Chapter 43 - Fight To The Finish
It was race day. Yuka and Hitomi waited patiently in their hotel room, waiting for Sapphire’s call.
Hitomi: Oh yeah I’ve been meaning to ask. How’s Kei doing with her driving lessons? Did she buy that Copen yet?
Yuka: No… Oh shoot! I completely forgot to tell that Dex guy to send me the money!
Hitomi: Well do it now while we’re sat here doing nothing.
Yuka: Okay, hold on.
Yuka grabbed her phone and begun typing a text to Dex.
Hey, it’s Yuka, the Civic girl. Remember me? You said you’d buy me a car after I beat you at Suzuka a while back. Send 1.5 mil Yen to my bank account. My bank details are
Hitomi: Ehhh… That’s not very sincere Yuka.
Yuka: Quit reading over my shoulder! Besides he’s just another cocky racer. He doesn’t deserve my sincerity.
Hitomi: If you say so. How do you know he’ll send the money anyway? Maybe he was just bluffing.
Yuka: Well I’m just going to take that chance.
Hitomi: And 1.5 million? Isn’t Kei’s Copen 950,000?
Yuka: So? There’s leftovers for insurance and road tax.
Hitomi: Oh Yuka, you’re good. You’re really good.
Yuka: Seriously! If I wanted to scam him I’d put a full two million and blow kisses at him to seal the deal.
Hitomi: Maybe you should.
Yuka: No need, we’re making so much money already by racing.
Hitomi: True.
Yuka added her bank details to the text and sent it to Dex.
Yuka: There. I’ll check my account online tomorrow and hopefully it should be 1.5 million Yen heavier.
Hitomi: And if it isn’t, I’ll text him next time.
Yuka: Hell no! You’re not pretending to be me again!
Hitomi: I said I was sorry about that time!
Yuka: Yeah well it didn’t help the fact you kissed our senior and then gave him my name! I’d never had such an awkward moment before in my life…
Hitomi: At least nothing bad came of it.
Yuka: I’ll do the texting, don’t worry about it.
Just then, the hotel phone started ringing. Hitomi rushed over to it and answered.
Hitomi: Hitomi speaking.
Sapphire: Hey! Your car is done. It’s ready when you are.
Hitomi: Oh hey Sapphire! That’s great! Can you bring it to the Nurburgring?
Sapphire: If you’ll give me a lift back to the workshop after the race, sure.
Hitomi: Great. We’ll meet you over at the track.
Sapphire: I’ll see you then.
Hitomi: Laters!
Hitomi put the phone down and turned to Yuka.
Yuka: We good?
Hitomi: We good. She’s meeting us at the track, come on.
Yuka: Yay!
Later on…
Hitomi and Yuka arrived at the Nurburgring and caught up to Sapphire.
Sapphire: Ladies, your car.
Yuka: Ah, I spy a front splitter and some nicer wheels!
Hitomi: Definitely looks like you’ve been doing work.
Sapphire yawned and passed the keys to Yuka.
Hitomi: Yep, definitely. Are you okay?
Sapphire: No I’m fine. I just need a coffee.
Yuka: Go on, get your coffee, we’re up soon anyway. I can’t wait to race!
Sapphire: I can’t wait to see you win. Alright then, I’ll see you two after you win!
Meanwhile…
Bert: Hey Sven.
Sven: Ja?
Bert: See those girls with the BMW?
Sven: Ja?
Bert: I make a bet with you. Last one to overtake them must drive my sister’s pink Audi TT for a week.
Sven: Ja. I’m in.
Bert: My R8 Quattro versus your SLS AMG. Are you afraid my friend?
Sven: Nein.
Starting Grid
1. Red Mercedes SL600
2. Grey Mercedes E55 AMG
3. Red Audi RS6 Avant
4. Silver BMW M5
5. Black Mercedes SL600
6. Silver Audi RS6 Avant
7. Yuka & Hitomi’s Grey BMW 135i
8. Bert’s White Audi R8
9. Silver BMW M3 GTR
10. Sven’s Blue Mercedes SLS
11. Grey Audi RS6
12. Blue Mercedes C63 AMG
SL600 Driver #1: I’ll win in complete comfort here.
E55 Driver: My car feels good. I’m confident with my odds.
RS6 Driver #1: Nothing like a race at The Green Hell before going to Ikea with the wife.
M5 Driver: This is BMW’s territory and this is BMW’s finest M car. You people don’t have a chance.
SL600 Driver #2: A good Mercedes showing here. Very good. Even if I don’t win, Mercedes will ultimately win.
RS6 Driver #2: The great thing about having a wagon is that you can lose a lot of weight just by removing the rear seats and carpeting and still no one suspects it’s for racing.
Yuka: Ahh! It feels so different!
Hitomi: I hope it’s the right kind of different.
Yuka: Mmm. The suspension seems tighter and this fresh rubber is helping too.
Hitomi: Yeah, it was nice of Sapphire to throw in those wheels and tyres. Just as well really, now we don’t have any hellaflush nonsense to get in our way.
Bert: Haha if I overtake these girls now, Sven cannot win this bet!
M3 Driver: Was that a 135i ahead? Why would you buy that and not an E46?
Sven: German muscle, the best.
RS6 Driver #3: Aw man, that SLS is going to tear us all up…
C63 Driver: Mercedes will dominate today. This C63, the SLS ahead, the AMG’s further up, easy.
The lights went green, Yuka floored it, flying towards the first corner. The RS6 ahead clinged to the inside. Yuka dashed to the outside to make a quick opening pass.
Bert: Hey girl! Why are you so fast in your BMW?!
RS6 Driver #2: Passed already?!
Yuka: Yes!
Bert: Crap, she’s talented.
Further down the pack, Sven overtook the M3 GTR with minimal effort, using the SLS’ raw power to his advantage.
Sven: You are no match.
M3 Driver: Damn that SLS!
Hitomi: Full attack mode is it?
Yuka: Of course!
Yuka stuck to the back of the SL600 with the more nimble 135i.
Yuka: What’s wrong? Can’t shake me?
SL600 Driver #2: Where did this 135i learn to battle? Insane skills.
Yuka: Just poke my nose in here…
Yuka: Just stay right there, be patient…
Yuka: And dash!
Yuka kept her foot planted, slowly leaving the SL600 trailing behind.
Hitomi: Foot to the floor chick! We’re not in a good position here…
Yuka: Braking at 240…! Don’t want to lose it so early in the race…
Yuka: Round the hairpin we go!
Hitomi: You’re catching the leading pack now! This is good progress!
Yuka: Weeeeeee!
Sven: Bert.
Bert: Sven, you’ve caught up.
Sven: The game is still on.
Hitomi: We’ve caught up to the M5… That’s a 500 horsepower super saloon right there, think you can do it?
Yuka: Well we’ve come this far.
Yuka stuck to the M5 through the next set of corners.
Yuka: This is hopeless, I can’t pass like this… Unless…
Hitomi: Yuka?
Yuka: Dive dive dive! Don’t fail me now brakes!
Hitomi: Yuka you crazy girl!
The RS6 in front slowed right down for the corner. Yuka quickly changed lanes and overtook it around the outside on the corner exit.
Yuka: Two for one!
Yuka: Just those two Merc’s left…
Bert: Amazing, she overtook a far superior car with no effort. Two of them infact.
M5 Driver: Beaten by a 135i?! I won’t stand for this crap!
RS6 Driver #1: One Beemer is bad enough…
Sven: It seems I need to overtake you if I want chance to win, Bert.
Yuka: Oop…! The tyres aren’t really up to this high speed cornering! This is mad easy to drift though.
Hitomi: Sapphire did good.
Hitomi: Alright enough goofing around, pass these AMG’s!
Yuka: Right!
Yuka pushed hard, catching right up to the E55 in no time at all. She lined up for another diving pass.
Yuka: Like before, down the inside…
Yuka: Like a Miss!
E55 Driver: No way!
M5 Driver: She’s a pro at that diving pass. The 135i’s lighter chassis lets her get away with late braking. Not surprising, BMW is the best afterall.
Yuka: One last SL600…
Hitomi: Get ‘em tiger!
Yuka: I would… If you know, I had a V8 too…
Hitomi: Figures why he kept the lead thus far.
Yuka: I’ll get him at the upcoming corner.
Yuka: At the carousel!
Yuka: Stay on it!!
SL600 Driver: Crap I dropped down too far! Ugh I don’t want to lose!
Yuka: Yes! Yes!
SL600 Driver: No!
Bert: There you are girlies.
Yuka: Alright!
Hitomi: Woo!
Yuka: Now we bloody run for our lives!
Hitomi: Amen! Get us out of here!
Yuka begun a full throttle assault on the Nurburgring, trying desperately to build a lead between herself and the barrage of German muscle chasing her. She hopped kerbs and drifted corners at high speed, doing anything she could to keep her opponents at bay.
Yuka: It’s no use!
Hitomi: Keep going!
Yuka: Ahhhhhhhh!
Hitomi: There you go! You’re doing it Yuka!
Yuka increased the distance between herself and the rest.
Yuka: Nearly at the end!
Hitomi: This is one long track huh?
Yuka kept hard on the throttle, drifting the sweeper leading up to the longest straight on the Nurburgring.
Hitomi: Look at this lead Yuka! We’ve got this! Just keep your right foot buried!
Yuka did just that. She opened up the throttle and kept it wide open, using the most of her lead to stay ahead.
Bert: This isn’t over yet!
M5 Driver: I’ll accept being beaten by another BMW, but your success ends here, Audi.
Bert: Damn that V10. I’m actually outclassed.
Yuka braked hard coming up to the final set of corners, scrubbing off almost all of her speed to avoid head butting the guardrail.
The pack caught up with their greater top speeds, but the lead Yuka had built up before was too much to overcome. The M5 could do nothing but watch in awe as Yuka’s 135i flew around the last corner to take first place.
M5 Driver: Great battle, fellow BMW driver…
Yuka: Phew…
Hitomi: We won! Yay!!
After the race, Yuka and Hitomi went up to the podium to celebrate their championship win. The M5 Driver and Bert celebrated second and third respectively. The girls took the 59,300 Euro prize and the gold trophy and hugged in celebration.
Hitomi: Haha! We’re nearly there!
Yuka: Yeah!
Later on…
After celebrating their win at the Nurburgring, Yuka and Hitomi met up with Sapphire outside the Nurburgring gates.
Sapphire: Congratulations!
Yuka: Thanks!
Hitomi: Yeah, that 135i is something else.
Sapphire: Well I guess I can take some credit.
Yuka: Mhm! Anyway! We need to celebrate properly now! To dinner!
Hitomi: Ah yeah.
Sapphire: Dinner it is!
Nearby, Bert and Sven were discussing the race.
Bert: Seems none of us won, but I did do better than you.
Sven: Don’t even try this excuse. I will race you man to man if you dare.
Bert: Loser drives the pink TT?
Sven: Ja.
Bert: You’re on. Let’s sneak into the next spot race coming up.
Later on…
After taking Sapphire home after dinner, Yuka and Hitomi arrived back at the hotel.
Yuka: Ah! I’m so full!
Hitomi: Me too, but not as full as our purse!
Yuka: Oh yeah, how much do we have now?
Hitomi: 144,300 Euros after giving Sapphire that 15,000.
Yuka: Wow.
Hitomi: We won’t be getting a Gallardo though, even if we could afford it. We wouldn’t profit off it.
Yuka: Yeah I guess so.
Hitomi: But hey, look what we managed to do with 50,000 Euros. Nearly tripled it in a few weeks.
Yuka: It was a great investment.
Hitomi: Yeah. Well then, we’re off to Monza tomorrow. Get some rest, you deserve it.
Yuka: Yeah… Yawn…
Yuka collapsed onto the bed, dozing off into a deep sleep. Hitomi checked the clock, it was pretty late, but the Nurburgring hadn’t closed yet. A light bulb lit up in her head. She took the keys to the 135i from the bedside table and quietly snuck out of the hotel room.
Special thanks to Dragonthing for the cameo!