Saturday, November 20, 2010

Race :: Round 44 - Belgium Takes the Flag!

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Shifting down to ease his car into the next corner, the Belgian driver, Victor Hugo Stéphane, smoothly glides across the finish line, waving jauntily to the crowd. Close behind, Norway's famed driver, Teide Sorolla-Ledaal, also known as the the Volcán, accelerates in a final bid to catch the Norwegian. He cannot do it. Just seconds behind, he crosses the finishing line, to take a second place flag. Still, the crowd erupts into cheering, “ Volcán, Volcán, Volcán!!! Despite being at the front, the yellow Duesenberg of the Belgian receives polite applause but otherwise goes almost unnoticed as the fans seemingly favor their Scandinavian neighbor.

Skidding deep into Fiskekroken, Godeschalk Hegkman maneuvers his white Bugatti forward toward what looks to be a dominant third place finish. Italy's Sebi Orsi shifts down and takes the beginning of the Fiskekroken curve with care, surrendering to an inevitable conclusion that he will place fourth in the race. Even with his low speed and gear, Orsi's red Maserati still takes a hard hit from the debris that litters the track just at the entry point of the curve. The Maserati soldiers on.

Racing into the Hårnålskurva hairpin, Pedro Gomes from Portugal gracefully rounds the corner in a tight skid. Directly behind, the Frenchman, Aristide La Fontaine, brakes late and takes the curve with incredible speed. His great blue Salmson racer nearly clips the little red and green Bugatti of the Portuguese team.

Bring up the rear, the British Amilcar cruises out of Lekböjen. Meanwhile, Vitez Rychly, shot gravely, passes out, perhaps for the final time. Alarms are sounded as the medical teams run to the report of an accident on the ice. Nearby, the body of the German shooter lays still on the snow. The Finnish driver, Tavho Myrsky, shifts down further and cruises up slowly to the scene of the flaming wreck. He enters the smoke as the big Chrysler skids on the ice.

Out of the woods, bursting into the gap behind the pit area, a big Mercedes SSLK speeds forward. It skids and turns south. The driver's face is cloaked by a pair of goggles – a second man clings precariously to the back of the car, one leg in the back seat and one leg dangling outside the car. He points a Mauser pistol into the air and fires off two shots to clear the crowds ahead of the car.

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