Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.
Chapter 1 - Building up the Heat
Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi – January 2015
Late one morning, the usual peace and quiet of the spectacular Yas Marina Racing Circuit was being disturbed by the majestic roar of three distinctive V8 racing engines as the cars they belonged to tore around the racetrack. Despite being six years old, the racetrack still had a very new and somewhat clinical feel about it. All the buildings, grandstands and even the five-star hotel surrounding it were pristine white and chrome, and even the tarmac looked like it had never been driven on before, even though it had. Down in pit row, the V8 Supercars Redbulldozer Racing Team were gathered together in the welcoming shade of the pit garage, grateful that they weren't the ones doing the hard work today.
It was hot. Very hot, in fact, and the cloudless sky made the heat even more unbearable. The four large industrial fans inside the garage were going at full speed, but they weren't really having much effect in cooling everyone. The team manager, a forklift named Mark 'Dutto' Dutton, was fanning himself with an old flyer he'd found lying around inside the garage. He'd been Jamie's crew chief until only a month ago, when the team's boss and owner, Leyland Dane, had decided to give the whole team a shake-up for the up-coming racing season. Dutto didn't mind his promotion. As team manager, he was now in charge of all the racers. Everything was his responsibility – from what moves they made during a race, right down to what time they went to bed each night, as well as their diets and exercise regimens. It was a huge responsibility, but he felt confident that he could manage it.
Dutto glanced over at the team's two new crew chiefs, who were both watching their computer monitors closely. Jamie Win-Cup's new crew chief, David 'Davo' Carchi, had been promoted to crew chief after serving as a data engineer with the team since 2007. Dutto trusted him thoroughly. But Craig Louds' new crew chief, Grant McCarson, was a different matter. He used to work with Ford Performance Racing, which made everyone wary of him. After all, Australians were either ardent Holden or Ford supporters, and so when someone crossed over into the other camp, it took years to learn to trust them entirely. Grant knew this, so he was determined to prove to Dutto and Leyland that he wasn't about to sabotage the team or Craig's chances of winning the Championship.
Frowning thoughtfully, Dutto returned his attention to his own monitors. Along with being the team's manager, Leyland had also given him the task of being Lightning McQueen's crew chief for the year. Dutto didn't mind that. Since Lightning was only in the Development Series, being his crew chief wouldn't take up much more of his time. Besides, he rather liked working with the cocky young racer, who was now in his prime as a racer. Lightning had been Craig's co-racer in the V8 Supercars Enduro Cup during the previous racing season, and Dutto had found that Lightning tended to listen to his advice more than anyone else's. That was very important when it came to racing. After all, how was a racer supposed to be successful on the racetrack if he couldn't get along with his team?
Hearing someone panting heavily behind him, Dutto turned around in time to see Leyland enter the pit garage, carrying a tray of ice-cold drinks. "Anyone thirsty?" Leyland asked. Seconds later, Leyland was left with nothing but an empty tray. He glanced at it, bemused. "Ask a silly question…" He tossed it aside. "How's it all going, Dutto?"
"Not bad. The lap times are lagging a bit though."
Leyland frowned with concern. "What do you mean, 'lagging'?"
"To be fair, it is thirty-two degrees out there. Craig and Jamie are just coping with it, but Lightning's engine temp is slightly elevated. Don't worry. Dr Andrews and I are keeping a close eye on him."
Leyland glanced at the lap times. He shook his front. "That's not good enough, Dutto. Those times are varying by up to five seconds! I want to see consistency."
Now it was Dutto's turn to frown. Leyland was a nice guy, but sometimes he could be a hard taskmaster. Perhaps that was the reason behind the team's success.
"The reason we train the racers over here during the off season is because winter in Abu Dhabi is consistent with summer in Australia."
"We don't have to come here to practice, Leyland," Dutto pointed out. "We could just as easily practice at home in Ipswich. Admit it. You just insist on coming here every summer so you can have a free holiday at Redbulldozer's expense."
Leyland scowled, and Dutto knew he'd struck a nerve. Leyland decided to ignore his comment.
"If they can't race well here, we can bid farewell to the Championship. We only get three chances a year to practice on proper racetracks, so we need to make the most of this opportunity. Now push them, Mark! Get those times fast and consistent!"
"Yes, Leyland," Dutto quickly agreed. He adjusted the mic on his headset. "Lightning? This isn't a holiday. At least, for you it isn't. You're not here to relax. Come on, now! Push yourself!"
Davo and Grant also passed on similar messages to Jamie and Craig.
Out on the racetrack, Lightning heard Dutto's orders over his radio. He groaned inwardly. He knew he'd been slowing down, but having been racing flat out for the past two and a half hours in the unbearable heat, he was starting to feel sick.
Hearing someone starting to overtake him, Lightning glanced to his right. It was Jamie. Out of the two full-time Redbulldozer racers, Jamie was the closest to Lightning in age, and that's why they got along so well together. They were also champions in their own racing codes, which meant that they had a friendly rivalry both on and off the racetrack.
Jamie glanced at Lightning. He could see how hot and bothered the American racer was, so he decided to push Lightning's buttons a bit. "You're not used to racing in these sort of temperatures, are you?"
"I can do it if I have to," Lightning panted.
"Oh, come on! Seriously? I know all about your Piston Cup races." Jamie continued speaking in a mocking tone, "Oops! It's started raining. We'll have to cancel the race so the racetrack doesn't become a skidpan. Oh, dear! Someone tapped somebody's side. Red flag! The temperature just went up by a degree! Panic! The race will have to be run at night! Oh! There's a curve up ahead! Left turn! Which way do I go here? Whoops! It's another left turn! And another… Left turn…left turn…left turn…"
"Stop it!" Lightning shouted.
"Haha! See? I told you, you were soft."
Lightning felt his anger rising. "You're just jealous!"
"Why would I be jealous?" Jamie taunted. "It's easier to win a Piston Cup than it is to win a V8 Supercar Championship. Pfft! If I was in the Piston Cup, I'd have broken the all-time record by now!"
"Yeah, right! You don't know what you're talking about."
"Obviously I do, since you decided to leave the Piston Cup!"
"How dare you!" Lightning snapped, enraged. He could feel his oil pressure rising as he glared furiously at his teammate.
"Easily. Now, eat my fumes!"
Laughing, Jamie finally overtook Lightning cleanly, and he accelerated. Lightning coughed as the heat generated by Jamie's engine hit him full in the face, almost choking him.
"Fine! If that's how you want it…"
Shifting up a gear, Lightning set off in hot pursuit of Jamie. He caught up with him shortly after turn nine, as they entered the straight. Lightning floored it, pushing his engine to the max. But Jamie heard Lightning coming, and he responded to the challenge. The two world-class racers tore down the straight side-by-side, refusing to give each other an inch. Glancing down at his speedometer, Lightning saw that he was maxed out at three hundred kilometres an hour. He was still getting used to using the metric system, so while three hundred kilometres an hour sounded fast, it really wasn't the fastest he could actually go. Like all V8 Supercars, Lightning had a temporary speed limiter installed, to keep him under the three hundred mark for his own safety.
Looking up, Lightning could see that he and Jamie were getting very close to the end of the straight. One of them would have to yield, but Lightning wasn't about to give Jamie the satisfaction. Unfortunately, Lightning was on the inside, which meant that under V8 Supercar rules, he would have to give Jamie room to move around the apex.
Jamie braked first, surrendering his lead to Lightning. Grinning, Lightning also slowly applied his brakes so he could take the sharp corner. Just when Lightning thought he'd make it, he felt his brakes lock up, which meant that he momentarily lost control of his steering.
"No!" Lightning exclaimed in disbelief as he drove straight past the apex. Jamie shot around the corner behind him, laughing gleefully. Acting quickly to avoid crashing, Lightning released his brakes briefly, before slamming them back on again, hard. He skidded to a stop in the pale blue and white coloured gravel, with his front right fender less than ten centimetres away from the solid concrete wall that marked the racetrack's perimeter. Shocked, Lightning remained where he was, panting heavily as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. A moment later, he heard Dutto's voice come on over his radio.
"Come into the pits, Lightning."
Groaning, Lightning shifted himself into reverse gear. But as he tried to move, a wave of nausea overwhelmed him, and he sank back down on his wheels.
"Dutto? I… I'm not feeling well…"
"Can you make it back to the pits without help?"
"Possibly. I just need a moment though."
"No, Lightning. You need to move. Now! Before you completely collapse."
Gulping back the nausea, Lightning closed his eyes tightly. It felt so good to finally block out the relentless sunlight. Opening his eyes a crack, Lightning returned to the tarmac. Turning on his hazard lights, he began the long, slow drive back to pit lane.
Before long, Lightning saw the pit lane entry. Breathing a small sigh of relief, he entered the speed-restricted zone, and he drove slowly towards the garage the team was using. The garage entrance was quickly cleared to give Lightning room to enter. As soon as Lightning was safely inside and out of the heat, he collapsed heavily onto his chassis, closing his eyes. He hadn't quite fainted, but he felt very close to it. He could hear the pit crew moving around him.
"Hose him down," Dutto ordered. "And get some coolant into him."
The pit crew leapt into action. Dutto frowned when he saw the water from the hose being turned into steam as soon as it landed on Lightning's boiling hot body. Dr Andrews offered the exhausted race car some coolant, but Lightning refused to take any. In fact, he could scarcely draw in one breath after another without rasping. Yet another wave of nausea rolled through his tank, but he had almost nothing in it to bring up. Still, he did manage to retch, which immediately alarmed Dr Andrews.
Dr Andrews turned to face Leyland. "Leyland, this can't go on! Not in this heat."
"If they can't race well here…"
"It's a dry heat! Lightning's not used to it!"
"Andrews…"
"They don't race in these sort of conditions in America, and he hasn't raced properly in over three months because of his injury!"
Leyland exhaled deeply. Deep down, he knew that Dr Andrews was right. He turned to Davo and Grant. "How are the other two going?"
"They're exhausted too," Davo replied. "And they're much fitter than Lightning is."
"It's time to call it a day, Leyland," Dutto told him firmly. "They've been racing flat out since nine o'clock, and it's now eleven forty-five."
Leyland nodded slowly in agreement. "Okay. Bring them in."
Davo and Grant began giving orders to Jamie and Craig over the radio. Leyland turned his attention to Lightning.
Lightning could hear everyone talking all around him, but he was too exhausted to listen. Someone kept trying to push a straw into his mouth, but he didn't want a drink. He didn't feel thirsty at all now, which surprised him. Only minutes earlier when he'd been out on the track, he'd been desperate for a drink! He groaned as he retched again.
"Lightning… You need to drink this. Now!"
Surprised at Dr Andrew's harsh tone, Lightning's eyelids flew open, revealing his famous brilliant sapphire-blue eyes. Dr Andrews pushed a can towards him again.
"Don't…want…it…" Lightning whimpered.
"You have to take it, regardless. You have heat stress. Trust me. You'll feel much better once you've had it. It'll help settle your tank."
Lightning whimpered again, but he still refused to drink. Dutto drove over to them.
"What's wrong?"
"Lightning's refusing to drink the coolant," Dr Andrews explained.
"Put it straight into his radiator then."
With a heavy sigh, Dr Andrews called one of the mechanics over. Lightning barely even felt them remove his bonnet clips, or lift up his bonnet.
"What's wrong with Lightning?" Jamie asked suddenly as he drove into the pit garage.
Startled, Lightning jumped, landing heavily back on his tyres, and accidentally making the mechanic spill coolant all over Lightning's front. Lightning yelped as the cool liquid splashed all over his mouth.
"Hold still, Lightning!" the mechanic ordered him. "I need to get this into your radiator."
"Forget it," Dr Andrews chuckled when he saw the exhausted racer greedily licking up the coolant that was within reach of his tongue. He pushed the can in front of Lightning again. This time, Lightning drank it in just two gulps.
Annoyed, the mechanic slammed Lightning's bonnet closed.
"Ow!" Lightning gasped, flinching. "No need to be so rough!" He groaned as a strong wave of nausea rose up in his tank. "Oh no! I'm going to be sick!"
Dr Andrews slid a shallow tray in front of Lightning just in time. Unable to cope with the disgusting sight of vomit, everyone looked away. Only Dr Andrews watched on as Lightning hurled up the contents of his tank.
Once Lightning was done, he let out a low moan. The after-taste of fuel and coolant burned his sensitive mouth and throat, but even so, he was reluctant to drink the soothing oil Dr Andrews offered him.
"Just take a sip," Dr Andrews gently suggested. "To wash away the burning."
Nodding weakly, Lightning took a couple of small sips. To his great relief, it did help him feel a bit better.
Dutto picked up a couple of files. "Lightning, when you're able to move, can you please come and find me? I'll be upstairs in meeting room number five."
"Sure, Dutto," Lightning sighed. He resumed slowly drinking the cool, refreshing oil.
…
Twenty minutes later, Lightning slowly drove up the winding ramp that led to the two upper floors above the pit garages. He was feeling much better now, but he didn't want to run the risk of throwing up again, so he didn't rush about the way he normally would.
Meeting room number five wasn't too hard for him to find. Once he had, he knocked softly on the door with his tyre.
"Come in," Dutto called.
Lightning entered the room, allowing the door to swing closed behind him. Dutto was typing away on his laptop, but he looked up when he saw Lightning.
"How are you feeling now?"
"Tired, but at least I haven't thrown up again."
"That's usually a sign that you've pushed yourself too hard. I saw you racing Jamie."
Lightning shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, well… He egged me on…"
"I'm glad he did. You set a P.B. coming down the straight while you were racing. Maybe I should ask Jamie to egg you on more often," he added with a knowing wink.
Lightning exhaled deeply. "What happened with my brakes? I've never had them lock up that badly before."
"The heat tends to make them do that. Especially in this dry heat. But that's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. You might have been wondering why we haven't yet talked to you about what the V8 officials want the Development Series cars to test this year."
"No, not really."
Dutto chuckled. "Well, the reason they haven't told us what to test this year is because they don't need anything to be tested. But we – that is, our team – does need something tested. For the past two years, our mechanics have been working on developing a new type of brake lever that should, at least in theory, reduce the reaction time for braking by up to two tenths of a second. You'd know better than most people just how important reaction times are in racing."
Lightning nodded. "I'm guessing you want me to test this new brake lever?"
"Yes. The final prototype has just been completed. We'll have Dr Andrews install it in you once we get back to Australia. You'll get the opportunity to test it properly for us at the practice day in Sydney at the start of February. If it's successful, we'll install it in Craig and Jamie as well."
Lightning groaned. "Does that mean I have to have another operation?"
"No. We'll be able to install this under a local anaesthetic." Dutto smiled when he heard Lightning breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm hoping it'll help prevent locking brakes, like the one you experienced today. One more thing. We seriously need to work on your new paintwork. I'm thinking a dark blue basecoat with-"
"No! My basecoat stays red. I'm perfectly happy to have whatever sponsors stickers you want me to have, but I'm keeping the red."
Dutto glanced down at his laptop, where he had a CGI model of Lightning in his new paintwork projected up on the screen. Most of the new stickers were for the Redbulldozer brand. Lucky one of their main colours is red, Dutto thought. He glanced up at Lightning. "I guess we can work around that." He clicked a button with the cursor, and the CGI model's basecoat changed to red. Dutto smiled. It didn't actually look that bad. He closed the laptop before opening up one of the files.
"Right. Let's discuss your performance from today…"
Please, take the time to review. I'm really excited about this story now that I've started it! It's taken me about a month to write this chapter, and figure out where I want this story to go, so please let me know what you think of it so far. Thank you.
