Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 99: The Flamboyant Mewtwo Leader (7K)

Improved by 0.4 seconds?
Seeing this lap time, Odetto muttered to himself, with a complicated expression on his face, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or dissatisfied.

However, Mizutani Sho, Feng Yong and others could no longer contain their excitement and started cheering.

Whether it is Chen Xiangbei's psychological breakthrough or the car tuning finding a balance point, 0.4 seconds per lap in the field of formula racing can be called a "qualitative change"!
Especially based on the already high lap time, Chen Xiangbei's improvement is further highlighted.

"Odeto, how much faster was I this lap?"

"The improvement is average, 0.4 seconds."

General improvement?
Hearing Odette's answer, everyone present looked at him in disbelief.

Even for a former Ferrari manager who has worked in the F1 paddock for decades and is accustomed to big scenes, this kind of improvement for a Chinese newcomer can definitely not be described as "average".

Do you really have to achieve a lap time that challenges the track record to be worthy of being called excellent?
"I was blocked by someone while speeding, otherwise I should be able to improve by more than 0.5 seconds."

Chen Xiangbei explained that the traffic situation on the track is different now than before. There are more than ten cars and it is very congested.

And because there is no track monitoring system, it is entirely up to the drivers and the team to observe with their own eyes to remind the car behind to do a timed lap and prepare to give way.

This reminder was obviously a step too late, and some people just blocked the road and refused to give way, so Chen Xiangbei had to change lanes to overtake.

For a 200km/h racing car, any lane change or correction will slow down the lap time.

As long as the track is in good condition, Chen Xiangbei believes he can drive even faster!
"North, there aren't that many 'shoulds' in the race, there will only be more cars in the qualifying paddock, do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand that it's up to me to choose the better time to gallop."

"GOOD!"

Odeto was very satisfied with Chen Xiangbei's response. He didn't like people who were full of excuses and objective reasons.

The track conditions were becoming increasingly complex, and Chen Xiangbei's full-strength push was causing significant wear and tear on the tires, so Odetto simply recalled the car and ended today's practice.

That's why Odetto led his crew to the Silverstone Circuit early in the morning to practice. He had experienced too many races here and knew that with the peak of practice, it would be difficult for drivers to get the perfect flying lap environment.

European drivers have been practicing karting since they were very young, and they have run on the "fossil-level" Silverstone track countless times.

For European drivers, practice is not about getting familiar with the track and improving lap times, but more about observing whether the track layout and corners have changed.

But for Asian drivers who have never raced before, practice time is a precious opportunity to familiarize themselves with the track. They must seize the best track conditions to advance two laps!

To use a Chinese saying, the early bird catches the worm.

While Chen Xiangbei's crew was preparing to leave, Kobayashi Takatoshi was unwilling to give up. After tuning the car, he went back on the track and sped away.

Drivers must have a never-give-up mentality, especially when facing their teammates, as competition within the team is often more brutal.

The reason is simple, when there is only one seat available, you are not competing with a dozen other opponents, but with your teammates!

If Takatoshi Kobayashi cannot achieve good enough results, even with Suzuki Aguri's subjective consciousness, the mindset of prioritizing Japan will still exist.

However, under the "coercion" of reality, they had to transfer the core position of the team to Chen Xiangbei.

After all, only results are the foundation for a team to gain a foothold in the F1 paddock!
Perhaps inspired by Chen Xiangbei, Kobayashi Takatoshi chose to give it a try on the track. His lap time also improved greatly, reaching the range of 1 minute 59.

The final time was 1 minute 58 seconds, only 941 seconds slower than Chen Xiangbei.

You should know that the traffic conditions on the track are even worse at this time. If there are too many slow cars pushing at full speed, it will not only be an obstacle to the car, but there is even a risk of a collision.

The fact that Kobayashi Takashi was able to achieve this lap time proves that he is indeed very talented.

At the same time, this was a reminder to Chen Xiangbei that his level as an F2 driver in his previous life could be considered invincible in the low-level Asian competitions of this era.

Just like Kamui Kobayashi, he can definitely be called a talented Asian boy.

But in Europe, where there is an abundance of talent, many future F1 drivers or FE champions also have a decade or more of professional racing experience, starting from the karting stage.

In terms of career duration alone, he is not much behind Chen Xiangbei, and is even slightly ahead!

Even for someone like Takatoshi Kobayashi, who is an unknown figure in history, you don't know at what age he started practicing karting, and whether his potential will suddenly explode. It can only be said that he should not be underestimated.

……

All members of the Super Dream Team left the field and returned to the base. The team members in the ART Team's maintenance station were gathered in front of the laptop screen, watching the practice video recorded by the DV camera.

Race engineer Todt's initial idea was to record driver Vergne's laps, then analyze them frame by frame at night to identify any deficiencies and correct them in qualifying.

As a result, he saw Chen Xiangbei's timing lap and took a picture of it.

The quality of DV footage back then was low, and the filming distance made it impossible to clearly see the details of Chen Xiangbei's line. One could only vaguely tell from the cornering trajectory that the number 13 car was going very fast!

But to be honest, unless the lap times are compared in real time like in a race broadcast, it is difficult to visually feel whether the car is faster or slower by one second.

After all, if converted into a single lap of about two minutes, the improvement of one second is less than one percent. The human eye is not a machine, so how can it accurately identify each corner within a few tenths of a second?
But the ART team can train so many F1 drivers, so they must have their own skills!
Since it is impossible to judge intuitively, take a few videos of different drivers on the same corner, use software to compare trajectories and analyze speeds, and thus get a rough idea of ​​how fast they are.

As long as Chen Xiangbei can run faster than the ART driver through the corners, it means that this Chinese kid is incredibly fast!
"FUCK, the trajectory of Chinese driver Bei at Turn 9 actually overlapped with Hamilton's?"

"For the T4 bend, I feel the north line is better than Vergne's."

"For the T7 corner, the Chinese rookie used a U-shaped line instead of the simpler V-shaped line, which requires a very high level of tracing braking!"

The engineers of the ART team were discussing Chen Xiangbei's cornering characteristics, and everyone had a look of surprise on their faces.

Due to the distance, the DV camera can only capture the curve line on the closer side, and the farther side is too blurry even for the computer to analyze.

But just the alignment of half of the track is enough to show Chen Xiangbei's amazing driving skills.

A question came to many people's minds, that is, how did this guy appear?
China's current racing foundation is not enough to produce top-tier Formula One drivers. Even with a comprehensive racing system, Japan's overall strength is still far behind Europe.

Honda did not train the talented young man Kobayashi Takatoshi, who was selected by Honda, in Japan, but sent him directly to Europe for training. Could they come up with something better to train Chen Xiangbei?
It doesn't make sense logically and is incomprehensible!

"Firman, find a way to get the information about the Chinese driver Bei. We need to target him."

Todd interrupted the discussion and gave instructions to data analyst Firman.

When walking on the track, Todd could be said to have completely ignored Chen Xiangbei's existence, and his indifference was beyond words.

From his point of view, a Chinese newcomer driving for the Renault European Cup is destined to be scraps and cannon fodder, and there is no need to take him seriously.

However, Todd has one advantage, that is, he can "admit his mistakes and correct them". His arrogance is only directed at the difference in strength, not at his nationality or individual.

Now that Chen Xiangbei has demonstrated his extraordinary strength, we can no longer choose to ignore him.

Experience and intuition tell Todd that this Chinese boy will become a huge threat to Vergne!
Chen Xiangbei naturally didn't know that the Karlin team had already begun to study him. After returning to the Mewtwo base, he was receiving a massage service provided by Lu Xiaoman.

Yes, it is a very professional massage service!

According to Lu Xiaoman, after high-intensity training, it is best for athletes to perform soft tissue massage to relax the muscles, ligaments, and fascia and restore them to a relaxed state.

Chen Xiangbei will participate in qualifying tomorrow and the Renault race the day after tomorrow.

After three consecutive days of high-intensity driving, Lu Xiaoman was worried that his body would not be able to bear it, and that muscle agglomerations or fascia cramps would occur, which would be a devastating blow to the sport of racing, which requires extremely precise driving.

There was no other way. As Chen Xiangbei's part-time trainer, Lu Xiaoman had to do it herself.

"Sister Xiaoman, I personally don't think the driving intensity is very high. It's not to the point where I need a massage."

Chen Xiangbei lay on the yoga mat, letting Lu Xiaoman stretch his limbs. Even though he had many years of professional training as a driver, he had iron concentration and will.

At this age, full of vigor and vitality, he still cannot control some of his body's instinctive reactions, and it is really awkward for the two of them to be in close contact.

“Do you know how expensive private therapists are?”

"If it weren't for the first race in Renault, I wouldn't bother helping you relieve the tension in your muscles."

Lu Xiaoman complained unhappily that under normal circumstances, if athletes wanted to get this kind of "on-team" physical therapy service, they would not be able to hire it without paying a monthly salary of tens of thousands of US dollars.

Chen Xiangbei was reluctant to do so even though he only received one salary for holding several positions.

"I understand, I understand, thank you very much."

Of course Chen Xiangbei understood the price. Even among the rich second-generations in the F2 team, few could afford a private physiotherapist. Lu Xiaoman was really considerate.

But he felt that if Lu Xiaoman continued to "touch him", he would lose his composure...

Fortunately, Liang Chi walked in at this time. Seeing Lu Xiaoman "lying" on Chen Xiangbei, he coughed lightly, interrupting the muscle relaxation therapy for the two.

Chen Xiangbei breathed a sigh of relief at this time. He finally understood why there were almost no female F1 drivers except for a few press officers.

If a team has a few more people like Lu Xiaoman, even if the work is very serious, the drivers will probably have no intention of driving.

Or rather, I just wanted to drive...

"Uncle Liang, what's going on?"

Chen Xiangbei asked.

"Nothing serious. I just got a call from Mr. Zhang from Hong Kong Island. Mr. Oliver Starler, the former co-founder of the Huasai Base, will be coming to Silverstone to watch the race tomorrow. He wants you to perform well."

"Starler was once an investor in the Williams team and a close friend of Sir Frank Williams. Building a good relationship with him will be very helpful in your future pursuit of an F1 seat." Chen Xiangbei had never heard of Oliver Starler in his entire life. But anyone who followed Formula One would undoubtedly know the Williams team!
This team has a glorious history and was once known as one of the Big Three teams in the paddock along with Ferrari and McLaren.

The Williams team has won nine team championships and seven driver championships, and has pioneered many "black technologies" that have been transferred to the civilian car field.

For example, CVT continuously variable transmission, active variable suspension, full vehicle electronic control, etc.

The Williams cars of that era weren't just Mars rovers; they could be called galaxies. Coupled with the powerful partnership of "Professor" Prost, if McLaren hadn't secured the legendary Senna to rival them, it would have been truly lonely to be invincible.

However, as time goes by, F1's investment in funds and research and development has become increasingly larger, and private teams have gradually been unable to continue.

Even a strong team like Williams had to recruit a large number of sponsored drivers in the 21st century, and changed from the Big Three to a school of directors.

Basically, all the famous drivers and directors on the track in recent years are from the Williams team, and the sponsorship fees they received are almost all paid out in the form of car damage.

I really feel sorry for the Williams team for a second.

Although the Williams team's competitiveness has declined, the foundation of the old giant is still there, and it can still gain a firm foothold in the paddock.

In particular, Sir Williams's network of contacts is not the strongest in the paddock, but it can be said to be one of the strongest.

In addition, the most friendly starting cradles for new drivers are Williams and Sauber.

From the perspective of Liang Chi and Zhang Zhicong, although the Super Dream Team has the ambition to return to F1, if the Honda Group behind it does not have much willingness, it will not be able to gain a foothold relying solely on Suzuki Aguri's personal strength.

If Chen Xiangbei can get to know more people and accumulate more connections in the paddock, it will be another way out.

"Okay Uncle Liang, I got it."

Chen Xiangbei nodded.

F1 is a commercial competition, and the paddock is also a place where politics are discussed. It certainly doesn't hurt to get to know more people.

"Then you continue."

Liang Chi waved and quickly left the gym.

"Sister Xiaoman, what do you say?"

"Keep going, you don't look too tired, so tomorrow's qualifying match shouldn't be a problem."

After saying that, Lu Xiaoman turned around and left gracefully.

Chen Xiangbei was a little amused and helpless about this situation. It turned out that women are really changeable.

The day passed quickly, and on Saturday, February 2th, the qualifying elimination round of the Silverstone Circuit began.

A total of 30 drivers from 14 teams participated in the first round of the Renault European Cup.

Unlike F1, lower-level formula events do not have a restriction that a team can only have a maximum of two drivers participating.

If the team is strong enough and has enough crew members to carry out maintenance, even three or four people can participate in the competition at the same time.

Of course, there are also some small teams that do not have enough funds or do not have good enough young drivers, so it is normal to choose to send only one driver to participate.

At the same time, the meaning of this qualifying elimination round is different from the qualifying "elimination" in F1.

The later F1 qualifying rules are a multi-lap three-stage format, with the top fifteen, top ten, and top ten finally ranked.

Those drivers who are eliminated can still participate in the race, but they will just start at a lower position.

The qualifying rules for the Renault Eurocup of this era were more like the "1" rule in F107. If a driver's qualifying lap time was more than 107% slower than the fastest pole position time, they would be disqualified from the race.

The reason why F1 has such rules is that there was no R&D budget cap in the early days, and the poor operation of the event resulted in very few points rewards and year-end dividends, and the performance gap between small teams and large teams was astonishing.

Just like the HRT team that Ma Qingye almost joined, it can be two to three seconds slower than the fastest Ferrari or Mercedes team per lap!

This gap is almost approaching the distance between F1 and F2. There is no point in having several tractors blocking the track, and the risk of accidents and incidents will increase when laps are made.

However, Renault uses a standard racing car in the European Cup. In theory, there is no difference in vehicle performance, only a difference in driver strength, so it will not result in a situation where the car is two to three seconds slower per lap.

The organizers of the event implemented the qualifying elimination rule because there were too many participating drivers, which would make the track crowded and overtaking difficult.

Eliminating some of the lagging vehicles and leaving only 20 cars for the race will make the competition and confrontation more intense.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Silverstone Circuit was already bustling with activity. As the most famous "cornerstone" circuit in the UK and even the world, there is never a shortage of tourists and car fans making pilgrimages here.

Even though it was just a Renault Junior Formula race, there were no world-class star drivers, just a group of newcomers who had upgraded from karting or F4 and whose names could not even be pronounced.

The Silverstone Circuit still attracted more than tens of thousands of spectators who hoped to see the birth of the next racing superstar!
The maintenance lane was also bustling with people. There were more than a dozen teams, more than 30 participating drivers, hundreds of crew members, and hundreds of event organizers' staff. You can imagine how lively it was.

Liang Chi led a team of technicians to conduct the final pre-race inspection of the No. 13 car that Chen Xiangbei was going to drive.

You should know that although Formula One racing cars have high technological content, they have never been tough and durable products. On the contrary, in pursuit of extreme performance and the drivers' crazy and violent driving, the failure rate is quite high.

Before going on the track every time, a detailed inspection must be carried out to ensure that no hidden dangers are missed.

And this time, it was not just Liang Chi leading Ayong and Lei Ge, but even the former Super Aguri's team of technicians also came to assist in pre-match testing.

No matter how the team is divided into different camps, they are still a team during the competition. What's more, Chen Xiangbei's contract also includes a clause for providing technical services.

Chen Xiangbei had already put on his racing suit and was standing next to the car, communicating and giving feedback to the technical team, striving to perfectly tune the suspension before the race.

At this moment, there was a noise in the maintenance tunnel and cheers from the audience.

Hearing the sound, Chen Xiangbei looked over with curiosity and found that Renault race committee staff, FIA officials, and media reporters appeared in the maintenance lane, conducting pre-race publicity and interviews.

Of course, the audience's cheers were not for them.

The real reason for the audience's excitement was that a group of racing girls in cool clothes and hot bodies appeared in the maintenance channel. They were posing in various ways to liven up the atmosphere and taking photos for the media on site.

Racing girls have always been a beautiful sight in the paddock, but unfortunately, due to opposition from certain organizations, the FIA ​​decided to withdraw racing girls from car races. Since then, the track has become a place for men only.

Drivers may not need women, but the paddock needs beautiful women to attract popularity.

Faced with the strange yet familiar scene, Chen Xiangbei could no longer remember how many years it had been since he had seen a racing girl.

"Brother Bei, you don't look as serious as you think..."

A teasing voice came from behind. Ayong was originally tuning the car, but Chen Xiangbei went straight to look at the racing girl in the maintenance lane halfway through giving feedback, and it seemed that his eyes were almost popping out.

You have to know that in Ayong's eyes, Chen Xiangbei's previous image has always been that of a person with stable emotions, as if he was not interested in anything except racing.

As it turns out, I am quite interested in looking at beautiful women.

Faced with Ayong's teasing, Chen Xiangbei was speechless for a moment. He was just thinking about some changes in rules in the future.

But in this case, explanation is cover-up, and cover-up is the fact, and no matter what you say, you can't clear yourself of suspicion.

After taking pictures of the racing girls, the reporters in the maintenance lane began to interview well-known teams and drivers.

Although Renault Junior Formula doesn't have any world-class stars, it still has some newcomers in the European series. For example, Magnussen of the Carlin team is considered the favorite to win this series and even the championship!
In addition, teams such as ART and Manor were also pursued by the on-site media.

Under normal circumstances, "scraps" like the Super Dream Team and Chen Xiangbei are ignored in the paddock, and interviews with them will not attract any traffic.

But Odetto and Super Aguri are different. One is a veteran team leader in the paddock, and the other is a former F1 team member who has been demoted. Reporters are very interested in why they are here.

Old man Odetto was surrounded by microphones, and a group of sports reporters were frantically asking questions. He was clearly very accustomed to this kind of situation and acted very calmly and composedly.

"Captain Odeto, may I ask why Super Aguri is reorganizing into the Mewtwo Racing Team? Are they unwilling to leave the Formula One field?"

"Odetto, as a loser in the F1 paddock, do you think you are still competitive?"

"I've heard of the Chinese driver from the Superdream team. He's a complete newcomer. Do you think he can adapt to the intensity of European competition?"

As for the first two questions, Odetto did not comment or answer them, as they were the concerns of the team owner.

As for the last question, Odetto took the microphone and asked: "What intensity do you mean, the Renault European Cup or F1?"

After hearing Odeto's answer, the reporter who asked the question was a little confused. Is it necessary to ask this?
How do Chinese drivers get the ability to enter F1!

However, as a journalist, he must follow the professional code of conduct and make a splash. He immediately asked, "Odeto, do you think a Chinese newcomer can enter F1?"

"Of course, if you don't want to enter F1, then why drive a formula?"

Odeto felt that this was natural, just as a soldier who did not want to be a general was not a good soldier.

If you are a Formula One driver and don't want to enter F1, just give up racing as soon as possible.

"Mr. Odeto, it seems you have a high opinion of the Chinese driver Bei. What is your prediction for his ranking in this race?"

"Champion, without a doubt!"

Odeto answered very straightforwardly and decisively, but he didn't know whether Chen Xiangbei could win the championship.

Anyway, the words have been said and there is no way to take them back. Chen Xiangbei will go and feel the intensity of Western reporters for himself.

(End of this chapter)