Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 53 How about skipping the go-kart?
Chen Xiangbei put on his clothes as quickly as possible, washed up briefly, and walked out of the room.

Seeing him come out, Lu Xiaoman asked, "You're pretty quick. Do you want to have breakfast first?"

"No, let's go to the garage first."

Honda technicians are already waiting, and Chen Xiangbei doesn't want to give others the impression that he is late when they meet for the first time.

"Okay, but this is just this once, it won't happen again."

Lu Xiaoman emphasized that since Chen Xiangbei came to the racing base, she had to take on the responsibilities of a nutritionist.

"Ah."

After Chen Xiangbei responded, the two of them walked towards the garage inside the base.

Although this building is called a garage, it actually has multiple functions including a maintenance workshop, driving simulator, driver training and lounge.

At this time, there were already seven or eight people standing in the garage. In addition to Zhang Zhicong and Liang Chi, there were two strong young men wearing Huasai work clothes, and several technicians with Honda logos printed on their clothes.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei coming over, Liang Chi leaned over and said, "Boy, let me take you to meet some people."

"These two were my former apprentices. They currently work as technicians at Huasai Sports, responsible for the maintenance of karts and Formula One cars."

"The technicians dispatched by Honda are Technical Director Shio Miyamoto, Race Engineer Masaharu Ito, and Electronics Engineer Taki Nakamura."

Liang Chi introduced the people present to Chen Xiangbei one by one. As a former racing engineer of Huasai Sports, these people here were old colleagues of his.

"Hello everyone, my name is Chen Xiangbei, nice to meet you."

Chen Xiangbei bowed and greeted them very politely. This group of people would be his team support members for the next month, and both parties had to have a basis for pleasant cooperation.

"Hello, Xiangbei."

Everyone at Huasai Sports also greeted Chen Xiangbei enthusiastically. After exchanging a few polite greetings, the technical staff returned to their jobs, leaving only the competition engineer Masaharu Ito with him.

"Xiangbei-kun, we're going to give you some basic training today. I heard you've never driven a go-kart before, correct?"

Masaharu Ito took the initiative to inquire about Chen Xiangbei's situation. As a race engineer, he was the team member who interacted most closely with the drivers. He was responsible for driver data analysis, car tuning, and even some of the race strategy.

"Do you speak Chinese?"

Chen Xiangbei was no stranger to the identity of a competition engineer, so he was naturally not surprised.

He was even more surprised that Ito Masaharu could speak fluent Chinese.

"Stop rambling, kid. How can Honda's technicians stationed in China carry out their work if they don't know Chinese?"

Liang Chi stood nearby and muttered, "This kid's mind is really scattered. He only pays attention to trivial things."

"Yes, Xiangbei-kun can talk to me directly in Chinese."

Ito Masaharu replied politely, with standard Japanese etiquette.

"Well, although I've never driven a go-kart, I've done a lot of racing on simulators."

Chen Xiangbei replied that he should lay the groundwork in advance, otherwise many things would be difficult to explain later.

"What simulators have you driven?"

Liang Chi asked in surprise, wondering why he didn't know Chen Xiangbei had experience with simulators.

"It's just a computer game simulator."

"That's considered a simulator?"

"Just think that I can do it!" Zhang Zhicong, who was standing aside, couldn't stand the nonsense conversation between the two people anymore.

"Lao Liang, this is no longer your repair shop. Now that we're at the racing base, we should follow the professional procedures. Leave the training to Ito Masaharu."

"Just come with me and watch from the side."

Racing engineer and competition engineer belong to two different professions. The professional term Liang Chi used in the F1 team is actually closer to chief technician.

However, there is a severe shortage of talent in the domestic formula racing industry, and Zhang Zhicong has no choice but to let Liang Chi take on some of the responsibilities of technical director and participate in the research and development and design of CFR2000.

Unfortunately, the result of forcing some things into implementation is that the technology does not meet the standards, which ultimately leads to the failure of the CFR2000 project.

After hearing what Zhang Zhicong said, Liang Chi realized that he was a little too concerned and it would affect Ito Masaharu's evaluation training, so he nodded and walked aside.

"Xiangbei-kun, based on your basic skills, I suggest you start with the most basic KF3 karting."

Currently, the karts that meet the CIK-FIA (International Automobile Federation) certification are KF and KZ classes.

The former is a gearless kart (fixed in one gear) with a displacement of around 125CC. In addition, it is further divided into three levels: KF3, KF2, and KF1 according to different speed and horsepower adjustments.

KF3 is the lowest level, and karts below this level are no longer considered competitive karts and are instead used by ordinary people for recreational purposes.”

The KZ class is a shift kart with a gearbox, which is also divided into two levels: KZ2 and KZ1.

Don’t underestimate the KZ class because it is a go-kart. In fact, its performance is very powerful. Even the KZ2 can reach a top speed of 170km/h and accelerate from 4 to km/h in less than seconds.

As for the KZ1-class kart, it is also commonly known as Super Kart. It has a displacement of 250CC, a maximum speed of 230km/h, and can accelerate from 3 to km/h in less than seconds.

Due to the strong thrust-to-weight ratio of this type of kart, it is very dangerous for untrained students to use it, so driving them requires an international karting license and the age must be over 15 years old.

In Ito Masaharu's eyes, Chen Xiangbei was a pure novice, so naturally he had to start from the lowest level KF3.

"Ito, can I change my car?"

Chen Xiangbei asked tentatively, mainly KZ3 level karts are usually started by children around ten years old.

Even without mentioning his quasi-F1 level strength in his previous life, he was at least an -year-old high school student in this life. What was the difference between driving this thing and riding the rocking car in front of a supermarket?

If I have to say, there is still a little difference. After all, you can't play songs, such as calling your father's father grandpa...

"Xiangbei-kun, what kart do you want to change?"

Hearing Ito Masaharu's question, Chen Xiangbei pointed to the most conspicuous spot in the garage and replied, "That one!"

The vehicle Chen Xiangbei pointed to wasn't a go-kart, but a CFR2000 Formula racing car developed by Huasai Sports. Its specifications were just one notch above the entry-level Formula Campus and one notch below the more famous Formula Renault.

But even so, it is still a standard formula car. It is almost impossible for a newcomer to directly start driving a formula car without any karting training.

Even though Chen Xiangbei showed unparalleled driving talent, the operation method, sitting posture, and body posture of the Formula One car were completely different from those of a motorhome and could not be compared at all.

It’s like an ordinary person who has only ever driven a grocery cart, and one day he is suddenly asked to drive a high-horsepower rear-wheel drive supercar.

Don't think that all supercars are four-wheeled vehicles, and the only difference is price and horsepower. In fact, due to the different seating positions and driving methods, supercars are easy for novices to lose control.

Especially those who know nothing about it, thinking that it will be like in the movies, where they step on the accelerator and the engine roars, and then they can feel the push back brought by the speed.

The reality is that when you step on the accelerator, the horsepower instantly exceeds the tire's grip, causing the car to skid and lose control. Therefore, the "Sport" mode on many supercars is also called "Heaven Mode."

This is why top supercar brands often provide driving training to owners after selling their cars, in order to prevent such accidents from happening.

　Brothers, in order to avoid controversy and unnecessary trouble, the protagonist was born a few months earlier and is now 18 years old in the third year of high school.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)