Programmed Lives – Fifth Stage
Epilogue
Spring 2025
Needless to say, after Bunta had taken Hiroki for one of his 'spins', the guy seemed to do a one hundred and eighty degrees personality change and there wasn't anyone more willing to help and more eager to do his best for the Takawara Racing Team than Hiroki Suetsugu.
'Do you ever get used to this?' Hiroki asked as he and Akito were finally allowed to leave the press room of the Albert Lake Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
'Not really,' Akito replied, 'good news is that if we keep doing this well, the journalists will have to be nice to us.'
'I hope so,' Hiroki said and Akito was going to say something when he saw his girlfriend Ryoko running towards them.
'Come on guys,' she said, 'my father's waiting for you two.'
'Why?' Akito asked feeling just a hint of the old terror he used to feel for his future father in law.
'It's a surprise,' Ryoko said and, as Akito took her hand so he and Hiroki could walk back into the team's boxes, he muttered:
'I hate surprises.'
Ryoko just laughed at that while she thought that her boyfriend was going to like this particular one and she was right for the minute they stepped into the boxes, from the paddock side of them, Akito saw that there were quite a lot more people in the garage than when he'd left for the press conference and that quite a few of them weren't members of his team.
'Uncle Itsuki!' the now nineteen years old exclaimed as he saw all three ex-Lonely Drivers with their families there, 'what are you all doing here?'
'You didn't think we'd miss this, did you?' Iketani asked instead.
'No way on earth,' Kenji added shaking his head vigorously.
'It's your welcome back race and we all wanted to be here to give you our support,' Itsuki explained.
'Thanks guys,' Akito said and he had quite a lot of trouble hiding the fact that he'd been more than moved by the presence of so many people who had been taking care of him ever since he was born.
'Come on Akito,' he then heard his father say, 'you've got to get ready.'
'Yes,' Akito said, 'guys, I'll do my best!'
'We know you will honey,' Mariko, Itsuki's gorgeous and very tall wife said placing her hand on Akito's cheek. He then nodded at the woman who'd been his biological mother's best friend and, with that, he joined Hiroki in what was going to become the traditional pre-race pep talk from both their team managers: Takahashi Keisuke and Fujiwara Takumi.
A few minutes later and with all their guests having gone to the VIP grandstand to watch the race from there, Akito and Hiroki climbed into their cars with Kizuna issuing a few last second instructions to Hiroki and with Kyosuke doing the same for Akito:
'We've changed the settings the way you asked us,' he said, 'if everything goes as it should, you will do your pit stop half way through the race.'
'Okay,' Akito said through the open helmet.
'Go and make me proud,' Kyosuke said and Akito couldn't help but to smile for the Golden Arrows leader and engineer in charge of his car would never ever change.
Soon the two white, black and yellow cars were rolling down the pit lane and a few moments later, Akito and Hiroki placed their cars in P1 and P2, just ahead of one of the black and white cars from the PIAA-Tanaka team. That car was driven by the English youth Tanaka-san had hired to replace Akito together with Kawamura Naoki who had joined the PIAA-Tanaka Team to fill in the gap left by Akito's ex-team mate Fernandez Ruben since starting this year, the Spaniard had moved on to an IRL team in the US. Pushing that happy thought aside, Akito started getting ready for what was going to be the debut race of the Takawara Racing Team.
'Son,' he heard Takumi's voice say through the radio.
'Yes Dad, what's up?'
'Nothing, just wanted to tell you how very proud I am of you…'
'Dad,' Akito said, 'you're not supposed to be proud of me. Don't you remember what Grandpa always says?'
Takumi just laughed at that and, just before the warm up lap started, Akito could have sworn that his father had called him 'smartass'. That made him drive the entire lap with a smile on his face, almost forgetting to do the zig-zagging which would allow for the tyres' temperature to reach an optimal level.
Then, a few seconds later, all twenty six GP2 cars were off.
Akito liked this circuit's long straight and that first series of turns which led to a very wide, high speed corner which made him feel all the lateral G-forces he had liked so much when, as a very small child, he'd first driven a kart. The Albert Lake street circuit was definitely a thrilling track and Akito felt very grateful that he was actually getting paid to drive around it.
'Akito,' he heard Kyosuke's voice say, 'take it easy man, you're making Hiroki look bad.'
He felt his smile come back for, as Kyosuke had probably predicted, instead of slowing down, Akito only increased his speed and by the time he was called in for his first and only pit stop Akito's advantage on his own team mate was such that he entered the pit lane, refuelled and changed the tyres and got back onto the track without having lost his first position.
'He's going for it,' Keisuke commented to his long time friend and former team mate.
'Yes, I'm afraid so,' Takumi said shrugging his shoulders.
The two older men were right and, twenty two laps later, Akito crossed the finish line in first position having to wait for over fifteen seconds until they saw the second of the Takawara Racing Team cars take the flag.
Then, after a brief prize ceremony, both Japanese drivers walked back to their boxes so they could celebrate the one-two finish in their first race ever. Quite an accomplishment but, again, Keisuke had always known that with a Fujiwara behind the wheel and another one at the pit lane's wall, this was just what had to happen.
He and Takumi smiled when they heard the exchange of their two drivers:
'Don't get used to this,' Hiroki said to Akito, 'the next race is mine.'
Akito laughed at that and said:
'Only in your dreams.'
This was going to be one hell of a season, Keisuke thought shaking his head.
See you next stage...