//------------------------------// // Solus Grand Prix (Formula Equestria) // Story: DangerVerse Motorsport Events // by DangerDean //------------------------------// Sayori Blitz was hoping her newly upgraded Renault RS22 and the fact that she set herself a goal of getting into the top 10 was originally a tough order. But she felt confident that she would have the better speed, control and management of the tyres in the 67 laps of the race. She hit the track and started her lap. She hoped that the new Dragonsfire power unit would bring her into the 10 in qualifying. 1st. Starlight Glimmer, Red Bull Racing RBPT, 1:37.339 2nd. Danger Dean, Scuderia Ferrari-Danger Motorsport, 1:37.396 3rd. Viral Velocity, AKV Motorsports-Ferrari, 1:37.557 4th. Akula, AKV Motorsports-Ferrari, 1:37.597 5th. Rusalka Swordlight, Scuderia Ferrari-Danger Motorsport, 1:37.798 6th. Rainbow Dash, Aston Martin-Mercedes, 1:37.994 7th. Sayori Blitz, Renault-Dragonsfire, 1:38.228 8th. Oscura Galaxia, Team Galaxia, 1:38.447 9th. Iris Dayspark, Mercedes-AMG Petronas, 1:38.557 10th. Aria Blaze, Scuderia Ferrari-Danger Motorsport. 1:38.674 11th. Azura Dragonsfire, Lotus Dragonsfire, 1;38.995 12th. Sonic Flash, Scuderia Ferrari-Danger Motorsport, 1:39.115 13th. Fluttershy, Bentley, 1:39.228 14th. Alice Spark, Red Bull Racing RBPT, 1:39.337 15th. Leighanna Astralina, Renault-Dragonsfire, 1:39.558 16th. Twilight Sparkle, Scuderia Tempesta-Ferrari, 1:39.774 17th. Danny Dean, Scuderia Forza Nova-Ferrari, 1:39.990 18th. Astral Dash, Aston Martin-Mercedes, 1:40.226 19th. Hatsune Soulblitz, Volkswagen, 1:40.486 20th. Blazing Lionfire, Chapparal-Lionfire, 1:40.776 21st. Sparkling Lionfire, Chapparal-Lionfire, 1:41.116 22nd. Prismatic Shuriken, Scuderia Tempesta-Ferrari, 1:41.449 Sayori did what she want to do and she managed to out-qualify two of the Prancing Speedfreaks and Iris Dayspark, while she was nowhere near Rusalka or Danger. The race started and Akula got the best start of them all with Danger slotting himself into 3rd with Viral hot on his tail heading into turn 1. Sayori outdrove Rainbow Dash with Oscura right behind her in 7th. Aria squeezed by Iris and Sonic made pass on Iris. It didn’t take long for the drama as at turn 5, Leighanna Astralina spun out after a nudge from Alice Spark as the Red Bull driver tried to pass Danny Dean in the Forza Nova. There was no need for a Safety Car as Leighanna got going again. As lap 2 approaches, Starlight was being reeled in by the Ferrari of Danger and after Viral passed both of them at turn 16 on the previous lap, it didn’t really matter to Danger that much as he knew that AKV01s were too dominant. All of the Ferrari F1-75s were running a different livery to the one they used at the Diamond Bay Grand Prix. The livery consisted of the nose painted in white and red in a chevron pattern. There was a slanted white stripe on the side with a white number on the side of the wing and the name of the driver on the top of the wing. Danger used the new livery to his advantage at turn 12 when he decided to dive down the inside of Starlight at turn 5 to perform one of his finest overtakes of the race. This sealed the possibility of a Triumvirate 1-2-3. From lap 3 to 7, the race going smoothly with the Triumvirate leading the pack and with Rusalka being chased by Sayori’s Renault. The green flag run didn’t last long as Alice Spark’s Red Bull took a trip to the gravel on lap 8 at turn 14 after a failed battle with Twilight Sparkle. All the other drivers were on the mediums and they could last 33 to 34 laps unless if a Safety Car came out which was the case with Alice Spark’s premature retirement. The gods thought to mess with the drivers by lap 11 by making a slight change of weather. Brio Blitz thought it may be the right time to say something to Aria. “Aria, there may be a slight chance of rain of next 10 minutes. We may need to put you on the Intermediate tyres.” Brio said to Aria. “You better inform, Danger, Rusalka and Sonic about this,” Aria replied. “Because I don’t want a repeat of what happened in Diamond Bay.” On lap 12. Crimsonia Dragonsfire was on the radio to Danger. “Danger, I’ve been informed by Brio Blitz that in 10 minutes, there may be rain coming.” Crimsonia reported. “So… at this pace, it will be around lap 16 or 17 before I pit. I imagine Akula and Viral will do the same thing.” Danger said. “I think they will.” Lap 15 comes around and the number of cars on the track was reduced from 21 to 20 as Rainbow Dash complained over an issue. Rainbow pulled into the pits and her battery wasn’t charging up when under braking and at turn 17, the display on her steering wheel completely switched off. By lap 19 most of the field was on the intermediate tyres after the rain started to glitter onto the track. Akula still led Viral and Danger with Sayori in 4th and Starlight Glimmer 5th. Rusalka and Oscura Galaxia was in 6th and 7th, Iris, Aria and Sonic in 8th through to 10th with Azura and Twilight in 11th and 12th. All drivers knew there was going to be an Safety Car afoot but they weren’t sure when. On lap 20, Leighanna Astralina crashed into the tyre barrier after the rear of her Renault RS.22 snapped mid-corner by no fault of her own, She was OK but another Safety Car was needed. Oscura wasn’t too pleased to see another Safety Car. “This Safety Car is driving too slow for me to warm up my tyres. Can anybody tell the Safety Car that this isn’t some road trip on the Solus Highway. This is a fucking race!” Oscura complained. “We know, Oscura. There’s 47 laps to go.” Anastasia informed. “Could take three hours at this pace.” Oscura replied. By lap 24, Danger was getting hounded by Sayori and with Rusalka overtaking Starlight at turn 11. It only took about 5 corners for Sayori to pass Danger on the outside of turn 16. Danger wondered if there was something wrong, he kept it to himself to avoid a unnecessary pit stop. The loss of speed he had was erased at turn 4 on lap 25 after an overtake that got the fans off their seats. The next retirement came on lap 28 as Starlight pulled into the pits after suffering vibrations with the car. It was gut-wrenching for her as she started from pole position. With the Triumvirate still having a firm grip on the podium and Sayori still making Danger’s uncomfortable, it was Rusalka’s turning to bring another good result. She did have a problem though, an Oscura-sized problem. Her OSCGP01 was on par with the F1-75 the whole race but the idea of being behind a Ferrari was pissing off Oscura slightly. By lap 31, Rusalka had increased the gap to 2.5 seconds, which made Oscura even more displeased. “What the fuck is going on with my car?!” Oscura complained. “I feel like Danger must have something to do it. Like he always does!” “Are you done complaining?” Anastasia asked. “If you want me to continue complaining for the next 37 laps, be my guest. This is so fucking embarrassing.” Oscura replied. On lap 35, Crimsonia was trying to make Danger’s life more relaxing as he pulled a 3 second gap to Sayori. Danger knew that he can’t catch the AKV01s in front, even if both Viral and Akula made a second stop. Both Crimsonia and Danger was noticing that the rain was becoming less heavier than before. “Crim, do you think intermediates are the way to go.” Danger asked. “Don’t know. You tell me.” Crimsonia replied. “Let me know when it’s stopped raining so I can pit for inters.” Danger suggested. “OK.” Crismonia said, concerned. Lap 39 was the beginning of another rant from Oscura as she realised her wet tyre where not performing in a way she liked. Despite being in 6th place and 22 seconds ahead of Aria Blaze, her chances of getting a podium were getting slimmer by each lap. “My tyres, Anastasia. I can’t look after my tyres for much longer!” Oscura complained. “I’m really struggling, inters are the way to go.” “Box this lap, Oscura.” Anastasia instructed her. “Anastasia, I can continue for another 5 laps at least! What’s the fucking point of putting fucking wet tyres on when there no rain?!” Oscura complained again. On lap 44, Akula still lead the race from Viral and Danger but with two separate retirement from Prismatic Shuriken on lap 40 and Blazing Lionfire on lap 42. It was turning into a war of attrition for some cars. On turn 13, Danger was approaching the lapped car of Astral Dash and he saw a sticker on Astral’s Aston Martin that gave the British Speedfreak a bit of a chill down his spine. “Crim, I’m gonna have nightmares tonight about kids eating for free.” Danger said on the radio. “Why?” Crimsonia asked. “Astral has a decal on her car that’s says ‘Kids Eat Free’.” Danger replied. “I’ll tell her that next I’m see her.” Crimsonia said. 50 laps had elapsed with 17 to go and all three of the Speed Triumvirate had made their pit stops. They still held the podium places with Sayori in 4th after passing Rusalka who was in the pits on lap 48. Sayori was loving the race so far and was hoping to catch Danger at some point, but Danger was 40 seconds ahead of her, so a 4th place was good enough. With the top 5 not changing from the pit stops with Iris, Aria, Sonic, Oscura and Azura. Akula hadn’t won a race since the first sprint at Sunset Valley so with 12 laps to go. The AKV01 was cruising and passing any back-markers with ease. His start and masterclass in the wet was heavily rewarded with a calm drive. For Oscura, however, things were turning from bad to ‘victim of a crash courtesy of Danger Dean’ bad. She went down to 9th place after a tyre gun failure on lap 52. Needless to say, she was most pissed off than before. “I never knew I would be swimming in like… 6 tonnes of shit after that pit stop. Like, seriously! Anastasia, why don’t you get into this car and go through the hell like I go through every race.” Oscura complained. “Oscura, you got 9 laps to turn it around to catch Sonic.” Anastasia encouraged her. “I need about 9 billion laps to catch Danger at this pace!” Oscura snapped. “I wish our cars a lot faster… if I wasn’t for that fucking split between Red Bull and Team Galaxia, I would have about 4 more wins by now! My career is so ruined because of that split. Totally ruined.” “But you are a championship winner in the past.” Anastasia said. “That was fucking nearly ten years ago! 2013 to be exact.” Oscura snapped again. With 5 laps to go, Rusalka had a small moment at turn 6 when she half-spun towards the entry to turn 7. “Nice save, Rusalka!” Beatrice Firefury congratulated. “I need to stop watching Initial D after this race.” Rusalka stated. “At least you’re not on a mountain road.” Beatrice commented. “Touché.” Rusalka replied. On the final lap on the race, Akula crossed the line to win the Solus Grand Prix with Viral second and Danger third. Sayori was 4th and Rusalka 5th, Iris Dayspark 6th, Aria Blaze 7th, Sonic 8th, Azura 9th, Oscura 10th, Twilight Sparkle 11th and Fluttershy 12th. “How about that! Yes! And for anyone who thought I left... I never left. Just moved aside for a while. Thanks guys." Akula celebrated. It have been so long for the fans to enjoy a Triumvirate 1-2-3 and now… they finally got one.