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Chapter 40 - The Green Hell
The next afternoon, Yuka found herself in the pit lane of the Nurburgring, staring down the flanks of the Skyline Sedan she was about to be strapped into the passenger seat of for a flying lap of the Nordschleife. A young man around her age approached her.
Young Man: Um, hello? Are you my passenger today?
Yuka: Oh hi. I guess so if you’re you the guy offering free Nurburgring ride-alongs. I got one of your leaflets here.
Yuka held up the leaflet Hitomi gave her last night.
Young Man: Ah yes. I’m glad someone has taken up my offer finally.
Yuka: What do you mean finally? Surely you’ve had passengers before, the leaflet says so here.
Young Man: That’s just marketing… I’ve only just started doing this ride-along thing to be honest with you. I’m sorry if you’ve been misled.
Yuka: Do you at least know the track well enough to not kill us both?
Young Man: Yeah, I’ve done many laps here actually. I just get bored driving by myself so I started this free ride-along offer. I’m not in it for the money or anything. Are you considering backing out? I’d understand if you are.
Yuka: I was considering it but I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go.
Young Man: Okay! Oh wait, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Oliver.
Yuka: Yuka. Nice to meet you.
Oliver: It’s rare that I get a pretty girl to ride along with me.
Yuka’s cheeks turned bright pink.
Yuka: Um…
Oliver: Sorry! That just came out, I wasn’t…
Yuka: It’s okay, thanks for the compliment.
Oliver opened the front passenger door for Yuka.
Oliver: If you’d please?
Yuka got in and buckled up. Oliver ran round to the driver’s side and got in.
Yuka: It’s weird to see one of these outside of Japan.
Oliver: I imported it myself. It was quite cheap. I actually wanted a GT-R but then I saw this for a fraction of the price.
Yuka: You’d be surprised how common these things are in Japan. You can’t go a day without seeing one. I guess in Europe though it’s quite a rare sight.
Oliver: I suppose likewise for European cars in Japan?
Yuka: Kind of. Anyway I’ll be racing here in a couple of days so I need to learn the Nurburgring quickly. Could you help me out?
Oliver: I could explain some techniques I guess, sure.
Yuka: I mean more like… Don’t hold back with your speed.
Oliver: Are you sure?
Yuka: I’ll let you know if I feel unsafe.
Oliver: Alright, then let’s begin.
Oliver started up the Skyline. The V6 roared to life and idled smoothly. He put the car into first gear and set off to start the lap.
Attention! Ready, Steady, Go! has almost reached it’s 1,000th image!
To celebrate this achievement, here’s the 1,000th image.
Now returning to your usual programming…
Oliver floored it, accelerating the Skyline hard towards the first corner. Yuka hung on tight to the door handle and braced herself. Oliver dove in to the corner, letting the Skyline’s massive grip do all the work.
Yuka loosened her grip of the door handle and made herself comfortable in her seat as Oliver started a high-speed lap as per Yuka’s request.
Yuka: You’re pretty good, I’ll give you that.
Oliver: Thanks, it’s mostly the car and my track experience I have to admit.
Yuka: How modified is this car?
Oliver: It has 450 horsepower and professional suspension tuning.
Yuka: Professional eh? It feels good.
Oliver continued his high-speed lap, effortlessly sending the heavyweight Skyline around the corners like a sports car.
Yuka: Who tuned it?
Oliver: Dragon’s Tuning. I got a good deal from them.
Yuka: Are they a European tuner?
Oliver: I think the owner is from England but they have a workshop near the Nurburgring here.
Yuka: And you say they give good deals?
Oliver: Yeah.
The Skyline held the road firmly at speeds surpassing what the speedometer could read. Yuka looked over at the maxed out speedo.
Yuka: Christ this is quick. I can’t even tell how fast we’re going like this.
Oliver stayed hard on the throttle heading up to the fast left-hander.
He left off the throttle through the corner, keeping a solid hold of the road.
Oliver: I’ve come off this corner before in my old car. It was totalled afterwards so I tend not to push my luck here anymore.
Yuka: That’s understandable.
Oliver braked hard for the hairpin, navigating it carefully before speeding down the next section, a high-speed uphill.
Yuka: Have you come off that hairpin before too?
Oliver: Yeah, same car but it wasn’t totalled. I just bent the suspension arms and ruined the bodywork.
Yuka: What car was it anyway? Must’ve been tough to survive the abuse.
Oliver: An older Golf GTi. After that I went without a car for several weeks until I bought this last year.
Yuka: Oh I see.
Oliver sped up the hill towards the next series of corners. He hopped curbs at speed like they weren’t even there. The Skyline soaked up the bumps with ease.
Yuka: Holy crap buddy!
Oliver: Oh! Am I being too reckless?
Yuka: No no, keep on it! This is nuts. I don’t feel in any danger at all, it’s weird.
Oliver started to push a bit harder, taking to the curbs as a shortcut around corners.
Oliver: Is this what you meant before? To show you?
Yuka: Yeah. Thank you.
Oliver: Some cars aren’t built to take the curbs like this, but those that are gain a major advantage. Those Schwarzwald League racers are notorious for doing it. What car are you taking against them anyway?
Yuka: We’re thinking of a modified 135i… Since you’ve mentioned Dragon’s Tuning and I’ve seen how good their work is… I think it’s what we’ll go for.
Oliver: A 135i? You must have some skill to trust a 135i with one of the most prestigious German road races.
Yuka: We’re dealing with a tight budget so an M3 was out of the question.
Oliver: I won League A with my Golf, but League B disallows my Skyline for not being European. From what I heard I would’ve lost anyway. They say there’s an R8 and SLS that frequent the races. I doubt any 135i could beat those two.
Yuka: Hmm…
Yuka: I’ve not lost yet though.
Oliver: Wait, you’re that girl who’s been beating all the European championships?
Yuka: Yup. Me and my cousin.
Oliver: It’s an honour to have you in my passenger seat Yuka.
Yuka: Seriously? I mean… Wow…
Oliver: You and your cousin have made a name for yourselves already. You’re very popular.
Yuka: I guess there’s no worry about that anymore, hehe.
Oliver continued driving at an increased pace, demonstrating how to tackle each corner at speed.
Oliver: The key is to learn the track. I hope you get as much information as you can in a single lap.
Yuka: This is fine. It’s better than having no information at all.
Oliver continued driving at a safe but fast pace, explaining his techniques to Yuka as he blasted around the track.
They approached The Carousel. Oliver went full speed around the banked corner.
Oliver: It’s important not to come off this part, you could destroy your car within seconds.
Oliver continued his curb-riding throughout the course.
Yuka: Not to jinx you or anything, but you’ve not come off the track once since we began. I’m impressed and I apologise if I seemed out of line before.
Oliver: It’s okay Yuka, I understand. As long as you get something out of this lap I’m happy.
Yuka: I’ve gotten a good idea of how to take most of the corners already, I just need to learn what corner comes when…
Oliver: Once you’ve learned the track, you’ll be unstoppable here. Even in a 135i.
Yuka: I hope so.
The Skyline easily caught air over the hills.
Yuka: Weeee!
Oliver continued attacking the Nurburgring, bringing out the Skyline’s best through the corners.
Oliver: This is the Mini-Carousel, we’re near the final straight before a few corners leading to the finish.
Yuka: This track is longer than I expected, wow. No wonder we’re only doing one lap…
Oliver: Here we are, the final straight.
Yuka: It’s like a freaking motorway!
Oliver: Yup. I can hit this car’s maximum easily here.
Yuka: Go for it!
Oliver floored it down the straight, bouncing off the rev limiter in fifth gear as he hit the Skyline’s maximum speed.
Oliver: They say this car can surpass 270 kilometres per hour like this.
Yuka: 270? It’s this fast? Most of these back home barely even see 170 in their lifetime, let alone 270.
Oliver braked hard, bringing the Skyline’s speed right down to navigate the twisting road leading up to the last few corners.
Oliver: This is the last little bit, it’s worth patting yourself on the back if you manage to get this far during your first race here.
Oliver: And this is the final corner, recognise this bit?
Yuka: Yeah… I’ve never driven such a long track before, this’ll be weird, but fun!
Oliver: You’ll do fine.
Oliver finished the lap and pulled over.
Oliver: Well that’s it. How was it?
Yuka: Better than I expected. Thank you for the ride Oliver.
Oliver: You’re welcome.
Yuka unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. She turned towards Oliver and paused.
Oliver: Is something wrong?
Yuka: No. The opposite actually. See you!
Oliver: Oh, bye then!
Yuka got out and closed the door. Oliver watched briefly before driving off.
Yuka: I was half expecting him to ask me out like every other guy does. Maybe guys are just nicer in Germany.
Yuka continued walking down the pit lane until she noticed a familiar figure waving frantically at her from across the way.
Hitomi: Yuka! Yuka! Over here! Come quick!
Yuka: Hitomi?
Yuka walked over to where Hitomi was and instantly saw what Hitomi was excited about.
Yuka: What is this?
Hitomi: What do you mean what is this? It’s a BMW 135i that I got for only 50,000 Euros!
Yuka: It looks like a five year old went Crayola on the wheels.
Hitomi: Pfft, don’t let the looks deceive you.
Yuka: And the camber! Is it broken?
Hitomi: Alright you got me. I bought it from a hellaflush poser. It’s got potential though.
Hitomi: It has a sports exhaust, adjustable suspension and it’s pretty fast!
Yuka: I suppose once we fix the camber it’ll be okay. Still don’t like the colour.
Hitomi: And you think I do? It’s the cheapest 135i that isn’t either written off or ruined. I kind of had no choice.
Yuka: Fair enough.
Hitomi: How was the ride-along anyway?
Yuka: It was great! I think we’ve got a good chance at winning with this car now.
Hitomi: Well that’s good to hear. Lets get this thing home and fixed before tomorrow.
Yuka: Right.
Special thanks to Dragonthing for supplying the Skyline Sedan!
The next afternoon, Yuka found herself in the pit lane of the Nurburgring, staring down the flanks of the Skyline Sedan she was about to be strapped into the passenger seat of for a flying lap of the Nordschleife. A young man around her age approached her.
Young Man: Um, hello? Are you my passenger today?
Yuka: Oh hi. I guess so if you’re you the guy offering free Nurburgring ride-alongs. I got one of your leaflets here.
Yuka held up the leaflet Hitomi gave her last night.
Young Man: Ah yes. I’m glad someone has taken up my offer finally.
Yuka: What do you mean finally? Surely you’ve had passengers before, the leaflet says so here.
Young Man: That’s just marketing… I’ve only just started doing this ride-along thing to be honest with you. I’m sorry if you’ve been misled.
Yuka: Do you at least know the track well enough to not kill us both?
Young Man: Yeah, I’ve done many laps here actually. I just get bored driving by myself so I started this free ride-along offer. I’m not in it for the money or anything. Are you considering backing out? I’d understand if you are.
Yuka: I was considering it but I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go.
Young Man: Okay! Oh wait, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Oliver.
Yuka: Yuka. Nice to meet you.
Oliver: It’s rare that I get a pretty girl to ride along with me.
Yuka’s cheeks turned bright pink.
Yuka: Um…
Oliver: Sorry! That just came out, I wasn’t…
Yuka: It’s okay, thanks for the compliment.
Oliver opened the front passenger door for Yuka.
Oliver: If you’d please?
Yuka got in and buckled up. Oliver ran round to the driver’s side and got in.
Yuka: It’s weird to see one of these outside of Japan.
Oliver: I imported it myself. It was quite cheap. I actually wanted a GT-R but then I saw this for a fraction of the price.
Yuka: You’d be surprised how common these things are in Japan. You can’t go a day without seeing one. I guess in Europe though it’s quite a rare sight.
Oliver: I suppose likewise for European cars in Japan?
Yuka: Kind of. Anyway I’ll be racing here in a couple of days so I need to learn the Nurburgring quickly. Could you help me out?
Oliver: I could explain some techniques I guess, sure.
Yuka: I mean more like… Don’t hold back with your speed.
Oliver: Are you sure?
Yuka: I’ll let you know if I feel unsafe.
Oliver: Alright, then let’s begin.
Oliver started up the Skyline. The V6 roared to life and idled smoothly. He put the car into first gear and set off to start the lap.
Attention! Ready, Steady, Go! has almost reached it’s 1,000th image!
To celebrate this achievement, here’s the 1,000th image.
Now returning to your usual programming…
Oliver floored it, accelerating the Skyline hard towards the first corner. Yuka hung on tight to the door handle and braced herself. Oliver dove in to the corner, letting the Skyline’s massive grip do all the work.
Yuka loosened her grip of the door handle and made herself comfortable in her seat as Oliver started a high-speed lap as per Yuka’s request.
Yuka: You’re pretty good, I’ll give you that.
Oliver: Thanks, it’s mostly the car and my track experience I have to admit.
Yuka: How modified is this car?
Oliver: It has 450 horsepower and professional suspension tuning.
Yuka: Professional eh? It feels good.
Oliver continued his high-speed lap, effortlessly sending the heavyweight Skyline around the corners like a sports car.
Yuka: Who tuned it?
Oliver: Dragon’s Tuning. I got a good deal from them.
Yuka: Are they a European tuner?
Oliver: I think the owner is from England but they have a workshop near the Nurburgring here.
Yuka: And you say they give good deals?
Oliver: Yeah.
The Skyline held the road firmly at speeds surpassing what the speedometer could read. Yuka looked over at the maxed out speedo.
Yuka: Christ this is quick. I can’t even tell how fast we’re going like this.
Oliver stayed hard on the throttle heading up to the fast left-hander.
He left off the throttle through the corner, keeping a solid hold of the road.
Oliver: I’ve come off this corner before in my old car. It was totalled afterwards so I tend not to push my luck here anymore.
Yuka: That’s understandable.
Oliver braked hard for the hairpin, navigating it carefully before speeding down the next section, a high-speed uphill.
Yuka: Have you come off that hairpin before too?
Oliver: Yeah, same car but it wasn’t totalled. I just bent the suspension arms and ruined the bodywork.
Yuka: What car was it anyway? Must’ve been tough to survive the abuse.
Oliver: An older Golf GTi. After that I went without a car for several weeks until I bought this last year.
Yuka: Oh I see.
Oliver sped up the hill towards the next series of corners. He hopped curbs at speed like they weren’t even there. The Skyline soaked up the bumps with ease.
Yuka: Holy crap buddy!
Oliver: Oh! Am I being too reckless?
Yuka: No no, keep on it! This is nuts. I don’t feel in any danger at all, it’s weird.
Oliver started to push a bit harder, taking to the curbs as a shortcut around corners.
Oliver: Is this what you meant before? To show you?
Yuka: Yeah. Thank you.
Oliver: Some cars aren’t built to take the curbs like this, but those that are gain a major advantage. Those Schwarzwald League racers are notorious for doing it. What car are you taking against them anyway?
Yuka: We’re thinking of a modified 135i… Since you’ve mentioned Dragon’s Tuning and I’ve seen how good their work is… I think it’s what we’ll go for.
Oliver: A 135i? You must have some skill to trust a 135i with one of the most prestigious German road races.
Yuka: We’re dealing with a tight budget so an M3 was out of the question.
Oliver: I won League A with my Golf, but League B disallows my Skyline for not being European. From what I heard I would’ve lost anyway. They say there’s an R8 and SLS that frequent the races. I doubt any 135i could beat those two.
Yuka: Hmm…
Yuka: I’ve not lost yet though.
Oliver: Wait, you’re that girl who’s been beating all the European championships?
Yuka: Yup. Me and my cousin.
Oliver: It’s an honour to have you in my passenger seat Yuka.
Yuka: Seriously? I mean… Wow…
Oliver: You and your cousin have made a name for yourselves already. You’re very popular.
Yuka: I guess there’s no worry about that anymore, hehe.
Oliver continued driving at an increased pace, demonstrating how to tackle each corner at speed.
Oliver: The key is to learn the track. I hope you get as much information as you can in a single lap.
Yuka: This is fine. It’s better than having no information at all.
Oliver continued driving at a safe but fast pace, explaining his techniques to Yuka as he blasted around the track.
They approached The Carousel. Oliver went full speed around the banked corner.
Oliver: It’s important not to come off this part, you could destroy your car within seconds.
Oliver continued his curb-riding throughout the course.
Yuka: Not to jinx you or anything, but you’ve not come off the track once since we began. I’m impressed and I apologise if I seemed out of line before.
Oliver: It’s okay Yuka, I understand. As long as you get something out of this lap I’m happy.
Yuka: I’ve gotten a good idea of how to take most of the corners already, I just need to learn what corner comes when…
Oliver: Once you’ve learned the track, you’ll be unstoppable here. Even in a 135i.
Yuka: I hope so.
The Skyline easily caught air over the hills.
Yuka: Weeee!
Oliver continued attacking the Nurburgring, bringing out the Skyline’s best through the corners.
Oliver: This is the Mini-Carousel, we’re near the final straight before a few corners leading to the finish.
Yuka: This track is longer than I expected, wow. No wonder we’re only doing one lap…
Oliver: Here we are, the final straight.
Yuka: It’s like a freaking motorway!
Oliver: Yup. I can hit this car’s maximum easily here.
Yuka: Go for it!
Oliver floored it down the straight, bouncing off the rev limiter in fifth gear as he hit the Skyline’s maximum speed.
Oliver: They say this car can surpass 270 kilometres per hour like this.
Yuka: 270? It’s this fast? Most of these back home barely even see 170 in their lifetime, let alone 270.
Oliver braked hard, bringing the Skyline’s speed right down to navigate the twisting road leading up to the last few corners.
Oliver: This is the last little bit, it’s worth patting yourself on the back if you manage to get this far during your first race here.
Oliver: And this is the final corner, recognise this bit?
Yuka: Yeah… I’ve never driven such a long track before, this’ll be weird, but fun!
Oliver: You’ll do fine.
Oliver finished the lap and pulled over.
Oliver: Well that’s it. How was it?
Yuka: Better than I expected. Thank you for the ride Oliver.
Oliver: You’re welcome.
Yuka unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. She turned towards Oliver and paused.
Oliver: Is something wrong?
Yuka: No. The opposite actually. See you!
Oliver: Oh, bye then!
Yuka got out and closed the door. Oliver watched briefly before driving off.
Yuka: I was half expecting him to ask me out like every other guy does. Maybe guys are just nicer in Germany.
Yuka continued walking down the pit lane until she noticed a familiar figure waving frantically at her from across the way.
Hitomi: Yuka! Yuka! Over here! Come quick!
Yuka: Hitomi?
Yuka walked over to where Hitomi was and instantly saw what Hitomi was excited about.
Yuka: What is this?
Hitomi: What do you mean what is this? It’s a BMW 135i that I got for only 50,000 Euros!
Yuka: It looks like a five year old went Crayola on the wheels.
Hitomi: Pfft, don’t let the looks deceive you.
Yuka: And the camber! Is it broken?
Hitomi: Alright you got me. I bought it from a hellaflush poser. It’s got potential though.
Hitomi: It has a sports exhaust, adjustable suspension and it’s pretty fast!
Yuka: I suppose once we fix the camber it’ll be okay. Still don’t like the colour.
Hitomi: And you think I do? It’s the cheapest 135i that isn’t either written off or ruined. I kind of had no choice.
Yuka: Fair enough.
Hitomi: How was the ride-along anyway?
Yuka: It was great! I think we’ve got a good chance at winning with this car now.
Hitomi: Well that’s good to hear. Lets get this thing home and fixed before tomorrow.
Yuka: Right.
Special thanks to Dragonthing for supplying the Skyline Sedan!
Nice to see a non GT-R Skyline gaining some love.
I really liked the colour and wanted to use it on something special
I had great fun tuning it up, although my final tune might have a more sensible spoiler 
