Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 71 I Want to Run This Rain Battle

At this stage in 2008, in the entire Chinese Formula One racing system, only two people had some influence in the international racing world, namely Cheng Congfu and Ma Qingye.

Note that this is just a little bit of noise and does not mean that they are famous.

Other drivers either can't even get out of the national team, or use their "money power" to force their way out, but their performance in the competition is a mess. After two years of playing without a sense of accomplishment, they quit.

In the eyes of this group of racing trainees, they have formed the stereotype that Chinese drivers are rookies, and Chen Xiangbei looks quite old.

For an over-age driver with no achievements or potential to be qualified for a trial at the Suzuka Racing Academy, this is undoubtedly another example of someone spending money to buy a seat.

The "paid drivers" in F1 are often controversial, not to mention the low-level formula drivers with varying levels of skill. In addition, the two sides are still competitors, so it would be strange if they had a good impression of Chen Xiangbei.

Sawano Hiroki's expression didn't change much. He just looked Chen Xiangbei up and down, nodded, and said in English, "You can stand together and listen first."

"Yes, Director Sawano."

Chen Xiangbei responded and stood at the end of the team.

At this time, Sawano Hiroki stared at the students present with a sharp gaze, and then said, "You all know that it has rained continuously in the past few days, causing many areas of the Suzuka Circuit to accumulate water and become very slippery."

"According to Honda Racing Academy's safety regulations, students should avoid racing driving training on rainy days as much as possible, as your abilities and experience are not yet sufficient to handle such complex road conditions."

"But for Formula One racing, a wet race is a comprehensive test of skill, courage, and strategy. Every legendary F1 driver has undoubtedly had a peak wet race that will go down in history."

"Since you have chosen to become a driver and your goal is to reach the pinnacle of Formula One, you must not be afraid of rainy races. You must be able to manage the 'loss of control'. This is why I called a driving training session today."

"have you understood?"

"understand!"

The students present answered in unison that they were not rookies and most of them had karting or low-level formula championship titles.

Being able to come to the Suzuka Racing Academy for training means that you have already defeated countless opponents of the same age. How can you be afraid of the track and the rain before even starting the race?

If a student has this kind of mentality, he or she does not deserve to be here!

"Now, according to the qualifying rules, we will start the race at a staggered time. My requirement for you is to run under 2 minutes and 35 seconds."

铃鹿赛道全长5.807公里，杆位记录是由车王舒马赫，2002年驾驶法拉利赛车跑出来的1分31秒317。

As for Renault's regional formula lap record at this level, it has slowed to 2 minutes 05 seconds, which is nearly 641 seconds slower than Formula One.

Based on this, Hiroki Sawano lowered the lap time requirement by another 30 seconds.

On the one hand, the track conditions are poor during rainy weather, so the driving speed will naturally be much slower.

Another reason is that these racing trainees have almost no experience in racing in the rain.

Drivers must certainly face their fears and challenge themselves, but this is a gradual process, rather than mindlessly speeding up and risking their lives.

2 minutes and 35 seconds is the minimum standard set by Hiroki Sawano. If the lap time is slower than this, it proves that the driver does not have the talent and ability to compete in rainy weather and is destined to be eliminated in the future promotion process.

After receiving instructions from Hiroki Sawano, the racing trainees began to prepare for the race, leaving only Chen Xiangbei standing there looking rather awkward.

Without much hesitation, Chen Xiangbei looked at Sawano Hiroki and asked, "Director Sawano, can I train with you?"

As the saying goes, it is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Since I happened to arrive in time, I might as well try the Suzuka Circuit on a rainy day.

As Chen Xiangbei said this, the racing students who had already dispersed turned their attention back to him.

The expressions on many people's faces were no longer one of joking, but one of naked mockery.

This Chinese guy had probably never driven a Renault car, let alone a wet race. He probably thought the driving difficulty was the same as those indoor toy karts back home, didn't he?
Hiroki Sawano did not respond at first, but just turned around and looked at Chen Xiangbei expressionlessly.

The turning point in Chen Xiangbei's chance to try out for the Honda Racing Academy was Hiroki Sawano's determination, despite the opposition. The academy's racing and electronics engineers were skeptical of the racing data sent by Shio Miyamoto.

That's right, all of them!

The reason is that Chen Xiangbei's racing data is too "fake". The theoretical lap time of a broken CFR2000 racing car has exceeded the FIA-certified Renault standard racing car.

This is just like when Chen Xiangbei used a Corolla to outperform the AMG that was showing off its glory. Data that violates common sense and logic naturally has little credibility.

However, Honda Racing has provided technical support to Huasai Sports for many years, and the two sides have established a certain basis of trust. The other party has never had a precedent of falsifying driver data.

In addition, Hiroki Sawano also knew Shio Miyamoto's character quite well. This guy diligently sent the latest racing data every day, so even if he wanted to fake it, he wouldn't be so stupid.

Hiroki Sawano thought about it for a long time before deciding to give Chen Xiangbei a chance, just like he gave Sato Takuma a chance back then.

"Racing in the rain is very difficult. Do you think you can handle it?"

"can!"

This is the answer that Hiroki Sawano wants. A driver must have absolute confidence in himself, even if this confidence may seem arrogance to others.

Whenever Chen Xiangbei showed the slightest hesitation, or gave an answer like "I should be able to" or "Let me give it a try", Sawano Hiroki would refuse without hesitation.

But before Sawano Hiroki could reply, a mixed-race student nearby sarcastically said, "Hey, Chinese kid, just in case you didn't know, drivers who haven't passed the trial will have to pay for a crash. Do you have enough money?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the students present burst into laughter. They understood the double meaning behind the words.

This mixed-race student not only mocked Chen Xiangbei for having a car crash, but also hinted that he had bought his trial qualification with money. Such a rookie driver is not worthy of driving a racing car in the rain!
"What's your name?"

Chen Xiangbei's expression didn't change much, he just asked in a cold tone.

To be honest, he had experienced many similar scenes in his previous life, or in other words, every Chinese Formula One driver had experienced it to a greater or lesser extent.

Even someone as famous as Zhou Guanyu was treated discriminatorily by the Ferrari Driver Academy in his early years, and even publicly stated that he had encountered racial discrimination after entering F1.

You have to know that these things happened more than ten years later. At that time, the national strength had undergone a qualitative change compared to 08, but it still could not get rid of the label of being weak and vulnerable.

Rich "experience" tells Chen Xiangbei that when faced with cold eyes and ridicule, he should directly find the most enthusiastic one and defeat him no matter what method he uses!

Only in this way can you avoid complaining like a woman.

"My name is Matsumoto Brown, are you dissatisfied?"

The mixed-race student replied arrogantly that he was the champion of this year's Asia-Pacific Karting Championship, and his strength gave him enough confidence to provoke Chen Xiangbei.

Chen Xiangbei didn't say another word to him. Instead, he looked at Sawano Hiroki and said, "Director Sawano, no matter how fast this Matsumoto Brown runs next, my lap time is at least 5 seconds faster than his."

5 seconds?
When this sentence came out, the people at the scene were not surprised, but laughed even louder.

Does this Chinese rookie know what 5 seconds means? The gap between F1 and F2 in Formula One racing may not even reach 5 seconds!
"Are you trying to trick Director Sawano into letting you train in this way?"

Matsumoto Brown replied with disdain, saying that some words are often so outrageous that they lose their offensiveness.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on Chen Xiangbei's face.

He walked right up to Matsumoto Brown, stared him in the eye, and said, "How about we play a big game? Whoever loses gets to quit the Honda Racing Academy?"

Chen Xiangbei's tone was very calm. Judging from the conditions he proposed, theoretically Matsumoto Brown would definitely win.

But for some reason, when looking directly into Chen Xiangbei's eyes, Matsumoto Brown felt an invisible pressure that made him dare not agree to it immediately!

How is that possible? Why would you hesitate? Are you afraid?

(End of this chapter)