And so that will be all for the group stage of the Race of Champions! 32 drivers started the competition, 16 remain. Thus, the match-ups for this Round of 16 shall be as follows;
Raimundo Pedrosa vs Yugi Moto
Heinz Doofenshmirtz vs Wallabee Beatles
Bloom vs Nikki Wong
Marik Ishtar vs Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Emperor Kuzco vs Homer Simpson
Nigel Uno vs Rikochet
Aelita Stones vs Amy Wong
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon vs Groundskeeper Willie
Each of the eight winners in this round will move on to the quarterfinals. Now then, let's get a move on!
"Ooh, you're gonna win this, Yugi!" Tea jumps excitedly as Yugi fires up his Audi R8. "I can feel it!"
"Eh, well, there is some real tough competition ahead," Yugi reasons.
"Who cares?" Tea beams as she kisses Yugi hard on the lips. "You're tougher than them. Now go get 'em!" With that Tea blows Yugi one more kiss as he drives the Audi out onto the racetrack. He lines up on the outer course; on the inner course is another Audi R8, driven by his opponent for this round, the Brazilian Raimundo Pedrosa.
The two cars go thundering off the line as the green flag flies, sending faint tremors through the walls of Saltlake Stadium. While they are even heading off the line, Raimundo gets the better run through his hairpin turn and takes the lead going into the crossover.
As it that weren't enough, he slides perfectly through his next chicane and sweeping curve lika a drifter in the D1 Grand Prix, retaining a solid lead going into lap 2, as well as heading into the crossover after mastering the third set of turns. Yugi Moto, however, is still not talked into giving up;
"I SUMMON DARK MAGICIAN IN ATTACK MODE! DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"
The crowd reels once more as Yugi's Dark Magician appears from out of thin air, standing on the roof of Yugi's car. On Yugi's command, the Magician fires a beam of dark magic from his scepter right towards Raimundo's car...
"No! What's HAPPENING?!" Raimundo exclaims as the magic beams hits his car, totally incapacitating all of its features and rendering it undriveable. As Raimundo rolls to a screeching halt, Yugi soars across the start/finish line, cheering as he takes the win and advances to the quarterfinals.
...
When Raimundo's car is towed off the track, two RoC Cars come rolling on to race; the one on the inner course is driven by Wallabee Beatles, and the one on the outer course is driven by the mad scientist Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
"I'll get you this time, Beatles!" Doofenshmirtz growls as he and Wally take off. Both cars so sliding nastily through their first turns, but they stay under control, and remain even heading out of the turns.
Then, while Wally adequately steers his way through his chicane, Doofenshmirtz brakes way late leading into his hairpin, leading him to slow way up to stay off the wall, and allowing Wally to take a big lead going into lap 2.
From here, Wally never looks back. He keeps the car on the track, and doesn't make any major mistakes, denying Doofenshmirtz any opportunities to catch up with him. Thus, Wally Beatles crosses the finish line as the winner by a large margin, leading Dr. Doofenshmirtz to yell "CURSE YOU, WALLABEE BEATLES!" once more.
...
Up next, it is Bloom vs Nikki Wong. Both ladies go roaring onto the racetrack behind the wheel of KTM X-Bows, both hungry for a victory. Bloom sets up on the outer course, while Nikki goes on the inner course.
Right from the waving of the green flag, Nikki gains the upper hand on Bloom as she rockets off the starting line and into the lead, pirouetting through her first hairpin turn and further widening her lead going into the crossover.
While Bloom does take a pretty good-sized bite into Nikki's lead going into the next set of turns, owing to Nikki getting somewhat loose from her chicane, Nikki still leads going into lap 2. Through the third set of turns, she is still out front, leading Bloom to take drastic measures as a fireball is generated in her hand and thrown right at Nikki's car...
A huge gasp permeates from the crowd as the fireball scores a direct hit on the rear end of Nikki's car, detonating her engine and sending huge plumes of debris, oil and other fluids flying everywhere. While Nikki herself is unhurt and is able to evacuate the car under her own power, the race is called with Bloom as the winner by default.
...
It takes a while for the remains of Nikki's car to be cleared from the track, but when they are, the next competitors come on. Marik Ishtar and Skwisgaar Skwigelf, both driving Volkswagen Sciroccos, are slated to race each other next, with Marik on the outer course and Skwisgaar on the inner course.
Marik cackles to himself with his Millennium Rod at the ready as the green flag is flown. But for the moment, he has no need to use the Rod as he surges ahead into the lead, leaving Skwisgaar in his dust as he effortlessly swings his way through his chicane. He does get loose just a bit going through his hairpin; nonetheless, he gets through A-OK, maintaining a solid lead going into lap 2.
Ultimately, though, Marik doesn't even have to touch his Millennium Rod for this race. Skwisgaar doesn't even get within a car length as Marik Ishtar flies through his second lap and takes the checkered flag as the winner, easily advancing to the quarterfinals.
...
When Marik and Skwisgaar have cleared the track, two Ariel Atoms come on forward to do their race; the Atom on the inner course is driven by Homer Simpson while the Atom on the outer course is piloted by Emperor Kuzco.
Both Kuzco and Homer are dead-even as they go shooting off the line. They both throw up smoke sliding through their first turns, and remain nearly even going into the crossover, with Homer leading by about an inch.
"D'OH!" Homer exclaims as he oversteers into the chicane, almost whacking the wall on his left. He ultimately saves the car, but this now allows Emperor Kuzco to fly out on ahead into the lead going into lap 2.
The third set of turns leaves nothing to be remembered, with nothing interesting happening, even though Kuzco's lead does get cut to half a car length going into the crossover. But then the fans all get on the edge of their seats as Homer pulls nearly even with Kuzco exiting their final turns...
"WOO-HOO!" yells Homer - he has beaten Emperor Kuzco by just three hundredths of a second, leading Kuzco to quip, "That fatso threw off my groove!"
...
The next scheduled match-up is Nigel Uno vs Rikochet. Two Toyota GT86's go rolling out onto the racetrack; the one driven by Nigel Uno lines up on the outer course, while the one driven by Rikochet lines up on the inner course.
Rikochet gets a big head start as the green flag is waved, but ends up braking too late going into his first hairpin turn, forcing to almost stop completely and allowing Nigel to go ahead into the lead.
And that's pretty much how this race goes from there; Rikochet is unable to recover from that botching of that hairpin turn, and Nigel Uno leads the way all the way, taking the checkered flag with flying colors, winning the race and moving on to the quarterfinals.
...
Now for the penultimate race in this Round of 16. Up next on the track are two Euro NASCAR cars. Both line up on the starting line, furiously revving their engines; it is Aelita Stones on the inner course, going up against Amy Wong on the outer course.
But then suddenly, a loud boom rings up from the track, accompanied by plumes of smoke. Amy Wong, being as impulsive as she is, overrevved the engine and blew it up. This leads to the race being called, with Aelita Stones the winner by default.
...
And now for the final race in this Round of 16; Apu Nahasapeemapetilon vs Groundskeeper Willie! Both come roaring onto the track, the sounds of their engines vastly dwarfed by the legions of fans breaking out into loud cheers and waving the flag of India, cheering for their representative driver, Apu.
The two rivals line up at the starting line, with Apu on the outer course and Willie on the inner course. "Shiva ain't comin' ter save ye, ya butt-picker!" Willie gawks as he and Apu take off from the line under the guise of the green flag.
Willie gets tight through his hairpin, running wide and helping Apu into the lead going into the crossover. But then Apu gets quite loose through his next hairpin, almost spinning out and thus handing the lead to Willie going into lap 2.
Then, whilst Willie gets through his sweeping curve and chicane okay, Apu slides through his next hairpin like a D1 drifter, pulling even with Willie going into the crossover. Both drivers then blow through their very last turns equally well, leading to them being nearly even on the homestretch, resulting in a drag race...
The crowd suddenly falls into a stunned silence, as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon loses to Groundskeeper Willie by eight thousandths of a second.
"Where are your gods now, ass-picker?" smirks Willie.
"Oh, you are so banned for life from the Kwik-E-Mart!" snaps Apu.
...
Well, that's it for this chapter. The quarterfinals, as decided by these races, will thus have the following match-ups;
Wallabee Beatles vs Yugi Moto
Bloom vs Marik Ishtar
Homer Simpson vs Nigel Uno
Aelita Stones vs Groundskeeper Willie
Stay tuned; the next chapter will take you all the way to the final round...!