บท 34: Before it all starts!
Today was going to be special. Excitement was in the air as the whole family was getting ready to leave the house. Jayden would participate in his first official race today! Joining the family was Simon and his parents. While the house was buzzing with excited voices and laughter and an overall happy mood was present.
"Are you ready yet Jayden? Everyone is waiting for you!" uncle Anthony called for him.
Jayden sat on his bed trying to calm himself down. After his last amateur race last week Kevin told him he needed to try and achieve a calm state of mind before every race. This would help him approach each race without arrogance or overconfidence but also help him perform more consistently. A racer would usually try to achieve this just before the race but Jayden tried this right now. With everyone coming along he would have little time to do this when they were at the race track. Now he would not achieve the perfect result this way because his excitement would build again throughout the day.
"Coming!" He called back.
He grabbed his things and went downstairs. Waiting for him were his mom, Damian, Lyssa, uncle Anthony, Simon, and his parents. Seeing all them his calm mind state left him like snow under a burning summer sun. He joined them in their excitement and they all left for the track. Kevin and James would be waiting for him there preparing everything for him.
After a cozy ride which had everyone if possible even more excited than before the arrived at the track. Compared to the last race he went to this was totally different. There were more than a dozen teams from different racing classes preparing for the day. Jayden spotted his own team and excitedly started running over to them with Simon right behind him. He couldn't wait to show-off his kart to his friend and his family. This would be the first time they would really see him participate in a race and he would love to show them his skill.
Noticing Jayden running over with a big radiant smile on his face Kevin sighed. He had pressed Jayden to keep a calm head before the race but that was out the window now. He would look for a moment to separate him from his family so he could cool down for a bit. Putting that to the back of his mind he welcomed them all as he introduced himself to all of them. James joined in and took it upon himself to explain the activities for the day. There would be multiple classes racing today but since Jayden was racing in the micro-kart class they would be first on the track. For them, practice and qualifying sessions would be rolled together into one session. This means they would have less time to discover the track. After this, the other classes would complete their qualifying sessions. This would give them the time to prepare for the race. Figuring out how to improve the setup or where time could be gained on the track.
As James explained all this to them Jayden and Simon were pouring all their attention on his kart. Jayden was proudly explaining how he already managed to win 2 races and that he had raced against others his age and beaten them extensively. Hearing this Kevin stepped in.
" Don't be so proud over your previous results! This will be totally different. All the teams will be fully prepared and the drivers you are going up against are on a different level from the ones you raced before!" Jayden nodded. The best teams and karters of the Netherlands would be here. And he would be driving against them!
Simon looked between both of them surprised. Jayden doesn't usually listen to other people when it comes to racing. He could get really stubborn when someone tried to convince him about something he regarded as wrong if it's about racing. But when it comes to Kevin Jayden almost blindly accepted what he said without getting into an argument. What Simon doesn't know is that Jayden had great respect for Kevin. This wasn't strange as Kevin had proven himself knowledgeable and reliable. Furthermore, Kevin was helping him improve both in skill and mentally so Jayden easily accepted everything Kevin said as the truth. Seeing them discuss the situation with each other Simon left them to themselves and went over to his parents.
Kevin kept Jayden separate from his friends and family as much as possible for the remainder of the time before the session started. He needed Jayden to calm down. Jayden was still a child and being so young it was easy for him to get excited. Having him control himself with everyone around him would be next to impossible so he took it upon himself to keep him level headed.
Kevin and James had high hopes for Jayden. Although they said he would have a tough time against the other drivers they did this to keep Jayden's feet on the ground. He had raced against Octiva and Vincent a few times now and his performance was at least on par with them. Both these drivers were race winners last season. If Jayden could keep up this level of performance he should be racing at the front of the field from the start. Aiming for a podium in the first race was not a hopeless dream.
Discussing with Kevin Jayden suddenly saw a familiar face walk past. Jayden had followed Stephen's results since the first time he posted the fasted lap when they were applying for their racing license and was subconsciously beginning to see him as the one he needed to beat. Ignoring what Kevin was saying he ran after him.
"Stephen wait!" Jayden called for him to stop. Turning around Stephen looked at Jayden with a confused look on his face. "Hi, can I help you?" He responded.
Jayden was taken aback by this response. Had he forgotten him? They hadn't really conversed last time they saw each other but this was unexpected. "Don't you remember me? We applied for our racing license on the same day 2 years ago!" Jayden said slightly frustrated.
"Ahh, yeah sure I guess. Do you need me for anything? I have to get to my team in a bit" He said.
Jayden shook his head and Stephen left. All this time he had seen Stephen as someone he looked up to and who he had to beat to go further in his career but on the other hand, Stephen had already forgotten all about him. This dampened his confidence more than anything Kevin or James could have said.
Running back to Kevin his mood had drastically changed. "Let's prepare as much as we can for the race!" He said.
Kevin was surprised. He could see something in Jayden had changed and he was more focused than ever. He didn't ask anything though and they continued their discussion. It did not matter to him what prompted this change but he would take it. He wanted to see what Jayden can do when he was fully focused.
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