Howling engines and screeching tires precede the arrival at the official Wolfpack Motorsports test track in Dunsfold, England. We'd bought the track from the boys at Top Gear when they'd decided to move up to Blackpool. The track, familiar to fans of the famous BBC show, was built by Lotus to expose all aspects of a particular car. At the moment, a race of the low end WPMS car, the 2010 Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, were out on the track, practicing. The drivers, of which there were three on the track at the moment, were testing out different tuning setups for the upcoming race at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. It was the Britcar 24 endurance race, and the Top Gear blokes had placed 3rd in class and 39th overall, and we at WPMS were determined to beat it.
The cars on the track at the moment were the number 97, of Colby Browning, the 07 shared by Sweets and Rich Spaur, and the 89 of Phil Loth. The track record, aside from the one held by the team's chief test driver, was held by the 97 car at 1:12, an outstanding record.
* * *
In a straight single file line, the three Italian race cars screamed around the second to last corner before standing on the carbon ceramic brakes to slow and enter the garage. The cars broke the line and pulled into their assigned spots for the day.
Sweets, who was currently in the 07 car, screeched to a halt and threw open her door. She was upset, a fact that was attested to by her expression.
"Damn, that setup sucks!" she exclaimed, tearing off her helmet and throwing it back into the car.
Browning was next to emerge, and he was all smiles.
"Sweets, I don't know what they did to yours, but I had loads of grip out there... Think they might have messed your camber up in the wrong way?"
"Yeah, it felt almost like I was on ice!"
Loth was last, and he was indifferent.
"What was yours like?" Sweets asked.
"I had the control, remember?" he responded.
She nodded her head. "Ah, that's right."
The three of them stripped out of their racing jumpsuits and hung them up. They had to talk to the tech team about the car tunes, but shortly after that, there was a status update with Mr. Jon Gies, one of the members of the board for the team.
* * *
After receiving promises from the tech gurus to fix the problems on the 89 and 07 cars, the three of them headed for the main building.
"Browning, Loth, and Spaur for Mr. Gies?" Sweets asked the receptionist, Ashley, who was married to one of the other drivers, Adam Taylor.
She made a call to the inner sanctum of the building, and told them to go through.
Colby led the way into the board room and sat down, as did the other two.
Gies was clad in an expensive Armani suit, tasteful loafers, and a nice stainless steel watch. He stood at the head of the table, looking at them for a moment.
"How's things out there?" he said, sitting down a moment later.
Spaur and Loth looked over at Colby to deliver the news, as he was the best in the room.
"Personally, I think the techies are doing really well, but these guys disagree. Sweets had a horrible tune on hers, and I could visibly tell. She was slewing all over the place. Phil had the original tune, and he was decent, though I did notice a little more sideways behavior on his car."
Gies nodded. This was familiar news to him. But, in this case, he had to worry about them being ready for the Britcar 24 race, which was only a day away. The three of them would be the representatives of Wolfpack Motorsports, and hopefully, would bring in a one two three finish. The way the cars were handling, at least when they all had the right schemes, it was looking good for them.
"Have the techies give the 89 and 07 cars the 97's scheme. That'll help all of you dominate the field tomorrow," he said.
Browning nodded. It was the last thing he had to do for the day, before heading home and preparing for the race.
Gies dismissed them, and they all went their separate ways, Sweets to an Impreza STi sedan that matched her eyes, Phil to an impressive Plymouth HEMI Cuda muscle car, and Colby down to the garage to speak with the techs.
The cars on the track at the moment were the number 97, of Colby Browning, the 07 shared by Sweets and Rich Spaur, and the 89 of Phil Loth. The track record, aside from the one held by the team's chief test driver, was held by the 97 car at 1:12, an outstanding record.
* * *
In a straight single file line, the three Italian race cars screamed around the second to last corner before standing on the carbon ceramic brakes to slow and enter the garage. The cars broke the line and pulled into their assigned spots for the day.
Sweets, who was currently in the 07 car, screeched to a halt and threw open her door. She was upset, a fact that was attested to by her expression.
"Damn, that setup sucks!" she exclaimed, tearing off her helmet and throwing it back into the car.
Browning was next to emerge, and he was all smiles.
"Sweets, I don't know what they did to yours, but I had loads of grip out there... Think they might have messed your camber up in the wrong way?"
"Yeah, it felt almost like I was on ice!"
Loth was last, and he was indifferent.
"What was yours like?" Sweets asked.
"I had the control, remember?" he responded.
She nodded her head. "Ah, that's right."
The three of them stripped out of their racing jumpsuits and hung them up. They had to talk to the tech team about the car tunes, but shortly after that, there was a status update with Mr. Jon Gies, one of the members of the board for the team.
* * *
After receiving promises from the tech gurus to fix the problems on the 89 and 07 cars, the three of them headed for the main building.
"Browning, Loth, and Spaur for Mr. Gies?" Sweets asked the receptionist, Ashley, who was married to one of the other drivers, Adam Taylor.
She made a call to the inner sanctum of the building, and told them to go through.
Colby led the way into the board room and sat down, as did the other two.
Gies was clad in an expensive Armani suit, tasteful loafers, and a nice stainless steel watch. He stood at the head of the table, looking at them for a moment.
"How's things out there?" he said, sitting down a moment later.
Spaur and Loth looked over at Colby to deliver the news, as he was the best in the room.
"Personally, I think the techies are doing really well, but these guys disagree. Sweets had a horrible tune on hers, and I could visibly tell. She was slewing all over the place. Phil had the original tune, and he was decent, though I did notice a little more sideways behavior on his car."
Gies nodded. This was familiar news to him. But, in this case, he had to worry about them being ready for the Britcar 24 race, which was only a day away. The three of them would be the representatives of Wolfpack Motorsports, and hopefully, would bring in a one two three finish. The way the cars were handling, at least when they all had the right schemes, it was looking good for them.
"Have the techies give the 89 and 07 cars the 97's scheme. That'll help all of you dominate the field tomorrow," he said.
Browning nodded. It was the last thing he had to do for the day, before heading home and preparing for the race.
Gies dismissed them, and they all went their separate ways, Sweets to an Impreza STi sedan that matched her eyes, Phil to an impressive Plymouth HEMI Cuda muscle car, and Colby down to the garage to speak with the techs.
