WHISPERS                                                                                                                                                            THE BLABBERMOUTH

ANYBODY TO FACE HIM?

Terry McRise wins his fifth Karting World Cup

DONNINGTON PARK, four o’clock in the afternoon. The starting grid roars with fury. Twenty-five intrepid drivers are ready to tread on the throttle of their karts and start the last race of the season. Terry McRise, leader of the general chart and undisputed champion for the last four years, didn’t perform alright in the qualifiers and will wait from the twelfth place. His greatest rival, Akura Ohito, got the pole position the previous day and has all chances to win the championship, he just needs to finish before McRise. Thirty-two laps to glory. The countdown begins. Three, two, one, green light.

        From the very beginning, the Canadian champion went for broke overtaking the other participants till he reached the third position in lap thirteen. Last year’s runner-up and Ohito’s teammate, Leonardo Contello, is ahead. The instructions from his team are clear: to brake McRise and give free way to Ohito –victory is at hand. But Terry McRise –better known as ‘the Clock’- had already thought of all this before. And he knew what to do.

        After countless hard brakes by Contello –with made McRise lose more than three seconds in relation to Akura- the Clock was to find the suitable moment for accelerating and leaving Contello behind. ‘Tidal Rock’ –the sharpest bend in the track- would be his only chance. And he made the most of it. Terry overtook Leonardo through the inner section of the bend and made the crowd and all his supporters shout enthusiastically. Nobody could remember such an spectacular overtaking in a Karting Championship. Task one accomplished. Now Ohito has an advantage of 4 seconds 312 milliseconds and there are just seven laps left. No mistakes allowed, no time to ponder.

‘Tidal Rock’ talisman

         McRise begins to drive as the gods and distance with Ohito starts to decrease. Half a second per lap is the ratio that the Canadian is gaining, but more than that is what he needs. Akura gets nervous, he knows that his possibilities can fade away if perfection is not attained.

         One lap to go, and Ohito can see McRise through his rear-view mirror. He’s approaching, he’s there, and now it’s time to pray. Both drivers give a fantastic show to the audience, their karts almost rub each other’s several times. ‘Tidal Rock’ can be again Terry’s sacred place, but this time his rival won’t make it as easy as Contello. The crowd is struck dumb.

          Unbelievably, McRise takes the bend outwards and the terraces are seized by silence. The Japanese driver has all his foresights collapsed, and he can just see how Terry overtakes him, goes ahead and surpasses the finishing line. Task two accomplished. The World Cup is his.

         ‘Any driver would dream of a victory like this’, said McRise with a smile on his face during the press conference, ‘I’m very happy and I hope to repeat this triumph next year’. If he did so, he would beat the 5-consecutive championships won by German kart-driver Robert Hasser in the 1990s. Now they’re drawn, but McRise has a lead over him –Hasser is retired. Will he set a new record? Don’t answer, just bet.