Circuit Paul Ricard, France

Formula One Equestria Duels series

Duel 3: SUR (Renault) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)

Event Type: Full Grid Sprint Race

"Hello, once again! Welcome back to the 2019 Formula One Equestria series! Flim here, once again, joined by Flam and we are at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France for the 8th round of the Formula One season. Looking at this track from up in the broadcast booth, this track seems far different from all the others tracks we've raced at so far. Brother, what else would you like to add?"

"Well, Flim, this track is very popular amongst drivers and teams and it's easy to see why. When this track opened for the first time in the 70s, it was praised for being one of the safest track in the world. Here's an aerial shot of Turn 10, look at the amount of run-off area you have! Plenty of room get out of the way, if you have broken something on the car. And if you don't count last year, this is the first time that F1 has returned to the Paul Ricard circuit since 1990 and the first time the French Grand Prix has been held since 2008. What a history this track has,"

"Well, we are about to start the Duel round, so stay tuned!"

Later...

As the field lined up on the grid for the rolling start, Suri felt many emotions wash over her at once. This track, this country was the home of her team. To be knocked out of the duel at her teams home Grand Prix would be an absolute embarrassment for the Earth Pony mare.

But the odds didn't appear to be in her favour. It would be a sprint race and her opponent was Luna. Suri had heard rumours that Celestia, upon seeing her little Lulu fail to get a meaningful result after being with Alfa for 7 races, began to give useful tips to her sister in order to help her post better results. And seeing how good a driver Celestia was, this had Suri worried.

It didn't help that the Paul Ricard circuit was long and fast circuit, with massive straights followed by tight corners, perfect for braking attacks. Suri was lucky that she wasn't paired with Akula. The demon changeling would be all over this track, as well as the other two Mercedes drivers and even the Ferraris. But the Renault wasn't exactly the fastest car in the field. And both of the princesses knew how to make the Alfa-Romeo C38 work better than their mentors could.

But Suri shook those thoughts away as the green light appeared and the grid set off for the rolling start. As she pulled off the grid, Luna immediately pulled alongside her and stayed there through the whole lap. You see, the starting positions for the Equestrian racers in the Duels is determined by the points standings. The driver that is lower ranked in the standings gets to start ahead of their opponent and vice versa, to keep the race fair. In Suri and Luna's case, they were both equal in position. So, they would have to start side-by-side (like how all the racers had to do in Australia), with Luna starting just a tiny margin ahead of Suri (as Luna had made it to the final of the previous round, while Suri was eliminated in the Duels).

As the two Equestrian drivers passed through the final set of corners, they both began to pick up their pace, so they wouldn't fall behind the drivers ahead of them and not hold up the drivers behind them. And once they crossed the line, it was on.

Luna immediately began to pull away along the main straight, Suri right on her tail. While the Alfa was quick, her Renault was no slouch either. It kind of helped that being behind put the Renault in Luna's slipstream, allowing Suri to keep pace. Also, Suri's R.S.19 had an advantage in slow, tight corners, whereas Luna was faster. The Earth Pony knew that Turns 3-6 and Turns 11-15 would be her best chance. She knew that the lead would change every lap.

However, no such debacle would happen on Lap 1, as Luna was just too good for the mare to get a run on. But after Lap 2, everything changed. Every time the pair went through the slow section at Turns 3, 4 & 5, Suri would make use of her advantage and slipped past, only for Luna to take the lead back along the Mistral Straight. Then, through the final corners, Suri would take back the lead and lose it again along the main straight.

This pattern kept up for the whole race, all the way into the final lap. Luna took the lead away from the mare once again. But Suri knew where the princess's weak point were. This race would come down to the final turn. As expected, Suri slipped her Renault back into the lead through Turn 3 and held it, until Luna took it away at Turn 7 and down the Mistral Straight.

But once the two reached the final few turns, Suri made her move and began to close. And on the approach to Turn 14, Suri pulled alongside Luna's Alfa on the outside. With the fashion mare being on the outside, she had the inside line going through the final corner and was able to pip Luna to the line.

Suri knew that victory was hers. This was her time to shine and she would prove it in the finals.

Author's Note

Sorry that I didn't add much into the race in this chapter (and possibly in the Duel Highlights), but the Circuit Paul Ricard is not an easy circuit to make interesting, nor is it much fun to write. I apologize for this and hope that you are enjoying the story as a whole and I will try to get through this round as quick as I can.