Don't Let Go: Day 13

Word Count: 78,140

Summary of Events:

Tor finally saw Orlanda for the first time since he'd tracked her down in Rome, and could tell she was upset at him before she told him so curtly and left without giving him the chance to apologise. Since he had a race right away, Tor messaged her an apology, but discovered upon arriving at the race's location that she'd unfollowed him on social media and not replied to his apology before he joined his teammates in going out for waffles and explained the situation to them, although they didn't really have any advice for him. In the closing stages of the race, just after a safety car period ended, Tor gained the lead of the race, but was unable to open up a gap on the driver he'd passed, who continued to fight him doggedly…

Excerpt of the Day:

Two more laps that were much the same followed, and although Tor was glad to be keeping Lachlan behind him like he wanted to, he was frustrated that he wasn’t getting as far ahead as he wanted to be getting, which he felt was being hampered by an increasing vibration his team were looking into.

Finally a glance at his pit board told him that it was the final lap. Tor dug in. He wasn’t going to let Lachlan pull out a last-lap overtake for the win. He wanted this win, and he was going to get it.

He could tell that Lachlan seemed to be getting frustrated, as he was being more aggressive, but Tor defended against his every move. Even if he was new to Formula 4, he’d come into the series as a top-flight karting champion. He knew how to defend leads, even if the machinery he was now operating was different from what he’d been using the season before.

As in the four laps since the safety car had pulled in, Lachlan challenged for the outside in the eleventh turn, but Tor fought back and they were side-by-side with Lachlan holding the inside line through the twelfth turn.

Tor managed to get better traction and lunge ahead of Lachlan out of the corner, but Lachlan was still partially alongside him down the straight. Into the thirteenth turn Lachlan locked up his tires and ran wide.

Surging through the final corner with as much speed as he dared, Tor surged down the main straight. He could see the chequered flag waiting for him and put his foot down, his car was vibrating intensely, but he wasn’t letting off the accelerator.

Suddenly his car snapped violently. Tor let go of the steering wheel as the car speared hard into the pit wall. The rear end swung around, turning the whole car around backwards before coming to a stop with a soft bump as the rear end came to rest against the pit wall, the front suspension mangled.

Seeing something moving, Tor looked up and saw that the chequered flag and a yellow flag were both being waved. He’d crossed the line in first. He’d won the race, even if he’d ended up crashing to do it.

Tears rushed to his eyes.

“Are you okay?” his engineer asked urgently. “Tor! Are you okay?”

Tor lifted his visor and reached his fingers inside, sobbing.

“Tor!” his engineer called urgently. “Answer me! Are you okay?”

Fumbling for the radio button, Tor pressed it.

“I’m not hurt,” he sobbed. “There’s no pain.”
“Are you sure?” his engineer asked.

“Yes,” Tor sobbed. “It’s just… I’ve won… and Uncle Zikki’s not here… to celebrate it with me.”
“Oh,” his engineer sighed with relief. “I’m sorry Tor.”

Tor shut off his car and unfastened his seatbelts before worming his way out of his car. He pulled off his helmet, HANS device, and balaclava as violently as he dared and tossed them into the seat of his car before burying his face into his hands and sobbing.