"let's get going Jayden! If we don't leave now well be late!"
"I'm coming dad give me a second. I can't find my shoes!" Jayden replied.
"Everything is already packed just go!" mom said.
Jayden was panicking! Today he was going for a test session. Today will decide if he will get a chance to race this karting season!
"Just calm down Jayden and let's go," dad said.
After getting everything in the car dad and Jayden were ready to leave.
Mom Lyssa and Damian were standing at the door to watch them leave.
Lyssa was still not happy. She had the feeling that everything in the house was resolved about Jayden and his karting. But the fact that her little brother was chasing his dreams was giving her mixed feelings.
"What do I want to do? What are my dreams?" she thought. She did not continue to watch them leave and went back into the house.
Damian and mom waited outside until the car left. "He's going to great mom don't worry," Damian said this because he saw that his mom was getting teary-eyed. "I know. I just can't believe how fast he's growing up" she said sniffling. "Oh great now she's going to be emotional the rest of the day," he thought.
Not willing to keep his sniffling mom company any longer he also went inside.
Mom was now standing there alone. The car had long left. She just wanted to stay outside and reminisce about her son who was now really going after his dream.
"Do your best Jayden!" she thought and then also turned around to go back into her house.
In the car, Jayden was really active. Twisting in his seat and playing with the air vents in front of him.
"Please calm down. It's a 50-minute ride. I would like to get there with the car in one piece" dad said.
"I cant dad I'm really nervous. What if I'm not good enough? Or if I make a mistake? Will we have to pay for damages? Are there things I should not do or say?" Jayden had so many questions and fired them all at his father one after another.
"Don't worry. You know today is not just about speed. Listen to what they say and follow the rules. And don't think about accidents, please!! Your mom will shut this whole thing down if anything happens to you."
Jayden smiled thinking about his mom. This relieved the tension a bit and the rest of the rid he was a lot calmer.
"50 minutes later"
Dad got Jaydens stuff out of the car and then they both went to the building. They could hear the sounds of the engines clearly. While being close to a track seemed to calm Jayden down his dad was starting to feel the pressure. Would Jayden be oke here? Looking at his son he knew he was worried for no reason. "I should have known. He always feels at home when he's at the track" dad thought.
"Let's go in dad," Jayden said.
Going inside they found out they were not the first to arrive. Children and parents were walking around, speaking with each other and looking around excited.
"it seems a lot of these people know each other." dad thought.
Feeling a bit out of place Jayden and his dad went to a somewhat less crowded area and sat down.
They were a bit early so Jayden looked around to see who he would be racing with today.
He was surprised to see that there were a lot of girls here too. Almost half of the children were girls. He always thought that girls had no interest in karting.
Jayden could not be blamed thinking like this. The track he would always kart at was not visited by a lot of girls so he thought that they were not that interested in racing in general.
"checking out the competition," Dad said with a grin.
Just as Jayden wanted to reply 2 older men came into the room.
"Good morning and welcome everyone. My name is Melvin and this is Luke. We will be your instructors for today. I hope we will have a constructive and friendly day here together."
Luke now came forward and said "now that the introductions are done please follow me so we can first check if you all of you have been properly registered. After that has been done we will follow up with the briefing. There we will inform you what is expected of you today and what we are looking for"
Everyone got up and followed Melvin and luke into the next room. There, waiting for them was a teenage boy looking at them with a bored look. "This is Xander, he will check if your registrations are in order and will also be in charge of your racing gear. He is interning here today as he is studying for an engineering degree" Luke introduced Xander with a smile. "Don't think you can fool him because he is younger than us! He has a lot of experience dealing with people since he has been coming here for 7 years now. He knows everything there is to know about the karts and track so you should do your best to stay on his good side"
They all lined up in a somewhat orderly queue and handed over there papers to Xander. After everyone had their forms checked Xander gestured them to follow him. "First you will have to get out of those clothes and put on your racing suit, shoes, gloves and helmet. If you have your own put them on and come back here so I can check them. If you don't we will supply you with gear for your size so don't worry"
Jayden looked around and saw that about half of the children had their own full racing gear. He did notice that almost everyone had their own shoes and gloves. Only one other boy beside him had nothing with him. "At least I'm not the only one," Jayden thought.
The kids that did not have a full set of racing gear went with Xander to get the rest and got dressed in the changing rooms. After this Xander checked everyone one by one if they were wearing everything properly. "Always check your gear before you start driving! You never know when an accident can happen and your gear is there to protect you. Don't neglect this part and regret it later!" he said. "Now you can go outside. Melvin and Luke will be waiting for you there!"
Jayden followed the group outside. He was already feeling like a real racer in his dark green racing suit. His gloves and shoes were matching in colors. Only his helmet which he held under his arm was white.
Outside he could see and hear that there was another group on track. He only needed a quick glance at one of them to see that those karts were a lot faster than what he was used to driving.
His mouth got a bit dry seeing the speed they were going around the track.
A girl who was standing next to him saw what he was looking at and noticed the tension on his face. She chuckled then said."Its no use looking at them! They are driving a whole different class of kart then the one that we will be driving. You need to be at least 12 years old to drive one of those!"
Jayden sighed in relief. Looking closer at the girl he noticed that she was almost a full head taller than him. He summoned his courage and extended his hand. "Hi my name is Jayden and I'm 8 years old. This is my first time on a real karting track so I don't know the difference between the classes yet"
She shook his hand and introduced herself as well. "Hi, Jayden, nice to meet you. My name is Octavia and I'm 10 years old. My dad is a professional racing driver and I want to be one too!"
Jayden was looking at her with stars in his eyes from excitement. Here was a girl who knew a real racing driver. Something he wanted to become as well. Just as he was about to bombard her with questions Melvin called them to attention.
"I'm going to try and keep it!" simple he said
"This session will be split into 3 parts. First of all, you will get 15 minutes to get used to the kart and the track. Those that brought their own karts have an advantage here because the won't have to get used to there machinery. Their Karts will be checked to see if they conform to regulations though.
If you are renting a kart this part of the session is very important because you have to get used to your kart and learn the track. Don't think this is unfair though! A racing driver has to be able to adapt to situations like these all the time. If you can't do this it's best to quit now."
A few kids were about to argue that this wasn't fair but when the heard the last sentence the kept quiet. No way the would quit before even trying.
"The second part of the session will be 20 minutes. This part will be to check your consistency. How close can you drive to your limit while keeping a steady lap-time? As a racing driver, it's not just about how fast you can go, but how long you can keep up a certain level of speed without making mistakes. So consistency is key in the second part of the session!"
" The last part of the session will be 15 minutes long. Here you will try to complete a lap in the fastest time possible. Although being the fastest over one lap does not always help you win races its always better to be faster. Think about starting further up in a race to avoid crashes behind. Or starting first on a track where it's hard to overtake. You can guess the advantage right? Starting ahead will also allow you to drive at your own pace. Not being held up by slower cars ahead of you!"
Jayden nodded hearing this. He never liked starting behind someone because he could not drive in his usual smooth style due to having to overtake the one in front.
"Finally I want you all to pay close attention to the marshals. They will inform you when you are allowed on track. When you have to get off and when there are incidents. Do any off you need an explanation regarding the flags and what the mean? If you do raise your hand!" Melvin asked.
"Seeing no hands raised Melvin continued. Be careful of your surroundings and other drivers. Let those who are faster past and drive at your own pace. And finally, No crashing! I want you all to have a good day and return home safely when we're done. If you all understood this go to Luke and Xander to get a kart assigned to you and if you brought your own bring them over to me for inspection!"
Jayden went over to Luke while Octavia went to her dad who had brought her kart over. They were waiting in line to have theirs inspected.
The line for rented karts was longer than expected. Jayden felt a lot better knowing this and waited his turn.
After a few minutes, Luke assigned Jayden kart number 99. He helped him put on his helmet and adjusted his seat so he could reach the pedals without overreaching.
"Do you have any experience in a kart like this?"Luke asked.
Jayden shook his head in response.
Luke did not seem to really care about this and just said. "take it easy the first few laps to get used to the power and steering. Also, don't bump into other cars the tires might hook into each other and you will be launched in the air!"
This remark made Jayden a bit nervous but he forgot all about it when Luke fired up his kart.
He could feel the engine noise through his body.
Luke pointed at the kart in front of him in the queue and motioned for Jayden to line up behind him at the pit exit.
Jayden lightly pressed the throttle and his kart jolted forward. He just managed to stop before hitting the boy in front of him.
Luke looked over and shook his head disapprovingly.
After everyone was seated and lined up at the pit exit Luke, Melvin and Xander gave each other the thumbs up.
The preparations where complete. Time to start the session.