Flight K109 (#1 ¬ Aiello Racing Series )

Elliot Ilves

I fight the urge to text Mia all day on Wednesday. Actually, I've been fighting it ever since she said goodbye last afternoon. I'm distracted throughout the morning, and I notice Alessandro looking at me curiously a couple times whilst we join Jan Mueller, who arrived last night, around the facility on a tour similar to the one I got less than two weeks ago. 

He's been here for only a couple hours, but I'm not sure how I feel about him. He's definitely got a reputation, an impressive one to anybody interested in motorsports, and he seems to be a decent guy. But there's just something about him.....something that doesn't really sit right with me. I just can't give it a name, I wouldn't be able to put it into words if you'd asked me what it was. Maybe he's just too perfect. It's the way his eyes are blank, his face reflects emotion but his eyes tell no story. It's the way everything he says sounds calculated, like he's planned everything beforehand and wrote it down on a script. It's the way he never fumbles his words or misses a beat.

I don't know. Maybe it's all in my head. 

"We want to start track testing on the cars today." Guillaume states at the team meeting, making my and Alessandro's heads shoot up, Jan doesn't even react

"Are they already ready?" Alessandro asks in heavily accented english, I'm asking the same question, the last season ended three months ago and the teams working on F3 cars are limited in most departments. I mean, theoretically you want the first draws of a car as soon as possible, especially when you only have six months to design, build, test and modify, but in this category it takes most of the six months just to get one car built, let alone both.

"No. You're going to drive tractors we borrowed from the farm next door." Guillaume deadpans

Alessandro purses his lips. "I should have seen that one coming...." he mutters

"The cars are done." Guillaume says, "Both of them. The real question is which one of you will go first."

It's a question. We're meant to make this decision. The Aiello team has their own track, a track I've been itching to get on since the very first time I saw it through the big glass floor to ceiling windows. There have been some moments in the time I've been here where I've gotten a bit lost just staring at it. It's been so long since was on a proper race track it feels like I've gone through withdrawl.

But as much as I want to, I can't jump up and ask to go first. Because this is the first test, in a brand spanking new car. The honor should go to Alessandro, he has seniority over me not just in age but in experience. He may have been the rookie on the team last year but he's not now. He's in the lead now and it would not be wise of me to just completely ignore that.

I'm ready to tell Sandro to go first but he beats me to it.

"I think Elliot should have the first run." he says, surprising me and Guillaume, Jan, again, is impassive

Guillaume looks at Sandro curiously, "Why do you say that?"

Alessandro shrugs,"He's younger. He's a rookie coming into F3 with no experience. He needs the practice more than I do."

"But- you're the leader." I protest, "You've got seniority over me in everything. The first test in a new car is your right."

He shakes his head at me, "I don't believe in that kind of stuff. We're still early in the game. I'll get my time too. There are two cars and I've got the weeks you're not here to practice. You need this more than I do Elliot. Just take the first run today. There's still going to be a lot to do on the car in the meantime."

I'm stunned. I mean, I knew Sandro was a really chill guy. But this is next level awesome. All throughout my time in karting and FRECA I was always told to keep my head down, that I always gave full respect to the older guy, the one with more experience. And respect meant going second, taking the back step sometimes if need be. And it's not like Sandro has had his time taking firsts and being the one on top, this is his first year as the senior driver. So for him to give this to me........safe to say he has my absolute respect for as long as I live.