Author's Note: Please read the inspirations/inaccuracies section. I've taken some liberties with history here.

Chapter 3

Two Years Ago

The Mistral Circuit had always been fearsome. A long, fast public road circuit could never be anything else. Perhaps the only track driver feared more was the Emerald Forest, but the reasons were much the same. It was too fast and there was not enough in terms of safety features. This year it was somehow made even faster and more dangerous. The cars had wings.

It was the dawn of a new era. The season saw the first widespread use of aerodynamic wings to press the cars down onto the track in order to get them round the corners faster. There had been some experiments the year before, but use had been sporadic and unspectacular. Now teams were getting to grips with the new technology. It still looked a bit amateurish, just airfoils on thin uprights bolted to cars that had not changed substantially in almost a decade. Even so, the effect was astounding. It was impossible to be competitive without good aero, even at a power track like Mistral.

The first team to get a good handle on using wings was Team Juniper. Pyrrha had already won two of the first three races and finished second to Yang at South Vacuo in the other. Their wings were more robust and better integrated into the car as a whole than the others, much less bolt-ons than integral members. Mistral was Pyrrha's home race and no one was terribly surprised when she won the pole. When the race started it was clear only a mechanical failure would stop her as she effortlessly drove away from the field, on her way to an easy win.

There was still plenty of running, and no one was going to give up just because Pyrrha was running away with it. The Cardinal Motors pair of Cardin Winchester and Sky Lark ran in eighth and ninth, one of their better team performances. It owed a lot to their new aerodynamic setup. They were running larger wings than most, though they were still mounted to the same spindly brackets. Aero was the key to their speed and would also be their undoing. About a quarter of the way around the circuit the pair entered a right-hand corner normally taken flat-out. As he turned in, the rear wing on Sky's car suddenly collapsed, the force of the air too much of a strain for the narrow uprights. The sudden change in pressure caused snap-oversteer to the right. Sky corrected left, but with his front wing still holding, the wheels bit and the car shot off the track. His vehicle skipped across a drainage ditch, plowed through a wire fence and slammed into an embankment.

When track workers arrived over fifteen minutes later, they found there was nothing for them to do. A local on whose property the crash had taken place had already placed a tarp over car and driver out of respect. Even had the safety workers arrived in a reasonable amount of time, it would have been pointless. The wire fence had shredded the car and cut deep gashes into the driver, including one to the neck that nearly decapitated him.

It was the final straw. Winter had seen enough as far as the Mistral Circuit was concerned and so had the other drivers. They announced they would not return the following year. Negotiations began between the driver and the track's owners but came to nothing as it was apparent that the owners did not have any interest in making serious changes to the circuit. The following year there would be no Mistral Grand Prix and after that it would take place on a new, closed course.

Present Day

The race in Mistral at the newly constructed Sanctum Circuit came over a month after South Vacuo, but that did not mean the drivers were idle. Yang and Weiss had business to take care of in Vacuo. For the first time they would be entering the Vacuo 500, an oval race that had once been part of the world championship. Beacon Motorworks' StormFlower engines were a mainstay of the Champ Car Series that included the 500. This year Ruby had designed and built a chassis in line with Champ Car regulations and Beacon GP would enter three cars of its own in the race.

Yang and Weiss may have been Formula 1 Champions, but in the Vacuo 500 they were rookies. No matter how accomplished the driver, everyone had to complete a rookie test before being allowed to race in the 500. It was a track unlike any other, 2.5 miles long with four gently banked turns that formed a rectangle. Average lap speed approached 180 mph. Two weeks before the Mistral GP, Yang, Weiss, Nolan and Bolin Hori traveled to the Vacuo Motor Speedway to complete their rookie test. They all passed. Curiously, so did Ruby.

After South Vacuo Ruby had gone to the speedway to start testing her car. She was able to find qualified drivers to pilot it but found their feedback insufficient. Yang and Weiss were busy with their F1 commitments and would be throughout much of the time prior to the race. Over the past few years Ruby had gotten into racing on a small scale, running a few F3 and F2 events in cars of her own construction. Her friends just made driving look so fun. She was afraid but decided to give it a shot anyway. She was not terrible and a few people even told her she might have a future behind the wheel. Unable to find a suitable test driver for her Champ Car, she decided to get qualified to do it herself. She had no intention of running the 500 or any other Champ Car races, just of making sure her car was ready for Yang and Weiss when they arrived. When the F1 drivers headed home, Ruby stayed behind to keep testing.

Between the Mistral GP and Vale GP the drivers would return to Vacuo for official practice and time trials. Then the week after the Vale GP was the 500. Other F1 drivers had run the race. Winter had won it in her only attempt seven years before, and Pyrrha in hers two years previous. This year, many more F1 drivers than normal were giving it a shot though. The rookies were joined by May who had started her career in Champ Car before switching to F1, Arslan who had failed to qualify the year before, and Pyrrha who would drive the third Beacon GP entry.

The 500 was something to look forward to, but there was still the matter of the Mistral GP. The Sanctum Circuit was far to the southeast of the city of Mistral, located on a desert plateau. It was not in a heavily populated area but infrastructure from the Mistral Trade Route made access easy. The circuit was brand new and many of the corners were named for active drivers, a rarity. With Pyrrha as two-time defending champion and with no race in the kingdom the previous year, a large crowd was expected. Prior to their arrival for the race, the only driver to have even seen the circuit first-hand was Pyrrha. She had run a few laps in a sports car for promotional purposes. Naturally the competition was furious. She surely did not need the extra track time, no matter what kind of car she drove or how casual the drive.

No one was surprised when Pyrrha swept all three practice sessions. It was her sort of track: twisting, undulating, narrow and technical. The sandy tarmac was hard on tires, and most of the teams at least made preparations for a rare mid-race pit stop that they hoped they would not need. They also hoped tire wear might take away Pyrrha's advantage. That was about the only hope they had of winning, with the obvious exception of mechanical issues.

The battle for the pole position was more of a rout. Pyrrha set what looked to be an unassailable time early on. She pulled into the garage and waited, planning to go back out at the very end, just in case. In the closing moments, Yang was second, followed by Winter and Weiss. Neptune, Sun, Coco, Fox and May were not terribly far behind. An increasingly frustrated Ciel was a distant tenth. As usual, the top drivers headed out at the end of the session for one last shot at the top spot.

Pyrrha was first to run with Yang only a little behind her. Yang crawled through the first apex of the corner known as Forever Fall, opening a gap between herself and Pyrrha so she would have a clear track. As she hit the second apex she accelerated, clipped the third and final apex perfectly and launched onto the steeply downhill straightaway that followed. After a short blast downhill Yang rounded the flat-out right-hand corner Tunnel, sliding to the very edge of the track as she raced onto the pit straight. As she approached the line to start her lap she edged over to the right. Just before the first real corner, the track curved slightly to the left. Yang swept across the track all the way to the left edge and braked hard for the first turn, Nikos. It was a tight right-hand hairpin and on exit Yang had to be careful not to spin the wheels. She managed the power and flew up the following short straight, then slid through the flat-out right called Schnee. Almost immediately she was hard on the brakes, nearly locking up the front wheels on entry to the tightening, double-apex, left-hand hairpin, Vytal. After an incredibly short straight the track wound back to the right in a banked hairpin called Xiao-Long. She accelerated out of the hairpin as the track gradually headed uphill, then she slung her car through the flat-out left-hand corner called Pegasus and onto the steeply uphill straight beyond.

The car's engine screamed as is raced up the track's second longest straight. The terrain leveled out and Yang was on the brakes for the tightening right-hander called Atlas. After that was another short straight to the long, sweeping right-hand Port. The track dropped steeply downhill and Yang blasted through the flat-out left-hander called Amity before braking hard for the left-hand hairpin called Juniper. From there the track climbed steeply uphill again. As Yang crested the hill she braked for Forever Fall, coasting through the first two tightening apexes before mashing the throttle as she clipped the third. Yang rocketed downhill, sure she was on a fast lap. She entered the flat-out Tunnel and the car oversteered unexpectedly. Yang straightened the wheel slightly and arrested the slide, but she ran out of track. Her left side wheels edged onto the dirt and lost all grip. The car slid completely off the track and smacked the armco, shearing the left side wheels off as the car ground to a halt against the barrier.

The crowd, loudly cheering moments before as Pyrrha passed, now fell silent. Safety workers rushed to Yang's car as the last few runners flashed past. As the last car crossed the line the session was red flagged. To everyone's relief Yang began moving, undoing her belts. She started to get out but fell back in, grabbing her side in pain. A pair of workers, one on either side of the car, grabbed her under the arms and helped her up. She stood in the seat for a moment before gingerly hopping out, then took off her helmet. The track workers wanted to help her walk but she pushed them away and waved to a crowd with a smile.. Wild cheering erupted. Once it was safe Yang walked back across the track with a noticeable limp, hiding her grimace from the fans behind her.

Yang walked back to the Beacon GP garage and collapsed in a chair. "Yang, are you okay?!" Blake exclaimed, rushing to her side.

"I'm pretty sure I broke a rib or two." Yang groaned. "But I'll be fine."

"You can't race tomorrow." Blake said.

"I'm racing." Yang declared. "I don't care if all my ribs are broken. If I can get into the car I'm racing."

"What if you need to get out in a hurry?" Blake asked.

"I'll manage." Yang replied.

"I want you to get an x-ray." Ozpin said. He had been watching the exchange. "If you have a few cracked ribs, fine, but you need to make sure it's not anything worse."

"They won't let me race with cracked ribs." Yang protested. "There's no way."

"There's a way." Ozpin said with a knowing smile. "Blake, run down to the Schnee Automotive garage. Tell Winter to bring her doctor here."

Blake nodded and rushed off. "I picked a hell of a week to wreck a car." Yang sighed. "There's no way that thing's getting fixed and preparing the backup is going to be twice as hard without Ruby's help."

"It happens." Ozpin said. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"You always say that." Yang said.

"If you wrecked more cars I'd be less understanding." Ozpin admitted. "We all make mistakes."

"This is probably the hardest mistake I've ever made." Yang groaned.

"That did look like quite a hit." Ozpin said.

Blake returned with Winter and an older man in tow. "Is Yang alright?" Winter asked.

"I'm fine." Yang said with a wave. "I just busted my ribs."

"Then why do you need to see my personal physician?" Winter asked. Since her near fatal crash at Menagerie Winter always brought a personal doctor to the track to make sure she received proper care.

"She's going to race tomorrow." Ozpin said. "I need someone who'll take an x-ray and not divulge the results, lest the organizers decide she's not fit to race."

"What if I decide she's not fit to race?" The doctor asked.

"Doctor-patient confidentiality requires you share that opinion with her alone." Ozpin said.

"Alright, let's get you to the hospital." The doctor said. Winter and Blake helped Yang out of her chair and she left with the doctor.

Yang had indeed cracked a few ribs, but there was no further damage beyond some bruising. Winter's doctor recommended against her racing, but agreed that she was technically fit enough if she really wanted to. As long as she did not suffer any other hard impacts she should be fine. Yang had problems beyond the pain. The track had been fast at the end of the session. Yang had been second but by the end she was jumped by Weiss, Winter, Neptune and Sun. It had been a long time since she had last started so far down the grid. There was positive news before the race. A few minutes before the cars rolled out the folks in charge at Emerald Forest agreed to the GPDA's demands. Only time would tell if they would follow through on their promise, but it seemed like a big win for the new-look GPDA.

The cars rounded the circuit on their parade lap and took their spots on the grid. The starter raised his flag. After what seemed like a long wait, the flag dropped and the cars were off. This time there was no stalling on the grid. Pyrrha got a fantastic start and got to the first turn well ahead of the pack. Weiss got a poor start and Winter beat her into second. Yang also had a poor start. She had hoped to gain a few positions on the run to the first corner but lost out to Coco. Atlas and Nikos were the only realistic passing zones, so Yang had to get in line and bide her time. Her time came sooner than expected. On the second apex of Vytal Neptune cut across in front of Sun. Sun braked hard to avoid contact and slid up the track. Coco was caught out and had to slow as well, allowing Yang to slide past and get alongside Sun. She was unable to complete the pass and fell in behind Sun through Xiao-Long but at least she was back to her starting spot.

Pyrrha drove away from the rest of the field. The real battle was for second between the Schnee sisters. Winter was faster on the straights but Weiss had the measure of her in the corners. On lap 37 they crested the hill before Atlas nose-to-tail. Winter braked and Weiss dove to the right. It was too late to block and Weiss easily completed the pass. She pulled away through the following series of corners, but Winter caught back up as they flew down the main straight. Weiss blocked right and Winter attempted to take the long way around in the first turn. It did not work and Weiss held second. As the laps wore on she slowly pulled away but could not come close to matching Pyrrha's pace.

Attrition helped Yang. Neptune's race ended early when his gearbox failed, promoting Yang to fifth. May made Yang's race more difficult. Yang was stuck behind Sun and found passing him almost impossible. On lap 47 May had gotten past Fox who was suffering from a failing engine and on lap 62 passed Coco as well. By lap 65 she was right on the back of Yang. For the next few laps May continuously probed for an opportunity to pass, but it was futile. Even with Sun holding her up Yang was just a little too fast. On lap 73, Pyrrha arrived to put the trio a lap behind. It was tremendously disheartening.

On lap 81 of 90, Yang saw her opening. Sun got a poor run through Pegasus and Yang got alongside as they ran up the hill toward Atlas. Yang had the preferred line on the right but Sun held on. He should have conceded the position because Yang completed the pass anyway and May was able to slip to his inside for Port, completing the pass on the run down to Juniper. Yang and May were now free to battle for the fourth spot. Yang had expected to pull away once clear of Sun but May stuck with her. All the way to the flag May was there, taking any realistic shot at a pass. Yang managed to keep her at bay, but it was clear now that May was an exceptional talent.

The predicted tire issues never materialized and by the time Pyrrha took the checkered flag she had lapped the field. The crowd could not have been happier. Weiss and Winter rounded out the podium, and there may never have been a pair of drivers so demoralized by a podium finish. It suddenly looked as if Pyrrha was going to pick up where she had left off the previous season. Yang finished fourth with May, Sun, Coco, Ceil, Mercury and Arslan rounding out the top 10.

For some of the drivers, it was time for a vacation. For others it was time to go to Vacuo to see if they could qualify for the 500. Barring Pyrrha herself, everyone hoped that when the circuit got to Vale things would be a bit more competitive.

Standings after two races:

1st - Pyrrha Nikos - 15

2nd - Yang Xiao-Long - 12

3rd - Weiss Schnee - 10

4th - Winter Schnee - 7

5th - May Zedong - 4

6th - Neptune Vasilias - 1

6th - Sun Wukong - 1

Inspirations

- The Mistral Circuit is based on Spa in Belgium.

- Sky's death is based on the fatal crash of Chris Bristow. He went off track at Spa in 1960 and was decapitated by a barbed wire fence.

- The Sanctum Circuit is based on Jarama in Spain.

- The Vacuo 500 is the Indianapolis 500.

- Yang's injuries are not based on Fernando Alonso's. This chapter was written before he even had his crash.

- Jackie Stewart brought a personal physician to races to ensure he received proper medical care in case of an accident.

Inaccuracies and Anachronisms

- The boycott of Spa occurred in 1971 rather than 1970.

- It would be highly unlikely that the designer of a car would actually personally test it.

- With a limited number of locations in RWBY and no Belgian GP in 1971, I decided to make the Spanish GP the Mistral GP. I also replaced Montjuic with Jarama because I am much more familiar with the latter.