Luca's eyes caught the DRS marker to the side. He really thought about using DRS for Derstappen, but he wasn't yet within a second of him. And while a one-second delta was ideal for DRS usage, using DRS beyond that might lead to a waste of SomberCore energy.
Luca was relieved to see Derstappen's rear wings still closed, meaning he wasn't using DRS on whoever was in front of him. So, both drivers sped down the straight, pushing their engines a fraction beyond their normal max speed.
It was a brief rest, as they had to slam their brakes once more, tilting their wheels into the next chicane: Turns 17, 18, and 19.
**Luca, box crew is prepped and ready. Tires and fuel set. You're good to pit whenever**
**Window is open, but stay out if pace holds. Your call**
"First thing next lap," Luca responded, feeling his downforce waver as he forced a right-left-right melee.
Once again, he and Derstappen managed to make use of the red-and-white-striped curbs that marked the corner apexes, their color slightly faded by years of sun exposure and tire abrasion.
It helped their tires shift back on track whenever there was a slight loss of traction that would have meant some real danger.
Turn 19 swept past a huge field of grass before merging into the last merciless combination of corners.
"WOOOOHH!" the crowd roared as Benjamin Taubert's tires hit the curbs in a sickening manner that totally ruined his momentum for the pursuit of Kristensen's P1.
"...And here comes Oliver Kristensen, storming onto the home straight to officially kick off Lap 13 of the Italian Mega Prix! Right behind, Benjamin Taubert follows through, keeping the pressure alive. Albert Derstappen in P3, but look at Luca Rennick—he's right on his tail, closing in with every meter...!"
"....The entire pack isn't far behind! At this rate, we might just see the whole grid make it onto Lap 13 in mere moments...!"
"...Tredicesimo giro del Gran Premio d'Italia!"
[650m Straightaway ahead]
"What's my delta from Miles? 2 seconds now?"
[Analyzing 5th Position's distance from host and Dallara (F2 04)...]
[5th Position is 2 sec away, host.]
Good. He had just enough buffer to dive into the pits without losing too much ground—if the stop was clean.
He barreled down the stretch, the roar of the crowd blending into the shrill pitch of his engine. The pit entry was closing in, flanked by the black ribbons.
The Trampos crew stood ready as Luca's car approached, waves of heat radiating from his chassis like a mirage in the desert. Every motion was precise and every second accounted for in a pit.
Luca held steady at the pit lane speed limit, his focus locked on his team's garage rather than the jeers, insults, and shouts echoing from rival camps as he coasted past.
Passing Squadra Jnr's bay, his eyes flicked over their pit crew that were already in motion. Was Miles about to pit? he thought.
A quick glance at the side mirror confirmed it. Miles' black and gold Dallara was at the pit lane's entrance, not roaring past toward Turn 1 as Luca had expected, but rolling in at the same time.
As soon as Luca stopped in his box, Trampos sprang into action. Every move was synchronized, seamless. His chassis responded to their touch like a well-tuned instrument, and in mere seconds, he was good to go.
2.5 seconds. Unbelievable.
"... IMPOSSIBLE FOR AN F2 TEAM! THATS A RECORD IN FORMULA 2!"
**You're good to go!**
[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 37.5%]
During the course of the 12 Laps before the third, Luca was able to get the first bar full with a point to Spatial Awareness. The notification had come as:
[Spatial Awareness +1]
[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 25%]
Luca was still uneasy about how the new Sync Buff mechanism would play out in this race. He wished he had tested it in a less critical event rather than the Italian Mega Prix.
Then, he remembered the Tuning Upgrade promised as a reward for his Daily Quest, which he had yet to complete.
[-·-CRASH ONE RIVAL IN THIS 75-LAP RACE-·-]
One driver had already DNFed—Dani Walding—but that was Aaronson's doing, not his.
That raised a very important question for Luca: how much involvement did I actually need for the system to recognize the crash as my doing?
Did Luca have to make physical contact, like Aaronson's tire clipping Walding's? Or could he simply pressure a rival into an error, like when he forced Max into a crash back in France?
Still unsure, Luca asked his system.
[For host's indulgence to be recognized by the system, a Skill must be in use at the moment of the crash.]
That meant he couldn't just cause a crash by raw aggression, he needed to be actively using a Skill for it to count.
"That's really not fair y'know," Luca said. "So if I just ram into someone, it won't work?"
[That would be the use of Strength—an Attribute, not a Skill.]
Then, the system recalled past crashes it had acknowledged.
[Retrieving data....]
[... successfully retrieved!]
[—British Grand Prix: Spatial Awareness: #09, Orange Dallara (F2 04) rival.]
[—French Grand Prix: Side-by-Side King: #13, Blue Dallara (F2 04) rival.]
Luca's eyes widened slightly.
"Ohhhhhh. I see what you mean."
So, this simply meant if Luca wanted this Tuning Upgrade and prevent getting red sores, he'd have to be actively using a skill while he was carrying out the action of crashing his opponent.
Luca groaned in exasperation, wondering where he would even find the nerve to deliberately crash a fellow driver.
He had already sped out of the pits, aiming to rejoin the race before Max Addams could take P4.
But Max had been too close to Miles all along. He wasn't backing down. With a sharp move, he soared past, diving aggressively into Turn 1.
"...MAX ADDAMS IN P4!"
From his earlier calculations, Luca remembered James Legrasse had been right behind Max. He quickly checked his side mirrors just to see if Miles was still in his pit box. He was.
Luca could slot in before Legrasse and Aaronson, which would push Miles further down the order.
However, as he reached the intersection, his heart sank. The Dallara in his peripheral wasn't Legrasse's, it was a more familiar one, painted in rival colors.
Unbeknownst to Luca, Aaronson had activated DRS on the home straight and overtaken Legrasse.
Luca's system instantly recognized the threat and flashed an urgent track analysis.
[Trajectory Assessment: Pitlane disadvantage detected. Line integrity at risk from 5th Position's approach.]
[Recommended Action: Enter at 39% throttle; maintain intersection apex trajectory. Anticipate 5th Position's outside pressure.]
[Risk Factor: High (collision potential with 5th Position). Adjust for slight traction loss at exit to regain position.]
A sly grin spread across Aaronson's lips as he barreled down the track with reckless abandon, his intentions crystal clear.
Imagine how legendary it'd be to take out two rival teams' drivers in one day.