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RP || Kalrania 500

|| 4th September, 2101 ||

One of the biggest events on the calender is finally here, the Kalrania 500. A 500 mile race to test the constructor's ability to create a fast, reliable, and efficient machine while also testing the driver's endurance and consistency around the 2.5 mile long oval at Tau Volantis Motor Speedway. Many of the prototypes participating have been running drastically altered set ups, with some even getting rid of the massive rear wings and instead opting for a lower drag one.

All teams have been consistently running practice laps when the sessions were opened, gathering crucial data to make their prototypes run at their absolute peak during the main event. During the second practice session, Xavier Baume of Gatisports KPC dug too deep in turn four and smashed into the safe barrier at 368km/h. Prematurely ending the session and his chance for qualifying, however he sustained to life-threatening injuries after being flown over and checked at the nearest hospital.

Qualifying

Gatisport's Xavier Baume had to sit out for the qualifying sessions while his team repaired his prototype, meaning he will be starting from the back of the grid. The first qualifying session passed without incident until the final couple of minutes when Lukas Geiger hit the wall coming out of turn 2 giving him a puncture, he later attributed this to a sudden increase in grip.

The second qualifying session passed without incident and resulted with Oskar Draug, Lukas Geiger, Max Kachel, Ansri Narivjn, and Yaristeia Sarui being knocked out and finishing qualifying with Achille Calvet setting a qualifying lap record to end the session fastest.

For the third qualifying session all of the teams were able to have two attempts to set the fastest time, after the first attempt it was Erich Nørgaard who was leading having beaten the qualifying lap record which Calvet had set in Q2, Nørgaard was followed by Calvet and Marseille Vettel. During the second attempt in Q3 Calvet improved his time by half a second to beat Nørgaard's lap record. As no one else improved their time sufficiently to beat any of top three it was Achille Calvet who took pole position followed by Erich Nørgaard and Marseille Vettel completing the top three. In a post qualifying interview Kachel confessed that he wasn't happy with his performance in saying that he thought he was able to get into the top three but was unable to due to a untidy lap. Achille's pole lap had an average speed of 386km/h, the fastest average of the season.

Race

The start saw Achille Calvet pull out to the lead, with Erich Nørgaard and Marseille Vettel behind. The first green flag run was short lived, with the first caution period coming after just four laps, when Lukas Geiger came to a halt at the exit of turn 4; a gearbox failure causing a quick end to the rookie's race. Racing resumed on lap 10, with Vettel moving into second place ahead of Nørgaard, with Ansri Narivjn running fourth. This order would remain intact until the first stops of the race, which began at lap 32. After the stops, the top 3 remained the same, while Yaristeia Sarui moved to fourth. During the pit sequence, Oskar Draug and Ansri Narivjn collided in the pit lane, resulting in Narivjn spinning. Draug was handed a drive-through penalty for the incident. At lap 54, Max Kachel became the race's second retirement, as a broken halfshaft brought an end to the Nuka-Cola Exodus Racing's day, though Kachel managed to bring the car back to pit lane without the need for a caution period.

The second round of stops came beginning at lap 62, though just before this, Nørgaard managed to get back around Vettel for second. During this pit sequence, Xavier Baume was involved in a pit lane incident where he slid long in his box at hit one of his tire changers; the crew member suffered a leg injury and was transported to a local hospital. During the caution, Baume was moved to the back of the field as a penalty for hitting one of his pit crew members during his pit stop. The running order now ran Achille Calvet, Erich Nørgaard, Marseille Vettel, Yaristeia Sarui, and Torsten Eklund. Racing resumed at lap 78 with the running order remaining largely the same until the next round of pit stops, starting around lap 99.

Despite a slow stop, Marseille Vettel quickly climbed back up the order, and by lap 112 was in second place and fighting with leader Achille Calvet. The two remained close until the next round of stops, beginning at lap 128. Vettel suffered an even slower pit stop when he came in on lap 136 when the fuel nozzle failed to engage properly. Vettel was saved from falling well off the leader by the race's third caution flag. Far behind Vettel, Xavier Baume spun coming into the pit lane, making contact with the wall with the nose of the car. Though Baume's car was not damaged enough to end his race, the car had stalled and needed retrieval, necessitating the caution period. Those who had not yet stopped were forced to pit during the caution, placing them behind those who had already stopped. As the field prepared for the next restart, the running order was Calvet, Nørgaard, Sarui, Eklund, and Vettel.

Racing resumed at lap 148. Soon after, Yaristeia Sarui passed Nørgaard for second and then successfully stole the lead away from Achille Calvet. This lasted until lap 168, when Calvet passed Sarui back just before pitting again and triggering the final round of pit stops. During the sequence, Vettel was able to jump past both Eklund and third place Nørgaard thanks to the advantage of an undercut. Soon after, Vettel passed Sarui and Calvet for the lead of the race. The running order was Vettel, Calvet, Sarui, Nørgaard, and Eklund.

The final laps continued with the running order mostly the same, until lap 186 where the 5 drivers in the lead began trading places with each other. Achille Calvet was able to steal the lead back while Vettel dropped to 4th behind Nørgaard. Eklund managed to slipstream his way past Vettel and the momentum propelled him into third past Nørgaard. On lap 194, Eklund, Sarui, and Nørgaard went three wide at turn 2 at 392km/h. A slight nudge from Eklund caused Sarui's rear left tyre to puncture coming out of the turn, dropping him out of the race as he nursed his car back to the pits for a tyre change. The incident made Nørgaard and Vettel to slow down in an attempt to get out of the way of Sarui's punctured car, giving both Eklund and Calvet enough distance that both Audi-Exodus driver's weren't able to make up in the last six laps. With three laps to go, Eklund took the lead of the race, but one lap later, Calvet moved back around Eklund with a pass into turn 3. Despite Eklund's efforts to reel him back in on the final lap, Calvet held on to take victory. The final margin of victory was 0.2 seconds, the seventh closest in the history of KPC.