The Valkyrie Cross Country Rally

The VCC (Valkyrie Cross Country) Rally

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Today was a good day if you like vehicles, and if you like events. Shortly after the Golden Carriage Awards, at the outpost north of Port Atlantis (the former swamp camp), the VCC rally (organized by freelancer Mono Chrome Monochrome, with help from Mark Rufen Power from society -TAO-) took place.

The concept behind the VCC Rally is fairly simple; every contestant races in a Valkyrie MK1 (picked because they are easily accessible, and fuel efficient (got to think about the environment, folks!)), thus ensuring a level playing field.

No less than 50 participants registered themselves to be matched against one another in 10 heats of 5 participants each. They would have to navigate the track, passing 6 checkpoints as quickly as possible. To prevent cheating and to guide the participants, judges and officials (Mr. Nukem Quajay (responsible for WP 1), Fiona (WP2 and helicopter coverage), BigBertha (WP 2), Talania Tal Indigo (WP 3), Thoth (WP 4), Mrs Sinofmen (WP 5), Omega (WP 6), Drake Bad Lands, Tekato (helicopter coverage) and Jane Daggerthuggert (covering the event for Atlas Haven Radio) had been positioned all along the course, and drivers were followed in VTOLS and helicopters. To increase coverage, live video feeds were streamed through XFire, by Fiona.

The total length of the track would take an estimated 12 minutes to circle, and the heats would start with 5 minutes inbetween, to keep the speed in the event. The first two participants of every heat to arrive at the finish line would be eligible to proceed to the semi-finals, where they would find themselves racing again. From the semis, only the winners would go through to participate in the finals.

The prizepot consists of oil. Lots of oil. For the winner, 300 PED, while the runner-up would walk away with 200 PEd, and the third prize was still 100 PED of the black stuff.

The start of heat 1. The fella looking straight at the cars about to give him a shave is Chrome, waiting to deliver the start signal by means of a rocket launcher.​

The first heat saw only three participants, with two no-shows. trance took off first after the signal indicating a GO was given, with Krieg "Krieggy" Chaosbringer and baron lacking slightly behind. During the roundtrip, trance managed to keep a solid lead, and thus was the first to qualify for the semis. Krieggy managed to secure the second spot.

For the second heat, Spongey Bob took a quick lead, with imoyaro right on his tail. Along the track, though, Spongey Bob managed to increase his lead substantially, ending up with him finishing some 15 seconds before imoyaro.

In the third heat, three drivers showed to match their skills: Maelcum, Sam Panda and staticsleep. Maelcum made a flying headstart, but the other two jumped within the same second. Sam Panda ended up running out of oil shortly after, and was forced to give up. staticsleep managed to grab the lead over Maelcum but by the time they reached waypoint 3, they were neck and neck. static eventually finished first, but was extremely closely followed by Maelcum.

The fourth heat saw gunzy, T-Jay, Miles and Jack appear. That was also the order in which they drove off, and gunzy managed to keep a solid lead for the first few checpoints, but was forced to let TJay slip ahead for a bit. gunzy and Jack managed to cross the finishline first, though.

Racing time. The helicopter will provide video coverage as well as ensure no cheating takes place.
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Fifth heat: Spike, Predator, Diyos, Trinity. Phil. Predator was first to drive off but Trinity managed to grab the lead for a short while. By the time they reached waypoint 5, all 4 cars were just about tied. Predator and Spike managed to come in first, but it was a real close call, with all 5 drivers giving it their best.

The sixth heat only saw Mari and Deadeye start. Deadeye took the lead, but was overtaken by Mari when they reached Waypoint 1. All along the race, they battled for the first place, shifting spots every time results were shouted in from the waypoints. Deadeye crossed first, with Mari close behind.

Heat 7: Jason Jay Carr, Sambo, and Mike Masters. Initially, the drivers did not respond to the start signal, but eventually Sambo and then Mike then kicked into gear. Jason apparently lagged out, and was allowed a spot in heat 8 instead. Mike taking a lead, and keeping it throughout the race. Sambo, however, was not listed, so his end result did not count.

The eight heat: aj 502, Andreso Black, Jason Jayy Carr, Debra Valea Salou and Buck Buck Stone. Jason took an early lead, followed closely by aj and the others. By waypoint 2, androsa was in the lead, followed by Buck Stone, debra chasing, then aj, and finally Jason. One of the judges spotted Jason teleporting, though, leading to his disqualification. It is believed that lag got the better of Jason, causing him to forfeit his match. Andreso ended up finishing first, followed by Debra, and the others only inches behind.

Heat number 9: Crazy Fish, Terminator, Ender and Cat. Terminator was first to start. During the race, Ender managed to overtake Terminator, and the two continued fighting as they drove. Ender ended up on top, though, just beating Terminator to the finishline.

The tenth and final first heat saw Mike, Jay-Jay, Chopper McHelicopter, Symulakron competing. Chopper and Jay-Jay took the lead early on, with Chopper managing to keep first spot, but Mike overtaking Jay-Jay close to the finish to end second.

The finishline, with fans shouting their favourite racers to victory.​

Semi-finals:

Semi 1: Trance, Kreiggy, Spongey Bob, Imoyaro, Maelcum. Imoyaro did not end up racing. Spongey Bob had a blast-off start, and came in first at the second waypoint, before Maelcum, trance and Krieggy. Until the very end, Spongey Bob managed to keep his lead, thus becoming the first finalist.

Semi 2: StaticSleep, Jack, gunzy, Spikke, and Predator. Jack hit waypoint 1 first, followed by Spike. By the time they hit waypoint 2, Jack was still in the lead, followed closely by gunzy. By waypoint 4, jack and gunzy were battling for the lead, but the others were inches behind. StaticSleep passed the last waypoint in the lead, but Jack managed to cross the finish line first, followed within less than a second by gunzy.

Semi 3: Mari, Deadeye, Mike Masters, and Andreso. Mari managed to start first, with the others only split-seconds after. Andreso grabbed the lead during the race, followed by Mike, then Mari and finally Deadeye. Andreso managed to come in first, before Mike, deadeye and Mari.

Semi 4: Debra, Ender, Terminator, Chopper, Mike Jinx. Mike had a quick start, but Debra managed to sneak into the lead, right before Ender, Mike, Terminator and Chopper. Throughout the race, positions kept changing, with Mike snatching the lead for a while, having to yield it to Chopper, but eventually passing him again, to cross the finish line before the others and thgus landing him a spot as the fourth finalist.

The finalists who are about to race salute you!​

Finals: Jack, Andreso, Spongey Bob, and Mike. Andreso catapulted away, but Mike had taken over the lead at Waypoint 1. Waypoint 2, Mike was dead last, though with Spongey had taken over. By waypoint 5, however, Mike was back in second place. The finish saw Spongey Bob come in first, followed by Mike, than Jack, and finally andreso.

The winners. From left to right: Jack, Spongey Bob, Mike. In the back, Chrome and Mark Rufen Powers can be seen. The champagne is being sprayed by dilly.​

1st prize: NovaTech Spongey Bob from The Chosen Few.
2nd prize: Mike "Jinx" Doe
3rd Prize: Jack RING-187- Reacher

EntropiaPlanets would like to congratulate all the winners, and of course Chrome and Mark Rufen Power for a fun and well-visited event.

Camelman from Groene Draeck was kind enough to post a video of the event to YouTube: