Yes. Since I have already extended the deadline once and started working on this at the moment, it’s unfortunately too late now.
Clunker run, Eastern Style (Team White Star) Part 3
“Ok, everything is fine with our entry, so we can unload and start some practice laps maybe.” Marina just returned from the officials shed at the Höljesbanan track. She waved a sheet of paper in front of her and placed it on a makeshift table in their pit box.
Jeff took a look at the registration sheet. “Why ‘Team White Star’? Didn’t we agree on ‘Team Blue Lake’ back home?”
“Yes”, Marina nodded. “But we also agreed that you would submit a complete application. I think that ‘white star’ has a nicer ring to it so that’s the team name I gave when asked by the officials.”
Jeff wanted to counter, but Jurij interjected. “Shall we have a look at the competition?”
“Sure.” Marina wasn’t interested in an argument with Jeff over her snap decision to give a different team name. “On my way I noticed some city runabouts, an ex-taxi, a rusty land barge, a family wagon, an SUV and a small yellow shoe-like car that you probably have to wear rather than sit in.”
“Any more serious competition?”
“Two or three other then-rare sports coupes, so that’s probably the main ones to watch at the start. The track is narrrow, so overtaking could be tricky.”
“Pity that one or more of those rarities may run their final laps today”, Jurij mused and raised his hands. “i know, just cars, and if it’s sports coupes, that’s what they were built for. Still…”
“And the other drivers?”, asked Jeff.
“No idea - I mean, do we look like racing drivers?”
Jeff shrugged. “And as the famous Archanan poet Burnov said, the mighty plans of mice and…”
“Oh, please, no poetry before the race”, Marina interrupted. “Let’s get the Zvezda off the trailer, and let’s get some local hi-octane fuel in it…!”
[OOC - I’m mono-lingual, so this will all be in regular, plain, English]
Harald has driven to Andreas’ house, arriving minutes after Olaf. He gets out, and is leaning on his new toy as his brothers come outside.
Andreas: “It doesn’t look too bad, considering it’s age. You bought this yesterday, right? Have you checked it yet?”
Harald: “Top of the list, the transfer case is jammed, so it’s stuck in high 2. Which means its rear wheel drive only. Suspension bushes are shot, and it needs rear brakes. Aside from that, I haven’t found anything else major. That, of course, doesn’t mean ther ISN’T anything else wrong.”
Olaf: [looking at the flyer] “Wait, the rules say the car is only allowed one seat…”
Andreas: “I’ll assume that when we get there, we’ll pull the other seats out?”
Harald: “Yup. And the radio.”
Olaf: “So, we’re going to drive this car, with all of it’s one-hundred-and-next-to-nothing Kilowatts, into the ground, then maybe go on this holiday. Doesn’t that seem backwards to you?”
Harald: “Sort of, but I thought this would be entertaining. Plus, the holiday isn’t a maybe, this is just something to do on the way. It may have a little more than ‘one-hundred-and-next-to-nothing Kilowatts’ when we remove the cat and stuff at the track.”
Olaf: “I suppose we’d better strap the boards on and get going. Wait, you got that trailer, too?”
5 Likes
Waiting for the Premier
__________________________________________________________________
In a suburb outside, Milwaukee, IL. Local time: Sometime after 7pm. May 15th, 2021.
Kaden and Alister, the two Americans, patiently wait and count down towards the kick off time for the 24 hour race. They have temporarily converted their project car into a viewing suite and have gotten comfortable. They also were on the Trafikjournalen radio show later that evening where the other teams found out that they had like minded people outside of Europe.
(H: host, K: Kaden, A: Alister)
The radio show that evening:
H: Now, we’ve got some Americans on the show who are calling from Milwaukee. They said they wanted to wish good luck to the other contenders and explain why they aren’t here. America, your on!
K: Greetings. I’m Kaden and it’s an absolute pleasure to be on this show!
H: Well, that’s good to hear! I hope you are excited to find out who wins!
K: Indeed we are, but it’s quite unfortunate that we are unable to join in this years race cause of the situation in the world. Luckily we’ve got quite a nice setup in the back of our restoration project car to watch.
H: That’s sad to hear but wow! What a way to view the race, Huh?
K: Yep! and I have my friend Alister on the phone and he’s got something he wants to say.
A: Hello? Ah, I am on. Hello to the listeners! I just wanted to wish the racers good luck and I am excited to see the display of skills from all the drivers. It’s the least we can do while we are locked in our house.
H: On behalf of our drivers who also listen to this show, We thank you for saying hi and wishing luck!
A: I am glad to hear that! Thanks for having us on!
K: Same here. We hope to see you all at the next 24 hour run!
H: Alright, Americans, Stay tuned for our coverage on the race and be sure you watch the livestream on our website!
K: We will!
K:Bye!
A: (From somewhere in the background): So long!
H: Hejdå!
4 Likes
PART 1
6AM-10AM
Hello and welcome to the start of the 2021 24h clunker run. The Winthorpe seems to have some small trouble with getting all the power down already at the start, leaving with spinning wheels. The large Dover seems to be somewhat less well suited for this track, considering that its driver seems to have his hands full controlling the beast. That may be what leads to the Wells crashing into the Dover, while the driver of the Cabrera is doing his best not to get into the crash. The crash seems to have bent a tie rod on the Wells, sending it into the pits for a while to hammer it somewhat stratight again.
Both the IP and the Tempest shows some less than stellar driving now. The Akira is mystically stalled and has to be towed into the pits. The team seems to have localized the trouble to a dead fuel pump, but fortunately it seems like they had brought a replacement with them, so probably they soon will be out on the track again. The Ardent and Dover has to swerve to avoid getting into the crash between the Mara and the Winthorpe, which both cars seems to have survived reasonably well though.
The Hakumai and the IP is very close to get into some trouble, almost crashing into each other. Both cars spin around which gives kind of a challenge for the drivers of the Dover and the FM. Next car to spin is the Puttzalong, which causes the driver of the Reduit to have to do some tricky maneuvering not to hit it.
The next car to spin around is the Sinistra, the Xianfeng barely avoids to hit it, but the Tempest and the Cabrera hits each other instead. The Tempest is able to continue but the Cabrera seems to have bent some rods in the rear suspension, meaning that they need some straightening in the pits. The Reduit comes into a slide that makes it hit the Wells but none of the cars takes any major damage.
The next couple of cars to come in some minor contact is the IP and the Ardent, but there is no major amount of damage on any of them. The Tempest seems to have some problem with the traction, coming into some heavy skidding, and so does the Mara.
The Sinistra and the Wells also gets into a minor crash, and while trying to avoid it, the IP is skidding around heavily. Also the Akira and the FM touches each other without anything more than cosmetical damage. The Hakumai, Winthorpe, Carbrera and Ardent seems to have some trouble but is at least staying on the track, which could not be said about the Mara, driving off the track but being able to continue. The thirsty Dover is already in for its first refuelling.
The next car to eat the guardrail is the Sinistra, but it is able to continue. The Hakumai and Winthorpe drivers does not excel when it comes to driving now, even the IP and the Dover shows some minor erratic driving, but nothing major.
Once again, the IP and the Hakumai almost gets into a mess, resulting in both of the cars spinning around, with the Mara being the next car skidding in an attempt to avoid them. The Tempest has gone into the pits for a mystical knocking sound from the engine, but it has been localized to just a loose pulley which they should be able to repair immediately. The FM have behaved strangely and it seems like one rear wheel have lost a lot of air pressure, so they will try to refill it in the pits.
After the first 4 hours, the standings are like this.
- @Jaimz - Team Jaimz / Franklin Marshall Street Sport - lap # 273
- @pcmoreno - Team Winthorpe / Winthorpe Badger - lap # 269
- @AndiD - Team White Star / Mara Zvezda - lap # 268
- @BannedByAndroid - Team Chinese Dragons / Xianfeng K2 - lap # 268
- @stm316 - Team Hang Ten / Puttzalong Shai Hulud - lap # 266
- @HighOctaneLove - Team Mountain Pass / Ardent Olympic - lap # 265
- @Madrias - Team Racing Stripes / Sinistra Traville - lap # 258
- @kobacrashi - Team Totally Not a Reduit Factory Team / Reduit Piti - lap # 256
- @Knugcab - Team Trafikjournalen / IP Urbana - lap # 255
- @Interior - Team Slow / Hakumai CS-2 - lap # 255
- @O.O - Team Whatever Goes / Tempest 154 - lap # 253
- @Maverick74 - Team Yacht Rockers / Dover Andromeda - lap # 241
- @Petakabras - Team Collarada / Cabrera Fulgor - lap # 241
- @Serperior98 - Team Double Dip / Akira Metro - lap # 235
- @DuceTheTruth100 - Team X / Wells i6 - lap # 211
9 Likes
Over radio
Jaimz - Well that stint went better than I could have hoped but I think I’ve picked up a slow puncture from some debris. We’ll need to check it when I come in.
Pits - OK, we’ll have a look and see if we can find the problem. I’ll get a spare wheel ready just in case.
4 Likes
In the pits:
Carl: The car has run in to more problems, than you have run into cars so far. This is bad
Sean: Hey! I’m trying you know. But yeah maybe this car wasn’t the best idea.
Carl: No turning back now, so get back on the road!
3 Likes
IN THE PITS:
Mats: Just look at Filip. Driving like all other youngsters, thinking that he is Emerson Fittipaldi but the only similarity is how heavy his foot is on the throttle.
Erik: He’s probably not old enough to remember Mr. Fittipaldi.
M: True
E: And besides, all youngsters are into drifting nowadays. He’s probably looking up more to Ken Block. And judging by all the skidding around the track it seems like he is not very far off…
M: OUCH! Look at that!
E: He hit that goddamned Ardent, what a clumsy driver he is.
M: I bet that Team Mountain pass will write about this, or maybe mention it in a video since it seems like that is their new format. Damn. Shamed by car enthusiasts all over the world.
IN CAR
Filip: (thinking) “Oh shit, this is much harder than I thought, nothing like playing Wreckfe…”
CRUNCH!
“Damn, I hit Team mountain pass, well it seems like their car is OK, I guess this will be my 5 minutes of fame…and shame!”
4 Likes
Meanwhile over at Team Slow.
Team Slow- Part 1- Race
John: Why did you choose this thing???
After nearly hitting the IP
Matt (Pits enginner): I thought it looked cool.
John:Whate- He gets cut off by M on the radio
M: No excuses. Its a reliable Japanese car. We’re on lap 255. Oh and no one will put a new pair of tyres on.
J: Yeah, with 135HP we got.
3 Likes
Some OOC info that may be interesting:
The writeups may be shorter this time than before, on the other hand, that may mean some freedom to use the imagination more in RP:ing.
I have decided to not mention every little skid or hiccup this time, because it meant that I had to write a wall of text which was the reason why it took so long last time. Also, with the same car getting the same small faults time after time after time, it became repetitive to both read and write.
So, if you find this new format better, it’s good because then it was a success for both of us. If you find it more boring, I apologize, but as I said, what’s not in my writing can always be made up with more imagination. And if you have suggestions about anything I can gladly take a discussion via PM or Discord to maybe improve future competitions. Even if I can sound a little bit harsh about rules etc. I am actually pretty eager for discussion and can be flexible.
Over and out!
/OOC
6 Likes
Team Racing Stripes
Part 1:
Rukari was the first driver up, and it was almost immediately obvious that the Valraadi was likely to be the most aggressive behind the wheel. Leaving the pit lane, Rukari wrenched the stick down into Low and planted his heavy, boot-clad foot down on the gas pedal. Six screaming cylinders bellowed a war cry as the Sinistra squealed across the starting line, hammering the rev limiter until Rukari stuffed the car up into Drive, the old slushbox straining to keep up. The car was built with the intent of lazily carrying people to and from their 9-to-5 job in comfort, occasionally stopping to pick up groceries, not with the intent of being tossed around a race track. The transmission shrieked and whined like a jet engine every time Rukari put his foot down, though it was clear that Rukari had no mechanical sympathy whatsoever.
This aggressive pace worked well for a while, with the worn-out old street tires squealing around every corner like an old TV show car chase, the engine bellowing like it had twice the power that it actually had. With a little more than 200 horses on tap, the 3.9 liter V6 was well out of its element on a track, especially connected to a sluggish 4 speed automatic. Rukari chucked the car into one of the many corners, only for the rear tires to let go out of spite for the Scandinavian flick that Rukari had used. The car, now unsettled, wailed and shrieked as it spun around, narrowly being dodged by the Chinese Xianfeng, and providing Rukari with a front-row seat to watch the Tempest and the Cabrera collide with each other. After an aggressive three-point turn, Rukari pointed the car the right way around and floored it, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.
Many more laps later, Rukari ‘encountered’ the Wells I6 of Team X, slamming on the brakes to avoid crashing into the slower car, only to crash straight into the back of the car anyway. Rukari clicked on the radio and bellowed at the driver, “Zaruki! Vi ahl hiri, di ahl kosari nevosa!” (Translation: “Idiot! I am hunting, you are riding slowly!” (Yes, I actually do have a Valraadii language mostly written up. I’ve been dabbling in writing sci-fi/fantasy for a while now.))
“Rukari!” Kaylie yelled over the radio, “No one here knows Valraad! Speak English!”
“Get out of my way!” Rukari snarled. He swerved around the Wells, belted the car around the corner, and promptly slammed into the guardrail, scraping up the Imperial Purple paint on the passenger side and knocking off the wire-wheel hub caps, leaving the car wearing the black steelies beneath on one side. Rukari’s response was simply to punish the car further, flooring it past the start/finish line, ignoring Kaylie on the radio who was trying to get him into the pits to check over the car.
“Kaylie, if you think it is broken,” Jaden said, “you’ll have to wait until Rukari gets past the blue mist he’s under. He’s focused, and he’ll only stop once the car makes him stop. Then we’ll put you in the hot seat and you’ll drive whatever’s left. Then Kayden, then me, and if we need to, Rukari will take the fifth bit of seat time.”
4 Likes
Prior to the race
Ollie and Steven were taking a break from gutting the interior and installing the cage into the Andromeda, enjoying a few slices of pizza.
“So, this race is going to be 24 hours long, right?” asked Steven between bites.
“Da, it’s the 24 hour clunker run, after all.”
“Do you plan on adding anyone else to our team? I mean, I know you and I enjoy long, spirited drives and all, but don’t you think it being the two of us would make the race a bit much? It would certainly be nice to have some others to help us, even if it was just for repairs and fueling and what not.”
“What about your wife, Christy? She’s always been willing to help us out with our automotive escapades. And she’s pretty good with logistics and stuff, da? I’m sure skills like that would help us stay on track.”
“Hmm…yeah, that might work. She has said it would be cool to drive a car on a racetrack. I’ll certainly run it by her when I get home. Know of anyone else?”
“Well,” Ollie replies after a swig of beer, “There’s my buddy Ben from the Dover Owners club. He’s mostly into drag racing, but racing is racing, da?. He’s always up for a good wrench session at any rate. And I think his brother John a pretty big petrol-head as well. We could invite them both.”
“Great! This sounds like it might just work out then”, Steven says, toasting his bottle to his friend before taking a sip.
Race Day
Ollie starts the day out for Team Yacht Rockers, showing a bit of difficulty getting familiar with the car and the track. Wheel spin seems to be the order of the day during acceleration, and the big beast requires a good bit of a stretch when it comes to braking. While struggling through a corner, the Team X Wells makes contact with them. The smaller car seems to take the blunt of the damage, but it still takes a while to pound out the dent on the rear quarter panel.
Steven takes the wheel after the car is repaired. His stint is rather hectic, as it seems he is constantly avoiding other cars spinning and crashing into each other. During this he notices how rapidly the fuel gauge is dropping and brings the Andromeda in for fuel. He remains in the car, but fighting with the boat is beginning to take it’s toll. He starts losing concentration and making mistakes, only by shear luck staying out of trouble. Exhausted, he brings the Dover in for a driver change at the four hour mark.
5 Likes
“That was gruelling”, Jurij said, exiting the Zvezda at the four hour mark after a 2-hour stint at the wheel to hand over to Jeff. “But at least I didn’t show the Winthorpes who is boss.” Jurij was of course referring to Marina’s mishap early in the race when the Winthorpe Badger wanted to pass her for good but she had closed the door one second too late.
“Yes, because we are a full lap behind them now”, Marina shot back. “But good job holding off the Xianfeng for 3rd - that was some nice duelling there!”
“Thanks! Let’s hope Jeff can avoid further trouble until we have to refuel. And let’s hope the two cars ahead of us are a bit more thirsty.”
“Da! And with other the positions now split apart by one or more laps, it now becomes a race of who has the least amount of trouble over the remaining 20 hours.”
“20 hours to go - this almost sounds insane. How things have been going, I’d be happy to take 3rd and leave it at that…”
“No way! Now it’s more like a game of chess. I like it!” Marina rubbed her hands together.
“Chess with surprise breakdowns and off-track excursions”, Jurij mutters. As if on cue, a loud clank sounds in the background. They look out on the track, but to their relief it is the Sinistra having hit the guardrail.
3 Likes
PART 2
10AM - 2PM
The race has been going on for four hours now and maybe a beginning driver fatigue is what causes the IP and the Puttzalong to touch each other. The Xianfeng manages to keep out of that mess while the Hakumai gets into a skid. The Tempest is going in for a refuelling, the Akira nudges the guard rail but without any more than cosmetical damage, the next car to do it in almost exactly the same place is the Winthorpe, but even that one can keep on racing.
Now, just a moment after that the Sinistra hits the guardrail with even higher speed. We hear reports from the pits that it seems to have a frozen brake caliper that has caused heat leading to the brakes fading. They are trying to make it move right now and will put in some fresh brake fluid that can cope better with the temperature. The Wells is going into the pits for a refuelling. While trying to avoid a skidding Reduit, the Cabrera nudges the guardrail instead but without any major damage.
The driver of the Hakumai seems to be a little too self confident, the drivers of the IP and the Xianfeng has to do some tricky maneuvering to avoid it, but the Hakumai ends up biting the guard rail, though it seems like the damage wasn’t too bad. The Winthorpe gets in close contact with the Wells, it first seems like the Winthorpe is out of the game, but despite getting ugly after the crash, it appears to keep on working as usual. To avoid getting into the crash, the Akira has to swerve, and before the Wintorphe have moved out of its position, the Mara is the next car to hit it, but not even that seems to have been enough to kill the Winthorpe, or the Mara for that matter.
One of the wheels on the IP is wobbling. Reports from the pits says that the threads on the lug nuts seems to have been stripped completely, so they are trying to solve that problem at the moment. The Sinistra and Hakumai both spins around when trying to avoid some close contact with each other. The Akira eats the guardrail when trying to pass them, it seems like one wheel got slightly out of balance, but they decide to keep on driving instead of head for the pits. The Dover is going in for another refueling while the FM driver seems to be a little bit to excited in the corners sometimes.
All of a sudden the Sinistra seems to collapse on one side. Appearantly one of the front springs have broken into pieces, but the team was prepared enough to bring both spare springs and tools, even if it means a long time in the pits. The Reduit is going in for a fuel stop, as well as the Mara. The Winthorpe and the Tempest has some close contact but with no greater damage done.
The FM and the Wells is getting into some close contact, which seems to have bent a rim on the Wells. From the pits we hear a disappointed crew say that the spare they brought with them was empty and won’t keep the air, so they are back into trying hammering the stock wheel into a somewhat round shape. The Ardent touches the guardrail slightly, when trying to avoid a wildly skidding Cabrera. The Puttzalong is going in for a fuel stop.
Soon after the guardrail incident, the Ardent gets hit by the IP. The Ardent was heading for a fuel stop anyway so they are checking out the car in the pits, but it seems largely undamaged. The IP, however, seems to have an alignment problem with the front suspension afterwards, that they are trying to fix as good as they can in the pits. A cloud of blue smoke comes out of the hood of the Xianfeng, and we get a report that it is losing oil pressure. It appears like the oil cooler has a cracked hose, so they are trying to fix that in the pits. The Wells might have found some patch of oil on the track since the driver has a hard time keeping it under control. The FM is once again going into the pits to get its leaky tyre filled up again, while the Winthorpe is going in to fill up the tank.
For now, the last 30 minutes there has been no incidents at all in the race, and the most remarkable thing happening is the Sinistra visiting the pits for gas.
After 8 hours of racing, the standings are like this:
- @Jaimz - Team Jaimz / Franklin Marshall Street Sport - lap # 542
- @pcmoreno - Team Winthorpe / Winthorpe Badger - lap # 529
- @AndiD - Team White Star / Mara Zvezda - lap # 526
- @stm316 - Team Hang Ten / Puttzalong Shai Hulud - lap # 521
- @HighOctaneLove - Team Mountain Pass / Ardent Olympic - lap # 521
- @O.O - Team Whatever Goes / Tempest 154 - lap # 510
- @kobacrashi - Team Totally Not a Reduit Factory Team / Reduit Piti - lap # 508
- @Interior - Team Slow / Hakumai CS-2 - lap # 507
- @BannedByAndroid - Team Chinese Dragons / Xianfeng K2 - lap # 501
- @Serperior98 - Team Double Dip / Akira Metro - lap # 498
- @Petakabras - Team Collarada / Cabrera Fulgor - lap # 494
- @Maverick74 - Team Yacht Rockers / Dover Andromeda - lap # 488
- @Knugcab - Team Trafikjournalen / IP Urbana - lap # 474
- @Madrias - Team Racing Stripes / Sinistra Traville - lap # 452
- @DuceTheTruth100 - Team X / Wells i6 - lap # 405
10 Likes
(OOC: Someone who wants to act friendly and borrow me some lug nuts? I pick the first one that I see hitting the like button.)
7 Likes
The first 4 hours was already a stressful time for the Akira. The Metro was already experiencing issues with reliability with its fuel pump (Something Markus foresaw would happen, these Akiras were notorious for that issue). Luckily double dip had a spare, or else the race would be over very quickly. The laps took a hit there, but Markus and Lars were glad to not be in last place.
Later on
Lars was starting wear down after being in the car for hours and was beginning to get sloppy, and it wasn’t long until the next setback hit the Metro…
While trying to pass the Sinistra and Hakumai that spun out ahead, Lars understeers straight in to the gaurdrail (those cheap, thin tyres are such a let down)…
Markus: “Everything good Lars? That impact seemed quite harsh… Let me know if you’re hurt or if the car’s hurt.”
Lars: “The sh*tbox understeered straight in to the rails, nothing I could do to stop it… I’m not hurt but there’s a wheel out of balance.”
M: "Do we need to pull over?’
L: “I can keep going, it’s fighting me a little but I have it under control, I don’t want to lose more laps.”
Lars pushed on, and despite the wobbly wheel, Lars perservered and kept going, being double dip in to the top 10 in the standings.
“I’m glad that Lars has it under control, but it’s going to get dark soon, and one more hit on that wheel and it’s going to rolling away on its own…” Markus worryinglt admitted to his team.
Edited due to updated writeup.
2 Likes
IN CAR:
Filip (thinking): “I think that I am starting to get a hold on t…WHERE THE F**K DID THAT PUTTZALONG COME FROM?!?”
CRUNCH!
F: “Crap. Well, I’m OK, car seems to be OK, Puttzalong keeps driving, can’t be that bad.”
IN THE PITS:
Erik: Well, now mr. Jackass have hit the Puttzalong too.
Mats: We are going to get so much shit for this race…
LATER, IN CAR:
F: “Oh, right, I could avoid that Hakumai now, I think that I am starting to gain some experience now…”
(A while later)
FFFDDDDDBBBBDDRRRRRRRRR!
F: “Crap, I HAVE to go into the pits for that.”
IN THE PITS:
E: Do you think that this is like driving bumper cars in a theme park.
F: Yes of course, Mr. Wise guy. Something is wrong with the right front wheel, I think that it is coming loose.
M: Well, the lug nuts seems to have been winding up…OH, HOLY THREAD STRIP, BATMAN! Seems like this is cheap aftermarket junk that is about as soft as boiled carrots. Did we bring any lug nuts?
E: No!
F: No!
M: Ohhhhhh CRAP! Well, IP and Akira does share the same thread, I think that I will ask if Team Double dip brought any extra lug nuts.
(VISITING TEAM DOUBLE DIP IN THE PITS)
M: Excuse me for kind of a stupid question…you don’t have, by any chance, any spare lug nuts to borrow us?
TO BE CONTINUED
@stm316
@Serperior98
6 Likes
OH, GREAT, I see now that I have left out a part of the writing for the race. Clumsy of me, so it might be better to leave the RPing for a while until I have corrected that. 
EDIT: Fixed now, the writeup is complete.
2 Likes
In the pits
Sean: I take back what I said earlier. Maybe this car was a good idea! We haven’t run into any problems in a while.
Carl: Well ever since we switched around we’ve gone up almost half the leaderboard, so don’t act like the car is doing all the work.
Sean: Should I leave you in charge of driving for a little longer then?
Carl: I think that would be a good decision.
3 Likes
Team Racing Stripes
Part 2:
Kaylie watched with a borrowed pair of binoculars as a bunch of chaos happened in one particular corner, with the IP and Puttzalong playing bumper tag, the Xianfeng again narrowly dodging imminent doom, and the Hakumai sliding wildly, just before the Akira and the Winthorpe committed to the guard-rail bump.
Then she watched Rukari slingshot the car across the full distance of the track, tires screaming, brakes shrieking, rotors glowing red behind black steel and cheap aluminum, and promptly slam into the guard rail hard enough to lift the driver’s side tires off of the ground, jostle Rukari hard enough that his head hit the driver’s side window and shattered the glass, and limp sluggishly into the grass.
“He’s coming in on a damn tow truck,” Kaylie snarled. “Get him out of that seat before he wrecks the car. Jaden! Get your med-kit ready, Rukari busted the window.”
Once the car arrived in the pits, Rukari was rushed out of the car with a very superficial, already-healed scratch on his left ear, while Kaylie and Kayden took turns hitting the driver’s side brake rotor until it broke free and started to spin. With the caliper now unstuck, the brake fluid replaced with some meant for a heavy-duty pickup truck, and Kaylie now behind the wheel, the Sinistra rejoined the track.
Kaylie grimaced at the wind roaring into the cabin from the now-missing window. She quickly got a feel for the car, and soon, she started pushing the limits. She dodged and weaved around debris on the track caused by the incident between the Hakumai and the guardrail, the Winthorpe and the Wells, and the Mara against the Winthorpe.
Several laps later, Kayden yelled, “Too fast! Too fast!” as Kaylie swerved to avoid the fish-tailing Hakumai, unsettling the already-poorly Sinistra and sending it into a matching spin. The sun hit Kaylie’s chrome left arm and flashed the driver of the Akira, just as they understeered straight into the guardrail. Kaylie hit the radio switch and apologized to the driver of the Akira for the accidental flash-blinding, straightened the Sinistra out, and continued on the way.
Not that long after, the driver’s side front spring exploded, sending the bumper into the ground as the Sinistra’s wounded front suspension gave out. Kaylie gave a startled and pained grunt as the airbag detonated, knocking her back in the seat.
“And now our dear sister is bringing it in on a tow truck,” Jaden said as Kaylie and the car were dropped off in the pits.
“He trashed it, now I’m driving the wreck,” Kaylie grumbled. “Help me replace this spring with a new one, both of you. No, not you, Rukari. You’ve done enough damage.”
It took a very long time, but they got the new spring compressed, stuffed into the spring perch, and the shock absorber back in place, bolted everything up, ripped out the remains of the now-expended airbag, and swapped drivers yet again, this time to Kayden, who had, perhaps, the most experience driving old Sinistra Travilles at high speed.
Kayden hit the track and started turning good laps, not spinning out the FWD V6 meteor, not crashing into other cars, and most importantly, not trashing what was left of their old sedan. This continued until the engine quit while heading up the pit lane for fuel, as Kayden had extended his fuel window one lap too far, and ended up pushing the car into the pit stall, refusing to take Rukari’s “advice” to just “Stick a claw in the neutral safety switch and use the starter motor to get here.”
With more fuel onboard, Kayden went back out on track, trying to salvage their chances with the faster car, even though Rukari had, quite effectively, torn it up.
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