Page 42 of Overtake
The kid attempts an aggressive overtake that would make Wyn proud and Graham richer. He ends up spinning into the barriers instead.
“That was an excellent demonstration of how not to drive.” Petra’s already moving to help. Her eyes meet Nico’s, but she’s locked down her emotions. Since arriving at the facility, he’s seen nothing of the woman who flew through COTA’s turns like gravity was optional this morning.
He misses her.
“Want to show them how it’s actually done, Nico?” She’s all business.
Two demonstration laps later, they’ve got the kids’ complete attention. Even the wannabe Wyn is locked in.
“Watch the kart’s weight transfer,” Petra calls, hands moving over the steering wheel. “Through the turns you want to brake just enough to settle the kart’s nose, then trail the brake as you turn in. Notice how the back end wants to step out.”
Nico adds, “That’s your moment to catch it and use the rotation instead of fighting it. Work with the kart and physics, not against them.”
Nico and Petra cross the finish line, then send two students out, calling instructions as the kids go around the track.
She guides a student through the sequence, calling out reference points. “See that seam in the tarmac? That’s your turn-in point. Now wait... wait... there. Feel how the kart settled? Remember that feeling. That’s what you’re looking for.” Her words carry extra weight given this morning’s practice results. The girls hang on every syllable, and the boys who’d been trying to impress Nico drift over to watch.
A sharp engine note cuts through the lesson, followed by the thud of a kart hitting a barrier. Another teenager trying to prove something and taking the hairpin way too fast.
“I’ve got this one.” Nico crosses the track and crouches beside the young driver’s kart. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He helps the boy move the kart back onto the track. “What were you thinking through that corner?”
The kid looks sheepish. “I was trying to be fast, like you were in Monaco.”
“When I had years of experience, a highly engineered car, and wasn’t trying to show off?” The kid reminds him of himself at that age.
A burst of laughter from Petra’s group draws his attention. She’s demonstrating something, movements precise and natural.
“Mr. Belmonte? About the corner?”
“Right.” Nico snaps his focus back. “Let’s talk about respecting limits. Yours and the kart’s.”
Another boy joins them. “But how do you know the limit? My dad says you have to push past it to find it.”
Nico catches Petra’s slight pause in her demonstration. A question they’ve both heard too many times.
“Your father’s not wrong,” Nico says carefully. “But there’s a difference between testing limits and ignoring them.”
“Like in Singapore?” The question comes from one of Petra’s students, who’s joined the discussion. “When Wyn Pritchard?—”
“You’re not here to revisit that,” Petra cuts in smoothly as she brings her group of students into their conversation. “You’re here to learn how to drive fast and fair.”
“But his dad says?—”
Another kid interrupts, “Hisdad isn’t an F1 champion.”
That gets a laugh from all the students.
“Miss Hayter?” A girl pipes up. “Could you and Mr. Belmonte demonstrate clean racing together?”
Nico holds his breath, waiting for her rejection. For another reminder that they’re not teammates.
Instead, she studies the hopeful faces around them. “One lap.” She raises a finger. “So you can see what respectful competition looks like.”
As they strap into their karts, Nico can’t help asking, “Sure about this?”
