Roulette Runner [FINAL RESULTS]

Unable to computer yesterday. Too many wives and children.

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-------- Leg 1---------

Bill: Are you sure that it’s not going to fall out? Maybe you should have fixed it before we started.
Toni: I know what I’m doing! I’m more worried about the dust in here. Maybe YOU should have covered those vents!
Bill: Toni, it’s not an out and out race! Plus, we are in a van. Anyway, weren’t those Enforcer things were used as police cars?
Toni: Feel free to tell me you think we’re the only ones driving like this, and I’ll let the rest of them pass us. This van’s got plenty left.
Wookiee: Slow down a little. The turn’s coming up.
GPS: Left turn in 100 metres.
The van vibrates as Toni brakes hard and turns onto the gravel surface
Toni: Now the fun begins. Hold on boys! Stones fly in all directions as Toni hits the juice

They arrive at the parking area and jump out. Bill runs to the back of the van to see not only is the licence plate missing, but the left tail light assembly is now without a… tail light assembly.
Bill: Yep, it’s gone. The lights themselves are still there, just no reflector or lens. That’s a new one. Time for some tape!
Wookiee: You do that. Who’s driving next?
Toni: Wookiee, you up for it?
Wookiee: I’ll give it a try.
Toni: Try not! Do, or do not. There is…
Bill: Please, stop it.
Toni: whispers no try.
Wookiee chuckles as he pulls out the map.

-------Leg 2------

5 minutes after leaving Blackjack parking area.
Wookie: I’m no rally driver, you’ll just have to accept that!
Bill: I’m with you. I’m sure that sound is getting worse.
Toni: I’ve told you, it’s fine. Are you sure there’s only the one way down?
The van shudders as it crosses the corrugations in the road surface… followed by a smashing sound
Bill: The back window! What the hell? Now you can complain about the dust!
Wookiee: We’re about half way down, so expect more of that.
A hard left and the back of the van slips around, narrowly missing a large rock
Bill: You said you aren’t a rally driver!
(Toni laughs)

5 Likes

#Team Cunning Stunts: Day 1, Leg 2


L: Lawrence
S: Stephanie
A: Alex


Start of Leg 2
S: Alex! Alex! Where are you?!
A: (stumbling) Oh hey sis…
S: For God’s sake are you drunk?
L: How? I didnt pack any alcohol.
A: Ughh… The Southend guys let me have some, they’re a fun bunch.
S: Thank god youre not driving today, you’re going to get us all killed.
L: Here, catch.
A: Huh? What’s this?
L: Map and GPS, youre navigating.
A: …ahh yeah I remember now. Everything packed?
S: We packed everything an hour ago, You’ll be setting it all up on your own when we get the next camp
A: Ahh crap…


End of Leg 2
L: Exactly how did we get lost?
A: Look I don’t have a degree in Geography.
L: All you had to do was read the bloody map! How hard is that?
S: Alright, alright, enough bickering. We made it in one piece…Holy shit! Do you see that car?
L: What happened to it?
A: Looks like the suspension’s broke. Probably shattered due to the terrain.
S: Alex, check the car now. We can’t have any failures on the suspension now. Give it a thorough check.
A: Sure thing, will do.


Car Condition: Leg 2
Alex
So after one of the cars were forced to retire after the shock towers on their car broke, I’ve been giving the ‘Lucky Lady’ a good search. Fortunately, our suspensions seem to be holding out with little rust in sight. The tyres also seem to be holding out well. However, the engine isn’t doing so well. It was boiling today, so we’ve used a lot of the water on hydrating ourselves and the car. Fortunately the weather forecast says it’s getting colder later today. But my feeling is that we’ll need to run the car a bit slower and possibly take more stops so ensure we actually make it to the end.

8 Likes

Team Hobo

Day One Leg 2

Taking advantage of the engine’s temperature, Hobo warmed some canned food. Hobo dog woke up with the smell of bean stew…and started do go nuts!!

Hobo: Shut up annoying dog!! Here…drink some liquor… get some sleep.

After eating that precious meal, was time to do down the hill… Hobo was nervous, all that weight, all that booze, hitting those drum brakes… He choose to go slow and very careful not to break any precious bottle, the van was going nice and steady…

Hobo: Man, so many potholes… potholes everywhere…pot… pot… so many pot… i have to…now!!

He lighted a joint, and things went much better… :relieved:

Hobo Girl: You pothead bastard…gimme some of that… :relieved::relieved:

The hobo dog, was wasted and high with all that smoke… he dreamt about pink fields, and digging golden bones, and chasing cats that danced around him…how happy that dog was!! :relieved:

They managed to arrive in one piece, all very happy… :relieved::sunglasses:

6 Likes

Things are not good at team DSD. Romeo officially wants to kill DS5. The small portable stereo blared Arch Enemy all the way down the desent with DS5 screamin down the hill at full throttle. The supercharger screamed the offroad suspension and tyres made this leg alot easier for team DSD than the other teams and the Frenchman and Aussie completed the journey as fast as possible. We can see that there may be issues and stops in the near future and the decision was made (by DS5 not Romeo) to go fast where we can ao we can go slow when we need.

Status report. Another supercharger belt chewed, air filter has a hole (fixed with a womans stocking from team greasy lightning) team greasy offered to jump in team DSD’s ute tray for the next leg…Remeo is salty as a cartoon of beer fell off the back thanks to DS5’s exuberent driving

7 Likes

Day 1 Leg 2

Aaron “This road is even worse than the one before”
Paul " Happens"
Aaron “You know that the ladder chassis is hold by Rust and Ducttape”
Paul “Duct Tape is strong. Everything will be finnnneeee”

Paul continues to drive the van through the hill-ish paths until a loud sound from the van struck them like lightning

“The Fuck was that” Both said
Immediately the van came to a stop.
Paul “Damage Report now!”
Aaron is lying on the floor and looks at the chassis
Aaron “We should put more Ducttape on it.”
Paul “Is it bad?”
Aaron " Let me put it this way. We are getting lighter and lighter by the minute. Just be careful"
Paul “Well…shit. But we have to keep going before anyone passes us”
As both of them start to open the doors to get in Aaron notices something.
Aaron " Was this side of the van always this low ?"

Status report:

Car : Needs more Ducttape and prayers
Crew : Nervous

(( Quick question. Is it possible to repair part at some point in the future ?"

5 Likes

Even though I did not enter this competition, the story for it has me on the edge of my seat because it’s even more unpredictable than I thought it would be, especially now that one of the entrants has been eliminated!

3 Likes

Quick repairs are possible mid- or end-leg (brake adjustments, tire replacements, fluid top offs, etc.)

Moderate repairs are possible mid-leg (will cause significant time loss) or at day end. This include things like alternator replacements, removing mangled body pieces, suspension component replacements (assuming replacement parts are available - I randomize this. Obviously you can’t carry a whole car’s worth of spare parts)

Severe repairs MAY be possible at day end, but chances of carrying spares/tools for these is very low (I will notate if repair is possible). While it is possible to continue, they will hamper your ability to do so.

Critical failures cannot be repaired. They signify the end of your journey.

I should clarify something else at this point:
While failures have been rolled for for the past 2 legs, I pre-determined that no teams would suffer a critical failure before the Kaminari, and that it would die in leg 2.

Everything from this point on is literally a roll of the dice.

There are 2 teams with moderate repairs needed, that I will PM separately about it.

4 Likes

Quick question, how many days will there be in total?

2 days. 11 legs day 1, 13 legs day 2. 24 total legs.

3 Likes

NOTE:My speech is in bold
Rams’s is in italic

#Team Yokai

Day 1, Leg 1

– Day 1, 9:54 AM –
I yawned. Ram noticed I had awoken proceeding the briefing for Leg 2. Guh? Oh, hey. I said wearily, scratching my eyes. Rise and shine. I’m still kinda salty about before. The GPS was programmed perfectly. If only that stupid wheel thing hadn’t happened… He began to drift away. I replied well, we live and learn I guess in hope that would comfort him. I looked around at the other cars, and came to the realization that we might’ve been the last one. We’re one of the last ones, aren’t we? Ram looks at me with a distant face and shrugs. Throw me a snack. I’m gonna talk to that Luke guy. I wondered aloud, Luke who? as I grab a pack of trail mix (composed mostly of candy) from the back. I hear Ram say something like twin turbo and lunatics, so I decided to leave him be.

– Day 1, 9:59 AM –
Before the briefing began, I started to look around. Hey, where’s the Suzume? Ram shrugged. Beats me. Suddenly, the briefing began. “Alright everyone. Now marks the beginning of Leg 2. Before we start, we’d like to point out all who’ve dropped out of the running so far.” Ram and I look at each other for a second in amazement, as if to say “somebody already dropped out?” A board was rolled out with a picture of the Kaminari crossed out. “Due to the rear shock towers rusting out, the Suzume dropped out of the competition.”

For a second, I was almost disgusted. If they can drop out so soon, couldn’t we?.. Ram had a different POV. I mean, it really does suck for them, but now we have one less competitor, right? I perked up. Yeah… You’re right! My confidence was easily regained, only to dwindle again when I heard the course we’d be running.

“Your course for leg 2 will be on the far side of Blackjack Pass. It is not as heavily traveled, and thus difficult to maintain. The initial descent is very steep and heavily switchbacked, rutted, washboarded, with random rocks. Once it descends into the canyon it levels out for a bit, before turning to a steady, moderate descent. Potholes and washboarding pock the entire section.”

The other teams whisper to each other. I looked back, along with a few others, at our own car. I thought to myself about what could possibly happen, but I decided to instead think about the positive outcome; our car is strong. It’s got all the credentials. I was really rooting for it at this moment.

“Before we let you guys head off, we’ll give you your results and our field notes. You should get a notice on your phones, but we’ll also hand out hard copies.”

I signaled a “no thank you” when they passed out the hard copies, instead looking at the field notes provided. Under “Team Yokai” were 5 words: “Not bad, for two kids!” I grinned. Ram, too, saw around the same time I did. We were definitely going to keep going, no matter what it takes.

– Day 1, Leg 2 - 10:24 AM –
Are you ready?
Yep.
Okay, then we’re ready to set off!
I press in the clutch, shift into first, and then set off away from the first destination. The smooth whirring of the Arctos began to raise in pitch with the car going down the decline. I suddenly realize my mistake of not scanning the horizon. Oh, craaaaaap! The Arctos begins to barrel down towards a boulder. Shit, shit, shit, shit Ram exclaimed, starting out whispering and then transitioning into a louder, more frenzied yell. I slam on the brakes only for the back end to become weightless. Thankfully, the Arctos’ brakes do a dandy job at, well, what it’s supposed to do. The Kimura comes to a halt. Ram, as usual, begins to laugh. I pretend to ignore this and then proceed to tread carefully, still full of adrenaline.

– Day 1, Leg 2 - 10:41 AM –
The slope remained steep for a little while, but I’ve gotten used to it; there are a few patches where I’ve had to weave around and a few small scares, but overall the van is handling duty very well. Ram, on the other hand, seems to have gotten bored reclined in the passenger seat; he’d fallen asleep. Regardless, the path ahead was beginning to level out; no more did I have to worry about the van crashing into the Earth, but the road was still one less traveled. Potholes and ditches tested the suspension of the Arctos, but the Kimura had dealt with it well. We soldiered on with confidence and excitement towards our next destination.

5 Likes

#Team Clockwork Orange

The consensus for round 1 was to take it carefully and go slowly. And the results were just that, they missed the average time by being too slow. This mistake wouldn’t repeat itself in leg two.

The downhill descent, full of loose pebbles, was catching out lots of cars, however the 38 year old suspension managed to soak bumps really well, while the light body and vented disks meant the car had no problems of brake fade, or needing to overstop for corners. Maybe they got themselves a bit too excited.
Points for the car for not getting stuck yet.

The guys were happy with progress, however, some slight tension was starting to develop, as the driver was being too inconsistent.

4 Likes

TEAM OUTRIDERS

Marc: We should not have eaten before this part.

Blake: The road is a bit rough isn’t it? Thank God the suspension is holding out.

Marc: Shit, sharp curve!

(Blake hits the brakes and turns the wheel over then stamps on the gas pedal. The ass end of the Enforcer swings flawlessly around the bend before straightening up on the next downhill section)

Blake: Told you I could drive.

Marc: Well please don’t do that any more!

Blake: This coming from the fastest cop in Tatum Heights?

Marc: One who’s three years away from retirement you ass!

Blake: Okay, okay, we’re almost through the switchbacks anyway.

(rumble, rumble, THUD!)

Blake: Uh oh.

Marc: Don’t give me any bad news.

Blake: Check engine light came on.

Marc: I said don’t give me any bad news!

Blake: I’m pulling over once we hit the flats.

(After a rough run through the switchbacks, the two men pull over. Worden hooks the XGV scanner to the Enforcers OBDII port and this time pulls two codes)

Blake: P0202 and P0208, injector circuit failure cylinders two and eight.

Marc: Bloody hell! So what now? We have a V6?

Blake: Let’s continue on, you drive, I want to call Luigi and see if he has any advice.

(As the Enforcer chugs along at a slower speed, Blake Worden gives a call to Luigi, his old associate who was most familiar with Enforcer Police cars.)

Blake: Hey Luigi, it’s Blake… Yeah, she’s fine… Jim’s getting married next Spring… That’s wonderful… That’s what, number five? What the hell? Are you starting another race or something? Anyway, I’ve got a bit of a problem. You still familiar with the old Enforcers? We’ve got a check engine light, the two codes are P0202, and P0208… That’s right, injector failures… I thought those damn things were good for at least 300,000 miles… Uh huh… Okay, we’ll take a shot… Yup…

Marc: Tell that prick I said “Hi”

Blake: Marc says “Hi”… No, I’m not calling him that… Because he’s driving and he also carries a gun… Anyway, thanks, we’ll check it out… And if it’s not that, then it’s likely the other? Okay, If we find a junkyard we should be square… Thanks again… See you soon, bye.

Marc: What did he say?

Blake: He says we should try swapping around the injectors and see if any new codes pop up. If they do, then it’s faulty injectors, if not, then we likely need an ECM.

Marc: An ECM? Where the hell would we find one of those?

Blake: About any junkyard should carry some. They made so many of these cars, finding spare parts should not be an issue.

Marc: All right, let’s pray that nothing gets worse before we hit our checkpoint.

(Later when the Enforcer reaches the end of the second leg, Blake Worden gets to work pulling out the injectors from the number one and number two cylinders and swapping them. He then does the same to numbers seven and eight.)

Blake: Okay, that should do it.

Marc: We’ll keep the scanner hooked up and see if any more pop up.

4 Likes

Day 1 Leg 3 Data

Canyon Rock to Fox Lake via FR 2725A

This side-spur climbs steeply at first, leveling out as it rises above the canyon via a notch created by Fox Creek. The road is fairly well maintained, though recently removed deadfalls and occasional exposed rocks create a bit of a hazard.

High clouds have moved in, making the skies generally overcast. However, a dark tendril extends over Blackjack Pass behind. The winds begin to pick up slightly, and the air cools by about 5 degrees.

Length 5; Avg Grade 8; Max Grade 17

@cpufreak101
LAE Exact; MRL +2; Notes: None

@Madrias
LAE Medium (fast); MRL +1; Notes: None

@Fayeding_Spray
LAE Medium (fast); MRL +1; Notes: None

@F17Francesco
LAE High (fast); MRL +1; Notes: None

@HighOctaneLove
LAE High (fast); MRL +1; Notes: None

@conan
LAE Low (fast); MRL 0; Notes: Car continues to smell of burning trans fluid. Fluid topped off at checkpoint.

@DeusExMackia
LAE High (slow); MRL +1; Notes: None

@szafirowy01
LAE Low (fast); MRL +0; Notes: White smoke billows out from under the hood just before pulling in at checkpoint. Quick inspection shows that the overflow tank probably released some coolant directly on the exhaust manifold.

@Mikonp7
LAE Extremely low (slow); MRL -1; Notes: Found a broken suspension mount at the K-member. Spent time jury-rigging with a wood block and duct tape. Doesn’t sound or feel terribly great, but doesn’t seem to have too much excess play either.

@JohnWaldock
LAE Medium (slow); MRL +1; Notes: None

@8bs
LAE High (slow); MRL +0; Notes: Vehicle seems slightly down on power at extreme grades.

@DoctorNarfy
LAE High (slow); MRL +1; Notes: None

@BobLoblaw
LAE Extremely low (slow); MRL -2; Though testing has revealed that swapping injectors side to side changes which bank shows the errors, the trouble has not gone away. Vehicle has made the climb, but it was extremely rough and disconcerting. . WARNING — TEAM MORALE LOW

@stm316
LAE High (slow); MRL +1; Notes: None

@Dorifto_Dorito
LAE - Medium (fast); MRL +1; Notes: None

@Leonardo9613
LAE - High (slow); MRL +1; Notes: Braking power seems a bit down.

@Darkshine5
LAE - Exact; MRL +2; Notes; The Elk seemed more like a mountain goat on this leg.

@Rk38
LAE Low (slow); MRL 0; Notes: Slowed down on this section due to tire compound. Scraped rear passenger door on a deadfall.

@EnryGT5
LAE Low (slow); MRL 0; Notes: Transmission kept popping out of gear.

@titleguy1 / @ramthecowy
LAE Medium (slow); MRL +1; Notes: Van performing well, team has high confidence.

6 Likes

Team POD Day 1 Leg 3

For whatever reason. Even when trying to nurse the car without too many rigorous driving. Team POD still arrive at every end of of the leg waaaaay too fast. And the car still smell of burning transmission fluid, which aggravate everyone in the car.

At the end of the leg. Rory the engineer decided the best way to fix this is to top off the fluid. Burning smell can indicate that the ATF is overheating. Which in turns is cause by either low or terrible fluid condition. As the fluid was replaced before the race. He decided that it was the former that is causing the issue. That’s all they can do for now. So hopes and pray that the transmission is not going to explode on them.

This type of transmission. Bork-Warwick BW5 3 Speed was not known for terrible reliability, even if it’s not bulletproof. It was use in many British, American and even German cars. But 50 years later and in a car this terrible. It seems to be the only weak link on this Platts Special Siskin. Because somehow, there is no other issue to report.

This came to be a bit of a surprise to Rory the engineer. As he expected the car’s infamous British electronic to shorted circuit, smoking wires, and engulfed in flame by day end. But that doesn’t seem to be happening at all.

4 Likes

Day One: Leg 3

Pierre
Leg three saw me again at the wheel of the Kitten and I was rearing to go! Having been embarrassed by Andrew’s excellent Leg 2 run, I decided to throw caution to the wind. The uphill section felt glacial, since the Kitten is NA and FWD so I was surprised when we caught air at the top of the hill! Thankfully nothing broke but I was hammering along, way over the pace, which resulted in our time being too quick. At least we arrived in one piece and, I’m glad to report, so did everyone else, although a couple of entrants limped home rather than arrive in style…

Andrew
Having taken up the navigators baton for leg three, I was concerned that ol’ Pierre would hold us back as despite the relatively decent road conditions, the initial part of the run was a steep ascent followed by a relatively flat section of road. To make matters worse it looked like we were going to have rain! I shouldn’t have concerned myself, however, as Pierre shot out of the gate like a bat out of hell, then proceeded to redline the Kitten all the way to the finish! I admired Pierre’s enthusiasm but if we went too fast then we’d fall outside of our target time. Oh, the one thing that wasn’t fun was the yump. We crested that rise and my stomach did a somersault as we were airborne! Pierre must have freaked himself out because he failed to slow down; at all! I’ve never been happier that the Kitten isn’t super fast as we didn’t lose too much time by being early…

Summary

Day 1.3

Car: No damage yet, car’s still blue, needs to be registered with the FAA! :wink:

Crew: So glad we found a NA, FWD rallycar instead of an AWD turbo one! MRL +1 (+5 in total!)

5 Likes

#Team ‘Southend Or Bust’
Original Post - Previous Post

The story so far: Three uni students in an Erin Berlose going where no Berlose has gone before. So far, the running has been good, though they’re beginning to feel that they might have been a bit cocky to begin with. Still, after the scare on the last leg with the whole ‘almost understeering into a tree’ thing, they’re taking it a little more carefully now.

“COME ON YOU OLD GIT” said James, his teeth gritted and his face visibly frustrated. The 2.7l i6 was giving all it had to get up this slope, but it wasn’t quite enough for him it seemed.
“Easy James” said Seb in his reassuring Spanish accent, “she’s not indestructable you know!”. He seemed to be growing in concern.
“Trust me mate, this ain’t no female car. I don’t call women gits” James responding, slamming the car down into 2nd gear.
“Ha, James, we all know how you treat your women” said Seb, feeling satisfied with his jibe. All this time, Martin stared straight ahead in a slight sense of fear, having been elected not to drive after what happened on the last leg. Nonetheless, he was surprised at James’s ‘enthusiasm’ behind the wheel.
“Oh, don’t start me now Seb” replied James, a hint of anger in his voice. He yanked the wheel to the left to get round a bend. “Just because you can pull by swishing your hair”
Seb cracked up laughing, falling back into his seat. “Don’t get too jealous, I know you find me attractive anyway”
“Seb, everyone finds you attractive, and yes, I am jealous” said James sarcastically.
“Especially after New Years a few years ago” - Seb was loving every minute of pissing James off, who now seemed to be translating his anger into his driving.
“GUYS” - Martin suddenly broke through. “Shut the f*ck up, for gods sake”. Silence rang through the car. “We’re at the top of the climb”. A sense of relief descened on the team, and James even slowed down a bit.

.

Having gone too fast earlier on, the team took a quick break by the side of the track.
“I’ve got Daim bars, Milka, uh” - Martin rummaged through the snacks they’d brought, his head in the boot of the car - “Oh, and some Yorkies. There’s a Boost bar too if anyone wants it”
“I’ll have the Yorkie” shouted James, having calmed down a lot. He was admiring the view, with the stunning mountain scenery reflecting off of his sunglasses.
The black Vole GTi of Team Cunning Stunts ran by. “How much beer did you give them again?” he said, turning to Seb.
Seb chuckled. “Only one. But I spiked it with some Anís”
“Wait, you’ve got a bottle of that stuff with you?” replied James, with a mix of surprise and joy.
“Yeah!” said Seb
“Dude! Why didn’t you say?” said James.
“I was saving it for the camp tonight.”

Seb had introduced Martin and James to Anís at the house party they all met at back in their first year at university. It’s an aniseed liquor, sometimes called anise or anisette, that is often used in cocktails. Of course, being students, they don’t really have the money to afford the other mixers for said cocktails, so the three of them ended up drinking it neat and getting shitfaced. And they’ve been best friends ever since.

.

Martin watched the darkening skies with intrepidation. “Storm’s comin’” said James.
“Jesus christ James, if I hear you say that in your poxy American accent one more goddman time I will duct tape you head to the front of this car and we’ll see how you like it when we’re doing 50 mph down a dirt track” - evidently, Martin had been waiting to let loose for a little while. And he had reason to do so; James had been saying that damn phrase for the past hour, after all…

6 Likes

Team Twin-Snail

Day 1, Leg 2


Before Departing

The team worked quickly to pack up the little mess they’d made, before boarding the Snail-Boat. Unsurprisingly after the last leg, the spirits were a bit low, and not much conversation was made.

Scott was the first to say anything, and despite trying to sound brave, the other three could see he was worried. “Luke, out of curiosity, why did you pick the three of us?”

Luke closed the trunk lid, then replied, “I picked Amy because her general knowledge of engines will help us in the event this thing has trouble. Yes, it’s SOHC and she’s a DOHC expert, but… We don’t have any SOHC experts. I figured, better to have an engine expert in the wrong type of engines than to not have someone who knows engines at all. I picked Linda because she won that company navigation challenge, the one from Chicago to Vegas, no GPS, no smartphones, just a compass and a map. I figured, better to have a good navigator instead of relying on GPS, because if the GPS fails for some reason, we’ll still be able to make it by map. And I picked you, Scott, because you have off-roading experience. I don’t have any proof of it, but I took you at your word on that, and while it’s not rally racing, you clearly would have a sense of what not to do.”

Scott looked at his feet and kicked at one of the small rocks. “Luke, I have to be honest with you, but… I don’t really have off-road experience. I thought this was going to be easier, so I… I believed I’d be able to learn on the job, get some experience.”

“Ah. I thought as much, honestly. No, I’m not upset, nor disappointed with you. Remember, the Raceworks Division was created because a couple people, in this case John Storm and Brian Shade, entered the Dalnit-Bralka Rally of 1965. They had no rally experience, just some general experience racing cars.” Luke said. “So I took a chance. Anyone confident enough in themselves to look me in the cameras and lie to my face deserves a chance. You had that confidence, because otherwise, you’d have been calling one of your off-roading buddies to collect you, bring you back home.”

Scott nodded, then got into the back seat of the car. He wasn’t going to tell Luke that the only reason he hadn’t called was because his phone wasn’t getting a signal.


The Stage

With everyone in the car, Luke again took the wheel, then said, “It’s uphill this time. We’ve proven our car can climb, and any loss of power through elevation will be made up by the twin snails. We’ll make it, don’t you worry.”

The flag dropped, Luke rolled the car about 30 feet forward, then threw it in park. The officials stared at him as he got out of the car, then looked to Scott. “Trial by fire, pal. Get in the seat and drive.”

Scott climbed into the driver’s seat, pulled the lap belt on, waited for Luke to get into the back seat, closed the door, then pulled the car into drive. He applied just a touch of gas and the car responded instantly, the throttle-per-cylinder mechanically-driven fuel injection system spitting liquid fire into the engine.

“You’ll need to go faster, but you’ve got the general idea. It’s an automatic, and remember, it’s all uphill. You’ll do fine.” Luke said, as Scott slowly gained some confidence with the car.

Scott rolled into the power and felt the surge of boost, the stupidly-heavy land-barge accelerating faster than expected as it roared up the hill. Luke looked over Scott’s shoulder, then said, “Try to keep that gauge right around, oh, 6 or so. Don’t let it fall under.” He pointed to the boost gauge, which was currently hovering around 6 PSI.

It wasn’t that the car needed all that boost, but Luke figured with a small goal in mind, Scott would keep in the power.

As they leveled out, the high-power strategy caused them to accelerate toward the finishing line, Scott only letting up as he realized there were other cars in the parking lot already.


Day 1, Leg 3 Aftermath

Scott parked the Savage and everyone bailed out, not that Scott was a bad driver, but they all had things to do. As they noticed the darkening clouds, Amy and Linda asked Luke to try, at least one more time, to get the top put up.

“You two do the fluids, I’ll try getting the old rag-top over our heads. I can guarantee it won’t be pretty, but if I can’t do that, I’ll make something work.” Luke said, before prodding around the cover, then jamming a screwdriver into one of the four latches.

Scott looked into the car, then asked Luke, “Why did you do that?”

“You needed a confidence booster. Now you can say truthfully that you do have some off-roading experience. And you can’t tell me that you’re not feeling better now than you were earlier.”

“True.” Scott said, before digging around in the trunk for something to eat. “Oh, good, someone packed some chips.”

“Yeah, figured some snacks wouldn’t be unappreciated. Took a bit of planning to put them somewhere not immediately obvious because otherwise the three of you would’ve eaten all of them in the first leg of the race.” Luke said.

With a final heavy thump, the last latch was released and Luke was able to open the top cover. He then got the top out, swung it forward, and locked it into position. “Well, I’ll be damned. It does look just as it did before I had to fight with it. Let’s just keep in mind that if we drop the top again, it’s going to get jammed in the down position, so try not to blow the butt-trumpet in the car again.” Luke said.


Car Condition

Seems fine after the abuse of the previous stages. Top finally back up, though may not stay that way for long, depending on weather conditions.

Team Condition

MRL +1 (total), Nervous, but mildly confident. Preparing for the other shoe to drop.

5 Likes

Team Hobo

Day One: Leg 3

After all that pot smoke disappeared from the van interior, Hobo noticed that the sun had disappeared behind the clouds too… That was not bad, because less temperature, less engine overheating… They begin to feel tired. The positive thing was that the following road was in good condition…but steep…

Hmm, i need booze. Reflected Hobo. Besides, one bottle less, less weight too… it’s a win-win.

Hobo girl was checking the engine, but nothing strange on it apart of some wiring missing… Yep, that destruction famine hobo dog, ripped the distributor wiring for pleasure… after finding the rest of it and fixing the wiring, she tied hobo dog with some tape to the van’s bonnet for punishment…at least just until they reach the canyon. He’s a happy dog!

Ready to go, they start climbing with slow and steady.

Hmm, the van’s lacking power…I bet that stinky fat dog has something to do with that!! Said Hobo.

Shut up and drive, pothead. I bet those carbs need some tuning. Said Hobo girl.

Heading to Fox Lake, slow, windy and cold.

3 Likes

#Team Electric Space Wizards

Leg 2

“Shit! Who had the genius idea to make people go down this damn trail?” Joseph yelled, after receiving a lower back massage, courtesy of a large pothole.

“It’s supposed to be challenging, genius.” Aiden muttered. He rolled down his window and looked at the road ahead, to get a better view.

Lynn swiftly stomped on the brakes and whipped the steering wheel to the right, throwing the Seishido in a steep downhill corner.

“Lynn! Are you trying to kill us again?” A terrified Connor asked.

Lynn grinned, and with a gleam in her eyes replied : “Shut up and enjoy the ride.”

A few minutes later, before Leg 3

Aiden stepped out of the car, checking if the car had caught on fire, just in case. “This thing is holding up surprisingly well, it didn’t have the slightest of problems so far.”

“Next thing you know, it blows up in the next leg” Lynn sarcastically quipped.

“Who wants some beer? I think a little bit of booze would be nice now.” Connor popped out of nowhere, holding two cartons of beer as they were suitcases.

“Please don’t hand Lynn a bottle, she’ll actually kil-”
“Oh shut up! I’m a great driver! Finnish rally drivers are nothing compared to me!”

“What is this, piss? It’s weak.” Joseph said, disappointed in the beer’s alcohol content.

During Leg 3

Ironically, the Seishido started having issues with the steep climbs in FR2725A, and the grinding noise in the transmission became a more visible issue…

“Oh for fuck’s sake! Stop popping out of gear!” Lynn yelled, angrily shoving the gear stick back into 4th for the n-th time.

Aiden was biting his nails, as he usually does when in a sticky situation. “I knew this piece of shit gearbox would give us problems, even if it is unusual for a Seishido P5J2 unit.”

“Seishido P-5-what?” Connor asked.

“Don’t ask. Trust me, Aiden gets talkative when talking about that stuff.” Joseph replied.

The uphill section was now becoming less steep, going towards the canyon.

“Oh! Finally it stopped being a pain in the ass.” Lynn said with a sigh of relief, as the Seishido stopped popping out of gear.

“I think i can smell something bad.” Aiden said.

Lynn smirked, and replied “Man, did you just fart?”

“Oh come on, i was just trying to scare you.”

The team, after more joking around, managed to safely reach their destination.

3 Likes

Team Riot Uncontrol

Before Leg 3

Paul “So… What you think”
Aaron continues to wrap the K-member in Ducttape
Paul " Is it THAT bad"
Aaron " Well. It is still fucked. But now only less"
Paul “So the plan now is ?”
Aaron " Drive slow and see if it holds. We don’t want to make even a bigger mess"
Paul " But slow is booooring"
Aaron " Not being able to drive because we are missing a wheel is even more boring"
Paul throws up his hands
“Slow it is”

During Leg 3

Aaron “And how does is feel”
Paul " Not good, but it seeems okay"
Aaron “Lets first see if its hold up and then we will try to drive faster”

After Leg 3:
Paul “EY , We made it "
Aaron " Not so fast, let me first check the part”
Aaron get out the van and inspects the part
“Soooo” says Paul who also is now standen next to Aaron “Damage Report”
Aaron " Looks okay. We should check it after every leg though"
Paul “More Power”
Aaron "A bit more "
Paul giggels

3 Likes