The Drive of a Lifetime

Commentator 1:

…Coming up on the inside of turn 7 Clarke is pressuring Donovan for first position. And he goes through! Clarke is in first. What a drive! Especially after a slightly longer pit stop that brought him down four places. From starting third, dropping to seventh and climbing to first. What a drive!

That's something you see very rarely in formula racing. GT cars have a charm of their own.

Commentator 2:

I agree Jeremy, but there's still eight more laps in this race. Anything can happen, here at Watkins Glen.

Commentator 3:

I agree, Richard. It'll be interesting to see how Clarke manages the tires. He's on a soft compound. He'll have to manage his tires well if he wants to win. Not only that. Donovan, Cooper and Heinemann are on the harder compound, so they can push for longer.

Also the middle of the pack is starting to catch-up as well, but they are on the soft compound.

The end of the race is going to pretty interesting with possibly twelve drivers jockeying for a points position.

*On the Track: Gary Clarke POV*

'Hahahahahaha, this is brilliant.' I think as I make my way through the sweeping turns, onto the back straight.

'Oh fuck off! Always on the outside. Making me guard through the turn.' I am hounded by the P2 and P3 drivers. Constantly. I can't afford to look back. As the second section of the track is quite challenging. I really hope one of them spins off. 'on second thought, no. I really don't want a safety car at this point in time.'

*****

YES YES YES! Finally, another win! OH God yes!

What the fuck! where are my breaks?!

*Narrator POV*

After Gary won the race, his breaks failed at turn 4 onto the back straight. He tried to turn the car around and go into the barrier backwards. He accomplished his plan, partially.

As he tried to rotate his Ferrari 458 GT3, he forgot that the gravel traps are there to stop cars from maneuvering. His worn out tires also didn't help. Changing direction at that speed requires grip, and he just didn't have any. Knowing he couldn't do anything but hope for the best, be braced for impact.

His left rear bumper hit the barrier wall, hard. Wrecking the car and rupturing the fuel lines. The fuel spilled onto the hot engine and exhaust. There was 'whoosh' as the fuel ignited.

By the time the marshals could put out the fire, Gary Clarke had died.

*****

In all fairness. Gary wasn't anything special. Neither in his personal life, nor on the track. But he was persistent, calm and clinical in his approach to racing and life. He started out his professional racing career racing Mazda MX5s in the Mazda Cup, and moved around in series from there. A stint in Formula Regional Oceania where he placed in the 7th overall in the drivers championship. He found success in racing GT cars. That is where he felt happy and alive, and there is where he died. His last win. To be remembered as a mere statistic in the long list of Motorsport accidents.

Regardless, he died doing what he loved. That's got to count for something.

*Gary POV*

The last thing I remember is the car hitting the barrier and going up in flames.

So, you can imagine my surprise as I felt backwards movement in the same direction of travel as my car before it crashed.

I opened my eyes to see a white expanse with a off white paved road. That I was currently moving backwards on. I realized at this point, that I was dead. At least I died on the track.

Then I noticed the flames from my engine. And wondered if this is my punishment for eternity.

Lost in thought I barely noticed the car slowing down. I tried to look around as much as I could, to no avail. All I saw was fire, white and my cars carbon fiber interior. Or what amounts to an interior in a race car.

A few moments later the car stopped. Still on fire. On either side of me I could see massive walls, with pearl white gates.

"Uhhhhh, another one of those insufferable petrol heads." A voice sounded out.

A finger snapped, and the fire was gone, the car was in perfect condition and I was facing the right way.

Now that I could actually see something besides fire, the sight before was magnificent. Dead ahead was the Silver City. A mix of eclectic architecture and design, that seemed to harmonize.

Looking around I realized I was at the Pearly Gates. If the winged angle was anything to go by. And boy did he look annoyed.

"Hello sir. Where do I park?" I asked. Stupid, I realized the moment it came out of my mouth. But what the fuck was I supposed to do?

The angel facepalmed. I heard him mumble "definitely belongs with that lot." He tapped on his board/tablet thing and looked at me without any expression.

"Mr. Clarke, welcome to the afterlife. To answer your question, take a left at the sign to The Speed-realm. Have a wonderful time."

I pushed the start button, and my car roars to life. I can see the Silver City, but I can't see the road that leads there.

I ask over the engine noise. "How far is it! To the sign!"

The angle, quite annoyed answers back, " a few minutes! You can't miss it!"

"Alright, thanks" I thank the gentle…being? And build up the revs, and dump the clutch. Leaving behind tire and clutch smoke.

*Angel Ben POV*

*Cough, cough, cough.* Definitely belongs with that lot. A few minutes is correct. Let's see if he gets lost.

*Gary POV*

If I was an American, I would be very disappointed. As a Kiwi, the twists and turns were a balm most soothing to my recently departed soul. I drove on instinct, the braking zones and downshifts were telepathic. I just knew the correct gear to take every turn in.

I saw the sign come up, and decided I will come back to it. I was simply having too much fun.

*some time late*

The road as amazing as it is. It's getting awfully close to the Silver City, not to mention the road is becoming straighter. I spun the car around and headed back to the sign, and proper roads.

I came upon the same location as before and saw the sign. I turned and headed to wherever the roads led.

Boy did they lead to some spectacular sights and roads. The road was like every racetrack ever linked together. There was a massively long straight where I maxed out the car for a solid two minutes.

As I headed deeper into the speed realm, I saw and more people and exquisite machinery. Cars, bikes, boats, planes were things I recognized immediately. The pod racing hover bikes made me do a double take. Making me nearly drive off the road and into a tree.

My brief off-roading stint aside, I headed towards the industrial looking area. Which I assumed would be the city. Little did I know, that my full-throttle blast into the realm and subsequent beeline to the heart of the realm had attracted attention.

About fifteen minutes later I arrived on the outskirts of the city. Something I immediately noticed was the quality of the city roads, and the kerbs. The roads were smooth, and the kerbs were all shallow. As I continued to drive around, I realized the entire city could be turned into a city circuit. Or a circuit of race organizers choice.

I drove to a petrol pump, and parked. I really needed to figure out how to pay for the petrol. We don't exactly carry cash in our race suits. As I was unbuckling my racing harness, a man exited from the building and walked over to me.

"New arrival?" He asked.

"Yes"

"Come on out, I'll explain how this place works." He replied.

I proceeded to do just that. Now let me explain something for you mere mortals. There is no graceful way to enter or exit a car with a full roll cage and racing seats. The man was patient, he was looking over the car while I made my not so graceful exit. I took off my gloves and extended my hand, "Gary, pleasure to meet you."

"Johann, likewise. Let's go." He shook my hand and turned around to walk away. I took off my helmet and HANS device. and dumped everything in the car and closed the door, leaving the little sliding panels that amounted to windows open.

I followed Johann to a nearby café. Looking at the city as we walked. As much as I liked cars and racing them. Spending, by my estimate, close to eight hours in one, was getting uncomfortable. So much for my endurance racing ambitions.

We turned onto a different street and the entire architecture changed. The steel and glass buildings were replaced by stone houses and shops. Very reminiscent of Modena, Italy. We made our way to the café a few shops away.

We sat down, and ordered a coffee. Just as it arrived, there was a flash, lo and behold, it was the angel from before along with another angel with 4 wings. Despite the extra wings, he looked every inch an admin/HR/bureaucrat. I knew I was going to hate this guy. There was another flash and an angel with 12 wings and old school racing cap and goggles appeared. He looked more like an excitable child than a seraphim, judging by the wings. The new arrival was about five feet tall, smelled of motor oil and gasoline, and had an aura of excitable energy.

"Hi Ben, Richard, what brings you here today?" The child-like angel asked

"Greetings Lord Cassiel, we were just looking into a discrepancy." Answered, the HR looking pigeon.

"Oh? What discrepancy?" Asked the freaking archangel Cassiel.

"Well, a recently departed soul, one Gary Clarke, was directed here. To the speed realm. He however, was observed approaching the Silver City. Although he had every right to head into the city, he turned around and made his way back to where Heaven's Road splits off, and is now here.

Our concern being, why?

Were directions unclear?

Did you not see the sign?

Why did you turn around a few minutes from Silver City?"

Now everyone is looking at me. The angel who guided me is looking at me like I'm an idiot. Lord Cassiel is quite interested. The HR guy is bored. And the guy who brought me to the café is sitting at a different table sipping his coffee.

At least he got his priorities right.

"Would you mind answering the questions Gary?" Asked Lord Cassiel.

"Um, sure." I reply hesitantly.

"First off, the directions were clear. Second, I saw the sign. As to how I ended up so close to the Silver City, well, I was having far too much fun, on the twisty road. I turned around because the road flattened and straightened out, and got boring. So I made my way back and came here." I answer a bit sheepishly.

Everyone is looking at me like I'm some kind of freak. The first angel I met, well angel.exe was rebooting or something. The admin guy was writing my response down. Lord Cassiel looked fit to burst out into laughter. The eavesdropping garage owner and waitress were flabbergasted.

A few moments later Lord Cassiel did burst into laughter. "Hahahahaha, turned around because the road got boring! Hahahahaha." He was floating on his back while laughing his guts outs.

The admin guy speaks up. "Well since everything is in order and Ben did nothing wrong, we will head back to our posts. Thank you for your time." The admin, who I assumed is Richard, said.

"Sorry 'bout that Ben, didn't mean to cause you any trouble." I said to the first angel.

*sigh*"No worries, I believe I was right to guide you to the Speed Realm." With that both of them depart in a flash of light.

Lord Cassiel is still laughing.

I wonder if angels text? what would be the acronym? FIALMWO, Floating-In-Air-Laughing-My-Wings-Off? Me and my silly little brain.

Lord Cassiel, stops laughing and straightens out. Meaning he is standing upright. "Oh boy, I haven't had such a good laugh in a while. As a reward Gary, you get a choice. Stay here, which you are more than welcome to do, or be reborn in the vast universe, and have a chance to fulfil your dream of becoming a world champion? Choose wisely."

Well it was a no brainer, I blurted out "reborn please." A snap of his fingers and my world went white.

A sensation, or being warm and trapped came over me. I did not think this through.

*****

"Racecar drivers and their tiny little racecar driver brains" - Jeremy Clarkson