This novel is fictional; there is no need to look for intersections with historical events. This is a continuation of “Debutant” by Nikita Savelyev, the first readers of which were readers of F1News.ru…
Chapter 5. Zebra and its parts. Part three
An excerpt from a German sports weekly, an article entitled “We’ve been waiting!”:
“The long months of waiting for the first start of the new season are over. We left the tea leaves behind – finally we could check our predictions with our own eyes. It turned out: there are still the same heroes in the arena. Defending champion Sam Murphy, pilot of Crocus, easily won the right to be first on the starting field. His main competitor, Monetti leader Carlo Rinaldo, was placed in the second row – in fourth place.
But the expected duel for victory did not happen. Murphy was unreachable, brilliantly won the start, confidently controlled the entire race and took it to a well-deserved victory. At first I wanted to believe that Rinaldo would compete with him – the Italian quickly broke through to second place and even tried to overtake Murphy, but ignition problems forced him first to slow down and then to leave the race altogether.
Australian Michael Stanton made a good impression on the fans: in a car of his own design he quickly climbed to third place during the race, but reliability is not yet the strong point of his small team and he had to leave the race.
A newcomer to the Championship, Jeffrey Spencer, playing for Thomson, also attracted attention. Unexpectedly for everyone, he jumped to fifth place on the starting grid; in the race, after having problems with his rivals, he usually reached second place, but he overestimated his strength, made a mistake, touched one of the hay bales around the track and rolled back.
Well, the season has just started, there are still many stages ahead, interesting circuits and the main fight for the title of champion. And who will be the strongest: Murphy, Rinaldo or someone else – time will tell.”
All of the team’s belongings, every single tool and spare part, were diligently packed into boxes and containers under Edward’s watchful eye. The neatly folded wheels rested in the trailer along with their unfortunate car, which was carefully secured so it wouldn’t dangle. Now the team members were collecting things, and Henry, who had not bought any junk for himself, was hanging aimlessly in the garage.
In the race, Georges gradually managed to rise to eleventh place, demonstrating a steady pace, although not fast, when the gearbox failed him about halfway through the race. Here is the simple result. Henry’s dire predictions were confirmed. Here at least have an unlimited faith in success, even profess your love for the machine, even dance around it; the technology really doesn’t care.
As usual, the cheerful Edward, who had already recovered from the offensive failure, said:
– We go to Norwich this week, there will be a non-event race, we will compete – the result doesn’t matter. The main thing is to find out the problems, how it happened that the transmission broke during the race, but before everything went well.
“The engine is developing too much torque, the main load is falling on the box,” Adam grumbled. – Georges didn’t push that much during training, and this is the result. We will figure out how to solve this, using our strengths.
How to repair? What kind of people are you? Hendrik couldn’t stand it.
– I humbly apologize for my intervention, but why don’t we just change the brand of the engine? Not prohibited by regulations.
They were staring at Henry as if he had spouted utter nonsense or they had just noticed the presence of a stranger in their garage.
“But… we have a contract with Escort until the end of the season,” Edward said carefully, as if he were talking to a madman. “They commit to supplying us with a certain number of engines within a year.
– How many engines do you need? Five? Six? Will the amount of the fine really be that high? But with the new bike we can score points by getting into the top six and receiving prize money. Does it make sense to calculate the profit amount?
“Nonsense,” Georges snapped. – Pure fantasy. It’s strange to hear advice from someone who has little knowledge of our races. Take command in America.
After the failure of the offensive, Georges personified all the anger and sadness of the world.
– How can I cancel the contract? – Edward said thoughtfully. “I released him on parole.”
– Do you have good friends in Escort? – asked Henry.
– Suppose…
– Yes, I am an American and a foreigner, but my fresh perspective is enough – we will suffer from this design all season. Escort is a good engine, but not for our chassis,” Henry became indignant. – What if we negotiate with the babysitter Thomson used? With BGS?
Maybe Henry was imagining things, but Sandra looked at him approvingly.
“That’s possible, they’re happy to supply engines, if only they had the money,” Edward said thoughtfully. – But I wouldn’t want to ruin my relationship with Escort, we live in the same world.
“I found out: they sell engines to half the peloton, to large teams many times more than to us, it is unlikely that this will upset them much,” Henry became more and more confident.
In response, Georges snorted disdainfully.
– What do you think, Adam? – asked Mr. Baker.
“It’s hard to say,” the chief mechanic scratched his head vigorously. – It seems there is something in this… But Thomson will be bigger than us, and we will have to tinker – adapt the new engine to the old chassis, all the settings are already for the Escort, it will take a month or two , or even more.
“I believe this pointless discussion is over,” Georges said happily.
– Should we take another Thomson chassis, used to the BGS engine, but not yet adapted for the Escort? – Henry didn’t give up.
“Then that’s another matter,” Adam chuckled.
– Mr. Baker, can we buy a second chassis of the same type? – Henry asked hopefully.
“That’s possible, but what should we do with the old stuff, other than sell it at a loss?” Plus, you will have to spend the same amount as preparing the first car,” Baker said. – We don’t have that much money, I’m not a millionaire. It is not cheap to enter a race with one car. Thanks Henri for the suggestion. We will return to this idea another time in the new season. Guys, let’s get ready.
Georges grinned contemptuously, Sandra smiled sadly, Adam patted Henry on the shoulder:
“Your head is boiling, boy.” You see, with a combination like that, they wouldn’t look so helpless. I said a year ago, um…
– Stop! – exclaimed Henry. – How much does it cost to buy a chassis and engine?
“About a thousand pounds,” Baker shrugged.
– If I pay for the purchase, will you put up a second car?
– Do you have money? – Georges was genuinely surprised.
– Of course I did not leave abroad empty-handed.
-Who will drive? – asked Mr. Baker.
– Me of course.
– You?! – Georges grimaced.
– I have often said: I am a racer. Six years of continuous experience in American racing on all types of tracks. Where can you find a pilot when the season has already started?
“You’re a desperate guy,” Baker shook his head.
“I’m happy with a percentage of the money to get started,” Henry said. – Well, half the prize money for places in the top six, if I get there, same conditions as Georges.
“I don’t get a share of the starters,” the Frenchman was indignant.
“So you don’t pay for the participation of the car, and I am actually a co-owner,” Henry replied importantly.
– To wait! Previously there were three mechanics who maintained one car, but now there are only two left,” Georges still couldn’t calm down. – What about spare parts? The costs are not limited to the purchase of just the chassis.
“I can maintain my own car,” Henry snapped.
“We’ll help, there are plenty of spare parts,” Adam nodded.
“I like the idea,” Baker smiled warmly. – Really, why wait for the next season? Let’s experiment, we won’t lose anything, well, the costs will rise a little – nonsense. But two cars in the race means twice the chances. Well done, Henry, that’s what the American approach means. And you are a valuable asset!
Henry caught Sandra’s expression again; she didn’t say a word and watched the discussion with some amazement. Not to say she was radiant like her husband, but the warmth in her gaze grew incomparably greater.
Where are you going?! Did you want to show off in front of the woman? Suddenly the cynical second self woke up. Do you invest your only money in losers, artisans? One accident and the car is destroyed, and with it all your hopes. Do you want to travel the world? Begging for alms? What kind of racer are you, someone laughs. What six years are you talking about? I forgot that I haven’t ridden in three years, what are my chances on unknown European circuits?! Until you pay the money, it is wiser to run away quietly. Come to your senses, there is time!
No, the decision has been made, and whatever happens, Henry thought cheerfully to himself. At twenty-five, it’s not too late to get back to doing what you love. In life, like the skin of an African zebra, there are black and white stripes. What if it was finally time for Henry to be white? It’s good to. The most important thing is that you don’t let these stripes slide up your butt.
== To be continued…
Source: F1 News

I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.