Race 1 Debreif with X.Y.T.R.A.N.

Santino Nuvolari:

That was a tough race, I know it looks like I just lead from the front but Norbert was chasing me down for the whole race. I was under pressure the whole time. I just needed to keep my head down and keep my cool. We have a really quick car this year, so I can really trust in it’s strengths.

Your teammate suffered from mechanical problems throughout the race, is that something that concerns you going forwards?

Ofcourse it is. We have a new designer in the team this year and his philosophy seems to be simply, lose weight wherever possible. We might be a bit too light on some things. It’s no secret that we’ve been struggling for reliability, we did half the laps of the other teams in testing, but the team have really pulled things around and we got two cars to the finish.

The XYTRAN is really quick this season do you think you have a shot at the title?

If we can solve our little reliability issues, then yes, we have the speed to go all the way.

Yildamik:

Do you know what happened to the car?

Yes, it was a gearbox failure, there was an issue with fourth gear, and basically I couldn’t use it.

We all saw you in qualifying, you have some really good one lap pace.

I try to have good pace all the time. If you don’t drive at your maximum one hundred percent of the time, you are no longer a racing driver.

Is that not a dangerous way to drive?

It’s the fastest way to drive, that’s all that matters. And I have someone watching over me. (he points to the sky) I don’t fear speed.

Team Profile: X.Y.T.R.A.N.

Colours: Black and gold

X.Y.T.R.A.N. is a team from the city of Nfulft on Nkurdamus.

The letters stand for Xylthint Yfkntra Tor Rokkshin Ashntirus Nfulft which basically means Racing Design and Engineering from Nfulft.

They are the most successful racing outfit from Nkurdamus and have had limited success in other racing series like endurance racing and the anti-gravity championships, no to mention a presence in the junior series of X-2 and X-3. X-1 however is their biggest operation and their biggest earner, making money from prize money, sponsorship deals and grants from the Nkurd government.

Their cars are generally considered to be very fast and it is rare that they will not be able to win a race in a season of X-1, however they have been known to lack the reliability of some of the other top teams.

Drivers:

Santino Nuvolari (Human): Santino Nuvolari may not be an Nkurd driver but he is a great fit for the team and has been with them for three seasons now. He’s known as a great talent with a preference for wet tracks. When it rains, Santino comes alive and can be unstoppable.

Santino had a brief stint with the Seskarin racing team however he lost his drive due to his conduct with the press. He had a bit of a habit of sharing too much information publicly regarding the inner workings of the team. X.Y.T.R.A.N. is not a team that concerns itself with absolute secrecy and find that his open style is beneficial at times.

Yildamik (Nkurd): Yildamik is a young driver and is in his second year with the heam. He has progressed through the ranks of the X.Y.T.R.A.N. young drivers program, going through X-3 and X-2 winning those championships by a long way. X-1 is a whole different monster though, the cars are much faster and the stakes are way higher. Yildamik prefers to race at full speed all the time, which may not be the best policy in a car that was designed with very low tolerances. On his day though, he can be untouchable,

He gives the credit for his speed to the gods, and has been seen praying before and after races.

Race 2 (Black Forest Run) Preview:

Kuthmananga (Techno Union):

I like this track, it’s not the kind of place that lets you rest for one second. It’s a great blend of tight and medium corners, without any long straights. Even the start - finish straight isn’t really all that straight.

What’s the most challenging part of the track?

The climate, the track is in a rainforest and it’s really warm and humid. It’s quite weird to drive a racing car on a semi temporary road winding through the trees; and then there is the rain. Every day in the afternoon, there is the heaviest rain I have ever seen on this track. It’s not too much of a problem for most of us, but it just comes out of nowhere.

You had an incident in the last race with Vissinnitipi, have you spoken to her about that?

Yeah, I spoke to her straight after she took me out, I said that she should stay out of the way of faster drivers.

What if you were to meet her again in the coming race?

As long as it’s not on track, I don’t care.

Kira Duni (Super Gipulli):

This is your home race, are you looking forward to it?

Ofcourse, my family is going to be there and I don’t want to let them down. The fans on Saturan are always great, the support Nato and myself get is incredible.

Last year’s race here didn’t end well, are you hoping to improve this time around?

Yeah, obviously, I don’t want to crash out again. (laughs) I don’t really like the track layout that much though to be honest, but I’ll do my best to keep it out of the wall.

RACE 2: BLACK FOREST RUN - PLANET: SATURAN

Fero: Hello and Welcome to race two of sixteen of this X-1 season. We’re here on Saturan, the home planet for the Urians, including myself. The semi permanent track winds its way through the trees and clearings of the natural environment to create a very flowing and natural sequence of corners.

I’m Fero Vettin and I am joined in the commentary box by popular DJ and part time racing driver, HC Boranistipi.

What do you think of this track, HC?

HC: It’s so humid here and there are bugs everywhere! But I can’t complain too much, my hotel room is awesome.

Fero: Yes, it is very humid in the forest, and it’s possible the weather may play a big part in the race, we have a very wet tropical climate in this part of the planet.

HC: You mentioned that this track was semi permanent, do they fold it up and hide it away after the race?

Fero: The track is build on a raised structure, so it doesn’t actually touch the forest floor. The plan is that in about twenty years or so, the track can be removed and the forest will reclaim the land.

HC: It’s raised? You mean you could crawl under it?

Fero: Yes, if you were a little forest critter.

HC: Nice.

…

Fero: We had qualifying yesterday and Yildamik was once again the star performer, coming out in pole position and again by quite a large margin. Alongside him for this race, we have Kuthmananga and Nato Criffion in the Pegasus taking third place, and Sommarramos the four time champion in the fourth grid slot.

Full Qualifying Results:

1. Yildamik - X.Y.T.R.A.N.

2. Kuthmananga - Techno Union

3. Nato Criffion - Pegasus

4. Sommarrammos - Seskarin

5. Elli nas Sogdo - Seskarin

6. Santino Nuvolari - X.Y.T.R.A.N.

7. Aflkin - Super Gipulli

8. Norbert Schweinsteiger - Techno Union

9. Kira Duni - Super Gipulli

10. Kasih Darma - Nillitai

11. Bannassaton - Pegasus

12. Issivvinni - Nillitai

13. Nihlus des Amanai - Ultracar

14. Benjamin Chen - Ultracar

15. Tleriont - K.M.F.

16. Thleshton - K.M.F. Design

17. Ngantfi - Tan Gia

18. Ji Jin - K.M.F.

19. Hans Burg - Naffa

20. Tumus des Akanau - K.M.F. Design

21. Lucas Beckett - Voss

22. Mikah Elinas - Tan Gia

23. Elizabeth Nightingale - Cypher Engineering

24. Illirriya - Naffa

25. Nizio Faust - Boscer-Yent

26. Hashtiget - Cypher Engineering

27. Karrannatos - Voss

28. Vissinnitipi - Boscer-Yent

HC: Dude look at the Vosses, they are way down at the back of the grid, how did that happen? They were really good in the last race.

Fero: It’s all down to the type of track. Corners have never been Voss’s strong point. Even the best driver can’t overcome a car’s weaknesses.

…

Fero: The Cars are sitting on the grid and getting ready for the off, let’s listen in on Criffion’s team radio.

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CRI: I’m ready for this guys, let’s do it!

Pits: OK, all systems are looking normal, you did a good job in qualifying yesterday, let’s not throw it away. You’re around a lot of fast cars, let’s not do anything stupid.

CRI: Ha ha! Don’t worry dude, it’s fine, your car is in safe hands.

Pits: Let’s try to keep this position, we can get a podium here.

Fero: The Pegasus team are clearly concerned that Nato Criffion, might be a little reckless, we can only hope that he doesn’t put it in the wall in his home race.

HC: Nah, man Nato’s a cool dude, dude. He won’t break under the pressure.

…

Fero: The lights are coming on and we’re off! Yildamik makes a great start, Kuthmananga is a little slow off the line, and Sommarrammos makes a fantastic start, he beats Criffion and moves along side Kuthmananga into the first corner! Kuthmananga is slightly ahead and just about wins out by going round the outside into the first corner. Sogdo has made a terrible start and drops two places and just about stays ahead of Schweinsteiger going into the first corner.

HC: Is that an Ultracar behind Norbert?

Fero: Yes, that’s Benjamin Chen up into ninth place, getting in front of Kira Duni for the first time.

…

Fero: If we watch the replay, that’s actually quite an amazing start from Chen, you can see that he has the perfect amount of wheelspin and just weaves his way past the other cars. Before the first corner he’s already made his way past Amanai, Issivvinni and Bannassaton; going round the outside of the long first corner, he manages to sweep around Darna and Duni.

HC: Not bad for the kid in glasses.

…

Fero: Beckett is in the wall! it looks like he just under steered straight into it on corner exit.

HC: He hit pretty hard, he bashed his front wheel off, Vettin

BEC: Sorry guys, it’s all over.

Pits: Understood, can you make it back.

BEC: I’m on three wheels but I should be able to make it

…

Fero: Yildamik has been pushing hard, the distance he’s putting between himself and second place is getting bigger every lap. He’s starting to look pretty lonely out there. Meanwhile further back Sommarrammos is chasing down Kuthmananga, but the Techno Union driver is not slipping into any mistakes. The four time champion is clearly the faster driver but Kuthmananga is just not leaving any space at all in the corners. This can be a challenging place to overtake and he is not making it any easier. Sommarrammos is not making any silly moves though, he’s playing it cool and waiting for Kuthmananga to blink first.

HC: Yildamik has binned it!

Fero: Yes! Yildamik, our race leader has hit the wall! It doesn’t look like the race is over for him, but he’ll need to head into the pits to get the front spoiler replaced, it’s been totally ripped off. Let’s watch the replay.

It looks like he just locks up and slides into the wall.

HC: Can we hear the team radio for that crash?

Pits: OK, we are twenty seconds ahead of the cars behind, we need to bring in the pace and control to the end….

YIL: Woah! No!

Pits: what happened?

YIL: You distracted me, man, I hit the wall!

Pits:... ok we see the damage come into the pits and we’ll fix it up.

YIL: You need to stop talking to me when I’m driving.

Fero: This is going to put Yildamik way back into the traffic of the race, he could be as far back as eleventh.

…

Fero: Nightingale has dropped back, she’s in last place. It looks like she got a bit too close with one of the Naffas and clipped a part of her bodywork. This would have ruined her aerodynamics on her car.

HC: They should bring her into the pits and get it fixed.

Fero: Maybe they think it’s not going to be that bad, but you can see how much she’s struggling out there with grip.

…

Fero: Last race Kira Duni was the star driver for Super Gipulli but it’s her teammate who is shining here. Aflkin is running well in fifth, and following very closely behind Santino Nuvolari in the XYTRAN.

HC: He’s pretty close

Fero: Yes, Aflkin is right up the back of the XYTRAN, filling Nuvolari’s mirrors with the purple Super Gipulli. And Nuvolari is not getting away! Aflkin is darting from left to right, harassing Nuvolari into a mistake.

They go into the long left hander heading into the tightest sector of the track. This is where the Super Gipulli has been the most effective. Aflkin goes left, he goes right, but Nuvolari has him covered. The aggressive defending has put him off line, and Aflkin out grips him and drives up the inside of the next corner.

HC: Woah, good move!

Fero: Excellent driving, this leaves him in fourth place! He’s a long way back from Criffion in third, so it will be unlikely for him to catch up.

…

Fero: We have a wreck in sector one, It’s a Techno Union!

HC: I recognise that helmet, it’s Norbert again, he’s binned it.

Fero: Norbert Schweinsteiger has hit the wall, let’s watch the replay and see what happened.

It looks like He was tangling with Amanai in the Ultracar, he was going wheel to wheel and trying to go round the outside into the first corner, but he just ran out of space.

HC: How did Amanai get away from that without any damage.

Fero: Schweinsteiger was giving the Ultracar room, as is the correct thing to do, but Nihlus Amanai didn’t return the favour.

AMA: I was on the racing line, you saw that right!

Pits: Yes, we saw everything, you weren't in the wrong.

AMA: Is he OK?

Pits: Yes he’s fine, he’s out of the car now.

....

Fero: It’s started to rain at the far end of the track, in sector two, you can see the spray being kicked up by the cars there.

HC: Weird localised weather.

Fero: I’m sure it will cover the track at some point, but the race is entering it’s closing stages, it might not cover the whole… And we have an off! Two cars are off in Sector two going into the right hander. It’s a Naffa and a KMF. That’s Hans Burg and Tleriont.

Tleriont was struggling in the conditions on this part of the track and Hans Burg was attempting an overtake. The closing speed was just too much and Tleriont didn’t see him coming.

HC: Ouch, that looked like a big hit.

Fero: Yes, but both drivers appear to be fine and are out of their cars. What a shame to end the race so close to the end like this.

…

Fero: Our Leaders, Kuthmananga and Sommarrammos and heading into sector two, Kuthmananga is really struggling in the wet conditions.

HC: Shouldn’t they go into the pits to get wet tyres?

Fero: It’s still only Sector two that’s wet and we’re getting too close to the end to stop for tyres now. The drivers just need to take it carefully.

They drive past the wrecks of the Naffa and the KMF which have now been lifted from the track.

HC: It looks weird, they have just left those racing cars on the forest floor.

Fero: Kuthmananga slips! he’s slid wide in the right-left chicane and this is all Sommarrammos needs, he finds grip through the water and he’s got it! Sommarrammos is in the lead of the race!

HC: I don’t think he’ll make the same mistake as Kuthmananga, looks like he’s going on to win.

…

Fero: Benjamin Chen has just made it up to sixth place behind Nuvolari, What a drive he’s had this race.

HC: Yeah, and the other Ultracar hasn’t done badly either.

Fero: Amanai is only a few places back and having a strong showing.

HC: I guess this makes up for their bad qualifying performance.

…

Fero: And Sommarrammoa crosses the line to win at the Black Forest Run! He’s opened up a big gap to the car behind already and here comes Kuthmananga now to claim second place.

HC: Wow, they were a long way ahead, Criffion is only coming up to the finish now.

Fero:Criffion crosses the line in third place, and only a few seconds behind, Aflkin claims fourth place!

...

Fero: So Sommarrammos has set the groundwork for his title defence and after the first wo races he’s already in the lead of the championship. But Nuvolari is in second place and only five points behind.

HC: Dude, Nato is in third place, but he’s a long way back.

Fero: It’s only early days in the season so far, Don’t forget that Norbert Schweinsteiger hasn’t got his championship started yet.

HC: Haha, yeah, you’re right, he’s at the bottom with nothing.

Fero: We are off to Block 57-18 on the planet Niith for the next race, a very unusual track inside a building and covering three floors.

HC: That sounds fun, Vettin.

Fero: I’m Fero Vettin and this has been H.C. Boranistipi, see you next time for more X-1 action.

Full Race Result

1 - Sommarrammos - Seskarin

2 - Kuthmananga - Techno Union

3 - Nato Criffion - Pegasus

4 - Aflkin - Super Gipulli

5 - Santino Nuvolari - X.Y.T.R.A.N.

6 - Benjamin Chen - Ultracar

7 - Bannassaton - Pegasus

8 - Nihlus des Amanai - Ultracar

9 - Kira Duni - Super Gipulli

10 - Yildamik - X.Y.T.R.A.N.

11 - Elli nas Sogdo - Seskarin

12 - Issivvinni - Nillitai

13 - Ngantfi - Tan Gia

14 - Kasih Darma - Nillitai

15 - Hashtiget - Cypher Engineering

16 - Mikah Elinas - Tan Gia

17 - Karrannatos - Voss

18 - Vissinnitipi - Boscer-Yent

19 - Illirriya - Naffa

20 - Ji Jin - K.M.F.

21 - Nizio Faust - Boscer-Yent

22 - Tumus des Akanau - K.M.F. Design

23 - Thleshton - K.M.F. Design

24 - Elizabeth Nightingale - Cypher Engineering

DNF - Tleriont - K.M.F.

DNF - Hans Burg - Naffa

DNF - Norbert Schweinsteiger - Techno Union

DNF - Lucas Beckett - Voss

Drivers Championship

1. Sommarrammos - 28

2. Santino Nuvolari - 23

3. Nato Criffion - 14

4. Benjamin Chen - 13

5. Kuthmananga - 12

6. Bannassaton - 11

7. Lucas Beckett - 10

8. Aflkin - 10

9. Hashtiget - 9

10. Kira Duni - 8

11. Yildamik - 5

12. Nihlus des Amanai - 5

13. Elli nas Sogdo - 2

14. Karrannatos - 2

15. Thleshton - 2

16. Tumus des Akanau - 2

17. Ngantfi - 2

18. Mikah Elinas - 2

19. Nizio Faust - 2

20. Illirriya - 2

21. Kasih Darma - 2

22. Issivvinni - 2

23. Tleriont - 1

24. Ji Jin - 1

25. Vissinnitipi - 1

26. Hans Burg - 1

27. Elizabeth Nightingale - 1

28. Norbert Schweinsteiger - 0

Constructors Championship

1. Seskarin - 30

2. X.Y.T.R.A.N. - 28

3. Pegasus - 25

4. Ultracar - 18

5. Super Gipulli - 18

6. Techno Union - 12

7. Voss - 12

8. Cypher Engineering - 10

9. K.M.F. Design - 4

10. Tan Gia - 4

11. Nillitai - 4

12. Boscer Yent - 3

13. Naffa - 3

14. K.M.F. - 2