(I'm basing the main character from my book Pokétopia Endurance Championship. Go and take a look at the book cover to get an idea what she looks like if you want, and she's older in this racing story than the Pokétopia one…)

122 Generation (that's me) highly recommends you (the reader) search an image of the circuit map as it is a little stressful to explicitly explain what the track looks like.

The cover image is owned by BMW Motorsport.

FIA Class-One Touring Masters

Chapter one: Prologue

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, United States

The sound of rushing wind.

The typical Californian sun and clear skies, but with a frosty chill in the air.

Was it just the sun that made it seem hot, or was it more likely because of what was gathered on the circuit?

The slightly-cracked tarmac doesn't know whether it wants to be hot or cold.

"Formation shall begin in a few minutes," the team principal said. "Why haven't you started up your engine yet?"

"Oh! Sorry!" the driver said, surprised. How could she have forgotten? Was it because it was her first race? Was it because it was the first race, and that she was in the moment an opening race? No matter. The driver pressed an ignition button with a gloved finger and then placed her hands firmly on the race wheel. The sound of 480 horsepower echoed throughout the cell of the car. Her right foot gently touched the throttle as her fingers brushed the shift paddles behind the race wheel.

A Mazda RX-8 safety car drove onto the track, and the cars followed one by one.

Through the turns and bends and up to the iconic corkscrew chicane of the Laguna Seca, it was very much smooth driving from there. There were only a few turns left, but shortage of straight, until the final 90-ish degree corner where the finishing straight was in sight.

Car after car remained in formation, not overtaking one another, as they all slowed to a stop in the same formation near the start line. Yellow flags waved constantly in the air. The Mazda RX-8 safety car had led the field for a slow lap up until this moment. As the cars slowed down to give each other some space, the RX-8 pulled away into the pit lane.

Twenty FIA Class-One-spec cars lined up on the starting grid. Thanks to the unification of DTM and Super GT regulations, international touring car racing could now officially be more diverse and integrated. Leading auto manufacturers now place their faith into their cars lined up on this very grid. Almost every car lined on this grid were works-or-factory supported machines: pure-bred racing cars engineered to race with the full support of the manufacturer.

Eighth on the grid lined up this particular BMW M4 DTM. The colours of pearl Crystal White encased most of the M4 DTM, complemented with the iconic colour of BMW i Blue highlight on the kidney grille and the underside, and metallic Frozen Black for the lower side chassis. Sponsors decorated: BMW EfficientDynamics on the bonnet. On the doors: BMW EfficientDynamics Technology, with M tricolour on the edges, and a tiny M4 part on the front kidney grille that came standard with the stock model. That and many more sponsors' names on select parts of the M4, like Puma and Hankook). Last but not least, the words M Power were neatly printed on the rear spoiler to give the car an efficient-looking appearance. Hence, the car was legally known as the BMW EfficientDynamics M4 DTM.

The driver of this BMW M4 DTM stared away at the Californian sky as racing officials continued to wave away the yellow flags.

The driver was a BMW factory driver, and unlike everyone on this race field, she was a 19-year old girl and professional race driver. With her blue-green-and-white helmet fastened onto her HANS device, and wearing the BMW works driver racing suit, she sat at the wheel of the EfficientDynamics BMW M4 DTM. It was her M4 DTM, after all.

Today marks the first race of the FIA Class-One Touring Masters, she thought. Imagine how much was invested into making this day happen…

The driver's name was Maria Lougheed.

Leading manufacturers around the world would just die for this day to happen. Twenty cars line up on this first season, and each car is works supported, Maria continued to think, inside that blue, green, and white helmet of hers.

She kept her left foot firmly down on the brake. Her gloved hand gripped the race wheel tightly, as her fingers rested on the shift paddles behind the race wheel.

All this tension circulating the air… all the cars seemingly standing still, and waiting for the big even to happen. It seemed like the longest moments in Maria's life!

Qualifying beside Maria was her sister car, the other BMW M4 DTM entered by the same team Maria was assigned to. This M4 DTM on the grid beside her carried the colours of the Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Company. The HBC logo decorated the two doors, and the car had a pearl white shine with four stripes – green, red, yellow, and indigo – stretching from the rear spoiler, across the top, and onto the bonnet to end at the kidney grille.

This Hudson's Bay Company BMW M4 DTM qualified seventh, and would start about half a car length ahead and beside the BMW EfficientDynamics M4 DTM. This was normal for starting a race, but Maria found it unsettling to have her teammate starting as such close proximity.

The sound of rumbling engines, quiet like a monster would in its slumber, complained impatiently as they waited for the race to start. Once the race started, the twenty powerhouses would be unleashed.

"Hey, Maria," her team principal said through her team radio. "The last cars of the grid are around the final corner and are lining up on the grid too. Get ready."

What Maria could see way ahead in the first row were two Audi RS 5 DTMs. One was coloured black, white, and red, with Need for Speed decals all over it. The other Audi had trademark Audi decals instead.

The heat from the engines made the atmosphere… blurry, and anyone could feel the heat what that emitted from the cars, even if they were sitting in the stands. As the last two cars took up their positions on the grid, the racing officials waving the yellow flags put down the flags. On the other hand, one of the officials had his yellow flag replaced with a green one.

"This is it!" Maria's team principal said.

Maria still had her left foot on the brake, but she waited for the signal. Through the space in her helmet, she fixed her eyes on the two rows of five red lights above.

The first two red lights blinked.

While her left foot was on the brake, this time she had her right foot stamped hard on the throttle. The sound of a loud V8 engine revved throughout the inside of the BMW M4 DTM, and outside for the entire grid to hear. She wasn't the only one, as literally every car lined up on the grid also loudly revved their engines. As everyone did this, the next two red lights, then the third set…

Maria's focus remained on the lights.

…the fourth set, and finally the fifth set… All ten lights were lighted.

In the briefest instant of time, it stood still. Absolutely still. It was the longest instant one could imagine, and it was conceivable…

All ten red lights blinked off.

Maria released her left foot from the brake pedal and only let the right foot floor the throttle. Finally, the sprinters with their powerful hearts would run the hour-long race. In Maria's case, the power built up instantly, and in a matter of a few fractions of a second she had used the right-hand shift paddle to accelerate up to 3rd gear.

All the other cars followed.

The two Audis leading the field, the Need for Speed and Belgian Audi Club RS 5 DTMs respectively, tore away first, as they cleared Sector 1 in a matter of seconds and were driving away at the 180 degree Sector 2: the Andretti Hairpin.

Car after car after car followed through the Andretti Hairpin, but they were all extremely careful not to collide with each other, and yet still be aggressive.

Imagine the fight everyone would have to go through now. In Maria Lougheed's case, all she had to do was be consistent for the first bit, and then fight away when the competition began to heat up even more.

She continued the upshift, whilst hearing the deafening buzz of all the cars trying to fight away for a spot in the points, let alone the podium. Maria could feel the earth shake beneath her car, her heartbeat pulse loudly in her ears, and the shakiness that came from the sensitive racing wheel. It was a fight for her even control the car at this speed yet at the same time not causing an accident.

Her breathing rate, and she could not notice this, had quickened as she tried her best to fight for a spot ahead, and yet defend herself. Clearly, it was too much for the mind to handle. She could faintly hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears, even if it was loud, because the sound of the M4 DTM's engine clearly overpowered all noise that would ever come near the world-class racing machine.

Maria entered the third sector and briefly heard the familiar run of racing tyres – her racing tyres – rumble over the kerb and to the fourth sector, which Maria glided over flawlessly. Yet, rival cars began to fight with her neck-and-neck, but then again, there were lots of other cars fighting neck-and-neck for a higher position. The real trick was not to collide with anyone in the opening lap.

So this is what the start of the FIA Class-One Touring Masters feels like.

Reader contributions start in the next chapter. It's already written, but I'd like to see readers' feedback first!

Athough I'm a university student, this story had been in my head for a while, so I thought I'd get to it. Sheesh... and my final exams start in three days.