OK Number Three: The Setting Sun

It was a sluggish start as far as Kallen was concerned, the wheels struggling to find patches of traction as they squirmed off the line. While it was damp, and getting damper by the minute, the conditions still lay in that amorphous region between wet and dry. As the engine revolutions soared, torque only creating wheelspin, Kallen pulled back on her paddle by the wheel to change up to second gear to settle the wild rear tyres, hoping that the increased legs would compensate for the higher gears lowered acceleration.

It did, as the engine briefly bogged down before it returned to its ideal operating window, allowing the wheels to smoothly find traction and increase their rotation speed without slips or sudden jerks. Pull back on the paddle for third gear, and she was underway.

Forty two laps to go.

Having found the grip to get her car up to speed, Kallen finally found the time to look ahead and see how the people ahead of her had gotten on. It appeared practice and experience had enabled them to get much better starts, even on the inferior tyre. The pack ahead had pulled a gap ahead of her, the spray patterns obscuring exactly who had the advantage of the lead group. Cautious of the four-or-five car wide scrum ahead, Kallen was cautious as the grid raced towards turn one, trying to spot her braking point in the wet.

The car on the inside line, which proved to be Luciano Bradley with an even worse start with Kallen, braked first, not eager to get tangled with other drivers. Seeing an opportunity, Kallen pulled her car towards the outside line to perhaps attempt an overtake, however she suddenly saw a yellow flag being waved by the marshals, barely visible in the drizzly mist, indicating that the cars ought to slow down to avoid a hazard on track.

Immediately, the car ahead aggressively braked, forcing Kallen to go off track to avoid hitting them in the rear. However, as she mounted the kerb and hopped onto the patch of green on the outer edge of the first corner, she finally saw why the car ahead had braked so harshly; there had been a crash.

Peering through the mess, she got a clear idea of who was affected; both Camelots were out, as well as Kallens teammate Tohdoh. The three race leaders had taken one another out at turn one, and that completely shook up the race, potentially putting a podium on the cards if the strategy of doing one less pit stop paid off.

Which it seemed, on the flowing sections of turns three and four, it was doing. The car that had brake checked her, which turned out to be Li Xingke, was still ahead of her, however was carrying almost no speed through the apex of the esses. As the yellow flags withdrew, Kallen accelerated around the outside of Xingke, an unorthodox move that in the dry would never work, however Xingke's deficit in grip levels allowed her to keep a much higher speed around the corner, and overtake him on the approach to the first Degner. Undoubtedly, most everyone was going to pit for the wet tyre at the end of the lap, taking around twenty seconds to go through pit lane relative to Kallen and Lelouch.

She had to hand it to him, his gamble appeared to have paid off, which became even more clear as she braked heavily into the hairpin after the second Degner and felt the confidence the tyres inspired in light of the conditions. It felt as if the limits of lateral grip were a ways away, and that she could push more and more. Even at 130R, which she had yet to take flat in the dry, she only took a slightly earlier braking point than she had in the dry, and she was able to brake later than the Lancer of Villetta Nu into the final chicane. She took a cheeky pleasure in watching the off-white car peel off into the pitlane for new tyres, as well as the radio message from Ohgi which simply chuckled "That's P1, you're in P1, Lamperouge two seconds behind."

Leading her first Grand Prix, at her home event. Given bizarre nature of the last 48 hours of her life, the surreal absurdity of this situation washed over her with a degree of uncaringness. She was not going to be distracted by the increasing unlikeliness of her situation.

What she was going to be distracted by was the scene at the first corner, which she was returning to rapidly. After having a proper look at the run of area, she saw Cornelia standing next to her car, which was being lifted away as she looked on. The Camelot of Gino and the Rebellion of Tohdoh had gone, probably having driven away. They would likely have to return to the pits to repair, which would put them at the very back of the grid and out of contention for a podium finish, if the damage was repairable in the first place. Curious, she asked for an update over the radio as she swept through the Esses for the second time.

"It appears Cornelia was squeezed between Gino and Tohdoh, and all three drivers came together. Cornelia is out of the race, and Gino was given a penalty, as well as having to replace his front wing. Tohdoh received damage to the sidepod, and had to retire in the pits. You are increasing the gap to Lamperouge, though Kururugi is closing on both of you. Keep it up. You'll be doing more one stop today, around the same time as everyone else, so we need to hold this gap as best we can."

Kallen confirmed this, as she saw Lelouch come into view in her rear view mirror, suspiciously small for being two seconds behind. Not putting much thought into that issue, Kallen pressed on, leaning heavily on her tyres to increase the gap to Lelouch. Over the next ten laps, the gap increased to almost twelve seconds, by which time her radio had returned to life.

"Kururugi has overtaken Lamperouge, and is catching you by around a second per lap."

Doing the maths in her head, Kallen reckoned that would be around the ideal pit stop window halfway through the race. If she could stay ahead until then, and get an undercut by pitting early, she could just about retain the position going into the latter stages of the race. For now, she just had to minimise Suzaku's gains relative to her.

However, that was becoming increasingly difficult as her tyres wore down, with increased graining and wear lowering her ceiling of grip, with the difficulties exponentially increasing. Here, her lack of experience was showing, as Suzaku, seemingly unperturbed, loomed large in the background of her mind as the sector times ticked away.

Suzaku made his move on lap twenty two of forty six, with an attempt to dive bomb Kallen on entry to the hairpin, braking much later than Kallen to leap forward and slip by as they decelerated into the slow corner, blocking the apex with his car and barging his way through.

However, the move was too ambitious, and he had not managed to slow himself fast enough to turn into the corner properly, spearing out wide on the exit of the corner. While Kallen was now behind, she was able to take a smoother, shorter line around the corner, and pull more momentum through it, allowing her to accelerate ahead on the way up to the Spoon Curve.

The moves ambitious yet improbable mature caught Kallen by surprise. In spite of his friendly demeanor, Suzaku clearly had immense confidence in his car and was willing to make incredibly aggressive maneuvers. She would have her hands full defending from him, even if running wide set him back some.

Suzaku eventually recovered, and was soon chasing after her, braking much later on the entry to Spoon, forcing her to take a defensive tack towards the inside of the corner on exit, preventing him from lunging down towards the apex to gain position, however also compromising her run onto the back straight. She could only watch Suzaku tuck in behind her, soaking in her wake and yet being pulled along by the vacuum of air Kallen was carving as she punched along the track. This slipstream greatly reduced the drag of Suzaku's car, as the air Kallen was forced to cleave her way through was dispersed away by the aerodynamics of her car, allowing the car following her to gain a substantial tow.

As Suzaku gained yet more momentum, he eventually pulled to the outside and used his momentum to swing himself alongside as they approached 130R, and as they rushed to the high speed corner in tandem, Kallen's heart sank. This was emphatically not a two-wide corner, even in the dry, and Suzaku did not appear to have any intention of lifting off on her outside.

Kallen became increasingly nervous as the corner approached. While Naoto's failure had been mechanical, it was in uncannily similar weather, and was ever-present as they approached the bend.

But then a curious thing happened. Suzaku lifted off, and as Kallen braked into the high-speed corner, he filed in behind her and continued to follow in her slipstream on the way up to the chicane at the Casio triangle. Surprised, she held the line rather tight, and allowed the aero to drag her into line around the three hundred kilometer per hour bend, ever aware of the proximity of another car. It was intensely interesting that he had not forced the move at that point, which was well within his capabilities.

Instead, he tucked in behind her out of 130R, and instead braked later than her into the Casio chicane on the inside, placing his car on the apex and hogging the track. It was a far safer and more conventional move, and secured him nominal first place. Of course, Xingke or the Lancers could challenge him later into the race, but for now, he had track position and had done one less lap on his current set of tyres.

"Box now, box now, we're still in this. Box immediately."

As soon as Suzaku had made his way past, Kallens radio burst into life, with Ohgi urging her to make a stop in her pit box, presumably for new tyres. Pulling aside on the exit of the last corner, Kallen peeled off on pit lane entry and slowly proceeded to her box, as per regulations. The moment she came to a stop, her car was swarmed by engineers. They ripped off her old wheels, rims and all. They were immediately replaced by a virgin set. The light on her steering wheel went green. She accelerated out of the box.

All done in under two seconds. The pit crew were a well practiced machine, replacing her worn wet tyres with a fresh set and ushering her away faster than Kallen could tie her shoelaces. If they didn't pull it off every other weekend without issue, it could well be classed as a wonder of the modern world. There was never a miscommunication or error, and it continued to amaze Kallen even as she sat in the car it was happening to. And now, she had fresh rubber.

As she exited back onto the track, having fallen behind Lelouch, Luciano and Villetta in the twenty seconds lost during the pit due to the speed limit for driving through pit lane, Kallen did the maths. Kallen was the first driver to go onto a new set of wet tyres, and while everyone else would need to make a stop onto a second set of wets as she had, she had done all her stops for the day. At present, her fresh tyres meant that she was as fast as she was ever going to be during this race. When other drivers pitted, they would also lose around twenty seconds. In the time between now and their pit stops, Kallen would have more pace compared to their old tyres, and so she could gain a second or two relative to them. Therefore, at the end of the pit stop phases, Kallen could be a second or two ahead of the other drivers relative to her initial pace.

For example, Suzaku was inches ahead of Kallen when she pitted, and gaining one or two seconds on an undercut could put her ahead of him on track after the pit stops finished. To do this, of course, Kallen would have to be faster than anyone else on track due to these new tyres.

One hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, clip the apex late. Suck in breath. Hold as much speed as possible into the flowing Esses. Left apex, right apex, left apex, dab of brakes, and hold the car in tight around Dunlop. Breath out. Mash the throttle towards the first Degner, light braking on entry, allow the car to wash towards the outer limits of the track. Heavy braking into the second Degner, one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour. Focus, fight the rear of the car on the exit. Switch lines into the hairpin, move to the outer edge. Make the hundred-and-eighty degree corner as wide as possible, outer edge, late apex, outer edge, and accelerate. Breathe again. Sacrifice the line on entry to Spoon, swing around tight to preserve speed, and fly.

With hitherto impossible grip, the car rocketed forwards with little wheelspin. Kallen flicked a switch on the wheel to give her the rich fuel flow she needed to get this lap as fast as she could, as 130R approached again. She had new tyres with which to grip, and so while she didn't take it flat out, she only lifted off the throttle at the last moment, and even then she had to fight the natural tendency of the car to spear off to the right.

Heavy braking into Casio, swing right, place both wheels over the kerb on the exit of the Chicane, and engage warp drive down the pit straight. Suzaku, who had pitted on Lap 1, should have pitted a lap after her, or thereabouts. Would he be ahead, or had that lap been enough?

Watching the pit exit, she saw the bold white sheen of the Rosenberg Car streak out, rapidly accelerating towards the first corner. Eager to gain back the position, Kallen pulled alongside, having had the entire straight to build up speed, and tried to outbrake Suzaku on entry to turn one from a long ways back, however in her aggressive application of the brakes she locked up the rear wheels and plough on off the track, losing about three seconds and all hope of stealing back the lead through strategy.

And now she was on older tyres. It was all downhill from here.

Over the next few laps, cars that had extended their first stint on wet tyres and had pitted later now began to reel Kallen in. Five laps after Suzaku had avoided her undercut, Villetta Nu, who had managed to get ahead of her teammate, held the outside of the hairpin and was able to maintain superior traction up towards Spoon Curve in spite of the nominally inferior line. The move was quick, efficient, and not really combatable. Luciano Bradley was next two laps later, with a better exit off the final chicane allowing him to pass her on the straight.

It was certainly dispiriting, however she did her best to not think about it and simply be as fast as she could be and run her own race. Races were about who finished ahead, not who did the most overtakes, and so Kallen focused on setting the best times she could manage over time as the laps ticked away. Around lap 31, she asked for a radio update, hoping for some way to jump the field and perhaps get a podium at her first race.

"Okay, pace is secure to Xingke, he will not catch you before the end if you maintain lap times. Ahead are Kururugi, Nu, Bradley and Lamperouge."

Kallen paused for a moment, realizing that Ohgi had listed four names rather than three, before copping on.

"How in bloody hell has Lelouch gotten ahead of us?"

"It appears he is going to the end on the tyre he started the race with, and was able to maintain position in not losing the time pitting. He has been preserving his types all race long, they will be worn. We can catch him, we seem to be gaining half a second per lap, with a gap of four seconds at this time."

Eight laps to catch, two to overtake.

With a clear target, Kallen was able to put the hammer down and chase down the French driver, whose tyres were worn down to the canvases. Banging out a series of personal best lap times, she found a rhythm in her movements, with delicate throttle applications and slight movements of wrist. It was all about efficiency at this point, as the best way to go quickly was to be as smooth as possible. Time was lost when you slipped up, spun the wheels, and got bad exits, and over the next ten laps, Kallen ensured mistakes were kept to a minimum. Even more than that, it felt effortless, as she was completely dialled into the car and its mannerisms. You waited for the car to straighten up on exit of the hairpin. ERS meant you could change up early out of Spoon. It was better to be in a lower gear through the Esses even though you carried less speed, as the car would have more aggressive handling patterns.

As she approached the diffuser of Lamperouge, on the approach to the Casio triangle, she could only wonder what she could have pulled off with more practise. She ventured around his outside, however Lelouch planted his car on the apex of the corner and hogged the racing line, as he was entitled to. He hopped across to the other side, aggressively defending the racing line with the two inside wheels almost onto the grass on the inside and forcing Kallen to take the outside line. Lelouch then cut across her and pulled to the outside off the front straight, nearly pulling into the pit lane.

She was forced to brake to avoid hitting his sidepod, which killed her momentum onto the main straight. This allowed Lelouch's lackluster engine to hide behind its superior track position and allow him to stay ahead on the way into the first corner. A heavy, visible lock up from Lelouch showed how much he was struggling with tyre wear at this point. She took it easy under braking in the knowledge that Lelouch would not hold for long.

The Esses that followed were immensely frustrating, as while they were an engaging set of corners, they were incredibly difficult to overtake on, even with a large difference in speed. She was stuck behind him, throttle barely applied as the procession approached the first Degner. Taking a late apex, she was able to pull the car in tight on the exit while Lelouch, who lacked grip, ran wide. With a superior traction, Kallen was able to accelerate up towards Lelouch, pulling alongside into the braking zone at the Second Degner, with Lelouch being forced into a shallow inside line that was indescribably compromised.

However, Lelouch was playing to win, and braked late, placing the length of his car across the apex and only turning into the actual corner at the last moment, effectively blocking off the corner for Kallen. However, this killed all his speed through the corner, and so while kept his fourth position, his ability to keep it for much longer was now diminished. His acceleration towards the hairpin was abysmal, and Kallen, with a much less aggressive turn in, was able to slingshot through the corner and, for the first time, pull ahead of Lelouch, holding the racing line in towards the hairpin. She had half a cars lead as they turned in, which was the regulated distance where Lelouch had to yield the corner.

However, as Kallen raised her right hand to fully lock her steering wheel into the left hand corner, she saw Lelouch continue on, performing his normal blocking trick, even though he was too far back. As she turned into the corner, he continued into the side of her, making impact at the slowest part of the corner.

Even though the corner was slow, Kallen still felt the hefty shunt rock the car and rip through the barge board. She took a hand off the wheel to give Lelouch the finger as he pulled away from her, notably with only half of his front wing.

"Unbelievable…" Kallen murmured as she pulled the car around and began to drive back towards Spoon, before speaking to Ohgi over the radio.

"Lelouch hit me, at the hairpin. I'm coming back around, I think I have damage to the car."

"Confirmed, we'll have a look."

Not knowing how compromised the car was, Kallen did not pit immediately, instead completing the lap and driving as close to the pit wall as possible to allow Ohgi and the mechanics to have a look.

"Okay Kallen, visible damage to the side of the car, but we cannot fix it, it's not front wing. Only a lap left, stay out, and hold position."

The downforce and air funnelling the wide floor provided was now undermined, which showed in the Esses, where Kallen found the car beginning to swash with understeer, running wide and requiring more turn in to hold the racing line and not run off wide. However, the next car back, Li Xingke's Geely, was a ways off due to fights with his team mate, and so she was able to nurse the car home to fifth place, thoroughly wet and not the least bit amused.

"Not the ending we'd hoped for, but a good race, especially for the first time out. Pick up rubber and head onto Parc Ferme."

Over a race distance, a car lost weight to fuel and tyre degradation, and the marginal nature of GP racing meant there was always a slim chance that the car could be too light to be legal, and so when heading to Parc Ferme, where the cars were checked for rules violations, Kallen would drive off the line to pick up debris onto the tyres and increase the weight of the car. It took awhile for her to do another, slowed lap of the track to cool the car and preserve fuel, however she eventually returned to the paddock just as the podium celebrations were getting underway.

Suzaku had won the race, the second win of his career, and looked immensely pleased about it, particularly in light of his team mates seventh place. Bradley had found his way back past Nu in the dying phases of the race to get a commendable second, with the Lancer team chairman pleased with a double podium. Fourth placed Lelouch had skulked off someplace. The other major story of the day was Gino, who managed to come back from last to finish eighth. The two points that earned him in the Championship boosted him to second place overall, now ahead of Tohdoh, who did not complete the race.

Taking off her helmet, she looked around for the French driver, spotting his car parked in front of hers but not being able to spot its owner. Her quest was interrupted by the arrival of Taizo Kirihara, who in contrast to Ohgi's rather dour comments, looked immensely pleased.

"Well done out there! Nevermind that Lelouch, you moved beyond your qualifying position and that's all that matters. Don't worry, I've had a word with Tohdoh, he's-"

He looked willing to go on, however just as he had interrupted Kallen's angry search for Lelouch, he was interrupted by the crowd in the grandstand, who had begun to shout and chant. Smirking, Taizo pointed a finger up and said "Listen!"

"Oshiyoseru Kozūki! Oshiyoseru Kozūki!"

It was a chant that started up sometime around last year, during her brother Naoto's incredible last-to-third drive at the then Japanese Grand Prix. It was translated into "Advance", or "Forth", and quickly became one of the most prominent chants at subsequent Grand Prix. While Suzaku was viewed in the eyes of the Japanese fans as being a sellout for joining a British team, and Tohdoh was every bit as uneventful as he was fast, but Naoto had garnered through his ballsy, dramatic style a genuine following, even if he wasn't necessarily the fastest man on track.

Whether the chanting was a show of enthusiasm for the new driver, highlighting her connection to their former darling, or a show of support to wish the injured driver well, it didn't matter a great deal. With the massive, organic enthusiasm that surrounded her, she suddenly found it incredibly difficult to be pissed off at anyone, even the French.

OSHIYOSERU KOZUKI!

Much of this fic owes itself to the wells of support offered to Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi at the 2012 Grand Prix at Suzuka, where he scored a podium with the Sauber team and received cheers that boggled the eardrums from the local crowd. The vociferous, powerful support he experienced really made me think, and I gradually connected the two ideas and thus, this fic was born.

Also, if I had a drink every time I mixed up Suzaku and Suzuka, I would be down several livers.

~Eth0