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It all happened in an instant and yet so slowly. As Jason was trying to get around a car he didn’t see Alejandro behind him and swerved to the left. But Alejandro was already starting to pass him on the outside, so Jason turned into him, slamming his front wing into the side of Alejandro’s car. Alejandro jerked his car wide and managed to avoid any debris coming off of Jason’s car, but Jason himself wasn’t so lucky.
“Oh and the two cars from Smith Racing have tangled! It looks like Alejandro Rodriguez has managed to squeak through, though even if he doesn’t have a puncture he has certainly lost places. And Jason’s front wing is dragging!” came the commentator over the television.
I toggled my headset so that I could hear the drivers. “I’ve got damage! I’ve got damage!” came Jason’s voice.
“We see that, mate,” said his engineer. “You’ll need to box this next lap.”
“Damn it! I didn’t even see him. Where did he come from?”
On Alejandro’s feed the chatter was just as distressed. “What the fuck, man. What was he thinking?” said Alejandro.
“We’re looking into it.” said his engineer. “Car feel ok?”
“Yes. Everything feels ok. That was so fucking dangerous.”
“We know. Just put your head down and keep going. You have the pace.”
I looked across the garage to see Jason pulling in to get a new front wing. He was able to finish the race but came in last. Well, P18, because other cars had to retire early due to mechanical failures. So technically he moved up a place. But it was not good. Alejandro finished in P15 and was fuming. He refused to talk to anyone and just stormed straight back into his changing room and slammed the door.
Shit.I thought. This is going to be bad.
Chapter Ten
Iwas right. It wasbad.
The media picked up the crash and showed it next to footage of Alejandro storming out. The coverage was all about how the tension between drivers at Smith Racing was spilling over into the racing, which was not only bad for the team, but if it escalated, would put even more drivers in danger. We needed to fix things and we needed to fix them now.
The drive back to the hotel was silent and full of tension. In the interest of keeping the peace I got in the back next to Alejandro and sent Jason to the front passenger seat. Quietly I looked over at Alejandro and mouthed “are you ok?” He just shook his head angrily and looked out the window. I started to put my hand on his next to me and then stopped. Would that be too forward? As I deliberated, my hand hovering over his, he made the decision for me, putting his right hand over mine and sandwiching it with his left beneath. After a quick squeeze he took both hands back.
I guessed that meant we were ok?
We arrived back at the hotel and navigated the busy lobby as quickly as possible. Both guys smiled and thanked fans who came over to say hello until we finally got to the elevator. After getting off at our floor we walked to the room, filing in in a continued hostile silence. As soon as the door closed both men exploded.
“What the fuck were you thinking, man” yelled Jason.
“Me?” Alejandro asked incredulously. “You are the idiot who decided to turn into me when I was passing you. Do they not teach you to use rear view mirrors in America?”
