Chapter 214: Drive!
Leo's gaze pacified the people and he said, "Lily, don't judge the work of the technicians and engineers just because you watched some videos. Next year, we should get you in a go-kart and when you are older, compare the difference in these massive machines to understand how much hard work is being put into making the vehicles."
Lily nodded and said,"I apologize to you all."
Leo didn't want the people to say anything about his daughter but that didn't mean he would not teach her what was right. She was being ignorant when she was making the comment earlier, and thus teaching her was important. Carlos detected that the mood had calmed down, and Leo was introduced to all the big names, however, the young man didn't hesitate, and he talked with the mechanics and technicians who work on the car itself.
The conversations were fine trimmed and it surprised the people, they didn't expect this man to be such a fanatic that he would know every single thing they were doing. The constraint of time caused them to leave the conversation after appreciating the outline, but they understood that the new boss was anything but simple.
Leo went in the back room and changed into a racing suit. He came out looking dapper, and Lily patted Zeenat on her legs and said, "Click pictures. Sister Zee, be quick."
Zeenat was stunned but then she worked quickly and snapped several pictures of Leo, Lily skipped over to her father, and then jumped in his arms as she said coyly, "Baba, I also want a suit like this. Please."
Leo chuckled and said, "Fine, we will have one custom made for you, but you will get it on the next race."
Lily sighed but she nodded and smiled very quickly. The people who had thought she was a rude bear child discovered that she was a Father Fanatic, and the rest were plebs. Leo teased the little girl in his arms for a bit before handing her over to Zeenat and began to talk to the technicians to go over the essential and advanced functions of the buttons on his car steering.
After a few minutes, Leo got inside the vehicle, and a technician came over to carefully fasten the life protecting Halo on the top of the cockpit. Leo inspected the controls, and nodded to the pit chief who gestured for the mechanics to push the car out to the pit lane. The young man raised his head to look at the sky, when he heard a calm voice in his ears, "Leo, this is a radio check, can you hear me?"
Leo replied, "Crystal."
"Good check, the engine will be starting in a few minutes, take her out of the pit lane, keep her slow until you are clear and use the first lap to warm up the tires and the breaks."
Leo replied, "Roger that."
The young man sensed the car vibrate and he turned his head to his right and found Lily was looking at him with a nervous expression. Leo gave her a thumbs up and blew a kiss which caused her to smile and she returned the gestures and the car was put in gear as he drove her out slowly.
...
Zee was standing behind Lily who was sitting on a high chair with Carlos beside her, and they were watching a TV screen mounted on the wall. Leo was driving the car around the track and he was slow. Carlos frowned and Lily sensed it, she said, "Don't worry Mister Frederique, Baba is just feeling the car and the track."
The old man who was the pit chief for Leo couldn't help but turn to look at this little girl and asked, "Young Miss how do you know that he is just feeling the track and the car?"
Lily replied, "His braking and speed are consistent. The telemetry graph shows that section two had a better braking than section one, and section three is even better. His speed is getting up, which means he is ready."
As she was speaking Leo finished his first lap and then he stopped at the starting line and said, "Boss, give me a count?"
The old man pressed the button on the side of his headphone and said, "Ready, set, go!"
...
Leo heard the go command in his ears and he put the car into gear, and from the corner of his horizon line, he could see the gear shifting indicators and he used them to the best of his ability. His fingers flicked and gears changed.
He was approaching the first turn and he was on the sixth gear, then suddenly he braked hard, at the same time he shifted down to the second gear while turning. He used the curb to shorten his lap and after he released the brakes he began to accelerate and shifted gears quickly.
His speed shot up once again, the entire track was made through the city and had some really sharp turns but Leo drove around with ease, he was able to brake and accelerate at the almost right time. After the first two laps only, his speed increased and his response improved it was all on par with a professional race car driver.
The people inside the pit crew were shocked, even the old pit crew didn't know what to say, when suddenly he said, "Leo, box now, the qualifying round will be starting soon."
Leo replied, "Roger that, Okun."
He completed his lap and moved in the pit lane before he parked in front of his teams paddock. He looked at the side, and found everyone looking at him with a surprising gaze. He got out of the car, and the first person to greet him was of course, the piece of his heart, Lily. She came dashing to his side and hugged him tightly as she said, "You were so fast, they were all shocked."
Leo chuckled and said, "Mean little goblin."
After the test run, they waited and fine tuned the car for a few hours before the race officials told them that the qualifier round was about to start and they were alloted the slot Q3, which was equal to twelve minutes. The young man just waited silently and relaxed on the side, he played hand games with Lily and found that his daughter was so competitive that she was not willing to accept defeat.
The race was a telecasted world wide and many times his interaction were recorded and finally just before his qualifier, the cameraman captured how he was playing and pretending to be sad after losing and how Lily patted his back.
These two people didn't seem to be here for a competition, it seemed like a picnic. After a few minutes, Carlos approached Leo and said, "Sir, it's time."
Leo nodded and was about to stand up when Lily held his hand and beckoned him close. She leaned close and kissed his cheek, as she said, "Although you are good, but please be careful. I get worried when you make that high speed chicane."
Leo chuckled and then he embraced her in his arms before kissing her cheek and said, "I will be fine, Little goblin, let's go shopping after this."
Lily nodded and then the young man put on his gloves and got in the car. The cockpit was locked and after a few moments, he got the green signal and then noticed that they have given him wet tires, just when he was about to ask what was going on, he heard the clouds thunder as it began pouring.
He sighed and shook his head a little before driving out. The car killed the visibility and at this moment Okun heard Leo speaking, "Okun, can you give me a second count on how far the next turn is? I cannot see anything here."
Okun was surprised, he looked at the Telemetry and found that before the first turn, Leo had already gone flat out. He was shocked and he shivered, as he heard Leo say the same time again, and he said, "Three seconds, right."
He clenched his fists and was about to inform the officials that they would be retiring when Leo braked and made a turn. He entered the turn fast and moved through the rain as if a sword tearing through. Okun continued calling out the turns and that was the first lap. Leo suddenly said, "That's fine I can see now."
As he said this his speed increased even more. Qualifiers were simple, the best time you get in the slot arranged for you, the better position on the starting grid. Leo was good when it was dry, but now he had to deal with the understeer and the oversteer. However, this whole thing saved his brakes and the tires.
The best time on the track was one minute and fifty seconds, but Leo was doing a one minute and fifty nine seconds. He was akin to a spectre, and everyone was holding their breaths, because when it was his fifth lap, he came to One minute and fifty five seconds. Okun replied, "Leo congrats, we have secured P6 on the starting grid."