"Meski usahanya gagah dan ia memperoleh lebih dari satu detik per putaran, safety car atau insiden yang akan mengumpulkan semua pembalap tidak pernah hadir untuk Fatih. Untuk pertama kalinya dalam karir single-seater-nya, ia menghadapi akhir pekan tanpa poin saat lawan kejuaraannya, KIERN JEWISS, MELEWATI BENDERA FINIS DAN MEMPERLEBAR KEUNGGULAN KEJUARAANNYA SEBANYAK DUA PULUH LIMA POINT! PEMBALIKAN PERTAMA SEJAK FATIH KEMBALI SETELAH KEHILANGAN POINT DAN MEMANGKU KEPEMIMPINAN SELAMA EMPAT MINGGU BERTURUT-TURUT!
DAN ITU BELUM SELESAI, KARENA JONATHAN HOGGARD, PEMBALAP YANG DIA TERORISASI PADA BALAPAN KEDUA KEMBALINYA, BERHASIL FINISH DI POSISI PODIUM TERAKHIR DAN KEMBALI MENYALIPNYA DI KLASIFIKASI KEJUARAAN, NAIK KE POSISI KEDUA! BISA JADI LEBIH BURUK LAGI SEANDINYA DENIS HAUGER TIDAK BERHASIL MEMERTAHANKAN POSISI KEDUA!
INI ADALAH FINISH TERBURUKNYA, DAN AKHIR PEKAN YANG PASTI INGIN DIA LUPAKAN! SATU-SATUNYA HAL POSITIF YANG BISA DIA KLAIM DI SINI ADALAH MENOLAK JEWISS ATAU SIAPA PUN DI POSISI POINT MENDAPATKAN POINT LAP TERCEPAT, YANG SEKARANG DIA PEGANG UNTUK SEPANJANG SEPULUH LAP TERCEPAT TERATAS, TANPA SATU PUN LAIN YANG MENDEKAT!" Justin, meski penggemar Fatih, mengomentari posisi finish balap dengan antusias.
"Aku menyalahkanmu," kata Brad saat Fatih akhirnya melewati garis start-finis, finis terakhir, dua detik di belakang mobil terakhir, setelah mempersempit jarak dua puluh detik menjadi dua detik di putaran terakhir.
"Kenapa?" Justin bertanya, terkejut.
"Selama sesi kualifikasi, aku khusus bilang kau menantang takdir saat kau berkata, 'Aku tidak melihat banyak cara dia tidak keluar sebagai pemimpin klasifikasi kejuaraan di akhir akhir pekan ini.' Lihat sekarang awal akhir pekan ini baginya, karena praktis sudah menghapus peluangnya memimpin tanpa dua pembalap lain performa lebih buruk dari biasa," kata Brad dengan nada sangat terhibur sambil mengingatkan Justin apa yang dia katakan beberapa jam lalu saat sesi kualifikasi.
"Nah, kalau begitu, aku mau minta maaf ke Fatih," katanya, main-main sebelum menambah, "Dan sayangnya, ini belum berakhir, karena dia akan start balapan kedua dari posisi terakhir, ditentukan dari finish balapan pertama. Itu juga pertama kalinya buat Fatih, setelah sudah mencapai finis posisi terakhir."
Sambil Justin ngobrol bolak-balik sambil menampilkan tiga mobil teratas berhenti di depan papan posisi, umpan akhirnya beralih ke mobil Fatih masuk pit lane dan berhenti di area yang tidak pernah dia gunakan. Bahkan setelah berhenti, dia tidak keluar dari mobil, tangannya tetap di kemudi sambil melihat lurus ke depan.
"Pasti ini pukulan berat baginya. Dia, sama seperti kita semua, sudah yakin bisa memimpin, tapi inilah situasinya. Pasti sakit, dan dia sudah lakukan semua yang bisa untuk membalikkan, tapi tidak ada yang berhasil," kata Justin saat sutradara TV sepertinya mau konten lebih. Umpan kamera yang ditayangkan semakin mendekat ke mobil Fatih hingga visornya terlihat, menunjukkan dia memejamkan mata. Saat kemudian, dia lepaskan satu tangan dari kemudi untuk buka visor sebelum membuka mata dan menatap kamera yang sangat dekat.
Dia cuma angkat tangan dan menutup lensa, mendorongnya mundur, yang langsung diganti sudut lain oleh sutradara TV, tetap menunjuk ke Fatih, yang akhirnya keluar dari mobil dan menatap aneh ke kameramen sebelum pergi. Dia disambut Alex, yang bergegas ke arahnya dengan botol air dan handuk, saat mereka kembali ke garasi sementara mekanik mengambil mobil.
"Yah, aku juga tidak mau terlihat seperti itu," kata Brad saat Fatih hilang dari kamera ke garasi sebelum umpan beralih ke pemenang podium. Segera Brad bertanya, "Menurutmu dia finish di mana besok di balapan dua?"
"Minimal posisi podium."
"Kenapa?"
"Nah, pace yang dia tunjukkan saat mengejar tidak bisa disangkal. Kalau dia di grup yang berkerumun, dia akan buat angka dengan pace itu saja, bahkan kalau kita tidak pertimbangkan kemampuan wheel-to-wheel yang dia tunjukkan sekilas saat dikirim ke P8 saat pembalikan grid."
"Aku benar-benar nantikan itu, dan kali ini ada dua puluh satu putaran, jadi dia punya jarak dan waktu cukup untuk melakukannya dengan santai dan tanpa terburu-buru."
......
"Tolong cek suspensi depan. Aku rasakan getaran aneh semakin besar setiap putaran aku push," kata Fatih saat sesi debriefing, yang dimulai begitu Hauger kembali dari perayaan podium, masih berbau champan non-alkohol.
"Kemungkinan besar karena overdriving mobil," jawab insinyur performa, membuat semua orang menatapnya sebelum lanjut. "Seperti yang kau tahu, sirkuit Silverstone, tata letak sirkuit nasional, dengan tikungan seperti Copse, mengharuskan pembalap 'menyalahgunakan' kerbs untuk cari laptime. Padukan dengan putaran yang pendek, suspensi tidak pernah istirahat, sama dengan ban dan komponen, yang selalu di bawah beban cepat dan konstan. Tambah beban aero, dan kau mendorong semua itu ke tepi; perilaku baru itu normal di situasi seperti itu."
"Aku mengerti, tapi tetap tolong cek sebelum balapan besok, karena aku akan push seperti hari ini," kata Fatih, tidak berniat berdebat soal alasan, jelas itu cek pencegahan, bukan karena ada masalah pasti.
"Oke, tambahkan ke daftar hal yang harus ditangani," kata team principal saat mereka langsung lanjut ke urusan berikutnya.
Sementara debriefing berlangsung, Lisa, kepala mekanik Fatih, terus menatapnya, bertanya-tanya apakah benar ada alasan kekhawatirannya, yang dibandingkan panggilan sebelumnya, pasti perlu dicek, atau dia cuma cari alasan buat justify finish terakhirnya. Tapi baginya, tidak masalah, karena sekali lagi, Fatih menambah beban kerja mereka.
"Despite his valiant effort and gaining more than a second per lap, the safety car or incident that would bunch up everyone never comes for Fatih. For the first time in his single-seater career, he is met with a pointless weekend as his championship counterpart, KIERN JEWISS, GOES THROUGH THE CHECKERED FLAG AND EXTENDS HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD BY TWENTY-FIVE POINTS! A FIRST REVERSAL SINCE FATIH’S RETURN AFTER BLEEDING POINTS AND LEADING FOR FOUR CONSECUTIVE WEEKS!
AND THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE NIGHTMARE, AS JONATHAN HOGGARD, THE DRIVER HE HAD TERRORIZED ON HIS SECOND RETURN RACE, FINISHED ON THE LAST PODIUM POSITION AND NOW ONCE AGAIN OVERTAKES HIM IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS, MOVING INTO SECOND POSITION! IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR DENIS HAUGER KEEPING SECOND PLACE!
IT IS HIS WORST FINISH, AND A WEEKEND HE WILL MOST DEFINITELY WANT TO FORGET! THE ONLY POSITIVE THING HE CAN CLAIM FROM HERE IS DENYING JEWISS OR ANYONE IN A POINTS POSITION A POINT FOR THE FASTEST LAP, WHICH HE NOW HOLDS FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THE TOP TEN FASTEST LAPS, WITH NO ONE ELSE COMING CLOSE!" Justin, despite being a fan of Fatih, commented on the race’s finishing positions with enthusiasm.
"I blame you for it," Brad said as Fatih finally went through the start-finish line, finishing last, two seconds behind the last car, having reduced a twenty-second gap to two seconds by the final lap.
"Why?" Justin asked, surprised.
"During the qualifying session, I specifically said you were taunting fate when you said, ’I don’t see many ways that he doesn’t come out on top of the championship table at the end of this weekend.’ Now look at how this weekend has started for him, as it has practically removed all chance of him taking the lead without the other two drivers performing worse than usual," Brad said in a very amused tone as he reminded Justin of what he had said a few hours ago during the qualifying session.
"Well, if that is the case, then I would like to apologize to Fatih," he said, playing along with the bit before he added, "And unfortunately, this is not the end of his nightmare, as he is going to start the second race from the last position, as it is determined by where drivers finished in the first race. It will also be another first for Fatih, having already achieved finishing in last place."
As Justin talked back and forth while showing the top three cars stopping in front of the signboards with their positions, the feed finally switched to show Fatih’s car entering the pit lane and stopping in an area he had never used before. Even after coming to a stop, he didn’t get out of the car, his hands remaining on the steering wheel while he looked straight forward.
"It has to be a devastating blow to him. He, just like every one of us, was already confident in his ability to take the lead, but this is the situation he finds himself in. It has to sting, and he has done everything he could to reverse that, but none of it worked," Justin said as the TV director seemed to want more content. The camera feed currently showing started getting closer and closer to Fatih’s car until his visor was visible, showing that he had his eyes closed. Moments later, he removed one hand from the steering wheel to open the visor before opening his eyes and looking directly at the camera, which was very close.
He just raised his hand and covered the lens, pushing it back, which the TV director immediately changed to another angle, still pointed at Fatih, who finally got out of the car and gave a weird look to the cameraman before walking away. He was met by Alex, who was rushing in his direction with a bottle of water and a towel in hand, as they continued back to the garage while the mechanics went to collect the car.
"Well, I wouldn’t want to be seen like that either," Brad said just as Fatih disappeared from the camera view into the garage before the feed finally changed to focus on the podium finishers. Immediately, Brad asked, "Where do you think he will finish tomorrow in race two?"
"A minimum of a podium position."
"How so?"
"Well, the pace he showed during the chase is undeniable. If he were in a bunched-up group, he would have done numbers with that pace alone, even if we don’t take into consideration the wheel-to-wheel driving capabilities he has shown us glimpses of when he was sent to P8 during a grid reversal."
"I’m really looking forward to that, and this time there are twenty-one laps, so he has enough distance and time to do it with ease and without rushing."
......
"Please check the front suspension. I felt a weird vibration creeping in more and more with each new lap I pushed," Fatih said during the debriefing session, which started the moment Hauger returned from the podium celebration, still smelling of the alcohol-free champagne.
"It is most likely due to overdriving the car," the performance engineer said as a response, causing everyone to look at him before he continued. "As you already know, the Silverstone track, in the national circuit layout, with corners like Copse, requires drivers to ’abuse’ the curbs to find lap time. Pair that with the lap being so short, the suspensions never rest, and it is the same with the tires and components, which are always under constant, rapid-fire loading. Pair that with aero loads, and you are pushing all of those things to the edge; the new behavior is normal in those situations."
"I understand that, but still please take a look at it before tomorrow’s race, because I will be pushing it like I did today," Fatih said, not planning to argue about the reason, making it clear it was a preventative check, not because there was a definite problem.
"Okay, let’s add that to the list of things to address," the team principal said as they immediately moved to the next matter.
While the debriefing continued, Lisa, Fatih’s chief mechanic, kept looking at him, wondering if there was really merit to his worry, which, compared to his previous calls, was definitely something they needed to check, or if he was just trying to find something to justify his last-place finish. But to her, it didn’t matter, as once again, Fatih had increased their workload.
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