The Queen Of Speed
During the lunch break it drizzled for a while. Hélène bought a calzoni and coffee from the vendor in the paddock and then got ready for her afternoon's racing. By coincidence, for the three, 14 lap heats of the Gran Premio di Monza, Guy was in Heat One, Hélène was in Heat Two and Marcel was in Heat Three. As two pm approached, eight cars were pushed to the grid accompanied by much cheering with drivers waving to the crowd. Carlo Trossi was on pole, Stanislas was likely to be fastest while Guy was one of three Alfa Romeo Monzas. Luigi Premoli had an interesting car with an old Bugatti chassis, gearbox and suspension fitted with a three-litre Maserati engine and radiator, giving it more power than a Bugatti and better handling than a Maserati. At the start, Premoli took the lead ahead of Trossi and Stanislas, but was overtaken by Trossi, Stanislas and Guy. On lap two Stanislas took over the lead while Guy couldn't keep up with the faster cars. On lap six Trossi pitted his Dusenberg with smoke and water coming from the exhaust and Guy had lost a lot of time, but he gradually caught Stanislas over the next eight laps, with the leader clearly easing to preserve his tyres. Stanislas won ahead of Guy with Felice Bonetto in another Alfa Romeo Monza in third place.
Guy cruised to park out the front of their pit after his slowing down lap, and jumped out with his face white.
"Fuck! The Dusenberg dropped oil on the south banked curve and I spun three times!"
"Like this?" Hélène said while she rotated her forefinger three times.
"Fuck yes! I'll get them to clean it for your race."
"On the south banked curve?"
"The oil is on the racing line when entering the curve. I'll see officials."
Guy stormed to the control tower while Hélène slipped her earplugs in, and pulled on her wind cap, red scarf and goggles.
"Be careful," Marcel said.
"If I keep to the right, off the racing line, I should be safe."
"Yes you should."
Hélène pulled her gloves on, Alain pushed the Monza to position six of the seven-abreast grid, beside Giuseppe Campari, Renato Balestero in a Monza, Baconin Borzacchini, Ferdinando Barbieri in a Monza, Carlo Castlebarco also in a Monza and to her right, Lelio Pellegrini in a Monza. Campari and Borzacchini both had removed front brakes, fair enough because they weren't used on the oval, but unusually both had slick tyres, despite the track still damp after the lunchtime drizzle.
An official closed to gather drivers into a meeting. "We've sent a car around to clean the oil." He handed around a letter instructing all drivers to be cautious on Curve Vendano due to the possibility of oil on the racing line. Hélène read it but she knew about this. "How do you feel?" the official asked.
"No problem," Baconin Borzacchini said.
"Signorina?"
"I can cope," Hélène said.
The crowd whistled, jeered and stomped their feet, having no idea what was going on. A black Fiat drove from the south banked curve where the driver and the official had a brief discussion.
"We've cleaned the oil with sand and a broom, so now we can start the race."
Officials showed the three minute board so Hélène climbed in, switched ignition on, Alain started it, and Hélène checked oil pressure and temperature. At the one minute board, realising this was her first race in her Monza, he raised the Italian flag, revs to 4,000, the flag moved so she released the clutch and away, with cars on her left on the racing line for the north banked curve. Hélène went around that while keeping to the right, and exited the curve still keeping to the right on the back straight so to be at the right of the track when approaching the south banked curve, Number 22 Campari cornered along the centre of the track to avoid the oil patch, ahead of 26 Borzacchini to his left on the racing line, and then after the oil patch, Campari sharply moved left onto the racing line, where his car snapped sideways, skidded along the lip between the concrete track and the earth bank before tumbling over the earth bank, tumbling and tumbling and tumbling. Borzacchini had nowhere to go, so he went over the edge of the concrete track, where his car rolled upside-down to land at the bottom of the earth bank, Castlebarco jerked right for his car to spin off the edge of the concrete track, and then rolled over to land upside-down at the bottom of the earth bank as well, while Hélène followed others through on the right, dodging a red Monza spinning onto the grass inside the curve. Hélène came onto the straight in third place of three survivors, past the pits and onto the north banked curve, and was alert approaching the south banked curve, cornering along the centre of the track like Campari before he crashed, but all was clear except for the Monza on the grass. Lap two, lap three, lap four – it was automatic until the chequered flag at the end of lap 14.
Hélène completed her slowing lap to pit, shut her car down, climbed out and realised her hands were shaking.
"What happened?" Marcel asked.
"Was it the oil?" Guy asked.
"Campari took a line to avoid the oil patch, and after the patch he swerved onto the racing line, and I think it was his slick tyres that caused him to lose control, so he crashed and rolled over and the others crashed while avoiding him."
"What should I do?" Marcel asked.
Hélène didn't want this responsibility. "I cornered along the centre of the south banked curve, away from the oil patch."
"I understand."
Loudspeakers announced a crash had happened involving Giuseppe Campari, Baconin Borzacchini and Carlo Castlebarco, but didn't mention injuries or fatalities while the crowd was eerily silent. An official entered their pit and asked Marcel to attend a meeting, so he left. Guy said he spun three times, but sand and brooms must have cleaned the worst of the oil, so that wasn't a problem. A damp track, slick tyres and that sudden move to the left – Hélène was sure of it, and then the others crashed with nowhere else to go. Loudspeakers announced Giuseppe Campari had died, Baconin Borzacchini was on his way to hospital and Carlo Castlebarco was taken to the first aid centre with minor injuries.
Marcel entered the pit. "They got us to sign a statement, acknowledging the risk."
"Just be careful first time around."
"The oval is too narrow for the speeds we're now doing."
"Yes it is."
"Now I have a race to run."
Françoise pushed Marcel's Bugatti onto the grid, but this time there wasn't any cheering. Instead, there was a meeting of drivers and officials behind the pits while the crowd whistled, shouted and screamed. After almost two hours since the end of heat two, five drivers got into cars, officials showed the three minute board, engines started, Hélène sat on the pit counter knowing Marcel was a safe driver, and he knew more about the track condition than the others. Two minute board, one minute board, and then they were away, streaming onto the north banked curve and out of sight. They came out of the south banked curve with Marcel leading Pietro Ghersi in an Alfa Romeo Monza. On lap six Ghersi led Marcel, but the next lap Marcel led Ghersi by some margin, and won the 14 lap heat ahead of Ghersi and Clemente Biondetti in another car combining a Bugatti chassis, gearbox and suspension with a Maserati engine and radiator.
Marcel slowed to stop in front of their pit and climbed out. "You were right – there's oil there, so I cornered along the centre of the south curve. At first Ghersi stayed away from the oil, but then he went faster, got onto the racing line, got sideways and I went past him, so I kept away from the oil patch until the end of the race."
"He was lucky he only went sideways at that speed."
Now it was time to get ready for the 22 lap final, consisting of the first four finishers of each of the three heats, although Hélène's heat only had three finishers. Mechanics pushed cars onto the grid, eight on the first row and three on the second row, only there was no waving by drivers and no cheering by the crowd. Start engines on the three minute board, get seriously ready on the one minute board, and away at the drop of the flag, cornering along the centre the north banked curve to be to in the centre of the track approaching the south banked curve, while Ghersi led Marcel and Stanislas. Ahead, Hélène saw Stanislas pass Marcel and then Ghersi, and Marcel got past Ghersi as well. Hélène was dropping back, unable to focus. On lap seven, Stanislas lapped Hélène approaching the south banked curve, and several seconds later, Marcel lapped Hélène on the main straight. Hélène followed Marcel around the north banked curve onto the back straight, and then saw Stanislas slide sideways just past where Campari crashed, the Bugatti slid over the outer edge of the concrete track, rolled over and landed upside-down at the bottom of the earth bank where it burst into flames while Hélène raced past. She barely believed it while following Marcel, but a lap down in 10th place, no, 9th place with Stanislas out of the race. Once more it was a matter of focussing; only they showed the chequered flag after 14 of the 22 laps. Hélène cruised around her slowing down lap of a race won by Marcel with Guy a close second. When Hélène reached their pit, Marcel was white and just sat in his car. After a moment, Françoise and Alain lifted Marcel out, obviously suffering from shock. Hélène climbed out of her car and wanted to hug him, but not in front of tens of thousands of spectators.
"I saw it," Guy said to Hélène. "You were ahead of me so you saw it too."
"It was past the oil patch and he was going too fast."
"He must have been killed."
"He must have been."
Hélène thought of Maria waiting for Bugatti number 20 to come past while a column of smoke told her the story
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