Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 56: Is there really such a talent?
In his previous life, Chen Xiangbei had driven many different types of formula cars, starting from the most basic Conquest Formula, then to the Asian BMW Formula, then the European Renault Formula, and finally climbing up the F3 race paddock.

Although the power specifications of these formulas vary greatly and the difficulty of getting started varies, at least you can feel that they are the product of industrial standardization.

On the contrary, if the CFR2000 driven by Chen Xiangbei did not have the name of a Formula One racing car, he would suspect that it was a "Laotoule" made by a small workshop!
Take the most basic gearbox as an example. Can you imagine a Formula One racing car that is not properly matched and has obvious gear jerks every time it shifts gears?

You should know that the gearbox of a Formula One car is very different from that of a civilian car. It is not a conventional automatic or manual, nor is it the familiar AT, CVT or dual-clutch.

The gearbox it uses is called a sequential gearbox, also known as a straight-tooth gearbox.

This sequential gearbox can only shift up and down one gear at a time. For example, if you want to shift from first gear to third gear, you must go through second gear and cannot skip it directly. The same applies to downshifting.

However, this type of gearbox has extremely distinct advantages, namely strong resistance to torsional shock and high shifting efficiency.

Racing is definitely an extremely violent driving sport, and ordinary gearboxes simply cannot withstand the driver's abuse, especially in high-level formula cars, where the horsepower is hundreds or even thousands of horsepower, and a conventional gearbox will explode as soon as it starts.

As for the high gear shifting efficiency, it is easier to understand. Take the manual transmission as an example. Even if you have trained a pair of invisible hands, each gear shift will take at least 0.2 seconds.

0.2 seconds doesn't seem like a long time, but what if the number of gear changes is increased to hundreds or thousands?

Each time you shift gears, it takes 0.2 seconds longer than your opponent, which is 200 seconds after a thousand times. The sequential gearbox only takes 0.08 seconds to shift gears. Even if Schumacher were to run, it would be difficult for him to catch up with the gap between the two.

However, Chen Xiangbei didn't know where the CFR2000's sequential gearbox was purchased from or whether it was self-developed. Anyway, it was poorly matched with the engine, giving him the feeling of driving an AMT gearbox.

Even if there had been no accident at the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, this level of assembly would still not have met the standards for qualified mass production, and Huasai Sports Company would eventually be dragged down by a broken capital chain.

In addition to the gearbox problem, the steering, suspension, and chassis of this CFR2000 all have problems of varying degrees.

However, considering that it is a prototype car and there is no driver to test drive it to collect enough racing data, it is not difficult to understand why there are many problems.

After all, Formula One is the pinnacle product of the automotive industry. For a domestic startup company in 08, Chen Xiangbei's requirements were a bit too high.

The first lap of the 3.7-kilometer track was quickly completed to warm up the tires. Since there was no LCD screen on the steering wheel of the low-level Formula One racing car, Chen Xiangbei could not intuitively know the current tire temperature through numbers and could only estimate it roughly by visual observation.

The slick rubber wasn't stained with too many impurities on the track, meaning the tire temperature hadn't reached optimal conditions. However, Chen Xiangbei was already itching to get his hands on one, as this was his first time driving a Formula One car since his rebirth.

Unconsciously, Chen Xiangbei stepped on the accelerator with his right foot, and the speed of CFR2000 increased rapidly!
Sensing the change in the speed of the Formula One car, Liang Chi said with a slightly worried tone: "This guy couldn't help but speed up before he even finished the two warm-up laps."

Zhang Zhicong asked back after hearing this: "Why, are you afraid of him hitting you?"

"Nonsense! You've never even touched a Formula One car before, and you're already speeding up! Even the highest talent can't handle such a radical approach."

"So you still agree to go directly to the north to take CFR2000?"

"I didn't expect this kid to really dare to run away!"

To be honest, Liang Chi's original idea was to give Chen Xiangbei some training. Anyway, Huasai Sports was going to go bankrupt and no one was driving this CFR2000 prototype car.

Who would have thought that Chen Xiangbei actually drove the Formula One car as a touring car.

What’s even more outrageous is that it seems to be operating properly so far!
If it weren't for the fear of affecting the Honda technicians' data analysis, and Liang Chi didn't understand Japanese, he really wanted to go over and talk to Ito Masaharu about what was going on with Chen Xiangbei. With the roar of the racing car speeding past, Chen Xiangbei had already shown an extremely obvious improvement in this lap. Ito Masaharu's eyes were fixed on the laptop screen, which displayed not only the racing data but also the camera images of the track bends.

This track of Huasai Sports is indeed built to high standards and uses the most advanced high-speed cameras currently available, which can clearly observe Chen Xiangbei's cornering trajectory in real time.

If you adapt quickly, have talent, or have hidden kart driving experience, then things like taking lines around bends are the real test of your driving skills.

If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't work.

Soon Chen Xiangbei whizzed past the starting point on the second lap. The final speed of the car displayed on the long straight at the start had exceeded 200km/h. This high speed was completely beyond the scope of practice.

"Ito, the new Chinese guy is already accelerating at full throttle. Pay attention and record his trajectory as he goes around the corner."

Technical director Shio Miyamoto reminded us that whether or not a rider is a genius depends on their cornering skills.

"Ah."

Ito Masaharu responded without turning his head, not daring to look away from the screen.

Turn 1 of the racing base is a regular -degree left turn. If the line is accurate enough, you can glide through it without braking and just by using the accelerator.

However, this requires very high driving skills. Drivers who have trained here in the past would brake to slow down even when driving go-karts, and currently only Zhang Zhendong can corner without braking in a Formula One car.

However, Zhang Zhendong participated in the later test runs of CFR2000. His experience with this car and track cannot be compared with that of Chen Xiangbei, who is currently a newcomer.

As long as Chen Xiangbei can corner at a speed of 150km/h, he will meet the standard of a talented driver in Ito Masaharu's mind!
But what happened next completely overturned Ito Masaharu's cognition. On the track, Chen Xiang Beiji skillfully found the turning line, and then completed the turning at a speed of more than 180km/h.

"Nani?"

Ito Masaharu, who was usually quite calm, couldn't help but let out an exclamation at this moment. Chen Xiangbei's cornering speed was even faster than Zhang Zhendong, who held the track record. You have to know that he was a novice who had only driven three laps!
Ito Masaharu's exclamation attracted the attention of everyone present. Even Liang Chi couldn't help but lean over to take a look at the data displayed on the computer screen.

"Fuck!"

A similar expression of surprise emanated from Zhang Zhendong's mouth. Although Liang Chi was not there when Zhang Zhendong raced on this track, he had worked as a racing engineer here for several years and was very familiar with the computer simulation speed of Turn 1.

Chen Xiangbei's cornering speed of 180km/h is very close to the theoretical limit of this CFR2000.

Liang Chi estimated that the cornering speed was very fast, but he didn't expect it to be so fast!

"Nakamura, check the car's sensor data to see if it's normal."

Miyamoto Shio's first reaction was to ask the electronic engineer to verify that there was a fault in the CFR2000 sensor, otherwise how could the rookie driver achieve such a cornering speed.

"Car sensor data is normal."

When Miyamoto Shio heard the reply from electronic engineer Nakamura Taki, he took a deep breath!
(End of this chapter)