DNN1

"Well that was a dramatic way to go into the mid-season break, wasn't it, Bob?"

"A mixed bag, honestly. There's no question this is a spectacular venue, and I hope we'll be coming here for many years, but Phoebe's fall really robbed us of a competitive race at the front to show it off to best effect. Feran was nowhere, too, barely scraping a point, and with Niki Coro still out, all we could do was watch Lucia Aelschu dominate."

"Not that that's a bad thing overall, it's really brought her back into championship contention. Feran still leads on sixty-one points, then Phoebe on fifty-nine, but Lucia now sits third, a point ahead of Niki on forty-nine. Three races ago she was almost thirty points behind Feran, now the gap's down to only twelve."

"Feran doesn't look like he's in much of a state to defend his lead, either."

"Indeed, what do you think's happening there?"

"I think he's a bit rattled. The rookies pushed him much harder than he expected, I don't think he likes that very much."

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"Certainly he's had some pretty harsh words for them in the press. I suspect we'll see more of that after Phoebe's accident today."

"Probably. I'd rather not, but Feran's never been one to leave an advantage on the table, that's how you become a champion."

"Where does this leave Phoebe? And Niki for that matter? They should be back in action after the break."

"It's a test for them both. Every rider has to prove that they can come back from big setbacks like this if they want to contest championships. No-one questions their raw skill as riders anymore, they've both proved that plenty of times already. Now it's all about their character, their determination, their self-belief."

"Does Niki have an easier time of that than Phoebe, being in a well-funded, well-established team?"

"Instead of thinking of it that way, I think it's more, how badly is this going to hurt Tenebrae, and can Phoebe lead them through that? We know the team will be penalised for Soot's behaviour after the fall, and Phoebe's going to have some fitness work to do at least, we know the team's expanding its personnel fast, there's a rumour about a new HQ, things are moving very fast for them."

"So is Phoebe up to the challenge?"

"We'll see. She's very young, but she's come this far. She's certainly got the determination."

"We're set up for a fascinating second half of the season. Well, that's all from us for today, folks. Thank you for tuning in, and we'll see you in three weeks' time, in Norda."