Chapter twenty-five

Nürburgring GP: 10:30 AM

3 Days before the 24 Hour Race

It was really early at the Nürburgring Grand Prix. There was plenty of sunlight shining on the track at this point of the day, though.

In the midst of it all, all the racing cars were being lined up and put on display for the public to show. Deciding that all of BMW Team Schubert was working so hard, Stefan Wendl and Michael Fong brought Team Mushroom Kingdom to have a look at the other teams as well.

Now the cars pulled aside for Team Mushroom Kingdom to get out, starting with Rosalina and then Daisy. The other two drivers followed, and then everyone else disembarked from their cars.

Of course, each member of Team Mushroom Kingdom were there wearing BMW Motorsport racing gear and suits.

"We have plenty of time to spare," Michael said. "So take a look around at some of the other cars! They're actually worth looking at if you ask me, but be back to the SP9 GT3 class later where the Z4 GT3's are. That will be our meeting point."

Everyone nodded and parted ways.

"I think we could check out the other SP9 GT3 cars, they look like the stuff," Luigi said.

Daisy reached out a hand and grabbed Luigi's. "You first," she said.

They approached one or two of the cars. Clearly, there were team logos around and photographers and cameramen surrounding each car. With so many, Luigi and Daisy decided to look at only a few of the cars.

There was a large logo hoisted up in the air, and Luigi couldn't help but notice it was a black flag with a black and yellow badge-like logo with a golden bull in the middle. The words 'LAMBORGHINI' were printed in yellow in that flag.

"Excuse me!" A reporter went to ask the Lamborghini engineers. "May I ask what…?"

"A Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL II," the engineer said proudly over the noise. "We definitely hope we'll take a podium finish with this great machine!"

An orange Lamborghini was parked and closed off by velvet ropes to prevent the public from reaching too close to it. A black rear spoiler stretched out from the back and the ZURICH race number read the single number 12.

"It looks formidable, if you ask me," Daisy said.

"HA!" the Lamborghini supporters said. "We'll see what happens in the race! We might finally have a chance to best BMW Motorsport, Audi Sport, and Mercedes for the first time this year! No offence."

"Not a problem," Daisy replied.

Indeed, the car did look fierce-looking…

After Lamborghini, Luigi and Daisy went to look at the other SP9 GT3 class cars.

"FIA GT3 regulations," a voice said to another. "Yep, these are the cars you'll find to have the best potential for the overall win. I'm confident that ours will take it for sure."

Luigi looked over his shoulder and saw a silver race car parked. The team logo this time was on a signboard. He and Daisy walked over to it.

The signboard read 'Mercedes Benz'. Apparently, the racing team was called Black Falcon Racing, and their SLS AMG GT3 stood with a yellow spoiler on the back; the official Black Falcon logo in the front centre where the vent was; the ZURICH race panel reading the number 3.

"Now that's a car," Luigi said.

"It looks a little too… gray," Daisy remarked.

"Come on, Daisy! That's a GT3 car right there!" Luigi retorted. "From what I've read, Mercedes Benz is a challenging opponent, in spite of the look. Would you believe me if I told you that car's doors open up like a bird?"

Daisy rolled her eyes and dragged Luigi to look at other cars.

When they walked further to look at SP9 GT3 cars, they also saw crowds gathered near the Porsche team for SP9 GT3 class. To their interest, the team was Manthey Racing: a chief competitor in the 24 hour races.

"How do you reckon Porsche will turn out in this year's race?" a reporter shouted.

"A bunch of engineering and lots cooperation is all we need," the principal of Manthey answered. "We haven't had a winning streak lately, so we might as well start one today!"

Manthey Racing's 997 GT3 was only one of many. This particular car had the start number 50; painted yellow; and like all the other cars was decorated in sponsors. It was incredible that there were even more Porsches that followed Manthey's, although the fact remained that the other SP9 GT3 Porsches weren't from Manthey.

After looking at other GT3 specification cars, Luigi and Daisy moved to look at some of the last. Among them was a company called Phoenix Racing, and they used a blue and yellow Audi R8 LMS ultra race car. Given that the twosome had seen so many other GT3 cars, they weren't shaken by the sight of the R8. Rather, they were hyped to race it.

"Start number 205," Luigi said. "That's a lot of cars!"

"You got it," said a member from Team Phoenix. "And tell BMW that they've got a whole lot more Audis to race against! You guys better work hard!"

"Same to you," Daisy replied.

After bypassing a few more teams, Luigi and Daisy came across the last bit of cars. Somehow, they mistook the next few cars as the two Schubert Z4 GT3s. The reason was that the cars were BMW Z4 GT3s themselves. A gray and black Z4 stood, and a black and azure Z4 stood beside it."

"Impossible!" Daisy exclaimed. "I thought that only Schubert had the right to carry those logos! Let alone the M3!"

"But this is the first time in history," the Marc VDS manager said. "Schubert Motorsport, Marc VDS Racing, and Vita4One Racing are representing BMW together. It'll be a blast. Come on, Jörg Müller and Dirk Müller have driven for Marc VDS too, you know."

Luigi and Daisy spun around, with Luigi saying, "BMW should be lucky to have two powerhouses like you two."

"Hey, we're still rivals speaking in teams," the manager said. "All the same and speaking in manufacturers, we both represent BMW in the 24 hour race, as Mr. Fong has graciously told me. However, you guys at Schubert have two cars to work with while we have one."

"Say," Daisy said. "Why is it that they're called GT3, anyway? What's the difference?"

"This class uses cars engineered to meet FIA GT3 European Championship regulations. They're the cars that usually have the best bet to take the overall win, considering how dominating their performance is."

The Vita4One Z4 GT3 had multiple photos taken of it. Daisy even noted the names Pedro Lamy, Dirk Werner, Dirk Adorf, and Andy Priaulx on the car. To top it all, Luigi looked at the back of the Z4 GT3 to see the white words in black BMW Sports Trophy on the bumper.

"Let's hope for a good race," Luigi finally said to the Schubert manager.

"See you guys at qualifying," the manager replied.

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