Race_Idol_Solrika

Racing. Most people in the US know it through NASCAR, or similar racing leagues. Europe, too, knows it mostly through large leagues on massive tracks packed with stock racing cars. In the East, the most common thought is of "touge", the cornering-focused mountain racing style made popular by manga such as Initial D. However, amidst all these is a much less talked-about style, one common across all three areas.

This style is called autocross. Focused on precision movements at more normal speeds, the goal is to beat the clock (and beat other racers by beating the clock better than them). Naturally, higher-speed racers often deride autocross; even some supporters regard it as a stepping stone towards the "big leagues". However, one young rising autocross star is determined to change that!

Her name, at least the one she goes by, is Solrika, and her grand plan is to ride the rising idol phenomenon sparked in the Japanese islands and bring it to the Americas, becoming not only racer but an idol and taking on races all across the country! And... so far it's worked pretty well. She's even gotten a number of photo shoots in from Nissan, which is where the picture above came from.

Secretly, she's been driving since 14, and participated in a handful of autocross races at age 15 off the record, not that she -won- many of those. Even now, at age 19, the best that you can say about her record is that she's "above average". Still, there's definitely a charm to the girl that nobody can deny, and even when she loses she's so gracious and peppy that everyone, even her, seems quite happy with the day's results.

As for the more specifics, she drives Nissan cars exclusively, hoping to score a proper deal one day with them; her promo shoot with the new GT-R Skyline seems to be a good promise towards it! Her car of choice currently is the Nissan Sunny, her first car and the source of her "idol name". A simple compact car, low on raw force but sized perfectly for her and perfectly for cutting in a little bit extra on corners that gives her an edge in some tracks. On more level tracks she's been occasionally loaned a Skyline to try out, and she dearly loves the car; one of her first goals with the winnings is to buy one of her very own, if she can't just get one from a sponsorship deal...

Of course, any idol's bound to have a few secrets, and Solrika is no exception. For example, some fans have been known to vanish when accepting an offer of a ride from her, only to turn up a few days later at her next racing venue, refusing to say a word or accept even the slightest accusation against her. And then there are those deeper secrets of hers... ones that nosey fans vanish and -don't- reappear over...

... well, after all, idols are girls, a boy racer, cute or not, just won't sell as well... It was "her" idea in the first place, really, just a bid to get a little extra notice in a new venue where nobody knew the young racer well enough to realize... And then, Solrika had a realization of her own. She -liked- being a girl, or at least being perceived as one. She's never looked back since, now and forever the cute little lady of the autocross track, and never happier...