BRITISH RACING GREEN

Chapter 1 Australia: Melbourne

Number of laps: 58 Circuit length: 5.303 km Race distance: 307.574 km

Pole position left hand side of the track

Wire fences

Water on one side

Melbourne. The start of the season. Hopes and fears tangled together in nervous excitement.

Bobby was relaxed in the warmth.

Although slower than the others he could handle the car on the straights and the corners. That was an improvement from last season's unpredictable slippey slidey screaming banshee that had thrown him around the various race tracks.

Bobby felt confident. Not super confident. Nor arrogant. But aware of his potential and limitations. He was more than ready to test the car first against himself and then the other drivers.

He liked Australia. Hard, fair and direct. The sun usually shone which meant the team, especially the mechanics, were in a good mood. He flipped his visor shut, feet hovering over the pedals waiting for Byron the lollipop man to drop his stick. Byron put three fingers up as Bobby was unable to hear him over the idling engine and counted down. He saw him mouth and move his fingers. "Three. Two. One...". Bobby felt a slight pause, "...GO!". The lollipop fell and Byron moved out of the way. Pressing the pedals and pushing the buttons on his steering wheel Bobby turned right out of the garage and down the pit lane.

The track was empty ahead and he pushed on to the straight. Enzo crackled in to his left ear over the radio. Bobby ignored Enzo and concentrated on the track manoeuvering to follow the black rubber lines left by the tyres of previous cars.

Back in the motor home complex Klaus Niederhoffer was entertaining guests. Kolbiensky was in tow. They watched on the screen as Bobby moved the car through its paces. Five laps, ten laps. Pitching and yawing all over the place. Lurching like a wild animal as high octane fuel coursed through the engine.

Niederhoffer smiled. There was a lot of work to do. He was busy explaining to his guests, mostly haulage clients, that he enjoyed a challenge. They lapped up the glamour and champagne not questioning the competitiveness of the team. Some wondered about the money needed to buy and then sustain the team but out of politeness said nothing. It was clear even to those with no racing interest that the BRG team would be fighting it out towards the back of the grid all season.

The canapes though were excellent and the  pit girls an easy diversion.

Bobby brought the car back in and waited for qualifying. He sipped water through the hose into his helmet. The liquid was hot and tasted plasticky. The cooling system was for the engine, not the drivers. Waiting he drove round the track in his head thinking through the gear changes, lines to take and sector speeds.

"Time, time Bobby", crackled Enzo through his ear piece as he felt good luck taps from above on his strapped shoulders.

Bobby pulled away from the garage and started his qualification lap.

When it was over he was in sixteenth. In one piece along with the car. Hans was fourteenth. Neither BRG cars high enough on the grid to get on the podium tomorrow. However out of the way of the back markers, the rabbits and they could be in a position to fight each other for tenth. Hans and Bobby were quietly satisfied- it was an improvement from last season.

Niederhoffer was ecstatic.

Bobby and Hans put this misplaced enthusiasm down to playing the crowd and entertaining his guests.

As per normal Kolbiensky smirked.

Race day was largely uneventful. A couple of spins behind the BRG cars at the start created panic at the back. BRG were safely away from the ensuing crashes. Podium places however dominated and fought for only by the top three teams. The chequered flag fell. Eleventh and thirteenth respectively for Hans and Bobby.

The procession on the track and predictable result bored Niederhoffer and his guests. Alcohol fuelled and having finished making outrageous bets, a few snoozed in the sun. They all missed the presentation ceremony.

Kolbiensky oversaw the packing up of the equipment and motor homes. He was getting to know everything. Given his experience running Niederhoffer's haulage business model he was not fazed. One race down.The operational side was easy. It was the people who concerned him.