Chapter 6

17 Years Ago

Summer and Taiyang stood atop the podium, having won the 24 Hours of Vytal. It had not been close. They beat the second place team of Peter Port and Glynda Goodwitch, their teammates, by what would have amounted to a half hour of running. It had been a decent fight before the others had suffered some mechanical issues. Summer had much less racing experience than Taiyang or the other pair but she had been consistently faster throughout the race. Needless to say, Taiyang was impressed.

"So, what do you say we go to dinner to celebrate?" Taiyang suggested. "Just the two of us."

"Are you suggesting we go on a date?" Summer asked.

"It can be whatever you want it to be." Taiyang replied. "Come on, I know a great restaurant not far from here."

"That wouldn't happen to be the same restaurant you took Qrow's sister to on your first date, would it?" Summer pressed.

"He told you about that huh?" Taiyang laughed. "Things might not have worked out with Raven in the long run, but it was a hell of a date. Why couldn't lightning strike twice?"

"You never stop, do you?" Summer charged.

"Did Qrow say that too?" Taiyang asked. "How about this? I'll treat you to dinner because you won this race for us. It doesn't have to be a date at all. I'll even invite Qrow and Ozpin if you want."

"I never said I was opposed to a date." Summer said with a wink.

Present Day

It was the moment of truth, time trials. Before the session was over they would know if their work had paid off, if there was any hope of outrunning the Schnee cars. Given the fixation on Schnee Automotive, they were remarkably uncooperative. Even as Pyrrha and Yang, the fastest drivers for their respective teams, made run after run, the Schnee team remained off the track. One thing was clear though: the Nevermore cars were faster than anyone else who took to the track.

With only a few minutes left in the session Pyrrha led from Yang. Both headed out, followed closely by all three Schnee cars. Schnee Automotive had produced some truly stunning cars. The curvaceous cars were vaguely wedge-shaped with bulging fenders to accommodate the wheels. A rounded cockpit rose up in the middle, sloping down to the back over the top of the 5.0 liter V12 that provided the power. The very back of the car squared up, with an aerodynamic spoiler at the rear of the deck lid. Painted a spotless white, they could have been mistaken for spacecraft. The cars were numbered 1, 2 and 3. Cars 1 and 2 were driven by Schnee Automotive's full-time sportscar racers, with the team in the 1 having won the previous year's race and championship. Winter and Penny shared the number 3. Winter would take care of the time trials. Penny was more consistent but Winter had better single lap speed.

Of the five fighting for the pole position, Yang would be the first to go. Winter would be last. Yang accelerated out of White House, the last significant corner before the start/finish line. The car rocketed down the straight, approaching 200 mph as it flashed across the line. Yang barely slowed down as she swung through the sweeping right-hand Turn 1. Over a crest and then downhill she waited as long as possible before braking for the Esses, a left-right complex that made up turns two and three. She nailed both apexes and accelerated down the short straight that followed. Next was the quick right-hand Red Mound. Yang slung the car through the corner as fast as possible and onto the Amity straight. For the next six kilometers she would keep the throttle pressed to the floor, covering the distance in just over a minute. About three quarters of the way down the stretch was the Amity Kink, a full-speed right-hander. Just before it Yang caught a glimpse of something in her side-view mirror. In rapid succession, three spotless white cars flashed past at impossible speed. She slid through the Amity Kink as the trio of Schnee cars pulled further ahead.

Yang was shocked. They were way too fast. They must have been holding back throughout the practices. She got over it quickly as her car topped the rise just before Amity Corner. Yang braked hard, the brakes screaming as she slowed to a crawl for the acute right-hander. Then it was hard on the throttle for another extended period of flat-out running. Two full-speed kinks preceded a sweeping right-hander. Yang slowed for the corner and visibly closed in on the Schnee cars ahead. Their heavy V12 engines meant they were slower in the corners. Yang slid through the turn and immediately braked for the tight, banked 90 degree left-hander that followed, called Vacuo Bend. She accelerated down the short straight into the tight 90 degree right-hand turn called Atlas Corner. Now she was right on the back of the Schnee cars, but it was time for another long straight. They disappeared into the distance before Yang closed again on the entry to White House. She got on the throttle hard and chased them all the way to the line.

The Schnee Automotive team had easily swept the top three positions. Using the draft and their massive engines, they simply overpowered the Nevermores. Winter took the top spot, followed by cars 1 and 2. Then came Pyrrha, five seconds behind and Yang another second behind her. Yang pulled into the garage feeling defeated. "The blew by me like I was standing still." She sighed as Ruby came to ask her about the car. "There's no way we can beat them."

"Pyrrha, is it really that bad?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha nodded. "They're much slower in the turns but on the straights we're no match." She reported. "Blake, is there anything we can do?"

"Ren and I might be able to squeeze a few extra horsepower out of the engines, but nothing like enough." Blake replied. "The gap should shrink once they transfer to race trim, but I doubt it'll make up for the difference."

The only emotion Weiss normally displayed was anger, but now, sitting alone in the corner of the garage, she just looked sad. It seemed her chance to defeat her sister was over before it had begun. "Just say it, unless they break it's hopeless." She sighed.

"Then we'll make them break." Pyrrha said.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"Blake, if I run a qualifying engine in the race, do you think I'll be faster than their race setup?" Pyrrha asked.

"You'd probably be about as fast." Blake replied. "But the engine wouldn't last four hours, let alone 24."

"Ruby, how much can you lighten the car if reliability isn't a factor?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know, I guess a hundred kilos or so." Ruby answered. "What's the point?"

"Alright, I have a plan." Pyrrha said. "Leave the qualifying engine fitted to my car. Ruby, lighten it up as much as possible, just enough to give me two or three hours of running. Set it up to be an 8."

"But Jaune won't be able to drive it." Nora pointed out.

"He won't be driving it." Pyrrha said. "Last year, two of the three Schnee Automotive entries fell out of the race with mechanical issues. I'm going to start the race and drive as fast as physically possible until the car breaks. The Schnee cars will have to chase me, just in case I don't break. That'll break them. Yang and Weiss just need to drive at their pace and the race will fall to them. It's the only way for the team to win."

"That's...very noble of you." Weiss said. "But it still won't work. They know that once Jaune gets in the car he'll be slow, so there will be no point in chasing you."

"That's why we'll have to be a little dishonest." Pyrrha said. "We'll announce a lineup change tomorrow morning that puts Weiss in my car and Jaune in Yang's. Then, just before the first driver change, we withdraw Jaune and Weiss and swap them back. It's underhanded but perfectly within the rules."

"That might actually work." Blake gasped. "I've worked with Schnee equipment before. It's strong within a certain range, but outside that it's incredibly fragile. If we can get them to chase you, I don't think their engines will survive."

"There's only one way to find out for sure." Yang said. "We'll just have to try it. I don't suppose anyone has an alternate plan?" The others shook their heads. "Alright then, I guess it's settled."

Just before 2:00 PM on Saturday, the drivers began to line up for the start of the 24 Hours of Vytal. Their cars sat against the pit wall on the right side of the start/finish straight, angled out toward the track, the pits separated from the track by nothing but a painted line. On the far side of the track, the drivers waited along the wall opposite their cars. It was a race start like no other. The appointed time approached. The starter raised his flag and the drivers tensed up like sprinters waiting for the starting gun. The flag dropped and the drivers ran across the track and jumped in their cars, firing the engines and peeling away. Well, most of them did.

Winter thought the whole thing was dangerous and stupid. She casually walked across the track, some of other drivers having to swerve to avoid her. She sat in her car, carefully fastened and tightened her seatbelts, then started the engine. The other cars were long gone by the time she finally slipped it into gear and took to the track. Why risk life and limb to get a fast start? It was a 24 hour race. There would be plenty of time to make up the lost seconds.

Yang and Pyrrha, on the other hand, had shown their athleticism. They had been the first across and the first away. Pyrrha already had a sizable lead by the time she reached the first turn. She could not afford to lose any time. She rocketed down the Amity Straight as Yang yielded second and third to Schnee cars 1 and 2. Blake had been right. With an engine configured for qualifying Pyrrha had just enough power to match the Schnee cars. Once she got the the corners, where the Nevermores already had the advantage, she would gain even more thanks to Ruby's modifications to the chassis.

By the end of the Amity Straight, Winter had made her way past most of the cars in slower classes. At the end of the first lap, she was fifth, not far behind Yang. Pyrrha and the other Schnee cars had already run away to a several-second lead. On the second run down the Amity Straight, Winter passed Yang. Then she did something worrying. After furiously tearing through the field to get to that position, she slowed down. As the race continued it became clear that she was not falling for Pyrrha's ploy. She just ran her own race, a second or two faster than Yang per lap.

Winter was not driving like her usual emotional self. There was a good reason: it had cost her the race the year before. She had been dominating with just five hours left, three laps ahead of her one remaining teammate, who in turn was five laps ahead of third place. She could have taken it easy but she kept pushing. Then the engine disintegrated and it was all over. Frustrated and embarrassed, she had vowed never to run the race again, but her sister's entry for a rival team drew her back for one more shot.

Yang, for her part, probably could have kept up with Winter. That, however, would have put undue stress on the car, stress that over 24 hours would likely break it. Aware of what her own team was trying to do, she was not about to fall into the same trap. She, like Winter, ran her own race. She was already far faster than the rest of the field. If the three Schnee cars broke, and given Winter's pace that was a big if, the race would indeed fall to her.

The first casualty of Pyrrha's gambit came just an hour and a half into the race. The driver of the number 2 was pushing hard to catch Pyrrha. Too hard. He took the sweeper before Vacuo Bend just a little too fast, ran wide into the grass, and smacked the armco. The left side of the car was crushed and the suspension destroyed, but at least the driver was uninjured. Still, it was race over for one of Schnee Automotive's entries. Pyrrha's plan was working, even if not quite as intended.

Pyrrha was somewhat surprised that her car was still running at the two hour mark. It would normally be time for a driver change, but she stayed in the car. Yang pulled into the pits and Weiss took over. The Schnee team did not catch on. A driver had once won the race by running almost the entire thing solo, 23.5 hours, so the theory was that Pyrrha was attempting to do the same. Ciel Soleil took the wheel of Schnee Automotive car number 1 and continued the chase. Winter came in and handed her car off to Penny. Penny continued Winter's strategy of running safe, consistent laps. Worse, she was gaining more time on the 71 thanks to the wickerbill that slowed Weiss on the straights. It only amounted to about a half a second per lap, but over a couple of hours it really added up.

A half hour later saw Pyrrha's plan come one step closer to success. Halfway down the Amity Straight, the number 1's engine came apart in a cloud of smoke. Ciel was forced to pull off to the side, race over. That just left Pyrrha and Penny. Penny was still not falling for it. Even as Pyrrha came around to lap the number 3, Penny did not deviate from her strategy.

Three and a half hours after the start of the race, Pyrrha returned to the pits. Without a word she turned off the engine, opened the door and stepped out of the car. It looked fine. "What's up?" Ruby asked.

"It's done." Pyrrha said. "I can feel it. The engine doesn't have another lap in it."

Blake rushed to the back of the car and opened up the engine compartment. "Everything looks to be in order." She said. She was surprised at just how well the engine had held up. It must have had something to do with Pyrrha's driving style. Ren had said she was very gentle with the equipment. "Could you do me a favor and fire it up?"

Pyrrha shrugged and leaned into the car. She flipped the switch to start the engine and it came to life with a thunderous roar. Then there was the shriek of metal grinding against metal and loud banging as the engine self-destructed. "I told you." Pyrrha said. She flipped the switch to turn it off, not that it really mattered.

"Next time I'll take your word for it." Blake said, oil splattered all over her.

Night fell and it became a whole different race. Dazzling headlights and barely-visible tail lights were the only things visible on track in the impenetrable darkness. It was an intoxicating mix of beauty and danger. Many of the fans went home, retired to campsites, or just slept under the stars. Others stayed awake, reveling in the carnival atmosphere that surrounded the race. Some drivers slept while their teammates drove, others were too full of adrenaline. For the mechanics there was no rest. They could catch a nap but always with the knowledge that their services could be needed at a moment's notice.

Eight hours into the race, one third of the distance, Winter and Penny led by over a lap. They had further slowed down, now only going fast enough to maintain the lead. It was disheartening to Weiss and Yang but they kept racing. There was always the chance, however slim, that their rival might suffer some malfunction. Drivers were not immune to mistakes either, and one slip could change the whole race.

"There has been an incident." The announcement came over the loudspeakers just before midnight. During the day, when it was easy to see the cars, word of who was involved would spread quickly. At night, the only way to figure it out was to wait and see. Winter and Yang both circulated back around, so they were not involved, much to the relief of their teams. Word was beginning to spread though. There was a crash in the Amity Kink, and a fire.

Yang confirmed as much as she handed the car over to Weiss, but had no time to go into detail with her teammate during the quick driver change. "We heard there was a crash." Ruby said as Yang ducked into the garage, hoping to get some sleep. "What happened?"

"It looked bad, big fire." Yang replied. "It's still burning."

"Do you know who it is?" Blake asked.

"No." Yang answered. "The car was too burned, but it's not like I could have seen anyway as fast as I was driving past."

"Did the driver get out?" Ruby asked.

"I doubt it." Yang replied. "It looked very bad. Unless he was really lucky...I shouldn't speculate. If you don't mind, I'm going to try to get some sleep. Wake me up if anything important happens." Yang headed out the back of the garage to the trailer the team had set up as a place where the drivers could sleep. She needed to be sharp, and to be sharp she needed rest. It would not come easy, but any little bit would help.

Inspirations

- With Vytal standing in for Le Mans, the corners are as follows: Turn 1 = Dunlop, Esses = Esses, Red Mount = Tertre Rouge, Amity Straight/Kink/Corner = Mulsanne Straight/Kink/Corner, Vacuo Bend = Indianapolis, Atlas Corner = Arnage, White House = Maison Blanche.

- The Schnee Automotive cars are based on the Ferrari 330 P3, with some modifications for story purposes.

- Pyrrha's plan to break the Schnee cars is based on Sir John Surtees' plan to do the same to the Fords in 1966. The team manager overruled him and Surtees quit Ferrari in protest. Surtees' departure ruined Ferrari's F1 program for years and its endurance racing program has not won overall at Le Mans since.

- Winter's stroll is based on a protest carried out by Jacky Ickx in 1969. On the first lap of that race, another driver was killed when he crashed at Maison Blanche and was thrown from the car due to his improperly fastened belts. Ickx won the race.

Inaccuracies and Anachronisms

- Qualifying at Le Mans is not a single session, then or now.

- The Ferrari 330 P3 had a 4.0 L V12, not 5.0, but I wanted the hero cars to be more equal. It was also hopelessly overpowered by the Ford GT, not the other way around. I pretty much flipped the performance characteristics of the two cars. Plot stuff...

- Regular, every-two-hours driver changes are convenient for writing but not realistic.

- There were no fatal accidents during the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, though there was one during testing. There were a number of accidents but none quite so spectacular.