The Global Racing Championship - Season 4

(I 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 fourth 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 3 recap:
I'd recommend going to my profile and viewing season 1, season 2 and season 3to get the full picture, but here's a short recap of the just the third season; Season 3 of the GRC kicked off with successful driver Meyer leaving Evosync for new team Mertelen, causing a few shake up's in the grid. The championship battle saw Hugh Pierson emerge victorious over Lukas Meyer in an exciting battle over the season, which also helped Aeropulse clinch the constructors title. The season also saw GRC Legend Daniel Metcalfe bid farewell to his career, while Serentity Racing (owned by ex driver Tobias Wright) and Fintali announced they where set to join the grid in season 4.

Preseason:
All eyes are on Serenity and Fintali as they look to choose their driver lineups. Ex-driver and now Serenity CEO Tobias Wright looks to have intent to sign his season 1 teammate and controversial driver Josiah West, however after his outbreak last season West would announce he has no interest in returning to the GRC. Meanwhile, Australian team Fintali announce that Australian ex-driver and World Champion Daniel Metcalfe will join the team as the team principle, whilst also announcing that Charlie Parker, who raced 16 races between seasons 1 and 2, would be handed a second chance in the GRC, joining Fintali as the first driver, whilst Australian rookie Jacob Fitzgerald will join as the second. Serenity manage to scalp Imperial Autosport 1st-driver Benjamin Harris and Vitalite 3rd-driver Dario Renzi as their line-up, leaving Imperial Autosport struggling to fill the no. 1 spot, resulting in John Marton being promoted to 1st-driver despite only managing 14 (of the team's 89) points last season, whilst third driver Scott Farnsworth is promoted to 2nd-driver. This leaves everyone watching 2x constructor champion Evosync to see who would fill Metcalfes spot, with Spanish Aeropulse third driver Carlos Rodriguez being the one to fill his shoes. Meanwhile, all teams with empty spots would choose rookies from around the world to fill their third driver spots. GRC CEO Michael Harrington would announce that only one calendar change would be coming in season 4, with the Manchester GP being replaced by a new GP in Cape Town.

Team Information:
AeroPulse:
Team Base: Bristol, UK
Team Colours: Sky Blue
No. 1 Driver: Evan Bradley (English, aged 31)
No. 2 Driver: Hugh Pierson (English, aged 24)
Backup Driver: Henrik Anderson (Danish, aged 19)

EvoSync Racing:
Team Base: Miami, USA
Team Colours: Blue and White
No. 1 Driver: Ashton Colt (English, aged 30)
No. 2 Driver: Carlos Rodriguez (Spanish, aged 26)
Backup Driver: Oliver Taylor (English, aged 25)

Mertelen
Team Base: Ontario, Canada
Team Colours: Black and White
No. 1 Driver: Lukas Meyer (German, aged 22)
No. 2 Driver: Harry Ross (English, aged 32)
Backup Driver: Jack Allingham (Scottish, aged 20)

Vitalité:
Team Base: Rome, Italy
Team Colours: Crimson
No. 1 Driver: Logan Jackson (English, aged 29)
No. 2 Driver: Ederson Ross (English, aged 37)
Backup Driver: Luca Rossi (Italian, aged 20)

Imperial Autosport:
Team Base: London, UK
Team Colours: Gold and Black
No. 1 Driver: John Marton (American, aged 24)
No. 2 Driver: Scott Farnsworth (English, aged 19)
Backup Driver: Mikhail Ivanov (Russian, aged 23)

Velocity Racing:
Team Base: Silverstone, UK
Team Colours: Red and Black
No. 1 Driver: William Turner (English, aged 22)
No. 2 Driver: Xavier Buckingham (English, aged 25)
Backup Driver: Diego Alvarez (Spanish, aged 21)

Serenity Racing
Team Base: Cardiff, UK
Team Colours: Green and Black
No. 1 Driver: Benjamin Harris (English, aged 27)
No. 2 Driver: Dario Renzi (Italian, aged 21)
Backup Driver: Fabio Oliveira (Brazilian, aged 21) 

Fintali
Team Base: Melbourne, Australia
Team Colours: Orange
No. 1 Driver: Charlie Parker (English, aged 25)
No. 2 Driver: Jacob Fitzgerald (Australian, aged 18)
Backup Driver: Keita Tanka (Japanese, 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. Please note that due to a crash in his first lap, William Turner did not record a lap time. The fastest laps of each driver where as follows:
1 - Logan Jackson (Vitalite)
2 - Lukas Meyer (Mertelen)
3 - Ashton Colt (Evosync Racing)
4 - Hugh Pierson (Aeropulse)
5 - Evan Bradley (Aeropulse)
6 - Ederson Ross (Vitalite)
7 - Benjamin Harris (Serenity Racing)
8 - Carlos Rodriguez (Evosync Racing)
9 - Harry Ross (Mertelen)
10 - Dario Renzi (Serenity Racing)
11 - Charlie Parker (Fintali)
12 - Jacob Fitzgerald (Fintali)
13 - John Marton (Imperial Autosport)
14 - Xavier Buckingham (Velocity Racing)
15 - Scott Farnsworth (Imperial Autosport)
N/A - William Turner (Velocity Racing)

Race 1: London
Winner: Logan Jackson
Pole: Evan Bradley
Fastest Lap: Benjamin Harris
AeroPulse look to be the new dominant team in the GRC, backing up their Constructors championship last season by locking out the front row in qualifying, with Evan Bradley sitting back on the podium for the first time in almost 2 entire years, with his last being race 2 in Miami season 2. Meanwhile previous dominant force Evosync Racing could only manage 5th and 11th, putting doubt into their plans to win a third constructor's championship, or even challenge for the podium. Come the start of the race and Bradley would take a commanding lead, however a poor strategy being one of the only drivers on a 2-stop would see him fall back in the pack, whilst Logan Jackson would take charge, where he would stay until the end of the race. Hugh Pierson would start his championship defence strong with a 2nd place finish, whilst Benjamin Harris would lead Serenity Racing to a podium in their first ever race as a team.

Race 2: Miami
Winner: Lukas Meyer
Pole: Ederson Ross
Fastest Lap: Dario Renzi
Meyer looked to have pole in the bag, leading by a whole 7 tenths with only a minute to go in a rainy qualifying session, however as Ederson Ross crossed the line with 20 seconds to go in the session he would go 4 hundredths faster, establishing himself on pole. He wouldn't up top for long however, as after squeezing Ashton Colt in the first lap of the race he would lose his front wing in a collision, as well as receive a 5 second penalty. This saw Meyer back in front, and despite an undercut attempt coming from Ashton Colt, Meyer would see the race out and take his first win of the season.

Race 3: Cape Town
Winner: Lukas Meyer
Pole: Lukas Meyer
Fastest Lap: Logan Jackson
Meyer would find himself on pole this time around, beating Hugh Pierson by 2 hundredths of a second. Pierson would jump the start and although he would get ahead of Meyer, a drive through penalty would be handed to him which would see Meyer take a solid lead after lap 1, getting far enough ahead to deny Logan Jackson behind him of DRS. Jackson would temporarily get back in range of the DRS by lap 12, however only periodically, as by lap 15 Meyer would extend his lead to 2 seconds and finish the race in 1st, getting back to back wins and extending his early championship lead.

Race 4: Edinburgh
Winner: Evan Bradley
Pole: Harry Ross
Fastest Lap: Ashton Colt
Harry Ross set an amazing lap time to claim his first pole of his career in Edinburgh, which he would manage to convert into his first career podium, finishing in third place. Meanwhile, an astounding race from Bradley would see him finish 1st despite a qualifying position of 7th, getting both his first win and podium of the season, whilst Lukas Meyer would suffer a gearbox would fail in the formation lap and see him become the first retiree of the season, resulting in him losing his position up top of the championship.

Race 5: Ontario
Winner: Hugh Pierson
Pole: Ashton Colt
Fastest Lap: Charlie Parker
Ashton colt would take pole in Ontario after a rainy session, with the wet conditions only worsening coming race day. The torrential rain saw flashbacks of the Cardiff GP in season 1, and drivers would see minor accidents all over the track, with a Safety Car being deployed on lap 22 after Ederson Ross and Ashton Colt would collide and collect William Turner, leading to the DNF of all 3 drivers. Immediately upon the restart, Logan Jackson would hit Hugh Pierson, leading to him losing his front wing and a lot of debris, resulting into a Virtual Safety Car being deployed directly after the safety car returned to the garage. On the second race restart, Hugh Pierson would attempt a divebomb on Lukas Meyer and successfully take the lead, keeping his composure and lead to the end and winning the race.

Race 6: Cardiff
Winner: Benjamin Harris
Pole: Benjamin Harris
Fastest Lap: Logan Jackson
Benjamin Harris's good form in the new Serenity continues with a pole position in Cardiff, with his constant good performances peaking interests from better teams such as Evosync and Mertelen. He wouldn't get the best of starts however and would slip to second behind Ederson Ross, with Ashton Colt getting past him as well 5 laps later. Ederson Ross would make an early stop, which saw him come out of the pits along side his brother Harry who had yet to make his stop. The brothers would fight each other into turn 1, both not wanting to be outshined by one another due to their complex and difficult relationship after season 1. Still fighting into turn 3, Harry would hit his brothers back wheel, causing him to spin into the wall and DNF, whilst Harry would have to pit due to pretty severe damage, with him eventually retiring after his cars damage would be fully accessed back in the pits. Storming into the Mertelen garage, Harry Ross would be seen yelling at his brother, reminding many of their many altercations during the first half of season 1. The tension between the 2 would heat up, with Ederson pushing his brother to the ground causing the Mertelen engineers to step in and remove Ederson from the situation. Meanwhile back in the race, Ashton Colt would take lead out front, however Benjamin Harris would stay close and continue to challenge, as would Logan Jackson after he would catch up a few laps later. The 3 would go back and fourth for the rest of the race, however it would be Benjamin Harris who would cross the line first, taking his and Serenity's maiden win. Reaching the halfway point of the season, Lukas Meyer would take a narrow championship lead looking for his 1st championship, however the top 6 where only separated by 22 points, setting up an exciting 2nd half of the season.

Race 7: Rome
Winner: Logan Jackson
Pole: Logan Jackson
Fastest Lap: Logan Jackson
Logan Jackson and Vitalite would have the best qualifying they could ask for, with a 1-2 qualifying for their home race in Rome. Meyer struggled however, qualifying 6th and falling 2 positions in the first 3 laps. It wouldn't be all bad for Mertelen however, as Harry Ross would hold down P3 despite Evan Bradley's aggressive attempts to overtake him. Carlos Rodriguez would also shine in his best performance to date, finally managing to use his Evosync to its full potential and holding down P5, and even getting up into 3rd after a successful undercut. Logan Jackson would take a Grand Chelem at the end of the day however, securing first place and the fastest lap after his pole position the day before, elevating himself to the lead in the championship.

Race 8: Paris
Winner: Ashton Colt
Pole: Logan Jackson
Fastest Lap: William Turner
Logan Jackson would just get the edge on Ashton Colt in a familiar GRC location during qualifying in Paris, with Jackson holding Colt behind him on the races beginning. A safety car would come out after a Xavier Buckingham and Scott Farnsworth would take each other out however,  and upon the restart Colt would take the lead. Jackson would try his best to stay with him, however the Evosync's straight line pace after recent upgrades would just be to fast, and Colt would bring Evosync their first win in 11 races.

Race 9: Brisbane
Winner: Ashton Colt
Pole: Lukas Meyer
Fastest Lap: Jacob Fitzgerald
Imperial Autosport would drop Farnsworth going into Brisbane due to him yet to score a single point. Still struggling after their losses during pre-season as well as their poor season to date, they would fail to find another driver to fill the seat and hence third driver Mikhail Ivanov would race for the remainder of the season, who wouldn't manage to do any better after he would qualify last. Meanwhile, Meyer would get his 2nd pole of the year in Australia to show that he wasn't out of the championship battle yet, whilst Jackson would make a mistake and crash on his first lap of qualifying and hence would start 16, placing his 22 point championship lead under fire. Vitalite where off pace during qualifying, only managing 6th and 8th. Meyer would get a better start and take a big lead early on, however Colt would manage to slip into the lead after the first round of pits where completed, and Pierson would overtake Meyer for 2nd just 6 laps later. Despite a late safety car after Harry Ross would lose control and hit the wall and retiring from the race, the positions would stay like this for the rest of the race, with Colt going back to back for wins. With Logan Jackson only managing P9 after qualifying last, the championship battle would continue to become more and more exciting, with Ashton Colt taking a 1 point lead on Jackson, whilst only 13 points would separate Colt, Jackson, Meyer and Pierson in the top 4.

Race 10: Liverpool
Winner: Lukas Meyer
Pole: Harry Ross
Fastest Lap: Ederson Ross
Harry Ross would take a surprise pole in Liverpool, beating his teammate Lukas Meyer by just 4 thousandths of a second, however it was Meyer who was in the championship battle, and after the pair would survive the first lap in P1 and P2 Ross would be ordered to hand over the lead to his teammate. Evan Bradley would manage to surpass Harry, however Harry did his job in holding the pact back to give Meyer the lead, and despite gaining a 2 second gap on Harry in third, Bradley wouldn't be able to challenge Meyer. Meanwhile, the battle would be intense between Harry Ross, Colt, Pierson, and Jackson in positions 3 to 6, with every point being vital to the championship battle. All 3 drivers would push their limits, with fans seeing some of the most intense racing the GRC has ever seen, however they would push to far, and after going 3 wide into turn 6 a catastrophic crash would ensue, with all 4 drivers being sent flying into the each other and the barriers, leading to the first red flag of the season. This would place Meyer in a good position, with all 3 of his championship competitors being out for the race all he would have to do is keep his composure off the restart and keep the lead, which he would manage successfully and place himself in the lead for the championship, 14 points ahead of Colt. A second place finish from Bradley would boost himself into the top 4 and only 25 points away from the championship, and all eyes looked to the final 2 races of the season to decide an exciting 5 way battle up top.

Race 11: Sao Paula
Winner: Ashton Colt
Pole: Ashton Colt
Fastest Lap: Dario Renzi
With the title race wide open, Ashton Colt would keep his run of form with a pole position over his main rival Lukas Meyer. Logan Jackson made a good start and lead the race into turn 4. He held the lead into the first round of pitstops, however an error from his crew handed the lead back to Ashton Colt. Jackson would close back in on him, however a spin on the final turn off lap 32 would see him be overtaken by Meyer and Harris, placing Ashton Colt in a good position with a 4 second lead up top. Feeling his chances of a 2nd world championship slipping from his hands, Evan Bradley would play aggressive, although he would be hit with a 5 second penalty due to track limits, and after being overtaken by Ederson Ross the next lap, his chance at the championship was about finished. Logan Jackson wouldn't manage to work his way back to the Podium, and despite Ashton Colt managing a third win in 4 races, a 2nd finish for Meyer would see him take a 7 point championship lead going into the season finale.

Race 12: Silverstone
Winner: Benjamin Harris
Pole: Logan Jackson
Fastest Lap: Ashton Colt
The stage was primed for Lukas Meyer, a top 2 finish would guarantee him a world championship and if not all he had to do was ensure Ashton Colt didn't score 7+ points more then him. Ashton Colt was still confident however, and qualifying ahead of Lukas Meyer set him up for a good chance. It would be Logan Jackson who would sit atop pole in Silverstone however, and whilst a championship was highly unlikely for him, his pole position would give him the best shot possible. A nightmare start for Meyer would see him slide to 5th, although he would manage to fight back to 4th place by the end of lap 2, whilst Colt would only sit third after Benjamin Harris would take the 2nd position. A pit issue from Logan would see Benjamin Harris overtake him for the lead, however Jackson would still come out ahead of Colt, resulting in Colt holding onto third whilst Meyer would sit 4th, meaning Meyer would be World Champion. A late push from Colt would see him catch Logan Jackson, however he couldn't get past, and even if he did get into 2nd he would still be a point behind Meyer in the championship battle. Colt would cross the line in third and Meyer 4th, meaning Meyer would finally take home his maiden championship after 2 third place and 1 second place finished in seasons prior. Celebrations would last long into the night at Mertelen, whilst Ashton Colt would have to settle for a 4 point defeat in second.