Racing Devil

Chapter 14 (100%)

Besides two practice sessions on Friday, the racers would also get to practice for the last time for one hour on Saturday afternoon. Everything was getting even more intense in the qualifying session that would determine their starting position that evening.

Inside the driver's room, Myles was stretching by doing a set of squats as Henry closely monitored. Niksa called on them when it was about time. She had some bananas and energy bars with her. Myles ate the banana on the spot, but took the energy bar and his tumbler with him as he walked to the garage.

"I think I will need to pee soon," he leaned in to whisper from behind the mask.

She gave him a disapproving look. He had plenty of time before.

"You should have told the engineers to convert the cockpit into a toilet for your new model. It seems like your bladder has a problem."

Myles snorted. The laughter that was the first thing to be heard in the garage, and the cheerful demeanor of their number one racer made George and Giuseppe exchange a knowing look.

This wasn't the Myles they had known. Of course, when in front of the live camera, he would use all of his mischievous charm, but behind the scene, everybody knew that under the playboy mask, he had always been intensely serious about the race. If there had been something that he hadn't liked about the car or the tactic, he would never mince words in the meetings. Contrastingly, Myles could go absolutely silent and anti-social before the qualifying rounds or the races.

This Myles, however, was asking for a headset for his manager with manners.

"Can we get Nicky a headset, mate?" he asked, tapping on a technician's shoulder.

Niksa was surprised by his request. She hesitated to take the headphones for internal communications from that man. Instead, Myles took them, and put them over her head himself.

He tore away from her to get in the car. Niksa turned to look at the team principal and the Italian race engineer who were sitting in front of the screen. Giuseppe gave her a friendly smile. Feeling more assured, she stood by the middle table to follow the qualifying session next to the engineers and technicians.

One of the staff pressed a button on the panel, then she heard the radio signal between Myles and the team.

"Radio check."

"Yeehaw!"

Niksa almost let out a laugh at his cowboy-like confirmation.

"Alright, young Centaur. It's your turn," Giuseppe played along.

On the middle screen, a live camera was following the race car number thirteen that picked up speed as soon as it came around to the starting point. Myles sprinted forward, passing a car that was still warming its tyres up, turning the corner as if speed had no effect on his control.

Myles was setting good times in the first two sectors but his time in the last sector was behind a driver from the Racing Fox team. His curse rang through the radio, his voice full of frustration. Giuseppe told him to focus because the time he had set in that round was good enough for the next qualifying round.

The race car number thirteen came into the pits, and then it was time to rank the 15 drivers with the best times from the last round. Both Myles and Ricardo stayed in the cars. They were sipping water from the straws that stuck out from under their helmet as they studied the information from the screen that hung down from the ceiling. Moments later, they went back to the grid.

From 15 drivers, there were only 10 with the best times left to go to the last qualifying round. This time Myles managed to beat his own records from the second round in every sector, leading as the driver with the best record. He fist bumped with Henry as he was sitting in the car, and wiggled his gloved finger at Niksa to come and give him a fist bump as well.