Duel Highlights
Round 8: French Grand Prix

Duel 1: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS SAN (Williams)

Duel 1 saw Rainbow Dash taking on Sandbar. Two teams that had dominated Formula One in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, but had fallen back with the arrival of Mercedes and new team leaders. But, as the Equestrians had proved, they could still put up a fight.

Dash and Sandbar raced hard through the whole race, but Rainbow's experience with speed and all the lessons she received from four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, proved to be valuable and guided the Element of Loyalty to the victory.

Duel 2: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS APP (McLaren)

Duel 2 had Twilight Sparkle take on Applejack. Ever since arriving at the Paul Ricard circuit, the alicorn became fascinated with the history of the track, how the track had changed over the years and famous drivers like Keke Rosberg, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and others had raced on the same track she was about to take on. And after seeing her two teammates adapt well and set very competitive times in Free Practise, she had a feeling that she would do well.

However, Applejack also took a liking to the Paul Ricard circuit. The massive run-off areas and open plains that decorated the landscape was a very welcoming sight to the farm mare, especially after racing on all the tight, packed circuits in the previous rounds.

And Applejack was in NEED of a meaningful points result. She was determined to place well. And in the Duel, Applejack's determination got her the win.

Duel 4: GAL (BWT Racing Point) VS GLA (HAAS)

Duel 4, Gallus was taking on Gladmane. With the P5 result from Canada under his belt, as well as the victory in Azerbaijan, Gallus was feeling confident about France. But the track played against the griffon and his results in Free Practise were not good signs of things to come.

And in the Duel, Gallus' fears were realised.

The open nature of the track was Gallus' weakpoint and he felt that he wasn't being pushed as much as he could have been. So, he began to fall back to the HAAS more and more, until the race was over and Gladmane had won.

Duel 5: PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo)

Pinkie Pie and Celestia were up next, this was to be close. With such massive run-off areas, it was almost impossible for Pinkie Pie to wreck her Red Bull this time. But with Celestia as her opponent, her push for victory wouldn't be easy.

Somehow, despite being up against a very experience and talented driver, Pinkie Pie would take the win and move into the final.

Duel 6: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)

The following Duel was expected to be a close finish. Star Mercedes driver, Akula, was facing down Lightning Dust in the Ferrari. Dust was confident in her abilities and she thought that she was going to be able to handle whatever the changeling could throw her way.

Her thoughts were far from the truth.

Despite the track favouring the straight-line power of the Ferraris, Akula was all over this track, with it's long straights followed by sharp corners. Perfect for some braking attacks. And he used them to great effect.

In the race, Dust didn't stand a chance. Akula was all over Dust and easily got by her at Turn 3, but it didn't stop there. Using his advantage, Akula worked his way up the field. By the time the final lap had started, Akula had worked his way to 2nd place in the pack, while Dust was languishing down in 5th. Her fate was sealed and Akula would move on.

Duel 7: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS SPI (Scuderia Ferrari)

Duel 7, Oscura would be taking on Spitfire. Now, Oscura was still sour over her 5-second penalty she got in Canada and she was determined to get what she deserved was rightfully hers: A win over Dean, without letting his stupidity get in the way. Her Red Bull was fast the whole weekend and it showed.

Her determination to meet Dean in the final once again got the better of Spitfire, with the dark unicorn beating the Wonderbolt easily.

Duel 8: OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS YON (Williams)

Duel 8. The backmarkers of Yona and Ocellus would be taking on each other. Yona had fitted new upgrades to her Williams, so her FW42's performance would be on par with Sandbar. Ocellus, meanwhile, was given more lessons from Albon in order to improve her racing capability with the STR14.

With both drivers getting better support, both in different ways, the Duel would be close.

And it was. The Toro Rosso and the Williams were both evenly matched. But Yona would proved to be the better driver, taking the victory, despite damaging her front wing in a collision with Lance Stroll's Racing Point.

Duel 9: SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS CHR (HAAS)

Silverstream would be taking on Chrysalis in Duel 9. The excitable hippogriff was very proud of her teammate's finish in the previous round and was looking for some personal glory in this round. However, her opponent was Chrysalis, who was looking for a good result. So, the two were ready to face each other.

The Duel didn't last long. On the approach to Turn 8, Silverstream missed her braking point my a significant margin and went up the back of Kevin Magnussen's HAAS and got sent into the infield. Silver was out and Chrysalis would move on.

Duel 10: RAR (Renault) VS BMI (McLaren)

Rarity and Big Mac were once again going to face off in Duel 10. The two had clashed at Bahrain before, with Big Mac spinning out Rarity on accident mid-way into the race. But this time, it was more one-sided. The bulky stallion, just like his little sister, loved the wide-open space of the circuit, making him feel much better with driving.

Rarity didn't stand a chance and was swiftly eliminated.

Duel 11: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

Duel 11 saw Cheese Sandwich take on Viral Velocity. And from what was seen at Free Practise, it didn't look good for Cheese. Viral had taken an IMMENSE liking to the French circuit, it's long straights and tight chicanes had Viral in love with the track so much, that she even lowered the downforce on her Merc in order to get some extra speed.

And for Viral, it seemed to work. Her downforce-reduced Mercedes was much faster that Cheese's Red Bull. The party stallion didn't stand a chance by such a well-driven mare and he called for mercy. The Duel was over within one lap.

Duel 12: FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)

The final Duel. Fluttershy was to be taking on DangerDean of Ferrari. Upon seeing that his opponent was the timid and shy pegasus, Dean felt confident in his abilities and bragged that the race would be over within two to three laps. But as the two cars came around to start the race, Fluttershy recieve a message from her mentor, Daniil Kvyat, which said, 'Nikogda ne sdavaysya (Russian for 'Never give up').'

And that's just what Fluttershy did. No matter what Dean attempted, he could not get away from the Toro Rosso hounding him each lap. And things got worse for the British Speedfreak. On the second-to-last lap, Dean locked his brakes in the approach to Turn 3, badly flat-spotting his tyres. Even worse, Fluttershy was able to sneak past Dean at that time, taking the lead away from him.

The more Dean pushed his Ferrari to catch the Junior Red Bull, the more his hurt his tyres. Until, on the final lap, the tyres gave up and in a repeat of what happened to Kimi Räikkönen at the 2005 European GP, his front-right tyre blew on the approach to Turn 10, taking the suspension with it.

Fluttershy had won, just by hanging in there and forcing Dean into an error.

Author's Note

Another point I need to make here: Before the season began, each driver was taught to speak in the languages of the different countries they will be visiting. And that does include Russian, because they have a Grand Prix.