Team ‘Southend Or Bust’
The race begins.
“Why Prince?” inqruied Seb, sitting in the passenger seat with the maps in hand. James, having volunteered to drive first, decided he was choosing the music.
“I dunno, I’m on a bit of a kick at the moment” he said, ragging the massive wheel of the Estate Roamer to avoid some dense foliage.
“Fuck me mate, does that mean you’re finally over Oasis?” chimed in Martin sitting in the back,
James paused and looked straight into the rear view mirror. “Never” he said, with conviction.
“Ah good, just checking” said Martin.
“Won’t be long before he’s wearing heels and purple coats” joked Seb.
“Hey, there is nothing wrong with that all” snapped James, catching the Spaniard by surprised.
Seb turned to look at him with a questioning expression. “I wasn’t suggesting that” he said, slowly.
“Do I sense some insecurities mister Hurley?” said Martin, sarcastically, being jostled about as the Roamer negotiated some rough terrain.
“No but…” James began, sounding oddly defensive, being brutally interupted by a green SUV flew past. It was ABOPCO’s HPC Rallye STV.
“Christ that’s ugly” muttered Martin.
“Yeah but it’s not slow is it” said James, having gone all serious. He forced the gearbox into sport mode and blasted off in pursuit. Seb swore in Spanish, grabbing onto the door handle, as the Roamer blitzed across the jungle floor.
“James, easy does it!” exclaimed Martin, the worry in his voice being tangible.
“It’s 3 million quid mate, we are fucking getting it” fired back James, having caught up to the other car. It was clear that it had the advantage in terms of speed on this jungle track. The Estate Roamer was more a car for negotiating tough inclines with care and not at 70 mph, unlike the Dakar support car it was being challenged by.
James managed to get neck and neck, both cars being driven dangerously at that point. “Who’s even in there?” said Seb, trying to get a look inside. Just then, the jungle disappeared around them; Seb turned to look forwards and nearly soiled his pants.
“FUUUUU” shouted James, slamming on the brakes. They’d reached a river very unexpectedly. The HPC had the main track, and thus cleared it with ease. But James was not risking flooding this already risky choice of car.
“For gods sake Seb, you need to be looking out for this shit on the map!” shouted Martin.
“Well it doesn’t help when we have Sir Drive Angry in the seat does it” retorted Seb.
“Hey, I am trying to get us off to a good start” fired back James.
The argument continued. It was a stressful start to the race.