Chapter 3
17 Years Ago
Taiyang was happy to be back in Vale. He always got restless in the offseason so the first race of the year was a great relief. This year was extra-special. His baby girl Yang was at the track with him for the first time. She was still too young to really understand what was going on but she already seemed to have a love of racing. Even the deafening roar of engines did not seem to bother her. It was a shame her mother was not there to see it, but that was her choice. It hurt Taiyang but they had made a clean break. He had not even heard from her since a few days after Yang was born. Being at the track certainly helped get his mind off it.
"Hey Qrow." Taiyang said as he walked into the garage. Qrow Branwen, his ex-wife's brother, was already working on his car. "How's the car look?"
"It looks good." Qrow replied. "We might even win a few races this year." The previous year had been frustrating. The team had not had the car or the engine to be competitive. This year Qrow had taken over the chassis building and a new deal with Schnee Automotive gave the team the best engines available. Qrow suddenly turned very serious. "I'm sorry about what happened with Raven."
"Don't worry about it." Taiyang said. "It's not your fault. I'm glad you decided to stick around. There's no one else I trust to work on my car. Now say hello to your niece."
Qrow got up and walked over. "They grow up so fast." He said. "I'd hold her, but I'm a little greasy."
"That's alright." Taiyang said. "Have you seen Ozpin around?"
"He was here a few minutes ago." Qrow answered. "I think he was going to get our new driver."
"Have you met her?" Taiyang asked. "She was pretty good in sports cars last year, but I don't know much about her."
"Yeah, she finished third at Vytal." Qrow said.
"Hello gentlemen." Ozpin said as he walked into the garage. A short young woman stood at his side. "And hello Yang."
"Are you sure you're going to be alright watching her this weekend?" Taiyang asked. "I can still hire a babysitter."
"It's no trouble at all." Ozpin said. "Anyway, allow me to introduce your new teammate, Summer Rose."
The woman waved. "Hello, it's good to meet you." She said.
"This is Taiyang, our lead driver." Ozpin said. "I'm hoping having a daughter doesn't dull his competitive edge." There was an awkward silence. "I'm joking of course. The other gentleman is Qrow Branwen, our chief mechanic."
"You've got a cute daughter." Summer said.
"You've got a cute face." Taiyang said.
Qrow rolled his eyes. "Starting already huh?" He said. "This is going to be an interesting year."
"I don't think your wife would be happy if she knew you were flirting with me." Summer laughed. "Flattered though I am."
"Well, I've got some good news." Taiyang said.
Present Day
The second practice session was much like the first. Giving excellent feedback, Yang made incremental changes until she had the car just the way she liked it. As far as she was concerned, both her qualifying and race setups were perfect. Weiss did a lot of yelling and eventually ended up with a setup much like Yang's. Weiss was obviously not making any friends, nor did she seem interested in doing so.
A few minutes after things wrapped up Ozpin arrived with the times. "The top four are the same as this morning's session." He informed the team. "Yang has jumped Mercury and then we have Weiss. It looks like you've made quite an improvement from this morning."
"Of course I've improved now that the car isn't a steaming pile of garbage." Weiss said. "I'll see you all on Saturday when I obliterate Yang in time trials." She walked off.
"She is insufferable." Yang sighed. "We're supposed to be a team."
"I have some ideas about how to improve things, but that will have to wait." Ozpin said cryptically. "Tomorrow's an off day so get some rest. You'll need to be your best for time trials." He laughed. "Who am I kidding? Just try not to party too much. And stay away from Team Funky, they're a bad influence."
"Could I see the timesheet?" Ruby asked. Ozpin nodded and handed her the paper before departing. Neptune had managed to turn a few laps but he was very slow. Only Jaune was slower. Apparently Neptune was really taking it easy around the water. Though he was last, Jaune had something to be happy about. He hadn't crashed yet in two whole practice session.
"Coco invited us to a party tomorrow." Yang announced. "Are you two coming?"
"I thought I would spend the day working on the car, but there really isn't much to do." Ruby said. "I guess I could go."
"I'll pass." Blake said. Without another word she left.
"Looks like it's just you and me again." Yang sighed.
The next night Yang and Ruby followed Coco's invitation to a yacht. It was moored in the harbour right next to the track. Apparently Coco had some very wealthy friends. Yang wore an elegant white dress but the best Ruby could manage was a casual combination of short sleeve shirt and pants. At least she was not covered in grease. It turned out the Coco and her team were putting on the party for rookie drivers and their mechanics. Except for Weiss and Penny they had all made it. Pyrrha, Jaune, Sun, Neptune, Cardin Winchester, Sky Lark and their mechanics were in attendance.
"There sure are a lot of rookies this year." Ruby observed. Counting the pair not in attendance, the total was eight out of twenty drivers. "I wonder why that is."
"You mean you don't know?" Cardin asked, having overheard her. "My, are you in for a rude awakening."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"You're the mechanic for Beacon GP, correct?" Cardin asked.
"Yeah, I'm Yang Xiao-Long's sister." Ruby replied. "I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose."
"Rose and Xiao-Long, and you don't know why there are so many rookies." Cardin sighed. "Of all people, you should know the reason." He paused to see if Ruby would get it. She did not. "There are a lot of rookies because a lot of drivers end up maimed or killed. Last year two died in Formula 1 races, two more Formula 1 drivers died in sports car races, and one was so badly hurt he can't drive anymore. It's like this every year."
"Yang, is it really that dangerous?" Ruby asked with alarm. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Well, yeah." Yang said. "It's the most dangerous sport in the world. I thought you knew. Dad certainly never stopped telling us."
"I thought it was different now." Ruby said, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't want to lose you like I lost mom."
"It is safer now, even if only a little." Yang said. "I'm sure that with you building my cars, nothing can go wrong."
"That's what mom said about Uncle Qrow." Ruby sobbed. "What if something I can't control goes wrong? I...I can't…" She ran off before Yang could stop her.
"Cardin...look what you've done." Yang growled.
"I simply gave her a little reality check." Cardin said with a smug smile.
"And I'm going to give you a broken nose!" Yang shouted. She leveled Cardin with a single punch then rushed off after Ruby.
Yang was pretty sure she knew where Ruby would go, where she was most comfortable. Yang entered Beacon GP's garage. For some reason the lights were on. "She's over by your car." Blake said without looking up from the book she was reading. "Could you do me a favor and calm her down? Her crying is distracting."
Yang found Ruby sitting on the floor beside the car. She sat down beside her. "Ruby...I'm sorry." Yang said.
"Don't be sorry." Ruby wept. "I'm the idiot who was living in a fantasy world. Of course it's dangerous. You're basically driving a giant fuel tank at breakneck speed. One mistake by the driver, one little part failure, and it's all over. That's what it was with mom, just a $5 part. I don't want you to die. I can't go on if you die."
"I'm not going to die." Yang said. "I promise."
"How can you promise when there's so much you can't control?" Ruby sobbed.
Yang sighed. "Well maybe I can't make that promise." She said. "Ruby, you love working on racecars, right?"
"Yeah." Ruby replied.
"If you couldn't do that anymore, you'd probably feel like life wasn't fun anymore." Yang said. Ruby nodded. "Well, I feel the same way about driving. It might be dangerous, and dad might hate me for doing it, but I feel so alive when I'm behind the wheel. There's nothing in the world I'd rather do. I could stop and play it safe, but then I wouldn't be happy. I would rather die young and happy than old and sad, wondering what might have been."
"I get it, I'm just...afraid I guess." Ruby said. She was beginning to calm down. "I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt."
"I know, I know." Yang said. "But there's no reason to get sad about it now. Plenty of drivers go their whole careers without a scratch. Look at dad. I'm confident that I'll be fine. I need you to be confident too."
"Okay, I'll try." Ruby said. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Of course I'll be careful." Yang said. "And I know you're going to be careful with my cars too."
"I...I think I'm okay now." Ruby said. "I just need a few minutes to myself."
Yang nodded and stood up, returning to where Blake was sitting. "Have you been here all day?" Yang asked.
"I have." Blake replied, still reading.
"Instead of going to parties or having fun in any way, you stayed here and read your book all day?" Yang pressed.
"I also performed some maintenance on the engines." Blake answered. "In this sport there's no time to just go have fun. You're either constantly working, constantly improving, or you're going backwards."
"Why even do it if you don't enjoy it?" Yang asked.
"Who said I didn't enjoy it?" Blake countered. "I love working on engines. I love being around the track. But if I don't keep getting better what good will I be?"
"Just be sure to take some breaks every once in awhile." Yang advised. "If you're fatigued you won't be at your best."
"Noted." Blake said.
"So, what are you reading?" Yang asked.
"It's a book about engine design." Blake replied.
"Funny, the cover says Ninjas of Love, even if you're trying to hide it." Yang laughed. "It sounds more like smut to me."
"Leave, now." Blake said.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." Yang said. "Enjoy your book."
Saturday morning practice was uneventful. The only thing of note was that Yang and Weiss were now almost even on speed. Now Yang was fifth with Weiss fractions of a second behind in sixth. The afternoon's time trials would be quite a battle. It seemed Weiss had calmed her fury and was now laser focused on driving. She finally had the car the way she wanted, just a little tighter than Yang's, and she was starting to get comfortable. Yang meanwhile had reached a point where she could not seem to get more out of the car.
Time trials got underway in the afternoon, an hour of driving to decide who would start where for the race. From the outset it was clear that there was no catching Pyrrha. At the Vale Grand Prix, the driver counted for far more than the car, and her skill was unparalleled. Even a mediocre chassis and weak engine could not keep her from pole position. The two cars from Schnee automotive predictably came next, though their drivers had very different styles. Winter, who took second, drove with a passion that could get her in trouble but more often than not led her to the front. Penny had a clinical precision that no other driver could match. She hit the same marks every lap, never missing an apex. Beyond the top three, it was anyone's game.
With five minutes left Yang and Weiss were both in the garage. They sat eleventh and twelfth respectively and would get one more good run at improving their starting positions. Ruby waved Yang out of the garage. A few moments later she did the same for Weiss.
Yang pushed the car on her out lap, enough that she would warm the tires but not so much that she would destroy them. She hung back to get some open track then rocketed out of the final hairpin. She flashed across the line to start her timed lap before braking heavily for the first turn. The tires spun a bit on exit but she got a good launch up the hill. At the top the car oversteered and she slid through the second turn but she got the next just right. After a short and bumpy downhill she braked hard and cut the car through turn four, flashing past the gardens and down toward the train station. She controlled the wheelspin on exit of the hairpin and zipped through the following two right-handers and out onto the back stretch. On the very edge of traction she kept it floored through the right-hand sweeper as she flashed through the tunnel. Diving down toward the chicane, the car got loose under braking. She manage to keep it straight and nailed both apexes. She shot down the straightaway toward the dust shop, hit the brakes as she crested the rise and cut the car through the corner. The car screamed down the straightaway toward the final hairpin. She locked up the brakes slightly but still hit her line through the corner. Yang hit the gas and the rear tires broke traction as the car pulled out of the final turn. It rocketed down the front straight and across the line setting a time good enough for fifth, right behind Coco.
Seconds later Weiss rounded the final corner. She managed the wheelspin expertly and got a much better launch onto the straight. She flashed across the line, beating Yang's time by the slimmest of margins. Mercury ended up seventh, his teammate Emerald Sustrai eight, Sun in ninth and Yatsuhashi rounding out the top ten.
Yang rolled back into the garage. "How did I do?" She asked.
"When you crossed the line you were fifth." Ruby replied. "But Weiss beat you, so you'll start sixth."
Yang frowned. "She beat me." She sighed.
"It's just qualifying." Ruby encouraged her. "I'm sure you'll get her in the race."
"Where am I starting?" Weiss demanded immediately after pulling into the garage.
"You're fifth." Blake said. "Just behind Coco and just ahead of Yang." Weiss grinned widely. "How close was I to Coco?"
"You were less than a second off." Blake answered.
"If the car didn't understeer so much I would have beaten her." Weiss said, glaring at Ruby.
"I prepared the car just like you asked." Ruby protested.
"Well, at least I beat her." Weiss said. "Now all that's left is to crush her in the race."
This time Yang was the one who stormed out. She had absolutely had it with Weiss' attitude. Being beaten by her, even in time trials, was totally unacceptable because Yang knew the gloating that would ensue. She would have to defeat her in the race if she was ever going to shut Weiss up.
The day of the race dawned bright and sunny. The cars rolled out onto the grid in preparation for the race, a gleaming, multi-colored display of unbridled power. The cars rolled around the track on the parade lap, slotting into their grid positions for the start. Weiss was the third car on the left, just behind Penny. Yang was third on the right, just behind Coco. The first corner was a right-hander so Yang technically had the preferred line, but her grid position was a few feet further back than Weiss' and her side of the track was dirtier, meaning less grip on the start. With passing a near impossibility at the circuit, Yang would need to beat Weiss into turn 1 if she was to have any hope of finishing ahead of her.
The starter held the green flag aloft for what seemed like an eternity as the driver revved their engines. The flag dropped and the cars lurched off the line with a mechanical roar and the screech of tires. Pyrrha got a great start from pole and flashed through the first turn well ahead of Winter who had spun her tires on the line. Penny had controlled her wheelspin and went into the corner side-by-side with her teammate, yielding to prevent a crash. Coco had a decent start and was right on Penny's tail. Weiss was over-eager and spun her tires. Despite having less grip, Yang got a fantastic start and the two cars entered the first corner wheel-to-wheel. Neither driver was about to let the other ahead.
With a screech of tires and the sound of rending metal, Yang and Weiss collided and slid into the armco on the outside of the corner. The drivers behind were lucky to avoid them as they snaked through the scene of the crash. From last on the grid, the hapless Jaune panicked at the sight of the accident and spun his car into the barrier. Weiss and Yang had not hit hard, but it was enough to end both of their races. Jaune too was out of the running.
"You maniac!" Weiss screamed. She hurriedly undid her belts and leapt from her car just as Yang was getting up. "What were you thinking?" She did her best to get in Yang's face despite Yang being almost a foot taller. "You couldn't even get through the first turn without taking us both out you idiot!"
"You didn't give me any room!" Yang protested. "What was I supposed to do?"
"Oh, I don't know, not wreck your teammate!" Weiss shouted.
"If Ozpin didn't keep telling me, I'd never know you were my teammate." Yang said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked.
"You're such a bitch!" Yang yelled. "You do nothing but complain! Nothing is ever your fault! You treat the mechanics like garbage!"
"Come on girls, break it up." Jaune said.
"Stay out of this!" Yang and Weiss shouted in unison.
"I can't believe a psycho like you ever made it to F1." Weiss said. "The way you drive you'll be dead before the year's over."
"Yeah, everyone else managed to avoid us." Yang said. With their combined fury turned to Jaune, their argument abruptly ended.
"I'll...I'll just go." Jaune said, backing away as fast as he could.
"I'm leaving too." Weiss said.
"Where are you going?" Yang demanded.
"Mistral." Weiss said. "I'll see you there if Ozpin doesn't fire you. Not only did you wreck in your first race, you took out your teammate. That's about as bad as it gets." Weiss stormed off, pushing her way through a crowd of spectators and disappearing into the distance.
The cars raced by to start their second lap and Yang realized she was still standing on the track. She hopped over the barrier and sat on the ground, leaning against the wall of a building. Maybe Weiss was right. Maybe it was her fault. She was behind, so technically it was her responsibility to avoid contact. Her first race, the Vale Grand Prix no less, and she had blown it in the very first corner. She buried her face in her hands and sat there as the cars roared past lap after lap.
"Are you alright?" Someone eventually asked. Yang did not respond. "Ms. Xiao-Long, are you alright?"
Yang looked up to see Ozpin standing over her. "I'm fine." She said. "I'm sorry. I guess I really blew it."
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Ozpin said. "The important thing is that no one's hurt. We can fix the cars."
"We're out of the race though." Yang sighed.
"With two rookie drivers, I wasn't expecting much anyway." Ozpin admitted. "You and your teammate put in quite the performance in time trials though. I think you both have bright futures ahead of you. If only you could get along."
"Talk to Weiss about that." Yang said.
"I know, she's very...difficult." Ozpin said. "Just know that she has her reasons."
"I just feel sick that I took out both cars." Yang said.
"I seem to remember a certain Xiao-Long who had some similar difficulties." Ozpin said. "If I remember correctly, in his first outing he didn't turn a single full lap of practice before blowing the chicane and flipping the car. He was lucky to survive. The point is, everyone makes mistakes, even champions."
"Yeah, I guess." Yang said. "Ruby's going to be angry that I busted her cars. And Blake...I don't think she'll be thrilled either."
"I'm sure they'll just be happy you're safe." Ozpin assured her. "If you really feel bad,you could make it up to them by helping to fix the cars."
"That sounds like a good idea." Yang said. "I should probably buy them dinner too."
Pyrrha won the race in dominant fashion, with a margin of victory nearing half a lap. Winter had suffered engine trouble and dropped out a quarter of the way through, leaving Penny to finish second. Coco rounded out the podium with a third place finish. After a good start, Mercury had scraped a barrier and dropped out and Emerald took fourth. After a blinding start Yatsuhashi finished fifth and Sun took the final points paying position in sixth.
Standings after one race:
1st - Pyrrha Nikos - 9
2nd - Penny Polendina - 6
3rd - Coco Adel - 4
4th - Emerald Sustrai - 3
5th - Yatsuhashi Daichi - 2
6th - Sun Wukong - 1
7th - Yang Xiao-Long, Weiss Schnee… - 0
Inspirations
- In this story, Jaune is based on Pastor Maldonado. I think I speak for everyone involved in F1, and the fans, when I say I'm glad to see that menace finally out of a ride.
Inaccuracies and Anachronisms
- The number of rookies is unrealistically high, at least as far as full-time drivers go.
- 4 dead and 1 maimed would be an abnormally high casualty rate for the mid-60's, more in line with the 50's. Only 1 driver died in an F1 race in 1966. 0 in 1965.
- A crash in turn 1 like the one described would likely lead to a restart in this era. In that case, drivers could get in backup cars (assuming the team had them) and it would be as if nothing had happened. In the case of this story, none of the teams have backups, so I decided not to bother.
- Even in an era of lax safety, the track workers at Monaco would be at the scene of an accident long before the involved drivers had a chance to argue, particularly at turn 1.
- Winning with the worst engine in a bad car is impossible now and was impossible then, at least in the dry. It was possible to win with an inferior car/engine combo at Monaco or elsewhere when there were adverse conditions. Then as now, rain was a great equalizer, but even that rarely led to miracle wins. The point I'm trying to make in the story is that Pyrrha is extremely talented, even if her car is crap.
- The mechanical attrition rate is too low for the era. Most races saw less than 10 finishers in 1966. The Brabham team won the 66 and 67 titles mostly because they were the most reliable.