The Global Racing Championship - Season 3

(Season 4 is up!)
(Also want to acknowledge R44 and his "ERS" series as well as Mortis and his "HRS" series, both of those people took inspiration from me and if you like this then you should go check their series out!)

Overview:
This is the third season of the project that I'm working on where I make my own history of a fictional racing league. The same as last time will be true where there will be no real drivers, teams, venues, brands or car manufacturers, as they will all be made up for purposes of providing my own story. Over time ill evolve the league to have different teams, venues, drivers, legends, stories and what-not. I will be detailing every race, as well as major events etc and provide storytelling and worldbuilding. Also, please note that in this scenario the F1 never existed, and the GRC is the only replacement.

Season 2 recap:
I'd recommend going to my profile and viewing season 1 and season 2 to get the full picture, but here's a short recap of the just the second season:
The second season of the GRC saw a new team owned by car manufacturing giant Vitalite join the league, as well as a new track in Miami and 2 new drivers. The actual season would be an exciting one, with new team Vitalite providing much needed competition against Evosync with a few wins, whilst AeroPulse would prove to only get stronger and also provide competition. Whilst Evosync would still clinch their second championship in the constructors despite this, the drivers championship would prove much more exciting with the championship battle going right down to the final lap of the final race, where Bradley would just barely scrape by and prevent Metcalfe from going back to back, winning the championship by 1 point and placing his name in the history books of the GRC.

Preseason:
The season 3 preseason would officially kick off early with a huge and shocking announcement, with EvoSync officially announcing that they would be parting ways with Lukas Meyer, who up until this point had secured 3rd in the championship in both seasons. The decision would be a mutual agreement, with Meyer no longer wanting to be a second driver, a decision that the team would respect. EvoSync would look to Evan Bradley to replace him in an attempt to pair the 2 champions together, however both Bradley and AeroPulse would be against this, with EvoSync instead settling with buying Ashton colt who had up until this point been Imperial Autosport’s No.1 driver. Meanwhile, New team and car manufacturing giant Mertelen, who had bought failing team ProtoType Racing midway through last season would snatch the opportunity to buy Lukas Meyer, releasing Charlie Parker and moving Harry Ross down to 2nd driver to have him onboard. Imperial Autosport would also promote Benjamin Harris to 1st driver and John Marton, who had previously been their 3rd driver, up to 2nd driver to replace Ashton Colt, whilst hiring new third driver Scott Farnsworth. Charlie Parker on the other hand would be left without a team for season 3. Late April would see CEO Michael Harrington officially announce the track calendar for this season, with major changes being made. The season would be expanded to 12 races from 11, with London still being race 1 and Silverstone still being race 12. Meanwhile, whilst the Miami and Paris GP’s still being confirmed, 3/7 other British Grand Prix’s would be cut, with new international Grand Prix’s being announced in Brisbane Australia, Ontario Canada, Sao Paula Brazil and Rome, Italy.

Team Information:
EvoSync Racing:
Team Base: Miami, USA
Team Colours: Blue and White
No. 1 Driver: Daniel Metcalfe (Australian, aged 40)
No. 2 Driver: Ashton Colt (English, aged 29)
Backup Driver: Oliver Taylor (English, aged 24)

Vitalité:
Team Base: Rome, Italy
Team Colours: Crimson and White
No. 1 Driver: Ederson Ross (English, aged 36)
No. 2 Driver: Logan Jackson (English, aged 28)
Backup Driver: Dario Renzi (Italian, aged 20)

AeroPulse:
Team Base: Bristol, UK
Team Colours: Sky Blue
No. 1 Driver: Evan Bradley (English, aged 30)
No. 2 Driver: Hugh Pierson (English, aged 23)
Backup Driver: Carlos Rodriguez (Spanish, aged 25)

Imperial Autosport:
Team Base: London, UK
Team Colours: Gold and Black
No. 1 Driver: Benjamin Harris (English, aged 26)
No. 2 Driver: John Marton (American, aged 23)
Backup Driver: Scott Farnsworth (English, aged 18)

Velocity Racing:
Team Base: Silverstone, UK
Team Colours: Red and Black
No. 1 Driver: Josiah West (English, aged 24)
No. 2 Driver: William Turner (English, aged 21)
Backup Driver: Xavier Buckingham (English, aged 24)

Mertelen
Team Base: Ontario, Canada
Team Colours: Black and White
No. 1 Driver: Lukas Meyer (German, aged 21)
No. 2 Driver: Harry Ross (English, aged 31)
Backup Driver: Jack Allingham (Scottish, aged 19)

Preseason testing:
As is GRC tradition, a 2 hour pre-season test was held in London a month prior to the opening race, the fastest laps of each driver where as follows:
1 - Evan Bradley (AeroPulse)
2 - Daniel Metcalfe (EvoSync Racing)
3 - Logan Jackson (Vitalite)
4 - Lukas Meyer (Mertelen)
5 - Ashton Colt (EvoSync Racing)
6 - Hugh Pierson (AeroPulse)
7 - Harry Ross (Mertelen)
8 - Ederson Ross (Vitalite)
9 - Benjamin Harris (Imperial Autosport)
10 - William Turner (Velocity Racing)
11 - Josiah West (Velocity Racing)
12 - Jack Marton (Imperial Autosport)

Race 1: London
Winner: H. Pierson
Pole: L. Jackson
Fastest Lap: H. Pierson
Another season of the GRC would kick off in London, with an exciting qualifying with an exhilarating battle for pole between 2 unexpected drivers, Logan Jackson and Hugh Pierson. Meanwhile, both champions Bradley and Metcalfe would seem to struggle, stuck in 5th and 7th respectively. This was a massive shock to many fans of the GRC, with many wondering if this was the beginning of a more competitive era of the GRC. In the end, it would be Jackson to take pole, beating out Pierson by 4 tenths of a second whilst Meyer would get home third in the new Mertelen. The race would be just as exciting, with a safety car being within seconds of the start after a crash between William Turner, Ederson Ross and Josiah West, which would see Josiah West retire from the race. Upon the restart, Bradley would weave his way up to 3rd, however Metcalfe would continue to struggle stuck in 7th. Meanwhile, the battle between Jackson and Pierson would remain exciting, with the 2 going back and fourth all day. In the end however, Pierson would get over the line and get his maiden win after 2 seasons, whilst Jackson would settle for 2nd and Meyer would round off the podium in Mertelens first race.

Race 2: Miami
Winner: L. Meyer
Pole: A. Colt
Fastest Lap: A. Colt
Ashton Colt would bring the EvoSync back to the top with his first ever pole, whilst Daniel Metcalfe would continue to struggle, only coming 5th. His woes would continue for the weekend, with a drive through penalty being applied to him for jumping the start. Meanwhile, the battle for first would be an exciting one, with Lukas Meyer and Ashton Colt going back and fourth, with Logan Jackson not far behind. Ederson Ross would also stay in the top of the battle, however would unfortunately end his race early with a engine blowout. It would be Lukas Meyer would see himself on top of the podium at the end of the day, taking home Mertelens first ever win.

Race 3: Manchester
Winner: L. Jackson
Pole: D. Metcalfe
Fastest Lap: L. Jackson

Daniel Metcalfe would turn his form back around, getting back to the pole he's taken many times before. Meanwhile, Jack Marton would perform pretty well, qualifying 7th. The race would be an exciting one, with a massive red flag 8 laps from the end after Josiah West would collide with Evan Bradley after not letting him past and ignoring the blue flag for being a lap behind. The collision would also collect Harry Ross, Benjamin Harris and William Turner, leading to all 5 drivers DNFing. Upon the restart, Logan Jackson would be quick to jump Daniel Metcalfe for first, a position where he would stay until the end. After the race, it would be announced that Josiah West would receive a hefty fine, the first in the leagues history. Josiah West would not be quiet about the incident in the media, causing quite a scene across multiple interviews and damaging his reputation in the sport.

Race 4: Edinburgh
Winner: L. Meyer
Pole: L. Meyer
Fastest Lap: L. Meyer

An announcement would be made by Velocity prior to race 4, with the decision to drop Josiah West being made after both his and Velocity's disappointing career and his media outbreak the weak prior, with the Velocity CEO stating that they do not wish for their reputation to be tarnished by such a driver. Instead, William Turner would move to the teams first driver, with team third driver Xavier Metcalfe taking his spot until a permanent replacement could be found. Meanwhile, Lukas Meyer would continue his run of good form, taking pole in Edinburgh. This streak of form would continue into the race, where he would comfortably take the win, as well as securing himself a grand chelem, the competitions third driver to do so. Former teammate of his Daniel Metcalfe would also take 2nd place, with Hugh Pierson rounding out the podium in 3rd. 

Race 5: Ontario
Winner: E. Bradley
Pole: L. Meyer
Fastest Lap: B. Harris

Race 5 of the season would see the sport make its way to Canada for the first time. The future of the sport in the nation would look dubious however, with minimal turnout to an exciting qualifying that would see Lukas Meyer sit on the pole for the 2nd week in a row, narrowly beating Hugh Pierson and Evan Bradley to help his chances of boosting his lead in the championship . All doubt would be washed away come race day however, as a massive turnout would blow the races expectations away, with the waves of fans being treated to an amazing race that would see Bradley and Meyer trade positions in a heated battle for first place all day. It would be a heart-breaking end for Meyer however, as a pit-error from his crew would see him lose 7 seconds and ultimately settle for 4th place, allowing Bradley to get home ahead of him and take his first win and first podium of the year after a disappointing start to the season as defending champion. Hugh Pierson would push home for 2nd, seeing him get within 6 points of Meyer in the championship standings.

Race 6: Cardiff
Winner: E. Bradley
Pole: D. Metcalfe
Fastest Lap: E. Ross

Daniel Metcalfe would make it 3/3 for poles in Cardiff, taking the pole despite a tough qualifying session that would see a lap time be invalidated in both Q1 and Q2. Evan Bradley would also continue his run of form, finishing ahead of Lukas Meyer in 2nd place. Race day wouldn't keep the same luck for Metcalfe however, as an engine failure saw his departure from the race early on. This would see Bradley take the lead, with Jackson and Meyer fighting close behind. An early pit and an attempt to undercut would see Meyer pit early and go onto the medium compound, which would get him ahead of Bradley for the meantime, although would prove to fail in the long run, with his older mediums proving no match for Bradley's newer softs near the end of the race, allowing Bradley to take home a pretty convincing win, seeing him boost his position to 4th place in the overall standings whilst also boosting Aeropulses lead in the constructors championship.

Race 7: Rome
Winner: E. Ross
Pole: E. Ross
Fastest Lap: B. Harris

Imperial Autosport would bring a new look to Rome, with some pretty substantial upgrades helping Benjamin Harris into 2nd place during qualifying, falling just short of Ederson Ross who would take pole in his teams home race in the first Rome Grand Prix. Imperials upgrades would prove scary come race day, with Benjamin Harris setting the fastest lap and stealing the lead from Ederson Ross early, whilst Jack Marton would weave his way through the pack to see himself in his highest ever position of 6th. Some rain late in the race would however see a shake up in the grid, with some choosing to change to inters early whilst a few would see out the softs for a bit longer, a strategy that would turn out a fail for William Turner after he would slide and collect Harry Ross in the Mertelen, leading to the end of both their days, as well as a late safety car. The race would resume with Ederson Ross in the lead for the last 2 laps, a position he would hold until the end to help Vitalite take victory in their home GP. Meanwhile, off days for both Meyer and Bradley would see them finish in 9th and 8th respectively. 

Race 8: Paris
Winner: A. Colt
Pole: B. Harris
Fastest Lap: H. Pierson

The lead up to the Paris Grand Prix would see an exciting announcement be made by Harrington, the sports CEO, with it being confirmed that the sport would be accepting bids for new teams, bringing in not 1 but 2 new teams for season 4. Favorites for the spot would be bids from Fintali, a major car manufacturer, as well as the Serenity GRC Team, a bid placed by ex season 1 driver Tobias Wright. Meanwhile, qualifying for the Paris GP would see Imperial Autosports upgrades continue to shine, with Benjamin Harris narrowly taking pole over bounced back Lukas Meyer. It would however be the Evosyncs, who qualified 3rd and 4th, that would take control, with a fast start seeing them both take 1st and 2nd place early on. Hugh Pierson would challenge the 2 for the lead, managing to pass Metcalfe for 2nd, however wouldn't manage to challenge Colt who would comfortably take home the win in Paris.

Race 9: Brisbane
Winner: D. Metcalfe
Pole: D. Metcalfe
Fastest Lap: D. Metcalfe

As the world looked to Australia for the Brisbane GP, Daniel Metcalfe would take the moment of an inaugural home race for him to announce the inevitable, that he would be retiring at the end of the season. Coming up to his 41st birthday, Metcalfe would state that his time was due, and that he would want to focus on his family whilst freeing up the Evosync spot for newer, younger talent. Michael Harrington, the sports CEO, would announce the opening of the sports Hall of Fame after this, with Daniel Metcalfe being awarded the first plaque. Metcalfe would manage to take pole in his home race following this announcement, with his form continuing into the race where he would manage to secure the win, finishing 4 seconds before Pierson in 2nd and also taking the fastest lap, completing a Grand Chelem in a fairy tail race in his birth city.

Race 10: Liverpool
Winner: H. Pierson
Pole: H. Pierson
Fastest Lap: W. Turner

As the season drew closer to close, Hugh Pierson would look to extend his championship lead with a pole position, whilst Meyer would try claw back to the top spot rounding out the front row. Lights out on race day would come with instant drama, as a collision between Benjamin Harris and Evan Bradley causing a domino effect, leading to the biggest crash in the history of the sport and an instant red flag. Half of the cars on the grid would be forced to retire, those drivers being Bradley, Harris, Colt, Jackson, Metcalfe and Marton. It would take a while for the destruction to be cleared, however the race would be resumed in the end. With only 6 cars remaining, the race would be a boring one, with Hugh Pierson taking the win.

Race 11: Sao Paula
Winner: L. Jackson
Pole: L. Jackson
Fastest Lap: A. Colt

Results for the 7th and 8th team bids would be announced in the lead up to the inaugural Sao Paula GP, with the 2 favorites Fintali and the Serenity GRC Team being the ones to enter the competition.  Meanwhile, all eyes would move to a vital qualifying session in the 2nd last race of the season, mainly to Hugh Pierson and Lukas Meyer, the only 2 drivers who could really still win from this point, with Jackson, Metcalfe and Colts still having a mathematical chance however would require a miracle. It wouldnt be either of the 2 who would take pole however, as Logan Jackson would take the top spot, with Benjamin Harris once again showing off the future potential of the Imperial car rounding out the front row whilst Harry Ross would make a surprise cameo in third. The start of the race would see Jackson and Harry Ross get away well, whilst Meyer would get an early overtake on Pierson who would find himself stuck behind Harris who had a bad start. Meyer and Jackson would find themselves side by side for most of the race, with Pierson struggling behind coming into the second round of pit stops. A pit error from Mertelen would see Jackson push ahead in the lead, whilst Meyer and Pierson would enter turn 2 side by side. Pierson would find himself with the inside line however, which he would use to his advantage and finish 2nd in front of Meyer, boosting his lead to 17 points in the championship standings which made him hopeful that the championship was locked in now.

Race 12: Silverstone
Winner: L. Meyer
Pole: H. Pierson
Fastest Lap: D. Metcalfe

It would be a dream qualifying for Pierson, as he would get a crucial pole over the only other contender for the championship Lukas Meyer. A good getaway on race day would see him hold the lead at first, however a mistake near the end of the lap saw Meyer snatch the opportunity to take the lead. This would fail to worry Pierson however, as even if Meyer did take the win he would only have to make sure he remained in the top 5 to secure the championship. Meyer would extend his lead further and further, but it would fail to have an effect, as although Daniel Metcalfe would push up into 2nd during his final race, Pierson would hold onto third, becoming the third ever GRC World Champion, writing his names in the history books after a dominant season, where he took 9/12 podiums and over double his total career championship points. As they sun set on the dawn of Season 3, the future would look bright for the sport...