Lucius Ceretius Voermindus Arcadianus

Lucius Ceretius Voermindus Arcadianus (born: 4 Heredas 944; died: 14 Iuvenilis 1027) was an East Ebretian grey wolf, racing-driver and later motorsport commentator from Vasuria who competed in Formula One from 967 to 978. Arcadianus is the son of Lucius Begirdinus Iocus Arcadius who was 959 EBL 500 winner, and one-time EBL champion in 952.

A talented driver, Arcadianus was one of the most prominent racing figures in the series, becoming Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 976, and finishing runners-up three times in 971, 973 and 974. He spent much of his Formula One career racing for Imperial F1 where the majority of his wins came. However, it was not until he made the shock decision to join the still nascent Tymax team which he won his first and only drivers' championship. Initially retiring after his championship winning season in 976, he spent one more year in F1, racing for Ka'apit'aray Grand Prix, before retiring from racing altogether.

Arcadianus joined EHT TV as a trackside commentator in 978, before quickly being promoted to co-commentator alongside Drigalius Clesperas from 981 to 982, and with Rusiencus Bassus Caellotus from 982 to 1008 before retiring from motorsports all together.

A charismatic person, Arcadianus is known for his analytical yet witty demeanour. He is known for his careful and calculative driving style, favouring strategy over aggressive driving.

Early life

Lucius Ceretius Voermindus Arcadianus is born in the town of Tylliana Nova, East Ebretia on 4 Heredas 944. His father was racing driver and future EBL racing champion Lucius Rorus Ceretius Arcadius, and his mother Irmia Pavexia Voerminda was a school headmistress at the New Tyllian Primary, to which Arcadianus would attend with his siblings. His older brother, Arcadio would also become a racing driver, primarily driving in EBL.

Arcadianus's self-taught himself driving at the age of eight, driving a Serpentina Galdona 1201 tractor owned by his grandfather in rural East Ebretia. Along with his older brother, Arcadio, the two would build their own toy cars and race each other down a hill near their home. In 953, with the rapid rise of go-karts worldwide, the Lucian brothers quickly began karting. As there were no national or internationally sanctioned karting series until the late 60s, karting competitions were typically local and privately funded, but quickly became a source for professional racing teams to scout upcoming driving talent.

In 958, at the age of 14, Arcadius joined Formula E125 mid-way through the season as the competition's youngest entrant. Winning in his debut race, Arcadianus would finish third. He spent another season in Formula E125, where he became champion of 959 with 7 wins in 14 rounds. In 960, the now 16 year-old Arcadianus joined Formula 5000 (Ebretian League), racing for Daejiro Racing. He spent two difficult seasons with the Vatatamese team, finishing 8th and 11th in 961 and 962. He left racing briefly to become a car mechanic at his uncle's garage in Oulthymas, Tathoea, where he earnt a decent income to buy his own car, an Imperial Leo which he would modify, enter and race privately in a few non-championship sportscar races.

In 964, Arcadianus joined Formula Two, racing full time for Daejiro in a significantly more competitive JDB-15 car. His Formula Two stint proved successful, winning four races to take narrowly clinch the 965 Formula Two title, securing enough superlicence points for a Formula One seat. Due to budgetary constraints, however, team owner Daejiro was unable to field a second car for his struggling Formula One operation. With no prospect of a F1 race seat for 966, Arcadianus briefly joined EBL racing, racing as a private entrant for a couple of races without lacklustre results.

Formula One career

Daejiro and Buca Racing (967–969)

By the end of the 966 season, Daejiro was able to raise enough funds to build a second car. However, in a decision that shocked Arcadianus, Daejiro offered the 2nd car seat to a relative unknown driver, Aedius Nucidius Huriano. The decision to field Huriano initially incensed Arcadianus. Nevertheless, in the opening round of the Baeticia Grand Prix of the 967 season, Huriano was involved in a near fatal crash which left him injured and unable to take part of the next race in Letrosarium, leaving Daejiro no choice but to field Arcadianus.

Arcadianus made his F1 debut for Daejiro at the second round of the 967 season at Letrosarium. He outqualified team owner and driver Daejiro in pre-qualifying, before outqualifying him again at qualifying proper to secure an impressive 12th in a field of 22 competitors. Arcadianus's race attracted the attention of several teams, including Buca Formula Racing who offered a testing role which he accepted the following week, leaving Daejiro for good.

Buca Formula Racing, a firm backmarker team, struggled in the first three rounds. Main driver Sallius Pundericus suffered a broken spine at the Garchus Grand Prix after a near fatal crash, ruling him out for the rest of the 967 season. In his stead, Arcadianus took his place, debuting at the fourth round at the Ka'akani Grand Prix which he failed to pre-qualify. It was in the sixth round at Rixopolis that Arcadianus qualified for the main race, and bagged his first career points with a convincing sixth place finish during the race. His good form continued with another sixth place finish at the next round at Zardan. He was less fortunate for the remaining four rounds, retiring in three of them, and failing to qualify for one. He finished his debut season with six career points and 17th overall in the drivers' standings.

His second season with Buca saw inconsistent performances. An 11th place finish was followed by three consecutive DNQs. He also missed the fourth round at the Ka'akani Grand Prix due to an illness. Arcadianus entered the sixth round at Rixopolis with a stunning 5th place finish, but was disqualified post-race after it was found to be 1.1 kg underweight. He would eventually score points at the Icyrian and Orenan Grands Prix, before finishing out the season at Xantiphon with a decent 10th place finish. Despite finishing the season in 19th in the overall standings with 3 points, Arcadianus signed an undisclosed contract with Imperial F1 to become their third driver for the upcoming 969 Formula One Season.

Imperial F1

Arcadianus's move to Imperial F1 came somewhat of a surprise in 969. The grey wolf has few connections with Imperial F1 stock, and is generally seen as an outsider of the leonine-run operation. Nevertheless, the team opted to field three cars for the season, paying double the entry fees each race to field a third car. Arcadianus's quickly made an impression in qualifying, almost nicking pole position to world champion teammate Nesa in the opening round in Baeticia. The first half of the season proved difficult as the IMPA S06 was third best behind Seringola and Arvinus. This is not helped by a series of lacklustre but conservative performances by Arcadianus who was regularly beaten by his teammates Nesa and Sanabrio who outqualified him. His form turned around at the eighth round in Simigori, where he finished a career best 4th. He scored his first career win at the Vergazia Grand Prix, convincingly beating his teammate Sanabrio. Arcadianus's good form continued, and he scored his first pole position at the Halbus Grand Prix, but retired after 12 laps from a brake issue. He finished remaining two races both in 8th, concluding a difficult first season with Imperial F1 with 23 World Championship points.

Arcadianus extended his contract with Imperial F1. Imperial F1 fielded the IMPA S07 for 970 season, a radically different car with a brand new engine. While Nesa struggled, Arcadianus found himself enjoying the car's new handling model, and his performances relative to his teammates improved. A famous pole position and win at Ka'akani, as well as a 2nd place finish in Vergazia, was punctuated by reliability issues with the new engine. Out of 12 rounds, Arcadianus retired in six of them, all due to engine failures. Where he managed to finish races, he often drove conservatively to preserve engine life. Nevertheless, Arcadianus finished the season in 4th, with 33 points.

Three months before the start of the 971 season, racing Nesa legend and then six-time Formula One world champion announced his shock move to Honor Team F1 dubbed by the paddock as "The Great Betrayal". Arcadianus was promoted to lead driver to the purple, after Sanabrio too left F1 altogether for business reasons. After weeding out the reliability issues of their new engine, the IMPA S08 proved immediately to be competitive car. Despite a somewhat shaky start to the season, Arcadianus would achieve a five-race winning streak from Vasur to Vergazia to put him 6 points clear of Nesa going into the Halbus Grand Prix in contentious for the drivers' title. At the final round in Xantiphon, Arcadianus would suffer his first and only retirement of the entire season to engine failure, handing the championship to Nesa who won the race, and the title by two points. Arcadianus told the press that he "seriously considered hanging his gloves" after the sheer bad luck of 971, but continued with the team going into 972.

Despite having a reliable IMPA S09, the 972 field proved more competitive, and Imperial F1 were tied with Sinza Dragon and Seringola for being the fastest cars. A loosening of the rules by the FIA encouraging more aggressive overtaking also meant an increase in driver collision and accidents. At the Ostroconium, Letrosarium and Garchus Grand Prix, Arcadianus was regularly the result of crashes by other competitors. At Bulema, he was black flagged after jumping into the spare car after a lap one pile-up. He would pick up wins in Ka'akani, Zardan and Xantiphon. However, the season was overshadowed by the death of Sylizionus Oghinus Ribasianus at the 12th round of the Halbus Grand Prix, who would go on to become Formula One's only posthumous drivers' champion in history. Arcadianus finished 3rd in the drivers' standing, and scored 49 points.

Arcadianus started strongly for the 973 season, winning three of the first four rounds. A famous pole position at Garchus was followed by heartbreak when his car suffered a mechanical failure midway through the race. Compared to the other teams, the IMPA S09b proved less competitive in races than in qualifying, explaining Arcadianus's six pole positions from the 5th to 16th rounds, but no wins. At the Chygon Grand Prix, Arcadianus suffered a broken wrist and ankle during practice, ruling him out for a month and missing two races. He returned for the penultimate round at the Carian Grand Prix, securing pole position, but suffered a gearbox failure near the end of the within 10 laps, while his championship rival, Nesa, having briefly came out of retirement to race for one last season, took 2nd, putting the lion one point behind Arcadianus going into the final round at Xantiphon. A 5th place finish for Arcadianus was insufficient, and the grey wolf finished the season runners-up for a second time in his career with 80 points, and six points behind Nesa who would clinch his eighth and final world title before retiring for good. Arcadianus's propensity for bad luck affected his reputation with the press, with the paddock calling out his bad luck as infortunia arcadiani (Arcadianus's misfortunes).

Arcadianus had secretly signed a two year contract with Tymax, and would only announce this upon expiration of his Imperial F1 contract in 974 which he did not renew. The season was a two horse race between Iomonis and Arcadianus. Once again, Arcadianus finished the season runners-up after several costly retirements ended his title chances by the penultimate round at the Carian Grand Prix.

Tymax F1

Arcadianus joined the Rorhina-based team of Tymax F1, partnering with the more experienced Layuno Weamchangge Kayatori. The team unveiled the TXM-X75, a more competitive car from the previous season, but well behind pace of new frontrunners Sinza Dragon. The TXM-X75 was unreliable, with Arcadianus retiring from three of his first four races with the team, all mechanical. He eventually scored two podiums at Letrosarium and Garchus, followed by two more retirements. He would at his favourite track, the Rixopolis Grand Prix for the third time in his career, before failing to achieve a position higher than 9th in the remaining seven rounds.

976 would prove to be a watershed moment for the grey wolf. The TXM-X76 saw crucial reliability upgrades to the car's engine, and Arcadianus made it work. He took victory at the opening round in Baeticia,

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
967	Daejiro Racing	JD-18	Dazokan TSV 3.0 V12	BAE	LTS 12	GCH															17th	6
967	Buca Formula Racing	Buca-02	Imperial IM67 3.0 V12				KAA DNPQ	VSR DNQ	RXO 6	ZAR 6	ICY Ret	ORE DNQ	LAV Ret	XAN Ret							17th	6
968	Buca Formula Racing	Buca-02	Imperial IM67 3.0 V12	BAE 11	LTS DNQ	GCH DNQ	KAA	VSR DNQ	RXO DSQ	ZAR 10	SMG DNQ	ICY 6	ORE 9	XAN 10							19th	3
969	Imperial F1	IMPA S06	Imperial IM67 3.0 V12	BAE Ret	BLM 6	GCH Ret	KAA 6	VSR Ret	RXO 10	ZAR 14	SMG 4	VER 1	HLB Ret	ORE 8	XAN 8						9th	23
970	Imperial F1	IMPA S07	Imperial RD-IP3 3.5 V12	BAE 8	BLM Ret	GCH Ret	KAA 1	VSR 4	RXO Ret	ZAR Ret	SMG 6	VER 2	HLB 4	ORE Ret	XAN Ret						4th	33
971	Imperial F1	IMPA S08	Imperial RD-IP3 3.5 V12	BAE 4	BLM 9	LTS 6	GCH 3	KAA 8	VSR 1	RXO 1	ZAR 1	SMG 1	VER 1	HLB 4	CAR 2	XAN Ret					2nd	80
972	Imperial F1	IMPA S09	Imperial RD-IP3 3.5 V12	BAE 3	OST Ret	BLM DSQ	LTS Ret	GCH Ret	KAA 1	VSR 2	RXO 13	ZAR 1	SMG Ret	VER Ret	HLB Ret	CAR 6	XAN 1				3rd	49
973	Imperial F1	IMPA S09b	Imperial PDC146b 3.5 V12	BAE 1	OST 5	BLM 1	LTS 1	GCH Ret	KAA 3	VSR Ret	RXO 5	ZAR 2	MTS 3	SMG 9	CHY WD	VER	HLB	CAR Ret	XAN 5		2nd	80
974	Imperial F1	IMPA S10	Imperial PDC146b 3.5 V12	BAE 1	NOR 2	BLM 15^†	LTS 1	GCH Ret	KAA 9^†	VSR 5	RXO 1	ZAR 2	SMG Ret	CHY Ret	VER 14	HLB 8	CAR 4	XAN 1			2nd	81
975	Tymax F1	TXM-X75	Tymax AQ-12b 3.0 V10	BAE Ret	AZM 4	BLM Ret	OST Ret	LTS 3	GCH 2	KAA Ret	VSR Ret	RXO 1	ZAR 10	SMG Ret	CHY DSQ	VER Ret	HLB 9	CAR 9	XAN Ret		7th	36
976	Tymax F1	TXM-X76	Tymax AQ-12b 3.0 V10	BAE 1	AZM 2	BLM 2	OST Ret	LTS 7^†	DLX	GCH 1	KAA 3	VSR Ret	RXO 1	ZAR 1	SMG Ret	CHY 8	VER Ret	HLB 14	CAR 1	XAN 1	1st	107
977	Ka'apit'aray Grand Prix	KY77	Jovema C6127 1.5 V6 t	BAE Ret	AZM 6	BLM 3	LTS Ret	GCH 5	GYR Ret	KAA 9^†	VSR 12	RXO Ret	ZAR 7	SMG 5	CHY Ret	VER 12	HLB Ret	CAR Ret	XAN 5		10th	30