Race to the Finish

As she hosed down her dirt bike, Sunset asked, "So why are we racing in Spain for a third time? We already went to Jerez and Barcelona, and now we're going to Aragon next weekend? And the season finale is in Valencia?"

Slipstream laughed a little, "Well, the championship is owned by a sports management company, whose headquarters are in Madrid. So it's kind of a given that Spanish races have more representation."

He fished out his laptop and turned it on. From there, he pulled up a circuit map and pointed, "So the track is the third anti-clock-wise race on the calendar. There are only four of them, if memory serves, the others are Circuit of the Americas, Germany and Australia. No wait! I forgot about Valencia. Anyway, the start-finish is over there. Turns 8 and 9 will be pretty tricky, because they're the slowest points. Turn 16 will also be tricky because it's at the end of a long straight and it's easy to outbrake yourself."

She nodded and went back to cleaning her bike. When she was done, she did a few last minute setup tweaks before heading out. As he watched her do a few jumps, he felt his phone vibrate. He picked it up and scrolled through it, before a frown plastered itself on his face.

Half an hour later, she was back in the garage and ready to pack up. As he drove though, she picked up on his mood, "You okay, boss?"

"We need to talk, urgently. But this needs to be done with the whole team. I wouldn't mind your amigas also being a part of it."

Worried, she asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head, "Na. I'll explain when we get back."

The drive was silent until they pulled into his villa. She helped him onto his wheelchair and pushed him inside the house. Pipp was lounging and doing her nails, Zipp and Izzy were playing ping pong, Hitch was at the BATAK board, and Sunny had just exited the kitchen with a sandwich. Slipstream whistled, "Everyone! Team meeting!"

Moments later, everyone gathered around him at the dining table. He glanced at their faces and spoke, "I got a text for Coloratura. According to her, a lot of other teams have begun looking ahead to next season. In short, they've begun nailing down rider contracts for the upcoming campaign."

He turned to Sunset, "Listen kid... This is hugely important. We've only got you with us until the end of the season. Do you want to continue racing and make this into a full-time career?"

Her forehead creased, "I've been thinking... I enjoy racing. I really do. But I want to finish my schooling before I think about pursuing a serious career in racing. I just have a couple more years of school left. Then when I turn 18, I'll probably come back. However, I want to do it the right way. As in, I want to start of in the 250cc category, where Hitch and Zipp are, now. Then i steadily work my way up."

Slipstream smiled, "I can respect that. So, here's what I was thinking. I'll draft up a contract for Hitch and Zipp for next season. Didn't you guys tell me that your current team are pulling out at the end of the year? Next season, Canterlot Racing Team moves down to the 250cc and ropes in both of you. You both will get two-year contracts with an option to extend. Then when Sunset is ready to come back when she's 18, we expand to three bikes. From there, we can gradually move up the ladder together. That cool with everyone?"

They all nodded and he wheeled backwards, "Right! I'm off to talk to Rara. If she approves the plan, I want Sunny to type up an official team statement."

The days building up to Aragon were hectic to say the least. The Canterlot Racing team statement sent a massive ripple through the media, and they were hounded for a while. Fortunately, the girls were great at fending off crowds, especially Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two of them flanked her on either side and glared at anyone who tried to get close or stick a microphone in front of her.

Practice began and Sunset was off the mark, straight away. With five minutes left in the opening session, she was lying in 5th place as she went out for her final run. Unfortunately, her time did tumble to 10th briefly, before she set another lap to move up to 7th. Then, she pulled off a mega lap to finish in 3rd place. Second practice saw her in 4th place and in fine form.

Then came qualifying on Saturday. The last five minutes saw the girl up in 2nd place, but she was on a run. Unfortunately, she got blocked by Garble and had to try again. By then, she had slipped down to 4th, but she got her head down, and her final lap put her in 2nd place and back on the front row.

Race day arrived and Sunset got her early warm-up done and dusted. On the grid, she and Slipstream did their tennis ball reflexes test and said a short prayer. As she settled on her bike and put her helmet on, he reached forward and pulled her close. He put both hands on either side of her helmet and spoke, "Listen... We're P2, but don't get cocky. It's a long race. Anything can happen. Just focus on your starts and stay out of trouble. You're right in between Dynamo and Slick Shifter, and they're strong riders. Also watch out for Apex behind you, he's pretty quick and is known for good starts."

They were off for a final sighting lap, and then settled in for the race start. As the lights went out, Dynamo and Sunset took off, but Slick Shifter got some wheelspin off the line. For nearly two laps, she held station behind Dynamo, but Apex was steadily closing in. On the second lap, Sunset made a mistake upon exiting Turn 7, and Apex pounced immediately. She tried to close the door in his face, but they made slight contact.

By the pit wall, Slipstream clenched his fist and then breathed a sigh of relief when Sunset defended robustly. However, Apex managed to get a tow down the back straight and slotted into 2nd. Behind her, Powerslide tried to sneak past, but she fended him off. Then two laps later, Powerslide and a rider called Kerb Hopper drafted past her, but Sunset managed to outbrake the latter.

With 18 laps left, Sunset was 4th trailing Powerslide by 1.1 seconds. On the bright side, she was slowly pulling away from Kerb Hopper, who had her hands full with Slick Shifter hounding her tail. Then, Kerb Hopper had a big wobble, allowing Slick Shifter to sail past and begin pursuing Sunset. A few laps later, it was Sunset's turn to go wide, and that brought Slick Shifter right up behind her. He tried to draft past her on the back straight, but she was once again the last of the late brakers.

Unfortunately, that only resulted in her going wide and Slick Shifter slipping through. She did hang on to fifth place for a long time and slowly pulled the gap to Kerb Hopper. Meanwhile, Slick Shifter was hunting down Powerslide for the podium. Then it happened... With six laps remaining, Powerslide went wide and Slick Shifter pounced. The former tried to defend the two two ended up colliding and taking each other out of the race.

As Sunset rode past, she saw the giant dust cloud. When passing the start-finish straight, she spotted Slipstream leaning over the pit wall and making calming gestures. Meanwhile, there were shouts of dismay from Powerslide's and Slick Shifter's garages.

Sunset then got her head down and charged, especially when she saw the pit board on the next lap, showing that Kerb Hopper was more than a second behind. Finally, Dynamo roared to his first victory of the season, with a delighted Apex finishing in 2nd place, and an equally jubilant Sunset Shimmer took the final podium spot. In the garage, the girls cheered and began hugging each other.

Slipstream led everyone out to parc ferme to receive Sunset, and she was very happy. As Slipstream wrapped his arms around her, she murmured, "I got lucky, boss."

He broke the hug and smiled at her, "That's racing, kiddo. Things might not work out initially, but all it takes is one wrong move to go from hero to zero. You could have the best bike in the world, but that means nothing if you crash out on the final lap, in the final corner. Guess what! This is your third career podium! The sky is the limit for you! This is a sign that you're going to do great things in the future. I can feel it!"