden high with cotton bales, rattled toward the broken down bus and the crowd of people next to it. Moussa saw it hit the same pothole that had proved fatal for the unfortunate bus. The truck jolted onward a little further, but seeing the stranded passengers waving him down, the driver slowed to a stop. His companion craned out the window.

“Aw ni ce!” He called in greeting. “Aw ka kεnε wa?” Are you well?

The bus driver was the spokesman for the marooned passengers. “Tɔɔrɔ te,” he replied. No trouble. Even when the falsehood of that statement was obvious, the greeting formula was unalterable. “But my bus has broken down. Can you help us?”

“Do you need us to pull you?”

“That won’t work, the rear axle is snapped. Are you going to Niafunké? Maybe you can take some of my passengers.”

The man in the truck glanced at the crowd of passengers. “We can’t fit that many people. Anyway we’re not going to Niafunké, we have a delivery for Timbuktu. We’re going there directly.”

The passengers groaned in frustration, but Fanta and Moussa shared a look with each other and then pushed their way forward.

“Please sir,” said Moussa, “Take me and my wife with you. We can pay you for the journey.”

The two men in the truck conferred. The truck driver hesitated. “It’s just the two of you?”

“And our two babies,” said Fanta, nodding toward Malick.

“I’m not a baby!” said Malick.

“You will have to ride on the roof,” the driver said, nodding to Moussa.

Moussa accepted immediately. “Thank you, sir!” He hastened to gather the baggage. He climbed atop the cotton bales and a couple of the other passengers helped to hand up the bags. He tied them onto the top of the truck’s load. Fanta, meanwhile, climbed into the cab with the children.

After sparing a few words of advice for the rest of the passengers waiting for the bus, the truck once more lurched forward and continued its slow crawl down the road. Moussa stretched out on top of a cotton bale, trying to hide behind the bundle of his belongings he’d tied on top of the truck to keep the wind and dust out of his face.

It was going to be a long ride to Timbuktu.

---

*"Trip" in Swahili is "safari". The song I've linked by the great Malian artist Ali Farka Touré is titled "Safari" but is sung in Songhay, a language from northern Mali.

[TJUN-ia]

A Hotel Room
Veratuna, Auruna
Monday after Nimban Grand Prix in WGPC, Race 3 in OGP

Things were quiet. Too quiet. For Batu Tüvshinbayar, a former WGP2 Champion without a drive to call his own, he was content with his situation as he began to pack his things ready to head to Turori for Round 4 of the OGP season. He was still on a bit of Cloud 9 after coming all the way back from 19th to 5th here in Veratuna, a performance that showcased the talent and the firepower the Mongolian could still deliver on his day, and the WGPC race he watched on TV was interesting as well. In what was expected to be a battle between Janne Laukkanen and Adonis Fitzpatrick, it would be Donny that end up winning...for 3rd. R.L. Cruisin decided to make this day his own, by winning for the last-minute call up Piers Ivchenko team over UrGa's Nepö Kinder while Gil Langdon got another point in the bag for KISMO in 10th. Things seemed to be on the way up, both on and off the track, and Batu was certainly in a better place now than he was all those weeks ago when the seats ran dry.

Good job with the podium, mate! I knew you could do it.

That was a text Batu sent to Donny after that result and considering both WGPC and OGP were going to be in Eelandii next time out, the opportunity to see each other in the flesh was certainly a possibility. What was Batu going to do if they were going to cross paths again? That was an interesting question and to that, Batu didn't really have a proper answ-

RIIIIIIING RIIIIIING. RIIIING RIIIIING.

"Oh crap, who is it?", he thought to him self as he picked up the phone on the bedside table. The cyrillic 'Агент' stared back at him like an invitation...but why was Batu's agent calling him now, when he knows all too well that he is supposed to be on his way to Turori very soon? "Only one way to find out."

What ended up happening with this phone conversation was one of the biggest plot twists that Batu has ever experienced in his career so far...and that is saying something, considering the successes in IRACT and that masked signing show. His agent, someone he only interacted with in matters such as these and who never likes to keep a public profile, had to explain what on earth had just happened in the world of WGPC...so he had to break it down like this:
1) In effect, Batu's OGP Season was over. "You can still drive for ANMARA when WGPC isn't on that weekend, but from now on, Marie-Theres Paulis of Gergary will take over". This didn't seem to make sense at first, what with the work he had been doing so far and the lack of action he had been getting thus far, but things would get even more confusing...
2) Despite this, ANMARA and KISMO are not dropping you. That contract he signed to be their Reserve Driver? Still in effect, as far as everyone was concerned. So KISMO still wanted Batu's services, but not in OGP? He thought that meant more sim work and more time in the WGPC paddock...and then the kicker arrived at breakneck speed.
3) WGPC Motorworks called. The team of 4, of which only 2 can race if they qualify, was having a roster shakeup due to complicated reasons. The moves, which have been approved by the WGPC and all relevant parties thus far, were as follows: Otto Markul (the only points scorer on the team) and Azalia Kawakai were out, Naveen Kalkar of Indusse was in...and so was Batu. If he accepted, #16 would be replaced by #9.

That was a shock. He thought that his WGPC career was on pause, awaiting new opportunities after this season, only to be told that you will now be potentially running a 7-round season in the Motorworks car instead. The Motorworks car, a neutral car, was for a team system where only the driver truly matters. There is no family there, no system there...just four drivers and four dreams of making the 26-car grid for lights out. If Batu were to accept, he would still have the links to ANMARA and KISMO due to how last minute this move is...but he would be effectively on his own, fighting tooth and nail just to make the race and attempt to score points or even just be representative.

But then again...what choice did he have? He wanted to be back in the WGPC, fighting Donny on the track instead of watching him on TV, and here was the universe...granting his wish. It was strange to see this happen, to see fate turn up in his favour, but he has endeavoured enough to deserve something like this. "If you endeavour, then fate will favour you."

With that in mind, he knew he had to accept.
Batu Tüvshinbayar will go to Turori after all, but not in the way he thought he would.
This was going to feel very strange, to be affiliated to one team but race for another, but Batu had no choice.
It was either this or the status quo...and he wasn't standing still anymore.
A follow up text to Donny would be sent...one he always planned, but one that now carried more meaning than first imagined.

See you in Eelandii, mate.

[Patriotlandia]

"Hello and welcome to another episode of Racing Line, presented by Cheval Vapeur Media. I am your host Tim Bouthillier and I am joined this week by newly minted WGPC Motorworks driver Pierre-Louis Archer."

"Happy to be here, Tim."

"So you've had your first experiences under your belt some good some bad. What do you make out of all this so far?"

"I would be lying if I told you it was anything but fantastic" Pierre-Louis said, unable to refrain himself from grinning from ear to ear. "The results so far might not light the world on fire like I was used to at the junior levels, but when you are pushing these types of machines to the limit, it's just pure bliss". "The engineering and manufacturing that goes into those 30 odd cars is really impressive, especially when you compare them to the almost spec series we have back home."

"You say the development impressed you a lot compared to the Patriotlandian series. How different is it?"

"Well you know, in WGPC, everything is open and there's incremental improvements every race on aero design, suspension, what have you. But in the CCCP, the prototype series, car specs are locked in at the start of a season. Renard and Archer don't develop mid season to keep the cost low for themselves and the customer teams. Here, they can run through an entire CCCP team budget in a weekend."

"Wow, that much! But WGPC Motorworks is a little different to other teams, isn't that right?"

"First of all we are a 4 car stable. All the other teams only have two entries, but we are all newcomers and it gives us a chance to be on the grid. Otherwise it would be even more expensive to get a seat anywhere. I'm sure some teams would like that, guaranteed entries and charters and all that, but I like the way it is formatted right now. Of course, the car we drive isn't the fastest on track but it is still very capable and hopefully we can mount a challenge for the other teams out there."

"So it's been said often, that all your racing prior to this was done on your father's team, Archer Performance, but now you are on your own at the pinnacle of the sport. How do you feel about that at the moment?"

"It was bittersweet of course. I've had it easy in many ways, but I also wanted to prove I wasn't a freeloader. I think everyone in life, at some point, wants to exit their comfort zone and that's where I was, you know?"

"So we are heading into the 5th event of the season, with a visit to Ridgeline Raceway next week. Are you going to be happy to be home for a little while?"

"I don't think I'll have time to be home, but it will be fun to see these incredible machines come down Vista and into the Slaloms, I think the local fans will be well entertained. The fastest cars that have been on that track in a long time. Hopefully my track knowledge can help us. There will be a lot of drivers new to the track even if they've done sim work, maybe I can use that to my advantage."

"Well thank you for your time Pierre-Louis, always a pleasure. I encourage race fans across the nation to go check out the action in person in Vilnay in the coming week."

[Diarcesia]

Pryfors Bilar Headquarters
Pryfurium, Diarcesia
Sometime Between the Doubeinese and Nimban Grands Prix

Louis Meissner, who was reprising his role as chief engineer of the team this season, and Aldauren pored over the suspension bits of Sam's car. Several of the brightest engineers were with them. "Fatigue markers in the left rear, just like in Laura's car," he said.

"Really now, huh?" Aldauren raised his eyebrows. He pointed to the person nearest to the front right tyre. "You there, give that tyre's sensor a little nudge."

The woman there complied and checked the sensor readings afterwards. "No change."

Just as expected, the team principal thought. He walked quickly from his position to closely inspect the rim. "Nothing's off from the sensor here, but if I put my finger here, very interesting. Fabrication issues perhaps, and it's not just the only issue. Louis, what's your thoughts on the matter?"

"It's a peculiarity on the left rear tyre. Extrapolating data that was otherwise missing or inaccurate, this location was subject to more stress than the others. I'm sure it exceeds the rated limits on the suspension at times. The tyre has to bear the brunt of the stresses the suspension cannot handle."

It was not a puncture caused by her way of driving. Sam's qualifying was ruined because of this defect. It showed in her car more quickly because she pushed it harder than Laura. Had the race lasted a few more laps, Laura could have failed to cross the finish line. Aldauren feared that Sam won't be the same after an incident that, it turned out, was not her fault at all.

---

Nimban Grand Prix

Aldauren's fears came to pass. Sam failed to qualify again. Two consecutive DNQs was a telling sign Sam was mentally shaken from the ordeal. Laura was a backmarker this time, too. This was gonna be a long discussion in the briefing room. It was necessary, and something he wasn't looking forward to with the results they had.

[Auruna]

Crossbay Circuit
Nimban Grand Prix
Race

Crossbay Circuit has been the site of Laura's most troubled races. From her debut in the fourth season of WGP2 to WGPC20, the circuit hasn't been too kind to her and this weekend is no different. It's bad not only for her, but for PB as a whole with Laura's poor qualifying and Sam's second DNQ. No one in the team was too enthusiastic when race day came. In fact, Laura wished that she hadn't qualified since in Crossbay, nothing goes well for her, no matter what she did.

She has no choice in the matter, bracing herself for whatever shitshow is about to come.

Before the start of the race, as the teams prepare for the start, Laura approached Erik for an unusual request. For someone who doesn't believe much in superstitions and fortune, she thought that she could try it out just this once. While far from any Aurun fortune tellers, she knew she had the next best thing.

"Hey Erik, you did some fortune telling, right?" Laura said as Erik did some checks on the car.

Erik looked up from his tablet, giving Laura a tired look. "No, we're not doing this again, it was just an act last time."

"I know you guys from Kirhejavi are good fortune tellers." Laura said, trying to convince Erik. "I thought it was pretty accurate last time."

"Fine, give me your hand." Erik sighed as he conceded knowing that he would eventually lose to Laura if it went on. "I'll make this quick, you need to be in the car within a minute."

Somewhat excited, Laura placed her hand on Erik's and let him do his fortune telling. It didn't take too long as promised and by the end, Erik shook his head before revealing Laura's fortune. "Damn... is Crossbay cursed for you? Your race today will not go well, I suggest a less risky strat for later just to be on the safe side."

Laura didn't look shocked upon hearing it, it was already expected by her, immediately accepting her fate. "Ahh... I knew it. Well, there's not much we can do about that."

"We can at least try our best. I know what you can do in the race." Erik said. "We're starting 21st, we still have a shot at points if we execute our plan well. The issue with the sensors should be fixed but don't push it too hard. If you're still worried about it, be gentle with the rear. Don't be too aggressive into the kerbs."

"Toivalle onnenaamaa tana." (TL: "Wish me luck.")

Soon after the race started, there was nothing out of the ordinary on Laura's part as he does her best to at least maintain her spot. An opportunity to overtake wasn't presented to her as her car was unsettled by the wake of the car infront. Laura struggled to get close for an overtake. Maybe this time, she was actually underperforming but she just couldn't accept that although she doesn't have much of an excuse at this point. Still, it's just the beginning and while her expectations were low for this specific race, she still believes that they could work something out even if their plans are quite ambitious.

But Laura's luck had other plans for her. At lap 20, after reaching P18, she was comfortable in the context of being unchallenged as the gap ahead and behind her was quite large and she was not having any of it, she just wants this race to end. Then, true to her fortunes, she carried too much speed on the outside of Turn 14 which caused her to understeer into the kerbs, driving over them at speed which then greatly unsettled her car causing her to spin into the grass. Thankfully it wasn't that bad considering that she only grazed the wall but the incident dropped her down the order.

Argh, vitan täkä!

"Laura, are you alright?" A concerned Erik checked in on her. "What happened?"

"I spun." Laura answered in a dejected tone. "Dammit... I think I can get out but I need to pit."

"Copy. In this lap."

"Get me on another set of Tracs for this one then prepare Rels for the second stop. I also need my front wing adjusted."

"Copy. Your tyres are looking bad based on what the sensors are showing us. In fact, they were overheating quite badly just before your incident. And about your front wing, you're missing a few elements and it needs to be replaced."

"Damn... this is bad."

"We still have a long way to go."

After the unplanned stop, Laura's race was uneventful however hard she tried to regain what she lost with an all out push in soft tyres, she couldn't catch up to the cars ahead with the only action she got was being lapped by the lead drivers a few laps later. It was embarrassing to say the least. Then after her second stop, from which she dropped down further to nearly last, she requested radio silence unless necessary for the rest of the race. Erik, while understanding of the situation, reluctantly complied and only relayed critical information from that point on. He knew that it was bad for Laura to request something like that.

The end of the race brought some relief to Laura after a hopeless 64-lap struggle. She was glad that it finally ended but disappointed in the results which might be her worst of the season. She just hopes that next weekend would be significantly better. As she sets her car at parc ferme, she slumps over after undoing her seatbelt. As she suppresses the urge to bash her head onto the steering wheel, she presses the radio button. "Leave me alone for a bit." Laura said followed by a deep sigh.

A few quiet seconds pass before Laura decided to hop out of the cockpit and head to her team. She first approached Erik and gave him a depressed and exhausted look after taking off her helmet. Erik placed his hand on Laura's shoulder. "You still tried your best even after it all went to shit."

"Yeah... it was just... demoralising... this whole race."

"Don't worry, I know you'll get over it soon enough."

Laura forced a smile as she raised her head. "Y-yeah..."

Erik gently patted her shoulder. "Go get some rest, debriefing is going to be a long one for us especially after what happened."

"Alright..."

[Abanhfleft]

The Crossbay Circut in the Nexus Wardship was a much kinder circuit to Fleftic drivers than the Akresna Circuit had been. At least that was what William Archer wanted to believe. After all, that was where he had won his first ever WGP2 race. After a torrid and terrible time with Bitten Heroes, William was on the verge of calling it quits over his international open wheeler career after suffering through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It had gotten to the point where William had asked for a sign from above to tell him about the direction that he should take for the sake of his career. If he got a good result at Crossbay then he was going to take his chances at either one of WGP2 or the WGPC itself. If he didn’t, or if he crashed out of the race once again, that was William Archer out of the WGPO altogether.

William had never really considered himself as a good wet-weather driver before, but his victory at the Nimban Deuxieme Prix had proved to him that it was merely a mentality thing. William had only prayed for points and a podium at most, so the fact that the racing gods finally decided to smile upon him and give him a race win told William that his future really lay in the WGPC. It would only be later on that William would realize that the racing gods may have actually pulled their cruelest trick on him yet, and now he had no idea how long it would take to get all of the bad luck that he had accrued in Preston Autos away from himself.

Signing with Viska Racing was supposed to be the first step in getting rid of the Preston “stink,” or at least that was how the doubter had talked about it. Viska was about as far removed from Preston as any team could get in the current grid, and William really thought that he could have gotten himself a fresh start with a new team. That proved to be short-lived however as Preston made true on their promise to give financial aid and compensation to any team that signed William, and right then and there William knew that he might be doomed to suffer yet another poor season.

Even then, William was willing to accept that he wasn’t going to hit the ground running with Viska. His time with UrGa and Vasily Gatutin had taught him not to read too much into the test session results, and while he might have been pleasantly surprised about the fact that he had gone second fastest in the first test day at Akresna, a track that he absolutely hated, none of that actually meant anything to William. He would have to wait for the first actual race in Aboveland to see where he and Viska actually stacked up. And it would appear that Viska would stack straight in the midfield. William was able to take his Viska machine up to P11 while his rookie teammate Sommer could only manage P16, but it would eventually become a different matter in the race. Sommer rose through the ranks while Archer fell like a stone before finally settling in 21st place, well beyond any hope of scoring even just a single point. It felt weird for William to have a teammate showing him up on the track once again, but he was still willing to accept the pain at this point. He was a new face in Viska, after all. He couldn’t exactly pull the same stunts that he did with Preston just yet. Doubeia was supposed to be a different story, however. Doubeia was supposed to be the moment that William Archer would finally show that he had adapted to Viska, that he was going to score a boatload of points for the Aurun outfit, maybe even a podium or a race win. But once again, the racing gods had different plans for him.

The WGPC Motorworks team was not a team that many expected would be taking the series by storm, mostly because it was only supposed to be a team giving spots to drivers who missed out on a race seat with one of the actual established teams. But sometimes, a Motorworks spot was enough to get a new driver noticed to the point that one of the actual established teams might consider taking a punt on them in the near future. And it would appear that that would be the case for Otto Markul, who put his name on the transfer market a little too late to actually get noticed, but now it would appear that he was trying to prove that everyone was wrong for ignoring him during preseason. After all, it wasn’t every day that a Motorworks driver put their machine in P5 right behind heavy-hitters such as AElund Grand Prix. For his part, William had dragged his Viska into P6, and for once he was actually confident that he was going to get a boatload of points, maybe even a podium or another race win. But thanks to Otto fucking Markul, that was not going to happen. William had no idea what the Thandorian was thinking when Markul cut right across William’s nose right at the very first turn of the circuit. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, William sustained extensive damage to his front wing while Markul seemed to have made it through the entire incident unscathed.

William wanted nothing more than to get his hands on Markul’s neck and strangle the bastard as soon as the race was over. Not only did the Thandorian cost William his race, but he also suffered literally no consequences for it. Markul didn’t suffer any damage of his own, and since the collision between the two happened on the opening lap, it was dismissed by the stewards as being nothing more than a racing incident. William did what he could to salvage the situation, but once again he ended up finishing behind his rookie teammate. In the meantime, Markul held on to the top 10, and he finished the race in P7. William had never seen or felt such injustice in his life before. It had taken practically all of his self-control not to just storm over to the Motorworks garage and give Markul a piece of his mind or read the riot act to the Thandorian or just straight up punch and assault Markul. It just wasn’t fair that the person who basically took him out of the race literally did not have anything happen to him. In William’s opinion, both he and Markul should not have been able to score points this weekend. But William had also learned long ago that the world was never fair, especially to those who were just minding their own business and just wanted to do well despite everything else conspiring to keep him down.

For the first time in some time, the doubter returned to haunt William in full force. “Did you see what that little twerp Markul did to you at the start of the race?!” the doubter said to William a few hours after the end of the Doubeinese Grand Prix. “He wrecked your front wing and he wrecked your race! And he didn’t even get punished for it! I’m telling you, it’s because he’s a Motorworks guy. And the WGPO aren’t ever going to touch one of their guys because they’re trying to shop these Motorworks guys around to the other teams. But you don’t have to take this shit sitting down, William. Go on, then. Go to their garage and walk up to Markul. Tell him what you really think of the little shit. Choke him just a little bit. You know you want to.”

“Okay, brother, I think it’s time that we cooled our jets a little bit, all right?” the supporter interrupted. “I’ve tolerated your presence for a long time because I really thought that I could eventually rein you in, you know what I mean?” the supporter told the doubter. “I thought you might still have had a point with trying to steer William away from Preston, no matter how stupid your reasoning sounds. But this is too far. You’re telling William to attack another driver, physically attack them, just because they scored points and he didn’t? That is literally the definition of ‘too far,’ guy! I’m not gonna let you talk William into doing this!”

“That’s enough from you two!” William shouted. “Yes, I get it! It fucking sucks that some idiot rookie cost me my best chance at scoring points this season so far, but punching Markul isn’t going to do anything at all! It’s not gonna give me points, and it’s not gonna take his points away. Heck, if I try to touch Markul now, I’m probably gonna get points deducted from me, and I haven’t even got any! Let’s all just forget about it, and hope that next race is gonna be better. It should be, it’s freaking Crossbay. It’s an odd-numbered season, so I should be getting better luck there this season.”

But once again, the racing gods had different plans for William. It would seem that, now that William appeared to have noticed a pattern with regards to his luck at Crossbay, the racing gods decided to pull the rug from right under him and make William throw everything that he thought he knew right out the window. William had hoped that the easy curves and turns of Crossbay would bring him right back to his element, and while he thought he finally had a good thing going in practice, qualifying would drag him right back down to earth. And as if that wasn’t enough, William dropped like a stone down the standings once again, the opposite direction that his teammate had gone. Once again, William Archer was the load dragging down Viska from doing what everyone else knew they were capable of doing. Once again, it looked like William Archer’s title “challenge” had been derailed before it had even begun.

William could already feel the frustration bubbling up from inside him. The temptation to throw his helmet at the nearest available wall was high, but for the moment he stopped himself. Now was not the time for him to throw another tantrum. It was just that William had had such high expectations of what he could do on this circuit, only for reality to not at all match up with what he had conceived in his mind. And William wouldn’t even have another chance to finally get something going his way until the week after the Turorian Grand Prix because it was on another track that he didn’t like: the Eelandii Grand Prix Course, or as William liked to call it, the “letter T with a tumor growing on its side.” At least Donny Fitzpatrick had much better luck than William did; Adonis scored HMG’s first podium of the season at Crossbay. At least that was one Fleftic driver who had some good luck at Crossbay this time around.

[Trans-Dniesters]

“Absolutely not! Out of the question. It’s not going to happen. Illarion Arkhipovich was merely following my orders. He’s not going anywhere so long as I’m here. It’s on Von Visp to adjust to the team, not the team adjusting to him.”

Vasily Semyonovich Gatutin wanted to believe that he was a patient man. He wanted to believe that his patience was what had led Urotovsky-Gatutin to their victory in the very first season of the Coalition Grand Prix Racing Association. He wanted to believe that his patience had led UrGa to win the WGPC constructors’ championship in their rookie season in the competition. Gatutin also wanted to believe that he had been patient with Yakov Leonidovich Yurievsky, a man who liked to style himself as the team’s “financial advisor.” However, most of the advice that Yurievsky had given to the team had actually been for the improvement of his own finances and not for the team. And while Vasily had held his tongue when Yakov decided to initiate his “special racing operation,” the latest developments had finally forced his hand.

Vasily Gatutin had suspected that someone might have illegally modified the car driven by Vincent Von Visp in order to give the Recuecian an advantage over his teammate Nepö Kinder. Gatutin had ordered Von Visp’s race engineer and his staff to conduct a thorough breakdown and inspection of Von Visp’s car after almost every race session to check for signs of tampering. However, Illarion Arkhipovich Osipov had become just a little too enthusiastic about the inspection procedure and had made the “mistake” of performing the inspection right in front of Von Visp. The Recuecian had made a scene and threatened Osipov with the loss of his job, and it would appear that Von Visp had gone to Yurievsky to make sure that Osipov got fired. That was the reason why Gatutin had finally put his foot down and said in no uncertain terms that Osipov was going nowhere.

“Illarion Arkhipovich is one of my people,” Gatutin told Yurievsky after the latter had raised the matter of the simmering tension between Vincent Von Visp and his race engineer. “He’s not going anywhere as long as I’m here, and I’m not planning to go anywhere too.”

“I had a feeling that you were going to say that,” Yurievsky muttered. “And, before you say anything else… Yes, the thought of having you replaced did cross my mind.”

“How disturbingly honest of you,” Gatutin said. “Good luck to making sure that your beloved ‘special racing operation’ doesn’t go off the rails if you get rid of me, Yakov. We both know running a race team is not your forte at all.”

“Are you done gloating yet?” Yurievsky asked. “I’ve already said that I thought about having you removed from your position. You didn’t let me finish and say that I rejected the proposition because frankly, it would have been deeply unpopular. Your father and your grandfather could only dream of being this popular and beloved by the rest of the company.”

“The rest of the company couldn’t have kicked out my grandfather even if they wanted to,” Gatutin muttered. “Only a report of ‘counter-revolutionary activity’ could have removed Mikhail Gatutin from the company.”

“Of course,” Yurievsky nodded. “I keep forgetting that this company began during the heyday of the communists.”

“Let’s get back to the topic before we stray away from it once again,” Gatutin reminded his team’s “financial advisor.” “If your friend Von Visp expects to see a new face on his side of the pit wall then he will have to be disappointed,” Vasily continued. “He will have to learn to have someone else say ‘no’ to him for the first time in his spoiled life. He really should have thought twice about being a pay driver for a team that has its own different revenue streams all over the multiverse.”

“You know, Vincent did suggest to me that he could use his personal assistant as his engineer,” Yurievsky said. “You might have seen her around him. He thinks highly of her, highly enough to speak highly of her to other people as well.”

“I don’t care if his personal assistant was race engineer for Terho fucking Talvela,” Gatutin snapped. “Illarion is not getting fired. End of story.”

“It was merely a suggestion,” Yurievsky conceded with two open hands in front of his chest.

“Yakov Leonidovich, can I ask you something?”

“Yes, you can?” Yurievsky replied, his tone turning the response into a question in and of itself.

“What even is the purpose of this ‘special racing operation’ of yours anymore?” Gatutin asked. “I could understand you doing it last year. Our own engine has finally been approved by the WGPO and we can finally break free from our old engine supply deal with Preston. Preston didn’t like that, and they lashed out through a handful of ill-advised promotional campaigns. And even a blind man could see that Vincent Von Visp was attacking that Hapiloppian driver Wilson the most before he moved on to the dinosaur. What was their common denominator? Preston engines. But now, what even is the point of attacking Preston Autos? They’ve gotten rid of their original lineup, the lineup that almost won them a drivers’ championship. Their new lineup is a shadow of Edwards and Archer. And now the Valentians are taking ownership of half of that team! What even is the point of sending Von Visp to attack them?”

“Normally, I would describe all of that as ‘unforeseen circumstances,’ Vasily,” Yurievsky replied. “Everything that unfolded this season has been unprecedented in my experience. I mean, everyone could see Archer leaving that shitshow of a team from a mile away, but not even I could have expected that they would drop their golden boy Edwards and swap him for Viska’s reserve driver and the big blue girl who hasn’t scored a single point in over two seasons now. And I certainly didn’t foresee Preston handing off literally half of the team to the eternally happy blue people. But this is all the proof that I need that Preston was actually only riding on the coattails of our success, and that once we left their umbrella they would find themselves in the mud sooner rather than later.”

“Shouldn’t that then mean that your ‘special racing operation’ has succeeded?” Gatutin asked.

“Yes, I could say that,” Yurievsky nodded somberly. “But it would be a hollow victory. I would be no better than Preston, riding someone else’s coattails and claiming that all of that work was my own. Vincent and I may have started the ball rolling in WGP2, but we were both unable to reap the rewards. So no, Vasily. By my standards, the special racing operation has not actually succeeded at all.”

“Then what is the point, Yakov?” Gatutin pressed. “Why kick a team when they’re already down? Or have you turned your attention to someone else? Faloe, dare I say?”

“I’m not even bothered with trying to make life a living hell for another driver anymore,” Yurievsky shook his head. “Preston losing all of their steam has really taken the fun out of this exercise. And now I have other matters to worry about, matters that don’t concern you,” the elder man added when Gatutin was about to ask him again. “You keep your eyes and mind on keeping this team running, Vasily,” Yurievsky said. “My problems are mine and mine alone.”

“You just added Ivan Radchenko to the list of people having the same problems as you do, last I heard,” Gatutin muttered.

“Then you heard wrong.”

[Hodori Motorsports]

bfr.himeblog.net
The Blue Flag Report

Circle: Blue Flag Report
Post by 87 Pigeons
Pigeon_87


Hello everybirby!

All three of you.

Even though none of you care, signups for the Blue Flag Report Pigeon’s International Silliness Season are still open.

Engage in fun silliness with simulated teams here and pretend drivers here.

Post-Crossbay update, going to be a pretty brief one while I deal with this cold (illness).

 P  No  DRV  Driver               Constructor             LNC    BFP    MBP    Lap Rate
 1  17  LAU  Janne Laukkanen      Nexus Racing              0      0      0    100    %
 2  88  PRE  Ted Pressley         Ælund Grand Prix          0      0      0    100    %
 3   1  FAE  Brendan Faloe        Cygnus                    0      0      0    100    %
 4  21  HAZ  Nik Hazri Lutfi      Piers Ivchenko            1      1      0     99.462%
 5  55  LNG  Gil Langdon          KISMO                     1      1      0     99.462%
 6  66  VVV  Vincent Von Visp     Urosovsky-Gatutin         1      1      0     99.462%
 7  94  LAN  Ryker Lane           Nexus Racing              1      1      0     99.462%
 8  27  NÜL  Dario Nülkeschlager  Pressley Racing           1      1      0     99.462%
 9  74  FTZ  Adonis Fitzpatrick   HMG Grand Prix            1      1      0     99.462%
10  51  CRU  R.L. Cruisin         Piers Ivchenko            1      1      0     99.462%
11  12  SOM  Ron Sommer           Viska                     2      2      0     98.925%
12  37  HAU  Laura Haukanna       GPA Pryfors Bilar         2      2      0     98.925%
13  63  KIN  Nepö Kinder          Urosovsky-Gatutin         2      2      0     98.925%
14  77  TII  iBen Toralmintii     Race Eelandii VTGP        3      3      0     98.387%
15  22  JOH  Nini Johnsilvaturr   Pressley Racing           3      3      0     98.387%
16  96  ARC  William Archer       Viska                     4      4      0     97.849%
17  23  C23  Cocoabo #23          Race Eelandii VTGP        5      5      0     97.312%
18   7  DEV  Anneliese Devereux   Eminent                   5      5      0     97.312%
19  85  STO  Olivia Stone         Cygnus                    5      5      0     97.312%
20  82  LMN  Kinu Luminna         Preston Autos             5      5      0     97.312%
21  84  ANG  Angela Ling          Preston Autos             6      6      0     96.774%
22  95  BZW  Hanna Berezowska     HiTEN.gpt                10     10      0     72.581%
23  40  AKS  Adriana Lillian      Eminent                  11     11      0     61.290%
24  14  VIA  Skiia Vialiv         HMG Grand Prix           12     12      0     60.753%
25  58  KAM  Shuhei Kamado        KISMO                    12     12      0     71.505%
26  13  PLA  Pierre-Louis Archer  WGPC Motorworks          16     16      0     62.366%
27  30  MAR  Otto Markul          WGPC Motorworks          20     20      0     27.419%
28  33  BLA  Sam Blaatschapen     GPA Pryfors Bilar        22     22      0     37.097%
29  18  RAH  Giancarlo Rahel      WGPC Motorworks          30     30      0      0.000%
30  16  KAW  Azalia Kawakai       WGPC Motorworks          30     30      0      0.000%
31  89  GTA  Abdoulaye Goita      Ælund Grand Prix         70      0     70     62.366%
32  10  ASZ  Ankei Souzare        HiTEN.gpt               132    132      0      0.000%

The top three are the same as last time, being the only three to have completed every lap so far. Further down the table we see Dinner in 17th, the best of those with 5 laps not complete. At the bottom we have the expected Cryptofucker AI Techbro Idiot, who thanks to actually completing a qualifying lap within 107% of pole, has only 132 BFP out of the 186 laps run to date.

He still failed to run a lap in a race so he still has a 0% lap rate. 0% is also the success rate Hodoran engine and tyre companies have had with finding WGPC customers starting from WGPC19, so that plus other Vilita-related issue with the series is why all of them have axed their WGPC-specific developments.

 P  Constructor             LNC    BFP    MBP    Lap Rate
 1  Nexus Racing              1      1      0     99.731%
 2  Piers Ivchenko            2      2      0     99.462%
 3  Urosovsky-Gatutin         3      3      0     99.194%
 4  Pressley Racing           4      4      0     98.925%
 5  Cygnus                    5      5      0     98.656%
 6  Viska                     6      6      0     98.387%
 7  Race Eelandii VTGP        8      8      0     97.849%
 8  Preston Autos            11     11      0     97.043%
 9  HMG Grand Prix           13     13      0     80.108%
10  KISMO                    13     13      0     85.484%
11  Eminent                  16     16      0     79.301%
12  GPA Pryfors Bilar        24     24      0     68.011%
13  Ælund Grand Prix         70      0     70     81.183%
14  WGPC Motorworks          96     96      0     44.892%
15  HiTEN.gpt               142    142      0     36.290%

No real shakeups here. Tropicorp’s Abovian branch is still the only team to have MBP thanks to whatever it was that happened to Goita in the first round, but they aren’t next-to-last now thanks to none of the Motorworks drivers qualifying in Crossbay.

Cryptofucker AI Techbro Idiot’s scheme to evade an incoming arrest warrant sits at the bottom of the table purely thanks to said Cryptofucker AI Techbro Idiot’s inability to drive a car at any speed other than slow. Berezowska’s DNQ in Doubeia contributes only 10 of the team’s 142 BFP, and her efforts are the only reason HiTEN doesn’t have a 0% lap rate.

[Katzeburg]

(OOC Note: Apologies for the lack of lengthy RP, wanted to try something different while also working to RL demands (travelling overseas). Back to the norm next week!)

---

[Sharktail]

Crossbay Circuit,
Nimban Grand Prix

The paddock of Piers Ivchenko was chaos with celebration cheers after R.L Cruisin officially won the Nimban Grand Prix, delivering the team their first win. Every member of the team happily jumped and hugged each other. As the happy moment occurs at that time, he steps behind and claps as a sign of congratulation while holding back the disappointment, an addition from the bad day episode at the Doubeinese Grand Prix.

Hazrin congratulated Cruisin, gave him a round of applause and watched him go up to the podium. It a bit hurt to see it, but no matter what Cruisin is better than him today and race before, for sure. Hazrin turned back to look at his car, where he ended up in 16th. What went wrong actually? He started at 12th and made his way down to 16th. Hundred per cent of him is in the wrong. He successfully sent the car spinning a few times today during turn 12. He have been nervous but should have been good after the first one. Yeah, his car drifted again, but he was able to recover again. How many tense situations today, he really doesn't want to remember?

One time, on the radio, it's calm; another time, it's not.

"Are you okay, is the car good?"
"Yes. I'm good, car also good, I'm sorry."

The word he heard most today is "Please be careful."

Like how Cruisin advised him in the last race, be careful with aggression, but surely he tries pushing to the limit, but none work out well as of now. One more thing to mention: he probably made a few enemies; if it was too harsh, maybe haters, thanks to him spinning while being in the middle of the pack. He should be glad there's no victim today; he was probably able to send people out for his dangerous driving. As the final lap ended, other than being happy for his teammate, he would leave Nimbus with another Zero. Double straight zero. His overall position keeps getting passed by others one by one. He looked at the table, and he was dead last at 18th from all who had already collected the point so far this year.

Approaching the Grand Prix of Turori, he needs to do another homework. As he sees the breaking news of the driver change, if Piers Ivchenko is so done with him, the exit door will probably be the next door he will go through.

[Aboveland]

Nimbus Bay, Nexus Wardship
Crossbay Circuit

Coalescence. A distinctly Nimban description of "the feeling."

It's not an entirely describable phenomenon, in the sense that it must be, precisely, felt to be understood; it's almost impossible to fabricate and complex to achieve, at the same time that it's the vital ingredient in a driver's psyche. Some teams spend years helping their drivers find the feeling; some drivers spend a career trying to crack the code; not all of them succeed. In car number fifty-six, as Janne brakes hard into the banking at turn nine, Coalesence has been achieved.

It's lap 25, and behind him, there's a cat and mouse battle between Kinder and Fitzpatrick. Every passing lap, the sparring pair grow smaller in Janne's mirrors. The UrGa tries desperately to find a gap into every hard braking section on the circuit — perhaps a move too basic to crack past the Fleftic's defense in such early stages of the race, but certainly a series of attempts that holds both chasing drivers back. Behind them, there's nothing Janne can see: his only windows to the happenings behind the leading trio are the lap-by-lap reports of his engineer and the timing gaps that blurb on his helmet's HUD every other lap.

Every sector, every corner, every apex filters through Janne eyes into his nervous system; his arms and feet are hard-wired to the lines rubbered down on the asphalt; his inner ear tuned to the screech of his tyres, the roll of the chassis, the lunging and squatting of the suspension. Everything falls into place to see him standing at the highest point of the circuit in an hour's time, bathed in Nimban celebratory beverage, basking in glory, with the organs and horns and strings of the Samisyyttansång reverberating across the b—

A pulse of cyan on his left front snaps him out of his zone and breaks Coalescence. His head strikes the headrest as his wheel snaps out of his hands and the nose of the car points up, yawing to the right before turning back left; the Chase Cutter flies awkwardly from the inside wall of turn seven towards the outside wall of the straight towards eight, the rear right scraping against the barrier as he lands back on the circuit. He's turned in too early into seven, hit the inside wall, and ricocheted across the circuit. Flustered, he blows a sigh into his helmet, regrouping his thoughts towards the banked turn nine. A radio blip floods his ringing ears before the next braking.

"Easy Janne," Max warns. Holding the line at turn nine, he twitches the wheel around its center to check for misalignment — everything seems fine. From what he can see in the left of his field of view, the front bodywork seems to have survived the hit, too. Behind him, the figures of the HMG and the UrGa loom larger than three corners prior. "That was a heavy hit," Max adds as he's through turn 12. "Try to avoid any more contact; you have some Imagination protection left, but it's not much. Focus and keep pushing."

He croaks softly into his helmet to acknowledge the message, gently steering his car through to start a new lap as the battling pair behind him edge closer. Nexus' Imagination protection shields have always been a safety net of sorts, a reassuring backup in case he ever made any serious mistakes and a useful buff to his confidence over full-push qualifying laps — he's just seldom had to use them, and even less so go without them at all. While the shields are supposed to regenerate throughout the race, it takes a bit of time for the Imagination converters to replenish. No problem, in any case, so long as he keeps his head down again, focuses on his apexes, follows his own race, keeps his eyes out of the rear-view mirrors, and recovers "the feeling" — Coalescen—

Another pang of cyan, then another quickly after. Janne comes out of line on the exit of turn nine — too fast into the braking at eight, perhaps, he overshoots the banked apex and wrestles the car around to get it to rotate; as the camber subdues and the circuit pulls away from below him, the car launches off towards the outside wall. Unsettled down into turn ten, he brakes scrappily again, sliding through the apex and banging the rear right on the inside wall of turn eleven. He stomps on the brakes to keep the car between the barriers before turn twelve but doesn't dare to look at the growing cars in his rear view mirrors as he dashes out towards turn thirteen. Down the straight, the radio blips again, oppressively.

"Janne, how is the car?"

The Abovian holds his breath into the fast right kink, and as he turns the wheel sharply into the apex, the rear of the car yaws out of line. He's only through to the next corner by sheer fortune, countersteering on the exit to keep the Chase Cutter out of the outside wall and his soul firmly in the physical plane of existence.

"Terrible," he pants back. Beads of sweat stream down over his eyes and into his mouth hanging ajar, and as he slides through the final two corners, he can hear his rivals' engines straining right behind him. "I'm such a fucking idiot!"

"The rear right fender is scraping on the tyres," Max informs. Janne's Chase Cutter weaves down the main straight and wiggles into turn one; Fitzpatrick makes a move down the inside and it sticks as the Abovian struggles to put the power down, and Kinder follows through the open gap. "Can you stay out?"

"No chance Max," Janne moans. He growls into his radio again as he approaches the left spiral down through the tunnel and out onto the bay. "It's impossible."

As he brings the car into the pits at the end of the lap, the Nexus crew scrambles into the pitlane. It's an unusual sight — he's become all too accustomed to Nexus' automated robot pit stops — but the rear fenders have bent inwards and sliced grooves in the rear tyres, a problem only fixable with human-slung mallets. It takes a surprisingly brief moment to buff out the rear just enough and swap the rubbers for the hardest In Motion compound. Once the robot arms unlatch, he's immediately thrust out on track.

"Take it easy now, Janne. Focus on the feeling," is the order from Max. Once he's out of the first tunnel and back out onto the bay, Janne breathes. He notices his brows had been tight, that his grip on the wheel had been too firm, that his legs were tense and his ass clenched and his toes curled together in pain, and suddenly, the tightness in his chest vanishes. The feeling returns — Coalesence approaches — and the pressure vanishes. The rhythm finds him again, as the radio blips stream through his head like suggestions, not reprimands, he attacks. Once again, lap by lap, sector by sector, corner by corner, apex by apex.

Though his Chase Cutter is squirrelly after his accidents, his hands start to meld to the quirks and snaps of the forcefully asymmetric setup. Before he knows it, he's bearing down on Kinu Luminna: the Preston has suddenly found a spurt of pace, while his eight-wheeled spaceship has definitely not — but the Nexus pit crew does their due. He gets an ICAST boost — the team divests Imagination from Ryker's car into his own, and in the closing laps, he edges closer to the blue car ahead. He doesn't lunge into turn one, or try heroics into the tunnel, or attempt to close the door early on turns six, eight, eleven, or fourteen. He's in his own race, at his own rhythm, in his own element — and it only takes him a single brave dive into the final corner of the race to set himself up to beat the Preston to the line in a dead heat.

As his radio blips back into life on the cooldown lap, Max's tone softens. He lauds his recovery drive, how he reset after the pitstop, how he'd managed to drive through the damage and how he'd held on to clinch fourth in the very last meters of the race.

"Thanks guys," Janne replies, one hand loosening his belts, the other perched across his yoke as he trundles down the straight towards turn eight with the low whirr of imagination under his seat. "We did what we could today," he adds, but as soon as he releases the radio button, he hisses through his teeth. What he could have done was to win the race, on a weekend where all eyes were on him and Nexus, and where he'd plagued the top of the standings in an ominous show of force all up until lap 23. Gertrude popps into the radio as the in-lap winds down, too and Timothy offers words of gratitude for 'the effort' as well. But there's little they can say take Janne out of the incipient knot in his throat.

The title — that which he leads — feels as possible as it ever has, but he's not even a stranger to title battles and performance pressure. So how had his Nimban Grand Prix gone so awry?

---

Ælund Racing Headquarters
Lintulahti International Circuit
Lintulahti, Aboveland

Terho croaked the door to Edvin's office open with a folder in his hand, but as the team principal came into his view, so did his bulging spectacle-zoomed eyes and wide open mouth.

"Jesus Edvin," he cries, jumping back as the door shuts. "Everything alright?"

"Oh," Edvin replies, suddenly relaxing his expression. "I thought you were coming to me with the news." Seeing Terho's frown, he elaborates. "Preston's out, haven't you seen?"

Terho nodded back solemnly, biting his lips curled inwards. "A real shame. And I guess Tribytelse has lost their only marketing shtick."

Edvin hummed in agreement. "If we keep up this pace, it might clear the path for next season if we want to find customers." He rubbed his nose and rested his arms on his desk, twirling a pencil absently with his head cocked. "I can't say I expected to be sparring with Nexus and Piers Ivchenko at the front."

Terho shrugged, pulling the folder he'd been holding behind his back to the front. "About that," he muttered, making himself comfortable in one of the chairs opposite him. "Abdoulaye." With a slap onto the desk, he revealed the telemetry page hidden inside. "We've been doing some sim work today with him and Ted for Eelandii."

"How did that go?"

Terho smirked. "Ted didn't look like he'd slept much or fixed his hair, but it was just a visual distraction really. He was fastest on the runs they did, but Abs wasn't too far off." He paused to gather Edvin's reaction, but the team principal wasn't yet getting the overarching point. "What was a point of note was the comparison between their Crossbay sims and their actual race telemetry." He turned the page full of graphs and tables on its center to face Edvin. "One of our drivers has a complete correlation between sim and reality, and it's not the WGP2 champion."

Edvin shook his head. "Stop speaking in riddles, Terho," he moaned. "What's the idea here?"

The sporting director cracked his knuckles in the pause. "There's something we need to work on with Abs. I don't know if it's confidence, if it's setup, if it's just getting back in the rhythm after so long away from the sport..." He leaned back in his chair and holds his hands up. "There's no rush for now; we've got one of the most balanced lineups so far, it seems. But I'm not sure how to help him find the feeling on track. It's a difference of a few tenths, but it all adds up."

The team principal shrugged. "Crossbay is always a weird track to simulate," he admitted. "And I think the first circuits so far have all been... special. We'll know where we stand after Eelandii, I think — how did you used to find 'the feeling'?"

Terho exhaled sharply through his nose. "I don't know." His shoulders fell as his head turned back to face the ceiling and his lips curled up into a smirk. "I guess it just... happens."