LDR Ch 31

At the sound of Harrison’s voice, which was filled with a soft and gentle laughter, Leo lightly pinched his nose.

“And be careful.”

Leo, the one who spoke the words, knew best just how meaningless they were. Telling a racing driver to be careful. Nevertheless, Leo looked into the warm, deep eyes staring back at him and continued.

“I know you won’t be careful, but still, be careful.”

You cannot help it when it comes to the person you love. You find yourself saying things even when you know they are unrealistic, and you find yourself listening even when you know you cannot follow them.

“Because I’ll be watching.”

The sentence that finally came out, which would be more certain than any other reason for Harrison, was met with a gentle press of lips.

“And know that this is also thanks to you being so well-dressed today.”

At those words, Harrison seemed to ponder their meaning, but Leo spoke again before he could.

“Do you still get nervous when you see me?”

“Yes.”

To the immediate answer, Leo replied, feeling somewhat sheepish.

“Me too.”

Leo actually had a certain fantasy about long-term relationships. The kind of fantasy where nervousness turns into a sense of stability, conflicts are resolved calmly through conversation, and you feel comfortable with each other’s daily lives.

But in reality, even though they were now entering their eighth year of dating, Leo’s heart still fluttered whenever he saw that handsome face, a face he saw all the time. If there was something he did not like, they would fight, and he enjoyed the thrill of meeting in secret.

“You seemed like a different person today, so it felt new.”

At the words that finally came out, Harrison smiled and whispered.

“You’ll know a little better if you undress me.”

Leo did as Harrison led, bringing his hands to the shirt and unbuttoning it one by one. Smooth skin gradually appeared, and behind the neat shirt, tattoos were revealed, creating a somewhat disheveled sense of incongruity.

“Is there something like a bubble bath?”

“There is. That’s for later.”

Covering that skin with his own hands and feeling the warmth, Leo had no choice but to admit that even though the reality of their long-term relationship was different from the ideal, the reality was actually much better than the ideal.

British Grand Prix

Silverstone Circuit

After Monaco, the races were held on different continents. And now, finally back to the European Grand Prix, tension flowed through the air ahead of the main race at their home Grand Prix. ABW had not won at Silverstone even once in nearly 20 years. Even when the team was in contention for the championship, problems always arose at Silverstone, as if it were cursed with bad luck.

But now, after overcoming a long period of hardship, they were finally back in the championship fight. Harrison had reclaimed the number one spot, even if the point difference was not large, and in qualifying, Harrison and Nathan had taken 1st and 3rd place respectively. So, everyone was fervently hoping that the team could win this Grand Prix.

Amid that tense atmosphere, Leo also visited the garage after a long time. Other family members had come to the circuit, but only Leo and Caleb came to the garage.

“He looks like a different person.”

At the sound of Caleb’s bewildered voice, Leo also looked at the screen. Harrison was already on his formation lap.

Even though they had been on different continents, he had video-called Harrison every day, heard his voice, and stayed in touch, but the disappointment of not being able to reach him was bound to remain. Still, after the race, Harrison naturally returned to the UK, and since the race was also in the UK, they had been able to stick together for quite a while.

But since they had to avoid the paparazzi, they often met at Leo’s family home, which was private property, right from the moment he arrived. Naturally, he saw his younger brothers continuously, but his appearance then and his appearance now were so different it was hard to believe they were the same person.

“Who gave you the headset.”

Then, upon suddenly realizing that fact, Leo immediately snatched the headset away. Caleb was still young, so it was not good for him to listen to the team radio, which was sure to be full of swearing.

“I want to listen too…”

The protesting voice was cut off. At that, Leo also looked back at the screen, and the drivers were already lined up on the grid, waiting for the signal.

Soon, the lights on the signal lit up, then disappeared.

Simultaneously, all the cars poured across the track, and Harrison and Nathan maintained their starting positions, holding 1st and 3rd place. But in fact, after that, ABW’s cars were not seen on the broadcast. The top three continued to race while maintaining a similar gap, and since the overtaking attempts were more intense in the midfield, the broadcast kept showing that part.

Sure enough, when he looked to his side, Caleb was also watching the screen quite indifferently. Seeing that, Leo just gave him the headset back. The commentary was coming through the headset, so it would be less boring for him to listen to that. Anyway, there was not much being said on the ABW Racing team radio for either driver.

When he gave the headset back to Caleb, Caleb glanced at Leo and immediately put it on. Even so, ABW still did not appear on the broadcast or on the team radio. That was proof that they were doing well.

— Pit now.

— Okay.

Then, at the sound of Manuel’s voice, Harrison immediately responded and entered the pit lane. The tires were changed quickly, so everything was ideal, but the problem was a situation external to the team.

— Ah, Luca’s car has stopped. The safety car has been deployed. He was doing so well, what a shame. It seems to be an engine problem.

Just as Harrison returned to the track, the effort of the quick tire change was rendered useless by an accident that occurred almost immediately after, deploying a safety car.

Harrison, who had just made a pit stop right before, suffered a huge loss, while it was a huge gain for the other drivers who had not yet pitted. Especially for Robert, who was in second place.

Sure enough, as soon as the safety car came out, the drivers who should have been behind Harrison all pitted for tires and, naturally, came out ahead of Harrison. The bad luck of the poor timing was immense.

Fortunately, Harrison moved up the ranks as soon as the safety car was withdrawn, but with the car performances having become quite similar, it was uncertain whether he could reclaim 1st place again.

Harrison, who steadily overtook the cars in front of him, was now right behind Nathan. When he checked on the engineers, they were talking about something, but nothing could be heard on the public channel. They were probably discussing whether to tell Nate to let Harrison pass or what to do.

Nevertheless, nothing was said on the team radio. It was understandable, as it would be difficult to openly tell your driver to move aside, but such silence carried a certain degree of risk. The worst-case scenario, where they fight and both retire, could happen.

— The two ABW drivers have finally met. It’s exciting to see what will happen. ABW has always said they have no intention of issuing team orders to their drivers.

— But the pace on the medium tires is not good. All the drivers who chose mediums have expressed difficulties, while some drivers who chose the hard tires are actually faster than the mediums. Currently, Harry is on hards, and Nate is on mediums.

— In fact, Harrison Turner’s pace is quite good right now. He needs to overtake his teammate first to be able to chase Robert again. I’m curious to see if the team will really not give any orders!

However, the tense situation where anything could happen did not last long.

— What the fuck?

Harrison dived into a line that Nathan had closed off, and their wheels touched, nearly causing a collision. Fortunately, Nathan went wide around the corner to get away, but it was almost a disaster. On top of that, Nathan, who had lost his position, spoke in an excited voice, and Leo instinctively looked at Caleb.

He tried to take the headset, but Caleb held onto his headset tightly with both hands as if to protect it. After that, another standoff began. Harrison tried to reclaim 1st place, but it was difficult to find an opportunity.

— Harry is looking for an opening on the inside, but Robert is not giving him any space at all! It’s going to be a very tough fight.

— Harry and Robert have been in standoffs quite a few times before. One thing is certain, neither of them will ever back down.

Robert, who was currently in front of Harrison, was an even more aggressive driver than Harrison. If he attempted an overtake in an uncertain section, Robert would surely make him retire.

For the first few laps, Harrison followed closely behind Robert, but he seemed to think it was better to manage his tires until an opportunity arose, and soon he was driving with some distance between them. Harrison was on hard tires while Robert was on mediums, so Robert’s tires would surely wear out faster, and he had to seize the opportunity then.

But before that strategy could be executed, a safety car was deployed once again. He wondered what it could possibly be this time, and it seemed an engine had blown in the midfield, as the driver was in despair.

— Oh! You can’t be serious, another engine problem!

For Robert, who had been constantly saying over the radio that his tires were unstable, it was perfect timing. As Robert immediately entered the pits, the voice of Nate’s racing engineer was heard through the headset.

— Nate, pit.

However, in contrast, Manuel’s voice was not heard, and Harrison, finding that strange too, immediately spoke.

— I’m not coming in?

— Harry, you stay out.

— Why?

In a voice filled with utter disbelief, Manuel, who must have felt the same sense of foreboding as Leo, said firmly.

— No. Harry, don’t come in, stay out there.

Checking on Nathan who had quickly come in, the mechanics were changing his tires to softs. The track temperature was high and it was a high-degradation track, so it seemed a bit early to switch to softs, but it looked like they wanted Nathan to overtake Robert and then block Robert from behind Harrison. It was a good strategy, provided the driver cooperated.

— Robert’s pit stop is a bit slow! He’ll have to rejoin slower than Nate. That’s unfortunate.

On top of that, fortunately, Robert’s pit stop was a bit of a failure, and Nathan came out ahead of Robert, so now all Nathan had to do was block Robert well.

— Why did Nate change tires?

Having seen Nathan come out behind him, a hint of irritation crept into Harrison’s voice.

— It’s a different strategy. How are the tires?

— Still okay.

— Can you make it to the end?

— Did you tell Nate he could overtake me?

— No. Harry, focus. Can you finish the race on those tires?

— Yes.

— Good. Focus on that.

Other people listening to this radio exchange would be in awe of Harrison’s tire management skills, but Leo was in awe of Manuel’s Harrison management skills.

— Nate, don’t overtake. Hold your position.

Soon, when the signal indicated that the safety car would be withdrawn, an instruction came from Nate’s race engineer this time. He clearly did not want to experience the same tension as before. In reality, if both of them crossed the finish line in 1st and 2nd, it would be a perfect result for the team. But no response was heard from Nathan. To be precise, not a response, but a sound.

At that strange signal, the engineers busily checked their equipment. In truth, it is not common for the radio signal to be bad, to cut out for a short time, or even to completely fail, but it is not rare either. There are even infamous corners where the radio of almost every team cuts out just by passing through.

That being said, the situation right now was extremely bad. He did not believe in superstitions, but unless a supernatural force was really trying to stop ABW from winning at Silverstone, the radio cutting out at this timing made absolutely no sense.

— Nate, can you hear me?

For a moment, the surrounding sounds of the cars moving could be heard, then it cut out again. The tension among the engineers was palpable. Would Nathan really hold his position and not overtake? Nathan had switched to soft tires to overtake the driver in front of him. At that time, the target of that strategy was Robert, but now, the one in front of Nathan is Harrison. A driver on hard tires that are not as fast as his softs, and which are surely somewhat worn.

— I think there’s something wrong with the radio. We can’t hear your voice here, Nate, can you hear us?

— Don’t fight, stay behind Harry.

— Nate, you can’t fight with Harry.

The race engineer repeated calmly, hoping his driver could hear him, but there was no way to know if he really could. And finally, the safety car was withdrawn, and the race resumed.

— Nathan Morel tries to overtake Harrison Turner, but Harrison Turner pulls away first! That seemed a bit risky. Will Harry be able to hold his position until the end and clinch the win at his home Grand Prix, or will Nathan Morel clinch the win!

— Nathan Morel! He gets close again! The two drivers of ABW, ah! Nathan Morel! He overtakes Harrison Turner and pulls ahead! Harrison Turner tries to reclaim the position but can’t keep up with Nathan Morel’s new soft tires!

As soon as the safety car was withdrawn, Nathan, who had been constantly threatening Harrison, finally overtook him just before the next lap, and Harrison’s voice immediately came through the radio.

— What the, fucking, I can’t believe this…

Leo quickly took off Caleb’s headset.

— Did you fucking, tell him to overtake me?

— I told you I wanted to pit!

— I understand, Harry. For now, focus on the current situation…

— I. Told you. I wanted to pit.

Every word he uttered was filled with rage. Getting Harrison to listen to the team’s opinion was now out of the question. He had at least pretended to listen until now, but he would absolutely not listen anymore. Besides, even if Nathan had not heard the team’s order, now that he had overtaken Harrison in this situation, it was obvious that a full-blown competition would begin.

Even the overtake was dangerous. Nathan entered the corner without braking. That was a threat, saying, ‘I’m not braking anyway, so if you don’t want to crash, you have to brake.’ Of course, since Harrison had also made a dangerous move earlier, there was likely some retaliation involved. Although Harrison did move aside, it was clear that the principle of not swearing at each other would no longer apply.

On top of that, Harrison was now in a situation where he had to chase Nathan again while being threatened by Robert from behind. There were not that many laps left, so it was not a situation where Harrison could realistically come in to change tires either.

— Could the soft tires have been the wrong choice? Both Robert and Nate’s pace is dropping quickly. In contrast, Harry’s pace is still good.

— It’s not just Turner, the pace of all the drivers on hards is good overall. It seems the hard tire was the best choice for this track!

As those words suggested, as a silver lining, Robert’s pace was not good, so Harrison was able to chase Nathan, and he was somehow managing to match Nathan’s softs’ pace with his old hards. It was probably largely because the softs were degrading quickly and their pace was gradually slowing down.

As the gap continued to shrink, Nathan’s radio suddenly connected.

— Nate, don’t fight with Harry.

As the racing engineer spoke calmly yet quickly, Nathan’s voice was heard after a long time.

— Oh, for God’s sake, I can finally hear you. I couldn’t hear anything until just now, so I was looking at the pit board, was the radio out?

— Seems like it. Nate, don’t fight with Harry. How are the tires?

— Did you say the same thing to Harry?

He wondered if ignoring the question about the tires was a characteristic of drivers.

— I’ll tell him to avoid dangerous driving. Same for you. The tires?

— They’re holding up.

But of course, they both ignored what they heard from their respective race engineers. Since they were in the same car, overtaking on the straights was almost impossible, so what remained were the corners. But Nathan, perhaps because he had already been dangerously overtaken once today, defended more aggressively than before, making an overtake difficult.

From the team’s perspective, Harrison winning was ideal. That way, the chances of winning both the driver’s championship and the constructor’s championship would increase. But, on the other hand, regardless of who won, if they both finished 1st and 2nd, it would be a success. So, the air was filled with everyone’s fervent wish for them to just please not retire, but Harrison and Nathan on the screen were fighting fiercely, paying no mind.

— It looks like Harry has backed off for a moment. Could the race end like this?