บท 32: That was third place right?!
"Now remember Jayden, the race begins with a rolling start. That means you don't have to worry about being overtaken because you made a slow start but you will need to look out for drivers around you being optimistic and making a pass at the first corner. If you can get through the first lap unscathed your chances of finishing will rise by a lot! I won't give you any other advice. Let me see what you can do in your first race!" This was what Kevin had told him before he set off to the grid to lignup in his 14th spot.
This was 5 minutes ago and Jayden was now about to start his first race. There were a total of 26 karts on the grid and Jayden was right in the middle of them. They were about to start the formation-lap. Jayden's could feel his heartbeat through his whole body. His muscles were tense and it felt like time slowed down for a few seconds as he could see a mosquito fly past him in looking like it was in slow motion. The lights went green for the start of the formation lap and Jayden was barely able to hold himself back from rocketing off the line. "Not yet! it's not the start of the race yet!" he had to keep repeating to himself while following the other drivers who were pulling away in an orderly fashion. When it was his turn he looked next to him and saw the driver who qualified 13th pull away. He did the same and tried to stay next to him for the remainder of the lap copying the drivers in front of them. During the formation lap, he started to calm down when he noticed they were getting close to the last corner. "Just a bit more and I will officially start my first race!" Jayden thought, letting his mind wander for a moment. They were getting closer to the start-finish line now. His first race was about to start!
The drivers in front of him suddenly sped off into the distance and the one next to him had pulled a gap to him as well. "I messed up!"Jayden thought to himself while desperately trying to keep close to the driver in front of him while also keeping an eye out for the ones behind him. He had mistakenly thought the race started when one passed the start-finish line but this only counted for the one in first place. As soon as they crossed the line the race was one. Due to this mistake, Jayden was immediately put in a defensive position. He knew his late reaction would get him in trouble in the first corner so he made the decision to defend the inside line. If they wanted to get past they would have to drive around him which would be tricky especially on a difficult track like this. He barely managed to stay ahead in the first corner with the driver behind him bailing out of the overtaking move at the last moment. He could now concentrate on closing the gap to the driver in front of him. That was what he had planned at least but to his surprise, the driver behind had not yet given up and was now trying to pass him while going through a fast right-handed corner. Knowing how hard it was to overtake on this track he did not want to lose any positions at the start as it would be very hard to regain them later in the race. This caused Jayden to defend the position as hard as he could leaving the other driver as little room as he could get away with forcing him to back off again.
Having dealt with the threat from behind Jayden again focussed on the drivers ahead. There was now an ever-growing gap between him and the driver in front and Jayden set closing this gap as his first target.
Watching from the sidelines Kevin was feeling almost as nervous as Jayden. He saw how Jayden was slow at the start and was expecting a crash when he saw his robust defensive moves during the first half of the lap. But after those things calmed down a bit and he managed to complete the first lap in the same position without any incidents. "Great! It should be a bit easier from here. Now he will have to find his usual rhythm and there could be a slight chance for a result here." he thought. Although Kevin had only asked Jayden to finish the race safely he was still hoping for him to finish in 10th place at least. This was the final points giving place in a real race and it would be a great confidence builder for Jayden if he could accomplish this in his first race.
Back on track Jayden had shaken off the nerves and was fully concentrated on catching the driver ahead while keeping his driving smooth. Knowing that his best chance of gaining positions would be to keep his tires in good shape while the drivers in front of him were pushing to pass each-other or defend their positions. He had practiced this before and if he could just stay with them he thought he could make something happen at the end of the race. What surprised him was the speed he was catching the 13the place driver with. He knew he had was faster during qualifying but had no chance to show his true pace and now he could see a gap forming between that driver and the drivers in front of him. He would have to get past if he wanted to get a good result today and if he waited too long his tire advantage would be useless because he would have no time to catch up to the drivers further ahead.
It did not take long for Jayden to be stuck behind the driver in front. He would have to get past quick as the drivers further ahead were creating a sizable gap and the drivers behind were catching up again. Knowing his main priority was to finish Jayden did not want to make risky moves so he chose to annoy the driver ahead instead. He had seen this in an F1 race once. The trick was to make the driver ahead think you were going to try for a passing move and then back out at the last moment. If you did this often enough the driver would eventually make a mistake. Well, that was the plan at least. Jayden tried this at the first opportunity he got. He managed to get next to the driver ahead on the short start-finish straight which forced him to defend the inside. After a short drag race, Jayden delayed his braking to the last possible moment thinking this would be the start of him harassing the other driver but to his surprise, the other driver completely missed his braking point. He was so late on the brakes that he could no longer stop his kart in time and Jayden watched him as he slid off the track handing Jayden the 13th position. He could now hunt down the driver the in 12th position.
It took Jayden 3 full laps to catch up but the moment he got their lady luck graced him with her presence again. The drivers from 4th to 6th were all dueling for the position and managed to crash each-other of track effectively ending there race. He was now up into 9th position. The yellow flag was waved while the marshall helped clear the karts of the track. This bunched everyone up again which was good news for Jayden because he no longer had to close the gap to the drivers ahead. If he could keep his tires in good condition for a longer period than the other drivers while sticking close behind them he would have an easier time making up positions.
The following 6 laps Jayden was comfortable staying behind the driver in 8th position. He had no trouble keeping this pace and the drivers ahead weren't really pulling a big gap. He felt he would be able to get back on their tail in the second have of the race. The race was 20 minutes long and with half of it almost passed he was hoping the other drivers would be struggling with tire grip soon. 2 laps later he finally started noticing the driver ahead getting in trouble. He was drifting further away from the racing line and was having a difficult time getting the kart to turn into the corners. Not waiting for the driver to get used to the lack of grip Jayden stuck his kart in the opening that was created when the driver in front understeered into the corner. When he noticed Jayden was beside him it was too late for him to turn in. There was no longer any room and he had to wait for Jayden to complete his overtaking move before being able to complete the turn. This slowed him down so much he lost an extra position dropping him down to a 10th place. Jayden gained 2 more places using the exact same move on other drivers also struggling with the grip from their tires and found himself in the sixth position.
The race was now getting close to its end but Jayden wanted to gain at least one more place. He could see Vincent in first place and Octavia right behind him in fist and second place. It looked like Vincent had managed to get past her somewhere on the track. Knowing he would not be able to catch up to them Jayden still wanted to get as close as he could. The driver in 5th was now really struggling to keep his kart pointed in the right direction. The rough track surface had taken a massive toll on his tires. Jayden was now also feeling the loss of grip but it was nowhere near as bad as the others around him. Entering the first corner of the final lap he managed to complete a daring pass on the inside and took 5th place. Thinking this would be his finishing position he relaxed a bit as he thought the race was as good as over.
Octavia, on the other hand, had not given up on the first place and tried a desperate move on Vincent in the final corner. She dived on the inside of the corner although there was almost no space and misjudged her braking point. The tires of both karts hooked into each other sending them both of track. Jayden seeing all this happen could not believe his eyes. As he rounded the first corner he took one last glance at both drivers gesturing at each other before entering the straight and crossing the finish line. He had actually ended in third place.
Looking from the sidelines Kevin thought his eyes were deceiving him. "' That was third place right?!" He asked loudly speaking to no one in particular. He had wanted Jayden to finish the race to gain experience and maybe and in 10th place to boost his confidence but now he ended his first race in third place! Where would they go from here?
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