Ah, Detho33 Cho, the best brand of racing seats on the market!
They were on special offer at Temu.
A solid car the Elba is, it still lost some bodywork in the incident. Most of the lights are still intact, nearly half of them work. Worse still was Harald’s neck, as he was hurt fairly bad. Apparently, he likes the Hans-device now. With Harald struggling to get out through the damaged door, the rest of the crew hammered the remaining bodywork before checking the suspension, and hammering that as well. The car did pull to the right a bit more than usual before pitting, and Abdullah hopes it’s better now as he gets into the driver’s seat to put his first stint in.
The Erikssons
Post 1 - Hours 1-4
Race Start
The start of the race goes pretty much without incident, although Elin has a few things to say about the handling over the radio.
“That ‘ballast’ you left in the back didn’t help much, I just almost went over! Make sure the others know about that before they get in, please.”
A while later, the Elba sends Aatto running for the radio.
“Elin, are you alright?!?”
The silence leaves a sense of dread for a moment before the reply comes.
“Just a bit stunned. Wish these other idiots would watch where they’re going.”
A sigh of relief in the pitbox is followed by a few more hours of uneventful racing until-
The 4 Hour Mark
The walkie-talkie crackles to life as Elin’s voice comes in loud, but not so clear.
“Alright team, that’s 4 hours, I’m coming in for our first stop this lap.”
4 Hours into the race, it’s time for our first pit stop. Elin’s been pushing it, so we’re running down on fuel, and Aatto’s been anxious to look over the car since that hit from the Elba and the later, less violent tap from the Rosewood.
“Alright, Elin’s on his way in - I’m going to make sure that hit from the elba didn’t do too much damage to the suspension, Linnea, you’ve got refueling, Sven, you take care of Elin. Grab a Gatorade, spare batteries for the walkie-talkie, you know the drill.”
A general cacophony of “Yes ma’am!” from the twins follows, as everyone gets themselves together.
Thankfully, due to the height of the van, Aatto doesn’t even need to jack it up to inspect the underside, and despite the lack of an undertray on the dirt track, as well as the few hits it endured, the Caducus seems mostly unmarred.
“Underside’s good, Lin?”
“Give me another 15 seconds and I’ll be done over here!”
“Good to hear, how’re you doing Elin?”
"I’m ready to go, you have the call-off Lin!
A few seconds later, as Linnea clicks the gas-cap in place, and waves to Elin, the Caducus is off again, spraying gravel at the cars behind - and linnea, still standing next to the van as it left.
“OW!”
Team Highway Hooligans
(Yes, this is just Jake’s POV of things - If we feel the need for pit-lane POV, we’ll do a proper collab.)
Behind the Wheel, Noon to 4 PM
As the green flag flies, Jake drops the Bricksley into drive and puts his foot on the floor. The pitiful I5 revs up and blows out a faint wisp of smoke from one of the two exhaust tips on the car, and the Bricksley advances at a “brisk medium forward” pace, rather than the hard charge Jake was anticipating. This, however, has been advantageous as he avoids driving into the back of Timeloss’ Kazhron within 30 seconds of the race’s start.
The first couple hours weren’t too bad for Jake, just trying his best to keep out of trouble. Of course, driving a car with the wheelbase of some city buses meant some compromises to handling, but so far, he’d avoided hitting anyone. However, he could feel the drag of the right-hand-drive setup on the wheel, making the already alarming understeer that much harder to deal with. Especially as the open differential and underpowered engine really didn’t want to cooperate and let him swing the ass end out - the shitty tires weren’t quite shitty enough for that strategy.
An hour later, Jake gets caught out staring at a rolling Tarquini tumbling across the track, nearly plowing into the barrier as he hooks the wheel, trying to make the corner. The shit-tastic cross-ply tires squeal like a 70’s car chase as Jake wrestles with the car, leaving barely enough room for a drifting McNamara and Hakumai to slide on by.
The sudden shunt of a car in his rear bumper gets Jake’s attention - He’s just been driven into by the Crown Vic, which tries to spin him out. Jake watches as the Carlisle narrowly avoids the battle of the Yank Tanks. A bang on the guardrail announces the VerBanka choosing between getting involved with two can openers while driving a tin can, or a little lost paint to the safety device. The Seongu squeals tires as it spins out, trying to avoid the huge roadblock thrown across the track. Finally, after realizing that all they were doing was making a track hazard and losing time, the Smith Brothers decide to quit driving into the Bricksley with the Crown Vic, and spin their tires as they take off. Jake puts his foot on the firewall, asking for the “brisk medium forward” again, getting an extra punch of acceleration as the McNamara bounces off the heavy steel-and-chipped-chrome rear bumper. He gets on the radio with a smirk. “Hey, thanks for the boost!”
Four hours in, Jake has a small opportunity, approaching a car that is a few positions ahead of him on the track. He aims the bash bar for the Uyemura’s rear bumper and stomps hard on the gas pedal. The tired automatic responds to the kickdown cable exactly as planned, and the 2.3 liter I5 bellows a war cry as the Bricksley advances a bit like an alligator - faster than it would lead you to believe it could go - and punts the Uyemura’s rear bumper with a bit of authority.
“Hello there!” Jake quips over the radio, giggling to himself as the smaller, lighter car scampers off in a hurry.
Team Highway Hooligans
(And now the collab with @Elizipeazie can begin.)
Highway Hooligans Pit Lane, Noon to 4 PM
As Jake leaves the line at a snail’s pace, Cody groans. “See, this is why the car needs a V8, Trev. It’s slow. A tired tipsy turtle could outrun it.”
Trevor shrugs. “It’s slow enough to not get into trouble, fast enough to not be last. See, we’re already ahead of the Russian Breadbox.”
“Finishing at all is better than glory-running for a couple of laps and running it into a wall and getting stuck there. In any case, if I am to make it six hours in an aluminum bathtub with no padding whatsoever, i better be as well rested as can be. I shall be at the truck to take a nap.” Valentin comments, already dabbling around on a sleek watch worn on his left wrist before heading off to do as announced.
Cody shrugs. “See ya in about 5-ish hours.”
With Val now off to bed, Cody and Trevor settle in to watch the chaos. Cars crash into each other or spin out, the guardrail collects a few stripes of paint, and the two casually point out things that each driver is doing wrong.
As the Tarquini rolls over, Cody shouts out, “Hey, look, a tumbleweed!”
Trevor gets a good chuckle out of this, though grimaces as Jake squeals the tires on the Bricksley. “Damn it, take it easy on the tires! You do that to one of the retreads, you’re going to leave pieces behind!”
“Do we really have retreads?” Cody inquires.
“There’s two in the Really Shit tire pile. Basically, use 'em if it’s a choice between not finishing, or getting a few laps in.”
Not long after, the Crown Vic tries to PIT maneuver the heavy Bricksley.
“Steer into the skid!” Trevor yells, aware that Jake probably can’t hear him.
Cody grabs the radio instead. “Next chance you get, put that fucker in the wall!”
When the McNamara punts the limo, Trevor reaches for the radio, only to hear Jake jokingly replying “Thanks for the boost!” which was proof enough he was okay.
4 PM rolls around quick, and Trevor watches as Jake aims the Bricksley like a massive motorized missile at the smaller Uyemura. Sure enough, he hears the engine respond, watching as the Bricksley accelerates a bit quicker than anticipated, and gives the Uyemura a decent shunt.
“Hello there!” Jake quips.
“God damn it, Jake! We told you before, spin 'em out, don’t ram 'em!” Trevor yells into the radio.
TEAM TRAFIKJOURNALEN
PART 1.1 - NOON-4 PM
In doubt if the car would hold up the whole race, the team put Carlén behind the wheel for the first stint, to at least get as many laps as possible to start with. And overall, the first stint went almost boringly good. The IP was soldiering on at a slow but steady pace, and Hansen and Andersson were half (or fully) asleep in the pits. In fact, it would have went on almost flawlessly if it wasn’t for the giant car pileup that Carlén used all of his experience to avoid. However, the track being crowded with cars everywhere made it hard. The skidding Carlisle was a bit too much to really avoid.
CRUNCH!
“Oh crap”, Carlén thought. “Well, I didn’t have much of a choice I guess.”
Andersson and Hansen was looking at the small incident, but agreed that shit just happens, and kept watching the IP just keep going for the first four hours. They could not remember the last time a 24h had been this free of incidents for the magazine’s own team, at least not for the first hours.
The Smith Brothers
Race Part 1: 12PM-4PM
(Perspective: Driver - Roy)
Previous Posts:
He let out a long breath as the he lined up for the start of the race.
Mind: Come on Roy, you’ve got this…
The race started and the sound of wheelspin filled the air, the adrenaline rushed through his body as he eased the throttle up to speed. He looked ahead to the first turn to see a few close calls with some of the other cars. With a car to his side he taps the brakes early to take a wide, but sideways line. Quickly regaining control.
Roy: Come one Roy, don’t be an idiot now. The start matters…
He looked back to see two other cars fail miserably at taking the wide line.
Roy: That should get them away from being up my rear. At least I know I’m better than two of the drivers here.
The crackle of the radio equipment came to life as he continued throughout the first lap.
Edward (Over the radio): Hey Roy, Edward and Jonas here, how did the car feel on the jump? Oh and also, nice save.
Roy (Over the radio): Could be better but cant really complain, the rear feels a little loose, as evident by that near spin out, but other than that nothing to worry about. Anyway, let me focus up for a bit and check back in in about 20 minutes. Unless urgent.
Edward (Over the radio): Copy that.
Roy: Dang, I’m skidding all over the place this is horrendous! I’ll see if they can do something in the stop.
After what seemed like years of driving Roy’s slow degradation of focus caught up to him, he completely misjudged the corner and slammed the brakes. There was a loud CRUNCH as the car slammed straight into the rear fender of a limousine.
Roy: Crap, crap holy… ah.
He spun his tires trying to dig the car out of the hunk of metal that was the Highway Hooligans car. After managing to break free of the car, he saw another unfortunate soul take a bite of the guardrail instead of going head on with a limo.
Roy (Over the radio): So hey uh, I may, or may not of, crashed and PIT maneuvered another car. Check for damage as I drive by the pit straight.
Edward (Over the radio): He sighed Very good… from what I can tell nothing much, just another dent in the bodywork. What I do know is we are getting shot dirty looks from the team, expect backlash when you meet him again. Also, Jonas is sleeping, its his stint next.
Roy (Over the radio): Already made an enemy and we aren’t even 4 hours in. Hey, let Jonas know that the car is very loose on the rear, if we can, fix it in the stop.
Edward (Over the radio): Alright, Ill see if I can put a weight in the front of the car. Might help.
Roy (Over the radio): Ok, fuel looks good for now. Ill update if anything happens.
Edward (Over the radio): Alright.
Nothing else eventful happened in the proceeding hours.
4 HOUR UPDATE
Edward (Over the radio): Rightio, you are uhhh, 25th, which is 2nd last, and you have done 204 laps, which is 51 laps behind the leader, cars to worry about are, uhh, the Bricksley, which is on the same lap as you. The car infront of them is the TDF, which is 11 laps ahead, that can easily change. The car behind you is 7 laps away. I want you to try to push a little bit more, but focus on exit speed in the corners. Engine is running fine and there are no underlying issues.
Four hours are over
Chanty tried hard not to get into any trouble, and even after being rammed twice, the car was still going well and she only got minor scratches and bruises. But as she never drove in such a competition before, her nerves started to fade with every lap - and she accidentally ripped of a part not that unimportant…
NO! Why always me? WHY?
She grabs her phone and wants to call her dad and wake him up for a quick fix, as she always does when something is wrong, especially if a car is involved, but then thinks otherwise. No, she can be on her own. She will handle this - and continues driving. Two hours left until the pit stop, and she will somehow manage this.
PART 2: 4 PM - 8 PM
We are four hours into the race and the Carlisle now brushes the guardrail just slightly. Less lucky was the TDF that encountered a hit from the Uyemura, though the damage seems to be small after all. Though the TDF is taking away with its wheels spinning, making it lose some valuable time. The Bricksley also does some small guardrail brushing, with minimal damage. The Tarquini is close to it at the same corner but manages to escape it with just a slight margin. The Velocity takes the corner a bit too optimistic, spins round a lap but is continuing to drive almost immediately. That leads to Team Slow’s Hakumai having to slow down, no pun intended. The next thing happening is the Caducus brushing the SED sending it skidding all over the track. The SED is everything but a beauty now, not that it maybe was to start with, but the race seems to go on. The McNamara now goes in for a fuel stop. The Kazhron does a small shunt into the guardrail but bounces back on the track again. However, the Rosewood hits the SED quite heavily, meaning that the SED has to go to the pits. The trunklid that flew open and won’t close anymore is now secured with a ratchet strap by the team, and the SED is good to go again.
The ACR does some bumping of the guardrail, and maybe they are getting wise from their earlier encounters, because the Highway Hooligans in their Bricksley are doing some unusually calm driving now. The somewhat top heavy Tarquini goes up on two wheels in a corner again but at least it doesn’t flip over this time. Carlén in the IP chooses to eat some guardrail instead of having a Tarquini land on the car, the box takes a quite heavy hit but still seems to be OK. In turn, the Velocity also takes a hit from the guardrail to avoid the Tarquini. It’s more unclear why now, a while after the last mess, the Hakumai goes hard into the rail, but it does and the results aren’t pretty. Car seems to still hold up, but since they are going in for a refuelling anyway they will probably check it out. It seems like that for Team Timeloss, handling the Soviet breadbox isn’t the easiest, since the Kazhron seems to be all over the track now. That also means that the Ferdon have kind of a hard time to pass it, slowing town the pace of Team Bakewell Baguette. The Rosewood goes in for refuelling.
The Tarquini now takes a hit from the Carlisle, sending it into a skid, but as it seems like, not with any serious damage. Both the ACR and the MCP goes in for refuelling, so does the Uyemura. The Bricklet is in some close contact with the rail. The Newton has to swerve for the Bricklet bouncing back with a wide skid. It seems like the driver of the Velocity is a bit too hot blooded leaving the pits after the first fuel stop, since it happens with spinning tyres.The Seongu comes too fast into a corner, plows with its front end and barely escapes the guardrail, the driver of the Arlington seems to be a bit slow in his reactions and barely escapes a crash with the Seongu. Soon after comes the Crown Vic, doing a spinout. The Kazhron is up on two wheels for a while, when trying to avoid to hit the Vic. The Elba and the Bricklet crashes into each other and while looking a bit nasty, none of the cars are out just yet.
The Uyemura comes into a rather wide skid now, causing the Newton to slow down. The TDF is the next car to be close to spinning out, followed by the Seongu. Meanwhile, the Caducus goes in for a fuel stop. It certainly looks like David vs. Goliath when the Crown Vic is ramming the Seungo, but it seems like the little red hatchback is still going, despite the jarring impact. Another heavy shunt is the SED hitting the McNamara from behind, but despite both cars starting to look like wrecks, it doesn’t seem to affect them other than giving the McNamara some velocity in the right direction. In another corner, it is getting a bit tight and the Kazhron comes into some close contact with the Velocity, and after some bashing we start to wonder how long the now rather sad looking Kazhron will hold up. The driver of the Ferdon really needed to use the reflexes now to not be the third car involved in that carnage. The Arlington on the other hand, has to go in for a fuel stop.
We don’t know if the driver of the Carlisle is getting a bit tired, what we know is that we see some erratic driving now. Speaking of the Carlisle, it now goes in for its first fuel stop and….the erratic driving seems to continue, because the CAC has to swerve for it doing some strange driving when coming out of the pits again. Speaking of the CAC, it’s now its turn to do its first fuel stop. The Uyemura is still driving a bit too wild, skidding wildly all over the track. We’re surprised, however, how much the Hooligans seems to have calmed down with the driving of the Bricksley, it’s almost like a ride to church on a sunday at the moment. The thirsty Newton goes in for its second fuel stop. The driver of the Velocity seems to be tired of the Bricksley being driven at quite a slow pace, tries to pass it but gets into a skid with spinning wheels. That leads to trouble for the drivers of the Hakumai, that was trying to get in between them, and the Seongu, trying to pass on the outside. It’s only a miracle that the mother of all tangles didn’t happen. The SED arrives a bit late to the party and has to slow down rapidly, the same goes for the McNamara coming after it. The driver of the Kazhron, however, observes the mess and slows down in time. The Ferdon, that has been in the pits for refuelling, is entering the track again, a bit wide. The Elba has to swerve not to hit it.
It seems like that after refuelling the Bricksley, the Hooligans had enough of the sunday driving and started with the borderline insane driving again. Unfortunately, they got the punishment in form of going almost straight ahead in the first corner. The Velocity once again tried to do an attempt to overtake it at even more speed, in the same corner, resulting in a crunch in the guardrail. Soon after that, the Hakumai gives the TDF a little tap. After a crash against the guardrail, there is steam coming out of the hood from the Crown Vic, luckily the Smith Brothers had brought a spare radiator with them, which they replaced as quick as they could. It is almost a battle behind the iron curtain, when the Kazhron hits the Wartburg. The Wartburg seems to be OK while the Kazhron has to go to the pits for some panel beating. The VerBanka passes the crash with flying colours only to spin out afterwards.
The Wartburg shows a lot of understeer through a corner now, it barely makes it through. The Uyemura doesn’t, and scratches the guardrail slightly. The Tarquini coming after makes it, but once again, barely. Even though it has been a while since it hit something, there still is some erratic driving done by the Velocity. The Crown Vic drifts through a corner a little bit too wide, losing probably a fair amount of time with that. The Kazhron goes into the pits for inspection after having hit the guardrail one more time, it turns out that the tie rod was bent out of shape, and the team straighens it out the best they can. No idea if it’s fatigue or something else, but we have seen better driving than we see from the Ferdon at the moment.
The Wartburg gives the MCP a shunt, and both cars are looking really sad now, but despite almost falling apart at the moment, they keep driving. Since it is time to refuel the Wartburg anyway, we guess it gets a quick examination at the pits in any case. The Uyemura passes them with a wide skid. The Hakumai gives the Ferdon a little tap. It seems like the Ferdon stalled after the hit and that the team has some struggle with starting it, but eventually they are up and away again
Eight hours into the race, the standings are as following:
- Team machinas con passione - MCP - Lap #531 @SurrealCereal
- Team Oxracers II - Seongu - Lap #528 @AndiD
- Team Rcket - Bricklet - Lap #526 @Sealboi
- Team Chitco - VerBanka - Lap # 513 @MrdjaNikolen
- The Comedians’ Clique - Arlington - Lap # 506 @Texaslav
- Team Slow - Hakumai - Lap #500 @interior
- The Rhino Squad - Primus - Lap #496 @Happyhungryhippo
- Team SRD - SED - Lap #495 @SCSI
- The Spy kids - Rosewood - Lap #493 @SheikhMansour
- Team Trafikjournalen - IP - Lap #493 @Knugcab
- Team GRTTT - CAC - Lap #491 @Djadania
- Team Daytona Dreamers - McNamara - Lap #490 @Maverick74
- Team Eberswalder Rennkollektiv - Wartburg - Lap #485 @HermannMatern
- Team Shed Mechanics - Elba - Lap #484 @06DPA
- Team Bakewell Baguette - Ferdon - Lap #482 @Mythrin
- Burned gasket endurance team - Carlisle - Lap #481 @Snarklz
- Team Stamppot, Saucijzen & Shitbox - ACR - Lap #479 @shibusu
- Team Dancing queen - Newton - Lap #478 @stm316
- Team Let’s get this bread - Tarquini - Lap #472 @Danicoptero
- Team Transporttjäns Eriksson AB Eslöv - Caducus - Lap #470 @WoodenPlankGames
- Team Green Speed Racing - Velocity - Lap #460 Chat GPT
- Team Polka Dots - Uyemura - Lap #437 @doot
- Team Men of Wheels - TDF - Lap #430 @Restomod
- Team Highway Hooligans - Bricksley - Lap #406 @Madrias / @Elizipeazie
- The Smith Brothers - Crown Vic - Lap #391 @DaBoss4344
- Team Timeloss - Kazhron - Lap #355 @Fayeding_Spray
15:40 - pit stop and driver change soon
Daddy?
Yes, I am here. Jan and I have slept a bit and feel fresh now. I have already all tools in the car and will soon be at the pit lane. You need something special? Are you alright?
The shift knob broke off… I need a replacement, and you mind bringing the first aid kit? Nothing serious, just in case we need it. It´s rather rough out there, with many accidents. Please hurry up, I am running out of gas!
Thomas orders Jan to get the car started, then he rips off the tap knob in the bathroom, as you can also wash your hands in the shower - a replacement for the gearstick is more important…
At exactly 6 PM they are ready for Chanty coming into the pit lane. The car was still in good condition, well, at least if compared to others.
You did that great! No mistake, just focussing and minding your own business. Really great, give me a high fiv… eh! Your hand is bleeding! CHANTAL JOLINA NILFERT WHY DIDNT YOU CALL ME AND STOP? Thats not from five minutes grabbing into some thread where the knob used to be. How long have you been going on?
I guess two hours or so? I did not want to loose time, and I didn´t want to bother you…
We talk about this later. There is the first aid kit. JAN! TURN OFF THE ENGINE CHECK THE FLUIDS, THE OIL LAST! IT NEEDS TO DRAIN BACK A BIT FOR CORRECT MEASUREMENT! I will now bend back a bit the rear bumper, everything else seems fine, including the tires.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
JAN! NEVER EVER OPEN THE COOLANT WHEN HOT! YOU JUST NEED TO CHECK THE LEVEL IN THE RESERVOIR! Dammit! Are you ok? RESPOND!
Just a bit scared… I am fine… brake fluid is ok, and the oil dipstick… nah, too thin, can´t see anything.
Therefore you turn off the engine and let it cool down a bit. He! Grow some muscles and refill the fuel tank. There are four canisters waiting for you. AND DONT IGNITE THE CAR OR SUCH SHIT, IS THAT CLEAR?
The V-belt squeaked a bit, but the rubber was still fine, it just needed to be tensioned a bit. Thomas spotted tiny blue clouds from the exhaust when Chanty lifted the gas, but the dipstick finally indicated that the oil level was still at two thirds, and if this does not become worse, the car will make it for 24 hours. Thomas adds the best premium 10W-40 to ensure the old Primus 4C82MV engine will hold up long enough, and then takes over the seat, rushing off to continue the race.
Jan cared for Chantys other hand, then cleaned up their stuff in the pit lane, as Thomas didn´t organize the mess he left - he wanted to have the car serviced as fast as possible. But where is Chanty?
So, I am back, yes, it hurts a bit, but… now my inner Monk is satisfied, at least it´s now symmetrically injured. And look there! Like for my father going for the vic… AAARGH! Ouch! That hurt bad! Jan, are you out of your mind, pushing me so hard?
I should ask you that? Stepping on the track with the cars approaching? What were you thinking? The best pictures for your followers? Isn´t it enough that I am your follower? What´s the matter here?
Chanty sighed, then her face turned sad. In fact, so sad that Jan regretted starting that discussion.
Actually, everybody tells me that I can´t do nothing right, and now my father finally… was nice to me… and proud… and you know, when we will be back, normal life goes on, and I will be the family disappointment again, and I am just afraid of it, and I need the empowerment of these random people that watch me…
Oh, I never wanted to forbid you that, especially if it helps you, but by focussing on others that look at you … you seem to have forgotten about yourself? What if… you actually succeeding for the first time in something is a chance to make it all better back home?
Maybe… I just need a hug? Please don´t make me beg for it.
And as she forgot to turn off the livestream, all 500 spectators watched the deep discussion - and spammed her with likes and gentle words, agreeing with Jan and telling her to just accept that she cant be good at everything, but should nevertheless enjoy everyone in her team being very proud of her for her great results.
8 PM
Damn, dad, you are driving like a swiss clockwork! We are now 7th and the car in front of you is falling apart. The one behind you doesn´t look much better.
Great! Let´s see how lucky we will be in the end… it´s actually going a bit too well. How are you doing?
Took a shower as I was a bit muddy and made myself a hot chocolate… I will fall into the bed I guess, after I will have woken Jan up at 11 PM.
Make that 10;30! I am damn hungry! Turn on the carbecue and make him bring me some sausages then.
You and your sausages! You support animal cruelty with the tons of meat you consume.
If god wanted us to eat plants, animals wouldn´t taste that good. So, please execute my order before I have to eat your ugly ass plush steering wheel cover. See you at midnight, my gorgeous money pit!
The Erikssons
Post 2 - Hours 5-8
More Racing
After a few more uneventful minutes of Racing, Elin has hit the SED -
“Shit, sorry!”
- Leading to a quick driver’s radio call and a very courteous driver slowing down to give the position back to the faster car, not even considering that he’s so many laps behind that it does not matter if he’s ahead or behind him on the track.
However, after that incident, not much else happened, leading to a relatively peaceful second stint for Elin.
Once more crackles to life the radio.
“You’re almost done Elin, pit time again.”
Just under a minute later, the Caducus was on approach. Aatto, once again, started barking orders.
“Linnea, you’re next on driving, grab some more walkie talkie batteries and get in there. Sven, refuel it while she gets situated. I’m going to check the fluids.”
The stop goes mostly without issue - Aatto’s inspection passes, fuel gets filled, and Linnea’s off to the races, this time without throwing rocks at anyone. A few minutes later, Sven breaks the silence.
“Well, I’ve got to drive in 8 hours, I’m gonna go sleep in the backseat of the car.”
Elin only has one reply.
“I’ve just driven for 8 hours. I call the middle row.”
Team Highway Hooligans
(Another collab with @Elizipeazie, as expected.)
Highway Hooligans, 4 PM to 8 PM
Jake yawns as he aims the car around the track, surprised at how tiring the whole process could be. It’d only been 4 hours behind the wheel, but with the added drag on the steering and watching out for “high speed” traffic, he was starting to get physically and mentally exhausted. The end result was that Jake, after fighting off another yawn and watching out for two actively crashing cars, ended up drifting wide in a sweeping turn and scraping up the side of the limousine by using the guardrail to turn, like a wall-rider in a video game.
“Guys, I’m coming into the pits before I fuck up the car.”
In the pit lane, chaos ensued. “Val’s still asleep!” Cody yells.
“So wake him up, Cody, while Jake brings the limo in,” Trevor responds.
As Jake approaches in the great-lumbering-shit-barge, Cody runs over to the truck where Val’s sleeping. He tries knocking on the window first, and yelling “Val! Jake came in early, we need you behind the wheel!”
The end result was no response. Cody sighs and yells to Trevor, “He sleeps like the dead!”
“Hey, Jake, hit the horns,” Trevor says.
Jake shrugs, then hits the horn button three times, amused by the old-school and surprisingly loud horns attached to the bumper.
Sound Reference
“Well, I suppose that’s the first proper test of those since we installed them for Shitbox 23,” Jake admits.
A proper test which turned out surprisingly successful as Valentin actually returns from his almost-comatose state to being somewhat awake.
“Huh… what is going on here?” Valentin inquires, taking a moment to reorient himself in the Moover truck, “It isn’t even time yet…”
“Jake came in early after scuffing the whole side of the car up on a guard-rail,” Cody admits.
Jake climbs out of the car and groans, taking a few unsteady steps toward a lawn chair and practically falling in it. “It wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t fuckin’ 50 other cars crowding around the barge at all times,” Jake grumbles, “but between the steering and the lack of power, I’m getting road fatigue.”
Trevor shrugs. “Well, either Val can hop in, if he’s ready, or one of us can take over for a while.” He looks over toward Cody and Val, then yells, “Hey, Val, you up for an early take-over, or should one of us draw straws to see who takes over?”
While the others discussed further actions, Valentin took the opportunity to cease nanite-induced sedation, instead, they are now used to speed up Valentin’s would-be hour-long process of mentally getting going to acceptable levels.
“Three, maybe five minutes and i can go.” he eventually responds, already digging around for his helmet.
A couple of minutes later, Valentin is about as ready as can be, ‘gracefully’ climbing into the car and buckling up.
“I’m just gonna try and not break it, right?” he inquires, now realizing that getting the car in drive is… a challenge.
Trevor nods. “From what Jake has said, the thing’s a bit of a beast, so taking it slow for a bit might be a good idea. After all, it’s an endurance event, not a sprint - Any laps you can make are good ones.”
“Put the hammer down and give 'em all hell!” Cody yells. “We’ve got the bash bar in case you have to bump someone out of your way.”
“Good luck out there, Val,” Jake adds, giving Val a thumbs up as Trevor snaps a picture of the driver in the right hand seat of the car.
“Sorry, just, first time the dual-control-system’s getting used, so I’m making a note in case this works really well for some… Wacky races. A thought I’ve had forever has been to have one guy operating the pedals, and their co-pilot gets the steering wheel,” Trevor admits.
Valentin just nods before starting a yoga session to shift the car to ‘drive’ with his left knee.
“Off I go then…” he mutters, tentatively making his way out onto the track, unfamiliar with racing, the track, the car and it’s non-standard control scheme.
As Valentin sets out onto the track, the remaining crew in the pit area settle in to watch some of the racing.
Sure, their own car was now trundling around the track at “granny goes out for groceries” pace, but there was still plenty of excitement, like the tippy Tarquini forcing the IP and the Velocity to munch on the guardrail, or the Hakumai plowing into the rail.
“That’ll be a setback,” Trevor blurts out, watching as the Hakumai crawls into the pits for fuel and to fix the car.
“Yeah, they’ll have to unfuckify the whole front end,” Cody adds.
A squirming Kahzron wiggling down the track gets a chuckle out of Jake. “Well, it’d be a good martini mixer - “Shaken, not stirred,” after all.”
“Might be strategic,” Trevor admits. “It slowed down that Ferdon.”
The rolling commentary continued for some time as the race progressed, though the one thing that remained constant was the casual pace of Val in the Bricksley.
“Wonder if the throttle cable needs adjustment…” Trevor says, watching as the Bricksley gets passed by just about everything again, though this time, the Velocity goes to pass, gets into a skid, nearly hits the already-badly-beaten Hakumai, and forces the Seongu wide to avoid a four car tangle with the Bricksley being the only one likely to survive such an encounter. He watches with gleeful amusement as the SED and the McNamara have to pile on their brakes to avoid the chaos.
Then, as Valentin brings the car in for fuel, Cody grabs the fuel cans and Trevor looks through the window.
“Is there something wrong with the accelerator?” Trevor asks.
“Cannot tell. Honestly, I have been going cautious so as to not fuck things up…” Valentin somewhat sheepishly admits, his foot firmly on the brake pedal so as to prevent the car from crawling into the pit box ahead of him.
“Vague steering, the biggest car in the field and an upturned bucket covered in a blanket for a seat makes for suboptimal conditions.” He adds, “I can try to get a semblance of speed going…”
Jake chuckles. “Glad to hear that our impressions of the car are quite similar despite different seating positions,” he admits.
“Full tank!” Cody yells.
Trevor shrugs. “Only one way to know if the gas pedal works properly. I think we got the transmission kickdown cable hooked up for both of them, so if it’s in top gear and doesn’t want to go, just stomp on the throttle - It’ll make the automatic downshift. Anyway, good luck out there.”
Trevor steps back, making sure everyone’s clear of the car before tapping twice on the roof to let Val know he’s clear to go.
“Good to know.” Valentin quickly responds before actually flooring it this time.
The burst of enthusiasm lasted all the way to the first corner at the exit of pit road, where he promptly missed the braking point by an entire postcode, thus understeering into the dirt behind that turn.
“Right… More speed equals earlier brakes,” Valentin reminded himself once he maneuvered his way back onto the track, eventually finding what loosely could be called a rhythm.
Trevor grimaces as he watches the Bricksley take off like a rocket and then skid way into the dirt at the first turn. “Probably should have warned him that the cross-ply tires are a little bit shit, but at least he learned without putting the car in the wall,” Trevor mutters to himself.
As the Velocity tries to overtake the Bricksley with even more speed this time, they learn the lesson about braking distances as well, firing their car into the guardrail with a solid sounding crunch. A little bumper tag between the TDF and the Hakumai gets a chuckle out of Cody, and Jake witnesses the aftermath of the Crown Vic kissing a guardrail and popping the radiator. Then the Kahzron punts the Wartburg, which doesn’t go over too well for the Soviet breadbox as it returns to the pits for some panel beating. Jake watches with curiosity as the various, and varied, crew members try to straighten out the van enough to keep going.
The remaining hour goes by quite quickly, with just a few more bangs and scuffs from other cars, another trip to the pits for the Kahzron, and a bit more bumper tag from the Hakumai, this time with the Ferdon.
Notes: All are written as catalogued notes by Mirage.
Noon - Race started, already got into some problems with the VerBanka, thankfully Ruuka was able to keep things in line. We’re slow, like we expected, but it shouldn’t be too bad.
2pm - Still not much, few spins around us, and some other collisions. We’ve made sure not much else happens.
3pm - Small tappies with the MCP, bastards need to learn to drive better.
4pm - tracking us as 68 laps behind the leader, 4 hours in. Aurora’s also telling me we’re only 7 laps off the Crown Vic, who is ahead of us.
4pm again - Right as I close up that fact, clatter the guardrail. Damage looks minimal from what I can see from here, but not a good sign. Hopefully it doesn’t get worse.
5pm - Excellent driving from Ruuka puts us up on the bike, but needed to avoid the damn Crown Vic having an accident.
5:30 - Whelp, Velocity hit us. Breadbox is looking worse for wear. Any more, might have to start making some repairs. Really not gonna enjoy that otherwise.
7pm - Another smack with the wall gives us too much damage to be comfortable with. We’re pulling into the pits to see what’s broken.
7pm Damage Assessment - Tie rod was buggered, got Zoya and Victoria to smack the thing back into shape, but we have no idea if it’ll hold up. Swapped out Ruuka for Selena, hopefully she can keep things in check better, but we might be getting touchy.
8pm - Another 4 hours, another lap check in. Dead last still, 355 laps completed (One for every day of the year - G) sitting at 176 laps down on the leading team. Aurora’s pegged us at 36 laps down on 25th, solid gap, gonna need for some other teams to have some bigger issues. I’ll check back in if something else happens.
TEAM TRAFIKJOURNALEN
PART 1.2 - 4 PM-8 PM
“Well, it’s almost going too well”, Hansen said to Andersson.
“At least for us”, Andersson replied, and laughed at team SRD trying to use a ratchet strap to get their trunk on the SED to close.
A while later, they saw the little crackerbox meeting the guardrail, but they agreed that despite a (hopefully) well built cage, some guardrail brushing was better than a Tarquini van flattening you.
“Man, you blamed ME for playing pinball with the cars on the track two years ago”, Andersson said to Hansen. “What do you say about the idiots in the Velocity then, crashing into absolutely everything? It is like freakin’…banger racing!”
“I guess you could say that they are going bananas”, Hansen said, laughing, without Andersson having a clue why.
Being half asleep for a while, they woke up to a yellow thing surrounded by a steam cloud coming into the pits. It seemed like the Crown Vic needed a radiator change. Well, nothing the team needed help with, probably. No fire that needed to be put out.
Falling asleep again, they woke up to the sound of a sledgehammer, being related to Timeloss trying to correct the toe in from hell on their Soviet van. But all in all, there had not been much drama, and Carlén rolled in with a slightly battered, but sound, Rubiq, and left over the wheel to Hansen. Trafikjournalen’s own Captain Slow.
(Teams mentioned: @SCSI @Danicoptero @Djadania / ChatGPT @DaBoss4344 @Fayeding_Spray )
8 PM - MIDNIGHT:
We see now how the McNamara is drifting wildly through the corners. The Carlisle hits the Bricklet with a heavy thud, and we have another couple of cars looking rather sad at the moment, but still without any critical damage it seems like. What follows is that the Crown Vic gives the Carlisle a little tap. The next thing that happens is that the VerBanka and the Ferdon has some close contact, and the Ferdon shows off some wheelspin when trying to take off again. The Velocity bites the guardrail when there is an attempt to avoid getting into that action. The Elba is a little bit late in filling up the tank and sputters towards the pits. The SED does some light contact with the rail. The driver of the Uyemura does its best to avoid all the chaos on the track, but seems to have hands full with that at the moment. The Bricklet seems to run completely out of fuel and is coasting towards the pits. The CAC takes a corner with way too much speed and….BANG! There it goes into the guardrail. Since the whole front end is pushed in a fair bit, being dangerously close to lots of moving parts, the team has to spend lots of time in the pits to straighten things out. The next thing happening is that the Primus gives the Hakumai kind of a hard hit, but that doesn’t end well for the lighter Primus either, both cars looks like they are close to falling apart. While the Hakumai drives away, the Primus gets hit by the Kazhron immediately afterwards. And…uhm, well, it seems like that solved the problem with the inoperable drivers door a bit too well. The door flies open and now mr. Nilfert tries to close it multiple times in anger, with no success. The car goes into the pits where they have to solve that problem more permanently. The Kazhron follows it closely into the pits, for a refuelling, and we just hope that team Timeloss won’t have to face too much German fury at the moment.
Maybe it is getting a little slippery in the misty evening because the Newton seems to slip around like a soap bar now. Far from the, at the moment, rather cautious driving by the Caducus. The McNamara goes in for refuelling. Another car encountering traction problems seems to be the Carlisle, and the same could be said about the IP. The Velocity is once again playing pinball against the guardrail, and this time it has to spend some time in the pits for straightening out sheetmetal. The Wartburg and the Kazhron gets into yet another crash. Unfortunately, it also means that the frame of the Wartburg is bent like a banana from all the crashing, and the Wartburg is out of the race. The Kazhron seems to still be operable, however, a huge dent in the floor of the forward control van means that the clutch pedal now can’t be pressed down, so they have to spend some time in the pits to solve that problem.The TDF driver notices the two wrecked cars a bit late, almost veering off the track with locked up wheels. The driver of the Ferdon strikes the guardrail in an attempt to escape this mess. The Primus is barely making it through a corner now, plowing straight ahead on the front end with screeching tyres.
The Carlisle understeers through a couple of corners now. The Velocity hits the Bricksley at such an angle that one of the doors is almost ripped off, only dangling on one hinge, and the Hooligans will have to do some brainstorming in the pits to come up with a solution for this “interesting” situation. The Elba and Uyemura swerves for some flying debris from the Bricksley. The Bricklet looks pretty sad after swiping the guardrail but it seems like no repairs are needed, at least yet.
After a crash between the Hakumai and the VerBanka, the hood of the Hakumai flies open and is bent out of shape, we bet Team Slow will have to spend quite a lot of time in the pits to straighten it out enough to latch again. The Newton goes in for its third fuel stop. In a tight corner, the Velocity comes into some close contact with the Caducus, but it doesn’t seem to have affected the vehicles all that much. The Tarquini and the CAC are the next cars to smash together. It is said that the brake pedal in the CAC went to the floor, so team GRTT are now in the pits, trying to rebuild the master cylinder. The Tarquini doesn’t seem to have suffered that much in the contact with the lighter CAC, but since it is time for a fuel stop, the team at least does a small overall check of the vehicle condition. The next smashup happens between the TDF and MCP, and that sends the MCP to the pits for some panel beating with the BFH. After refuelling, the Crown Vic leaves the pits with squealing tyres. The Hooligans are still in the pits, trying out different creative solutions to get the door back on the Bricksley. The SED goes into the pits to fill up the tank, so does the Primus and Rosewood.
The Hakumai comes out from the pits with its hood straightened out, and its tank filled up. Also, it seems like the hooligans have found some creative way to re-attach the door of their Bricksley, because now it is in place again, and the car re-enters the track. The Newton spins around in a corner but faces the correct direction again after the skid is over, and is able to continue driving. The Caducus coming after, interestingly enough, seems almost synchronized in repeating the same maneuvre. The next car to spin out is the McNamara, followed by the Velocity and its usual reckless driving. We guess the driver of the TDF now regrets what he did, trying to push the Bricksley off the track it seems like, because that behemoth wasn’t affected all that much, while the TDF needs to have some sheetmetal straightened out in the pits. We’re a bit unsure if all the driving we see from the Comedians Clique in the Arlington is all that bright at the moment, and it was probably not the best move from the Crown Vic to try to pass it, because that resulted in some spectacular skidding. The next thing that happens is some ugly bumping by the Bricksley into the Kazhron, and it seems like all the crashing has taken its toll on the Soviet breadbox now, especially the hit from a 2 ton limo, because now there is not a straight part on the van, and everything else seems to be close to falling off, and Timeloss decides to end their racing for this year. The driver of the ACR has to take it a bit careful when passing that mess. The Uyemura skids a bit wide through the corners. It seems like the MCP is kind of a tough nut to crack, because it is still in the pits, with the team trying to beat it into shape again. The same could be said about team GRTTT, still trying to refurbish the brake master cylinder of the CAC. The ACR goes in for refuelling, so does the Seongu.
The McNamara bumps into the Caducus, which seems to knock out the headlights of the McNamara. Being late at night, they are quite necessary so it’s a quick visit in the pits to replace the cracked sealed beams is made. The Velocity goes in for refuelling. The Crown Vic does some rather wide skids at the moment, and the driver of the Seongu seems to have gotten a little unexpected liftoff oversteer. The Hooligans strangely enough takes it a bit easy in the Bricksley, instead of choosing to knock the Seongu off the track. The ACR then gets into some close contact with the TDF. The Uyemura goes in for refuelling. Team Machinas con Passione has finally decided to give up on the MCP, they don’t find any hope in being able to fix the crash damage, and is out of the race. It goes a bit better for team GRTTT, the master cylinder is refurbished, the brakes are bled, and they arrive at the track again with fully working brakes on the CAC.
Now, the McNamara and the Velocity almost gets into a tangle and both vehicles does a spinout when trying to avoid that. The Ferdon and then the Crown Vic has to rapidly slow down to not get into that. The Elba too, but that one seems to be using the guardrail for slowing down. The driver of the SED is a bit less lucky and hits the McNamara. Now, a while later the Uyemura and Bricklet are the next couple of cars spinning out in an attempt to not hit each other.The Primus and the Rosewood brakes rather hard to avoid them.
The Hakumai does some wide skids now. The Caducus has to go in for a fuel stop. The canvas roof of the IP has started to concern our own guys with some worrying flapping in the wind, so their solution is to go into the pits and do some creative work with the duct tape to hold it down before it flies off. The VerBanka goes in for a little less dramatic refuelling. The Velocity takes a corner a bit too wide and almost drifts off the track. The TDF goes in for refuelling along with the Arlington. The Rosewood does a little spinout.
Half of the race is done and the standings are like this now:
- Team Oxracers II - Seongu - Lap #783 @AndiD
- Team Rcket - Bricklet - Lap #779 @Sealboi
- Team Chitco - VerBanka - Lap # 764 @MrdjaNikolen
- The Comedians’ Clique - Arlington - Lap # 757 @Texaslav
- Team SRD - SED - Lap #741 @SCSI
- The Spy kids - Rosewood - Lap #738 @SheikhMansour
- Team Daytona Dreamers - McNamara - Lap #726 @Maverick74
- Team Slow - Hakumai - Lap #722 @interior
- Team Shed Mechanics - Elba - Lap #720 @06DPA
- Burned gasket endurance team - Carlisle - Lap #720 @Snarklz
- Team Dancing queen - Newton - Lap #717 @stm316
- Team Bakewell Baguette - Ferdon - Lap #716 @Mythrin
- The Rhino Squad - Primus - Lap #715 @Happyhungryhippo
- Team Stamppot, Saucijzen & Shitbox - ACR - Lap #715 @shibusu
- Team Let’s get this bread - Tarquini - Lap #710 @Danicoptero
- Team Trafikjournalen - IP - Lap #709 @Knugcab
- Team Transporttjäns Eriksson AB Eslöv - Caducus - Lap #701 @WoodenPlankGames
- Team Green Speed Racing - Velocity - Lap #661 Chat GPT
- Team Polka Dots - Uyemura - Lap #653 @doot
- Team GRTTT - CAC - Lap #630 @Djadania
- Team Men of Wheels - TDF - Lap #613 @Restomod
- The Smith Brothers - Crown Vic - Lap #591 @DaBoss4344
- Team Highway Hooligans - Bricksley - Lap #561 @Madrias / @Elizipeazie
- Team machinas con passione - MCP - Lap #633 (DNF) @SurrealCereal
- Team Eberswalder Rennkollektiv - Wartburg - Lap #545 (DNF) @HermannMatern
- Team Timeloss - Kazhron - Lap #439 (DNF) @Fayeding_Spray
9 PM
Thomas was just casually doing his laps, as he braked and the cars front right brake disc broke, the ABS failed and the car skidded right into the Hakumai.
ARGH SHIT, WHAT WAS THAT? F…
The engine stalled and Thomas has trouble getting it back on. But just in that moment a totally banged old soviet van crashed full force into him, the rear window shatters in thousands of pieces, but at least the car is moving again, as the push persuaded the engine to return at work.
A very exhausted Chanty switched back from hot chocolate to coffee, as sleeping won´t work for her anyway, as the walkie-talkie had Thomas yelling.
I NEED YOU IN THE PITS. Fucking door doesnt close, I have no headlights and we need to do a full check.
Daddy, are you ok?
Who cares? We are loosing position and the car is trash, thats what counts!
Then stop caring for me, if you can´t even care for yourself! We are coming, anyway…
As the cabin is only five minutes away from the pit lane, getting there together with Jan was easy. Thomas immediately stopped after seeing them waving at him.
Jan: Jack it up in the front and get the wheels off! Chantal: Take the Maglites and mount them in the headlights… or what´s left of it… I need to see something in the dark. I will check what´s broken.
Miraculously, the cooling system was fully intact. The oil consumption has not worsened since the last refill and the engine itself seems unharmed. But a tie rod end snapped, and Thomas looks for the spare part in his “magic box”. Just after he repaired the brakes and steering, he realized how much time he had lost.
Don´t look at me like that! I need to find my piercing. If you wouldnt stress me that much I wouldn´t have bitten on it.
DAMN, CHANTAL JUST PUMP THE DAMN BRAKES! THE SYSTEM IS NOT PROPERLY VENTED! IT IS NOT THAT HARD, DAMN!
Chanty runs away in tears as she can absolutely not bear stress, and Jan took over.
Argh, damn, I didnt mean to be harsh to her, but she really needs to at least be able to deal with some kind of stress, if only briefly. Running away from difficulties will keep her away from everything she wants to archieve. She can´t avoid that out there in real life. You look after her? And tell her I love her?
Sure, Thomas.
All right, that looks good, no more air in the brake fluid. Now only a drip of oil for the engine and I am ready to go!
When running away, Chanty stepped into a screw, what hurt a bit, but luckily not too much, and finally has the idea to look for another smaller one in her pocket, using it as replacement for her lost lip piercing. The smallest she could find was indeed tiny enough to fit through the hole, secured it with a nut, and her sad face turned into pure happiness, as she had a lot of fun fixing this.
She turned back, but just at that moment Jan arrived.
Is he going again? How is his heart? I saw him making that painful face, and I am scared. That´s also why I ran away… I can´t stand seeing that.
Yes, he is going and his heart rate is up again, don´t your hear him shouting at others again?
Oh, you are right… by the way, the service manual for the car, is it still in the cabin?
Yes, why?
Just in case I need to be of assistance again… I`d like to read through it a bit. He still has to go a few hours until you take over, and I can use that time. I am not in TikTok streaming mood anyway.
Team Highway Hooligans
(Another collab with @Elizipeazie, as expected.)
Highway Hooligans, 8 PM to Midnight
The first hour goes by relatively well, at least from the pit lane. Jake had, by this time, dozed off in his tent, leaving Cody and Trevor awake to heckle the other teams as they raced around and crashed. The first casualty was the Wartburg, bent out of shape… Or bent into the shape of a banana.
Then the Velocity slams into the “passenger side” front door of the limousine and bounces off, nearly tearing the door off with it.
Trevor grabs the radio and keys it, as well as turning to the Velocity’s pit-box, shouting at Green Speed Racing, “Hey, ASSHOLES, don’t hit the fucking driver’s door! Do that one again, I’ll put a fire axe through your windshield, you cockroaches!”
Out on the road, things were less than stellar, courtesy of the chum-bucket seat and questionable control array, eventually made worse by a hefty shunt into his driver (the front right) door.
In trying to both keep the car on the road and himself from losing any and all concentration to the spike in discomfort, he fails to throw profanities at Green Speed Racing, instead limping it into pit road, trying to not smack the door into himself on the way there.
The car rolls to a rather gentle stop vaguely within the Highway Hooligans pit box.
“Made it. I want out…”, Valentin sighs, already unbuckling but keeping the foot firmly on the brake until he can put it in park via the gear lever. He falls back into the seat, grimacing slightly at the harsh impact into it, then takes a few deep breaths.
“Cody, help me get Val out of this car. After a crash like that, he’s not driving - he still has to drive the rig to get us home,” Trevor calls out.
Cody shrugs, then joins Trevor in trying to remove the dangling door so that Valentin has nothing stopping him from getting out of the car.
“Oh, this is going to be impossible…” Cody grumbles, just as the door finally comes off and Trevor leans it up against the fender.
“Well… Val’s side’s basically inoperable at this point. That hinge is ripped in half, the other one is twisted, the latch is ripped out of the B-pillar. If we were back home, I’d weld the door shut. We don’t have a welder,” Trevor replies, “but we have a drill and a box of deck screws. And duct tape.”
“I would rather arrive home in one piece as well…” Valentin comments, finally making his way out of the limousine.
Once out and standing, the helmet is set aside and an extensive stretch in pretty much every conceivable direction follows.
“This is why I generally do not race… going fast is one thing, clashing with other cars is another. Speaking from very intimate experience…” he adds, still in the process if loosening joints.
Trevor shrugs. “I didn’t realize there was going to be so much contact, or I’d have reinforced the barge a bit more.”
Now that Val was out, Cody and Trevor carefully put the door back in the frame, where it promptly falls back out again as both of them go looking for duct tape and deck screws.
They get back, and Cody starts by sticking the door back into the frame with several strips of duct tape. Trevor puts a screwdriver bit into the drill, puts a box of screws on the roof of the car, then crudely drives a screw through the upper door skin and into the body of the car.
The two of them continue this process for 30 minutes, with only a minor pause when Cody ran out of duct tape.
30 minutes had gone by since they’d come into the pits, but with one driver now out entirely and the door sealed in place, Cody cracks open a Monster, chugs it, and gets behind the wheel. “Time to (belch) party!”
The tires chirp as the Bricksley leaves the pit lane, rejoining the track not long after the Hakumai. “What happened, someone leave oil in that corner? I swear, four cars just-” Cody’s broadcast is interrupted by an aggressive shunt by the TDF trying to spin him out, though a bit of casual counter-steering solved that at his end. “Okay, ya bastard, I’ll give you a bumper full of push bar next time I get the chance!”
It was within the same 30 minutes that Cody saw his chance, lining the bash bar up with the TDF’s backside. With a sinister Kevin McCallister impression, Cody hits the radio button as he accelerates, announcing only one word over the I5’s war-cry. “Hello!”
Unfortunately, the TDF dances out of the way of the two ton missile, which plows into the Soviet box-shaped-object, the Kahzron of Team Timeloss.
“Oh fuck! Sorry! That shunt was not meant for you!” Cody yells into the radio.
“Well, they just came into the pits and retired,” Trevor announces.
“God damn it. Didn’t mean to do that to them,” Cody admits.
A few laps later, as the Seongu oversteers out in front of him, Cody accelerates again, though this time, he uses the bash bar for good, not evil, nudging the smaller car straight so it wouldn’t spin out.
By the time midnight rolls around, things seem to be peaceful enough in the Bricksley… For now.
im alive
Team Slow
Chapter 1. Race (i’m not including the other bits because we’d be here for a while)
Japanese engineering does quite well, apart from the small hood incident. We did in fact spend quite abit to make it latch because it wouldnt otherwise. Matt pushes the hood just far enough that it latches. And some zipties. We did drive away from the Primus incident; after refuelling the tank, Izzy gets into the car to race it, and she pulls off, all 3 litres of V8 fury. And later during the race she ends up doing some wide skids. Handling issues perhaps? Besides, it’s not suffering any mechanical flaws… Yet?
(this is quite a short one im sorry but im confirming that i am here)
Midnight - Driver change, collaboration with @HermannMatern
Thomas speeded in to the pits with dangerous speed - it was clear that a driver change was neccecary.
Eh! There you are! I had a flat tire causing me almost to crash into the barrier, but I fixed that myself with the jack. But we are out of the top ten, I guess we better hurry up. Chantal, why are you limping again? What´s wrong?
Stepped into a screw, Jan treated that, keep calm!
Damn, look after yourself and TRY NOT TO DIE! I need to install a new ignition coil, but I havent worked on these old engines for a while. Pass me the handbook, I just need to put on my glass… eh… .gla… eh, HELP! Ugh… hel…
Thomas grabbed on his chest, made a panicking facial expression, then passed out.
Chanty immediately started panicking as well, crying for her boyfriend.
I am here! Don´t worry, I handle this, please keep calm!
Just in this moment the Eberswalder Rennkollektiv with the Wartburg, being out of the race, wanted to welcome Thomas, and withnessed his serious heart attack. Grandpa Klaus-Dieter immediately realized what happened.
ALEXANDER! This does not look good. Distract the girl! If she has a mental breakdown, her boyfriend will not be able to focus on saving the life of Thomas!
Alex Biermann sprinted to Chanty, who indeed was in panic and cried uncontrollably, but Alex pulled her aside and tried to calm her to not distract the medically trained Jan. Every second was important now.
ALEX! MOVE IT! THAT IS AN ORDER! THE LESS SHE SEES, THE BETTER FOR US!
Alex did his best to care for Chantys breakdown, and she soon looked for an escape and just started working on the car to be distracted of all the drama. Meanwhile, Jan tried hard, but Thomas, without pulse, showed no response.
I lose him! Eh, grandpa, HELP ME!
Oh, my young comrade, I doubt we can do something. I heard he lived an unhealthy life, full of grilled sausages, Cabinet Würzig cigarettes and alcohol, especially whisky… his heart is used up, I am sorry. I just brought my best whisky here to ask him for a ride home, and… EH, WHISKY!
Klaus-Dieter ran back to where he dropped the expensive spirit, opened the bottle and held it under Thomas´ nose.
Thomas! I have Sloupisti! THOMAAAAAS! I know you want that, so come back to us now! I won´t empty that all by myself! THOMAS!
Thomas heart slowly started working again, it skipped a few beats, but it worked. He slowly got up, carefully helped by Jan.
Eh? What happ… eh, I don´t care. Klaus-Dieter, what are you doing here?
We are out of the race, Thomas, and you should be grateful to your daughter´s boyfriend. He saved you. Your heart passed out.
Ah, not again.
AGAIN? Really, Thomas? It is this serious and you did not tell us?
Jan, don´t make a drama out of this, thanks a lot, but … hey, Chantal is repearing the car. Without me having to force her to. That´s… great… but seeing her so sad is breaking my heart. Care for her, you are better at that than me. I need to fix the Wartburg! GENOSSEN, GREIFT ZUM WERKZEUG!
Thomas grabbed his toolbox, and even if everyone told him that he needs some rest, he grabbed the whisky bottle of Klaus-Dieter and commanded the Wartburg team to get to the car.
Jan put on his racing suit, calming down his still very scared girlfriend.
He looks much better now. Don´t worry. He will be fine. He is already complaining and cursing again.
Will… at least you promise not to leave me alone? Will you?
Never. Ever. Are you ready maintaining our car?
By following the service manual I changed again the spark plugs, the faulty ignition coil, filled up oil and coolant… and used my lipstick to draw a heart on the dashboard, so that you know who waits for you.