Hot Seat by Simon Wood Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t see any vehicles that caused my neck hairs to stand on end, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I wasn’t stopping for anyone, unless it was a police car, and I wasn’t so sure about that.
    I kept my foot planted on the accelerator until Miss Angry Renault’s temper tantrum had run out of steam. She gave up by the time we reached Old Windsor.
    Rags had told me to stay out of the limelight. I wasn’t doing a great job.

Lap Six
    T he following Monday, I drove down to Snetterton in Norfolk for my first official test session with Ragged Racing. Weekday testing is when the circuits open their doors so that teams from all classes and divisions of motorsport can practice between races. It can be a real zoo out there because you can be sharing the track with anything.
    Excitement and anxiety joined me on my drive to the circuit. I wasn’t playing at being a racing driver anymore. I was the real thing now. That realization had kept me awake most of last night. I couldn’t screw up this opportunity. I had to believe in myself. If I maintained my confidence, I’d do fine.
    I tempered my excitement. I had an additional job to do today. This test session would also give me a chance to check out the transporter. I hoped it would provide some insight into why Jason Gates was killed and give me something to get Andrew Gates off my back.
    I arrived to find the team already in place and working on the cars. They were the only team in the pits.
    Rags shook my hand. ‘Good. You’re on time. I like that. Come with me. Driver briefing. How are you doing .?.?. since, you know?’
    â€˜OK.’
    â€˜Good. You witnessed a terrible thing. But you can’t let it distract you. You ready for this?’
    â€˜Yes,’ I said and meant it.
    Rags took me into one of the unused garages where Kurt Haulk was already waiting with Barry Nevin. Nevin was the Ragged Racing crew chief. He was short, squat and built like an oil drum with Popeye-like forearms. He almost broke my hand when he shook it.
    â€˜Aidy, Barry will be running your car with his guys. He might look like he just escaped from Middle Earth, but he knows his stuff.’
    Rags’ joke got a laugh.
    â€˜I’ll expect you to get the best out of each other as well as the car. I think you two will do well together.’
    Nevin grinned at me. ‘I watched you during the shootout. You have a good technical head on your shoulders, so we’ll do great.’
    Rags clapped his hands together. ‘OK, chaps, with the arse kissing over, here’s today’s menu. I want to give these cars a thorough workout. The ESCC has a new tyre compound for this season, so I want to see how it compares to last year’s tyres. Aidy’s new and I want to see how well he slots in with Haulk. I also want to run some exercises. Finally, we’re getting to play on the new track. That will be a great leveller, so I’ll get to see how good Aidy is and how rusty Kurt is.’
    Snetterton had gone through a major redevelopment. The track’s profile had always looked like a slightly wonky exclamation mark, but the track’s owner, Jonathon Palmer, had redesigned the layout and installed a fantastic in-field section that added a mile to the track’s length, making it a very challenging three-mile circuit.
    â€˜OK, I think that’s it. Everyone get suited up and let’s get out there. We’ve got the track to ourselves.’
    â€˜Ourselves?’ I said.
    â€˜Rags doesn’t play well with others,’ Haulk said. ‘He always books exclusive test days.’
    Exclusive test days were commonplace for Formula One teams with deep enough pockets to rent the track for themselves, but not teams in the ESCC. The sponsors had to be pumping in some serious cash for Rags to afford this. I reckoned I was going to like racing for Ragged.
    â€˜We can’t keep a competitive edge if everyone gets to see what