Stavelot, Belgium - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

--TV Broadcast--

An intro, similar to what is seen on a TV show, began. Filling the viewers with anticipation with it's amazing visuals.

After the intro, the screen then cuts to a live picture of the paddock.

"Hello and welcome to Spa-Francorchamps on a GLORIOUS sunny Saturday lunchtime. We are ready for the start of race 3 of the FIA World Endurance Championship in front of a bumper crowd. Between 80 and 90 thousand tickets had been sold. The traffic cues are still full of cars and fans trying to get in for the 6 Hours of Spa. For the first time this season, we return to a track the teams have raced before. After 2 brand new tracks on the calendar, Qatar and Imola, Spa, one of the crowd favorites and certainly one of the driver favorites, is back on the agenda. This is the final race before the crown jewel of sports car endurance racing, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I'm Martin Haven, alongside me in the commentary box is Graham Goodwin and Anthony Davidson. Anthony, this place is absolutely crammed with fans all weekend."

"Yeah, absolutely fantastic to be back here in Spa. The sun is out, the crowd is here in full force, the cars are all lined up on the grid, the gridwalk is happening as we speak. Very lively atmosphere here and it's very good to see."

"And our playground today is the world famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Best known for being the home of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, but endurance racing has been at this track since 1953."

"This track has some very iconic corners in motorsports such as Turn 1, La Source. As well as Eau Rouge and Raidillon, which is Turns 3, 4, and 5. The drivers then have to make it through the Turns 18 and 19 chicane, which is the final corner before the main straight."

"The main story for this race is that the Chip Ganassi Cadillac that races in the IMSA series is racing once again this year to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That car raced here last year and had a horrific crash with Renger van der Zande. They are here again this year because they need to get some miles onto that car so that it can be eligible to qualify for Le Mans."

Rara walked around the paddock. She was shocked to see the main grandstands absolutely packed with spectators. She was also surprised about the track itself. Unlike the tracks she already went to, which were either ovals or consisted of mainly urban streets, this track was very remote and passed through the beautiful Belgian countryside. She also noticed the cars on the grid. Cadillac, Porsche, Lamborghini, and BMW were there, but they were also some car brands that weren't in IMSA; Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot, Alpine, and Isotta Fraschini. Rara also noticed that there were no LMP2 cars on the grid. Just Hypercars and GT cars.

"I see you're wondering why everything is different around here."

Rara looked around and saw Mike walking up behind her. She smiled at him before looking away.

"Hey, come on now. There's no need to be embarrassed by not knowing anything," said Mike.

"No, it's not that. It's just... today's May 11th. Remember what Sapphire said when we went to see her for the update?" Rara explained.

"The album? Yeah, I know," Mike replied.

Rara looked away with a look of worry on her face. "I just... don't know how it will go."

Mike saw the worry that Rara had and immediately put his two hands on her cheeks. "Hey."

Rara looked at him with a wide eyed stare.

"It's gonna be okay. I couldn't stop singing those songs myself. I'm absolutely sure people and ponies will love the album," Mike said certainly.

Rara felt better and smiled at Mike before hugging him. Mike returned the hug before letting go of her. "So, you're probably wondering why everything is so different compared to IMSA," remarked Mike.

Rara nodded.

"That's because this is not IMSA, this is the World Endurance Championship, a completely different racing series. And the reason why you're seeing car brands that aren't in IMSA is because they're either not interested in IMSA or just can't race in IMSA because of a rule they have regarding manufacturers to build 2,500 normal cars. Isotta Fraschini over there, is an Italian luxury car brand that was just recently revived. So it's not eligible for IMSA," Mike explained.

"Oh. That's... interesting," said Rara.

"You better go back inside the paddock. The pre race ceremonies are about to begin," said Mike.

Rara nodded and walked away.

Mike strapped into his car and closed the visor on his helmet.

"Radio check," the race strategist said.

"Yeah, all good," Mike replied.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! START YOUR ENGINES!"

The cars all roared to life and drove off on their formation laps. After 2 formation laps, the 5 red lights that are normally used for the F1 race, light up and the safety car pulled off the track.

--TV Broadcast--

Martin Haven: "And we are set to go in the 6 Hours of Spa. 19 Hypercars and 18 GT cars coming down the straight!"

The 5 red lights then went out and the green flag was waved.

Martin Haven: "AND WE GO GREEN IN SPA!!! FREDERIC MAKOWIECKI HOLDS THE OUTSIDE LINE BUT HERE COMES THE CADDIE OF ALEX LYNN TO THE INSIDE AS THEY HEAD TOWARDS LA SOURCE, THE TIGHT TURN 1!!!"

Anthony Davidson: "THAT'S A VERY TIGHT CORNER... OOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!"

Martin Haven: "SOMEHOW THEY ALL MANAGE TO GET THROUGH CLEANLY AS THEY NOW MAKE THEIR WAY TOWARDS RAIDILLON AND EAU ROUGE!!!"

Graham Goodwin: "Sebastien Buemi in that number 8 Toyota comes up the inside of Andre Lotterer in that number 6 Porsche as they now make their way down the long Kemmel Straight!"

Mike drove his way through the field, but couldn't help but take a deep breath over what is happening.

"Deep breath. You're doing great," his race strategist said over the radio.

"Ugh! That was very hairy," Mike said while still taking deep breaths of relief.

In the paddock, Rara could only watch in relief as the crazy first lap happened. And yet they still had 5 hours and 59 minutes to go.

Hour 3

Since it was a 6 hour race, it was decided that the 3 drivers would get 2 hours each. By now, Mike had left his car and Sebastien Bourdais was now running it.

--TV Broadcast--

Martin Haven: "A great run for the number 3 Cadillac as Sebastien Bourdais is currently running P3 behind the number 5 Porsche of Matt Campbell and the number 83 Ferrari of Robert Schwartzman."

Anthony Davidson: "Yeah, it's a great run for that car. That car normally runs in the IMSA series, but they are doing this race to be eligible to qualify for the 24 Hours of Le Mans."

In the paddock, Mike watched his teammate compete on the TV monitor.

"Hey Mike, I brought you some water."

Mike looked back and saw Rara holding a bottle of water.

"Thanks," Mike sighed and took the bottle before opening it and taking long sips of the water.

"I see that you're exhausted," said Rara.

"Yeah. We're running P3 now, so we should be able to get enough miles in the car to be eligible to qualify for Le Mans," Mike replied.

Hour 4

Sebastien Bourdais was on his final lap before he had to bring the car to the pits to hand the car over to Renger van der Zande, who would take over for the final 2 hours of the race. As he made his way down the Kemmel Straight, his radio suddenly lit up.

"Watch out! Watch out! Earl Bamber is coming up behind you on your outside! Watch your outside!" The race strategist shouted.

"OH, MY GOD! HE'S GETTING WAY TOO MUCH SPEED!!! WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Sebastien shouted.

--TV Broadcast--

Anthony Davidson: "WHOA, LOOK AT THAT!!! THE NUMBER 2 CADDIE IS COMING UP FAST BEHIND BOURDAIS!!!"

Martin Haven: "That's Earl Bamber, he's trying to-

All 3 commentators: "OHHHH!!!"

Martin Haven: "AND OFF...!!!"

Anthony Davidson: "BIG CRASH ON THE KEMMEL STRAIGHT!!! A BIG ONE!!!"

The number 2 Cadillac made contact with a GT car, the number 31 BMW M4 of Team WRT. The impact sent the Cadillac Hypercar airborne and the BMW M4 careening head on into the barrier. Bourdais tried to slow down, but the car was already going through the flying debris field. He then ducked as a tire flew off of the barrel rolling Cadillac and into the windshield, breaking it.

"SHIT! BAMBER'S TIRE JUST DAMAGED MY WINDSHIELD!!!" Bourdais yelled to his race strategist.

"Okay, box now! Box! Safety car's been deployed."

In the paddock, Mike and Rara watched as the crash unfolded.

"Holy shit!" Mike gasped.

"Who was that?" Rara asked in concern.

"That's Earl Bamber. I've known him since I made my IMSA debut in 2019. I hope he's alright, but what the hell was he doing? Driving through Eau Rouge at that speed."

At the same time, Bourdais pulled into the pits and the pit crew got to work.

"Are you alright? Can you see out of this thing?" the race strategist asked as he walked over to the car. Bourdais nodded as he got out of the car, clearly shaken. Renger van der Zande then came and strapped himself in the car.

Meanwhile, at the crash site, safety crews pulled up as the drivers got out of the respective cars.

--TV Broadcast--

Martin Haven: "Safety crews arriving on the scene as both Earl Bamber and Sean Gelael both appear to be alright."

Graham Goodwin: "Which is an absolutely good sight to see. Although, Earl Bamber is absolutely FUMING."

The live feed then showed Earl Bamber angrily throwing his helmet to the ground.

Back in the pit lane, the cars began to pull out Renger gave the mechanics a thumbs up and drove off.

"GO, GO, GO!!!" The race strategist yelled. "STAY AHEAD OF VANTHOOR!!!"

--TV Broadcast--

Martin Haven: "That's a great stop for the Caddie as Laurens Vanthoor in the number 6 Porsche comes up just behind him."

Final Lap

--TV Broadcast--

Martin Haven: "Checkered flag is waving and for the first time ever, it's Hertz Team Jota that get the win with the number 12 Porsche with Callum Ilott and Will Stevens! Meanwhile, in LMGT3, it's the number 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 with Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring, and Yasser Shahin that get the win!"

"There you go P5, Le Mans qualification eligibility boys WE GOT IT!!!"

"YES!!! YES!!!"

As the cars pulled into the pit lane, the team cheered for their job well done. "HELL YEAH, BOYS!!! WE GOT LE MANS ELIGIBILITY!!!" Shouted Mike.

"YEEEES!!!!!!" Shouted Sebastien Bourdais.

Rara watched as Mike partied with his teammates. She couldn't be more happier for him.

After some hours of celebrations, Mike and Rara made it back to Coco's apartment in Manehattan. By the time they got there, it was nighttime and Coco had already gone to sleep. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm gonna hit the sack," said Mike.

"You know, I feel the same," Rara yawned as the two made their way to their bedroom. As they got into bed, Mike couldn't help but remember what had happened during their time in Belgium. The filly asking for an autograph, the filly's mother asking if Rara could perform 'The Magic Inside' in the upcoming tour, and of course the fact that he and Rara were not virgins anymore as they had sex in the shower on their first night in Belgium. The latter of which stuck in Mike's head.

'Applejack, Coco, and especially Rarity are not gonna let us be if they find out about it,' he thought. Mike then turned over to Rara to see what she thought of it. However, to his dismay, she had already fallen asleep. Mike just sighed and turned off the light before laying down and falling asleep himself.

To Be Continued.

Author's Note

This is a fictionalized version of the 2024 6 Hours of Spa. In real life, the IMSA Cadillac didn't race at Spa. If you want to see in happened in the ACTUAL race, you can do so by watching this video here.