Regression - Second Chance At Life

Chapter 315: About To Do It

Adam steps on the accelerator and presses down to rev the engine.

Even though the car is not moving yet, he can feel the changes that have been made in the car, all because of his enhanced senses.

And now that he has the green light to roll out, he puts the car in drive and starts moving, exiting the room in a controlled manner before entering the pit lane.

”Ok, good. Let’s start slow, take your time, drive around the track with controlled speed, and get yourself familiar with it,” Adam hears Dante’s instruction in his ear.

”Got it,” Adam answers and does as Dante told. He takes his time, cruising through the track at a nice pace.

He speeds up a little as the start of the track is a straight line, but doesn’t go all out, as there is no point in it. The new tires are not warm yet.

He is going to do a few controlled laps before trying to get that record.

As Adam drives through the circuit, that mental map he created inside his head becomes extremely clear, he starts seeing it all, the perfect entry angle to hit the apex at what speed he will be able to do it, then the perfect exit angle and how fast he can escape it, his brain starts calculating every possible outcome for each corner he drives through.

Dante and the team, who are watching Adam drive, notice that he is not the amateur they thought he was.

They have been in this game for years, they have seen the best of the best drive through this circuit, and they can see that Adam is clearly a very experienced driver, given how he is controlling the car through the circuit.

Even though he is not pushing the car to its limits, it’s still moving fast, and they can see how he is taking almost perfect turns with it.

”This might not go as badly as I thought,” Dante says, staring at the screen before him, which has a bird’s-eye view of Adam’s car.

After an eight-minute drive, Adam completes a lap; after all, this circuit is a very long one. The races that happen here are long endurance races.

As for the short track racing, for those single-seater open-wheel cars, they have a shorter track that’s not accessible to the public and is only used for professional racing.

The engineering team comes out as Adam parks his car and lets them check if everything is working fine and dandy with the car.

While he sits inside the car in a relaxed manner, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, making music, Dante is staring at the Stratosurge with scrunched brows.

Adam did an eight-minute-plus lap in his first try. And even though it is nowhere near any of the lap records set here in this circuit, it’s still impressive.

No amateur just walks in and gets an eight-minute lap on their first try, but Adam did.

Dante saw how Adam drove. There was very little wasted space when he drove; every turn he took was almost perfect.

Dante has seen professionals race on this track for more than a decade; he knows every corner of this track, and he knows when a driver needs to enter and exit the corners, so when compared to what he saw with Adam, he felt as if he was watching a real professional behind the wheel.

”Kid, is this really your first time driving here?” Dante asks. There’s no doubt in his mind that Adam really is an exceptional driver because one cannot do what Adam just did by fluke.

One corner, maybe, two corners, very unlikely, three corners, almost impossible, but Adam did it, which showed that he is an amazing driver, but even still, his performance was exceptional.

In Dante’s mind, it could only make sense if Adam had already driven here.

”Yes, it’s my first time,” Adam answers.

Dante has nothing to say right now.

”Okay, you can continue, the car’s in optimal condition,” He says and gives Adam the green light once again.

Adam once again takes off. This time, he drives the car a little faster, he rips through the straight before slowing down and attacks the corner at an almost perfect angle, drives through it, and does an almost perfect exit once again.

He then takes the car through a few long curves, a small straight, than a very sharp turn before another long straight, then there is a very challenging zig-zag that completely kills the momentum of any car, and the only thing that allows a driver to get past it is slow speed and absolute control over the car, which Adam does to almost perfection.

Out of the zig-zag, Adam is greeted with another straight, which he rips through, a few curves, a long curve, and another sharp snake.

The track goes on with its challenges, but also rewards the drivers with long straights where they can just push their car to its very limits.

As Adam comes close to finishing his second lap, Dante looks at the lap timer, and his eyes tremble as he sees that Adam has just shaved more than thirty seconds from his previous lap

It’s not only Dante who is stunned by this; the other members of his team, too, are surprised by how well Adam is doing.

His second lap, Adam does a 7:58:29.

”How was that?” Adam asks.

”Good,” Is all Dante could say.

40 seconds is what Adam needs to shave off to enter the top ten fastest laps ever recorded on the Eylendra Apex Circuit by a commercial car.

”Adam! You are so close, man, you just did a seven-minute fifty-eight-second lap, you just need to shave off forty more seconds!!” Danny shouts through the intercom, excitedly, as his belief in Adam grows even more.

”Got it,” Adam says.

”You can continue,” Dante gives the green light again. Hearing these words, Adam smirks; he can hear the uncertainty in Dante’s tone.

Adam starts driving again, and he feels much more control over the car as the tires are now warm and they are gripping the track as they intended.

Adam drives faster, taking almost perfect corners and zipping through the straights. He can feel the engine come alive every time he lets it lose.

The power it’s generating is ridiculous, as he drives through the straights, Adam feels as if his back is getting glued to the seat with how much g-force is being generated.

Adam feels the excitement of driving faster than before. This is the fastest he has driven this car yet, but he is still holding back; he doesn’t want to go all out because he doesn’t know if the car can handle that.

At such speeds, everything is working against the car: friction, air resistance, g-force, and many other things. Adam isn’t stupid enough to push this car to its very limit on his very first few tries.

He needs to understand the track itself to know that, and with every lap, he is getting closer.

Adam completes his third lap. He stops the car right in front of the engineering team, who stand still, looking at the Stratosurge.

Adam can hear Dante’s breathing through the intercom; it’s long and heavy.

Dante looks at the lap timer. Adam shaved off another thirty seconds from his lap.

This is stupidly good, shaving just a second or a few is already considered a big thing, but shaving whole thirty seconds with every lap, that’s monstrous.

”Dude!! Just ten more seconds, ten more seconds, and we are in the top ten, baby!!!” Danny shouts. Adam can feel how excited he is through the intercom.

”Well, let’s do it then,” Adam says with a confident smile behind his helmet.

Danny looks at Dante. ”Go on, give him the green signal!” Danny says.

”Ye..yes...” Dante almost choked up, but pushed through, as he, too, now wants to see if Adam can do it.

Adam could have already reached his limit, as the closer he gets to the record, the harder it will be to shave off those times.

”You can continue,” Dante says.

Adam presses down on the accelerator, revving the engine to the redline, and as soon as he lets go of the clutch, the tires spin so fast that they find themselves struggling to grip onto the ground, but when it finally does, the car just zips away like a bullet shot from a gun.

Moving faster than before, Adam starts flirting with the car’s limits, going very fast and showing no intention of slowing down.

Seeing this, Dante and the team get a little nervous as Adam’s entry angle looks a little too fast, but they don’t know Adam has already calculated everything in his head.

He sees and processes the world better and faster than anyone; he knows when to slow down and how much.

And when he sees it, he hits the brakes, slowing down the car and taking a perfect turn, attacking the apex like a pro.

Like a seasoned veteran, Adam snakes through the corners as if he has done this a thousand times, most of his turns perfect, most of his exits perfect, and as for the straights, well, all the credit goes to the car and its monstrous power output.

Adam sees everything fly past him at extreme speed, but his view up front is as clear as it can be; there is not a single ounce of pressure or nervousness in him, just excitement as he flirts with the limits of the car some more.

The vibration, the sheer power and force he feels against his entire body, it’s an exhilarating feeling.