CHAPTER 88: BREAKING ANKLES

Setup, it is the way of putting the car in a position where it can theoretically go the fastest on a certain track. But that is where the theoretical part comes in, because to achieve that fastest lap time, not only is the setup important, but the driver needs to be able to take everything the setup is capable of delivering. That’s why, even when the team has the fastest car on the track, different drivers will have different lap times due to their abilities to handle the fastest setup.

And even in the highest tier of motorsports, the fastest setup isn’t what they usually go for. Instead, they try to find the sweet spot between the setup and where the driver has enough confidence in the car. But if the driver can handle the pointy, knife-edge setup that is fastest and can tame it, he will always be the fastest of the two.

The same was with Fatih, as those on the pit lane were watching him head out to the track after all of his setup changes were implemented.

They wondered if he could tame it because narrowing the rear track meant freeing up the rear, making it more willing to rotate, but it came with a tradeoff of making the rear more likely to snap into a sudden, uncontrollable slide if he was not precise with his inputs.

Adding a front torsion bar made the front sharper and more responsive, but its tradeoff was that it made the kart darty and nervous, which would result in a less skilled driver finding it too twitchy and constantly having to make small corrections.

As for lowering the rear ride height, while it increased traction on exit, it also made the kart more sensitive to bumps and curbs, requiring the driver to have a smoother driving style. In total, although the changes would allow for him to deal with all of his problems and theoretically be faster, it turned that kart into a knife-edge, aggressive, and highly responsive machine, one that was significantly difficult to control and would punish the slightest mistake.

F.YILDIRIM - 45.95

And Fatih delivered on his first push lap in phase two after a single reconnaissance lap to understand the new setup, delivering a lap time that nearly beat Enaam’s fastest lap time, missing it by .01 seconds as he continued on his next lap.

"Hah," Ricky gasped in surprise upon seeing how fast it took for Fatih to adapt to the new setup and fully understand it in a single lap before he went out for a push lap that nearly beat Enaam’s lap.

F.YILDIRIM - 45.93

F. YILDIRIM - 45.90

F. YILDIRIM - 45.91

F. YILDIRIM - 45.89

F. YILDIRIM - 45.88

F. YILDIRIM - 45.85

But that lap didn’t remain on top for long, as with each lap, he was bringing the lap times down, replacing Enaam’s fastest lap from his second push lap as he continued pumping out more and more of them until Enaam’s name was no longer on the board by his seventh lap. The board was now fully covered in Fatih’s name and his lap times.

"What is the lap record for this kart category?" Ricky Flynn asked when he watched Fatih hanging in the 45.8 zone for more than three laps.

"45.83," Steve said as he double-checked the information on his computer.

"Looks like it is going to fall today, as his fuel load is now entering low levels," a mechanic said, realizing that the lap time record was going to be broken in a few laps.

Silence followed as everyone on the pit lane watched Fatih, who seemed to be in a mind of his own as he wrangled the kart from one corner to another, setting it up perfectly in every sector. It was as if he was driving their imaginary lap in their minds, and as he came out of the final corner, got on the power, and pushed, going through the start-finish line, they all turned to the lap time board.

45.68

0.15s

, that was the gap by which he beat the track lap record on his eighth lap. Without realizing or a deliberate decision, they all clapped for Fatih, who was already heading for another push lap, showing no intention of slowing down until either the fuel or the timer hit zero. Still, it was no longer possible for Fatih to break his record lap time, although his following time was faster than the previous lap record.

"Where is Enaam?" Ricky asked Steve while still clapping for Fatih, despite knowing he couldn’t hear them.

"He went to refresh and rest, getting ready for the joint third session," Steve said as he pointed to the building that had a canteen.

"Okay, tell him to prepare and bring Fatih in," he said, turning to leave but pausing mid-turn. He looked at Fatih for the last time before he added, "There is no need for him to continue," with an impressive smile, having come to the realization that there was no need for him to continue pushing.

Inside his mind, the prejudice he had against Fatih, thinking that he was a show boater who believed in the hype he was showered with when he dominated in Turkey, and had been even more so when he saw the cameraman following and shooting them, had entirely dissipated.

Although he had agreed to Fatih recording his test and had watched some of his videos and saw the level of fame he had, he had expected Fatih to face reality following the test, but he had been proven wrong. Fatih had instantly become the best Turkish karting driver he knew, as Cem Bölükbaşı now moved to second place.

However, he was still yet to enter the top ten of the best in the world he knew, as even in his category, there was still Lando Norris, and in other categories, there was Max Verstappen in the KF championship, Lance Stroll, George Russell, and a few more, whom he couldn’t wait to see Fatih compete with. But since they were in a higher category, he could only look forward to him fighting against Lando Norris in the three competitions he was going to be in.

In a few minutes, a board was shown to Fatih on the start-finish line, who obliged and returned to the pit on the next lap, coming to a stop next to the mechanics who started checking the kart as he got off it to see if there was anything that was knocked and needed some changes.

After half an hour of rest, as the karts were being made to fit each of the drivers’ strongest suits and preferences, for Fatih, he had said to set it up for the fastest setup, which was very close to his setup changes, barring a few adjustments, as they had an understanding of the track that Fatih, who had only driven about thirty laps, didn’t have before they were finally sent out to the track, being given five laps before they were to start phase three, racing.

........

"We have SP to win here, so be on your top game. Just because you can’t use them to upgrade your skills doesn’t mean you should take it lightly. Crash them for my sake, and you still need those SP to buy new tracks, to save new karts, and more," Apollo buzzed around Fatih as he tried to give motivation, which both of them knew was needless as Fatih already had an active mission to impress and get good results in today’s testing. But what was to stop Apollo from getting in some experience in giving motivation for when Fatih actually needed it in the future, or so was his reasoning for doing that.

But his motivational and morale-raising didn’t last long and ended the moment Fatih and Enaam were now side-by-side as they approached for a rolling start. Fatih had been told to allow Enaam to have a front start so that they could analyze how he dealt with it, if he had the same pace when chasing someone, how he did his overtakes, and if he achieved that, how he defended and such.

Being the one to decide when to start the race, Enaam waited until he was on the racing line and Fatih was on the dirty side of the track. Only then did he push to max power, coming out of the final corner cleanly, while Fatih, who reacted, had to lift slightly due to the wheelspin he experienced from being on the dusty side. By the time he was back on the racing line chasing, Enaam had already opened a small gap, going through the start-finish line ahead.

Knowing that his first real overtaking opportunity would be at the Christmas corner, that didn’t mean he was going to just tuck behind him and wait until they arrived there. Those were three whole corners and straights that he would be stuck chasing him and not have the enjoyment of being ahead and clear of anyone, allowing him to push as much as he wanted without having to take anyone into consideration.

But to do that, he needed to force the driver to make a mistake immediately. So, just as he exited turn one, heading to turn two, he applied the Daniel Ricciardo habit of ankle-breaking, a style where you, as the chasing driver, act as if you are going to make a move just near the front driver’s braking location, forcing the driver ahead to move to cover your attempt but in return miss their braking point and be forced to go off-line, locking the tires for breaking harder or slide out if they try to keep the same line.

And Enaam fell for it, as he immediately reacted to his move the moment Fatih moved to his left to cover him, missing his braking point. Unbeknownst to Enaam, Fatih returned to the racing line, and as Enaam braked harder in order to remain on the racing line, he locked up, sliding away from it as Fatih, remaining on the racing line, took the corner and the leading position.

When Enaam recovered and returned to the racing line, he was now the one chasing Fatih towards turn three, the Christmas corner, and when they arrived he dived on the inside apex, forcing Fatih on the outside line to stay wide as they took the corner side-by-side and entered the short straight to turn four, Inkermans. The outside line Fatih was on turned into an inside line at turn four, resulting in Enaam being the one who was pushed outside as Fatih successfully defended his position, prolonging the fight.

They both knew the next opportunity for an overtake was at the Ashby hairpin so unlike rogue and aggressive Fatih Enaam stayed behind him taking the best possible lines to gain speed advantage when they arrived there, the fight was already intense only halfway into lap one, with no one wanting to be left behind.