How LONG has it been since I've updated?! Too long. It's been FIVE months! Aside from the fact that I was at school, slaving away at studying, and working on two other massive stories at the same time. It's a killer!
Apologies to my reviewers ( , Luna TFK Watson, DeathXTheXKidd, and Amateur Experimentalist) for the long update.
Chapter ten: Through the Heat of Battle
Circuit of the Americas, United States: one week later
For Maria Lougheed, under civilian circumstances, she would have wanted a nice casual drive on the very track that had hosted the United States Grand Prix in the FIA Formula One World Championship, but whatever current circumstances she had right now clearly demanded more.
Round 2 of the FIA Class One Touring Masters, and Race 2 of Class One North America, went on and dragged itself into Austin, Texas. While it was still a bright and sunny day, with the familiar southern US heat burning the Circuit of the Americas hot already, it had only gotten hotter with the action that was occurring on it. So hot that it was conceivable that the tyres could melt into the track. Hankook – which supported the DTM cars; Bridgestone, Yokohama, or Dunlop – supporting the GT500.
The Class One touring cars, DTM and GT500 alike, duelled with one another corner after corner. Hondas battled Audis. BMWs battled Nissans. Lexuses battled Mercedes. The heat of battle seemed hotter than the track itself.
Within each car beat its heart, in the unusually powerful turbocharged 2.0-litre inline/straight-four engines. Four pistons, lined up in a straight line, pumped up and down to transfer fuel pressure to the crankshaft below. Flywheels did what they could to keep up with the crankshaft itself, yet also keep up with their respective drivers' constant use of dual-clutch transmission. It was a wonder how their respective manufacturers could create an engine so reliable that it would take time for the flywheels to wear out.
Watching the track carefully through the gap of her helmet, Maria did her best to keep up with the PETRONAS Lexus RC F in front. Texas was hot enough already, so it didn't help the 19-year old BMW works driver that she, along with the Crystal White BMW M4 DTM pumping out the warmth of 500 bhp, was being burned alive in the cockpit. Sweat trailed down her forehead, and it was hard to breathe. The heat was enough to drive anyone to the brink of dehydration, and although Maria had plenty of water to drink prior, she still needed more.
Thankfully, each C1TM driver had a mandatory water supply installed in the car as well. While the C1TM may not be as extreme as Formula One, it was still much more physically demanding than that of a regular GT car. A tube connected to a drink system in the cockpit supplied the driver with some measure of fluid not unlike how F1 cars did. With the circuit providing no shortage of straights, Maria could enjoy some of the slightly sweet sports drink that would restore her water, salt, and carbohydrate levels.
However, the heat and threat of dehydration was the least of Maria's worries.
Qualifying for this round of the C1TM was bad enough already. Even after the practice sessions, Maria couldn't find a comfortable rhythm with the track and so struggled to match the pace of the competition. Leon, though, performed slightly better, but not by much. No, they couldn't blame it on the car. That would be ridiculous, but at the pace they were going at, they were in bad shape.
For Dr. Dan Hilbert and Michael Fong, qualifying was a nightmare. Maria couldn't set a competitive time and only managed 14th on the grid. In the process, Leon suffered a puncture during the session and eventually had to manage a mere 18th on the grid. Effectively, from engineer Walton Durant's perspective, the two cars were in no shape to challenge for a podium finish. Let alone a points finish which, while possible, was the only plan of attack now.
It also did not help Maria much that Walton Durant notified Maria of her performance in the race in California. With the way Maria was driving the BMW M4, in that she often revved the engine to the limit, she would eventually blow the engine at that rate. That would not be useful to the team, Durant warned.
In effect, Maria would have one more thing to worry about.
"We would have expected both Runway Racing and Virgin Racing USA to have been the home favourites," the broadcaster said. "But we can only see that the cars from both teams are struggling to match the pace of the front-runners! The Lexuses of Runway Racing and the Virgin Racing GT-Rs are really giving the BMWs a run for their money…"
Alain Blanc, the driver with start number 0 of Audi Sport Team WRT, had secured the pole position, and in effect being the first and only driver of the C1TM to have scored back-to-back pole positions. It looked as if he would be the favourite to win the race, but the Monster Energy Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé DTM of Shade Nighsworn finished an impressive 4th in qualifying, with his sister Aurora a close 5th behind.
This, in effect, became an optimal striking point for the X-Tech Racing Mercedes-AMG racing team.
"Your time is actually falling short to that of Shade's," Aurora's engineer advised. "Stay behind Shade for the time being. Push your pace, and when the time comes we'll be able to make places."
A series of chicanes made up the next section of track the Nighsworn siblings had to come across. While it was essential that Aurora and Shade stick to their strategy, Aurora found it increasingly difficult to keep up with her brother. Not that Shade was trying to outpace her, but that she couldn't exactly keep up with Shade's racing lines.
Subsequently, Aurora was actually losing time between herself and her brother. They were already a third through the race, but the gap between her car and the sister car (not that she wasn't calling Shade her brother) had amassed to something like four seconds. At the very least, this was the hardest section of track for her, but that was all.
Looking further ahead, Aurora noticed the Royal Blue Pepsi Honda NSX-GT and the Pearl Red Oracle Nissan GT-R fiercely duelling for 2nd. Their lines were so aggressive, she saw, that it seemed safer to leave them to fight it out. How was it possible to overtake those two?!
"Hey," Aurora said into her radio. "Got a plan to overtake the cars ahead of Shade? They seem like they're… overdoing it."
"Just focus on the race, Aurora. Focus on the race," the engineer advised. "We'll figure out something during the pit window. And, we'll tell you when to box."
After the chicanes had passed, Aurora was once again drafting behind the sister Mercedes in an effort to gain time. She was still comfortably in 5th, with Shade in 4th. If they could manage to get past the fierce duo of the Nissan and Honda ahead, there were potential podium finishes for the siblings.
Up ahead, however, the Pepsi Honda NSX-GT and the Oracle Nissan GT-R were locked in neck-to-neck battle. Their pace seemed evenly matched, with the cars taking the outside and inside lines of the curves wherever.
In Alain Blanc's perspective, it was discomforting to see the two cars breathing down his neck. If he could, he would have gladly let them past in a way to destroy each other, but that would mean forsaking his hard-earned pole position. His team wasn't ready for that.
Nevertheless, at the point where the Circuit of the Americas had its longest stretch of track, Alain Blanc found himself being overtaken by the Honda and the Nissan on both sides.
Percy O'Carroll did his best to fight off this Nissan, but he was surprised at how close this duel was. Fortunately for him, after overtaking the Belgian Audi Club RS 5 DTM he was able to take the inside corner of the next turn that led to one of the many sharp turns of the track. However, the load roar of the Nismo-engineered engine on his side told him that the fight was far from finished.
Underneath the bonnet of the Honda, the turbocharger attached to the Class One-spec engine did all it could to force as much compressed air into the pistons' intake. A burst of explosive energy forced the pistons up and down and continued to generate power to the crankshaft below, which in turn transferred to the transmission and ultimately to the axles to spin the wheels.
With a lot of twists and turns up ahead that well exceeded 90 degrees each, there was little opportunity to for the Oracle Nissan GT-R and the Pepsi Honda NSX-GT to really gain the advantage on each other. It didn't help knowing there was a particularly wide turn that proved treacherous to stay consistent on, unless they were in formula cars, but that was another story.
Luna Watson briefly glanced at her left to see the same Honda desperately trying to challenge for her place. She was in 1st, and if she kept it like that, then maybe victory was in sight! Nevertheless, with the Honda NSX-GT beside her this close, she shuddered to think of how to fight it off. Luna could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, and she couldn't tell if the GT500 Nissan GT-R's engine was louder than her heartbeat.
Not to mention that Luna felt like the car was pushing her to the brink of physical exhaustion, were it not for the routine exercises she kept. The gravity forces hammered against her body, even if she was wearing a racing suit.
As the Nissan and the Honda battled neck-and-neck, they pulled further away from the field, and extending their gap between the car in 3rd. That is, Alain Blanc's red-and-black Belgian Audi Club RS 5 DTM which was doing its best to keep up with the leaders, but as the Audi made past several turns that transformed from small bends to hard chicanes, Alain Blanc found himself under pressure from the red-and-silver black Monster Energy Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé DTM.
Looking at his mirror, Alain Blanc saw the flash of red and silver disappear from sight, and found himself neck-and-neck with the Mercedes beside him. It was a tight dual for third position, and truthfully, to finish in this position was invaluable to anyone. No wonder the Audi and the Mercedes were battling it out hard. It was a wonder how they weren't making contact.
If she could, sitting in 5th, Aurora Nighsworn would have watched all day in anticipation of who would win the dual between her brother and the Belgian Audi Club RS 5 DTM in front. Nevertheless, she needed to be wary of the IKEA Honda NSX-GT which was right behind her.
You're not going to get the best of me, she thought.
Defending her position was not easy matter, but eventually Aurora was able to force the Honda behind her to yield when the set of near 180 turns showed up. After keeping a firm grip on her race line, she was able to keep her placement in 5th as well.
What really unsettled Aurora though was how she was going to keep her lines consistent.
Even two laps later, the Pepsi Honda NSX-GT and the Oracle Nissan GT-R were split by a frightening 0.003 seconds, with the two cars side-by-side still. It looked as if their chances for a podium were secure.
The fierce battle between them, in short, allowed them to be a minute clear of the field. Further back, the field had sorted themselves out. In 3rd, Shade Nighsworn in the Monster Energy Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé was relatively clear of Alain Blanc, the latter, who was partly discouraged for losing his pole position, was still under pressure by the other Mercedes, the Toshiba Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé, from behind. As well, looking at his rear-view mirror, he could spot the IKEA Honda NSX-GT just desperately trying to make ground.
In Carina Hills' eyes, in the Monte Carlo-Blue with Rally Yellow IKEA Honda NSX-GT, she could feel terribly exhausted already. Not that she was exhausted from the racing itself, but that her team engineer reported that she was losing ground and time to the Toshiba-sponsored Mercedes, and would fall victim to losing points to the Microsoft Nissan GT-R at this rate.
"Now we're not trying to hassle you, but you've got to keep your lines cleaner," her engineer advised.
"Alright, alright," Carina mumbled.
She bypassed many more kerbs in an effort to lose more time, and even though she was using a powerful race car, it seemed like it couldn't match the pace of the Nissan ahead. It was a wonder how Carina was able to retain her placement.
"Attack where necessary," her engineer said.
"Okay," she replied.
And then it happened.
Before the longest straight on the track, Percy O'Carroll and Luna Watson were still battling it out after passing the sharpest apex of the Circuit of the Americas. Because Percy's Pepsi Honda NSX-GT was on the inside of the turn, he had the advantage of covering the shorter distance, leaving Luna to give chase on the straight.
She gained a lot of speed and had the distance to cover it, and when her Nissan GT-R was close enough and fast enough to overtake the Honda, she moved to the side to begin the pass. However, by the time she had been able to overtake, there was only a car's length of space between her and the Honda from behind.
Luna braked first.
And she felt the punishing hit from behind that caused one of her rear Bridgestone tyres to blow, and she could hear it all too well.
"Puncture, Luna. You've got a puncture!" Luna didn't need to be reminded of that.
In front of her, she saw she was about to smash into the barrier. Although there was a ton of space between her and the barrier, half of the space was tarmac. There was only a fraction of runoff area with dirt and gravel.
Gripping her racing wheel tight, and with only one option to do upon instinct, Luna slammed on the brakes hard. So hard, that she could hear the crunching of brake discs screaming at her. The heat of the brakes and the friction of the tyres grinding against the ground reached into her head. DTM cars, unlike FIA GT3, were not permitted the use of ABS (anti-lock braking system) aids.
Though Luna had slowed down a lot, she could feel the brakes locking up to the point where they wouldn't function. They were useless now.
But it was fortunate that at this point she had slowed down enough for the gravel to do the rest of the work. Even so, despite slowing, the front of her Oracle Nissan GT-R pushed into the barrier and both the headlights and front grille were crushed.
"Luna! Are you alright?!" her engineer shouted.
"I'm fine, thanks," she assured.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly removed her hands from the race wheel. She pressed the button that switched off the engine, unfastened her seat belt and harnesses, and slowly stepped out.
"The stewards and the FIA are investigating this right now," the team engineer added. "The medical car will be deployed to pick you up."
She still had her helmet on, and soon enough, in the hot Texas sunlight, she saw two race marshals approach her to see if she was fine. Subsequently, they motioned her to follow them away from the race track. Luna, exasperated, turned to look at the Pepsi Honda NSX-GT which also had stopped, albeit about a hundred metres away. There, she saw the marshals attending to the driver as well.
The Honda itself was blanketed in smoke. Smoke was rising from beneath its bonnet, and from the tyres which looked like they had molten into the ground.
Shade Nighsworn, a minute's distance away, didn't need to be nearby to guess what had happened. He was well on his way trying to hold 3rd place, until his engineer with X-Tech Racing gave a report to him.
"Yellow. Repeat. Yellow," he said. "Seems like there's been an incident with the race leaders, but now you're leading the race, Shade!"
He had to slow down as he eventually drove by the site where the incident happened. Race marshals were frequently waving yellow flags from the sides to signify exercising caution in the area, and for the racers to slow down. As Shade drove by, he saw the Pepsi Honda NSX-GT and the Oracle Nissan GT-R standing still, and the latter had ended up in the barrier.
Behind him, Shade saw Alain Blanc's Audi reduce its speed as well, and as per yellow flag rules, there was no overtaking. The Audi RS 5 swerved left and right to reduce its speed and stay behind Shade, while Shade had to limit his speed to about 50 km/h (30 mph).
"The safety car will be deployed when you get to the finishing straight," the engineer added.
Eventually, at some point, Shade saw the rest of the whole race grid behind him, save for the Honda and the Nissan which were clearly out of the race. They were running as slowly as the formation lap in the first place, except this time there was no safety car in front.
By the time Shade, in the Monster Energy Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé, had crossed the finish line he could see a Ford Mustang GT safety car in front, with its safety car lights flashing. Rather than using his brakes, he used the width of the straight to swerve from left to right to cover more distance and reduce his speed at the same time. Behind him, the Audi and the other Mercedes were tailing him.
"On the plus side, we're in position for maximum attack," the engineer said. "If all goes well, we'll be leading the Team Championship."
"I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet," Shade replied, and feeling relaxed as all he needed to do was follow the safety car for the time being. "We still have the whole season to go through."
"Don't think of that yet. That can wait 'til after the race."
The Mustang travelled relatively slowly, and at the same time a Porsche Cayenne was deployed ahead of the Mustang to travel to the site of the crash. Shade watched the SUV flash its own safety car lights as it travelled at a slightly faster speed the length of the Circuit of the Americas.
Swerving left and right, Shade kept a comfortable pace behind the safety car. He could use a breather for now.
Looks like I'll have a small fight on my hands, he thought, thinking of the Audi.
"The pit window is open," his engineer said. "Box now. Box now. While the safety car is present."
Some time later, when the still operational cars had nearly completed their lap, Shade entered the pit lane. He slowed down to the pit lane's speed limit as he neared his pit box. On each of the four ends stood two people, and they were ready to do the switch the tyres with fresh pre-heated Hankook tyres. In his rear mirror, he saw the rivalling Audi also follow his lead in.
"We will keep using the prime compound," the engineer instructed.
Shade pulled over to the mark, and felt the pneumatic jacks burst from underneath to lift the car up. In a matter of seconds, the four tyres had been replaced with new ones, and then the air jack was pulled to bring the Mercedes back to ground. Shade slammed on the throttle, hearing the familiar loud buzz of 1st gear, and took off onto the pit lane again.
"That was really quick. I think we may have cut off a second from the Audi," the engineer said. "Victory is in sight."
"That's good," Shade replied. He rejoined the track in what should have been in a bad position – that is, the back of the field – but thanks to the safety car, he had no pressure trying to keep up with the field. He was practically trying to hound down the Shell Lexus RC F belonging to Lexus Team NIWA now. There was no doubt he would take a podium finish, provided he kept up this pace. With new prime tyres, the job was even easier.
He passed the site of the incident involving the Oracle Nissan GT-R and the Pepsi Honda NSX-GT. Heavy equipment were hard at work removing the cars and debris from the site still, so the safety car would have to be in effect for the next while.
As well, when Shade passed pit lane entrance again, he saw one of the BMWs and several Nissans enter the pit lane to have their tyre change.
"Race control says a green flag will have to wait until the cars have been removed," the engineer reported. "At least we'll be cutting off time here."
"I've got this," Shade assured.
Two laps later, at the point where most of the debris had been cleared and Luna and Percy were safely away from the site, the Ford Mustang safety car drove into the pit lane as it completed the lap. The flag marshal waved the green flag as the DTM and Super GT machines crossed the finishing straight. The crescendo of engines, backed by turbocharged power, shook the Texas air.
The number 9 Monster Energy Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé DTM instantly shot off as soon as the green flag was waved. Not far behind, the Belgian Audi Club RS 5 DTM with start number 0 tried its best to keep up with the Mercedes, but was under increasing pressure from the Toshiba Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé DTM. Not far behind the frontrunners, the rest of the field tried to make up ground on their own.
In the case of BMW Team Canada, they were not doing too well. Walton Durant, the team engineer, had no idea whether it was because the cars weren't well suited to the track or that it was the drivers' fault that they couldn't make up ground.
Maria and Leon had each made their mandatory pit stop, but as far as statistics were concerned, Leon was the only one making ground. Although the race accident meant Maria could make a couple places, it still placed her in 12th which was a non-points position. Leon made up two places alone, but that still meant he would remain in 14th, which was also not satisfactory.
Not to mention that the two Lexus RC Fs from US-based Runway Racing, in the Costco Lexus RC F and the Tesco Lexus RC F, were occupying both 9th and 10th positions. Although the race had restarted with a fresh green flag, Walton Durant brought in some unsettling news for Maria.
"The top ten have lost you by at least half a second. You have got to improve those lines, Maria," Durant instructed.
Things were looking bleak for the BMWs.
It's a pleasure to finally write about the next race. Race results will be in the next chapter!