That explains the old haircut. “I also run simulations in my free time. Um, eRacing?”
Hector pauses his clicking and finally looks up. “When was the last time you ran a lap around Austria?”
“Last night.” How much information is too much? “I was uh, frustrated. I ran the whole length—all 71 laps. Plus Qualifying, I guess.”
The race engineer laughs on an exhale and finally relaxes. “Oh, thank God. There’s a chance for you after all.”
As he whips the car into the queue, Julien repeats numbers and historical data in his head. He slows to a stop behind the other Ferraro and studies Rafael's rear wing.
Hector assured him that no one will be upset if Julien doesn’t perform well on a track he didn’t get to practice for. The garage just wants the car back in one piece.
But that’s not good enough. If Rafael thinks reserve drivers are second-class citizens, Julien can’t throw away an opportunity to prove him wrong.
After Rafael pulls away, Julien knocks his helmet against the headrest, tapping it for good luck. He stretches his fingers and waits a few seconds before he eases on the throttle and starts his out-lap.
Almost immediately, Hector is in his ear.“How does it feel?”
“Let me turn a corner first.”
There doesn’t seem to be any oversteer through turn one, but the out-lap is much slower than race pace. Julien pushes a little harder through the straight and activates the radio before approaching the sharper turn three.
“I’m going to test for oversteer. Don’t be alarmed.”
“Understood.”
The car is definitely more sensitive than Rafael’s. Julien practically drifts as he slides through the turn.
Oof, that’s got some power to it.
“Thank you for the warning. I would have been alarmed.”
Julien smirks. “Wait ‘til I get to the hairpin.”
“Please try to keep flat spots to a minimum.”
“Copy.”
Julien hurriedly shifts down and swings wide through the hairpin. Too wide. He curses as he wrestles the car back onto the race line.
Despite his taunt, Julien is well-aware he has a limited time to learn both the car and the track.
It’s harder to find the limits during an out-lap, but he focuses on the grip of the tires, the sensitivity of the steering, and the power of the brakes.
It would’ve been so much better if he got to practice first.
That doesn’t help anyone. Confidence is everything. Julien needs to beconfidentthat he can do this.
Of course he can. Julien has qualified six times this year—seven if he counts the sprint—and he made it through to Q3 each time. It’s the best Qualifying record of anyone on the grid.
And this track? He drove it seventy-four times last night. That’s more laps than physically possible in Free Practice. Julien’smoreprepared than everyone else is, really.
He has to succeed. He’s in aFerraro, for crying out loud. He belongs on the top step.
When Julien spots the start-finish line, his arm hairs stand on end, sending a shudder down his skin as he accelerates.
The car is much more sensitive at high speed, and Julien drifts through turn three again. Part of him wants to enjoy it, but another, more logical, part of himself understands that every oversteer is time lost.
“Sorry.”
