OK Number 58 - The Monzezi Screwjob

Kallen buried the throttle some ways into the mantle as he straightened the car through the Parabolica, as Suzaku, sitting just behind, having followed her relentlessly through the Lesmos and Ascari, now ready to set up a move on the long straight before the first chicane. While Kallen squirrelled to try and put the power down, having to take three or four progressive bites of the cherry to get the tyres up to speed as early as she could, having to fight the car to progressively pick the throttle up earlier and earlier, as it visibly became laterally unstable under the initial acceleration. The only reason it stayed on the road was aggressive, and Suzaku internally repeated for emphasis, aggressive counter steer.

By contrast, Suzaku applied the throttle gently, rolling on perhaps a tenth in the first phase, gradually, slowly ramping it up, never too jerky, never too hasty, never too sudden a change in forces or torques between engine and axle, axle and wheel, and wheel and tarmac that would overwhelm any element, stressing it such that it fell below peak efficiency. It was a buttery progression up the gears, up the throttle from barely felt, with Suzaku never increasing the throttle application until he was certain he would not need to take it off again until the braking zone in just under a mile.

It was lap forty-five of fifty-three, with Suzaku and Kallen having separated from the chasing pack some time ago, in a race of their own, largely aided by the slipstream on this circuit dominated by straights. At speeds approaching two hundred miles per hour, the air resistance would make driving in a dead straight line as difficult as driving through cold molasses, or pudding. However, once the air had been headbutted away by the leading car, the car immediately behind would be driving in their wake of air, and experience much less air resistance and hence more speed.

In this way, with the pair trading places every lap as the one behind picked up the tow from the other, they had pulled away together, having spent the entire race within about a second of one another, from start, to pit stop, to now, as Suzaku pulled out of the slipstream with the overspeed to the inside, the pair stuck together like glue as the rest of the grid slipped back, a few tenths per lap as the leading pair pounded round, neither wanting to surrender the lead as each one pushed the other closer, closer, closer to the limits of what they could do with their cars, each having to extract an amount of pace from the package that kept creeping closer to one hundred percent of what it could do.

However, even as Suzaku easily had the legs on her this time and was ahead going into the first corner, he knew she would be back the next time around when he was punching the hole through the air and Kallen was going to be the one in the slipstream and with the speed advantage the next time they came through the Parabolica.

And so it was in spite of Suzaku's best efforts, with Kallen able to soar through the mass of air like a hot knife through butter, as they both moved down the track at the limit. However, as Kallen moved to the inside, Suzaku could not help but notice her rear tyres, now severely blistered with how hard she had been running.

Sure enough, as Kallen broke up the inside, cementing her position for this lap and making this the eighth lap in succession the pair had swapped places on the front straight, and the thirty second time this race, it appeared Suzaku was not the only person who had noticed, as Lelouch immediately spoke up over his radio, blaring over the sounds of the engine and the tyres.

"Okay, Suzaku, whatever Kallen does, do the same as her. I repeat, do the same as her. You've both been pushing hell for leather on these tyres since you've pitted and we don't know how either of your tyres will hold up, particularly the rears, and there is a risk of failure, but we'd rather you cover Kallen off just in case. If she does go on, you're going to the end of the race. If she starts moving towards the pit lane, map engine to torque one and box. Affirm?"

Suzaku gruffly tried to chase Kallen through the Curva Grande to make an unorthodox move into the second Variante, ignoring Lelouch briefly as he considered a dive, threading a thin needle, but there was no having it, with Kallen bullishly planting her flag in the middle of the track, giving no way through.

"Can you confirm you understood that message? We can't risk you getting a puncture."

Suzaku cursed as he tried to adjust into the first Lesmo, before thinking it through. Suzaku's tyres definitely felt more than a little worse for wear, Suzaku's rear tyres experiencing a hint of oversteer on what was an incredibly understeery setup, laterally slipping under outer load. Sensing that his setup might be masking the severity of the problem, Suzaku finally spoke up on approach tot eh second Lesmo.

"How bad is it?"

"Kallen is pretty bad, and you've been harrying her all day, we don't want to take any risks."

Suzaku digested this, before coming to a realisation. While the pair of them had pulled out quite a gap, his onboard telemetry didn't tell him how far it was to the car behind. As they approached Ascari, he roared "Is it safe to come in to pit and retain P2 at least? Are we far enough ahead."

"Pit lane is safe, it is safe it pit, we'll be ready for you."

As they flew through Ascari, Suzaku watching the rear of Kallen's car scooch slightly to the edge of the track limits in a four wheel drift as it exited the triple apex left-right-left. As well, Suzaku's tyres, now that he was paying close attention to them, were beginning to go beyond their temperature operating range, though not due to a failure in the upgrades; the known problem with these tyres, even before they were brought back, was that if they were following another car, the hot, dirty air would accelerate the overheating, and given that Suzaku was spending every second lap in Kallen's wake, just as Kallen was spending every second lap in his, it was entirely feasible that his were going out, particularly with how much Suzaku had insisted on leaning the setup towards stability and consistency.

Suzaku knew that there was no way he could ever beat Kallen in qualifying. Her one lap pace was insurmountable, and so he had tried to play it smart; whether he went for a purely qualifying setup or a purely race setup, he'd still start behind Kallen, so he had set up the car with a deliberate emphasis on race pace, allowing her to take Pole by over a second, and simply kept up in the race, where his setup thrived and hers wilted.

He had thusly tried to reverse what Kallen had done to him at the Belgian marathon; he had simply stuck with her, forcing her to progressively ramp up her pace until she had exhausted her tyres and fold. He had been relentless, unceasing, just keeping the pressure on, keeping the pressure on, but he had inflicted some damage on himself, possibly ruining his own tyres.

However, if Lelouch said it was safe to pit, then it would be a wash. At the very least, the slipstream would keep Suzaku within striking distance, making the chance of a win for the team effectively a coin toss.

And, sure enough, Kallen held tight to the inside, and Suzaku spoke into the radio again.

"Kallen is coming in, I'm coming in as well. Arriving in now."

He immediately went to switch his engine map to T1 and D1, for torque and deployment, as he followed Kallen, who dove into the third box along for fresh rubber. However, because this was the first year Schwarzenritter had entered the sport under its current entry, Suzaku had to crawl to the tenth and final garage along the row before his crew could service him.

They did at least have the decency to do that much, providing a slick stop that saw him emerge just behind Kallen as they both crawled up to the end of the speed limited area. However, as they both flicked the limited up and gave their new, soft tyres that would only have to take them another six laps, Suzaku suddenly realised something had gone very, very wrong; they were emerging between two groups of traffic, and not back into the lead of the race.

Immediately, Suzaku leapt back onto the radio, screaming "I though you said it was safe to pit!"

"Rolo was not going to pit, there was no risk of danger if you pit or losing time to double stacking. Push hard now, only a short stint to go, I believe in you. You're P11 on fresh tyres, give 'em hell, you're much faster."

Suzaku swore, and then swore again, and then hit his knuckles off his steering wheel so hard it cracked the screen.

Just as he had tried to the lap before they had pitted, once again Suzaku sniffed down the inside of the second Variante, though with far less verve as the stakes had been deflated in the same way a balloon after contact with a thumbtack was deflated.

They ducked and dived with their fresh tyres giving them much more control authority, however with only one point on offer, they were both less than enthused, seeming to onlookers as if the pair were just going through the motions. Suzaku got ahead on the next straight, and without the need to preserve his tyres, he kept it, aggressively moving to the inside with a grumpy hostility.

At this point, the pair were just playing out the string, too far back from the sharp end to mount a heroic comeback.

And so it finished with a whimper, the pair mutually cross as they crossed the line to wrap up the Italian Grand Prix in tenth and eleventh, with Suzaku picking up the single point, though it was little comfort to the frustrated Asian, who was simply thinking 'What a waste' as he pulled into the pit lane for inspection, shaking his head.

He climbed out of the car with a sour taste in his mouth, shaking his head as he spoke through the radio to the wall as he walked past the cars and back to his garage.

"What a disaster, what a bloody disaster, honestly… who in the hell even won this race anyway?"

"And the winner, from France, taking the maiden win for Schwarzenritter-Lamperouge, is the rookie driver, claiming his first win as well, Rolo Lamperouge!"

The eighteen year old laughed as he let the champagne spray, initially up vertically before her tipped it on its side, directing it towards Naoto. It was only a good job he was on the podium in Italy as opposed to the United States, as here he could actually drink the champagne both Kōzuki and, appearing on the podium for the first time this season, Villetta Nu were spraying at him. He pumped his fist and leapt off the podium, feeling absolutely electric.

While a party was happening in the Schwarzenritter garage, Kallen was conversing with the teams aerodynamicist regarding the performance of the new upgrades. The improvement had been noticeable, but the parts, while great in isolation, had not met up to the sum of their parts, with the airflow suffering minor diversion away from the barge boards.

Kallen had explained what she had felt, which beyond the way the car drove primarily manifested in extreme buffering of air against the sides of her helmet, with the airflow going too high and not connecting with the rear engine cover as it flattened and providing a seal for the diffuser.

Sympathetic, the designer nodded, before exhibiting a skill Kallen had long envied, that being the capacity to internally map abstract three dimensional space in her mind, visualising its form without either losing critical detail or perspective due to the mass of work her brain was having to do to build a mental map of shapes.

"Here…" Kallen pointed, shaking her gloved hands about the areas either side of the central air intake. "It all goes up here."

As the designer looked over the area, Kallen pulled back her arms, which two weeks after Spa were still hard, dry, scabrous, and liable to undergo sudden extreme bleeding whenever Kallen tried to stretch the skin between her knuckles and her wrists, or any time she clenched or relaxed her fists. She had been able to fight through it both times, however, with the possibility of winning taken away so suddenly, she lost much of the spirit she needed to continue to push through the pain.

However, while Kallen tried to draw attention away from her hands, the aerodynamicist shook her head and sighed, trying to let Kallen down gently.

"Look, I'm really sorry-"

"Here, stop." Kallen interrupted, waving her hands in front of her face absentmindedly, stopping her before she could even get going. "There's no need for that, I'm not going to bite your head off. You're after making huge progress, and you've designed a far better car than I ever could. I know you're working hard. It's not a bother, I believe in you. None of us are slacking, that's not the problem, we just need to be smart. Trying to find someone to blame isn't being smart."

The engineer smiled, before nodding appreciatively "I understand, thank you for that."

Kallen nodded in turn, placing her hands on her hips and continuing "I know how much you're having to concentrate to get this right. I'm having to give it everything to deliver all we can, and I know you're doing that too. We're both important parts of hauling that car around a track faster than everyone else. I can't do it without you and you can't do it without me. It'd be no good for me just to prance around and pretend that wasn't the case. I'm trying to help observe what areas need focus is all. I've no doubt for a moment you can do it."

"Cheers Kallen, I'll get back to the factory and get to work. Should have a stop gap ready for Japan."

"Now that'll be timely. I've not won there yet, so I'll be looking forward to trying it out."

"I'll get right on it."

Kallen nodded as she scurried away, before she heard someone clear their throat off to stage left. She turned her head, to see Suzaku, clearing hiding a deep tiredness behind an otherwise chipper mood and presentation, as he smiled towards her.

"Were those.. leadership skills I saw there?"

Kallen smirked, and sarcastically replied "I'm full of surprises."

"Undeniable, but you never seemed like much of a team player." he laughed, acknowledging Kallens point. "Always more of a 'Leave me alone, I know what to do.' sorta woman."

"I've discovered the long hidden secret that it's actually easier to work with people than punch them in the face. You get better results with honey than salt."

Suzaku blinked, before raising his finger and commenting "That saying was about catching bees, and also it's vinegar, not salt."

"I slept through European Literature." Kallen shrugged, laughing it off. Knowledge of the classics might enrich the soul, but it would hardly give a few extra tenths over a lap, and so it had never concerned her, something she went on to underling by noting; "Never got all that academic stuff. But anyway. I've got enough problems without the team cross for me being bristly and temperamental about upgrades. Besides, me and Gino are the two big conduits for the team, so I might as well be patient. There's a big spotlight on me in the team, and… well I don't care too much about it, but insofar as I can influence the mood of the team I'd rather have a positive impact than a negative one. Doesn't take much to do, and it does a lot of good, so why not?"

Suzaku shrugged, not able to really deny any of that before admitting "Just didn't seem like that was really you."

"This has been maybe the smallest change I've had to make in the last year. Your exercise regimen was definitely harder at the very least."

"Fair enough." Suzaku laughed, before his eyes dipped towards her hands, still gloved, placed on her hips. Kallen, sensing Suzaku's suspicion, immediately changed the topic, spurting out "Are you alright? What is it you need?"

"When did they call you to pit?"

Kallen frowned, blinking confusedly "Eh?"

Suzaku blushed, shaking his head awkwardly before explaining "Sorry, sorry… I mean, did you make the call to pit, or did they call you in over your head? On the radio?"

She looked down, thinking through it, before explaining, slowly as the thoughts materialised, how "I… I didn't want to pit, but I was just feeling like the rears had gotten so hot they were about to melt the whole rear axle, I was sliding everywhere, and not even the sort of sliding that's fun, that I enjoy. It was just… not as controlled as I was comfortable with, which is normally a sign I've taken too much out of them. I made the call. Paid for it though."

"So that was your call?" Suzaku repeated. "You were feeling it in the tyres?"

"Took all I had to keep it ahead of you."

Suzaku wiped at his forehead, his frustration growing more visibly apparent, before "When did you make that call? Over the radio I mean?"

"I think after the first chicane, I got an awful fright under acceleration. I was playing it very conservative from then on, as you probably saw with how I defended into the second chicane. I wasn't ambiguous either, I was pretty much 'I'm coming in this lap, your choice as to whether you give me new tyres or just leave me sitting there, but I am coming in either way.'"

Suzaku's face, if it hadn't already wilted, positively shrank like he had swallowed the worlds most intense lemon. Moving past the visibly bitter taste, he simply shook his head, taking several moments to speak again.

"I see."

He immediately turned and began to walk out. Worried, Kallen shouted back "Hey, Suzaku!"

He turned back, blinking, before Kallen asked "You're not cross with me, are you?"

"No, no." Suzaku laughed, waving the notion off. "It was a great duel."

Kallen nodded, looking down before commenting "I hope… whatever you're cross about gets sorted out. It was great fun to be fighting that close for so long."

Suzaku raised his arm, pretending to be raising a glass before agreeing "Here's to more of that. Though, perhaps in future, let's both not pit with four laps to go and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."

She shook her head, and simply shrugged "I couldn't go on. It felt like it did at Malaysia, or Austria, it just wasn't safe. Long and short of it. That didn't mean you had to stop though, your tyres were in pretty good nick I thought? Right?"

Li Xingke – 183 (5 wins)

Gino Weinberg – 153 (1 win)

Naoto Kōzuki – 142 (1 win)

Rolo Lamperouge – 132 (1 win)

Kallen Kōzuki – 130 (3 wins)

Suzaku Kururugi – 93

Dun dun DUUUUUNNNNN!

~G1ll3s