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Round 17 of Formula AG
Saturday 4th November, 2094
Qualifying Day
Bonneville Salt Flats AG Race Circuit, Utah, FAS
Federated American States AGP

1800 Mountain Time
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The ship burned through the corner into the late afternoon, the dust thrown into the air in the heat of the late afternoon, revealing the expanse of the salt flat, and the mountains kilometers away that were somehow, a part of one of the largest circuits of the year. Well, everything was bigger in America, as they said....

Because after that first MAG banked corner after the start straight, was among the longest straights in Formula AG. A huge, massive straight continued direct towards Volcano Peak, off the salt flats, a few kinks keeping pilots from just keeping it pinned, mostly to avoid rocks and structures put up in the way. The surface was not tarmac, so salt and dust sprayed from ships down the straight, effectively, turning into an ELS and speed storm. The clamber out into dust changed surface to a loose metal, so as not to destroy the primeval red rocks, and the ascent did not reduce speed. A solid 25 seconds at top speed meant ships could propel themselves beyond 

At Volcano Peak, the corner followed up into one ridge with an overlook down onto the salt flat and festival below, a spectacular glass hairpin basically forcing ships to brake through a signed right left kink that would kill off the majority of speed, before the glass towered into the heavens, a gentle jolt of the ship right bringing the ship down with gravity. And then back down the other spine, a hard left and right into a deep canyon between two rock faces, making it feel more like Luna than it was Earth, but there were no chicanes, just a slow right turn that went flat out to the festival, as fast as the approach here. 

And near to the main festival site, the large metallic structures, reused from Dolomites and Hawaii were used to create a tight final complex- a right-left that clambered up at the end of the second massive straight, before going left into an inverted corkscrew and then spat back out into level below the track just used, with two fiendishly hard hairpins, one super tight right one, followed with another one that was looser on a massive glass bank that spectators could watch ships at, before speeding back out into the distance onto the main start straight 

A track of few corners, but absolute speed and ELS, which helped ships peak out on the straights, was key. There was no clipping here- batteries got a significant charge in the stadium section, which meant that when they were thrown out of the first corner after the start straight, "Lightning Bolt Straight" got its name from the whine of electrical power being discharged.

In these rounds, running a ship platform that was adjusted for speed was advisable- particularly at Bonneville and Wadi Rum, which demanded the highest load on sped. Aero was slimmed down to nearly nothing, and here, ships went fast. At high speed, the ship would judder as the forces keeping it pinned to the ground fought those that wanted the entire thing to take flight and peel away from ground- creating the strange sensation of an inverted judder. It felt like the ground was not below, but above, as ships couldn't just be fast, but had to try not to peel off ground and lose the effect of the AG generator. A low setting on an AG unit though, risked bottoming out the ship in the last section- so it was an impossible setup game, working to try and find what worked and that was the reason for why the ships weren't in a perfect two-by-two, according to performance.

The times posted kept on getting shorter, and shorter, but once Ava Villarosa posted a time like what she had, it felt fairly obvious of the runners left, nobody else had a chance.

[hider=Qualifying Results for Federated American States]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qF6cn-eA0G0sumgf79TvEnPjOHyQP-vZSFV6LNrn_OY/edit?usp=sharing

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[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Healing Salt[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Inside the Carrera Condor pit, the cheering rocked the inflated tent, the metrics showing it off quite for what it was. A hell of an achievement to keep up the pressure on the other teams, from their poor position, to this feel-good story.

In the Delta Hyper room, Ava sat there with arms folded, a smile finally cracking under her steely gaze. In addition was the new addition of the Estrella Galicia sponsor a blue bloom on her shoulder, as deftly negotiated (or at least, shoved onto) Leon's plate by the boss's friends.

"I guess it's hard to answer that question. Bea.....Beatrix pushed me, in every sense. Pushed me to work smarter. I was obsessed with VO2 max, data, quantitively improving. And in our game, it always is numbers.....but sometimes....it's about what's up here. Beyond the neural link. She.....focuses on that. Making the most out of the ship. And it's why she was faster. Less noise, all signal. So I guess I learned from that a lot. Just feel the ship rather than try and read too much into the numbers. We may not see eye to eye.....but sometimes you need that to find an edge." Ava replied, smiling, knowing that taking P1 was a hell of a stint for the Chilean driver- long since considered a number two, but having her moment of flowering in the salt flat.

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[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Recovery Drive[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Nora rested hands on knees, her hair coloured into a poly-colour red-yellow pearlecent, something as punk as she could have. Queen of the Wasteland was the theme, and Southern Cross had absolutely embraced the apocalypse theme. The navy blue was represented a boiler-suit like costume, with gold zips and red patches across it, with sponsors who had kindly, accepted their logos be covered in dust and dirt (aesthetically, of course). Dirtying their pilots suits seemed a little odd, but then again, Nora Kelly was The Interior's former champion, and if anyone knew what living in the sand and desert was like, in automotive counterculture that came with far more edge than this, it would be her.

"It's hard. Being compared to Amy that early....and what's at stake. The entire team wants to win the Constructors, but more than anything, a Driver's win would be everything I guess anyone dreams of. Just need to get the points and close the gap."

"Do you think the injury changed your chances?"

"I dunno.....it was terrifying. But I think therapy made me realise I needed to use it like fuel. It's impossible me being on the grid. All of the talk. All the hurt. But knowing I have a chance keeps me going. So anything's possible, and I know how to make the most out of that ship. Use it like fuel for the fire. Just made me fight harder." Nora turned her prosthetic hand, clenching her fist shut.

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[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Stakes[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Sitting in the chair, a rather unusual sight. Jinwoo. Zygon's Principal.

"So I mean, we knew it was coming. Carrera are hunting us down. Not like we had much choice in development."

"Are the rumours true that Zygon are looking to change the management structure, due to this year's mixed performances?"

"We still have the rest of the season to go. We have a solid platform to work with, and our design choices have been.....rectified. And we will perform better next year."  

"And what if you don't?"

"I think I answered that question."

An ominous threat. Jinwoo didn't want to show the pressure, but, Delta Hyper had a hell of a pick sometimes of who it got in for interviews. As if it was working the secret thread of narrative itself, and well, catching the zeitgeist of what people talked about when it came down to teams.

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[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Delta Hyper Interviews[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

The interviews continued, this time, back outside in the dusk light, lit up with lasers in the background at the festival, albeit away enough via some sound-proof glass to make sure the audience didn't hear the sound of rave music.

[b]"Bea, P3 today in Qualifying, and Carrera are looking like the team to beat. How are you going to manage fighting at the front, if it comes to it?"

"Kais, a stellar effort to push to P4, and it looks like you're not letting up on chasing after P4 in the Drivers Championship. It looks like three teams have the rule of the roost in America- how did you feel out there today?"

"Paul, we knew that Valkyrie weren't going to light the times up at Bonneville, but it must still feel frustrating to be down in 12th. What's your plan for tomorrow?"

"Trix, feels like Nordic Call's lack of speed is making things a little harder, but it seems like in the race you're playing with some new ELS settings. How does that feel?"[/b]