Monday 19th March 2018

With an extra week before the next round at Watkin's Glen, the competitors made great use of the extra time given to them, in order to relax and recuperate from the strenuous racing. Charlie Brown sat with Linus at around mid-morning in a wood furnished café not far from the circuit.

"How are you doing?" Charlie Brown asked.

"I'm doing well, I think." Linus responded. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Do you ever, have any questions about who's running the championship?"

"Do I? I heard you and Morag talking about it on the party bus last week. Of course I have questions. Nobody is going to sign off onto a racing series for kids like this. Most car racing starts at 14 at the very least. Some of us are 6. Rerun's only 5. That's barely karting age. It's a miracle Rerun has even got this far without getting himself hurt." Linus answered.

"I know. He's already crashed once." Charlie Brown shared his concerns.

"Luckily Lime Rock Park isn't a high speed oval. These places can be deathtraps, even for adults." Linus alluded. "Which begs the question why they even let us kids race on it."

"Morag asked me to meet her at the Glen this Sunday. She'll tell me anything she knows then." Charlie Brown.

"That's a day before the party bus leaves." Linus pointed out.

"I see." Charlie Brown replied.

"Let me know what she says. It's not good for the organisers to be keeping secrets from us." Linus replied.

On Wednesday 21st, many of the drivers took the opportunity to do some extra training to get themselves ready for the races ahead. Charlie Brown, Linus, Rerun and Lucy had all gone to a local gym to strengthen up, Rerun in particular focusing on increasing his neck strength. Peppermint Patty and Marcie were swimming lengths at the local community pool, and Franklin, Pig Pen, Eudora and Five were out running. Thibault and Joe Agate weren't exercising at all, they were hanging around town running a marbles ring. Patty, Shermy, Violet and Sally were playing tennis, while Jose, Cormac, Harold Angel, Pierre and Frieda were playing Baseball. Violette and Schroeder did some Yoga exercises, and Morag was doing sit ups whilst sitting at a computer in her hotel room, where she was doing some digging.

Sunday 25th March

Watkins Glen, New York. Charlie Brown had asked the Renault team to drive the two of them one day early. They had initially dismissed his request but when he pointed out that the Isdera team were doing the same, they immediately changed their tune. They arrived late in the morning. Charlie Brown asked to scout the track and they granted his wish. Charlie Brown looked around. Morag was leaning on the pitwall, slumping boredly as she watched the empty track and waited.

"Good Morning, Morag."

"About time, Charlie Brown." she replied.

"How have you been?" Charlie Brown asked.

"I've been busy." Morag replied.

"Mhm." Charlie Brown nodded. "You manage to find anything out?

"Yes and No." Morag replied. "I did a bit of digging, asking the engineers where the money for their salaries come from."

"They get their money from the team bosses." Charlie Brown replied.

"And then I asked where the teams are getting their money from. Most of them didn't know, but the team principal was very helpful. He told me they were paid by a company named Verticalis Holdings LLC. I did a quick internet search on it and the company address is supposedly on the Cayman Islands.

"What does that mean?" Charlie Brown asked.

"It means it's a shell company." Morag replied. "It just holds money somewhere where it won't be taxed whilst the people behind it run the show with a different company." She explained. "I'll try and find out who it belongs to, but given we're stuck here for the week, I might not have anything new until the race after."

"I might try and find out some things of my own. I have a feeling the press will know who runs the show." Charlie Brown replied.

"Be careful, though. Don't ask too directly, or they'll start thinking you're suspicious. They're in on the whole idea as much as the owners are, or they wouldn't be broadcasting it." Morag warned.

"Thanks anyway." Charlie Brown replied. The two of them left the pitwall and returned to their garages.

Rerun and Harold Angel were also at the track, and had also met up whilst they were watching Charlie Brown and Morag talk.

"You okay?" Rerun asked.

"Uh huh. I see you're early too." Harold Angel replied. "Do you know why we're early?"

"Don't know, more practice I guess? That's what our boss says anyway." Rerun answered.

"If you ask me, I saw Morag and Charlie Brown sit next to each other on the bus last time, and now they're chatting here. I think they like each other."

The two of them giggled to themselves, before splitting apart and getting back to studying the circuit.

Monday 26th March

The top 10 party bus was depleted in number this time, given three of the top ten finishers were already at the circuit. Like last race, the party bus left at noon, arriving at the circuit at around 7pm.

Peppermint Patty, Lucy and Franklin drove there in the Honda Civic team car, while Five, Cormac, Jose and Patty Swanson rode in the Team Cherokee Jeep. Thibault and Joe Agate took a ride in Team Sky's Volkswagen Touareg, while Sally, Eudora, Pierre and Shermy shared the Polestar's Volvo XC90. They all left at around 11, arriving an hour before the party bus did.

On Tuesday 27th, the teams, the cars, the crew, and the motorhomes with them, arrived at the track.

Thursday 29th March

On Thursday morning, another 5 drivers were seemingly randomly selected to be interviewed by reporters from the press. These drivers were: Lucy Van Pelt, Thibault Rhodes, Cormac O'Connor, Linus Van Pelt, and Sally Brown.

I: Lucy, you and your team have struggled since the first race, what can you do to start earning points again?

Lucy: Well, we are some of the best overtakers in the field, so if we can qualify close to the points, we should be in with a good chance.

I: Thibault, you and Joe Agate have made names of yourselves for your aggressive moves on the track, but it hasn't translated into any points. How do you see yourself changing that?

Thibault: well, we had our best finishes last race so if we keep at it and stay on that trajectory, we'll be scoring points in no time.

I: Cormac, your car broke down last race. Is that just a fluke or are there underlying problems with the car?

Cormac: It's too early to tell at the moment, but we're hoping that was only a one-time thing.

I: Linus, you finished 5th last time. Do you think you can get yourself onto the podium this time around?

Linus: That would be realistic progress for us. As a team we want to be consistently finishing highly so we can win the championship.

I: Sally, last time, you qualified last, and only finished 19th, do you think you can do a better job in qualifying this time?

Sally: Last race was a disaster, and the underlying problems we had last time should be fixed for this time, so expect us to finish nearer the points.

I: Thank you.

Saturday 31st March

After final practice had finished at the Glen, everyone was eager to go out and set a qualifying time, and eventually, they did, with Patty Swanson going out first, setting a time of 1:39.419, before losing her front wing on her second lap. The track was very green, which meant a lot of drivers were either tentative or made mistakes. Next out was Shermy, who although he too lost his front wing, on lap one, grew comfortable without it and set a time of 1:30.975. José was next out making multiple mistakes, eventually setting a time of 1:38.551. Sally Brown then made the same error as shermy did, but she took top spot with a time of 1:29.792.

Joe Agate lost his front wing on the outlap, and proceeded to throw the car around as much as possible, setting a time of 1:29.295 before crashing out on lap 2. Next out was Franklin, who improved on that time and set a 1:27.822, which was instantly beaten by an uncaring Violet, who set a 1:27.582. Peppermint Patty was the first to complete a run without losing her front wing, setting a time of 1:29.922, which put her in 5th.

Championship Leader Pig Pen was next, setting a 1:27.933 on his first timed lap. On his third lap though, he went through the Chicane too fast and hit the wall hard. Losing a wheel and both his wings, his car flipped upside down and careened into the opposite wall, which caused the car to rebound and spin a further 5 times before flipping back up onto its wheels. The Marshals immediately red flagged the session and those who were nearby ran to help Pig-Pen. As they approached him, it became clear that he had been knocked unconscious. He was still breathing, but the marshals signalled for an ambulance.