Chapter 11

One Year Ago

The Amity Circuit in Vytal was a popular track for test sessions. The weather was generally good all year round and the track featured a little bit of everything. It was a great place to learn about a car. It also helped that it was located smack in the middle of the world's most famous wine producing region. It could be a little too hot in the summer when some of the tests and the race itself were held, but it beat freezing on Patch or sitting in the rain in Mistral. The test in the days before the race was usually the biggest in-season test, and this year was no different. Without exception every team had shown up, bringing most of their drivers as well.

Octavia Ember was an up-and-coming driver with Indigo Motorsports. She had shown promise in lower categories and put in some good F1 runs, but the results had just not come. She hated testing but after a disappointing start to the season decided to join the team in Vytal. Everyone knew she had the talent to be competitive, all she had to do was put all the pieces together. Experience would help, and running a few hundred laps of testing was good experience. Along with many other drivers she started logging lap after lap. It was boring, but she was learning and the team was collecting useful data.

Octavia thundered down the long frontstretch, heading for the first corner, Canopy. The car was traveling at almost 200 mph and experiencing maximum aerodynamic load. Suddenly the rear wing collapsed and detached just before the braking zone. The car immediately began to spin. As it turned backwards the change in airflow lifted it into the air and pitched it into a series of somersaults. It cleared the barrier and landed upside down just outside the track, mostly intact. Octavia had suffered minor injuries, but when combined with the position of the car they were enough to prevent her from extracting herself.

Octavia's car began to burn. It was not a big fire, but it was growing. Arslan was the first one on the scene. She was unable to lift the car to help Octavia out. There were almost not track workers there for the test session. More drivers arrived. The fire was growing. Between the flames and the weight, they were unable to move the car. A track worker finally arrived but he was not in fireproof clothing. He did carry a tiny fire extinguisher. He blasted it at the car, mostly missing the fire and hitting Octavia. Drivers and mechanics rushed from the pits to the scene. After about 10 minutes Octavia was finally pulled from the wreckage.

Octavia was still breathing but she was unconscious and unresponsive. She needed to get to a hospital immediately. There was no helicopter at the track. It was just a test and one was not required, so the track had not paid to have one on standby. One finally arrived after half an hour in which the inadequate medical facilities at the track had done little to help. Octavia was transported to a nearby hospital. Her injuries appeared minor, just a broken collarbone and some minor burns, but she had been deprived of oxygen and suffered serious brain damage. After lingering for a little over a day, Octavia died.

The news reached the track the following day. The drivers and mechanics were saddened and enraged. If the track had been competently staffed, Octavia would have survived, almost uninjured. Instead she was just another statistic. Drivers raced with the knowledge that death could be waiting for them around every corner, but they expected that those responsible for their safety would at least make an effort to keep them alive. Most were not surprised by the news. Those who had been present at the scene the previous day knew she had been in very bad shape and were also aware that the long delay before getting her to a hospital must have taken a toll. It was tragic and needless.

Yang was hit harder than most. She had been at the scene, one of those unable to help as they watched Octavia suffocate. The incident bore so many similarities to her step-mother's death as well. Yang was very glad that Ruby had not been present. She would have been forced to relive the trauma of her mother's death, something Ruby had never really gotten over. It would have crushed her. Just hearing the news would surely be bad enough. For Yang and the other drivers it was a reminder of their mortality, and for many the first death they had experienced at the race track. It was a harsh reminder but one they all knew they had to push out of their minds. Being fearful and being fast were mutually exclusive.

In response to the accident, a shorter and slower configuration of the track was used for all subsequent F1 races. It was a stupid change - Octavia's death had nothing to do with speed, just the incompetence of the rescue - but it stuck. The track was basically cut in half, removing its two fastest sections, and the new layout was despised by drivers and fans alike. Worse, the lesson of Octavia's death did not sink in. When the Vytal Grand Prix was run there later in the week the safety workers were more numerous but if anything less competent. For the following year regulations were put in place to prevent a repeat, but common sense said the guidelines should have been followed all along. If they had, Octavia would not have died. The history of F1 was full of just such what ifs and there would surely be more in the future.

Present Day

Even in its shortened configuration, the Amity Circuit was a power track. The final sector was tight and twisting, but the rest was mainly comprised of a pair of long straights. The Schnee powered cars would be fast. That was only of minor concern to the drivers though. They just hoped the problems that had made themselves evident the year before had been corrected. There was little confidence. Most knew that if involved in a crash, they would likely be on their own. At least the medical facilities had been upgraded.

Practice bore out the theory that the cars with Schnee engines would be fast. Winter and Weiss topped every session with Penny not far behind. Yang was quick enough to compete with Penny, and Pyrrha was only a little slower than that. Coco and Velvet were fairly quick, and so were Emerald and Mercury. Ruby, Blake and the rest were simply not competitive. Ruby liked a car with a lot of downforce. It meant she was the third fastest in the final sector but very slow in the first two. Blake was having similar issues.

Time trials were not close at the top. On her first run Winter put up a blistering time. Weiss was the only one in the neighborhood, but try as she might she could not match her sister. As the end of the session approached Penny was just ahead of Yang for third with Pyrrha a close fifth. Coco, Mercury, Emerald, Velvet, Blake and Ruby followed. The Amity Circuit was not the most difficult track for passing, but starting so far out of the points would be disastrous for Ruby and Blake. They were already at a serious points deficit to the top three and failing to score while the others did would only drop them farther behind.

Ruby went out for one final run. She knew she would need a perfect lap to jump up the board, and even that might not be enough. Ruby slowed more than usual on entry to the final corner - Bridge Bend - to ensure that she got a good exit. She powered out onto the frontstretch, flying past the pits and across the line to start her lap. The car approached top speed before she had to brake hard for the first corner, Ramp. She rounded the tight right-hander, leaving the old circuit for the new shortcut. The track wound through a flat-out left-right-left called School before she had to brake for the tight right that punctuated the section.

Ruby was sure to get as good a run out of the School complex as possible, for it was followed by the track's fastest stretch, the Mistral Straight. The car again approached maximum speed before Ruby braked slightly and coasted through the sweeping right-hander called Signs. Now past the fast bits, she could make up some time on the leaders. After a short but very fast straight, she braked hard again for Beauty, a seemingly never-ending right-hander. The corner was relatively slow and very long, but with her extra downforce and excellent chassis Ruby was able to run through it faster than most. There was really no accelerating out of Beauty as it was immediately followed by Hairpin, a very tight left. Ruby spun the tires a bit on exit but got it under control. She barely lifted through the right-hand kink called Village before braking hard for the left-hand Tower. After a short straight she was back in Bridge Bend. She blasted out onto the straight and across the line to complete her lap.

Ruby had improved but not by very much. Winter, Weiss and Penny took the top three positions. Yang was fourth and Pyrrha fifth, followed by Coco, Emerald, Velvet, Ruby, and Blake to round out the top 10. Yang and Pyrrha were in with a shot at the win if the leading Schnee powered cars had trouble, but Ruby and Blake would be lucky to score any points at all. With their deficit on the straights, they would also find it harder to pass and much easier to be passed by a surely frustrated Mercury who had had his fast lap ruined when he got stuck behind a slower car. It was going to be a struggle.

Race day was sunny and hot. What it lacked in the humidity of Mountain Glenn, it more than made up for with sweltering heat, a cloudless sky and an utter lack of wind. Most of the drivers, soaked in sweat, looked back fondly on the previous event as they waited on the grid. Even Winter was sweating, though she seemed to be taking it much better than the rest of the competition. It was going to be another test of physical endurance in conditions that would punish car and driver.

More than the weather was a concern. A year after her death at the circuit, Octavia was being honored. When the cars lined up on the pre-race grid the pole position was left vacant. The drivers who had born witness to the tragedy the year before had insisted upon it. It was not so much to honor Octavia as to remind those responsible for her death. It was not going to be forgotten. The people running the track had blood on their hands and the drivers were not going to allow them to hide the fact. Unfortunately it also had an adverse effect on some of the drivers. A few of those who had been present - notably Arslan, Yang and Dew Gayl - were forced to relive the horrors they had witnessed. Ruby was hit hard too, reminded of her mother and the fact that she or any of her friends could suffer the same fate.

It was a great relief when it was finally time for the cars to roll for the parade lap. They rounded the circuit and lined up on the grid again, this time in their proper positions. The medical car took its place at the tail of the field and it was time for the lights. One red, two, three, four, all five...lights out! With turbos whining the cars screamed off the grid and slightly downhill toward Ramp. Emerald stalled on the grid but everyone had managed to miss her. By the time the engine was refired the field was long gone. The news got worse for Fall Enterprises as Mercury jumped the start and was penalized.

The field arrived at the first corner and began to jam up as the cars slowed to a crawl. Somehow everyone made it through without contact and by the Mistral Straight things were starting to spread out. Winter spent the first lap pulling a gap over her sister who in turn pulled away from Penny. Pyrrha had slipped past Yang on the start and the pair battled as they lost ground to the lead trio. Coco and Velvet were right on them but lost ground in the tight final sector. Ruby and Blake found it nearly impossible to keep up and fought amongst themselves.

Mercury entered the pits, served his penalty, and rejoined the race. He came out near his previously stalled teammate and the pair set about trying to reel in the field. For Mercury it would come to naught as his engine failed on lap 8. Other engine failures followed as the sweltering conditions took their toll. Sun and Neptune both fell out, Ren suffered a turbo failure, and Cardin and Reese both retired from the race with mechanical issues. The field was further thinned when Adam suffered a suspension failure that caused him to make contact with Nolan, forcing both cars out of the race.

On lap 23 Yang got a good run out of the School complex. She closed on Pyrrha down the Mistral straight and ducked to the right just before Signs. Pyrrha knew she was beat and did not defend, allowing Yang to slip ahead as they rounded the corner. She was forced off-line and Coco tried to take advantage, diving to the right as the cars entered Beauty, but Pyrrha was able to use her superior handling to fight off the challenge. In the following laps Yang pulled away from Pyrrha as Pyrrha pulled away from Coco. Further back Ruby and Blake had ended their battle, settling in about two seconds apart, but they were unable to make up ground on Velvet.

On lap 30 Winter relinquished her 15 second lead to make her pit stop. Penny also pitted and the pair rejoined the race in second and fifth. They were promoted to their original positions when Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha pitted on the following lap. Coco had pitted on lap 30 along with Ruby, with Velvet pitting on 31 and Blake on 32, but no positions were changed. The next few laps saw gaps increase amongst the top runners. Winter's lead grew and grew, and no matter how hard Weiss tried, she could not match her sister.

The top of the order remained as it was until lap 62 of 80. Pyrrha had been steadily falling back from Yang, and for the previous few laps even Coco was catching her. The reason became clear as Pyrrha exited Bridge Bend and barely accelerated. The transmission had been sticking and became lodged in third gear. Pyrrha could only find third and neutral as the failing transmission continued to worsen. She pulled off track just past the end of the pit wall at a gap in the armco and retired from the race.

With ten laps remaining Winter had a 30 second lead over Weiss. Winter had already lapped through fifth place and looked to have things locked up. Then her lap times slowed dramatically. Weiss was catching her to the tune of about 2 seconds per lap. Winter had a problem and Weiss knew it. There was blood in the water and Weiss picked up her pace. Winter was having electrical issues and her car was consequently down on power. She was going just fast enough to stay in front until the end, but she could not take it easy or Weiss would catch her. It would come down to whether or not the car held on.

Winter slowed further and as she crossed the line to begin the final lap she was only three seconds clear of her sister. As she reached Ramp Weiss had cut the lead to a little over two seconds. They thundered down the Mistral Straight, Winter's engine now sounding wrong, and by Signs Weiss was within a second and a half. The winding third sector of the track allowed Winter to stem the bleeding somewhat, but as they arrived at Bridge Bend Weiss was only half a second back. Winter turned the turbo boost pressure all the way up and nailed the throttle. The engine was still off-song but responded and she leapt off the corner. Weiss got a better exit and closed in but ran out of time, finishing right on her sister's gearbox.

Winter had her third win in succession and Weiss her best career finish. Weiss was unhappy, again in her sister's shadow. Penny finished third for her first podium and was followed by Yang, Coco and Velvet who scored her first career points. Penny may have been the happiest third place finisher in F1 history, smiling ear to ear throughout the podium ceremony. Ruby was a disappointing seventh, followed by Blake, Arslan and Ciel to round out the top 10. Some drivers were happy with their finishes and others were not, but all were glad to get out of Vytal without another tragedy.

Yang was falling behind in the championship and Ruby was disappointed with her finish, but both were excited about the next race. They would be heading home to Patch for the Patch GP at Signalstone. Their friends and some family would be there to cheer them on, and both had good memories of the track, having won there in lower categories. Unfortunately it was even more of a power track than the Amity Circuit and the dominance of the Schnee powered cars was only likely to increase. The sisters hoped their intimate knowledge of their home track would give them the edge, and that combined with a little luck it would be enough to compete for the win.

Standings After Six Races

1st - Winter Schnee - 31

2nd - Yang Xiao-Long - 28

3rd - Pyrrha Nikos - 25

4th - Weiss Schnee - 17

5th - Blake Belladonna - 12

5th - Ruby Rose - 12

7th - Penny Polendina - 11

8th - Nora Valkyrie - 5

9th - Arslan Atlan - 3

9th - Coco Adel - 3

10th - Reese Chloris - 1

10th - Lie Ren - 1

10th - Velvet Scarletina - 1

Inspirations

- The Amity Circuit is Circuit Paul Richard.

- Octavia's accident is based on Elio de Angelis' fatal crash.

- If you're looking for a real driver as happy and ever-smiling as Penny, go for Daniel Ricciardo. You'll rarely see him without a smile on his face, even when thing aren't great.

- Electrical and gearbox issues were common in the 80's, ending many races for many drivers.

Inaccuracies and Anachronisms

- Elio de Angelis was a successful and established driver at the time of his death.

- The original full layout of Paul Richard was certainly a power track, but the shortened version was less so.