FP1 & 2: Bone Tired

Hunt woke to the sound of the alarm clock ringing. He slowly sat up from his bed and picked up the alarm clock.

His eyes widened as he read the time that was displayed on the alarm clock. 12:48 AM. He had 45 minutes to get ready for FP1

After getting ready himself, he went down the hallway to wake the others. He knocked on all of their doors before shouting "Hurry up! We're running late!"

This resulted in a flurry of movement as the others scrambled to get ready. While they were readying up, Hunt had gone downstairs to make them breakfast...or was it brunch? The meal consisted of scrambled eggs and a sandwich.

The 4 quickly ate their breakfast before piling into the Jaguar the Hunt was loaned by the team.

The drive was a drive in silence. As they arrived at the track they each went their separate ways.

"So." George began "Ya think were late??"

"Probably." Hunt replied. "It's 1:20 already."

As the duo entered their garage, their engineers were mad at them.

"It's 2PM! Where the hell have you two been?!" Mark shouted

"Uhh..." Hunt started "We kinda overslept and missed our alarms"

"Whatever. Just get into your overalls and get ready."

-_-_- Hunt's POV -_-_-

As Hunt climbed into his car, his engineer came over the radio.

Mark: Radio check. Can you hear me?

Hunt: Yea, loud and clear.

Mark: Copy

Mark: Ok so since you have never driven this circuit before, the goal for this session is just for track acclimatization, we know you have never seen this track before so we're giving you this time for you to get used to the track. You are good to go.

Hunt: Ok

The tire blankets were removed from his car and his car was lowered from the jack. Once given the signal, he peeled out of his garage and into the pitlane. His push laps were immediately met with incidents. One of which was when Hunt was going through the fast Turns 7 and 8, Hunt's car had a rather violent moment of oversteer, dropping the rear end and sending the car sliding backward into the runoff area.

Hunt: **** that scared the hell outta me. Tires are definitely flat spotted

However, after the team sorted out his issues he was able to set a decent lap in the dying moments of FP1, landing him P15 His teammate—a more seasoned driver—was also driving laps placed P8.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Intermission

-_-_-_-_-_-

Hunt climbed out of his car thoroughly exhausted.

'Man the circuit is tiring. All the high-speed corners are gonna kill my neck,' He thought.

"Hey," His teammate George said behind him causing him to jump.

"AH!" He cried "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I wasn't sneaking, you were just unaware." He replied cheekily.

Hunt rolled his eyes at his teammate. "So, what did you need?"

"Just wanted to know how you feel after your first outing here," George asked

"This circuit is so taxing, all the high-speed corners take such a toll on my neck," Hunt replied

"Yea, I saw your little spin out of 7. What happened there?"

"I just turned in and the car just went. Not much I could do there. Scared the s*** outta me though," Hunt replied.

"Hey, we gotta get going, FP2's gonna start soon, can't be late twice in one day can we?"

And with that, the two walked off to their Jaguar garage.

-_-_-_-_-_-

FP2

-_-_-_-_-_-

As the afternoon rolled around and the drivers returned to their respective pits, FP2 officially started. Jaguar had a lot on their plate this weekend, with both drivers late to FP1, getting their drivers comfortable with their rides was essential to getting good results this weekend.

(From now on everything will be in Hunt's POV unless said otherwise)

"Hunt." His engineer called before gesturing for him to come closer. "Looking at the data, you're going significantly slower compared to your teammate going through the faster corners. Why is that?"

"I'm just having trouble building confidence in the car. The half spin earlier didn't really help either." Hunt replied.

"Ok. So for the next 3-4 laps, I want you to go slowly go faster through the fast corners. That should help build confidence in the car."

"Alright"

And with that, the session started for Hunt. As his engineer has previously stated, his first goal was to build confidence in his ride. And build confidence he did, just after his first few laps, he was already going significantly faster through the corners and was closing on his teammate on speed.

Mark: Ok. Seems like you've sorted out your confidence issues. Time to get cracking. The next goal is to perfect the turn in. Take a few laps, during the slow to mid speed corners, get a feel for the car and give us feedback on what to change.

Hunt: Copy

Hunt took a few laps to get a feel for the slower corners and after he took his laps he radioed his team.

Hunt: A bit of understeer into the corners, I'm happy with the exits where they are now.

Mark: How do you want your car? Most drivers prefer a more planted rear end.

Hunt: I liked the floaty nature of the F2 car, lets be unconventional and try an less planted rear but a more planted front.

Mark: Alright, box in this lap.

After a quick setup adjustment Hunt was sent out to test it. After a few laps to adjust to the new feeling, he was able to get a good feel for the car and reported back to the team.

Hunt: Car feels good, how's straight line speed?

Mark: We are currently 12th in the speed trap, our teammate Russell is 10th.

Hunt: Copy.

After setting a few laps with the new setup, Hunt and George finished the eventful session in P9 and P8 respectively.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Post FP2

-_-_-_-_-_-

"Hey" Mark said, tapping Hunt on the shoulder. "Good work out there today, crushed it."

"Thanks," He relied. "Looking forward to tomorrow. Qualifying is where it counts."

"Yep. By the way, we're having a team dinner today, 7PM at that restaurant down the block."

"Alright, I'll see you there."

Hunt got backed into his hotel, and took a quick shower before changing into a fresh set of team apparel before heading to the restaurant.

As he walked in, he was George waved him over to his table. "Come on lad! Saved you a seat!"

"Thanks" Hunt replied.

"So. How was your day here?" George asked.

"It was ok I guess, wasn't as productive as I wanted it to be. But we still got a lot done today."

"Hey, lighten up, it always takes time to get used to a new circuit, you have to be patient."

"Sure I guess."

Even though as a rookie he expected to be slower then his more seasoned teammate, he couldn't help but feel disappointed that he had been bested by his teammate at almost every turn (figuratively).

As their food arrived, everyone split into their own conversations. Hunt however, slowly drifted off in thought.

"iam? Earth to William? You there?" George asked.

"Hm?" Hunt said. "Sorry zoned out for a sec"

"It's ok, I was asking you about your setup. I heard that you told them to make it oversteer more. Why is that?"

"I felt more comfortable in F2 and wanted to replicate that feeling. I mean, it worked out in the end didn't it?"

"Sure, I just thought it was a weird thing to do at a fast circuit."

As dinner wore on, and everyone gradually finished their meals, they slowly paid their part and left the restaurant.

"I'm gonna head back to the hotel, See you tomorrow George." Hunt said before leaving.

"See you tomorrow!"

When Hunt returned to his hotel, he sat down for a minute to reflect upon his day. Today was by far his most hectic day, from a late wake up to adapting to a new track, today really was a day to remember for him.

Eyeing the alarm clock, he decided he wanted to head to bed early and get some sleep for tomorrows night quals. As brushed his teeth and changed into his sleepwear, he decided was the big day. Tomorrow would be the day that he would finally finish ahead of his teammate. Tomorrow would be the day that his name would place high then his teammates, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.