Chapter 20: Massive improvements!
Looking from his uncle who was still pointing his camera at Jan Lammers to Jan himself Jayden was trying to figure out what was going on. He had seen Jan on tv before but that was a few years ago so he did not recognize him before.
"A real racing driver!"He thought. This was someone that had been racing cars for more than 40 years now. There was so much he could learn from him. "Did he just say I have potential? Does that mean I can be a racing driver too?!" His mind was going into overdrive thinking about all the things he was going to ask him. Sadly for him before he could ask him anything his uncle told him he needed to get some rest. He got money to get food and something to drink at the cafeteria and was sent on his way.
While Jayden got his food uncle Anthony tried to get Jan to coach Jayden for the remainder of this session. He got rejected without the possibility to argue. "I won't coach him! He is in the process of discovering his driving style now. If I would tell him how to drive now it could have a big impact on his driving in the future. Karting is the time when drivers grow the most. Helping him figure out were his strengths ly and iron out mistakes! That is the job of a driving coach! I'm not in the position to coach anyone and neither do I want to!" he concluded. Hearing this Anthony wasn't put off but changed his tactics. "You said he had potential right? Can you introduce him to your sponsors? He is still very young and there is a lot he can learn. Who knows where the future will bring him!" He said this without a bit of shame. He knew as a businessman that you need to take every opportunity you can get and this was a chance he could not miss. "Let's see if the kid can improve first. Well, talk about this after" Jan said. Anthony knew this was the best he could get for the time being so he nodded in response.
Finishing his food Jayden started to feel a bit better. He was still tired but he felt fit enough to get back in the kart and start driving. He went over to his uncle to indicate that he was ready to go. "Before you go I need to tell you something. You know who Jan Lammers is right?" Without waiting for an answer he continued. "There is an opportunity here. If you manage to impress him there is a chance he will introduce you to his sponsor. That means you could start racing a lot sooner than we initially expected. Keep that in mind when you get out there! No pressure."He said with a wink.
"No pressure?!" Jayden thought. His hands had started sweating even before his uncle had finished talking. Walking over to his kart he felt his whole body going stiff. "Just have to do my best, "He thought.
Out on track Jayden slowly felt the stiffness leave his body. He was concentrating so much that he had no time to think about anything else but driving. It was time for him to push as hard as he could.
"How do I make this work? As soon as i try to carry more speed into the corner the kart starts sliding. I need to make sure the slide doesn't go past a certain amount but the number of steering corrections I have to make slow me down." he thought. The following laps were messy and full of mistakes. Sometimes he felt like he almost had control and then the next corner he felt like he was sliding all over the place. There were some positives though. He was starting to understand what he needed to do. "If I can control the amount the kart slides I can plan where the slide starts and where it ends. "
The next 5 laps while still not very fast were less messy. His laps were now around 1:07. Not far off from his best but it did not look like he was improving either.
" He's getting there," Jan said with a smile on his face. "I don't understand this at all. It's obvious he is not getting any faster. He is even slower than he was before. Why would you say that!" Anthony said looking annoyed. He had hoped Jayden could show a big jump in speed but he was slower than before now. "Just watch, his lap times will improve massively from now on! I'm going to get the new tires ready for when he comes in." Jan said and promptly left to get new tires for Jayden. Anthony just shook his head and focused his camera back on track. He did notice that Jayden's driving looked a lot more flowing and smooth now.
"I got it!" Jayden was jubilant. He figured out how to carry speed into corners without having to over correct with his steering. "I need to have more fate in the kart and tires. If I don't push too hard the tires will grip again and I can keep a higher average speed through corners." He thought. He had figured out how to use the forward momentum of his kart to achieve this. Not only that but due to having to brake less he kept the engine revs higher which in turn improved his corner exit speed by a lot. "Let's try to put everything I learned just now into a fast lap"
Jan came back having requested new tires for when Jayden returned to the pits. "How is he doing?"He asked. Anthony looked at him with a blank face. "You were right," he said. "He managed to improve by a massive amount. His last lap was a 1:00.2 about as fast as the faster guys driving the same type of kart. I don't understand though. How did you know he would be able to do this!" He said confused but happy that his nephew managed to finally show what he is capable of. " I noticed he was able to control the sliding a lot better than when he started today. It's just a matter of time before he comes in for new tires" Jan replied while shrugging his shoulders. He was actually surprised Jayden managed to improve this much. "I guess his tires weren't as bad as I thought. He won't be able to improve as much on new tires then" he thought while keeping an eye on Jayden
Meanwhile, on track Jayden started to notice that his tires were starting to limit his performance. He was not able to improve anymore. "That's why Jan said I would need new tires! These have been used to much in the first half and can't handle this way of driving for too long." He put up his hand indicating he was coming into the pits this lap. It was time for him to have a go on fresh rubber.
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