[center][h1][b]Sunday August 20th Moa Tempesta Circuit, Kanaloa Island, Republic of Hawaii, Federated American States 1500 HST [/b][/h1][/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Vulcan[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Jenny Lowry[/b][/i][/h2][/center] [img]https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/img-2479.jpg?c=original[/img] The afternoon sun hung among clouds following the mid-day rains on Kanaloa, but this was no less a tropical paradise. Aside from the continuous smoke pouring out of the massive spire-like volcano at the top of the island, the green paradise that made up the rest of this new earth. [b]Four, Three, Two, One.[/b] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SX6q_YDdJY]State of Mind - Sun King[/url] [/b] Pulling away, things stayed smooth into Turn One, Amy immediately diving into Kais and forcing him to yield, before losing the position, but Jenny was clear of Han. Just. The Zygon ship was now an absolute burner of an all-rounder, and while it might not have dominated on the very fastest circuits, it was clear that it gave the Silver Apex ships a good run for their money. Whatever they had done was paying off, but Jenny wasn't letting go of the fact that there was still an option to stay ahead here, and make the hungry Han overplay her hand early. Through the lava tunnel, the climb forcing Jenny to defend, Turns 4 to 7 at the complex giving Jenny a chance to feint, before pulsing more ELS to boost her out of where she needed to go, back into the valley and into the greenery, the hard pivot at Turn 9 and 10, the ships lateral if not corked at the overhang, before spiralling into Turns 12 at the waterfall and Turn 13, no eyes back, just focussed on time. At the end of the lap, Jen realised the delta hadn't climbed anywhere near like she expected. Han was finding stuff on her, and the leech was imminent. Jen kept defences up, but every time she had to hold back that leech, she was bunching everyone else up, she was forced to take lines she didn't want to get the energy back and then defend much more wildly. It was anyone's game, but unlike Spa, where it felt like a fight that was going to go on forever until one pilot cracked, this felt more like Han was trying to force Jen to crack. "Two-tenths, keep her at bay, Jenny, we can't burn too much ELS right now...." The voice in Jenny's ear sounded like it was another echo in her brain, because she was so focussed, so on rails through corners. "Yeah, copy Cal, not so fucking easy!" Jenny replied, feeling the heat breathing down her neck. She was normally ice cold, frozen even, but part of the pilot suit she wore had a coolant failure, and it was heating her right hand side up like an oven. Because her brain was being more or less run to 100%, that meant she was not enjoying sweating like a pig, especially on a circuit with this many demanding turns. If Nordschlife felt like an exercise in memory, this felt like an exercise in bravery- especially when the circuit inverted and went from a two dimensional simplicity to a 3D, mind-fuck of a playground. Jenny's heart rate pounded. This must have been what it was like to be Bea and Paul, but more than any other fight she had before, it felt like she was blending into the ship, dissolving almost into the track, everything fading into focus. She was getting good delta in Sector Two and Three, but every time, that ELS on that Zygon ship just sprinted forward before trying to leech again, which forced Jen to defend, not attack. Until it all came falling apart at Turn 1, where Han tried to make a move, and Jenny, unrelenting, didn't let go, as Han tried to force a move, a move that Jen's inexperience couldn't halt and yield for now. She could have let her go, then leeched back, stayed in front of Dorian and known he wouldn't have the pure speed to make the moves. But she hadn't. It was a poor crash, the kind that shouldn't have happened, but by sheer luck, Han had actually held onto her position, the Silver Apex ship thrown off circuit, but limping back in. Jenny was dropping back, her ship hurt, her feeling hurt inside, but still, keeping a tough lip to make sure she could hold onto as many points as she could. She was cursing, angry, steaming with rage, anyone overtaking her or going past could see that, but with a compromised ship, there was little she could do. That action was one that that Dorian made Han pay for. It wasn't long until the Valkyrie ship was in position, and Dorian did what he did best. He executed, with a solid push through Turn 4, and well, that paid in every single corner after. Dorian didn't care. He had the ELS, he had the pace, and unlike what many thought about the veteran, a circuit that he knew versus a pilot that didn't, meant he could play the fiddle all the way to the end. Meanwhile, Jenny was now falling back, Harrison past her, then Kais, then Amy, who was hunting Kais like an animal. Her team-mate got a solid steal of ELS from her as she fell backwards, but with a damaged ship, Jenny aware that there was a minor hydraulics leak that forced her off airbrakes and the chassis felt like she had a few ribs of her own removed, all she had was to try and hang on in there and keep the points haul going. It felt horrid, watching then Ava, and then Cassie go past. --- The tropical, volcanic island made for a hell of a spectacle, a place where no other form of motorsport, maybe outside of Rally Raid, and yet not even that could really make advantage of the natural features that the circuit went up and down through, on metallic platforms and MAG-enabled features that snatched ships upside down and on their side to the floor, the speed of how fast ships turned and accelerated on full display. The rest of the fight on the track was of note, with Paul Mulder losing out to Hamid, who was absolutely rampant, Astrid being chewn up by the rookie Al-Saqr pilot who with his wings lit up via the speed update, was able to simply outstrip Paul on the lava tube straight out of the first few turns. Despite his ship seemingly looking temperamental, he was learning a little from his team-mate's approach to just send it as hard as he could. And send he did, as Nora, who was out of the points after a poor qualifying session given the new spec of the ship in stability, was learning. Nora didn't mess around, but while Paul was making her work for it, Nora just lunged in Sector 3, while upside down, and at the waterfall, finished the move, stealing the last point away from Paul in the death. It would have been heartbreaking, despite everything done, but it was just the cold reality of it. Nora was played a bad hand in qualifying, but if she wanted to take that top step, every fiber of her, every neuron was going to pull her past Paul, and when he came to counter, Nora gave zero quarter. She was unrelenting, brutal in every defence, playing right to the serif of the rulebook to keep her back when she burnt through her ELS. Behind though, Florence and Bea were having a fight, the former's attempt to make Paul's day even worse stunted by the arrival of the Carrera ship wanting to get points. "What a fight in the last few laps between Ward and Mason, wow, a young prodigy up against a veteran, we're seeing quite the fight!" That fight from Florence's enhanced ELS had made a serious ding on a circuit like this, but it just wasn't enough to propel the NOVA ship into the points. Instead, it made Beatrix more than likely pissed off that she couldn't make any inroads. It would have certainly felt suspicious, but then again, Florence was a maestro at making this sort of thing work. And while the gambit hadn't paid off, in fact, she'd gone one place backwards, it had been enough to make her punchy enough if Beatrix hadn't have turned up to have gone after Paul. A VSS interrupted that fight as Bjorn Waldgard crashed at Turn 15, after an attempt on Max, and the ship skidded off circuit. He then proceeded to top Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri's chair moment by basically breaking Delta Hyper's social media and told the recovery van to go away. So sitting at the beach, helmet off, basking in the sunshine as ships roared past, completely done with this bullshit, another day of poor results, and well, if he was in Hawaii, he wasn't going to go back to the pit to be told "don't feint on Max Wedgewood and expect him to play along", so instead, the blonde, long haired Swede was mulling his life choices in the afternoon sun. But the race was restored once the debris was hoovered and peeled away. The two Brits were at each other again, Bea likely furious that she couldn't break through to attack Paul and ultimately Nora to get a point at least from her poor start. She was clearly on fire with the ship in her morale, but today, that volcano-like blaze was getting pissed on by the blue streak of Florence's ELS. But Bea got the move done, but far too late to make her charge on Paul. "Yes, and despite their mismatch, it has to be said, Florence has frustrated the rookie Beatrix Ward in getting up the grid. And they have a train behind them..." The commentary from Rory continued, watching as it was going on, and on. And didn't really develop from that, really. Kais had been overtaken from the second from last lap as Amy prodded, and eventually, dumped ELS and roasted past, leaving zero recourse for Kais to manage it out. He was patient, smart, but Amy was experienced, and knew the Meteor didn't want to throw away the position, not here where they needed points. And on the other end, Dorian had cleaved a gap from Han, using his ELS smartly to break from her damage, use her as a roadblock from the rampaging Harrison, and pull off a smooth, easy race. "And wow, what a result for Valkyrie, they must be chuffed with that!" The chequered flag dropped, as Dorian took P1, ruthless in the way he had taken charge, and the comms of the broadcast shifted to his engineer and him. "That is P1, Dorian, P1, what a result!" "Yes! C'est magnifique, what a win! Wow, great job, handling setup was just perfect, we didn't have the speed but who needs that when the ship just ropes through the jungle like it's Tarzan! Wow, moments like these....they are so special, what a run!" Dorian chuckled over the radio, whooping, absolutely gleaming as the commentary came back in. "What a win for Hornfleur, and well, Han has managed to get it over the line five seconds back, and while she'll be gutted they couldn't do beter, they held back Makara all race, with Stirling charging past Kais Zenix right in the dying light of the race. He's followed by Villarosa, who performed admirably and kept it clean, holding off a rampant Cassie Neves who just seemed to make too many mistakes in Sector 3 towards the end of the race, Jen Lowry, who pulls across the line a wounded looking Silver Apex ship, and then Hamid Atlassi, getting his first points, and finishing off the top ten, Nora Kelly, who has punched her way through backmarkers to get the last point. Rory, what are your feelings on how that went down?" Rosie asked, as the ever present Rory gave analysis. "Well, Rosie, that was a spectacle. With a shuffle of the grid caused by that damage to Jenny Lowry's ship, I think it all got a bit tense so it could have been anyone's game, but cooler heads prevailed in the heat of the volcano. Dorian just knew he had to keep it tidy, and you can tell, he just had everything there for him. The fight for fourth, as well as the last points positions was quite something too, and shows that Amy isn't willing to let go of any point advantage she can make on Makara and Kelly. It's clearly hotting up in the championship, and while Amy is likely breathing a sigh of relief that her biggest rivals couldn't pull out as many points as they hoped today, I think the pressure is still on her to deliver in Singapore and beyond. But wow, what a result for Valkyrie, and Dorian Hornfleur, who proves that age is just a number, and he still has what it takes." "Absolutely, and do you think that his retirement could be coming too soon? He still seems to be loving the sport, just look at him and his team, he seems to be immersed!" "Yes, he really has been such a talent in the sport and a longstanding member of Valkyrie, and while his performances this season have been suspect, at Hawaii, a circuit I know he loves, he clearly made the most out of the results." "And what about further back in the grid?" "Well, a crushing shame for Paul Mulder, who no doubt is kicking himself, just wondering what he lacked that Dorian made work today. The younger pilot has proven to be a beacon in that team, but it seems like in the close quarters, he still has a lot to learn, especially against rivals like Kelly and the new Atlassi, who are keen to make their mark and get points on the board. And then what about Beatrix Ward and Florence Mason, wow, what a fight that was. It was like watching Mason and Hornfleur fight back in 86!" Rory chuckled, as Rosie nodded, cutting to footage. --- "P8, Jenny, not our day, but well done for clinging onto points. Let's review when we get in and let's go from there, nothing you could do." Cal's voice came through in Jenny's helmet, as she dwelled on that. And didn't want to the more she tried to play any angle of it that was constructive. Nothing broadcastable. She didn't give it a reply, breathing out hard, before yelling, screaming in frustration, all the constant focus finally settling in, swearing plenty, an uncharacteristic outburst, but absoltuely livid. As the ship cooled below her and she pulled back into the paddock, she opened the canopy and sat there for a moment, drenched in her own sweat, just gutted, in her own static shock. Cal understood, this wasn't like Jamie, this was P1 snatched away, the most painful kind of loss, to have it sown and then to get involved like that. Han kept her P2, but she was just on the wrong side of it, wrong time, and now, not in the best mood. It would go away, but it would fuel more hunger for Singapore, more want to go out and put the ship on pole, and go win that race, no matter what. [hider=Qualifying Results for Moa Tempesta:] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qF6cn-eA0G0sumgf79TvEnPjOHyQP-vZSFV6LNrn_OY/edit?usp=sharing [/hider] [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Cooldown Room[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Dorian Hornfleur[/b][/i][/h2][/center] Sitting in the cooldown room, it felt strange without a Kais, Paul, Nora or Beatrix. But such was the way that things fell in racing. It wasn't always a story that followed a dream. "Nasty hit there." Harrison observed, looking as Han almost scowled at it, Dorian making a mental note not to get too chatty with her over this. "Yeah....racing incident. My ass." The mumble could be heard, as Dorian made a note not to add anything more when he sniped her out of the corners in Sector 3, absolutely blitzing by, and holding first for the rest of the race as Han struggled. Harrison's own little fight with Han showed him struggling to get past, while Amy's blitzing of Kais towards the last laps was no doubt gutting him too, given their focus on data for Hawaii. As they were called out, Dorian wondered if this was it. The last hurrah. The last raise. Hawaii was one he enjoyed, as strange as it was, but to win here? Well, that was quite something, and no doubt that despite the difficulties for Paul, getting P1 here felt like a lift to the team's continued efforts to try and punch into the top end of the constructors. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Post-Race Interviews[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] By the massive waterfall that sat at Turn 12, the pilots were getting interviewed, the tropical feeling still present in the brand new rainforest under the volcano. Lei's had been given out to the pilots, as well as bespoke wooden trophies made from the new forests here to the pilots who took victory, a one of a kind style given most others were ceramic or metal. [b] "Paul, it just didn't play out the way you expected! Despite a solid platform, how did the positions slip?" The question was not going to be nice, but then again, the result was definitely not one that was one to cheer about. "Kais, a positive result for the team on a circuit that you surprised everyone on as you hunted down Harrison, but in the last laps, lost out to Amy Stirling. How does it feel duelling with her, given your previous experiences at Silverstone, do you think you have an understanding?" "Bea, a rapid push right through the backmarkers, but you just couldn't get into the points today. How did you find duelling Florence, and do you think her experience tripped you up?"[/b] [hr] The other interviews took place somewhat before and after the others, intermingled, other pilots getting to mix in them. "Honestly, so gutting. You heard me on the radio, I was yelling, proper annoyed! But yeah, we'll go again in Singapore. The ship is great, just couldn't hold onto first, and well, what happened with Han I can't really....yeah!" Jenny spoke, keeping it short. "Yes, it was brilliant to come out on top! I was lucky, I will admit, but you make your own luck, no? Good qualifying with a ship setup that maximised our advantage, and the boss had full confidence in the strategy." Dorian replied, professional, but not hiding his excitement as the man accelerating into what used to be once middle age seemed to still pick up victories, the yellow and grey pilot-suited champion relishing in all of this. "Well, Kais is....turbulent, he gives it everything, but I still found a way through. A fun fight though, and yeah, at Singapore I hope me and Jenny can bounce back onto the podium!" Amy chirped, knowing that Kais was reeling from that. "Well, Bea did well to recover, but she was always going to tear it up on this track! I mean, you give her so much hassle for being Hawaiian....she just wanted to avoid more of your questions I guess!" Ava joked, and for half a second, Bea might have wondered if her team-mate was actually beginning to have her ice melt into slush... "Han did well considering the circumstances, and while I couldn't push on Ava, honestly, happy to post a good result as we're charging towards Valkyrie. We have a lot of work to do this season but it's paying off now. And on what happened? If I speak, I'm in big trouble..." Cassie channelled peak Mourinho, the Scots-Lusitanian definitely going fully on her Portuguese side on the last bit. "Well, a sh*t result. Just fell backwards. Not our track." Astrid was in and out of frame as fast as she'd arrived. "Yes, over the moon! I am so, so happy with getting more points. A bit of a weave past Astrid, and Paul too, but the ship is so fast, so quick, it feels like we can make up for even our deficiencies. Bring on the speedy circuits, we'll be lightening bolts!" Hamid grinned, in the way that his growing popularity got a positive reply, the once cyborg-like Layla who ruled the airwaves with her cool aesthetic and wavy feeling replaced by a warm, almost child-like Hamid that seemed almost to leap into things more than he had before. "Yeah, nice to be back on the podium, and honest, have been missing that for a while. We need to push on and keep pressure on Silver Apex, so that's what we'll do, and headed to our hemisphere, I hope we can give our local fans something to cheer about, especially in Aus, we have one hell of a showcase there!" Harrison stayed positive, gutted he couldn't get past Han, but glad at least to not be dwelling in the bottom end of points today. "Bea is definitely capable, but well, we don't give positions up that easy in Formula AG! Our ship just had the right ELS setup, what can I say, we had it all, tried to risk it going for points, and holding up a train isn't fun, but like Dorian did, he took advantage of the trip up on Jenny, and just made it work. Sometimes, chaos just happens and you just have to play strategy!" Florence commented, the dark arts from the otherwise positive, happy-go-lucky pilot showing that a champion in a lower-tier ship was still a wolf in green and yellow pilot-suited clothing. [hr] [@MrSkimobile] [b][center][h3][code]Saturday 20/8/2094 21:20 - To Kais Zenix (Salt Bae)[Batt: 98%][/code][/h3][/center][/b] [center]———— Today ————[/center] [color=fff200][b]AStirling[/b][/color] Damn you put up a good fight! But that's payback for Silverstone ;) [hr] [@LadyAmber] [b][center][h3][code]Saturday 20/8/2094 21:32 - To Paul Mulder (Belgian Waffle) [Batt: 69%][/code][/h3][/center][/b] [color=fff200][b]Wedge[/b][/color] Yoo, just wanted to check in with you as we're team-mates next year! Got a quick question- how the fuck is Dorian still that fast despite being 40? Just checking, he isn't a cyborg is he, cos I'm gonna need to adjust to that ship? Also, pls make sure you ask the canteen to stock schnitzel, I've becoming uncannily addicted for it in my protein allocation while in Lucerne after the Nürburgring interviews, thanks :) [s](I'll find something better than Hersheys to bribe them with because I know you hate it and think it's an affront to God despite it being the best thing on Earth)[/s] [hr] [@Starlance] [b][center][h3][code]Saturday 20/8/2094 23:32- To Beatrix Ward (US-Bea) [Batt: 52%][/code][/h3][/center][/b] [color=fff200][b]Jen Lowry[/b][/color] How much brick / plywood / plasterboard / composite wall do you think you can punch through with prosthetic limbs? I'm [s] configuring a rage room in London[/s] just asking for a friend No that wasn't totally bullshit and she should totally not get a penalty for a move that was clearly too aggressive, and write off yet another chassis with a hit that felt like losing teeth