Page 69 of Rush
It had been going for over one hundred years and had just celebrated its centenary with an exhibition of more than sixty cars which had previously won or marked the history of the race, a drivers’ parade through the city where fans gathered and cheered the drivers on, wishing them luck for the weekend. They even had drone shows and live entertainment at the circuit. Savi wished she could have been there for that, but she’d missed out by one season.
‘Do you think we could stop for food first?’ Weston asked, holding off on making another complaint when Savi turned to glare at him. ‘I could do with some local cuisine.’
‘We’re going to an Italian,’ Savi deadpanned.
‘Close enough. Italy is only one country away.’
Marco asked the driver to stop, agreeing that their bags would be taken to the hotel and dropped to their rooms by the staff. Another perk of being a VIP that Savi didn’t think she would ever get used to; people trying to do everything for her. She’d walked into her hotel room for the second race of the season and someone had unpacked on her behalf, freaking her out when she realised the staff must have seen and handled her underwear. It was weird.
‘This is beautiful,’ Calvin commented, standing on the pavement and looking up, not at the restaurant building, but at the cathedral opposite. ‘Can we go in?’
‘The three of you can come back into the city in the week, I’ll have someone from the team drop you in,’ Marco suggested. ‘We have plenty of assistants and interns who can ferry you around. The circuit isn’t far from the city centre, so it won’t take much time out of their day.’
It was relatively quiet in the area immediately surrounding the restaurant, and they were shown to a table as soon as they entered. It was nothing like Savi expected, and not the kind of place she thought Marco would choose to dine in. The tables were all dark wood, the walls red and there was some questionable décor, like the side table which seemed to have no real purpose except for displaying a single dying plant, with marble elephants acting as a table leg. Nonetheless, it was homely and seemed authentic, and she loved it.
They’d pored over the menu, settling on a range of pastas and pizzas and calzones, ordering all the side dishes they could manage between them, then they’d said hello to a couple of drivers from Camino Endurance Team and let Weston and Calvin take photos with them, both of them looking pleased as punch to be speaking so intimately with people they’d admired for years.
They were waiting for dessert when a group of fans approached them: a group of five or six girls who were decked out in Revolution Racing merch. They’d spent the duration of their meal glancing over at Savi and Marco and whispering, until Marco had waved them over and given them the green light to interrupt.
‘Hi, girls,’ Marco smiled. ‘Thanks for waiting for us to finish eating.’
‘It’s no problem,’ one of them smiled back, acting as their spokesperson while the rest of them seemed too nervous to speak. ‘We were wondering if we could get photos and autographs? We know we’ll see you at the parade, but you’ll have so many people to see then.’
‘Sure,’ Savi agreed, taking a black marker pen from one of them and signing a collection of hats for them all. They each had aGirls Off Trackhat which she signed, too. Her signature sat amongst around ten others, black ink standing out against the pastel pink fabric.
‘We’re trying to get autographs from as many females in motorsport as possible, but you were our top priority this season,’ the quietest girl of all spoke up. ‘We’ve been following your career since you were first announced as a driver in your last championship and went on theGirls Off Trackpodcast, and when you signed your contract with Revolution Racing we just knew we had to meet you.’
‘Yeah, Revolution having an all-female team for their second car really changed the game. We even collectively signed up to aGirls Off Trackworkshop, we met Faith and Lucie!’ another chimed in. ‘We’re all studying degrees in college which should help us get into the industry.’
‘That’s amazing. Keep doing as many of those workshops as you can!’ Savi said. ‘I think they’re doing an internship programme next year where they’ll invite select people to work the race season under them, so if any of you get accepted for that you could well be working with us.’
‘What?!’ their spokesperson gasped. ‘As soon as they announce it on socials we’ll get on that. Do you think you’ll ever join forces with them?’
‘Maybe, as their company expands. I think I need a couple of race seasons to settle in with the team before I try to branch out to other projects,’ Savi said, smiling over at Marco, knowing he was a silent partner in his friends’ business.
‘Hey, girls…’ Marco smiled. ‘What are your names and social media usernames? I’m gonna get you some VIP paddock passes for this week. My family can’t make it so I’ve got some spare. You can watch Savi and the girls in action, and you’ll get to meet Lucie, Faith, Esme, Bea…’ He pulled his phone out to take their information down.
Savi couldn’t stop grinning while they all took turns taking photos, her dad stepping in to help with the group shots. They were crowding the aisle of the restaurant, blocking the waiters, but nobody seemed bothered. The staff were probably used to drivers dining with them and fans catching wind of their locations. She loved that she had the power to make fans’ dreams come true, like she was some sort of motorsport fairy godmother. Although it was Marco who was doing the wish granting this time, she had done plenty herself.
‘Thank you both so much. We’ll see you at the track!’ The girls gathered their merchandise and phones and scarpered off, back to their table, leaving Savi and her family to enjoy their dessert in peace.
‘Ma?’ Weston poked Bonnie in the ribs, laughing. ‘Are you crying?’
‘Bonnie, are you okay?’ Marco tried to catch her eye but she was hiding her face.
‘Sorry, I’m just so proud of you, Sav. I know it’s not been an easy few years, but I think being here it’s all just hitting me. You defied the odds and actually fucking made it.’
Savi gasped. ‘Oh my goodness me, Ma’s swearing. But seriously, thank you. You guys have had my back from the very beginning, and I know even without Gabriel’s financial input, you would have made it happen. Somehow, some way. I couldn’t have done it without you.’
While she joined Bonnie in tearing up, she felt Marco’s hand drop to her thigh under the table. He didn’t give it a squeeze, or even move at all, but he held his hand out with his palm facing upward. A silent invitation to take hold of it and use him as an anchor. She did exactly that, managing to hold back her emotion so as not to cause a scene in a restaurant full of people who recognised them. The last thing they needed was close-up shots of Savi’s ugly crying face hitting the internet; her teammates would never let her live that down.
‘I’m going to make it my mission to come to one race a season, even if I have to take a commercial flight on my own,’ Weston said.
‘Not a chance, I’m coming with you. I’m not missing my little girl on that podium if I don’t have to,’ Calvin stated, seemingly forgetting that he had a ranch to run. It was a miracle that he’d left to watch her race at the start of the season, let alone that he was here for this too.
‘Please do come to as many races as you can,’ Marco said, ‘because I’m really going to miss you all. I feel like part of the family.’
‘Well, duh. You are.’ Weston rolled his eyes. ‘We’ll be wearing our Revolution Racing shirts for you, too, De Luca. You can’t escape us now; once a Hart, always a Hart.’
