[b][center][h2]Joel Nicolosi[/h2][/center][/b]

A Navy P-8 flew over the downtown waterfront flanked by an F-18 on each wing as the national anthem came to a close and the assembled crowd let up a giant roar of approval. Joel watched behind his sunglasses as the trio banked away and the Hornets split off with a surge of afterburner. The grid was suddenly bustling again as all non-essential personnel were busily clearing out for the last minute preparations. He turned and threw a leg over into the cockpit giving Tommy an affirmative fist bump. 

“See you in about thirty laps,” Tommy said against the noise. “Don’t be late.” 

“Don’t worry.” Joel replied with a smirk. He set about buckling himself in and as the masses cleared he could see the track out in front of him with only the rear of the black GT-R in his view. With its aggressive rear wing and wind-tunnel refined aerodynamics it looked like something out of Star Wars rather than a racecar. He was already visualizing it. If at all possible, he had to get ahead before the first turn. If he couldn’t get a pass in there, where the road was four lanes wide, he likely wouldn’t get another shot until they made it down the hill at Old Harbor and the longer it took him, the harder it would get. He could match them in the turns, but the long uphill straightaway would allow them a chance to flex their advantage in downforce. The barriers that enclosed the streets curled away gradually uphill towards Southside where the first long straight would take them. He stared through it momentarily, contemplating the moment that was soon to come.

Looking back, he gave Marlin a wink before slipping on his helmet: A combination of Sol City Orange and the American flag stretched around in a style he modeled directly after his racing idol, Ayrton Senna’s, famous Yellow and Brazilian flag. The grid lights were flashing in preparation for the formation lap as the last of the crews left the grid.

[i]Alright, and now for those most famous words in racing…[/i] A voice suddenly boomed over the local PA system. The mayor could be seen taking to a podium on the many trackside mounted video screens. He seemed more at ease than he’d been in some time and he made the proclamation with a hearty tone: [i]Gentleman, start your engines![/i]

The sounds went off like a wave of technological thunder. The angry hornet V8 coming to life in the GT-R and 300ZX, high revving shout of the tuned NSX, the big-block thunder of heavy pistons in a Corvette and Viper. Exhaust and the smell of refined fuel filled the air with the international chorus of engine power. Joel tuned his radio to the team frequency and checked in with Lou and his dad who were watching from the top of the hauler with their own set of screens and active telemetry reporting back from car’s onboard computer.
 
The television camera panned back out from the helicopter as the commentators came back on watching the cars take off for the parade lap. The starting lineup flashed along the side of the screen again with team names, car types and photos of the drivers. [i]Let’s take a look at some of the strategies involved today[/i], One of the commentators started, [i]Of course Sol City is the last race of the Formula GT season and can either be one of the most technical for a team or one of the simplest depending on your position…[/i] The screen flashed over various statistics on tires, average speed, fuel management and other highlighted factors from the race’s history, the second commentator chimed in again, [i]That’s right by rule drivers have to switch places at least twice within the ninety-nine laps, and we know they’ll have to refuel at least once, however, tires have historically been the main factor in Sol, being a street circuit it’s very tough on the softer compounds[/i], The televised image switched over to various shots of the cars weaving back and forth, warming up their tires for on the parade lap as they wound through the city streets, [i]Its going to be a balancing act[/i], He continued, [i]A team can run the harder compounds and only change once, but you obviously have to stop twice anyway for the driver change, but changing tires twice takes time, the pit lane can make or break your day here[/i]. The cars passed through the chicanes at Old Harbor before the shot again went back out to the helicopter. [i]Alright ladies and gents, we’re going to commercial one more brief time, then it’ll be grid set and lights out, stay with us, we’ll be right back…[/i]

[@PrinceAlexus]