Chapter 217: Speed King (2)

Leo was oblivious to the situation outside the track. His world had shrunk to five meter patch of asphalt. Okun’s voice sounded from the speaker every now and then giving him the update of what was going on behind him. Leo acknowledged the situation with a yes every time. Leo held his position steadily till the fifteenth lap.

Okun said, "I think they are going to pull Dallas in for a pit stop next lap, you should come in now, and get a fresh set."

Leo agreed and said, "I will slow down, Terance is following me, I will let him take the lead for a bit and slow down to come in, then while he is trying to maintain the lead, I will get a fresh send and two laps later, we will have P1."

Okun was stunned but he nodded and Leo slowed down his exits from the various turns, and allowed Terance the guy in P3 to get ahead of him very slickly, as he made a turn in for the pits. He cashed in on the driver’s pride and character. The virtual realm had given him a data which suggested that Terance never gave up on a fight and that was what happened just now.

Leo entered the Pit lane, and the crew was ready for him. They received him hot, refueled, changed tyres and Leo took a sip of water as well. All this happened within two seconds, and then Leo was off again.

The technicians went back inside the paddock and Lily walked over to them with eyes open wide. This was the first time she saw the technicians changing tyres and refueling the car in such a quick move. One of the technician was a female, and Lily walked over to her and asked, "Big Sister, do you guys work in Go-kart races as well?"

The lady shook her head and Lily sighed, "What a shame, I would missed out on a set of magicians for myself when I race in Karts."

The lady and the rest of the crew was surprised and Okun asked, "What do you mean by Magicians, Young Miss."

Lily smiled and replied, "You all can change those big tyres and give fuel and water to my Baba in one second, are you not magicians?"

The people were stunned, and they realized that Lily, despite all her wisdom was still a child and she was warm in nature as well. Snow saw this and said, "Lily, come over and look, Baba is about to take the lead."

Lily ran over to stand beside her near the monitor, and the commentator Doyle yelled, "And here it is folks, Leo Cardinal driving around the curve as P1 Dallas and P2 Terance go to make a pit stop. Would he be able to take the lead? Would he? My word the Dayton Team has finished the stop, and similarly Krux team has also done a good job. Dallas and Terance heading out of the Pitlane with the maximum speed they are allowed to carry, and here comes Cardinal, he is moving in to kill.

My word that was close and with the difference of tenth of a second, Leo Cardinal is now P1!"



Okun replied calmly in the headset, "Leo, we are P1."

Leo replied, "I know, let me focus."

As soon as he said this, he blinked, and with that his brain function seemed to have climbed like a steep spike. The young man took a deep breath and his shifting speed increased. His movements on the pedals were smooth and swift. With every turn he was increasing the gap between him and P2.

Commentator Doyle said, "Damn it, Barnes are you seeing what I am seeing?"

Barnes replied in his slightly heavier voice, "I sure do, it appears to me that Leo Cardinal is pushing the vehicle to its limits and leaving his competitors in the dust with every turn. This is magic, right before us, a guy who is supposed to write checks and sign files, is driving a beast of a car, and he is surpassing the modern drivers at there own game. Guess, the reason they call Montek the land of racing gods is not for nothing."

Doyle chuckled and said, "I wonder how the crew of Teams Krux and Dayton are feeling right now."

...

Leo didn’t care about anything else at the moment, he kept moving through the track like a machine, no mistakes at all, every turn, every break, he was moving closer and closer to the best time ever recorded on the lap, it was as if he was driving in a straight line.

Leo asked, "Okun, how is everything looking?"

Okun replied, "The brakes are holding, and the suspension is fine. You need to go a little easy on the shifts."

Leo asked, "Am I making bad shifts?"



Okun sighed and replied, "No, you are making the best shifts, even the computer is shocked at the data, however, the sensors are tell us that the stress is high."

Leo chuckled and as he made a right turn in the long straight he asked, "When you made these parts, did they go through a stress test?"

Okun nodded and he said, "Yes, they did. Why do you ask?"

Leo replied, "I am still below the stress test. Can you tell me how much gap I have with the rest?"

Okun replied calmly, "You have a ten seconds difference with Dallas, and eleven seconds with Terance. You are in the lead and can change tyres with ease."

Leo nodded and looked at the sky above him and said, "I can do one lap in these, before it rains."

Okun agreed and let him do what he wanted, Leo didn’t stop, he pushed the vehicle even harder, and after a lap, he smoothly entered the pitlane and put on a set of full wets, and it was the right choice, as he was driving out of the pitlane it began to rain again. Leo took advantage of the situation and he moved quickly. His speed was fast and his turns were sharper, however, this time, he was sliding through the track.

Dallas and Terance were still behind him by a lot and they could not catch up with the rain pouring down and the visibility turning to zero really quickly.

...

Leo moved through the track and changed tires when needed. The performance has led everyone feeling numb in their brains. After a couple of exhausting hours, the race came to end. The people were standing on their feet as they saw the Silver car rushing in towards the finish line.

However, ahead of the Silver car there was a pink car, it was the last car that stood in front of Leo, and he was about to lap it up when suddenly the rear tire of the car burst and the sudden shock caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle as it went crashing through the side wall.



Bang!

The crashed car moved through the finish line, and Leo crossed the finish line as well, it was unsure if he would be made the winner, but he saw that the driver was trapped inside the car, and the marshals were rushing in to help but they were still a few dozen meters away.

Leo moved his car to the side, pushed the brakes and he unmounted the steering before jumping out of the vehicle and dashing towards the crashed car at full speed. His actions shocked the people, they were all silent, and suddenly Barnes exclaimed, "This is unbelievable, Leo Cardinal is rushing over to help, Tyron Dix, the driver in the Mali Race Team."

...

Leo approached close to the crashed car, and he could hear the sirens of the safety vehicle, as he reached inside the cockpit and undid the seatbelts, and then he took out the steering, the driver had lost consciousness, but he was still holding onto the steering with all his might.

The young man pulled hard on the lead that connected the steering to the vehicle before undoing the seatbelts of the driver, and dragging him out of the vehicle and to the side of the track as the marshals rushed in to extinguish the sparks on the underbody of the car.

Leo moved back as the medics came over, and Okun said, "Leo, the last lap has been diminished, you might need to do it again."

Leo didn’t even hesitate and said, "Okun, I think that the purpose of the charity event has been achieved and while the racing association wants to continue, I will not listen to what they say. It is a charity event and not a capital maximizing show."

Okun understood too, and said, "Good call, mate, come back, everyone is waiting for you."

Leo chuckled and said, "Fine, the bill for the booze is on you."

...

Leo walked away from the race with his head held high, and a few reporters approached Dallas, the Dayton Team driver who won the race, and the young man replied, "It is commendable for what Mister Cardinal did. I would like to dedicate this win to him and the Spirit Of Racing. He is the true Speed King."