DNN2

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Sport Saturday on DNN2. It's qualifying day for the Grand Prix of the Palace Mount here in the Imperial City, and for the next two hours we'll be bringing you all the action, uninterrupted and commercial free, along with exclusive access to the teams and stables. I'm Sam Tinbru, and with me, as always, is Bob Anmo."

"Hi there."

"Good to be back, right, Bob?"

"Absolutely."

"Bob, we've been doing this together a long time, and sometimes it feels like nothing ever changes, and sometimes it feels like the world turns upside down every other week. What would you say the mood is around the Imperial Stadium as we look towards the season to come?"

"Excitement, obviously. I know you've talked about this in the preseason show, but there've been some big moves since last year and everyone's eager to see how they'll play out."

"Indeed. Feran Andoal's move to Temisia really feels like the crowning of a new king of dragon racing, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, you know I don't like that sort of talk, Sam. But you'd have to say, on the basis of Corredeira's pace in practice yesterday, that they're the pair to beat."

"Mmm. I recorded an interview with Feran last night that we'll be showing you all on tomorrow's race programme, he seems very relaxed right now, settling into his new team well and it's showing out on the course. Who do you think can challenge him this year?"

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"Well, the Royal Hermeia riders put in a poor showing yesterday, they're off the pace on a course where they're usually strong. Apart from Andoal it was a bit of a rookie's day, honestly."

"It was, with Nikita Coro and Lyonne Ertku setting the second- and third-best single-lap times. They looked strong on the longer runs, too."

"Those are two young, strong, beautiful dragons that Lautern have brought to the competition this year, I hope the rookies don't push them too hard this season. They'll have long careers ahead of them and plenty of time to win championships if they stay fit."

"What about our other rookie, do you think? Phoebe Tenryuu? She and Soot surprised a lot of people yesterday. A bit of a black sheep, maybe?"

"In more ways than one."

"Now, Bob-"

"I don't see why we're waffling around this, Sam. Everyone knows she competed in the junior series as Phoebe Hyperio, it's not some big secret."

"I know that, but still-"

"I don't know why she's showed up with a new name and a team and dragon apparently conjured out of thin air or what happened to her family's support, but I don't think we should pretend we don't know what we're talking about. D'you know where any of this came from?"

"Well, I was trying to look up anything on the name to see why she might have chosen it, it's an old eastern name, I think I found out what characters it's derived from."

"Oh aye?"

"I think the characters are 'dragon' and 'divine' or 'heavenly'."

"Hah, well that's a bit rich, isn't it?"

"She always did care more for her mounts than anyone else."

"That's true, true enough. Well, this Soot of hers was lovely in the tight corners yesterday. He's a nimble little thing, I dunno if he'll have the stamina for a full race at pace but he might surprise us again today."

"What does a good result look like for Phoebe and Soot, then, do you think?"

"I think the big question is, can they keep the team running for the season? If they can score a few points here and there, maybe put in some good showings in quali and bring in some sponsors, and be in a position to field a proper team next year, that'd be an effort to be proud of."