Read Online Hover Car Racer by Matthew Reilly - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Matthew Reilly
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pit or not to pit?
To not pit - while the other two cars did - would allow him to catch up and even overshoot them. It was a daring move, and something Wong and Washington certainly wouldn’t expect.
It was also not altogether unprecedented: some of the greatest come-from-behind wins on the Pro Circuit had come from drivers who had audaciously skipped their last pit stop.
But the trade-off was lower-powered magneto drives. Could Jason complete the last two laps on ever-diminishing drives? If he drove perfectly - absolutely perfectly - maybe he could.
‘Let’s do it,’ he said to the Bug when he turned onto the home straight and saw both Wong and Washington predictably enter the pits.
So Jason gunned it - and shot past the entry to Pit Lane.
Wong and Washington both snapped round at the sound of the Argonaut booming away up the straight.
Jason drove hard.
He had two laps to complete and every second he made while the other racers were stopped in the pits was a second he had up his sleeve.
Up the coast he went, then banking left, cutting across the island.
The others finished their pit stops, blasted back out onto the course - in hot pursuit.
Jason urged the Argonaut on.
The other two cars closed the gap. But this course wasn’t as tight as some of the other tracks and hence wasn’t as brutal on magneto drives. Wong and Washington weren’t catching up all that quickly.
The Bug told him their magneto drives were down to 15%.
‘We can make it,’ Jason replied.
The Argonaut hit the western coast, shot down the shoreline. Zoomed round the southern tip of the island, then pointed north and once again saw the home straight.
Shoom! It whipped across the Start-Finish Line.
‘One lap to go,’ Jason said.
‘ Come on, Jason …’ Sally McDuff’s voice said in his earpiece.
Wong and Washington’s cars blasted across the StartFinish Line, gaining on Jason like a couple of hungry sharks.
The gap was ten seconds and closing.
Cutting left across the island.
Nine seconds.
The Argonaut was becoming very slippery.
Its mags were running at 10%, the Bug reported.
‘ Jason, conserve your mags! Use your thrusters more! ‘ Sally said over the radio.
‘We’re okay!’ Jason said. ‘We’ve just gotta hold out for half a lap!’
Across the top of the dam.
8%
He took the left-hander onto the western coast more gently, losing more time.
4%
Wong and Washington were close behind him now -
2%
The final stretch was a long ‘sweeper’ round the southern coastal cliffs of Tasmania and not too tough on mags and Jason managed to stay out in front.
Then he hit the final left-hander and…
…slowed.
0.4%…0.2%…0.0%
‘No!’ he yelled.
He received no response when he pushed forward on his collective.
Wong and Washington whooshed by the Argonaut , rocketing away up the home straight, disappearing into the distance, becoming specks.
Wong would cross the line first, winning by 0.3 of a second.
Jason punched his steering wheel. ‘Damn it! Shit! ’
He engaged his emergency power reserves to guide the Argonaut up the straight and limp over the Start-Finish Line, pounded by the pouring rain.
Upon returning to the pits, wet and soaking, he found Wong’s team dancing in jubilation. Washington’s team was also happy to have finished so strongly.
And Scott Syracuse was just standing there, shaking his head.
‘Mr Chaser. Mr Chaser. A bold move. But also a very stupid one. In over two thousand official hover car races at this school, only ten have ever been won by racers who skipped their last pit stop. That’s a success rate of 0.005%. It might look audacious when you see Alessandro Romba do it on television but statistically, skipping your last stop is a foolish tactic. Please don’t do it again whilst you are under my tutelage, lest someone think I actually encourage such folly.
‘Mr Wong, good racing. Exceptional pit work on the part of your Mech Chief. Mr Washington, your cornering needs work,
To not pit - while the other two cars did - would allow him to catch up and even overshoot them. It was a daring move, and something Wong and Washington certainly wouldn’t expect.
It was also not altogether unprecedented: some of the greatest come-from-behind wins on the Pro Circuit had come from drivers who had audaciously skipped their last pit stop.
But the trade-off was lower-powered magneto drives. Could Jason complete the last two laps on ever-diminishing drives? If he drove perfectly - absolutely perfectly - maybe he could.
‘Let’s do it,’ he said to the Bug when he turned onto the home straight and saw both Wong and Washington predictably enter the pits.
So Jason gunned it - and shot past the entry to Pit Lane.
Wong and Washington both snapped round at the sound of the Argonaut booming away up the straight.
Jason drove hard.
He had two laps to complete and every second he made while the other racers were stopped in the pits was a second he had up his sleeve.
Up the coast he went, then banking left, cutting across the island.
The others finished their pit stops, blasted back out onto the course - in hot pursuit.
Jason urged the Argonaut on.
The other two cars closed the gap. But this course wasn’t as tight as some of the other tracks and hence wasn’t as brutal on magneto drives. Wong and Washington weren’t catching up all that quickly.
The Bug told him their magneto drives were down to 15%.
‘We can make it,’ Jason replied.
The Argonaut hit the western coast, shot down the shoreline. Zoomed round the southern tip of the island, then pointed north and once again saw the home straight.
Shoom! It whipped across the Start-Finish Line.
‘One lap to go,’ Jason said.
‘ Come on, Jason …’ Sally McDuff’s voice said in his earpiece.
Wong and Washington’s cars blasted across the StartFinish Line, gaining on Jason like a couple of hungry sharks.
The gap was ten seconds and closing.
Cutting left across the island.
Nine seconds.
The Argonaut was becoming very slippery.
Its mags were running at 10%, the Bug reported.
‘ Jason, conserve your mags! Use your thrusters more! ‘ Sally said over the radio.
‘We’re okay!’ Jason said. ‘We’ve just gotta hold out for half a lap!’
Across the top of the dam.
8%
He took the left-hander onto the western coast more gently, losing more time.
4%
Wong and Washington were close behind him now -
2%
The final stretch was a long ‘sweeper’ round the southern coastal cliffs of Tasmania and not too tough on mags and Jason managed to stay out in front.
Then he hit the final left-hander and…
…slowed.
0.4%…0.2%…0.0%
‘No!’ he yelled.
He received no response when he pushed forward on his collective.
Wong and Washington whooshed by the Argonaut , rocketing away up the home straight, disappearing into the distance, becoming specks.
Wong would cross the line first, winning by 0.3 of a second.
Jason punched his steering wheel. ‘Damn it! Shit! ’
He engaged his emergency power reserves to guide the Argonaut up the straight and limp over the Start-Finish Line, pounded by the pouring rain.
Upon returning to the pits, wet and soaking, he found Wong’s team dancing in jubilation. Washington’s team was also happy to have finished so strongly.
And Scott Syracuse was just standing there, shaking his head.
‘Mr Chaser. Mr Chaser. A bold move. But also a very stupid one. In over two thousand official hover car races at this school, only ten have ever been won by racers who skipped their last pit stop. That’s a success rate of 0.005%. It might look audacious when you see Alessandro Romba do it on television but statistically, skipping your last stop is a foolish tactic. Please don’t do it again whilst you are under my tutelage, lest someone think I actually encourage such folly.
‘Mr Wong, good racing. Exceptional pit work on the part of your Mech Chief. Mr Washington, your cornering needs work,
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