The 2022 Trafikjournalen 24h clunker challenge (FINAL RESULTS)

[AndiD]

Team Oxracers, Ep. 14: Lucky escape rolls

Previous post

Close to the eight hour mark, the fuel warning light finally came on, and Lucas entered the pits for refueling.

“Everything fine?” Jane wants to know as she opened the Kando’s fuel filler cap.

“Everything alright”, says Lucas as he exits the Kando and stretches himself a bit. “You know what? I’ll make my saving throw rolls right away, before I forget it for my next stint. As these people drive, I really need them!”

Michael approaches, already geared up to take over.

Lucas does his first 1d10 die roll on a nearby table. “Ten!”

“Nice”, Michael comments. “You get to do another one, right?”

“Yes, thanks to my Luck passive skill.” Lucas rolls. “Wow, another ten! You know what? I actually feel fine, I think I can do another stint.”

“You sure?” asks Michael.

“All done!” shouts Jane from the Kando.

“Yes!” asserts Lucas. With a nod from Michael, Lucas goes back into the car and drives off.

Mary joins them. “Why is he doing another run? I thought it was your turn?”

Michael tells Mary about Lucas double critical success rolls for his saving throws in case something goes wrong on the track.

“Alright”, she says. “I’ll update the schedule then. You are still next then.”

**

Out on the track, Lucas quickly settles back into a good rhythm.

An hour or so later he passes the Bricksley right before the pit entrance, as a sudden jolt catches him off-guard. Without thinking, and with just a few unusually and surprisingly well-practiced turns of the steering wheel he manages to catch the spinning Kando before it hits anything or even goes too far off track.

Surprised at his own reaction, he starts to get going again right away and hits the ‘speak’ button in the Kando’s now very austere cockpit.

“What happened? And how did I manage to catch that?”

Mary responds. “The Bricksley hit you from behind, it seems. Everything alright?”

“Yes, all seems fine here.” Lucas looks around and into his rear view mirror. “I can’t see them.”

“That’s because they are now here. In the pits”, Mary replies smugly. “They somehow managed to damage themselves more than the Kando.”

“Why did they do that?” Lucas wonders.

Mary’s voice is now replaced with Corazon’s. “BECAUSE it’s a dog-stab-dog-in-the-back-and-then-overtake-dog world out there! You ALWAYS need to be ready for ANYTHING!”

“Looks like they stabbed themselves in the foot, rather”, Lucas quips. “Did my two critical success rolls for Luck save me?”

“Possibly.” It’s Mary again on the radio.

“You know what? I think I may have stretched my luck too far now with one and a half stints and this catch. Can I come in and hand over to Michael?”

“Sure”, Mary replies. “We get everything ready.”

[Maverick74]

Team If It's Not Punk It's Junk

Buzzcocks - What Do I Get? (Official Video)

The bit were not much happens

With the sun starting to set, Alyssa Young suits up to take the third stint. It turns out that Ox’s run in with Team Spy Kids seems to have messed up the lights a bit, making it difficult for her to see the track properly
“Oh bollock,” she says to herself “I really should have did a few practice laps during the day. I can’t see a bloody thing!”
Due to this, Alyssa takes it fairly easy, basically aiming for corners she can’t see and hoping they’re still there. Two hours pass uneventfully before the Cambridge begins to sputter on it’s empty tank. She pulls in to the pits to find Fern and Ox waiting
“Bloody hell, I don’t know what I’m doing out there”, she tells the others. Fern answers back, “Well, what ever it is you are doing out there seems to be working. We’re up to 5th place! Probably best to keep at it!”

Not long after returning to the track, there’s a bit of excitement. Entering turn four, one of the cars ahead of her clips the inside guardrail, nearly taking out another from the rebound. The Callahan of Team Postgraduate Psychosis loses control, spinning 180 and coming to a stop right were the Wyvern is pointing
“Oh shite!” Is all that is able to cross Alyssa’s mind. Time slows down to a crawl at the moment. She darts her eyes to the rear view mirror to see where the FM behind her is, then flicks her eyes to the empty bit of track on her left. She yanks the wheel in that direction, causing the rear end of the Cambridge to step out and start to rotate. Giving the throttle a boot-full and a bit of opposite lock, she slides past both cars, barely missing the Regal. Time speeds back up to normal the moment Alyssa straightens the Cambridge back out
“Bloody hell, that didn’t just happen, did it?” *she laughs.

The last hour of her stint prove to be even more exciting. Once again, a car ahead of her forgets which way the corner goes and smacks the guardrail. This time she’s not so lucky with her maneuvering. The Cambridge gets into a tank-slapper, oscillating in wilder arcs until it spins completely around. Alyssa shakes her head to clear it before spinning the car back around to get it to face the right direction.
Not fifteen minutes later, more calamity. She’s making an attempt to overtake the big WRK of Team Roque Traders, going side by side into turn one. The big truck blows it’s braking point, going in way too hot. The thing goes up onto two wheels, leaning over at a 30 degree angle. Hypnotized by the sight of the truck’s under carrage, Alyssa drifts closer to to it that she meant to. She snaps back to her senses as the WRK begins to right itself
“Shite!” she yelps, jerking the Cambridge away just as the truck touches down “Bloody hell! My knickers are certainly browner now. Right, I think that’s enough racing for the moment,” she says to herself has she makes her way back into the pits for the end of her stint

[interior]

Team Slow
Part V- I almost forgot the time window of the Clunkers segments.

Our race was not as eventful as we thought it would be. Matt arguing with the driver of Team Schrott racing (@Rudzis) “I’m taking the racing line, nothing can and will stop me, you can stay there with your one wheel not touching the road!”, The irony of that would come in later. At least the car still drives.

Team Schrott Racing goes past us, and then after some time,
Matt thought it’d be a good idea to use Team Rogue Trader’s car as an guardrail, causing less than desirable damage to the front. Izzy then says “Matt, you moron.” under her breath as she’s watching the race via the pits.

He then drives into the pits and gets the good old hammer and starts beating the panels into shape, Plunger included. At least to an degree to where its tangible. Izzy does work on tightening the suspension. After several minutes, the car gets back on the road. The team swaps drivers yet again. Izzy gets into the car, and launches it out of the pits and onto the track. Matt hears the 1.8 4-cylinder buzzing onto the track. “Glad I told her to fix the front suspension” Matt says as Izzy floored it out of the pits.

The car, despite being crashed, still drives. Monotonous gear whines coming from the car however the team is so used to it that it’s normal. She does an bit of an worse job at racing than Matt, but still usable as a driver. After some time, she takes an turn, and the brakes aren’t working as they should and she crashes into the guardrail, after the FM, she then drives the car to the pits, to replace the likely-shiny brake pads.

She looks behind the rear view mirror and sees an Sandhurst spinning about “I hope this isn’t the final lap for this car” she says, alongside “That was close.” The car is at the pits after some time, The car is jacked up again, and the wheels come off and the duo get to work on replacing the brake pads, that were so worn that they likely turned chrome. Of course that being in an metaphorical sense. Panel beating later (again for the accounted second guardrail damage), and then the wheels come back on after the pads have been replaced, and then Izzy gets back in the car and she starts driving on the track.

[Jaimz68]

Team MCS

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Crackle - Why are we doing this again? Why don’t we just go home…this is getting depressing!
Mopey - It’s not that bad…although either the car, or I, seem to have a magnetic attraction to the barriers.
Crackle - And here I am having to knock the dents out again.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Banging stops

Spanners - For fuck’s sake Crackle…leave the kid alone! If you want to leave then we won’t stop you. This is something we do…unfortunately, this time, I picked a bit of a lemon to race…we’re usually better than this!

Spanners restarts jumping, up and down, on the bonnet to “straighten” it out a bit.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

BANG BANG BANG BANG

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Spanners - Pass the toolbag over…

Spanners drives a couple of 5 inch, self tapping, bolts through the front of the bonnet.

Spanners - That should hold it…let’s go RACING!!!

[Knugcab]

TEAM TRAFIKJOURNALEN
8PM - MIDNIGHT

"Yeah, as usually, he is taking “Captain slow” seriously", Andersson sighed at Hansen’s driving.
"Hahaha, well at least nobody seems to be able to pass him", Carlén answered, while Andersson was looking over at team Shine Quartz trying to rewire their alternator one more time.

The Saarland rolled into the pits for a refuelling, followed by a very beat up Schell.

"At least it’s not our car that looks like this", Carlén said.
"Damn, I start to like this beast after all", Hansen said. "It has been so totally flawless, almost boring."
"Yeah, as boring as your driving", Andersson said.

Back on track, Hansen managed to dodge all the car pileups that seemed to happen, maybe the “Secure, but not exciting” remarks about the handling when Trafikjournalen first tested the Ambrosia in 1987 still held some truth.

"Whoa, look at that", Carlén woke a slumbering Andersson up, when the WRK went up on two wheels, almost flattening the low-slung Cambridge even more.

They’re banger racers", he answered. “They probably just would have liked it anyway.”, he answered and then fell asleep again.

TO BE CONTINUED…

[MrdjaNikolen]

Team Mravolinski-Chitco
Race: Arrival of trio

GossipDuo

Pit lane of our team was busy, but mostly by virtue of eating food and drinks.
This time, Gromadon would be mentioned only to confirm his presence on parking lot and he will not shit in his food anymore (atleast we hope so).
Mat was tasked with going around to see if anyone needs help, which he understood as opportunity to hang out with hosts one more time(dont worry tho, as Omega joined him and helped him concentrate on task at hand).

After some time, they noticed very big team in both ways you could think of.
Takaraya in particular was noticed and naturally, he was theme of conversation as they moved forward.
-Had you seen that…guy? Thing? Whatever, he is massive.
-(Giggling) Ofc i did, i must wonder what turn of events resulted in that. Bcos that wouldnt seem nice to experience.
-Why not turn around and ask him?..oh wait, he might consider that impolite and react agressively.
-As far as im informed, that team in general tends to be agressive but only if you give them really good reason. I dont see how he may be different. But yeah, i would get to know him better before asking such tricky questions.
-Tricky…having such limbs must be awesome
-…not.
-?
-My genetic basis, who participated in Shitbox Rally along with our dogs and them, gave me brief info on two members of that group that might be relevant.
Like that guy, they have some…mechanical replacements of sort.
VerBanka isnt really into details or she decided to spare me the details, but for those metal limbs to appear…they must had lost biological ones.
-Oh…
-I dont know the details, but rest assured im not willing to dive deep into likely worst experiences of their life
-Maybe someone else in our team would know…we will ask them

Their attention was also drawn towards yet another non-human team.
Rust Scavengers would also do some stuff and likely werent interrupted by these two.
You might complain that i messed up team name. I dont care and likely they wouldnt care either: they are much more likely to gather rust around here as, even being this isolated from usual civilisation, this place can hardly be called a desert.
-Anything you know on these guys? They do seem similar to ones we kinda discussed.
-Thats as much as i could tell you myself. Noone i ever known had seen these.
-Maybe they are relatives?
-I…think they would hang out together in that case, hell, maybe even unite two teams into one.
-Hmmm…maybe they hate each other?
-In that case, im sure they wouldnt be at same race. There could be bloodshed and exactly noone else on track would be able to stop it.
-Oh, i know…maybe they disagreed on car to be used.
-Seems like best possibility

Betrayer we readers happen to know as AndiD would also happen to yield a team that might be interesting to note.
Although…you can always decide to look at Seongu as Mara’s South Korean cousin. Im just not sure how well that description would sit with Mara’s officials and not exactly eager to experience Archana’s finest gulags.
If its our duo to be believed, Oxracers were rolling some dice…without any board game in sight.
-They are rolling dice…without board game to go along?
-Seems like it.
-Why?
-Dunno. Kinda weird tbh.
-What are they doing then? No Risk, Monopoly, or “Man dont get angry” there…
-I guess you dont need board game to just roll some dice

If only duo knew…that this race WAS their board game. And yes, yours truly had “pleasure” of playing all board games i listed, most often game in question being Man dont get angry. That can take a while.

These two had returned to pits for their team and decided to share their thoughts.
-Very interesting thoughts, i must however dissapoint by saying neither me or Aydar know more about it. Jayde seems and likely is someone who saw fair share of battle…prob how he lost his leg
-I guess some Dyre had did that. They do seem capable of doing so and, seeing as world in which SR was ran was likely both homeworld to hosts and Dyre…ye, matches up…probably.
Me and Klimentol had also fought against them on one occassion…fair to say im happy they arent sonething we would encounter on daily basis.

Arrival of the trio

-This is weirdest trip i ever made tbh. Atleast you two havent complained about AC…or music.
And yes, i know you cant understand me.
-…
-…

Van with said group had indeed arrived. Driver had exited the vehicle with groan as he def went out of shape apt for such long drive.
-We have arrived.
-“We?”
Doubts were cleared when his company during drive decided to exit as well, revealing cat and a dog, both looking very old.
Following convo is spoken in Serb and written in English
-How you two came here?
-Well, we arrived in Stockholm. Then we were directed to service center/dealership. Some repeating of your names later, he (pointing at driver) had idea we might like to join you.
Speaking of which, what are you doing here?
-Apparently watching these go around the track.
-Atm yes, but we participated too at beggining. Our brake disc cracked so we needed to retire.
Now we are indeed watching and preparing car for its new daily driver role.
(Switching to English)
I will borrow the wheel for moment, also dont think these two oldies would like to walk that much.
How they were as passengers?
-They are either naturally of non-complaining kind or lack of common language made them as such.
This drive was weird.
-My granpa and uncle are of former kind: afterall they were travelling a lot by themselves back in the day.
-Uncle? I guess granpa refers to dog, but cant see how cat can be your uncle.

Aydar had answered

-Loojoe met Siviko as small kitten during his travelling around. He continued travel with him, gaining a company…and i guess a son…Siviko doesnt have any biological family.
-?
-They all died of diseases, hunger or by being ran over by car.
-Thats equally sad and kinda nice story: he had someone to share his experiences with and kitten got education necessary to survive.

Since they expressed interest in what was said about them, Loojoe requested convo being translated to Serbian

-I can only comment on fact that two of us are hungry and he likely is as well.
-We did brought some more food, but it was in cargo area…will eat in pits.

---

This resulted in van joining in pits with same crew taking it to track in first place.
Loojoe opened his door and exited first this time, followed by others.
Siviko suggested that they unload rear bench and co-driver seat first upon seeing them
After that was done, new guys went to toilet, relieved themselves then took position on this furniture and went to sleep.
Officially noted crew was unloading the van and fitting stuff inside Saguaro…including bench and seat with dreamers still on them.
Now with refreshed braking power, car would be street legal once again but straying away from Clunker regulations, now having stock number of seats and having re-installed whatever could have been found of interior back in Stockholm.

---

Mat’s dad had awoken and decided to help however he could, still in kinda slumber.
Which left Loojoe and Siviko in car
-This should be ours, ya know. Cant really travel around on our paws anymore…besides, neither of us is exactly young anymore.
-True…would be so nice knowing you have actual comfy bed and roof whenever you go.
-Maybe you get some pussy, seeing that now you would have somewhere to bang her…i promise i wouldnt interrupt
-REALLY?!?

Quint had good laugh out of it upon hearing REALLY?!? and upon interest hearing the rest.
Matter was brought to rest.

-First you might need to learn how to drive in first place. Besides, im not really convinced that that car would be perfect idea.
-Has roof and rear seat, runs and drives, not to mention its quite beaten already so we dont need to worry about occasional dents.
-It also isnt examined enough for us to be sure it will not break down on you, which it will as it is rather old.
-How old?
-45y old, prob not far off Siviko
-It would understand our struggles.

Rest chuckled on that comment

-Still, as we are yet to fully examine its condition, it can hide some issues that we arent aware off.
Besides, i think it would be much smarter idea to first build some decent car pool of sorts for most or all of us. Maybe it will have much better example or overall better choice for you two.
And yes, having a car to drive would be nice even for much younger rest of population.
-We would be looking forward to that. Hopefully this old dog CAN learn new tricks.
-Certainly hoping so.

After hefty lunch, Mat’s dad decided to head back to Stockholm.
However, after he failed to properly exit pit space with van, it was decided to position Loojoe and Siviko in van and him on rear bench of Saguaro.
Saguaro is in kinda garage space of pits, while van is parked in area of getting fuel and tires
This changed however, as Mat took it out of pits and in parking lot.
He too was tired and joined dreamland right then and there

[Knugcab]

PART 4
MIDNIGHT - 4 AM

Hansen has been doing a good job with keeping the Saarland in control until now, when he takes a corner with a little bit too much confidence, spinning the car around. Too much confidence seems to be the case with Team Shine Quartz and their Przenopewien too when it munches the guardrail hard enough to knock the engine loose from one of the motor mounts, meaning some time in the pits. In almost the same place, the Seongu also has some contact with the rail, though not with any damage that renders it undriveable. The Bricksley seems to have a dead fuel pump, luckily the team had a spare one, changing it in the pits at the moment. Both the Régal and the Union goes in for refuelling, the Régal in the last minute, sputtering into the pits. And, here comes Team Schrott racing and…oops, seems to have a crash into the FM. Not only is the Schwarzburg very bent out of shape, in the pits they discover the crash also have severely damaged the oil pan. The total amount of damage makes Team Schrott racing wave with the white flag for now. Still in the race, but badly battered and needing heavy panel work is the FM.

From being quite hectic, we have now had it completely calm for almost 30 minutes. Extra much calm in the WRK that certainly is taking it extremely careful, maybe after almost having flipped over earlier.

The next car to hit the FM is the Schnell, being badly damaged from the crash, the Schnell goes into the pits for some panel beating. The WRK also goes in, but just for refuelling. The next car to enter the pits is the Przenopewien, only to replace a blown fuse, though. A spinaround of the Callahan makes the FM munch the guardrail while trying to avoid it, but as with the earlier crash, it is still driveable.

The WRK has some clunking sound in its rear suspension and goes into the pits to see if some bolts needs to be tightened. The Przenopewien gives the Saarland a slight bump, not damaging the Saarland very much but knocking out a headlight on the Przenopewien, meaning some time in the pits. The Régal munches some guardrail and the damage means that there is a long visit in the pits to straighten out the metal. FM and Cambridge both spins out of control trying to avoid flying debris from the Régal.

The Saarland goes in to fill up the tank. The Schnell has been warning for low oil level, which means that Team Slow is busy into the pits with topping off the oil. The WRK is driving around almost unnecessarily careful again, maybe being afraid to tip over for real this time, who knows? The Przenopewien is going in to fill up the tank. The Seongu slightly touches the guardrail and a short visit in the pits is necessary to bend out the scraping front fender to not touch the wheel anymore. The Bricksley is coasting into the pits with an empty fuel tank. The Sandhurst comes too quickly into a corner, spinning around. Next car to refuel is the Callahan, and once again, someone is losing time by trying to show off with leaving the pits with squealing tyres.

The Saarland and Union is being held back a bit by the slowest car in the field, the Przenopewien. We get a report that the FM is once again overheating, standing in the pits to cool down.

Feels like we have heard it before, huh? The Cambridge takes the corners wildly spinning, costing some time for the WRK, Bricksley and Callahan trying not to get into that mess.

Seems like the WRK has some problems with this track, still driving around so carefully that it is almost silly. The Cambridge goes in for refuelling while the Union has some problems with the transmission, which Team Desert Scavengers will try to fix with changing to fresh fluid. The Callahan gives the Régal a bump, the later one being able to continue while the Callahan needs lots of time in the pits for straightening out some panels. The FM spins out of control when trying not to hit those bouncing cars.

CURRENT STANDINGS

1. Team Oxracers / #41 Seongu (@AndiD ) - Lap # 1120
2. Team Postgraduate Psychosis / #66 Callahan (@Texaslav ) - Lap # 1034
3. Team Septic Tank / #404 Sandhurst (@stm316 ) - Lap # 1021
4. Team If it’s not punk, it’s junk / #16 Cambridge (@Maverick74 ) - Lap # 1004
5. Team Trafikjournalen / #23 Saarland (@Knugcab ) - Lap # 982
6. Team Prognosis Negative / #8 Régal (@karhgath ) - Lap # 976
7. Team Rogue Traders / #722 WRK (@Fayeding_Spray ) - Lap # 932
8. Team Slow / #91 Schnell (@interior ) - Lap # 924
9. Team Shift Happens / #357 Bricksley (@Madrias ) - Lap # 919
10. Team SCS / #69 FM (@Jaimz68 ) - Lap # 917
11. Team Desert Scavengers / #47 Union (@TheYugo45GV ) - Lap # 892
12. Team Shine Quartz / #98 Przenopewien (@Vento ) - Lap # 844
13. Team Schrott racing / #13 Schwarzburg (@Rudzis ) - Lap # 777 (DNF)
14. Team Bubblegum / #113 Mons (@cake_ape ) - Lap # 386 (DNF)
15. Team Spy Kids / #42 Rosewood (@SheikhMansour ) - Lap # 365 (DNF)
16. Team Mravolinski-Chitco / #90 Saguaro (@MrdjaNikolen ) - Lap # 123 (DNF)

[Knugcab]

TEAM TRAFIKJOURNALEN
MIDNIGHT - 4 PM

“I am getting kind of confident with this ride now, I start to learn where the lim…”, Hansen was thinking, entering a corner with a little bit too much confidence, swinging out the tail of the Saarland, not being able to counter-steer quick enough.

“The power assisted ball type steering is not as quick or reactive to steering input as most competitors rack & pinion units…” - damn, why did his head quote the 1987 Trafikjournalen road test from when the Ambrosia first arrived all the time, he thought.

"At least he missed the guardrail while trying to be captain fast", Andersson said in the pits.

"Yeah, the polish orange…thing, and the korean fridge, were less lucky", Carlén said, looking at the stone dead Bricksley coasting into the pits.

"Also, do the FM have magnets behind the bumpers?", Andersson sighed. "If it’s not in the guardrail, someone crashes into it."

"Seems like Schrott Racing is out of business for now", Carlén answered.

"Seems like we have a new Captain Slow too", Andersson laughed and pointed at the WRK.

They both shook their heads when the Schnell crashed into the FM, as well as when the FM once again munched some guardrail.

"I told you, that thing has magnets.", Andersson sighed.

Meanwhile in the car, Hansen felt a light “thud”, looked in the rear view mirror and saw an one-eyed Przenopewien following him.

“We are pretty sure that the Ambrosia Pilger will fulfill its niche on the family car market. Not only is it very practical and roomy, the thoughts of having lots of metal surrounding you to keep the family safe, is something that springs confidence in many buyers.”

“NOOOOO, NOT AGAIN”, he thought.

Going in for refill, he…

“With the new 2.6 litre Varitek version of the inline six, for 1990 the Ambrosia finally has a decent mid range alternative to offer between the less refined 4-cylinders and the expensive 3 litre ES model. It only becomes appearant that the engine is from the 60s when standing at the pump - mileage is certainly not impressive, not even for a car this size”

"NOOOOOOOO, STOP THIS!", he yelled, even if it at least was a bit original that he now had another road test of the 1990 model 2.6 litre in his head.

"We can’t stop refuelling now!", Carlén sighed.

"Nah, just forget it then…, Hansen said, a bit blushing.

A while later he closed up on the Przenopewien, being a bit annoyed by its slow pace but still he kept a secure distance.

“Orange polish thing, you’re not butt-sniffing me one more time!”, he thought. In the mirror, he spotted the Union, and it seemed like the driver of that car had similar thoughts.

However, two thirds of the race was now done, and it was time to enter the pits for a driver change…

TO BE CONTINUED…

[Madrias]

Shift Happens

The Race - 8 PM to Midnight

---

Midnight in the Bricksley

Kaylie pushed the car hard out of the pit lane, the engine stumbling a time or two on her return to the track. She saw the Saarland spin out, followed by the Przenopewien slamming into the guardrail, and in the same spot, the Seongu passed the Bricksley, then nailed the rail and caused Kaylie to slam on the brakes to avoid it.

When she tried to stomp on the gas to go again, the car had no power, struggling to maintain an idle let alone respond to the throttle input. She pulled off of the track and waited for the tow back to the pits.

---

Midnight in the Pit Lane

With Norse having gone to bed as well, this left just the aliens awake, with exception to the still-snoring Rukari on a military cot. When Kaylie arrived by tow truck, Kayden was the first to ask, “What happened?”

“I think the fuel pump shat itself. She barely idles now,” Kaylie responded.

Kivenaal rummaged around in the toolboxes and uncovered a box with a spare fuel pump, then looked around at who was there. “Right. Takaraya, we need to lift the car up so that I can drop the fuel tank. Malavera, help him out,” Kivenaal said.

“Wait, you’re not going to…” Kayden said, motioning to the Bricksley and mimicking picking up a box.

Kivenaal chuckled, then said, “Val and Norse are sleeping. They won’t see it happen. Takaraya, you get the heavy end with the engine in it.”

Sure enough, the team put on a bit of a show as Takaraya braced his hands under the front suspension while Malavera lifted from the rear axle, the two of them lifting the Grand Warden - with Kaylie still inside - as if it weighed no more than a box with a computer inside of it. Kivenaal pulled the fuel tank, swapped the dead pump for the good one, reconnected the power and fuel lines, bolted the tank in, and watched as the two Khalans set the car back down gently.

Kaylie turned the key on, hearing the new pump whirring up to speed, then building pressure. She bumped the key to “start” and the engine immediately roared to life. She looked at the Regal and Union as they re-entered the track after a stop for gas, and then the Schwarzburg ended up on a trailer while the FM came in for some panel beating, with Malavera offering some assistance with the sledgehammer. (@Jaimz68 )

---

12:30 on the Track

Kaylie returned to the track in a flurry of sideways driving and wheelspin, passing the WRK pickup as it was taking corners extra slow now. She straightened the car up and kept it going fast for 30 minutes, enjoying the calm before the storm.

And the storm surely did arrive, as the FM got rear-ended hard by the Schnell. The Schnell disappeared up into the pits to get the mangled front end straightened out again. They were followed by the WRK, needing fuel desperately, followed by the Przenopewien with a blown fuse. The Callahan spun out, causing the FM to eat the guardrail, but other than looking like it’d been in two wrecks, the FM kept on going.

---

The Pits, 1:30 AM

Kivenaal watched as the WRK cruised in to have the rear suspension checked out, followed by the Przenopewien needing a headlight replaced. Then there was a savage-sounding crash that was bad enough that Kivenaal got on the radio to Kaylie, “Watch out coming around the turn before the pit lane, the Regal scattered parts everywhere. They’re coming in on a tow truck, and the FM and Cambridge both spun out trying to avoid getting hit by a bumper.”

“Gotcha. Big crash by— Twin Suns! How can one car shed so much shit!? It’s like the carpet in the living room after Malavera sheds, except with car parts instead of fur!” Kaylie replied.

---

Behind the Wheel, 2 AM

Kaylie passed the Saarland as they went for more gas, while the Schnell was threatening to hand-grenade the engine. “Damn fools driving around with the oil light on,” she grumbled. “Whole rotating assembly’s going to be trashed.” She swerved around the WRK taking corners slowly again while the Przenopewien needed a tank of gas.

Then Kaylie slammed on the brakes to avoid rear-ending the Seongu after it kissed a guardrail and needed a visit to the pits. (@AndiD ) Takaraya offered his assistance in straightening out the fender, his titanium hands gleaming in the moonlight. This, unfortunately, meant he wasn’t able to help when the Bricksley coasted in, courtesy of Kaylie running it out of gas. Malavera hustled the cans over to refuel the car while Kivenaal reorganized the toolbox.

Kaylie returned to the track in time to see the Sandhurst spin out, and heard the Callahan squealing tires behind her. She scowled as the Bricksley lunged out in front of the Przenopewien, avoiding getting slowed down like the Union and the Saarland, though the situation might have helped the FM cool off if they’d been there. Instead, they got to enjoy the pits.

Then the Cambridge swerved around the Bricksley, WRK, and Callahan, lost control, and forced all three of them to perform some evasive maneuvers to avoid hitting the idiots who spun out or each other.

Sure enough, a few laps later, Kaylie passed the WRK again, clawing another lap back as the Rogue Traders cruised slowly through another corner. The Cambridge zipped up the pit lane for gas, while the Union Magistrate needed some transmission fluid instead. The Callahan rear-ended the Regal, and like so many other rear-end collisions, the bumping car needed more work than the bumped car, forcing the Callahan into the pits. In the chaos, the FM spun out and lost a bit of time.

Kaylie got on the radio, then told the crew, "Wake up Rukari. I know I’ve got two more hours behind the wheel, but he doesn’t need to be half asleep when he gets his second turn.

Kivenaal chuckled, and at 4 AM, kicked his brother solidly in the ass, making him yowl and swear in Valraad as he got out of the cot. “You make breakfast, then. Not funny,” Rukari grumbled.

[Elizipeazie]

Team Shift Happens; the human side of things

once again, not race critical, thus hidden, yada yada yada, you know the drill.

RP in here

Both Valentin and Norse are currently asleep.

gotcha!

[AndiD]

Team Oxracers, Ep. 15: Rolling into empty pits

Previous post

Except when Michael passes the well-lit pit area on the short s/f straight, it is pitch dark around him, the guardrails around the track keeping a lot of light that the other cars emit confined to other parts of the track. Their lights only appear as some flicker in the nearer or farther distance, depending on where he is on the track. The two well-used H3 bulbs in the Kando’s headlights do not help much either to illuminate the area in front of him, especially at the speeds he is going at. To an extent, driving becomes easier when he can follow another car as their rear and brake lights then serve as another means for orientation. This usually only lasts for a short while though until he has to judge the best point of passing them.

He already hit the guardrail once, misjudging the brake spot while being distracted by an orange car in front of him misjudging the corner itself. ‘Normally, I would now cheat and increase the screen brightness - but that doesn’t work here, obviously’, he thinks for himself. He has also lost track of the time - while the Kando originally had a small LCD clock in the centre console, that console now rests in a pile together with other Kando interior parts somewhere behind the pit area.

Suddenly, the Kando veers to the left under braking, whether it’s something with the Kando’s steering or some oil or debris on the track Michael is unable to tell. The switch to ultra-wide tyres have made its handling somewhat unpredictable anyway.

Without fancy amenities such as ABS, all he can do is watch the Kando skid into the guardrail - luckily just for some light contact. He still notes an unhealthy scraping noise, once he resumes driving. He presses the push-to-talk button. “Michael to pits, I have to come in. I think some bodywork may be in contact with my left front tyre.”

He continues slowly for two more corners but does not hear any response. He waves a slowing Bricksley by, clearly the most illuminated car on track, and he is happy to have the distraction out of his rear view mirrors when he tries to contact the pits again.

“Hello? Anyone home?” Again, no response from the pit lane. Michael wonders whether the latest crash might have broken Jane’s improvised push-to-talk set-up in the Kando. He doubts it though since the impact was not that severe. He enters the pit lane, comes to stop in the designated Oxracers area and sees noone around.

Annoyed he gets out of the car, only to find all other Oxracers half or full-asleep in various unflattering poses in chairs or leaning against something. Corazon snores.

He wakes Jane who rises with a groan and clearly needs a moment to orient herself, especially as she spots the unusual sight of Takaraya from the Shift Happens crew standing between Michael and the battered Kando, waving with something gleaming in the irregular light of the pitlane. Michael quickly explains the situation to her. Mary meanwhile wakes as well from the commotion and quickly regains her senses.

“What’s up with you guys?” Michael asks. “At least one person should be on the radio at all times.”

Mary nods groggily. With newfound enthusiasm, Jane grabs her biggest hammer and Takaraya offers assistance, motioning with his metallic hands. @Madrias Together they make quick work of the damaged area of the Kando, ripping out even more of the already haphazardly cut back wheel well of the damaged fender in the process. Jane is thoroughly intrigued by Takarayas handiwork. “That’s… practical”, she comments.

“Like Deus Ex”, Mary comments appreciatingly and silently mumbles “but it’s Animal Crossing.” while Michael quickly gets behind the wheel again. On Mary’s signal after Jane indicates ‘all clear’ with a thumbs-up, Michael drives off again with skidding front tyres, almost hitting the guardrail again on pit exit.

[Knugcab]

PART 5
4 AM - 8 AM

With 8 hours left of the race, two cars are going in for refuelling, the FM and the Union. The Regal does a quite wide spin meaning that the Schnell has to swerve for it. The next car going in for refuelling is the Sandhurst.

The FM once again hits the guardrail quite badly and goes in to the pits for straightening some sheetmetal and a bent tie rod. However, on the way out of the pits, a shortcut in the electrical system causes a fire which Team SCS is able to put out, but it also means that they are out of the race. Team Rogue Traders on the other hand has their hands full to not flip over the WRK when the Cambridge goes spinning wildly. Two cars goes in for refuelling, the Schnell and the Przenopewien. The Seongu brakes unnecessarily hard before a corner, meaning that Team Septic Tank loses control over their Sandhurst trying not to crash into its back.

The Przenopewien hits the guardrail very hard, meaning that the whole engine bay is now more or less a mess, but they work hard in the pits trying to get the things back into shape, as well as getting the once again knocked-out headlights to work. Meanwhile, the Bricksley and the WRK goes in for refuelling.

The Sandhurst has to brake hard to avoid a skidding Cambridge, leading to the Schnell crashing into it from behind. It appears that the Schnell has some brake failure that caused the crash. Probably, the master cylinder is shot, meaning that the Schnell is now also out of the race. The Seongu goes in for its second refuelling.

It has now been calm for quite a while, it seems, though, that the Saarland drives slower than usual, to block any chances the Callahan will have to pass it. Well, maybe a bit unnecessary considering how far the cars are from each other in the ranking now, but I guess that all the difference in laps will count, or something.

Well, a refuelling for our own team means that the Saarland gives room for the Callahan after all, and the other car going in for refuelling is the Régal.

It has been all calm for a while, spare for quite a wide skid Carlén did in the Saarland.

The Callahan manages to run completely out of fuel, meaning that it barely manages coasting into the pits, slowing down the Union and Bricksley behind it. However, the Union follows it into the pits, also needing a refuelling.

CURRENT STANDINGS

1. Team Oxracers / #41 Seongu (@AndiD ) - Lap # 1405
2. Team Postgraduate Psychosis / #66 Callahan (@Texaslav ) - Lap # 1306
3. Team Septic Tank / #404 Sandhurst (@stm316 ) - Lap # 1277
4. Team If it’s not punk, it’s junk / #16 Cambridge (@Maverick74 ) - Lap # 1267
5. Team Prognosis Negative / #8 Régal (@karhgath ) - Lap #1226
6. Team Trafikjournalen / #23 Saarland (@Knugcab ) - Lap # 1225
7. Team Shift Happens / #357 Bricksley (@Madrias ) - Lap # 1180
8. Team Rogue Traders / #722 WRK (@Fayeding_Spray ) - Lap # 1170
9. Team Desert Scavengers / #47 Union (@TheYugo45GV ) - Lap # 1134
10. Team Shine Quartz / # 98 Przenopewien (@Vento ) - Lap # 1042
11. Team Slow / #91 Schnell (@interior ) - Lap # 1048 (DNF)
12. Team SCS / #69 FM (@Jaimz68 ) - Lap # 963 (DNF)
13. Team Schrott racing / #13 Schwarzburg (@Rudzis ) - Lap # 777 (DNF)
14. Team Bubblegum / #113 Mons (@cake_ape ) - Lap # 386 ( DNF)
15. Team Spy Kids / #42 Rosewood (@SheikhMansour ) - Lap # 365 (DNF)
16. Team Mravolinski-Chitco / #90 Saguaro (@MrdjaNikolen ) - Lap #123 (DNF)

[Jaimz68]

Team MCS, or WDWB (Why Did We Bother)

Crackle - So can you get it going again?
Spanners - YES, but it’ll take a while.
Crackle - Define “a while”.
Spanners - With a brand new main engine look and some new hoses…40 minutes to an hour.
Crackle - OK, so we don’t have any new parts…so?
Spanners - I can fashion a loom from a roll of cable…hoses are a little more difficult but not impossible.
Crackle - You can’t do it…can you?
Spanners - It’ll take at least a day…so, no, not in time!
Crackle - Fuck this, I’m out of here…and DON’T ask me again!
Mopey - Sorry Spanners, we tried…I did enjoy myself though.
Spanners - No worries kid. Hopefully Mrs E will be fit enough for the next one. Let’s go home.

---

And so, dear readers, the story of Snap, Crackle and Spanners (including Mopey) comes to an end with our heroes heading home, knowing that they did their best. Snap got “repatriated” and told never to enter Sweden again!

Mopey DID do his best as he had the car humping the barriers at every moment he could…or that’s the theory anyway.

So, it’s farewell…until next time.

---

HUGE thanks to @Knugcab for getting me interested in Automation again. This was a trial by fire with the new engine updates, especially the new turbo setup, but I’ve learned a lot…next time I’ll be returning to a “normal” FM sports car which won’t have to be butchered to meet the rules.

Good luck to everyone left running.

[Knugcab]

TBH, I like the new engine designer more. It is not as easy to use and takes some time to get used to, but on the other hand it feels more logical. At least you can build a 60s carbed performance engine without drowning it in fuel anymore.

[Madrias]

Team Shift Happens

The Race - Midnight to 4 AM
The Human Side of Things

---

On Track, 4 AM

Kaylie watched the FM and the Union Magistrate go in for some gas, with her getting out of their way and, as a result, witnessing the Regal doing a rather wide spin and forcing the Schnell to swerve. The Sandhurst slinked into the pit lane shortly behind the FM and Union, meaning the pit lane was busy.

A couple laps after they’d finished gassing up, the FM plows into the guardrail, making Kaylie swerve to avoid them. They rolled into the pit lane, only to end up setting the car on fire thanks to an electrical short, ending their race early. The Rogue Traders nearly rolled their truck this time as the Cambridge passed them, then immediately spun out, while the Schnell and the Przenopewien disappeared into the pits.

Kaylie cleared her mind and focused. “Just a little bit more. I’m in the last leg of this segment, just don’t crash the— Fuck!”

She slammed on the brakes as the Seongu braked hard before the corner, making Team Septic Tank pile on their brakes in the Sandhurst to avoid ramming the Seongu. The half-sideways Sandhurst caused Kaylie to pile on the brakes to avoid ramming the driver’s door with the nudge bar.

Apparently, this incident caused the Przenopewien to bang into the guardrail, making the whole front of the car look like a clay model after bumping it into a wall. They were in the pit lane for a while, straightening out the front end enough to make the headlights aim somewhat in the direction of “I can see the track” as well as to not foul the bodywork on the front wheels.

Then the Bricksley’s engine stumbled, nearly getting rear-ended by the WRK as both of them headed to the pits for fuel.

---

Pit Lane, 5:30 AM

Kivenaal had at least a basic grasp on breakfast, making enough for Rukari to be fueled up and ready to drive, knowing that Rukari would be a little disappointed in having just scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, but also knowing that it would be really hard to justify a literal run to a grocery store just to buy fish so he could have fish with his eggs.

Rukari, as expected, had been loosely disappointed, though considering it was food at a race track, it was better than he’d thought. He wasn’t sure whether it was the scent of gasoline or the recent car fire that had “improved” the air quality, or whether it was just an artifact of “Everything cooked at a race track smells like the pit lane,” but he did enjoy it.

So when Kaylie cruised in for gas, the decision was made.

“Rukari, I can barely keep my eyes open out there. You take over until the end,” Kaylie said, getting out of the car while Malavera filled the fuel tank.

Rukari had no issues with that plan, putting his empty plate on top of the toolbox, putting his helmet on, then setting the seat all the way back and climbing in. He buckled up, started the engine, and left the pit lane with a squeal of tires.

6 AM

Malavera watched as the Sandhurst hit the brakes hard - again - to avoid another spinning car. This time, it was the Cambridge. Unfortunately for the Sandhurst, this brake-check wasn’t as neatly avoided by the Schnell, which led to them slamming into the rear of the Sandhurst. One car continued around the track, but the Schnell was kaput. He watched Team Slow put it up on their trailer with blown brakes, while also watching the Seongu zoom in for a bit of gas.

6:30 AM

Takaraya was lightly amused as he realized that Rukari had managed, so far, to avoid wrecking the car. Likewise, he’d witnessed Valentin bending himself all over the place like a pretzel in various stretches, and even glanced at Kivenaal, who was busy preparing breakfast for the rest of the team.

Kivenaal’s four arms were all over the place as he mastered the art of breakfast preparation. Scrambled eggs in the pan, cooking in the bacon grease for a bit of extra flavor while he was putting bacon both on the plates and also on his cutting board, making small bits of bacon to load up the eggs with for more flavor. As the eggs finished cooking, he split them up among several plates, added crispy bacon to each of the plates, toasted some bread, and then looked up to see Val was there, having witnessed most of the cooking frenzy.

“Just pick a plate and… I think there’s forks around… There they are,” Kivenaal said, grabbing a handful of forks and sorting out the remaining brass one from the rest. “You can pick any one of these. The brass one is mine.”

---

On Track, 6:30 AM

Other than being slowed up by both the Saarland and the Callahan, Rukari had an easy few laps. He’d been all over the horn while stuck behind both cars, threatening on a few occasions to “bump” one of them into the other, but refrained from doing so.

This worked to his benefit, in the end, as the Saarland had to refuel, leaving space for the Callahan to accelerate away, getting away from the Bricksley as well.

Many laps later, Carlén in the Saarland did a wide drift, which prompted Rukari to stomp the accelerator, forcing the transmission to kick down, and then passed the Saarland going just as sideways deliberately, pelting the car with bits of debris from the track.

This, of course, was completely unnecessary, and as a result, Karma bit Rukari’s tail as the Callahan ran out of gas in front of him, right in the middle of the track, before coasting toward the pit lane. The Union followed it for fuel, and perhaps to offer a push for the Callahan.

As the Bricksley’s clock rolled over to 8 AM, having been set yesterday, Rukari looked up toward the pit lane to see Kayden writing something on a chalkboard…

[Elizipeazie]

Team Shift Happens; the human side of things

OOC:
you know the drill by now.

This is filler text to prevent the forums from whining about having too similar of a “body” to my “recent posts”. Yes i get that this is an anti-spam measure, but sometimes it’s just silly. In any case, here we go, hopefully…"

---

RP in here

At just after 6AM in the morning, and with Norse still very much asleep on the third-row bench of the van, Valentin woke up feeling fairly well rested, though also rather sore, courtesy of not really fitting onto the front row seats. He carefully exited the van, quietly closing the front right door so as to not wake up Norse.

After that, he spent at least a good 20 minutes rotating through an extensive assortment of stretching and other morning warmup movements in attempt to get rid of the soreness.
A futile attempt at neatening up his hairdo followed, which ended in him giving up in all of about 40 seconds and entering the Shift Happens garage looking rather scruffy.

Upon entering, he spotted Kivenaal juggling ingredients, kitchen utensils and other stuff with his four arms.

“Good morning”, he proclaimed in a tone that made it obvious that Valentin was mentally fully functional, unlike the morning slumbers he frequently had in previous events.
Kivenaal’s instruction to treat the cooked food and assorted dishes like a buffet was acted upon with little questioning.
Bacon and eggs was certainly not the usual breakfast for Valentin, mostly due to his lack of cooking skills. Still, he did not wait long to dig right in, having turned the split ingredients of bacon, bread and eggs into a pair of sandwiches.

“Good morning to you as well,” Kivenaal said, setting his cooking supplies off to one side and getting his own plate.

Kaylie smiled, then said, “If you’re curious, we’re still in this. I traded seats with Rukari on our last fuel stop. Hopefully he can keep the car together until the end, but… His track record, pun fully intended, doesn’t give us much hope.”

“To be fair,” Kayden mentioned in Rukari’s defense, “the Sinistra did still drive when he was done with it. Sure, the transmission was about to go, the V6 had a lifter tick, and it had more dents than a demolition derby car, but it was still running.”

The two of them grabbed plates as well, leaving a few remaining plates on the small table for the others. It didn’t take long before Takaraya and Malavera also joined the breakfast crew.

Takaraya looked at the plates, then in the direction of the van, before looking over to Valentin. “I’m assuming, then, that Norse is still sleeping?” he asked.

“That’s good to hear, even if you jinxed it now.”, Valentin answered once the first bite of the sandwich was done with.

“Yeah Norse is still asleep. Dunno when he went to bed.”, he added, taking a second bite out of the first impromptu sandwich.

“ Soo goood…”, he mutters under his breath inbetween bites.

“Well, we’ve been contemplating the potential of getting a truck out here, just in case he bends the damn car in half,” Kaylie admitted. “Sure, Bricksley’s unusual “unibody on frame” police car is pretty damn tough, but… Ours is a bit weak from it being, shall we say, “well used” by the people who owned it before us.”

“I think he went to bed around midnight,” Malavera admitted. “Looked like the energy drink he gulped down had run out.”

Kivenaal smiled as Valentin mentioned the food was good, then replied, “ Thank you."

Takaraya finished up his plate of food and set the empty plate and fork off to one side of the toolbox, starting an improvised spot to stack up all of the used dishes.

“Have fun trying. I have no idea where the next flatbed, that also is empty, is rolling around at the moment, since some of our trucks go all the way south to Munich, if not further. As long as you can get whatever came out of the container back in and secured, it’ll be good. How you do that is to be discussed with the truck driver. Last time i’ve trailered was in driver’s ed…”, Valentin explained as he politely nodded towards the resident cook that was Kivenaal.

The stack of plates and cutlery immediately grew by another plate, as Valentin saw no need to store the other sandwich on a plate when he has a perfectly good hand to hold it with.

“Worst case scenario, we get Takaraya and Malavera to try straightening out the car,” Kaylie said.

“With our luck?” Kayden asked. “You know if Rukari crashes that thing and you get these two to tug-of-war that car, they’re going to rip it in half.”

“Doubtful,” Malavera said. “That’d take a lot more grip than either of us have, or a hell of a mess in the car before that could happen.”

Takaraya thought on it a moment, then added in, “Wouldn’t necessarily be “in half,” but it is technically possible that we’d rip the front clip off of the car. I’m the guy who spent a week hammering panels somewhat straight again, and we’ve got a couple of weak points right by the hood line. Crash it just right and it’s possible they’ll snap.”

Kivenaal sighed. “You’re all acting like he’s going to crash the car. Have a bit of faith. That said, given how some of the drivers out there,” Kivenaal said, “seem to be driving with the intent on hitting everything in sight, it might be wise for us to think of some options for what to do in the event that we can’t squeeze what’s left of our lemon into a container.”

“As far as i know, you have a few inches of clearance on either side and a little more than a foot on either end, based on the visually ‘intact’ car, which means that length is less of an issue than width. You just have to make the thing and whatever else you had in there fit into the rectangle that makes the floor of that container.”, Valentin comments, pausing to take another bite out of his breakfast.

“Take off or hammer back anything wider than the mirrors and you are good, i think. I doubt that you’ll lengthen the car, or any car, by crashing it.”, he added.

Kayden nodded. “Sounds sensible enough. At that point, we’re just trying to get it into a box so we can send it home, a bit like a coffin for a soldier,” he said.

Takaraya grimaced and tossed an empty water bottle at Kayden, hitting him on the head.

“Okay, I deserved that one,” Kayden said.

“Just when I thought Malavera was bad at opening his mouth without thinking things through, you have to show the world that he’s not that bad,” Kivenaal grumbled.

Malavera shrugged. “Even I know that coffins are not a source of good jokes.”

Kaylie sighed, shaking her head. “Don’t suppose anyone’s made any coffee?” she asked.

“I don’t drink that decaf shit, so, no, I didn’t dig the coffee pot out of the bag,” Kivenaal replied. He looked up just in time to see Takaraya fishing a pouch out of his pocket, opening the zipper, and tucking a tea bag into his cheek. “Do you have any idea how disgusting that is, Takaraya? Most people dunk those in a cup of hot water, they don’t chew them.”

“Yes, and where I’m from, we don’t light leaves on fire and smoke them,” Takaraya quipped back.

As Rukari roared past, tires squealing on the next corner, lights flashing and siren screaming, Jayde chuckled. “He’s not doing too badly out there.”

“You don’t just cram the deceased into a wooden box!” Valentin scolded before Takaraya could toss the bottle over. He started to cross his arms, but had to backtrack halfway through the process because he was still holding one sandwich, having just finished the first one.

As Takaraya chucked a tea bag into his mouth, Valentin’s anger turned to confusion. The explanation about his culture helped a little, at least.
“Well i don’t ‘light leaves and smoke them’ either… it’s not as common here as you think. But you are the first… person?.. ever to chew a tea bag…”, Valentin added. While the thought of chewing just the contents was weirdly intriguing to him, the taste of the bag itself ruined the prospect of it being a good idea.

Takaraya chuckled, then said, “To be fair, I’d asked Rukari how to make tea and he told me it’s not that hard to figure out. Somewhat is when you don’t know about kettles, tea pots, and what cups to use, but… I’m a soldier. We improvise when we don’t know what to do.”

“And occasionally break shit in the process,” Malavera quipped.

“How was I supposed to know the faucet handles turn the other way on this planet?” Takaraya shot back. “Considering how much shit Kaylie breaks, you shouldn’t give me hell just because I broke the cold water handle on the shower.”

Kivenaal chuckled. “Need I remind you, Malavera, of the front door incident?”

“No,” Malavera said defensively.

“Oh, I want to hear this,” Takaraya said. “He hasn’t let me forget about the faucet handle since I arrived on Earth.”

Malavera groaned as Kivenaal gave a savage grin.

“The short version is, Malavera here, smart and perceptive as he is, tried to pull open a door telling him to push it instead. Mangled the push-to-unlatch bar, broke both the top and bottom windows, and bent the steel door so it was wedged into the frame,” Kivenaal said, chuckling.

“Perhaps a truce, then, Malavera? You let the faucet handle slide and I don’t bring up the door issue?” Takaraya asked.

“Deal,” Malavera replied.

“Gotta say, most doors are damn confusing, especially if you cannot reasonable read the label from this far up. Thing’s at crotch-height for me… Speaking of which, i’ll head off for the bathroom,” Valentin said, heading out of the garage and taking the last bite of sandwich with him.

[AndiD]

Team Oxracers, Ep. 16: Rolling along

Previous post

Michael’s remaining stint passes largely uneventful, except for a small misunderstanding with the Sandhurst in a braking zone. After a while, he signals the pits that the fuel light has come on.

As Michael brings the Kando to a stop, Corazon approaches him, geared up for another stint behind the wheel. “Anything happened, or happening?” he eagerly demands to know from Michael, as the latter exits the Kando.

“Nothing. It’s beginning to feel somewhat like Desert Bus”, Michael comments. “Oh, and it actually pulls a little bit to the right since the ‘operation’ at the last stop.”

“Meh. Not even something to roll for”, Corazon complains.

“The calm before the storm?” Lucas tries with a hopeful undertone.

Corazon shrugs dismissively and enters the Kando.

Jane meanwhile has finished refueling and Mary signals for Corazon to take off. To everyone’s surprise, he launches the Kando with utmost care.

The remaining Oxracers exchange worried glances and go back to rest, except Michael who volunteers for radio duty for Corazon’s last stint.

[karhgath]

Team Prognosis Negative

Chapters VI to IX - The rally champs

---

6:30PM-8PM (VI)

With Johan back in the pits and Anna on the track, it was a bit more hectic around other teams.

They were 5th! 5th!

Johan was ready to pull out the champagne.

“We’ll all eat you alive! You’ll see, Anna will make you regret coming here today!” he screamed to no team in particular.

Anton was trying to calm him down while Josef sat comfortably to watch the train wreck ready to happen.

“No way we fifth, does not make sense, just luck.” he mumbled.

Anton heard him.

“Hey Johan, it handled that well the car? Because…”, Anton held is tongue in.

“Yeah bro, it was awesome. Silky smooth, it accelerates super fast.” said Johan.

You could hear Josef mumble “That is why guardrails are your new friends…”

“No seriously, car is solid, feels like I am driving an unstoppable tank!! But yeah, the Oxracers and that damn Callahan are just way to fast. I reckon we can finish on the podium at this rate!” said an excited Johan.

Great, it was not a POS after all?

8PM-MIDNIGHT (VII)

Anna was flying across the track.

Anton was confused, thinking about the car’s performance, when his thought were interrupted by Anna on the radio.

Anna (radio) - “Hey guys… this does not feel like a piece of shit. I do not understand. I could use a lot more mid and top-range acceleration, but this accelerates like a beast out of slow corners. It clearly was tuned, but not for high speed racing…”

Something in Anton’s mind clicked.

“The VIN! We can search the car’s history!” he blurted out of nowhere.

Josef laughed so much that he nearly fell out of his chair. “You… you… hahaha… you bought… snort a car, hahahaha, a car without checking? Fucking… haha, stupid millennials snort”

Anton was not amused. “Hey, sue me uncle, it was last minute you know…” he said trying to defend himself.

He started trying to find the few paperwork he had with him, unable to find the car’s VIN.

“We’ll have to get it when the car gets in for a refuel soon.” he said to himself, forgetting he was the next one to drive the car.

Meanwhile Johan was bored until they looked at the board.

on the radio

Johan - “YOU ARE 3rd!!! ANNA!!!”

Anna - “What seriously, I was in a groove, did not even realize, what happened, tons of accidents?”

Johan - “Dunno, was not paying attention… WE’LL KICK YOU ASSES” he screamed to the pits, but still on his mic.

Anna - “Can you not do that? Seriously, people are working here. I’ll probably have to coming in soon.”

Johan stopped listening, he was struting in the pits like a peacock.

MIDNIGHT-4AM (VIII)

Anna sputtered in the pits and got out of the car.

“Wow, this thing handles well. I’d like a bit more speed but…” she stopped as Anton was running around the car while Josef was fueling the car.

Anton looked it a headless chicken. “Where is it, where is it…” as he was frantically searching for the VIN.

“Err… you know it is your turn to drive right, Anton? Are you ready?” asked Anna, worried. She then looked a josef who shrugged.

“I think he’s looking for the VIN” said Johan, bored.

“Come on Anton, get in the car, we’re 3rd right now, don’t mess this up for us!!” she screamed at him.

Anton reluctantly got in, without finding what he was looking for.

He went out on the track, a bit distracted.

… which showed. About half-way through Anton impacted a guardrail severly, so much that flying debris went everywhere, causing chaos.

There goes the tank, Anton thought

on radio

Anton - “Clipped a guardrail hard, need to come in to fix, lots a lot of steel.”

Josef - “Roger that, we will be ready.”

Back in the pits, the Régal was in bad shape. Anton got out and continued his search.

“Got it!! Here, take a picture and do a search on it” he said to Johan, who was sitting on a chair looking at the team repairing the car.

“Yeah yeah, coming.” reluctantly said Johan.

Getting the VIN with all the rust took nearly longer than the repair.

“Come on stop this guys, that is not critical, we need to go back in the race, get the fuck out there Anton!!” said a livid Anna.

Anton jumped, a bit scared, and promptly got in the Régal.

Meanwhile, Johan was with Josef and Anna, doing a history search on the car itself.

“Guys…” hesitated Johan.

The jig is up thought Anna, he just found out this is a piece of …

“… we’ve got a freaking rally car!!!” screamed Johan.

Anna jumped. “What??” she exclaimed. It was modified in the 90s for rally racing. Actually did a few regional and national races, finished high in some and even won one.

“No wonder the transmission is tuned for the low end and it feels so smooth!” muttered Anna.

Johan still did not realize it was an octane tuned performance car, but at this point, no one cared.

They actually bought a decent car!! if they had known and had the time, maybe they could have tuned it better…

It would have probably helped them for sure as they were now 6th, losing 3 places since Anton get in the car.

Johan was now primed to get the rally car across the finish line!

4AM-8AM (IX)

As soon as he learned about the car, Anton felt more confident.

“I knew something was up!” he thought… just as he took a super wide turn and spun out of control, the Schnell barely missing it.

“Shit…” he screamed for himself.

He started to fully concentrate now.

His time improved, he actually passed the Saarland #23. He was invigorated.

He got enough ahead that they had the chance of coming back in front of the Saarland after refueling. He was flying.

“I’m coming in for a switch, nearly empty” he said on the radio.

Back in the pits, there was a bit of a scene between Anna and Johan.

“No it was my turn, MY TURN!” screamed johan.

“You are reckless, you’ll waste our chances to do better” responded Anna, calmly.

They argued for a while as the Régal pulled. Josef took care of refuel as he rolled his eyes at the 2 young hot shots viying for the wheel.

Anton got out. “Come on Johan, get ready!” he said.

Johan let out a victory yelp. “Ha Ah! I AM next.”

“Hey, I got us to third place and was not kissing that guardrail constantly…” muttered a saddened Anna.

“Come on Johan, help Josef while Anna gets in!” said Anton as he winked at Anna.

“Hey that’s not fair!” grumbled Johan. He was a bit furious.

“Thanks” said Anna as she passed Anton.

“Go get em” he responded.

It is now or never, about 6 hours left.

Unless the Sandhurst or the Cambridge have major issues, they do not have much chance, but they were going to battle that Saarland to the end.

5th place was possible, as Anna got in the car and accelerated out of the pits.

“Now, let’s race” she said to herself.

(to be continued)

[Knugcab]

TEAM TRAFIKJOURNALEN
4 AM - 8 AM

Both Hansen and Andersson now got some much needed time to rest. The Ambrosia had been relatively reliable and they did trust Carléns driving skills, even if he tried to push the beige barge a bit too hard.

They didn’t wake up until much later when Carlén came back for refuelling.

"Everything is fine?", Hansen asked.

"Yeah", Carlén answered. "Played a game of cat and mouse with the Callahan too, was too hard to resist, now I will probably be seen as an asshole, haha"

With the tank filled up, the beige barge once again went away, maybe getting back on the track with a little bit too fast pace, with the tail breaking out, but hey. It was begging to be driven that way.

TO BE CONTINUED…

[Knugcab]

PART 6
8 AM - NOON

With 4 hours left of the race, the WRK has to go in for refuelling. The Przenopewien once again hits another object on the track, this time it is the Callahan. The Przenopewien needs some mild panel beating but the Callahan looks worse and will need lots of time in the pits. Meanwhile, the Sandhurst does some light guardrail nudging, meaning that the Saarland has to slow down for it, and the Régal also has to slow down but manages to pass the two cars. The Bricksley slightly nudges the Cambridge but it doesn’t seem to make any major damage to any of the cars.

It might look worrying that the Cambridge immediately is going into the pits but it seems like if it was just running out of fuel. The WRK is braking to not hit a skidding Seongu, resulting in the WRK being hit by the Sandhurst instead, and the Régal barely avoiding the mess with a spinout. The WRK is in such a sad shape that Team Rogue Traders decides to end the race, and the Sandhurst requires quite a lot of time for panel beating in the pits.

The sort of aggressive driving has given the Seongu the lead, but at the same time it seems to be kind of harsh on the little hatchback, for example now it was nudging the guardrail again. The Callahan barely avoids the guardrail at the same spot, something the Bricksley doesn’t. Team Shift Happens now has to do some straightening of sheetmetal in the pits, and at the same time they fill up the tank. Also refuelling is the Sandhurst.

Aggressive driving has also been somewhat of a trademark for Team “If it’s not punk it’s junk”. A spinout of the Cambridge also causes a spinout of the Seongu. The Régal barely avoids all of this, passing that whole bunch of cars is a slightly impatient Erik Carlén in the Saarland, but he seems to be misjudging the speed of the Bricksley driving ahead of this car-pileup. A sideswipe later, the Bricksley now has two flapping doors on the OTHER side, meaning that a visit in the pits is needed, while the Saarland seems to be battered and bruised, but more or less intact from a function standpoint, and continues like if nothing happened. As a host, we apologize to Team shift happens already now.

After some hectic minutes, it is all calming down. Maybe driving for hours are taking its toll on some of the drivers, because we have seen better driving than the one Team Septic tank is doing right now. Also, the Przenopewien has to go in for refuelling.

Coming back on the track, the Przenopewien is behaving strange, sometimes pinging like crazy. Going back into the pits, it turns out that the distributor is loose, maybe been knocked from all the beating the orange soapbar has been taking.

It is all calm at the moment, spare for the driving by Team Oxracers in the white Seongu #41 being a bit aggressive again, causing some nudging of the Union without any further damage.

The Régal does some slight nudging of the guardrail, causing the Callahan to swerve. Maybe Team Desert Scavengers has been misjudging things a little, because with just some minutes left they have to refuel their Union. Barely getting back on track, all the 24 hours have went and the race is over.

@AndiD @Texaslav @stm316 @Maverick74 @karhgath @Madrias @Elizipeazie @Fayeding_Spray @TheYugo45GV @Vento @interior @Jaimz68 @Rudzis @cake_ape @SheikhMansour @MrdjaNikolen

(Results are pending since I want to make some more RP room.)