A Week Later...
Dan Granger was sitting in his home in Crawley, watching the television. A complete and total Formula One fan, he had been watching every race since he was a child. Even in University, he would sometimes ignore his studies in favour of stopping up late at night, or being up early in the morning to watch live coverage of races across Europe and Asia.
But over the past 22 years, he had taken a serious interest in the sport, especially as his daughter, Hermione, had started dating a certain British American Racing driver named Harry Potter, whom she'd met after the car that he and Hermione had been in travelling to Silverstone had broken down.
It was that fateful meeting between his daughter and the younger race driver where their romance started, where they had fell for each other. A meeting which resulted in Dan meeting another hero of his, Harry's father, who's career had seen him be part of various teams, including his debut for Ferrari in 1982 after the passing of Gilles Villeneuve.
Since then, Dan had continued to follow the sport avidly, going to many races to watch the man who became his son-in-law.
One of the proudest moments that Dan could easily say was when Harry had gone on to win the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix, a race which Harry would say he was lucky, considering that his own teammate, Jacques Villeneuve, had retired due to steering issues, the Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher (who were the favourites) getting sent to the back of the grid with penalties and a mistake in the Swimming Pool section on the final lap by Eddie Irvine meaning that the winning gap was in Harry's favour by a wing!
Dan would say otherwise though, as he knew that the young race driver was talented, and that Harry had Hermione at his side.
Nine months later, in February 2002, Dan had another moment to be proud, as he held the first of his grandchildren, a boy who his daughter and son-in-law had named James Sirius Potter.
And like the person who he was named for, James, or "Jimmy" as he preferred to be called, ended up following the path that would lead into motor sports.
It would be just over a year later, that Dan would be a grandfather again, this time his daughter and son-in-law having twins, Rose Emma and Albus Severus. And then two years later, the Potter's would have a fourth child, who they called Hugo Daniel.
But Dan loved all four of his grandchildren equally. He loved watching Jimmy and Albus, or "Al", when they were in karting competitions, their plans to follow in their father and aunt's footsteps. He loved watching Rose curling up in an armchair with a book (at times he got reminded of Hermione was as a child), and he loved the shenanigans of Hugo, who despite being the most mischievous, would actually do well in his studies, even doing some of his GCSEs a year early.
At the same time though, he missed his wife, Emma.
Emma Granger, the woman who he had fallen in love for at University.
Emma Granger, the woman who was his rock.
Emma Granger, the woman who died in a car accident, bringing Al back to their house after a karting session. Killed when a car went into the side of hers.
Al had been lucky really, surviving the crash with a shoulder injury, but because of it, his grandson gave up karting, and instead threw his support behind his older brother, Jimmy.
Even so, the loss of Emma still hurt Dan. The pain was one that he would carry inside for the rest of his life. What made it worse was that they had both been dentists, and the loss of his wife, combined with the onset of arthritis, would mean he would have to give up his profession.
The only thing that kept him going was his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.
And when his oldest grandson had followed the path of going into single seater open wheel motor racing, Dan would try his best to go to races, to show his support.
And then the coronavirus pandemic struck. Audiences had been banned. Teams were restricted to essential personnel only. Races stopped or postponed.
But Dan made sure that if he could not get to the race itself, he would watch them on the television , and cheer on his grandson.
And then when Jimmy had made it into the pinnacle of motor sports, when he had made it into Formula One, Dan was ecstatic. The first third generation Formula One driver to actually be in a race.
There was a group of friends that Dan had, all from his days as a dentist, who followed the sport, and they would meet for lunch every race weekend to watch the races and talk about what was happening with the drivers.
They were a fun bunch, and they always managed to make Dan laugh.
And luckily enough, the group had managed to get tickets to the Silverstone Grand Prix. His grandson's first home Formula One grand prix, made even more special by the fact that the young driver was born not far from the track, and that young James Sirius Potter had, in a way, found that history had kind of repeated itself.
But like his father before him, the young Potter had started the race, but was unable to complete it.
However, unlike his father, it wasn't a engine problem that stopped his chances of completing the race, but a crash on the first lap. A crash which had made the older man feel powerless as he had tried his best to get to his grandson, as he protested against the stewards who were pulling him away from the fence.
It was only as his grandson had been extracted from the Alfa Romeo that Dan had managed to be able to get to Jimmy, to reassure himself that everything was ok.
But that feeling of being powerless had took him back to the same time as when he had been notified by the police that Emma was in hospital, when she was on a ventilator, when she died.
He had been powerless then, too.
Hearing the doorbell ring, Dan knew he wasn't expecting any visitors. Pausing the inaugural race of the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship, the season that his grandson had entered and had won, he went to the door. Opening it, he saw a 2004 MG XPower SV, one of only 5 sold, parked outside his house with the driver of it standing on the doorstep.
"Hi granddad." the driver said, hugging the older man.
"Hey Jimmy." Dan smiled, hugging the young man back.
"I'm here to take you out for a drive."
Dan looked surprised. "Where?" he asked.
Jimmy smiled. "Anywhere you want. Dad let me take the XPower for the weekend, and I knew instantly that I'd want to come and see you. So that's what I did, and now," he shrugged, "here I am."
The two men walked over to the car, which was pristine, with no dents or scratches . "Damn, that's a nice car. Built in Longbridge if memory serves me, right?" Dan commented.
"Yep." Jimmy grinned. "Dad bought it direct from MG Rover when they closed down. It spends most of the time in the garage, but sometimes dad or granddad James likes to take it out for a spin. And this weekend, he let me drive it. There again, I suppose part of it is because I didn't get to race in the JS33, but a V8 is a V8!"
" Well, I'm glad you came to visit. I was thinking about you actually, starting to watch your first F3 race just now. "
"Barcelona? That was a good race. 6th in the sprint, and then a win in the feature race. Not bad for what would be my only season in Formula 3." Jimmy said, the memories of how he had performed. "Yuki and I sometimes talk about that season. Now, where do you fancy going?"
"How about the pub? We can sit there and have a drink, maybe some food. My treat of course." Dan said.
"Sounds great." Jimmy agreed. "You get yourself comfortable in the car, and I'll lock up for you."
Dan got into the car, and sat there for a moment. Looking at the dashboard, he saw that there were controls for the radio and air conditioning. He turned the latter off, as he wanted to hear the sound of the V8.
Jimmy stepped back out of the house, locking the front door behind him, and then walking around to the driver's seat . Dan heard the key turning in the ignition, and then the car coming alive, the engine revving as the young driver pulled o ff from where he had parked.
" She sounds a beauty," Dan said.
"Yeah, she sure does." Jimmy replied. "And I'll tell you something. She's faster than I thought, too. Coming down the M40, I had to make sure I didn't break the speed limit. It felt like I could go much quicker! I'm definitely going to be careful though, don't want to cause an accident."
The pair set off towards a pub just off the A23, in a little hamlet called Pease Pottage. The pub, which was called 'The Black Swan', was a typical English country pub, with wooden flooring, a roaring fire in the corner, and lots of wooden beams.
Dan loved this pub, and had taken his grandson here before, a few weeks after the end of the Formula 3 season. Jimmy had been impressed by the interior décor, especially the stained glass windows at either end of the room .
"So, what are we having?" Jimmy asked.
"There's a lovely Sunday roast, and I know you love your beef." Dan said. "I think I'm going to have the same thing."
"Sounds good. Do you want your usual?"
"That'd be fine, thanks."
As Dan watched his grandson head over to the bar, he thought back to the last time he had seen his grandson. It had been a couple of days after the Grand Prix at Silverstone, and Jimmy had told him that he had decided to continue with racing. That he was going to continue in Formula One
That he was going to try and bounce back.
A few minutes later, Jimmy returned with their drinks, a half a shandy for the younger man, and a pint for Dan . He looked around the pub, noticing that there were quite a few people already there enjoying themselves, despite the fact that it was still early afternoon.
A television in the corner was showing the cricket , although nobody seemed to be paying attention to it at the moment , however one patron was looking at the young Pott er. Dan noticed the patron talking to his wife, who was shaking her head. The man nodded, and then walked over to where Dan and Jimmy were sitting.
"Hello, I know this is a bit of a weird question, but are you Jimmy Potter?" the man asked.
Jimmy smiled. "Yes, that's right. Who might you be?"
"My name is Graham, and I'm a journalist. I've been following Formula One as a fan for years, and I was surprised to see you in my local. Would you mind if I spoke to you for a few minutes?"
"Of course, go on," Jimmy said.
Graham took out a pad and pen, and began writing notes. "Thank you. Now, I guess you're heading into the second half of your first year in Formula One. How do you feel about that?"
"It's gone well so far. Obviously, I had a tough first half of the season . I wasn't expecting to have all the problems I did, but it has been an exciting learning experience. I'm just looking forward to taking on that challenge. I'm also hoping for an improvement in my results."
"What about the other drivers? Are you getting on OK with them?"
"That's a good question. Apart from one or two, there is a great comradery, and everyone is willing to help each other out. George has been a great support after what happened at Silverstone, and so have all of the others."
"Now, I know it must be hard, following in the footsteps of two generations of Potters in the sport, but what would you say for kids who want to follow you?"
Jimmy looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, I'd tell them that they should try their best. To try and get into karting when they're about six to eight years old. But also at the same time to keep up with their schoolwork. There will be plenty of times in your life where you'll need the qualifications, even if you can drive fast cars!
"But most importantly, I'd tell them to believe in themselves. If you aim high enough, you never know what could happen!"
"Thank you, and good luck for the second half of the season." The journalist said, nodding. As he headed back to his table , Jimmy smiled at Dan. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect to have to do a press interview while spending time with you!"
"Don't worry about it. But you should know that you did well. You made a good impression, plus I bet the team would like the good PR." Dan said.
"Yeah, normally they don't like us giving interviews without there being a member of the PR team around, especially when Skeeter is nearby, but the guy seemed nice enough."
"Don't get me started on her... when the chaps told me about the article that she had written about you and your girlfriend, I nearly went mad! She's always trying to make things difficult for you."
"She does seem to have a bee in her bonnet about the family. She's wrote that many articles about mum and dad, and even about aunt Athy, that I'm starting to wonder whether she has a crush on the Potters!" Jimmy laughed.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of the sun coming through the windows. Eventually their food came and they tucked in. As Dan had expected, the beef tasted wonderful, although Jimmy wasn't able to finish it, and Dan was forced to finish both of their plates.
Once they had finished eating, Dan paid the bill, and they left, making their way back to Crawley, Dan glad that he had got to spend some quality time with his grandson.