Racing Back to Love Pt. 02

We managed to push the car down into pit lane and back to the team garage where the rest of the crew were waiting for me. They quickly opened the bonnet and shortly diagnosed that one of the computer chips in the ignition system had broken. It could not have been predicted or prevented and as I had been through the back of the pits I was out of the race. All of my crew looked really disappointed. Most of them had never won a race in this series and it meant a lot to us.

Taking off my helmet I grabbed Adam and we gathered the crew all together. I made us huddle up together and I said "Today showed that we can win here. It was a part that broke and it could have happened at any time. It was no one's fault. We performed great today and you gave me a car that can win races. Our pit stop was great... I know we will come back tomorrow and win. I just know it. We are looking up now everyone. ... Adam let's get the 'beast' fixed and we will come back tomorrow and finish the job properly. Okay?"

Everyone clapped and was in a better spirits. I talked to each member individually just to encourage them a little, before being interviewed on TV. I again stated that the car was great, the team did a great job and that having this part break could not have been predicted. I also said I hoped the car would be just as good tomorrow.

After all of this (which took about 6 minutes from the car first breaking down) I said to Adam that I was going to get changed. The brave face I had put on for the team and TV was starting to fade away and the disappointment and anger at having a simple component cost me the race was starting to rise again. Jenna came over to me to ask me something, but seeing the look on my face she wisely went in the other direction.

I got back to the transporter and headed to my 'dressing room'. This was a space just for me to get changed in and out of my race gear. It had a bench seat, an area where my clothes and race suits hung up, a desk and my computer. I had a couple of pictures of Mel and the girls in here too. I got in there and closed the door behind me, sitting down on the bench seat. I sat there, my head in my hands, just trying to comprehend all that had happened, still feeling very disappointed.

Just then there was a knock at my door.

"Matt, Honey can I come in?" Melissa said from outside.

I stood up and opened the door. Mel took one look at me and immediately wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight.

"Oh Matt I'm so sorry. You had the race won." She said.

"I know Mel and I really wanted to win here. You and the girls, everyone is here. I just wanted to win for you all." I said quietly.

Mel moved her face and kissed me.

"We are all really proud of you. The way that you handled yourself when the car broke down and then how you looked after your crew when you got back was amazing... I loved how you huddled them all together and gave them a pep talk. You are really their leader Matt and they would do anything for you."

"You saw that? Were you down in the garage? I didn't see you?"

"No I was still upstairs in the suite. But they showed it on TV. I have never been prouder of you than I am now."

Mel was beaming at me and I was now smiling too. We briefly kissed and kept cuddling. I felt better being in Mel's arms.

After a little while Mel said "Have I ever told you how sexy you look in your race suit?" She had a really cheeky grin on her face.

I was smiling too. "No you haven't."

"Well you do." She replied and then kissed me. She slid her hands down my back and grabbed my bum with both hands and squeezed, pulling me closer to her. "And your bum looks great too... I don't think I have ever made out with you in your race suit before."

I began to kiss Mel and run my hands down her back, finding her gorgeous bum and squeezing, pulling her closer to me. "I don't think I have ever had you or anyone in 'my room' before."

We kissed again, this time passionately. Hands started to explore as our excitement grew. Melissa had her hand between us as she was rubbing and squeezing my now prominent erection.

She stood back a little from me and continued to hold my 'excitement' through my race suit. "I think we will have to get you out of that suit. It will be ruined if you stay in there like 'that'." Mel's hands undid the Velcro at the top of the suit and finding the zipper she slowly slid it down, exposing my fireproof underwear. I stepped out of the suit and reached behind Mel and locked the door.

Melissa then knelt on the floor and took off my fireproof long underwear pants. As she did this my erection bounced out right in front of her. She grasped me with her right hand and took me in her mouth, her tongue flicking my sensitive underside. She bobbed her head back and forth, tasting me and exciting me even more.

She popped her mouth off me and I reached down and took her hand. I guided her over to the bench seat and I slipped off her shoes. Reaching up I undid her jeans and slid these and her panties down off her legs. Mel's legs opened up and I tasted her from the source, lapping up her excitement. Her hands grabbed my head and guided me around her womanhood, increasing her excitement.

I moved my face out from between her thighs and looked up. Mel looked at me biting her lip and she just nodded her head, her lust written all over her face. Climbing up from the floor I kissed Mel as I sat down on the seat next to her. Still kissing Mel, she clambered over and grabbed my erection. She guided me inside her as she sat own on my lap.

It was frantic, spontaneous and passionate. We kissed and caressed, still dressed from the waist up. We were both groaning and moaning enjoying this. I sped up my strokes after a while as I felt the inevitable rumblings of my orgasm beginning in the pit of my stomach.

"Yes Matty, that's it. You're making me cum. Fuck yes Matt. Muumnnnngh. Fill me with your cum. Yes Matt. Yesssss..."

Mel came as I filled her with my lust. We bounced together as we experienced this very fun filled moment. We both slowed down and held each other close as we came down from our orgasmic high. I slipped out of Mel as she shuddered through the remnants of her orgasm.

We finally got ourselves together, realising we were still in my room in the truck. Mel hopped off my lap and slipped back into her jeans. I took off my fireproof gear and began to get dressed.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Matt are you coming out soon? I have some interviews that you need to do."

It was Jenna and I probably did need to do the interviews. "Yes Jenna I will be out in a couple of minutes." I replied

"Thanks Matt. See you in the garage."

"Ok."

After a couple of seconds Mel and I both laughed like a couple of teenagers who were nearly caught. We made ourselves presentable and left the transporter. Funnily enough as I did the interviews I did not feel anywhere near as disappointed as I had been.

On the Sunday I managed to win the race, just like I told the crew we would. It wasn't easy and we only took the lead with 15 laps to go, but we won well. I celebrated on the podium, before jumping down and spraying all my team with champagne. I passed the bottle to the team and they all shared in the spoils of victory. The excitement and the relief amongst my team was evident as this meant a lot to all of us and to do it at our home track was great.

*************

Just on a month later I came home after a very difficult race weekend in Queensland. Both team cars didn't perform well and everything we tried didn't seem to help. After winning in Sydney and finishing in the top 10 in the following race, I wanted to keep doing well. We struggled and finished in the middle of the field. Everyone worked very hard, but we just couldn't get the car to perform at its best.

It was about 11:30pm when I arrived home. I quietly came in the house and went into our bedroom. Mel stirred as I came in.

"Hi Matty. Tough day huh?"

"Yes Honey too tough." I went and kissed Mel. "Just going to have a shower and I will be in here with you."

"Ok Babe." She said sleepily.

I went into the ensuite, closed the door and turned on the light. I looked in the mirror and saw that I looked as tired as I felt. Just then I noticed something sitting on the vanity near the sink. My mind raced. It was a pregnancy test. I looked at it and it was positive. My jaw dropped. Opening the door back to the bedroom Mel was now sitting up in bed looking so happy.

"Mel ... Really?" was all I could manage to say.

"Yes Sweetheart. Really!"

I jumped onto the bed and kissed my beautiful, gorgeous wife. She was so happy too.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked, my mind immediately remembering our last time.

Mel ran her hand on my face. "Yes Matt. Nothing like last time." We kissed again and cuddled together sharing our joy at this wonderful news.

We went to the doctors the following day and all of the tests confirmed we were indeed pregnant. Our first ultrasound a couple of weeks later confirmed all was well with our expected bundle of joy. The ultrasound also confirmed the due date for April next year. Mel and I also worked out that the baby was probably conceived in the transporter at the races in Sydney. What a story that would be to tell.

***********

My right foot was pressed down as hard as it could against the accelerator pedal, wanting as much power and speed as the car could produce. I was accelerating hard down the mountain on the fastest part of the circuit. Pulling the lever I went into fifth gear as the car surged. Just before the rev limiter kicked in I pulled the lever into sixth gear. Still accelerating I hit just on 300km/h guiding the car to the absolute left hand edge of the track, before swinging right through the fastest corner in Australian motor racing.

In the blink of an eye I was hard on the brakes, changing down through the gears, bringing the car from 280k's down to 100km/hr. Turning left I hit the apex through the first part of the corner, before having to turn hard right in the second part of the corner. I missed the apex a little and the car drifted a little wide on the exit.

I accelerated again, reaching 215km/h before hitting the brakes again and turning the final corner, Murray's Corner and onto the pit straight.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see an official holding out a yellow and black sign. 'Last lap'. Really, was it the last lap? I had been in the car for about 60 laps but it felt like 10 minutes.

"Adam, Was that the 'last lap' board?" I asked over the radio, as I rounded the first corner and headed back up the mountain.

"Yes mate. You're going great. Just bring it home."

"Where are we coming?" I asked.

I could hear Adam laugh down the radio "Mate you are leading by 12 seconds, doing a great job. Finish it off now."

I couldn't believe it. I was leading the biggest race of the year, and I couldn't for the life of me remember anything about my stint behind the wheel.

My mind went back to the beginning of the week. Melissa and I had the 12 week ultrasound and everything was going perfectly. We got to see our baby on the monitor but we didn't want to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.

I then travelled to Bathurst to begin my work. There was all the build up through the week before the race, promotional duties, parades, signing autographs, posing for pictures, speaking to sponsors and the media.

Practice went so well, always in the top 3 cars and on Friday I was the fastest qualifier. My co driver Steve did a brilliant job and was very quick too. On Saturday we had our only mistake. I dropped a wheel off the track in my Qualifying Shootout lap and lost time. Instead of being on pole position, we started third.

The start of the race went well, second into the first corner and I took the lead on lap 5. Handing over to Steve, at the first stop, he drove so well, keeping us either first or second. His stints went like clockwork. I then got back in the car... And here I was. It was only later that I realised that during my last stint I was 'in the zone', driving in a state of such concentration that everything flowed through me. Adam even commented after the race that when he spoke to me on the radio I just grunted replies and didn't speak like I usually did.

I crossed the finish line and we won by 10 seconds from our nearest challenger. I thanked the team over the radio and opened the door to wave to the spectators at the track. Driving the car through the back of the pit area all the people were waving and clapping. I drove to the area near the control tower and parked my car in the 'Winners' spot.

Looking out the windscreen I could see lots of people crowding around the barriers erected around the area. I sat still for a moment and took a deep breath before unbuckling my harness and taking off my helmet. I got out of the car and could hear the crowd cheering. I waved to the crowd, still a little stunned that we had actually won the race. Off to the side I could see my crew all gathered together cheering and clapping. I went over and had hugs, high 5's, back slapping and lots of congratulations. My Co-driver Steve joined me and we hugged congratulating each other.

Looking further left I could see Melissa, Chloe, Jessie, my sister Brooke and her husband Simon all there. I went straight to Mel and she was so happy she had tears in her eyes. I kissed her and she held me close.

"I love you Matt. You drove so well." She said into my ear.

"I couldn't do this without you with me Mel. I love you so much." I said back as we kissed again.

I had cuddles with Chloe and Jessie and then with my sister and brother in law, before Jenna took Steve and I away to the podium. The second and third placed drivers all congratulated us and we all talked about various incidents throughout the race before we headed out to the podium.

The cheers of the crowd were amazing. And the champagne you get when you win definitely tastes better. We sprayed champagne on each other and down onto the team waiting below. I passed my bottle down to the team so they could celebrate too.

After what seemed like hours of media commitments Steve and I finally made it back to our garage. Our race suits were stained with champagne. The team all applauded and there were more handshakes and hugs. I went around and thanked each of my crew individually for their help and efforts. Mel, the girls and my sister and brother-in-law were all there too and I got to celebrate with them as well.

During a slight lull a little later on, Melissa and I took the opportunity to announce to everyone that we were expecting. The celebrations then picked up even more.

************

Bathurst is the only race of the year that really garners the attention of the general public. Most of the time only racing fans watch our races, but Bathurst is an Australian sporting tradition and everyone seemed to know who won the race. Steve and I appeared on TV programs on all of the commercial networks, and not just grabs for the news.

Jenna had us both working overtime as sponsors all wanted to be associated with us. In the 4 weeks after Bathurst we made 7 trips interstate for different functions, attended many different events in our own state, raced on the Gold Coast and got ready to head to New Zealand for our race there.

I was by myself for the race in New Zealand as my family stayed home. This was a blessing as Jenna had me so busy with appearances and functions I would have had very little time with them. As the races in New Zealand were not endurance races I was back to driving the car by myself again.

The track that we raced on was short and fast. I had never raced there before and it took me a little while to get into a groove there.

Typically for New Zealand it rained on Saturday for the first race. I started 14th and was making a little progress through the field. The track was soaking wet and visibility was very poor. On lap 15 I saw an opportunity and manoeuvred my car to pass another through the fast downhill 'S' bend section of the track. Running side by side I just managed to get ahead. The other car put his wheels up onto the painted kerb, which caused him to spin.

He hit the back of my car and I was turned around, sliding backwards off the track. The grass on the edge of the track was saturated and the car seemed to gain speed as it skidded off the left hand side of the road. I had the brakes jammed on and they were not slowing the car down at all.

It skipped through the gravel trap and hit the fence rear first at about 160 km/h. I let go of the steering wheel and held onto my belts so my hands wouldn't flail around. The back of the car went up into the air and all I could see was the ground in front of the car. It came back down with an almighty thump, knocking the wind out of me.

I sat there for a few seconds just to make sure that the car had stopped moving. Steam and smoke began to fill the cabin, so I hit the release on the belts, kicked the door open and got out of the car as quick as I could. The smoke began to get thicker and on exiting the car I could see that flames were licking around the back of the car.

Taking a few steps backwards I was standing in the gravel trap. I could see the marshals were quickly on the scene and were putting the fire out. As I started to run towards the safety fence, still looking at my car, I stepped with my left foot into one of the wheel tracks I had carved into the gravel trap as I skidded across it. My foot dropped 6 inches lower than I was expecting and my left knee buckled under me.

I heard or actually felt a crack in my knee, like popping your knuckles but a thousand times more. The pain was intense as I fell down, clutching at my knee. I was holding my leg groaning in pain when a marshal came over to me.

He was a big Maori guy and he said "Mate you have done your medial ligament in your knee for sure."

"Really?" I groaned.

"Yep. Seen it heaps of times playing Rugby. C'mon let's get you out of the gravel."

Another marshal came over and they propped/ carried me out of the gravel trap to the safety fence. By this stage the Medical car had arrived and the doctor came to look at me. He moved my leg slightly and said was definitely a ligament tear, but scans would indicate fully what I had done. They put me onto a stretcher and into the waiting ambulance.

By now the pain was still bad but manageable. However the embarrassment I felt was terrible. I hadn't hurt myself at all in the crash, but did it running to safety. I was sucking on the 'pain relieving' green whistle in the ambulance when they stopped at the back of the pit area. The doors opened and Team boss Andrew and Jenna came in to see me. They wanted to make sure I was alright and I told them it was my knee that was buggered.

Andrew took my helmet and instructed Jenna to travel with me to the hospital and to keep him informed. Jenna sat down in the seat next to my stretcher and we headed towards Auckland Hospital.

Jenna had her phone and she rang Melissa for me. Mel answered straight away and I spoke to her. She was so concerned for me. I told her I was ok, except for my knee. Once she heard this she was a little more relieved. She put me on to speak to the girls as well as they had both been watching the race on TV and were very worried about me.

In hospital they scanned my knee and I had indeed torn my Medial ligament. Thankfully it wasn't a complete tear, but it did need surgery. I stayed in hospital as the surgery was arranged for the following morning. My crew and team all came and visited me, as did some of the other drivers who I had become friends with.

The next day I woke up after surgery. As my eyes adjusted I saw the most beautiful sight. There standing looking over me was Melissa. She had flown out from Sydney early that morning to be there for me. I couldn't believe it. She cuddled me and asked how I was feeling. Groggy was the best answer I could give.