Burning Rubber (supersoccerball+kingkonrad)

[kingkonrad]

(Gives me memories of the Cote D'Azure in this sort of bit from the Grid 2 trailers.)

Ross watched his mirrors, and saw her come in- the roads still winding, as they came down into the lower valleys- now past Sospel. He used a corner to break out from Kimberly's NSX, aware he wanted to keep her on his back.
"Not this time." He said to himself, quickly going for a sly yet neat and co-ordinated block, using the apex of a slow right hander as the roads seemed to meander less, and the view went from green mountains into beautiful, and gorgeous coastline. The Mediterranean beckoned, with it's blue coastline contrasting the heavily-build up coastline of the Cote D'Azure- the French Rivera, and the most spectacular part of the French coastline. Where the Alps met the Med, and where beaches, Monaco, and where coastal and tricky roads also existed. This was perfection in no denial- and getting to Monaco first was still on Ross's mind. Holding her off, he managed to simply slip past a few cars on their side of the road, before coming back and quickly swooping the V12 powered Vantage through a sweeping set of bends- coming lower and lower.

In almost a blur, a Lamborgini Sesto Elemento could be seen on the right of the road- and Ross had to break hard, to avoid the traffic around the crashed car. Ross didn't want to think about the state of the driver- but in front, a Pagani Huyara could be seen, barely trawling past the slow moving traffic. Ross had to join in- coming past the accident, with his speed almost halved to 50mph, going fast in the mixed traffic, which had accumalated. Ross barely kept pace in the middle lane- swerving past traffic, as he fought to get out of the jam. A full minute later, he found his way out- and put pedal to the metal, aware that Kimberly was right on his back. He wanted to get this money- and as much as she was good, Ross was certain that this time, this was his chance for some glory. The Aston steamed out of the traffic, and a few junctions and small roads later, which now were pretty much out of the mountains, came a road like...well, something similar to what they had gone down in LA. Except this was only double-laned, with oncoming traffic occupying one of those lanes. The road however, was bliss. It literally stuck to the pearl-blue coastline, and through tunnels, ridges, and various other roadways, was the way you took if you wanted a scenic drive to Monaco, and along this part of the Cote D'Azur.

Ross stayed back on the throttle, eying the Huyara. It had a hell of a lot of speed on Ross- but this was what kind of road his V12 was made for. The straighter sections were nicer, with no meandering and winding roads making it much more pleasant- only propping up occasionally. Ross stayed on his mark, and kept up the pace, the near-empty morning roads beautiful to drive on, as he came through a light right hander steaming, hardly losing his momentum- then breaking hard to turn into a tunnel which practically flanked the coast anyway, with only concrete pillars supporting the coastal flank of the tunnel, making the view still as exceptional as ever. Coming out, Ross quickly came back on his side of the road, keeping an eye on Kimberly. She was fighting and racing for his position- but he wasn't giving it. He was third, and second was ahead. This was something he wanted badly- and tailing the Huyara like glue, he stayed and waited for it to make a mistake- aware that there was no money for second place anyway. First would have to be won in Monaco itself at this rate- and that wasn't a pleasant thought for Ross. He didn't want to speed in the principality- preferring much rather to have a chance to gamble a little if he got some of that money. Not all of it, anyway. The coastal road was a dream- and after a few sets of right-left handers, which came into neat little chicanes and turns following the coastline, in which in all, made it more interesting.

[supersoccerball]

Kimberly let out a groan of frustration as Ross blocked her attempt to pass him, she was determined to pass Ross, no matter what it took. The twin turbos hissed as she went up a gear, the rear tires of her car squealing once again. She gripped the Momo steering wheel a little bit looser, and tried to maneuver her NSX around Ross's Vantage V12, without sending the car into a position where she didn't want it to be. Her blue eyes focused onto the rear of the blue Vantage, and it was making her sick. Watching that British car stay in front of her was really starting to infuriate her, the NSX was more than capable of outdoing the Vantage V12, having 300 more horsepower than his car, and extensive modifications to its handling, aerodynamics, and platform. Yet for some god-forsaken reason, she had been unable to get past Ross's car the entire time she had been here. She had gotten all the way past everyone else, but she wasn't going to settle for anything less than first, she wanted that money badly, more badly than everyone else. The money would be put to good use with her, while Ross would probably gamble with it, which would be a waste. She brushed some hair away from her face, making sure she had an unobstructed view of any advantage she would exploit with Ross's Vantage. All cars aren't perfect, all of them had weaknesses, and she had to figure out what the Vantage's weakness was.

Soon enough, a glorious view of the Mediterranean Sea had appeared, glorious enough to make Kimberly smile as she looked at the perfectly blue water. The sight reminded her to put sunglasses on, so she wouldn't be blinded by the sunlight. She popped open her console and took out a pair of black Oakley Garage Rocks, placing them over her eyes. She stuck to the Vantage's rear like glue, leaving no room behind it and making sure that Ross wouldn't slip away from her so easily. She barely managed to keep close to Ross as he maneuvered through those bend, trying not to pass when there were cars heading the opposite way.

Soon, she located what appeared to be the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento she had saw earlier, only this time it was in a crumpled mess, with the driver being in worse condition. She gasped to herself, "Holy shit..." The MSX charged on, despite the unsightly thing she had just encountered. It was obvious that Ross wasn't willing to give up his position, so that meant that she had to take it herself. She was going to increase the amount of pressure that was being put onto the Vantage, and hopefully exploit any mistake he made. Kimberly bit her lip, as she hauled ass, and was thinking of a strategy that would get her an opportunity to pass him, and grant her half a million Euros. But, first thing was first, she had to brake hard, and go down a bunch of gears, as she ran into heavy traffic. It was moments like these was when she wished she had her Impreza, which'd make things easier. She managed the throttle perfectly, not allowing too much throttle to make the car slip. She needed her car to stay straight, otherwise she could end up like the Lamborghini. She managed to weave through the traffic at the same pace as Ross, flooring it as soon as she passed an Alfa Romeo Brera. This is where another attack would begin, and she had a plan that was incredibly crazy, and involved a lorry.

They eventually came to a road that was a lot like LA's roads, and this is where Kimberly's plan would be most effective. She waited and waited for an opening in the oncoming lane, and eventually she got to it. But not before they cleared the straight sections, and the beautiful tunnel she drove through. There was a wide enough spot for her to fully accelerate and get close enough to Ross. Now she was hoping something huge was going to come, but she'd worry about that later. She pulled onto the oncoming lane, and floored it, the NSX roaring and speeding its way past Ross's Aston. Now, this put her in a situation that risked her life massively, she couldn't brake and get back behind Ross at the point, so either Ross had to back off and let her on front, or watch her be killed by crashing head-on with a lorry. And much to Kimberly's expectations, a lorry was coming. Ross was now faced with a very dirty situation. She knew he wanted that money, but she wasn't going to let him have it. Ross had to face a tough situation, either back off and let Kimberly through, or watch her car fly into the sea below. Kimberly knew this was dirty, but she needed to do what she needed to do.

(Sorry if it seems a bit extreme. But just to let you know, Ross could always speed up and drive past Kimberly just when she slows down, if you want that to happen instead of letting Kimberly overtake.)