Race to the Finish

After Germany, there was a two-week gap to the next race at Silverstone in England. The Monday before the race weekend, Sunset and the girls flew with the team to Silverstone. On the plane, Slipstream deliberately chose to sit between Sunset and Rarity to discuss their paint scheme for the anniversary weekend.

He sighed, "Okay... So the problem is, that most of the teams have a rich motorsport history. So there will be a lot of retro schemes. Unfortunately for us, Countess Racing Team does not boast of a rich racing pedigree. So we could go one of two ways. Either get REALLY creative with the livery, or you look up some of my old bikes."

Rarity frowned thoughtfully, "Hmm... I like the idea of putting one of your old bikes' paintjobs."

Sunset then had an idea, "Hey! Why don't we paint it red and gold like my hair. On the side fairing, I could have a phoenix painted on it."

Slipstream grinned, "Actually, I think that would work better as your racing suit. For the bike itself, I was thinking something along the lines of this."

Rarity's eyes gleamed, "OOO! This looks gorgeous!"

A day later, the group were all taking a walk around the track. Sunset asked, "So, what can you tell me about this track?"

He explained as he wheeled, "So this track was built on the site of a former airforce base. It was a bomber station that was active between 1943 and 1946. You can even see the old runways from here, see?"

He continued, "As for the circuit itself, We're currently on the Hamilton Straight. We take a right into Abbey, followed by a slight left kink at the Farm corner. Hard right into the Village Corner that spits you onto the left-handed Loop. Open the throttle into the left-handed Aintree corner and down the Wellington Straight. Hard on the brakes for the left-handed Brooklands, then to flick it right onto Luffield. Open the throttle for the right-handed Woodcote and you're onto the old start-finish straight. You got to brake for the right-handed Copse corner. If you're in a car, you can take Copse flat out, but I really would not recommend for bikes. Bit of a short burst until you get to the left-right sequence of corners, Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel. Then you're onto the Hangar Straight before you brake hard for the right-handed Stowe corner. A short straight before you reach the left-right at Vale and then another right at the Club corner, which leads to the main straight, and that's a lap of the track."

In the following days, Sunset and the girls went sight-seeing, and then Friday arrived and it was time for practice. Sunset went out and did her business as usual. WIth five minutes to go, she found herself on the edge of the Top 10, but eventually slipped down to 13th. However, she had a scary moment while heading into Stowe. Sunset braked as normal and began turning in, when suddenly, another rider came tanking down the inside at top speed. They flashed past her and she sat her bike up, barely avoiding a collision.

The idiot ended up taking a trip through the gravel while Sunset trundled down to the pits, trying to calm her pounding heart. As she shakily got off the bike, Applejack and Sunny helped her inside and took off her helmet. The country girl gently asked, "You okay, sugarcube?"

Sunset breathed heavily for a few seconds, "I need a minute. Who was that idiot? He could have killed me. The way he was coming, either his brakes had failed or he hadn't bothered to brake at all and was trying to use my bike as one."

Rainbow Dash looked at the monitor, "Says here that his name is Garble. Rider number #92. This guy's known for crashing out a lot and being aggressive. Sunset? Just be careful around him."

Meanwhile, second practice saw Sunset move up to 10th in the pack. Very soon, Saturday arrived and it was time for qualifying. As usual, Sunset went out and did some decently competitive timed laps. However, Garble was sticking annoyingly close to her, catching her tow. With five minutes left on the clock, Sunset Shimmer found herself in 7th place. She and several other bikes rolled out of the pit lane in one massive cluster. Sadly, all she could do was slip down to ninth place as her times did not improve.

Race day arrived and every team gathered outside their garages for the grand unveiling of their liveries. Sunset Shimmer was already clad in her gold suit with red arms and legs, with the symbol of a phoenix in the middle of her chest. On her back was the symbol of a red and yellow sun. Slipstream had to admit to himself that Rarity had done an excellent job, and even Sunset noted that the fashionista had some self-restraint. As for the bike itself, it was largely white and black, with pale gold fairings.

As expected, she completed the warm-up session, sat on the grid and performed her usual rituals. Finally, the bikes took off for a final sighting lap before settling onto their grid slots, Sunset in 9th. At the race start, she had to swerve to avoid another rider who had a terrible start. By the end of the first lap, she moved up to eighth position. She dove down the inside of P7, but they held their position and she had to gather herself up again. Luckily on the next corner, they went wide and Sunset gleefully snatched 7th place.

It was status quo for a few laps, until Sunset dropped down to 8th on the track. Things got worse when the #19 rider began to lose touch with the Top 7. Fortunately, the two in front of her began to squabble among themselves and she slowly began to make some inroads. Sadly, the duo were able to settle down and build up the gap to her bike. Elsewhere, there were groans from a fellow Aprilia team, as both riders had taken each other out. Garble was also seen kicking his bike in frustration after his engine gave up on him.

All the while, Sunset was slowly dropping her pace and falling back into the clutches of 9th place. Then with 3 laps to go, Sunset finally got shuffled back to 9th place. Up in the pit wall, Slipstream shook his head. Their Aprilia was no match for the power of the Ducatis. He murmured, "It's okay kid... Just bring it home. Points are better than nothing."

At long last, the chequered flag finally flew and she ended the race in ninth place. Riding back into the garage, she stopped and dismounted before walking inside. Sunset Shimmer sat down as Fluttershy got behind her and wiped away her sweat with a towel. Slipstream wheeled in and she spoke, "Sorry guys... That was the best that I could do."

The man simply smiled at her, "It's okay kid... You win some and you lose some. It happens, and it's all part of racing. On the bright side, next weekend's race will be at my second favorite track, the Red Bull Ring in Austria."

Pinkie grinned, "What do you like about it?"

He smirked back, "Oh nothing... It's just one of the prettiest race tracks in my opinion."