Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 88 Asia's True Genius (6K)

"Is this...pole position?"

Nakajima Hideyuki said this with an uncertain tone.

He never thought that Kamui Kobayashi's track record would be broken by a rookie driver from China.

“No doubt about it, it’s pole position!”

Even though the qualifying round has not yet ended, Nobuharu Tanaka has already made his decision.

Kamui Kobayashi's talent is obvious to all, and not everyone can easily break his track record.

In addition, Naoki Yamamoto and Kazuya Oshima have run at the Suzuka Circuit countless times. If they had the ability to break the record, they would have done it long ago.

Unless you perform exceptionally well and unleash a divine burst!
Obviously, the chances of this happening are extremely slim.

This was indeed the case. Faced with Chen Xiangbei's departure and the final lap time informed by the team, Oshima Kazuya and Yamamoto Naoki were more shocked than trying to catch up.

"Yamamoto-kun PUSH!"

Instructions from the team's race engineer came through the helmet earpiece. The qualifying round has not yet ended, and the audience and commentators can make a conclusion in advance, but the drivers cannot admit defeat in advance!

However, after the team issued the order, there was no response from Naoki Yamamoto. At the same time, the data monitoring on the screen showed that the car did not speed up.

"So what if Kamui Kobayashi holds the lap record? Records exist to be broken. Chinese driver Chen Xiangbei can do it, so can you, Yamamoto-kun!"

The race engineer shouted an encouragement. They, a group of team engineers, had participated in too many races and witnessed too many track records being broken.

Any top driver has broken countless track records and become famous by crushing his peers!

Kamui Kobayashi can indeed be called a talented teenager in Japan, and is also one of the best in Asia. However, in Europe, which is full of strong people, he is nothing at all.

If even this can break Yamamoto's faith, then even if he finally gets a ticket to European racing, he will be hit hard sooner or later.

After all, the real strong ones in this world are all talented drivers in Europe, Japan or Asia, and this is just the minimum threshold to compete with them!
"receive."

Finally, Yamamoto Naotaka's reply came over the radio, and the race engineer of the Guoguang team breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Yamamoto Naoki can keep his composure and break through himself, he will become stronger!
Time passed by minute by minute, and with the end of the qualifying countdown, the pole position fell on Chen Xiangbei without a doubt.

Even though Yamamoto Naoki tried his best and ran his best time, he was still 0.2 seconds behind Chen Xiangbei.

In addition, although the wingman of the Guoguang team failed to stop Chen Xiangbei, he successfully stopped Oshima Kazuya, causing him to only rank fourth in qualifying.

By this time, Chen Xiangbei had already driven the car back to the racing room. While drinking an energy drink to replenish his water, he praised, "Yamamoto Naoki ran well. He was only a thousandth of a second away from breaking Kobayashi Kamui's track record."

"Are you still in the mood to praise your opponent?"

Mizutani Sho replied with a helpless smile. He had seen new drivers with big hearts, but he had never seen one as emotionally stable as Chen Xiangbei.

Just now, for a moment, Sho Mizutani's heart was in his throat, worried that the pole position would be snatched away by Naoki Yamamoto.

After all, a 0.2-second difference is so tiny, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Yet Chen Xiangbei's expression remained unchanged, and he even had the leisure to praise his rival's lap time. Was he truly so confident?

Chen Xiangbei replied with a smile: "You ran well, of course I have to give you a compliment."

Rather than worrying about his opponent being strong, Chen Xiangbei is more worried about his opponent being weak. A game without challenges is boring.

Only by fighting with the strong can you become stronger!
"Don't be too happy too soon, the final race is the real test."

Hiroki Sawano reminded him that he felt Chen Xiangbei was a little "too proud of himself".

There were no strong chasing cars in the qualifying round, and Chen Xiangbei's timing of overtaking was indeed somewhat unexpected, which allowed him to easily overtake and run to the front row, completing an unobstructed flying lap.

The race is completely different from qualifying. What matters is not the fastest lap, but the final ranking.

Tire wear, fuel consumption, team strategy, cooperation between drivers, etc. will all cause variables in the outcome of the race.

More importantly, Honda Racing Academy only has one car in this race, while other teams have two to three cars. They can completely cooperate as a team to block Chen Xiangbei.

"Ok, I know."

Chen Xiangbei nodded and said no more.

Despise your opponent strategically and respect your opponent tactically. This is the mentality you should maintain.

In the P room of the Guoguang team, the race engineer is planning tactics during the half-hour break between qualifying and the race.

In qualifying, Naoki Yamamoto ranked second and Takuma Kimura ranked third.

The pole position starting grid at the Suzuka Circuit is located on the left side of the track, but the first corner is a right turn, which means that you can directly take the outer cornering line at the start, giving you a great advantage when entering the corner.

Chen Xiangbei has already demonstrated his absolute speed in the qualifying round. If there is no undercut (tire change strategy) in the race, it will be difficult to overtake the Chinese kid if he can easily lead the front row.

In this case, we can only take an unconventional approach!
"Yamamoto, after the start, don't try to seize the cornering line. Go directly to the inside, brake at the limit, and block Chen Xiangbei's cutting line at Turn 1."

Upon hearing the race engineer's tactical plan, Yamamoto Naoki frowned and said, "But that's too fast for me to enter the corner. I'll definitely push forward and charge out."

"It doesn't matter. There's a large asphalt runoff area at the end of Turn 1. As long as we can force Chen Xiangbei to slow down or run off the track with you, we can just drive back in later."

After that, the race engineer turned to look at Kimura Takuma and said, "Kimura, you must seize the opportunity created by Yamamoto and run as fast as possible to the leading position."

"If Chen Xiangbei catches up first, you block him. If Yamamoto catches up first, you two switch places."

Since the team's two drivers start from the front row, they naturally have to play to the advantage of "two against one", which is also a common tactic in Formula One racing.

Just having Yamamoto push his opponent off the track is, in a sense, suspected of violating the rules, but it is often difficult to judge during a race, and penalties are rare.

After all, as a driver, isn't it normal to challenge your limits and fail to stop the car?
"OK, I see."

Takuma Kimura nodded in agreement. He was already the team's second driver and might even benefit from it, so he had no reason to refuse.

Only Yamamoto Naoki had a hesitant look on his face. His emotions made him want to defeat Chen Xiangbei fairly, but his reason told him that this was the way with the highest success rate.

The half-hour break passed in a flash, and the drivers returned to the cockpit of the Renault car. This race arrangement is very similar to the F1 sprint race week, with qualifying and the race held immediately afterwards.

There was no queuing in the maintenance lane for the main race. Twenty-seven Renault cars were all parked on the starting grid according to their qualifying rankings.

Each racing car is surrounded by team members. Sho Mizutani is using instruments to monitor the tire temperature and pressure, as well as the operating temperature of various oils.

There is also a team of technicians pushing tire racks and maintenance tables on standby. If any data abnormalities are found, they will replace or repair them in the shortest time on the track. This is the true strength and foundation of a racing team.

Two racing commentators from Fuji TV took advantage of the break before the start of the race to talk about Chen Xiangbei's background information.

"Tanaka, the Chinese driver Chen Xiangbei performed very well in qualifying. He not only took pole position but also broke Kobayashi-kun's Suzuka Circuit record."

"Chen Xiangbei is not just a newcomer to Renault, he's even a newcomer to karting. His professional resume only includes the CKC national championship, and his previous record is blank."

Qin Lianjie, who was sitting in the stands, heard this and asked Liang Chi in surprise, "Uncle Liang, is Xiangbei the CKC national champion?"

Qin Lianjie watched Chen Xiangbei go to Donghai for training, which lasted less than a month. The Chinese competition hadn't even held the CKC, so how could there be a championship title?

Hearing Qin Lianjie's question, Liang Chi's face flushed for the first time, and he quickly changed the subject, saying, "I just wrote my resume casually, but I didn't expect the Japanese to take it seriously."

“Can you write this casually?”

"Champions can post whatever they want, so what's wrong with writing about it?"

Faced with Qin Lianjie's insistence on getting to the bottom of things, Liang Chi simply acted like a gangster. They were all family, so why pretend?

I rely on...

Qin Lianjie instantly understood how Chen Xiangbei won the championship. He could only say that Lao Deng was really good at playing. While Liang Chi was chatting with Qin Lianjie, the commentator was still discussing Chen Xiangbei.

"That same year, he started karting training and won the CKC championship. At the end of the year, he participated in Formula Renault. At this rate of progress, Chen Xiangbei has a chance of catching up with Sato-kun's speed!"

Hideyuki Nakajima sighed and said that the Sato-kun he was referring to was Takuma Sato.

Less than a year after Takuma Sato started karting, he won the Suzuki Cup National Championship. The following year, he became the Japanese F3 champion and went to Europe.

If all goes well for Chen Xiangbei, he could theoretically join F3 in his third year. If he's exceptionally talented, he could even enter F09 in the second half of 3.

Breaking Kamui Kobayashi's record is acceptable, but if Chen Xiangbei had the talent of Takuma Sato, it would be amazing for the Japanese.

You should know that Takuma Sato is praised by the Japanese racing community as a rare talent monster in a century!

If your family has enough money to get involved in karting ten years in advance, you may have a chance to win the F1 championship.

The chat of the race commentator guided the discussion among the audience, but most people did not believe, or were unwilling to admit that Chen Xiangbei's talent could surpass that of Japanese F1 driver Takuma Sato.

"Sato made it to F1 in less than five years, and it would be great if a Chinese kid could make it to GP2 in five years."

"Why compare with Sato-kun? Just one Renault pole position?"

"Genius isn't a commodity. Wait until Chen Xiangbei becomes the F3 champion."

Listening to the complaints of many spectators in the stands, Qin Qiuyu, who understands Japanese, couldn't help but pout.

"Brother, why do they say that? Chen Xiangbei is obviously very powerful!"

Hearing his sister's words, Qin Lianjie said nonchalantly, "That's normal. If someone said a Japanese person could hurdle faster than Liu Xiang, you would also be upset."

"Also, Chen Xiangbei seems to be a few months older than you. So, be polite and call him Brother Xiangbei from now on."

Hearing Qin Lianjie's habitual nagging and teaching, Qin Qiuyu immediately turned her head away and ignored him.

At this time, the whistle of the Japan Automobile Federation staff was sounded on the track, which meant that the race was about to begin and unrelated personnel had to evacuate the track as soon as possible.

Hiroki Sawano led his team back to the P-room. Seeing his serious expression, Sho Mizutani counseled him, "Director Sawano, Xiangbei-kun started from the front row and has the advantage of turning on the outside. I think he'll lead the race, nothing to worry about."

"Mizutani, practice is different from racing. Practice is the conquest between the person and the track, while racing is the confrontation between people.

"In a sense, track attack and defense techniques are a completely different kind of racing talent!"

Chen Xiangbei's previous track practice was simply to challenge himself to set the fastest lap time, but now he needs to demonstrate his offensive and defensive skills on the track. With a blank professional resume, how he will perform is completely unknown.

You should know that many drivers can run a fast lap without interference, but it does not mean that they have strong track competition, can beat their opponents wheel to wheel, or break through the traffic.

A typical representative of this type of driver is Bottas. In his peak period, he had strong single-lap ability in qualifying and good stability in the race. He was not much inferior to the seven-time champion Hamilton.

But if he fails to start from the front row, or is stuck in traffic, then he can basically be said to be nowhere to be found in this race, and it will be difficult for him to fight his way out in the fierce wheel-to-wheel confrontation!
This is why Hiroki Sawano is always worried. Formula racing is not just about driving skills, a large part of the technology lies in offense and defense.

Moreover, there is no way to strengthen training in track attack and defense. No team can afford the cost of repairing cars after a crash and the potential risks to personnel safety.

Therefore, track offense and defense are either innate or due to technical shortcomings!
Now it’s Chen Xiangbei’s turn to verify his last talent.

At this moment, the sound of "ding ding ding" was heard on the track, and the five starting lights lit up one after another.

The moment all the lights went out, the roaring sound of the engine tore through the sky, and Chen Xiangbei rushed out like an arrow, shifting gears and accelerating frantically.

Naoki Yamamoto, who was on the right starting grid, also started quickly and was basically in sync with Chen Xiangbei. The two of them were on both sides of the track and roared towards the No. 1 right turn.

The long straight at the start allowed the Renault car to reach a speed of nearly 180km/h. As the braking point for the corner was approaching, Chen Xiangbei felt something was wrong. That was because Yamamoto Naoki had no intention of changing lanes to enter the corner from the beginning to the end.

has a problem!
Chen Xiangbei is not a rookie. On the contrary, he has rich racing experience and is very familiar with the running style of the Suzuka Circuit.

Even if Yamamoto Naoki feels that he cannot rush into the curve, he should still change lanes and follow behind him to turn in a tangential line. Otherwise, he will have to brake hard to lock the tires and then turn hard at an extremely slow speed.

It makes no sense. With Yamamoto Naoki's ability, he would not do such a stupid thing.

Time flew by on the track, and before Chen Xiangbei could figure out why, he had already reached the regular braking point. He noticed that Yamamoto Naoki, who was driving on the inside, didn't brake hard, but instead changed lanes and moved closer to his car.

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei understood Yamamoto Naoki's intention. This grandson wanted to squeeze him out of the track!

According to normal thinking, when a driver is about to run off the track, he will definitely brake subconsciously to see if he can let his opponent run off first, and then turn to cut through the corner.

But Chen Xiangbei did not step on the brakes, because he knew very well that if Yamamoto Naoki did it on purpose, he must have calculated the conventional response method and stepped on the brakes at the same time to block the right-hand corner.

And if both of them slow down drastically, so slowly that Yamamoto Naoki has a chance to turn normally, it would be equivalent to allowing the opponent to overtake in front of him!

In a sense, this is also one of the "torpedo" methods of driving on the track, betting that the opponent will brake hard and slow down first.

"Driver Yamamoto missed his braking point. What was he going to do?"

The track commentator also noticed something unusual about his running style, and it was obvious that Yamamoto Naoki was not normal.

"Director Zeye, the Guoguang team wants to use a two-car strategy to force Xiangbei-kun off the track!"

As the race engineer, Sho Mizutani immediately understood the tactical intentions of the Guoguang team. The other party's tactics were a bit too despicable.

After hearing Sho Mizutani's report, Hiroki Sawano did not say anything. The thing he was most worried about still happened.

Now it is not only a test of Chen Xiangbei's offensive and defensive skills, but also his on-the-spot judgment and ultimate car control ability. In this situation, even experienced old drivers find it difficult to break the deadlock.

On the track, Chen Xiangbei's face suddenly became cold. He didn't slow down at all. Instead, he stepped on the accelerator and accelerated, as if he wanted to take the corner before Yamamoto Naoki.

【So hard】

Yamamoto Naoki on the right felt Chen Xiangbei speeding up and was shocked. He didn't expect his opponent to be so tough.

But since this tactic has been implemented, there is no room for retreat. Yamamoto Naoki also stepped on the accelerator and accelerated to keep pace with Chen Xiangbei and block his opponent from turning right.

But just as Yamamoto Naoki was accelerating, he heard a screeching sound from his left. Chen Xiangbei, despite locking his tires, braked hard and instantly fell behind him. Furthermore, this guy had managed to turn in line with the steering by slightly drifting.

This scene directly shocked Yamamoto Naoki. Using a Formula One car to drift around a corner at the Suzuka Circuit, and succeeding?

What's even more outrageous is that Chen Xiangbei, a newcomer with no competition experience, responded in an extremely sophisticated way and deceived himself by pretending to speed up. How did he react so quickly?

No one answered this question for Yamamoto Naoki. He could no longer stop the car and rushed into the buffer zone of the track, falling directly to the back.

There was also dead silence in the P room of the Guoguang team. They didn't expect that such "dirty tricks" could be resolved by Chen Xiangbei. How could he perform such maneuvers as tricking the car into braking and drifting through corners?

Track commentator Hideyuki Nakajima's voice chimed in at the perfect moment: "That was a truly spectacular moment just now. China's Chen Xiangbei pulled off a slight drift and cruised through Turn 1 of the Suzuka Circuit at his limit."

"His biggest competitor, Naoki Yamamoto of the Guoguang Racing Team, missed his braking point and went straight off the track, and is now at the very back of the pack."

"If nothing unexpected happens, it will be hard for any driver in this race to threaten Chen Xiangbei!"

Just as the commentator described, Chen Xiangbei took the next few turns and left Takuma Kimura behind by one second through his extreme line.

And without the support of Yamamoto Naotaka, Takuma Kimura had to face the attack of Oshima Kazuya alone. The fight between the two cars blocked the large group behind, and Chen Xiangbei was speeding recklessly in the front.

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei felt Verstappen's happiness. It turned out that this was what it felt like to be far ahead and set a lap time.

The following time became Chen Xiangbei's personal show. He completed the lap on the fifteenth lap.

The meaning of lap in the formula is that the driver in front is one lap ahead of the driver at the end. When the two cars meet again, it is called lap.

Lapping is not uncommon in Formula One racing, but in a race of Renault's level, the speed of the cars is relatively slow, and the race has only twenty laps in total, so completing laps is quite rare, which is like beating a child.

As Chen Xiangbei crossed the starting line for the last time, thunderous applause rang out at the Suzuka Circuit. The result of this race was beyond everyone's expectations.

An idea even popped up in the minds of the professional racers in the P room: perhaps Asia’s true genius driver has appeared!
(End of this chapter)