And they're off...

The buzz of the crowd has been building as they make their way to their seats. The emperor has arrived with his entourage and the party has begun. Earlier in the day, a one lap sprint was run to determine starting positions for the three-lap feature.

Here's the starting positions from inside to outside:
Vertigo Grain
Yellavius Fevro
Bluvius Ci
Redmountius Fier
Whitavius Blanco
Darkmeatius Gris (who didn't even look like he was trying in the qualifying run).



The trumpets sound and the chariots are maneuvered into position. The emperor stands, raises his arm and then points to the charioteers. The trumpets sound in unison to start the race and in a cloud of dust, we're off!

Out of the gate, Redmountius and Darkmeatius get excellent starts, while Bluvius falters, falling to the rear of the pack. But Redmountius and Whitavius, each knowing it's a long race, set a slow pace, creating a tangle of traffic in the middle of the pack. Darkmeatius races out to a large lead, and Bluvius whips it around the outside of the traffic jam and quickly passed everyone and catches up to Darkmeatius.
Redmountius races out to challenge Bluvius for second place, but locks wheels with him, causing both chariots to temporarily slow. Whitavius and Vertigo pass them both as they head into the first turn.
Darkmoutius takes the inside position and has to slow to make the turn and Yellavius pulls ahead slightly on the outside with the rest of the racers hot behind them.



As they come out of the first turn, Bluvius takes the lead, but then one of his horses breaks stride sending the chariot nearly out of control. Bluvius has to rein the team in to regain control and everyone except for Redmountius, who continues to bring up the rear with a slow but steady pace, passes him by.
The pack sorts itself out as it enters the second turn, and Vertigo corners perfectly to gallop out to a three chariot-length lead as the others jostle for position.



Coming down the front stretch to complete lap 1, Bluvius team breaks stride again, once again sending him to the rear as everyone races by. He's really struggling with his team, which is probably spooked by the huge crowd on hand today. Yellavius and Darkmeatius battle each other for the inside position going back into the first turn, with Yellavius winning out to take the lead.



As they come down the backstretch, Bluvius whips his team furiously to get back in the lead, cuts across the pack and then pulls a favorite tactic of all the drivers --slowing dramatically in the turn to force everyone else out wide around you.




The positions stay relatively the same coming down the front stretch. As they enter Turn 1 for the final time, Bluvius is still in the lead with Yellavius in second and Whitavius, after a furious charge to get around traffic, retaking third position. In the back, Darkmeatius' chariot pulls up slow for some reason. He may have dropped the reins.




As they come down the back stretch, everyone in the back swings wide to try to pass for position coming into the final turn. Keeping the inside position can be crucial, unless you get caught up in traffic. The crowd comes to its feet and roars its approval.



Redmountius, who has held his team back the entire race, now whips them like mad and swings WAY wide going into the turn at top speed, passing the pack, but not to be outdone, Darkmeatius goes on the outside of him. Will the outside lanes, which are longer, prove faster?
As they come out of the corner, it's Redmountius and Darkmeatius side by side. Whitavius tries to make a move but gets boxed in by Vertigo. Bluvius has the inside rail but is slightly behind and poor Yellavius seems hopelessly caught up in traffic.



As they come down the front stretch, the whips are cracking and the crowd is going crazy!
Are you kidding me? Whitavius finds a small opening and shoots to the outside around both Redmountius and Darkmeatius who were trying to block. Vertigo and Yellavius follow Whitavius around. Now it's Darkmeatius and Bluvius who are caught in traffic. This is anyone's race.



Whitavius holds onto the lead, but his team appears to be tiring fast and the rest of the pack is thundering up behind him. The finish line is at the end of the front stretch. Who will win?
Whitavius' and Vertigo's teams simply run out of energy after being whipped down the front stetch, and Redmountius' team breaks stride, letting everyone race by. Suddenly out of the pack comes Yellavius, with his team still fresh, he crossed the finish line. The wiley veteran has pulled it off!!! The crowd goes crazy!!!
Vertigo nudges his team just past Whitavius to take second away from him. The remaining places are Darkmeatius fourth, Bluvius fifth and poor Redmountius sixth.
It was a great race and came right down to the wire. Redmountius had the freshest team, but just got a bad break at the end. Must be his inexperience.
The whole thing took maybe an hour to play, including time for me to take pictures and write this report. I ended up using my new rules (not the Uno Romo Victor ones mentioned before). They work great, have a lot of positioning strategy and you never know who will win.

Awales is the big winner: 100 wagered, 600 pretend gold coins won. Saber6 via the miniatures page finished second with 65 wagered and 390 won. Awales, I need to know how to get in contact with you to work out some sort of prize. You can contact me at sworldproductions@gmail.com.