Max Verstappen loves iRacing, even though he rarely finds a worthy opponent online. When he then gets squarely beaten by a girl called Lex, he can't let her go. So he makes a bet and loses. Now he is her teacher and has to teach her how to race a re...
Today had been rather boring. Lots of signing autographs, posing for pictures and giving interviews to press representatives. I sighed. I needed to scrub the last interviewer from my brain. He had asked incredibly stupid questions... How was I supposed to know who won this year's championship?! The season hadn't even started yet!
Sure, if I had to bet money, I would probably bet it on myself... Although that Mercedes was looking fast as lightning, from what the team was reporting. All I could do was hope that our car would be able to compete. After all, I was looking forward to going up against Lewis.
I turned on my setup and reached for my headphones. It was time to get online. A race was about to start, and I had wasted enough time thinking about the dude. I would have to tell Horner to pre-approve better questions next time.
I logged into my smurf account on iRacing, named after my dad, and signed up for the Atlanta track.
The race was alright. As expected, the people I was competing against with this account weren't really on my level.
I passed the finish line and the notification for the final round popped up on my screen. Maybe I could convince one of my friends to come online for the next race? I reached for my water bottle when a black car passed me on my left. What the hell?! Why hadn't I seen it coming?
I put the water bottle down and concentrated on the race instead. Determined not to let them slip away, I pushed my car to its absolute limit, trying to catch up. But no matter how hard I pushed, they remained just out of reach, disappearing into the distance like a phantom.
Before I knew it the race was over. I had lost.
I blinked several times staring at the race result in front of me.
Lex Bos – 1
Max Verstappen – 2
...
I hadn't been overtaken like that in... ever? I scratched my head and started typing. I needed to send this Lex Bos a private message. I wanted... no needed a rematch. Unable to resist the allure of a worthy opponent.
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I snorted while reading the messages. I certainly wasn't going to lose a second time against Lex Bos... No. One time? Maybe. Two times? Absolutely f*cking not.
The race was as intense as the last one. I fought tooth and nail, but somehow Lex moved farther and farther away from me. I gritted my teeth. What was going on here? Who was this person? Who was Lex Bos? A fellow racer? A gaming prodigy? Perhaps even a seasoned professional, incognito behind a clever pseudonym? Or just some guy in his parents' basement? Surely it had to be one of the former.
I shook my head and turned back to the private chat with this Lex. I knew I could probably gain an inside who this Lex was if I asked him to turn on the voice chat. People rarely passed up a chance to talk to a real F1 driver. Usually, they recorded the entire conversation to posted it to YouTube later. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if my now two losses against this guy were already online. Was I losing my touch?
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Lex didn't answer my last message. He had refused to turn on his voice chat, leaving me to wonder about the enigmatic figure on the other side of the screen. Was he hiding something, or was he simply enjoying the anonymity of the digital world?
Whoever he was, I wasn't going to get any more answers tonight. I didn't feel like participating in another race, so instead I watched the replay of our second race, marvelling at Lex's skill. It had been a long time since I'd been challenged so fiercely, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of admiration for this unknown rival.
Surely, someone who drove like that was a pro, right? I furrowed my brow and navigated through the digital labyrinth of the racing platform, my fingers flying across the keyboard in search of any trace of Lex Bos. To my astonishment, there was little to be found. Lex Bos was a newcomer, a virtual unknown who had burst onto the scene and was winning races left and right, quickly climbing the ranks.
I couldn't even tell if Lex was a boy's name. It could be a girl's name...
As I finally closed the browser tab in defeat, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to Lex Bos than met the eye. Whoever he... or possibly she was, Lex had captured my attention in a way no other iRacer ever had. Hopefully Lex would be online tomorrow...
