PROLOGUE

2002 PRE-SEASON TESTING RESULTS

RACECAR MONTHLY

Will Sebastian Vettel's winning streak finally come to an end?

By Lynda Garyth, featured Columnist. March 7, 2003

One might remember Sebastian Vettel from last year's Formula One in Melbourne, where he smoked the competition and managed to finish the race with an astonishing result of 71 laps in 1 hour 25 minutes. The second best, McLauren, who is incidentally competing this year without a title sponsor, only managed 69 laps in the same amount of time; an undeniable gap for sure, and one that no driver seemed to be even close to breaching, making Vettel the crowned king of the Professional Racing community.

However, this year, things might actually start to change.

On the evidence of 2002's pre-season testing in Australia, one of the rookies might, in many's opinion, stand more than a fighting chance at putting an end to Vettel's winning streak. 19 years old Takumi Fujiwara from Japan and her team, sponsored by the Takahashi Corporation, was an unknown in the Racing world until a few month ago when the young driver not only miraculously managed to destroy Vettel's record on the track, but she did it with an ease that shocked everyone watching. Her car, powered by an engine just recently put on the market by the Takahashi Corporation, technically shouldn't be able to outperform season pioneers such as Renault or Mercedes-Benz, but as people started to realize, nothing goes as planned when it comes to young Fujiwara. Of course, we will not really know whether she is truly capable until the times actually count—for qualifying and the race in Australia, but this is a good indication that things are about to change.

We here at Racecar Mounthly had recently the chance to talk to the young star about her debut in the Professional racing world. Here's a brief accounting of the interview:

US: First of all, we would like to congratulate you on your astonishing lap time and lap count. For a rookie with almost no experience as a professional driver, your achievement was nearly impossible to accomplish. Can you tell us how you managed to gain such skills?

TF: I have to admit, a big part of my success is owed to my father. Without him, not only would I not be as capable as I am today, I would probably not even be racing. He taught me everything I knew and even now, I can't outrace him.

US: That's shocking to hear; is your father a professional racer as well?

TF: Oh no; my father wouldn't be caught dead watching professional racing, let alone participate. He's a street racer and has learned his craft in the mountains.

US: Mountains you say. I can see that if you're used to driving down traitorous mountain roads, race tracks should be a piece of cake.

TF: Well, it's easier for sure, but I won't say it's a piece of cake.

US: So modest…anyway, the big question everyone wants to know is "Do you think you have what it takes to dethrone Sebastian Vettel?"

TF shrugs.

TF: You know, the thing is with racing, skill is a part of winning but experience is as well. I am somewhat confident my skill as a driver is a match for M. Vettel but I'm afraid my inexperience will hinder my success.

US: True. But your inexperience hadn't seem to have hindered your pre-season testing results.

TF: Well, I guess I was lucky. I hope that luck will continue to run until the real thing.

US: Well, we wish you luck as well. Personally, I would love to see a girl champion for once and it is not because I'm woman that I'm saying that.

TF smiles.

TF: Thank you. I promise I will do my best.

THE BIRTH OF A RACING LEGEND

People are all born with the potential for greatest but not all are given the right tools to make it come to life.

23 October 1983, Akina Hospital

"Congratulations," the attending nurse said, smiling, as she moved to hand over the cleaned-up baby to the expectant parents, "It's a girl."

The response to that declaration was, however, not what she had expected. Because, instead of over enthusiastic displays of joy, the two parents, along with their assigned physician, all looked taken aback.

Bunta blinked.

His wife blinked.

The doctor blinked.

And then, all three turned to the nurse and asked in unison: "A girl?"

Confused the nurse nodded and made another gesture for the mother to take the child but Akemi Fujiwara didn't make a move.

"Are you sure it's the right baby?" she asked, looking uncertainly towards the doctor, "we've been assured since the beginning that it would be a boy."

"It's the right baby," the nurse confirmed, now sounding slightly upset that someone was actually doubting her words. "It's the right sex too. It's a girl."

"Well," Bunta said after a few minutes of silence, "I'm not going through another week of trying to figure out what to call her. Boy or not, we're calling her Takumi."

23 October 1996, Fujiwara Tofu Shop

Takumi's 13th birthday fell on a Wednesday.

Normal 13 years old girls would have made a big deal out of this; milked it for all its worth and try to make it last as long as possible. But Takumi wasn't like that. She was aware that she wasn't like all the other children and she was ok with it.

Some say she was too quiet; some doesn't even notice her existence until she spoke and even then, some still doesn't notice her. She was too mature, too adult-like and it drove children her age away. She didn't have any friends until 1st grade, when a loud-mouthed transfer student decided that he was going to stick with her, her opinions be dammed. His name was Itsuki and they had been sort of friends since then. And even after a year, she still wasn't used to having someone to talk to, someone to eat lunch with.

True to her nature, she hadn't told anyone at school about it since she didn't want a fuss but that didn't prevent Itsuki from showing up at her house bright and early, with a badly wrapped package in hand.

"Happy birthday," he said, smiling a rather shy smile. It was so out of character for him that all Takumi could do was take the present and utter a small thanks. Despite her totally blank face, she was actually pretty touched that Itsuki went to all that trouble to get her a gift. Even her own father hadn't said anything to her that morning. "You didn't have to, but thanks."

That was all it took for Itsuki to go back to his usual boisterous self.

At school, no one said anything about her birthday…not that Takumi expected anyone to even know. It was one of the downfalls (or perks) of being a wallflower. But truthfully, she didn't care; none of those people were her friends; none of those people mattered at all to her. She would actually be suspicious if one of them said something to her. After all, random kindness was not something she was used to.

The day passed rather normally; the teachers taught, the students listened (or at least, some of them) and Takumi spend the entire 8 hours of school dreaming of her bed. She hadn't slept well that night; a combination of night terrors and restless kept her up most of the time she was supposed to be sleeping. It got so bad that she even considered going to down to the kitchen to see if her father had any sleeping pills. Of course, at the end, she didn't take any because she was kind of paranoid about the effect of medicine on her body but that didn't mean it hadn't been really tempting.

When school finally ended and she got home, she found her second surprise of the day.

Her father, who was supposed to be out making deliveries, was waiting for her at their small dining room table. A glass of water sat in front him, as well as a plate of cookies Takumi knew that one of his customers have given him a few days ago. The plate was almost already empty, which suggested that he had been her for some time. Her biggest concern at the moment was why.

The "why" turned out to be car keys; the very keys to Bunta's Trueno to be more precise.

"You waited for me to get home so you can show me your keys?" Takumi said slowly, unable to believe her eyes.

Bunta rolled his eyes and motioned for her to take it.

She did, but not before adding: "You know I can't drive until I'm 18, right?"

"Yes, yes," Bunta replied dismissively, his tone betraying his impatience at her questions; nothing new there.

Takumi knew that her father had always been a little annoyed that someone from his own flesh and blood could be so…law-abiding. The young teen still snickered whenever she remembered the stories Bunta used to tell her about his own wide childhood; swimming in restricted waters, stealing fruits from vendors and causing disruptive noises at obscene hours of the morning were some of the more tame accounts she had heard. No wonder he always seems to frown whenever she brings up the law.

"I know that you can't legally drive until you're 18, but there's no way I'm waiting that long before I'm making you help with the morning deliveries."

At that, Takumi had let out a sigh…Of course, it's about the shop; it's always about the shop. Because alcohol and the tofu shop were the only things that seemed to matter in Bunta's life.

There were times in her childhood – especially times when her father would spend the whole day drinking and vomiting – that Takumi wondered what her life could have been if Akemi, her mother, hadn't died.

She wondered if her father would still have been the alcoholic he was or whether she would still have been the tomboy she was. Although she doubted the presence of a mother figure in her life could actually make her like girly things like skirts and high heels (she shudders at the thought), she was less sure about the alcoholic father part.

Bunta Fujiwara hadn't always been an alcoholic. Sure he had drank his own share of cheap sake in high school, he had always been able to say no. He didn't depend on alcohol like he did now and the only reason why Takumi did not put her feet down when her father drank himself in to a stupor was because she understood just how difficult it was for him to live with a living reminder of the wife who had left him.

Takumi had no illusions that her father always saw her as her. She was short for a Japanese girl her age, with short brown hair and huge blue eyes; it was an unusual color for someone of Asian descent to say the least. She knew that her mother, Akemi, was the only one to have spotted a similar pair in this whole town; it was one of the reasons Bunta had been attracted to her. Her mother, like her, was not really what one would call beautiful. They were both rather plain, with a predilection of staying in the shadows, far away from the excitement. From some of the stories Bunta would tell her when drunk off his ass, apparently, Bunta had been the first boy to ask her out. It said something that they had managed to stay together all through high school.

Before Takumi could lose herself in her daydreams – a habit that she really needs to snap out of before something bad happens – Bunta snapped his fingers infront of her face to get her attention. When she turned her gaze to him with a startled yelp, the man merely rolled his eyes and leaned back.

"You're really hopeless, kid," he told her somewhat fondly before throwing away his beer can; she watched almost dazedly as it hit the edge of the trash can before falling in, "Takumi, we really need to teach you how to concentrate."

"I'm fine, dad," she replied with all the seriousness a 13 years could muster, "you were saying about the car."

He nodded, letting her get away with the subject change, before motioning her to stand up.

"Come on; from today, you're be in the passenger seat while I go on my runs. I want you to observe every little detail of what I do; how I make my turns, the way my feet move to brake. After a while, I'll be changing places with you and you'll get to experience firsthand what it's like. If you drive fast enough, you might even be able to get some shut-eye before school."

His tone was all business and Takumi knew that refusing was not an option. All she could do was sigh and follow him out.

Takumi's first attempt at driving had been…pathetic, to say the least. The first time Bunta bought her up the mountain road, she had been so tense/ nervous/freaked out, that she barely managed to hit 30 km/h. She was still surprised at how patient her father had been; positioning her hands so that she had a better grip on the wheel, telling her when her feet weren't placed correctly and pointing out things on the pass that she should watch out for. With Bunta's instructions, it took her a measly 6-month to shave 30 minutes off her uphill time. She had been so proud, she remembered fondly, even though she hadn't shown it at the time.

Bunta had been proud as well, but he, unlike her, wanted more.

4-5 years later, 17 years old Takumi was finally able to drive up to her father's standards. Even if she doesn't see driving as more than a means to get up the mountain and back down as fast as possible in order to catch a few hours of sleep before school, she had improved a lot compared to her debut. 2 hours uphill time compared to her 20 minutes 4-5 years later, was incredible…and she knew it.

Takumi Fujiwara was born with the potential to become a legendary driver. Bunta's act of pure selfishness was what it took to make sure she became one.

And just like that, a racing legend was born.