Run That Race

23RD MARCH 2024

------CORNICHE CIRCUIT, JEDDAH------

It was now 2:45pm in the city of Jeddah, which meant it was 9:45pm back in Canterlot City. In the Thunderbolt Motorsports pits, Sunset and Hot Rocket were getting ready to hit the track. Sunset had found it hard to keep with her busy schedule a little bit. She had barely been back in school for four days since their return from Australia after their first race, and she had barely gotten over the jet lag from Australia before they had had to leave for Jeddah, the capital of Saudi Arabia, for the second race of the season.

This track was a street circuit, just like Albert Park in Melbourne, so it would be quite similar. However, this track was the longest street circuit on the racing calendar right now, just behind the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan. It was also one of the fastest street circuits, with Formula 1 cars having an average speed of over 250 kilometers per hour, around 155 miles per hour, on this track. It also had one of the longest straights, where a top speed of almost 340 kilometers per hour, or around 210 miles per hour, could be set.

As Sunset got ready for Q1, which would be starting in 15 minutes, Comet Flash was worried. Some of their pit crew had resigned a few nights ago, due to them not wanting to disrespect their honour by handling a driver who only had experience in video games, and not in real life. He had already suspected that a certain businessman was behind this. Thankfully, Surfer had been able to get some replacement pit crew members, albeit not as experienced as their previous ones, and who were okay working with Sunset.

The team was fully on the lookout for any saboteurs, especially ones from Rich Racing, considering the personal beef the man had with Sunset, and the fact that Thunderbolt was doing something revolutionary, which had probably scared the other teams a little bit, and made Thunderbolt the laughing stock on the grid. In fact, one of the other drivers, Solar Wind from the Nissan team, had given an interview to the media, where she had been asked, "What do you think of the Thunderbolt drivers, and do you think they are any good, especially Sunset Shimmer? She performed quite well in her first race."

The reply from Wind had been, "That little gamer girl's first race, that 12th place was a fluke. Probably used cheat codes in Australia. She ain't getting a single win this season, trust me. Shimmer is gonna get a rude awakening to the real racing world. This ain't a game, this is the real shit. She's gonna get herself into a situation, where she can't press reset. Mark my words."

Another similar reply had come from Rash Rider and his co-driver from Rich Racing, and pretty much 75 percent of the grid was saying the same thing. The only exceptions had been Silverstreak from the Ford team, as well the Motosuki Motorsports drivers, who had been extremely respectful and nice in their interview, being Japanese. They had said that while they had to wait a little more, Sunset's performance had been great so far, and that she had quite a chance.

As Sunset headed to her car, Comet Flash gave her the latest data. "Alright, it's quite hot outside, the temperature's around 35 degrees Celsius right now. The car's AC will be on for a bit, until it cools down inside. It automatically re-engages at 32 degrees Celsius. Since it's almost summer here, keep hydrated. Drink a few bottles of water after every session. You all ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." said Sunset.

"Okay, go, go go!" said Flash, as Sunset began heading out, just as Q1 began. Soon, she was making hot laps on the hot track that was Jeddah. It didn't help that it was also extremely humid, Jeddah being a coastal city. Soon, Sunset could feel the heat getting to her, even though her car's AC was working overtime to keep her cool. The temperature even soared up to 40 degrees at one point, which was hot enough that Rash Rider almost fainted in his car because the AC did not activate in time.

However, Sunset somehow made it through, and by the end of Q1, Sunset and Hot Rocket had both made it, in 6th and 9th places respectively. Rash Rider was eliminated after he came into the pits with heatstroke, taking him out of the session, and Silverstreak ended up qualifying right behind Hot Rocket, in 15th place. Solar Wind also made it, in 3rd place.

Q2 began 15 minutes after Q1, and the high temperature still wasn't doing much good. In fact, a few fans had already fainted in the paddocks because of the heat, and despite the temperature starting to reduce in the afternoon, it was still quite hot. In fact, one of the pit crews from Motosuki Motorsports had violently thrown up, and had to be taken to a doctor.

Despite this, Q2 was not ended, and by the end of it, Sunset was able to finish in 10th, but Hot Rocket had been disqualified, qualifying in 13th, and Solar Wind had managed to finish in 4th place, followed by Silverstreak in 5th. Finally, another 15 minutes later, Q3 began, and this time, the competition was more intense. Everyone still in qualifying wanted the top 5 spots, and Sunset eagerly wanted those spots, considering that she had to make one top 5 finish before the 5th race of the season to keep her FIA racing license.

Q3 was intense, but the high temperature, which had since dropped from 40 to around 31, was still quite intense, and the humidity also wasn't helping either. In fact, Sunset came close to violently puking on her fourth lap, having not drunk as much water as she should have in the pits, but she somehow, with a lot of willpower, was able to continue driving, albeit with a reduced pace. By the end of Q3 and qualifying, Sunset had managed to qualify in 10th place, while Silverstreak had qualified in 7th, and Solar Wind in 2nd.

When Sunset pulled her car into the Thunderbolt Motorsports into the pits, the first thing she did after getting out of her car was run to the toilet to puke, due to mild dehydration. Thankfully, that was soon fixed after a few bottles of water, and some ORS. The team then retreated to their hotel nearby, to escape from the heat, and to prepare for the race the next day.

24TH MARCH 2024

------CORNICHE CIRCUIT, JEDDAH------

As race day dawned in Saudi Arabia, the fans came heading out. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia was a hot Muslim-dominated country, no matter what race, religion, or country they were from, everyone was here to watch the race. In fact, even people from countries such as Iran had come, since this was the only chance they would get to see their heroes in person.

As the drivers got ready for the race, which started at exactly 4:00pm local time, Sunset as usual, listened to her favorite Countess Coloratura music before the race, to relax her nerves. Despite this, she was still quite nervous, as she had a bad feeling that both Solar Wind and Rash Rider were going to pull some dirty tricks on the track today.

Soon, the drivers were all in their cars, and as they began their formation lap, this time, the safety car wasn't accompanying them, since that was only for the first ever race. As they continued their formation lap, a large aerobatic display organised by the Royal Saudi Air Force was conducted, where multiple F-15 jet fighters, and an airliner, a Boeing 777, made a flyby of the track, as well as an amazing stunt show by the jets.

Soon after this display ended, the cars were all at the starting line, on their respective positions, ready for the race. At exactly 4:00pm, the 79-lap race began, and the start was intense. Sunset had a not-so-great start, dropping from 10th to 11th, while Hot Rocket had gone from 13th to 12th, and Rash Rider had gone from last place, all the way to 17th place on the first lap itself.

By the fifth lap, Sunset had managed to gain another spot, getting 10th place back, while Rash Rider had gone from 17th to 14th. Hot Rocket had also gained a position, and was now right behind Sunset, while Silverstreak and Solar Wind were duking it out for 5th place, Solar Wind having dropped three positions. The temperature was still high, but not as high as it was during qualifying, so everyone was still going great as of now. However, the competition was intense, and no one was willing to give up their positions.

The next twelve laps were relatively uneventful. By the 25th lap, everyone was coming in to pit, except Rash Rider, and a driver from the Italian team. Everyone swapped from soft tires to medium tires, and soon, everyone was back out again. During her pit stop, Sunset had dropped from 10th to 12th, Hot Rocket had gained a position, going from 11th to 10th, and Silverstreak had dropped as well, going from 5th place all the way down to 9th. Rash Rider had gained a position, going from 12th place to 11th place.

Over the next few laps, they all began gaining positions once more. Sunset came back with a bang, going from 12th all the way into 9th place, and Hot Rocket was able to get to 7th place. Rash Rider also went in the pits, dropping from 11th back to 13th. Solar Wind was currently in 4th place, while Silverstreak was now duking it out with Sunset for 8th place. However, on the 31st lap of the race, there was an incident, when one of the Lamborghini Huracan Evo GT3 Evo 2s driven by Lazante Racing, the Italian team, wrecked after he went too wide on a corner and smacked into a divider, bringing out the safety car.

The safety car was out for around two laps, after which the wrecked car was cleared, and the driver, who was not injured, was taken back to his team's pits. Soon, the race resumed as normal, and all was going well. On the 40th lap, Sunset finally overtook Silverstreak, going into 8th place. Hot Rocket had also gotten into 6th place, so she was doing quite good. The battle continued between the duo for another 9 laps, after which Sunset managed to get into 7th place, overtaking the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in front of her. However, the McLaren driver started another battle with Sunset, which continued all the way to the 58th lap, on which all of the drivers came into pit. In this pit stop, 50 percent of the drivers, including Silverstreak and Sunset, swapped for another set of mediums, while most of the others took on a set of hards.

This time, Sunset didn't lose her position, as her pit stop was quite fast, and she was soon back out again. However, the race was now entering its climax, with only 21 laps left to go before the end. The competition was even fiercer now, as she and the McLaren driver were competing with Solar Wind, who had dropped to 6th place, and Sunset could tell that woman was not willing to give up her place.

The battle continued between the trio until the 65th lap, where on Turn 4, Solar Wind made an aggressive overtake, which caused Sunset to spin out, and this caused an annoyed Sunset to drop all the way back to 8th. Sunset instantly got back on the race, but the damage was now done, and by the time she got back on track, quite a bit of distance was between her Solar Wind, and the McLaren driver.

There went her second chance at a top 5 finish, thought Sunset, as she struggled to catch up to them, her tires starting to get quite worn down. Finally, on the 77th lap, she began closing the gap, but two laps was not enough to catch them before the end of the race. Sunset finished this one in 8th, while Hot Rocket finished in 5th. Silverstreak finished in 10th, and Rash Rider had managed to finish in 9th.

Despite this, the Thunderbolt team were quite happy, considering that this was a big improvement over their last race. Both their drivers had successfully managed to finish in the top 10, and get points for the team. After the race, Sunset gave an interview to the media, and the team packed up for their return to the US. The next race was in two weeks, which would give Sunset some time to prepare, and catch up on school work. It would also give her time to come up with a new racing strategy, to get that elusive top 5 finish. Soon, it would be hers.