Monday 2nd April

The Party bus left at 10 that morning, with every point scorer on board. Morag, true to her word, wasn't able to pry out any more info in the time since the previous week. The bus trundled its way to Michigan for 7 hours, arriving at 5pm.

Joe Agate and Thibault were driven in the Volkswagen Touareg once again, whilst Sally, Eudora, Pierre and Shermy all shared the Polestar's Volvo XC90 for a second week. Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Patty Swanson and Rerun took the Honda Civic and José, Cormac and Schroeder took the Opel Astra.

Once at the track, Charlie Brown and Linus began to chat to each other in the paddock.

"How have you been, Charlie Brown? You seem troubled."

"That shouldn't be a surprise." Charlie Brown replied. "Just two weeks ago, we were talking about how risky it was, and now…"

"Yeah, I know." Linus understood. "And the organisers are trying their darnedest to sweep it under the carpet. Did you know the race broadcast never mentioned the accident once?

"No."

"It shocked me too. Did Morag tell you anything last week?" Linus asked.

"Not a lot, she says she's doing some more digging, but the owners are trying to hide their money from the taxman." Charlie Brown answered.

"I see. That explains her vote on Saturday." Linus replied. "Do you think the press know what's going on?"

"Doubt it. The honest ones are hungry for news, and we haven't heard a squeak yet."

"You see over there," Linus pointed at a blonde haired girl with pigtails. "She's a new driver, filling in until Pig Pen comes back."

"I see." Charlie Brown observed.

"You'll have to learn who to trust before digging at the press, Charlie Brown." Linus replied.

"Morag said something similar." Charlie Brown said. Linus checked his watch.

"Teammate's expecting me at dinner. Good luck this week."

"And you too." Charlie Brown waved goodbye.

On Tuesday 3rd, the teams, the cars, the crew, and the motorhomes with them, arrived at the track.

Thursday 5th April- Press Conference

Again, 5 drivers were randomly chosen to be interviewed by the press. These were: Eudora, new driver Mimi Sonatelli, Violette Honfleur, Joe Agate, and Violet Gray.

I: Eudora, your team haven't scored since the opening round in Delaware, how do you plan on rectifying that?

Eudora: this is a very fast track that rewards top speed over everything else, so I think that will definitely level the playing field, and we have a good chance of success, I think.

I: Mimi, welcome to Spindycar, this is your first race; how are you settling in? What are you feeling? What are these cars like to drive?

Mimi: I'm doing fine at the moment. I haven't driven the car in anger yet, but I'm pleased to be here. I'd have hoped it was under better circumstances, but sometimes that's how it is.

I: Violette, you finished 4th last time, do you think you can do that again?

Violette: We'll have to see, won't we?

I: Joe Agate, you nearly scored your team's first points, how long, do you think, can they wait before they start losing patience with you?

Joe Agate: Hopefully we'll score points soon. Last week was our best result, so I'm hoping we can do better here.

I: Violet, you've had 2 points finishes on the bounce, you think you can get a third?

Violet: Sure I can. The car's good enough, and it suits my driving style nicely.

I: Thank you

Saturday 7th April

After final practice was over, everyone could see it was going to be a close qualifying session. The track was essentially testing the cars' top speed, and given that this is a spec series, a lot of the lower end of the grid were looking forward to setting a time.

Marcie was the first to go out, setting a time of 0:41.914, before Franklin followed with a 0:42.021. Linus then beat both of them, setting a time of 0:41.851. New driver Mimi set a time of 0:41.938, ahead of her team mate Franklin. Schroeder then set a time of 0:41.904.

Eudora surprised many with a time of 0:41.863, before Morag set a time of 0:41.883. Shermy Plepler then shockingly set the fastest time of 0:41.837, before Violet followed with a 0:41.899. Pierre beat Violet with a time of 0:41.886, before Rerun set provisional pole with a 0:41.831. Frieda squeezed ahead of Morag with a 0:41.882, before Thibault set a time of 0:42.410 and Patty Swanson set a time of 0:41.842.

Five then set a time of 0:41.889, which put him in front of Violet, before Harold Angel set a time of 0:41.876, and José Peterson set a time of 0:41.869. Cormac tapped the wall on his first lap, which meant he set a 0:43.348, putting him last.

Sally Brown then went out, setting a time of 0:41.927, before her brother Charlie Brown set pole with a 0:41.817. Violette then set a time of 0:41.935, before Peppermint Patty set a time of 0:41.855. Joe Agate then snuck behind her with a 0:41.856 before Lucy ended proceedings with a time of 0:41.891.

At the end of the session, the grid order looked like this…

1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:41.817 2nd Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:41.831

3rd Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:41.837 4th Patricia Swanson [ACE] 0:41.842

5th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:41.851 6th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:41.855

7th Joe Agate [Sky] 0:41.856 8th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:41.863

9th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:41.869 10th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:41.876

11th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:41.882 12th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:41.883

13th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:41.886 14th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:41.889

15th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:41.891 16th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:41.899

17th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:41.904 18th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:41.914

19th Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:41.927 20th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 0:41.935

21st Mimi Sonatelli [Armstrong] 0:41.938 22nd Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:42.021

23rd Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:42.410 24th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:43.348

After Qualifying, the top three qualifiers were interviewed.

I: Charlie Brown, this is your second pole position in a row. Do you think you can take the championship lead tomorrow?

Charlie Brown: I hope so. I'm going to try my best to keep everyone behind me, but it's going to be a challenge.

I: Rerun, you seem to fit in as no. 2 to Charlie Brown. Is the team going to encourage racing between you two?

Rerun: We certainly want to be racing each other. We won't hit each other, but I'm not going to give way as this point in the season.

I: Shermy, usually you are at the back, where has your sudden turn of speed come from?

Shermy: I don't know, honestly. Around here, we actually go fast, that might have helped.

I: Thank you.

Championship Leader Morag was also interviewed.

I: Morag, you've qualified 12th, not where you want to be, is it?

Morag: No it isn't. I must say, Eudora was right when she said this place was a great leveller, because it's certainly done that. I'll have to work hard to keep my championship lead.

I: Thank you.

Sunday 8th April – Race Day in Michigan

As the cars waited on the grid, Charlie Brown was again on pole, hoping to take the championship lead. As the mechanics and VIPs left the oval, the announcer's voice was heard.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Start your Engines!"

Charlie Brown did so, as did all the other drivers.

"As the pace car leads the cars around the track, these drivers will have 70 laps to battle it out for the top spot of the podium, and as the cars approach the starting line the Michigan Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!"

Rerun got a great start, sneaking past Charlie Brown at the turn one, whilst Shermy slipped back to fourth before the lap was over. By the end of lap 5, Marcie had made her way up to 16th, and Mimi had passed Violette into 20th. Shermy was passed by Linus on lap 8, whilst Eudora passed Joe Agate on lap 10. On lap 17, Schroeder ran into engine trouble and had to pull off into the pitlane to retire the car. By lap 20, Morag had made her way past Frieda, before Eudora Passed Joe Agate in a daring move on lap 23.

By lap 30, Sally had made her way past Violet into 17th, Cormac overtook Thibault, and Franklin overtook Violette. On lap 34, Peppermint Patty passed Shermy, moving into 5th place. On lap 38, Morag coolly passed her teammate Harold Angel into 10th place.

By lap 40, Frieda had also passed Harold Angel. 3 laps later, Marcie passed Lucy at the final turn, before, on lap 47, Linus passed Patty Swanson to move up into 3rd place. The race began to settle down, with Rerun enjoying a comfortable lead, whilst Charlie Brown patiently stayed behind him. On lap 52, Morag made her way into 9th, passing José Peterson. On lap 60, Eudora then Passed Shermy, taking 6th place. On lap 64, Linus made a pass on Charlie Brown into 2nd place.

Sally had a scary moment as her tyre exploded on the end of lap 67. Amazingly she held the skid and was able to bring the car back to the pits without hitting the wall, where they promptly retired the car. The debris on the circuit however, meant the race was brought under yellows for the remaining 3 laps. This meant that.

"Rerun Van Pelt wins in Michigan! Linus Van Pelt is 2nd, Charlie Brown is 3rd, Patty Swanson takes 4th, with Eudora Elm 5th, Patricia Reichardt in 6th, Shermly Plepler in 7th, Joe Agate in 8th, Morag McMurdo in 9th, and José Peterson in 10th. Frieda Rich was 11th, with Harold Angel 12th, Pierre Fermier 13th, 555 95472 in 14th, Marcie Johnson in 15th, Lucy Van Pelt 16th, Violet Gray 17th, Mimi Sonatelli 18th, Franklin Armstrong 19th, Violette Honfleur 20th, Cormac O'Connor 21st and Thibault Rhodes 22nd.

In the Championship, the standings are as follows…

1st Charlie Brown [Renault] 48pts 2nd Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 47pts

3rd Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 42pts 4th Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 40pts

5th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 39pts 6th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 35pts

7th Pig Pen [Armstrong] 35pts 8th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 31pts

9thFranklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 30pts 10th Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 25pts

11th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 19pts 12th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 18pts

13th José Peterson [Daihatsu] 16pts 14th Patty Swanson [ACE] 16pts

15th Violette Honfleur [ACE] 13pts 16th Harold Angel [Isdera] 12pts

17th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 10pts 18th Violet Gray [Zontec] 10pts

19th Sally Brown [Polestar] 6pts 20th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 6pts

21st Joe Agate [Sky] 4pts 22nd 555 95472 [Cherokee] 2pts

23rd Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 1pt 24th Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0pts

25th Mimi Sonatelli [Armstrong] 0pts

Rerun parked his car on Victory Road, and raised his arms in celebration, before high fiving Charlie Brown and receiving congratulations from his team. The three podium finishers then went upstairs to the waiting room. In the waiting room, Linus congratulated his brother on the win, and Charlie Brown praised the two of them for their good racing.

Everyone stood still and silent as the American anthem played, and the American flags unfurled. The French anthem played after the American one finished. When that was over, the competitors celebrated in front of the fans, drank their milk and left for the pressroom.

In the pressroom, the interviewers had a few questions for them.

I: Rerun, your first win of the season, how does it feel?

Rerun: I can't really describe it. It feels incredible. I really wasn't expecting it. I'm very thankful for the team for bringing a car that worked well here.

I: Linus, you fought your way up from 5th, how tough was that for you, given the nature of this track?

Linus: It was certainly a hard race. I'm happy though that it ended well, there was a lot of hard and fair racing today, and I think we all made a good impression.

I: Charlie Brown, you could have won two races in a row, do you have any regrets?

Charlie Brown: Not really. I could have fought my way past, with a bit of effort, but I also didn't want to jeopardise mine and other people's races by doing a stupid move, so I played it a bit safe. I'm leading the championship, I heard, so I've got that going for me.

I: Thank you.

Down in the paddock, Morag was also interviewed.

I: Morag, a hard race today? You fought your way up to 9th.

Morag: You could say that. I'm glad I managed to get something out of it. It's still very close in the championship, I might add, so watch this space.

I: Thank you.

The drivers all went to their hotel for the night and went to sleep ready for the next morning.