THE RACE

It’s the anticipation that makes it all worth while; the knowledge that once the race starts it’s all down to acceleration and focus. We’re both lined up at the starting line, side by side but we don’t look at each other, there’s no point really, I mean it’s not like we care, we’re not brothers, more enemies and we each want to win.
My heart beats heavily in my chest as my breathing increase under the helmet, any second now and we’ll be off and I grip the steering wheel as I wait for the signal to go, seconds pass that feel like minutes but suddenly it’s time and we accelerate away, the track’s a blur around me as I bring up the rear, cursing to myself at the speed he started.
He’s only a few precious seconds ahead of me, but precious seconds can make the difference between winning and losing and I grin as the car accelerate beneath me as I’m catching up, one precious second at a time.
As the first lap ends I’m less than half a second behind. I jerk as I take the hair pin, feeling the wheels as they protest at the friction and I stop breathing for a second as I wait for the wheels to grab hold again. Then the first chicane comes into view and I feel the car jump as the acceleration kicks in once more, but I realise to late the penalty for speed over focus and my back end spins free and flips me.
The world slows and I can feel myself tumbling over and over, the track flashing passed me as my car impacts into the ground with jaw dropping speed…

I don’t move. I just sit still while I wait to be rescued feeling elated that I survived again. Each time it happens I thank whatever God is watching that I made it. I’ve seen so many others that never race again that I eventually gave up trying to remember their faces, no, it’s best to just wait for help.
I feel the car lifted, and the track comes into view again as the hand lowers me back to the track, slotting the front of my car into the runners. It’s the anticipation that makes it all worth while, and to be honest, anything’s better than being left in the box.