Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 74 Prejudice is a Mountain

The reason why Suzuka Circuit has become one of the world's famous circuits is that it was the final race of the F1 event in the early years, and the suspense of the championship attracted more attention.

There is also the design of the track itself, which is extremely excellent and unique.

The "8"-shaped cross layout means that drivers will experience both clockwise and counterclockwise sensations on the same track.

At the same time, the vertical drop of up to 40.4 meters makes the uphill and downhill feelings of the track very obvious, so that an overpass can be built at the "8" intersection.

Especially the iconic 130R left turn, which requires full throttle cornering speeds of up to 320km/h, is extremely challenging for both the car and the driver. Over the past half century, including motorcycle races, a total of 17 drivers have died here.

In addition, in the 05 Japanese F1 Grand Prix, Alonso, the "big brother" of the Renault team, overtook Schumacher in this corner and won the world championship title that year, marking the change of the king position in the racing world.

Turns 1 and 2 of the Suzuka Circuit are two consecutive right turns. Under normal circumstances, the fastest way to drive is to release the accelerator before entering the turn, rely on inertia to reach the center of the turn, then slow down and exit the turn while braking.

This not only increases speed but also reduces stress on the brakes and wear on the tires.

You should know that in top-level Formula One racing, "tire preservation" is an extremely advanced art. Many times, by making one less pit stop for tire change, or waiting until the accident stage on the track before pitting for tire change, you can save at least 17 or 18 seconds to complete the overtaking.

However, in rainy conditions, the tire grip is obviously insufficient, and the speed is still too fast when entering a corner by inertia, so the brakes must be applied in advance.

Matsumoto Brown's operation on the track was correct. He stepped on the brakes before entering the corner to avoid being unable to stop and rushing out in the center of the corner.

However, he braked at the wrong time, much earlier than the normal braking point. This meant that he did not have much confidence in cornering and chose a conservative strategy.

Hiroki Sawano has no opinion on this. Many times, being conservative does not mean being wrong, especially in this case of running three laps and taking the fastest lap time.

If you rush off the track aggressively, it will backfire.

However, the line of Matsumoto Brown on the screen immediately afterwards made Hiroki Sawano frown inadvertently.

He didn't even eat a bit of the curb!
Formula One tracks are different from roads; there's no such thing as driving on the line. On the contrary, the presence of roadside markings allows drivers to further exploit the track's cornering potential.

As long as you can ensure that all four wheels of the car do not go out of bounds, the harder the curb is, the better, which is equivalent to getting part of the curve buffer zone for free.

Often in F1 races, you can hear drivers cancelling lap times or receiving multiple warnings for violations.

The problem was that the driver was turning too fast, which resulted in him being unable to brake and hitting the curb too hard. All four wheels of the car went out of the track, and if the referee noticed it, he would be penalized for a violation.

In addition, everything has its pros and cons, and eating the curb is not 100% safe, because its material is different from the asphalt on the track, and the paint is smoother and has less grip.

If you don't take the normal curve line where the rubber is attached to the tires, the risk of skidding and losing control will increase dramatically.

It is still a rainy track, and the grip of the roadside is further weakened, so the risk of forcing it is naturally greater.

But racing has always been a game for the brave, its charm lies in finding opportunities amidst risks. Sawano Hiroki could accept Matsumoto Brown braking too early, but he was not willing to take the slightest risk by stepping onto the curb, which made Sawano Hiroki a little dissatisfied.

In the future, when you enter a top-level Formula One race and compete with your opponent wheel to wheel for the line, do you still plan to take no risks and wait for your opponent to give in?

As expected, racing in the rain is the best test of a driver's personal ability. Hiroki Sawano had not noticed these details of Matsumoto Brown before.

From No. 3 to No. 7, there are basically continuous S-bends. Since there are no long straights and high-speed bends on this section of the road, the overall speed is not very fast, and it is more of a test of the driver's line-keeping ability.

Matsumoto Brown's basic skills are indeed very good, and his line-tracing is very precise and beautiful, which made many Honda team members watching the game in the P room subconsciously nod in approval.

"Director Sawano, Matsumoto's basic skills are very solid. With this level of alignment, let alone giving up 5 seconds, even a newcomer to the Chinese competition under the same standard probably wouldn't have any chance of winning."

Standing on the side, Honda Racing Academy chief mechanic Hideo Watanabe expressed his opinion to Hiroki Sawano.

Compared with Chen Xiangbei, he naturally prefers the familiar Matsumoto Brown, which is human nature.

However, there is another more important reason why Watanabe Hideo publicly took sides, that is, when Huasai was developing the CFR2000, he provided technical support and was very familiar with the mechanical performance of that racing car.

Years of professional experience in the team told Hideo Watanabe that there must be something wrong with the driver data sent by Huasai.

Regardless of whether Chen Xiangbei himself was the one who "falsified" things subjectively, or whether he was desperately trying to find a solution on the eve of the collapse of Huasai Sports, hoping to use this method to conduct commercial marketing, attract students or sponsors to maintain the racing base, it cannot change the nature of "falsification"!

If Chen Xiangbei had been more humble and eager to learn, Watanabe Hideo might have had a better impression of him. Perhaps young Chinese people can make up for the "mistakes" they have made through their own efforts.

But now his performance is completely the opposite. Chen Xiangbei came to the Honda Racing Academy by cheating, and he still doesn't know his true level, and he keeps saying that he will give up 5 seconds.

To be honest, a driver with this kind of character does not deserve to stay in the Honda Suzuka Driver Academy!

"Watanabe, do you think Matsumoto is fast?"

Hiroki Sawano asked back calmly. He knew that many people in the academy looked at Chen Xiangbei with stereotypes about Chinese drivers.

Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain. It is useless to rely on trust and explanation. You can only prove yourself with strength and achievements.

He didn't want to discuss whether Chen Xiangbei had a chance of winning now, he just wanted to analyze Matsumoto Brown's potential first.

"At least it's not slow."

Watanabe Hideo gave a truthful answer. Matsumoto Brown braked early and was reluctant to use the curb, so his absolute speed was not fast.

But the current speed is completely sufficient for students of the same level. Many people drive Formula One cars on rainy tracks for the first time and often run off the track.

Even for F1 drivers, rain racing is the stage with the highest accident rate on the track, no doubt about it!

It’s not that Matsumoto Brown is slow, it’s that Hiroki Sawano’s requirements are a bit too strict.

As Matsumoto Brown exits Turn 7 on the track, the difficulty of driving the remaining corners will increase sharply.

There is a short straight section for acceleration before Turn 8, which requires a high level of judgment on the braking point. Immediately after exiting the turn is another right-angle Turn 9.

To maintain speed in this combination of corners, the transition between the two corners must be very smooth.

It was obvious that Matsumoto Brown did not have enough strength to handle the difficult continuous curves. He could only slow down his speed as much as possible to avoid sudden braking and tire locking and slipping, and then take the corners in a conservative way again.

Seeing this scene, Chen Xiangbei raised the corners of his mouth slightly and revealed a mocking smile.

Even though he had a very poor foundation in karting in his previous life in China, he was not as conservative as Matsumoto Brown when he went to the European track and encountered his first Formula One race in the rain.

He even felt that this could no longer be described as conservative, it was just cowardly!
Matsumoto Brown's running style made the remaining mileage on the track no longer suspenseful. When the Renault car crossed the starting line again, the lap time displayed on the computer was 2 minutes 31 seconds 748.

The minimum standard set by Hiroki Sawano was to run under 2 minutes and 35 seconds. There is no doubt that Matsumoto Brown met the standard and was more than three seconds faster.

But Hiroki Sawano was not satisfied with this result. As the Asia-Pacific karting champion driver, Matsumoto Brown should not have only this speed.

So he pressed the intercom button on his headset and gave instructions directly to Matsumoto Brown: "Matsumoto, speed up this lap. Let me see your potential."

Hiroki Sawano didn't know whether Matsumoto Brown was really not used to the rainy track, or whether the bet with Chen Xiangbei brought him psychological pressure.

You should know that during normal dry training before, Matsumoto Brown's fastest lap could reach 2 minutes 08 seconds, less than 332 seconds away from the track record!
The gap seems to be quite large. In fact, the fastest lap time of Renault Formula at Suzuka Circuit was set by future F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi, who is also known as the new generation of talented Japanese driver.

Kamui Kobayashi has swept almost all the championship titles in Japan in karting and low-level formula racing.

Remember, it’s a sweep!
It is normal for a racing trainee like Matsumoto Brown, who has just been trained for less than a month, to be two or three seconds slower than a top talented driver like Kamui Obayashi.

"Roger that, Director Sawano."

The lap time of 2 minutes and 31 seconds just now is indeed not Matsumoto Brown's limit. He used the first lap more to familiarize himself with the road conditions and the feeling of following the car. The next step is when he will push with all his strength!
With the start of the second lap, Matsumoto Brown's speed increased significantly, and he no longer chose the most conservative route when turning. He began to selectively use the curb to increase his speed.

"I told you, this is Matsumoto-kun's strength."

"It seems that Matsumoto-kun was a bit too cautious before. It would be good if the Chinese newcomer can meet Director Sawano's minimum requirements."

"I have a feeling that Matsumoto-kun will be able to break 2 minutes and 30 seconds on this lap."

Everyone in the racing academy started talking about it. Matsumoto Brown's real strength was there, and it was just a matter of adapting to the track environment on rainy days.

Soon this lap whizzed by, and the lap time number on the display stopped at 2 minutes 27 seconds 691.

When this number came out, cheers were heard in Room P.

It is already very good to run this lap time on full rain tires. According to Matsumoto Brown's adaptation and speed improvement, it is not surprising that the last lap can be run under 2 minutes and 25 seconds!
As expected, the karting champion still has the qualities of a champion after all.

While everyone was cheering, Hiroki Sawano set his sights on Chen Xiangbei.

According to Matsumoto Brown's speed on this lap, if Chen Xiangbei wants to win by giving up 5 seconds, he must run at least under 2 minutes and 20 seconds to be safe.

Rain tires are inherently slower than slicks, and coupled with the slippery and complex track conditions, if Chen Xiangbei can break 2 minutes and 20 seconds, his lap time could be very close to the track record.

That’s Kamui Kobayashi’s track record!
Although Hiroki Sawano overcame all objections and allowed Chen Xiangbei to obtain the qualification for trial training at the racing academy.

But he just wanted to give the Chinese newcomer a chance, which did not mean that he believed that Chen Xiangbei had the strength or potential of a super genius.

As long as Matsumoto Brown runs under 2 minutes and 25 seconds at his best, Chen Xiangbei can be said to have no chance of winning, and his training career at the Honda Racing Academy will be declared over prematurely before it even begins.

However, while observing Chen Xiangbei, Hiroki Sawano unexpectedly discovered that the expression on this Chinese newcomer's face did not change from beginning to end, without even a trace of nervousness or anxiety.

It was as if he had no idea what a lap time of 2 minutes and 27 seconds meant, and he was unaware of the difficulty of winning the bet on a rainy track.

From Hiroki Sawano's perspective, Chen Xiangbei was just staring at the screen with a dull expression, ignoring the cheers and provocations of the racing trainees behind him.

In all his years of coaching at the Honda Racing Academy, Hiroki Sawano has never seen such a special newcomer, and he can only think of two possibilities.

Or Chen Xiangbei is just giving up and thinking that it doesn't matter if he loses.

Or he had absolute confidence that no matter what lap time Matsumoto Brown ran, he would definitely be 5 seconds ahead.

Under normal circumstances, the former mentality is more likely.

But for some reason, Hiroki Sawano actually thinks the latter is more likely!
(End of this chapter)