Wolff

Practise Makes Perfect

Nala and Ollie are lead down a corridor in the hospitality by Mark, who was rambling on about what they should be expecting during their first practises, which from what Nala gathered, was not a whole bunch. Then suddenly, Mark stopped, and Nala went straight into the back of Ollie. "Sorry, Ollie. I didn't mean to do that", Nala said sort of embarrassed. Ollie chuckled to himself and shook his head.
"It's quite alright, Nala", he says in his British accent, tapping her shoulder. Nala smiles back at him, then they both turn their attention to Mark who was starting back at them.

"Right, you two. Here your drivers rooms. Ollie, yours is on your left, and Nala's is on your right!" Mark announces to them. Ollie walks forwards over to his and slides open the door, peeking in. It leaves Nala standing there awkwardly until she decides to do the same and see hers.

The opaque sliding door is easy to open, and Nala peeks her head in through it, slowly opening it for the rest of her body to go through. The room has cabinentry and a built in desk to one side, and the other is a comfortable-looking light grey couch with a wooden table in front of it, with a vase of beautiful flowers. Nala was pretty impressed at what she had just been presented, and walked further inside.
"There's some team clothes in the wardrobe, including your race uniform, and your helmet is in the drawer beside it", Mark's voice came from outside the room in the corridor.

Nala instantly went to check it out, first opening the decent sized wardrobe and seeing the team shirts and some pants, along with her Audi race suit. She traced her hand along the length of the suit, think of how she would soon be wearing it in her car. Then her mind went to the helmet, and she found her self opening the drawer to where it was placed.

She lifted the helmet out as if it were a crown jewel, or the most fragile thing she had ever touched. She stared in awe at it. The helmet was painted matte black, with eight white roses intricatly woven together. The white roses were her mothers favourite flower, and the amount 8 was her fathers favourite number. On the side written in small but neat calligraphy was the number 777, which is something that means good luck, and is something she had contantly seen for years before her dream came true.

"Wow...W-wow, I haven't yet seen the finished product before now...", Nala says as she looks back at the door of the room where Mark and Ollie were looking in at her. They both smiled widely at her and she returned the gesture.
"I reckon it's pretty cool, Nala. You'll wow everyone with that!", Ollie says, and Mark then agrees with a nod of his head.

After a short moment of silence, Mark says, "Alright kiddos! You guys better start getting ready to get in the car, so I'll leave ya's for now". He quickly pat Ollie's shoulder and then took off away from Nalas sight, and so did Ollie as he went into his own room.

Nala sighed, excitement building up inside her as she realised it was finally happening, her dream was happening!

Pulling her race suit up to her waist, she spun around in excitement. Nala looked in the mirror just next to the door and stared at herself. The girl looking back had her long brown hair in two Dutch braids dangling down her sides. The firesuit Nala wore underneath was snug and comfortable, white in colour with the Audi symbol across the chest with multiple other sponsors smartly scattered around as well. The actual suit was pulled halfway up and tied around her waist. She looked so dainty in these, Nala realised. The custom clothes were fitted perfectly, accentuating her curves. She sighed again, then did a happy little dance before collecting some of her things and heading out towards the main hospitality area.

She waved as she saw Jaidyn and Marley sitting on a couch with a clipboard in front of them. She just then thought how long it had been since she saw them last. An hour and a half maybe? Who knows. But it was time to go, so once they saw her, they sprung up and came over to her.
"Let's go, let's go, let's goooo", Marley says as he grabs Nala by the hand and drags her to the garages.

On either side of Nala, she had Jaidyn and Marley telling her everything she needed to know about the practises, or the track, or how hard it would be on her body. But they were quickly blocked out when Nala saw the car, and she instantly relaxed.
"Calm down guys! I've got this. I'm so pumped right now, so just....", Nala makes a lowering gesture with her arms and let's out a deep breath and her two friends stop. They both smile at her as Nala walks off towards her track engineer to get a quick debrief.
"Ready for you first drive, Nala?", asks Alyssa, Nala's track engineer.
"Ready as I'll ever be, girl", she responds quickly, turning her head side to side to stretch her neck.

About 20 minutes later, Nala is lowering herself into the seat of her Formula 1 car, butterflies intensly fluttering in her stomach. Her suit is all done up, her helmet is on, and she is ready. The engineers beside her hurry about, preparing the final touches before she takes off. She takes a deep breath, calming herself a little bit, and readying herself for the next hour.
"All right, Cameron! Time to shine", she hears through the radio, and that when she opens her eyes, and everything comes flooding back to her. The roar of the engine underneath her, and the radio message loud and clear, and last of all the engineer signalling her out. Snapping her helmet visor down, she takes off out of the garage and into the hot rays of sunlight and cheering fans.

Nala goes around the first corner with ease, no one else out on the track but her. She was alone with the cheerful screaming fans and the warm sun beaming down onto her. Right, time to go, go, go.
Nala speeds up, keeping an excellent pace as she drives around the track, warming up for her flying lap. The Bahrain International Circuit was known for its difficult wind and temperature changes, and right now, it was really giving Nala a hard time trying to make her way around.

When she finally came to the last hundred meters before the last turn, she sped up to get her pace ready. And then she sped off. She turned the corner, hooking around it and testing her neck muscles as she kept her head forward and unmoving. She then sped down the straight, deploying drs with a touch of a button on her steering wheel. In those very few seconds on the straight, she felt like she was flying, like she was truly free and she loved it.

She flew around the track, hitting every apex just right, and passing other cars without a problem. She was finally doing it. Her first practise in Formula 1 as a full driver. Wow. What an achievement. With around 10 minutes left of session, Nala made her way into the pits. The engineers moved her car into the garage and when she got out, she was met by at least 10 people high fiving or hugging her.
"That was amazing!", Marley shouted with his hands in the air.
"You did so good, Nals!", Jaidyn says, giving her a squeeze, and laughing in a relieved sort of way.
After the hug, Nala jogged over the the pit wall, also met with a couple congratulations from Alyssa and Mark and the others. She then spyed the timing tables for the first practise, seeing she was in 8th. Nalas jaw dropped.

"I'm in 8th?! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!!" Nala yelled, jumping up and down, excitedly. Without thinking, she grabbed Alyssa and hugged her so tightly, it was a miracle she could breathe. 8th was a big deal for Nala, especially in her first practise that had now ended.
"Congrats, Nala! You did so good!', came a voice approaching the pit wall. Nala looked behind her to see Ollie jogging over from the garages, and she smiled, jumping down from the concrete platform and meeting him with a hug.
"You did great too, don't forget that", Nala says to Ollie reassuringly, earning a kind smile and a nod from him.
"Not as good as you, but, eh, we'll get there eventually!", says Ollie cheerfully. They high five eachother before going their separate way in the pit lane.

Back in the garage, Nala meets the Cheif Designer of the Audi cars, Mateo Sable, who came along for the first race of the season. A smile spreads across the man's face when he sees her walking in the same direction he was stood. "Nala Cameron! How good to see you, superstar!", Mateo says, embracing her with his large arms.
"Hello, Mr Sable. Nice to see you too!", Nala greets him back with a short but warm smile.
"You were excellent out there today! Absolutely great. Do you like the car?", Sable inquires, earning a nod from Nala.
"Yes, sir. It's very good. I just think I need a little more time and practise to fully utilise everything it has!", Nala says confidently, answering his question.
"Well, practise does make perfect, young one. I think you'll be able to achieve amazing things with that car in no time! Anyway, I better leave you to go and work, good day, miss Nala", and with that Mateo Sable left leaving a very happy Nala standing awkwardly yet again in the middle of the walkway.