The following lap Jayden slowed down again.
"I knew it would not be easy but I never expected it to be that hard! It felt like I could lose control any second. So that's what it means to do a real qualifying lap and really pushing the limits. If I am able to control the slide without having to make corrections I will surely be a lot faster!" He thought.
He would try again later but for now, he was going to drive the way he liked best, smooth. Slowly he started to increase his pace again. Braking where he knew the kart would stop without locking the tires, turning when the front and rear had sufficient grip to not start sliding and accelerating when the kart was stable so he would not spin-up the rear tires or worse even spin out. This was his preferred style. He felt comfortable driving like this and it showed. he had already gone faster than his previous fastest lap after only 4 laps. His time was now at a 1:05.8 and he was improving again on this lap. He was starting to get into a rhythm and kept pushing further. Braking later, turning in earlier and applying the throttle earlier and harder loving every second of it.
Uncle Anthony was confused. "How can he be faster now? It looks a lot slower than before right" he said. "That's because he is driving within the limits of grip now. He knows how the kart will react when he is pushing so he is keeping his inputs as smooth as possible. If you look closely you can see that he only has to steer once and no corrections are needed. The same with braking and accelerating. He is not locking the front tires when braking and he only applies the throttle when he is sure the rear wheels won't lose traction. It's a very impressive style for a young racing driver actually. He must have a natural feel for where the grip is knowing exactly how much he can push." the older man said. He was paying a lot more attention to Jayden now compared to when he first saw him driving. It reminded him of amazing F1 drivers like Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost, and Jenson Button. All of them world champions in their era. Not that he thought Jayden was as good as any of these drivers! Just that their driving style was very similar.
"Do you think he could be good enough to start racing karts with people his age?" uncle Anthony asked. He had made sure to record all of the man's comments. He would ask him if he could post some of them online when he made a video for Jayden later. "If this is as fast as he can go I would advise against it. Although his driving style is special among those his age what he needs now is speed. Most drivers can learn to drive smooth to a certain degree. Its harder to teach someone to drive fast on the limit. It takes a lot of talent and a lot of training!" he said. Anthony looked back over to the track spotting Jayden driving the number 27 kart. "I hope you can improve Jayden. Otherwise, this was all for nothing!"
Jayden had now been driving for almost 30 minutes and was starting to get tired. "I'll try to improve like this for 2 more laps than go back in the pits to rest," He thought. Exciting the final corner he focused all his attention on his senses. His sight to look for the ideal braking spot. His ears to hear the engine note of his and other karts around him. His hands on the steering wheel to feel what the front tires were doing and finally his bum. A lot of the information he received from the kart came through his bum. The sensation of the kart going over bumps. Knowing when the kart was about to start sliding and how the kart reacted in general. All of this information cam trough his rear end and Jayden had always used this information to drive smoothly. He used all the grip he had and managed to improve to a 1:02.2 and then even a 1:01.9. He felt there was a bit more he could improve so starting one more lap the engine started cutting out. His kart ran out of fuel.
The marshal waved the yellow flag to warn the other drivers that a kart had stopped on track. Meanwhile, another marshal was pushing Jayden's kart to the pits. When they arrived in the pits Jayden got out. He took off his helmet his tanned skin was covered in sweat and his blond curly hair was stuck to his face. It was obvious he was tired but what stood out the most was his smile. It was easy for all to see how happy he was.
His uncle came over and pointed the camera at him. "How are you feeling Jayden? You were very impressive out there" he asked. Jayden did not know how to react with the camera so close to his face. "I think it went good? I wasn't finished yet but the kart ran out of fuel," he answered, the smile still plastered on his face. "You look like you were having fun. Do you think you can still improve your time?" uncle Anthony asked. While this was happening the old man also came over. He was curious about the young child that could drive this fast after not being in a kart for 2 years. He wanted to know what Jayden's answer would be. Looking confused at the arrival of the older man Jayden still answered his uncle." I planned to go as fast as possible driving as I usually do first then push for really fast laps like they do in qualifying sessions. When I go back out ill try to drive fast by having the kart slide a bit at the rear when cornering. This should improve my corner entry and exit speed making my overall lap-time faster!"
"You will need new tires for that!" The old man responded to Jayden. "Even though your smooth driving style doesn't wear out the tires a lot you did almost 25 laps. Trying to go for a really fast time on old tires won't work!" Jayden looked at the old man confused. He could not understand why this man suddenly started talking to him so he looked to his uncle for support. "We won't be renting new tires today. Renting al the kart and this set of tires was already expensive and adding a new set would be too much for me." Uncle Anthony said. He was not planning on spending more money. Although Jayden's times had been improving he was still 2 seconds off a lap time under the 1 minute. "He won't improve enough to justify paying for those tires," he thought.
Anthony was not being cheap. He had paid for the whole trip and rented everything Jayden needed. To him, it just proved that Jayden did not have the skill he needed to really shine as a racing driver. He would let him drive the rest of the session and that would be the end of it.
Jayden was a bit sad that he would not be getting new tires but did not think it would be such a big deal. He would just go out again after he rested a bit and try to gain some insights on how to best drive a kart when setting really fast laps.
"I'll pay for the tires!"The old man said. "After you have rested a bit you can first start practicing on the old set of tires and when you're confident you can really push you can come in for a new set" He concluded.
"Why would you do that? There is no reason why you would want to pay for someone you don't know!"Uncle Anthony said looking surprised. "Because I think this kid has potential and I want to see how far he can go! And don't worry about the payment. As the owner of this track, I'm sure they won't charge me!" The old man said with a chuckle. This shocked Jayden and uncle Anthony. They both looked at the man before Anthony could not help but ask him a question. "You own this track? I'm sorry if I'm being rude but what is your name? You look very familiar!" he said. "No problem I thought you might have recognized me when you came over before but I guess it's been a while since I've last been on TV. My name is Jan Lammers and I am quite an experienced racer ill have you know.
Jayden and Anthony stared at him with their mouths wide open. This was Jan Lammers. F1 driver, Lemans 24 hours winner, and manager of F1 circuit Zandvoort.
Anthony's mind started working in high gear after he heard this. If he could get him to show some interest in Jayden that would be a great boost for him.
"Now this is interesting!" He thought. If Jan Lammers thinks Jayden has potential I'm going to have to put in a lot more effort.