Hover Car Racer Read Online Free PDF Page B

are the lifeblood of hover car racing!’
    Syracuse yelled above the din of his three teams. ‘Races are won and lost in the pits! Every variety of race contains pit stops - some, like the Italian Run, even require the pit crew to travel overland to meet their car at multiple pit areas!
    ‘Pit stops provide races with that crucial element of strategy! When should you pit? Should you pit one more time when the finish line is only three laps away? Can you make it round the final lap on only one magneto drive?’
    Syracuse smiled. ‘But before you can formulate pit stop strategies, you have to master the pit stop itself!’
    At that moment, as Jason swept into his pit bay underneath the giant claws of his pit machine, he realised - too late - that he’d overshot the pit bay by about twelve inches.
    ‘Chaser! Hold it there!’ Syracuse yelled. ‘Everyone! Freeze! Please observe. Ms McDuff, initiate the pit machine.’
    Sally hit the switch.
    The pit machine’s eight-pronged claws descended around the Argonaut - and abruptly stopped, realigned themselves, moved forward a foot, then went about their repair work.
    The delay was about five seconds.
    ‘Not good enough, Mr Chaser!’ Syracuse said. ‘Your pit machine will be loyal to you. But are you being loyal to it by performing a sloppy pit entry? Your competitor just blasted out of the pits four seconds ahead of you and won the race. Imprecision is punished severely in racing. If you are imprecise, you will lose . I don’t know about you, but I do not race to lose.’
    Another time, while his pit machine replaced his six undercar magneto drives, Jason - in his eagerness to get away quickly - let the Argonaut creep forward over the white line painted on the ground, marking the forward edge of his pit bay area.
    There came a shrill electronic scream.
    The pit machine immediately withdrew into the ceiling, refusing to work on the car.
    ‘Mr Chaser!’ Syracuse called. ‘Pit Bay Violation! You just earned yourself a 15-second penalty for illegally creeping out of your pit bay during a stop. Fifteen seconds in a hover car race is an eternity. Again, you lose.’
    ‘But - ‘ Jason started.
    Syracuse stopped him with an icy glare. ‘Don’t resist your mistakes, Mr Chaser. Learn from them. To err is human, to make the same mistake twice…is stupid.’
    And with that, mercifully, the pit practice ended.
    It was 7:45 p.m.
    It was late. Jason and the Bug and Sally were exhausted. And they still had reading to do for tomorrow.
    ‘Thank you, people,’ Syracuse said. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow morning.’
    And he left.
    ‘Could’ve said, “Nice work today, kids,”’ Jason said.
    Sally clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Nice work today, kid.’
    ‘Thanks.’

CHAPTER FOUR

    Jason walked to the dining hall, alone. The Bug and Sally had both gone off to their rooms to rest - Jason was going to bring them some food later.
    Ahead of him walked Horatio Wong and Isaiah Washington, Scott Syracuse’s other two charges. Neither Wong nor Washington even attempted to include Jason in their conversation.
    Wong was complaining.
    ‘What is his problem ? I mean, why should I have to attend a damn physics class? So long as my Mech Chief knows what’s happening inside my car, I just want to be left alone to drive it.’
    ‘Frickin’ A,’ Washington agreed. ‘Hey, he pinned me for a pit bay violation. God, everybody does it. When was the last time you saw any racer pinned in a pro race for a pit bay violation? Never! Scott Syracuse wasn’t that great a racer when he was driving on the tour anyway. What makes him think he’s such a great teacher now?’
    Wong lowered his voice, did a Scott Syracuse impression: ‘ To err is human, to make the same mistake twice is stupid .’
    The two of them laughed.
    ‘Talk about bad luck,’ Washington said. ‘Why’d we have to get the teacher from hell?’
    They came to the dining hall.
    All of the other students at the Race School were already