F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 4 Go-karts are not go-karts
Before he had walked more than a few hundred meters, Shu Long noticed the smell of burning gasoline and rubber in the air, and the vibrations of the engine shaking the air brushed against the fine hairs on his face.

Is there a racetrack nearby?

"To be precise, it's a go-kart track. Haven't you always wanted to get a chance to touch a steering wheel? I'll bring you here today so you can have some fun!"

What kind of car?!
The message coming through his ears caught Shu Long's brain off guard.

In his hometown dialect, "ding" or "dingding" usually refers to the penis, that "ding" cart
Is the price of touching the steering wheel really that high?

However, when he nervously arrived at the edge of the track and saw those things on the track that looked similar to bumper cars, he realized that he had probably misunderstood something.

The car the main characters drove in the movie "The Little Thief"!

At the time, Shu Long was too busy watching how they robbed the bank, but now that he thinks about it, there does seem to be a plot point where the female lead's father runs a mini racetrack.

Because Grandpa Shu was retiring in this city, Shu Long was also given a place in the best primary school in the area through some connections. Meanwhile, Shu Xiong and Zhang Xin often had to travel all over the country for business.

Before this summer vacation, Shulong had not spent a long time with his parents for almost a year.

So despite Shu Xiong being a passionate car enthusiast, Shu Long's understanding of racing is still limited to movies and TV shows. The only race he has ever actually watched was three years ago when he was out of school.

All he remembered was that every now and then a row of four-wheeled "razors" roared past on the straight road in front of him, and his mother covered his ears almost the entire time. Young Shulong couldn't understand what was so exciting about a race that didn't involve drifting and just kept going around in circles.

Shu Xiong had planned to bring his whole family to the competition this year, but the competition started long after summer vacation, and even Zhang Xin probably wouldn't agree, let alone Grandpa Shu.
While Shu Long was still watching the young couples bickering in the corner, Shu Xiong had already bought two tickets and handed them to the seemingly nonchalant staff member in the pit room who was smoking a cigarette.

"Stop standing there daydreaming! Left foot on the brake, right foot on the gas, let's have some fun inside with Mengmeng!"

Shu Xiong first helped the amateurish "Matthew" securely fasten the little girl with the strips of cloth-like "seatbelt" in the car. When he turned to help fasten his own son, he secretly squeezed out a wicked smile and said, "Your chance has come!"

Sixty-eight yuan for seven minutes isn't expensive, so you can't expect the car to be anything special.

The four-stroke recreational motorcycle not only has a steel frame welded around its entire frame for impact protection, but it is also wrapped with thick rubber sleeves cut from scrap tires.

It seems that this place is an entertainment attraction in a park, and the owners don't really expect people who buy tickets to set any decent lap times. They just hope that no cars get damaged and increase their maintenance costs.

After the engine is started by pulling the rope, just like those old cars with dead batteries, the staff has to push the car a bit from behind before it slowly catches up with the accelerator and moves forward.

By the time Shu Long's car finally started moving, Gan Mengning had already disappeared behind the high tire wall at the bend.

No one would take the rivalry between the two children seriously, but that didn't stop a man who was old but still young from stirring things up behind the scenes. Compared to the competition where no one could see each other in the maze and naturally no one would give in, the order on the track was an undeniable result.

Unfortunately, the speed of this recreational go-kart was outrageously slow, probably only slightly faster than my full-speed running. Moreover, the throttle response was extremely sluggish; when I pressed the accelerator, it felt like a year had passed before the engine finally began to struggle and roar.

After just two turns, this sluggish piece of junk, whose top speed probably didn't even reach 30 km/h, made Shulong, who was used to riding in his father's fast car, so frustrated that he wanted to jump off and carry the car himself!

Standing outside the field, Shu Xiong watched with a smile, arms crossed. Having never practiced driving before, Shu Long, that brat, seemed to be too impatient. He either didn't slow down before entering a turn or suddenly swerved the steering wheel, bouncing around like a three-dimensional pinball against the tire wall.

On the other hand, Mengmeng, the little girl in front, was also driving for the first time. Although she was probably nervous and didn't dare to touch either side, she obediently stayed in the center of the track. After a few sections, she actually pulled Shulong a bit further away.

The outcome of the first round of the competition seemed to be pretty much decided. Shu Xiong chuckled as he imagined his son begging him to buy another ticket, feeling dissatisfied. He took out his phone and sent a text message to his wife to let her know their location, lest they forget about them when the competition ended.

Because there were many other children and young people of school age who were also brought by their parents, Shu Xiong was stunned and did not realize that something was wrong for a moment. When he found his son’s little head swaying between the tire walls, he realized that he had almost caught up to the point where he was only three car lengths away from Mengmeng.

What happened? Did Mengmeng also get hit?
Shu Xiong followed the two little ones around for a while, and when he realized something, his expression turned strange, looking rather comical, as if he were both crying and laughing.

This kid is laying the wires!

Shu Xiong's surprise was not without reason. The development of motorsports in China is not very early. In fact, you can see this by looking at the other young people in the field. Influenced by the various movies and animations that have become popular in China in recent years, most young people usually only think that drifting is the fastest and coolest way to drive.

So these young people playing around on the track don't care about their lap times at all. They always like to swerve and brake suddenly in the corners, as if they can't stand it if the car's rear end doesn't swing.

Based on Shu Xiong's assessment of his son's upbringing, in order to catch up with the "Natsuki" ahead... wait, that's unlucky, what was the name of that golfer again?

In short, that's roughly the idea. Anyway, Shulong should have firmly adopted the "Takumi" style of driving, instead of being so "conventional" as he is now.

"Cutline" doesn't actually refer to a specific driving technique. Whether it's grip driving or drifting, the act of keeping the car on the track line for maximum efficiency can be called "cutline".

The key is not how to drive, but the understanding and planning of the track layout.

As the next lap progressed, Shu Xiong even discovered that this kid was still continuously optimizing his route, and he was quite daring, sometimes the car's crash bars almost grazed the tire wall!
Who taught him that?!
No one, or more accurately, the broken-down car that Shu Long is currently sitting on.

Shu Long doesn't know if drifting is fast or not, but the kind of tail-sliding that only leaves you stuck in the middle of the track is definitely not fast. If you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of Gan Mengning, the safest thing to do is not to make yourself look like those idiots who do a few spins and then laugh like fools.

Due to the car's severe lack of power, the throttle felt incredibly weak in the corners, making it feel like pressing on glue. To increase the car's overall speed, Shu Long had to figure out how to make the driving line as straight as possible. Thanks to the not-yet-fully-unlocked ability "Photographic Memory," Shu Long unconsciously built a model of the overall track layout in his mind after two laps. Through comparison and calculation with each lap, he slowly explored the impact of different lines on speed.

Seeing the distance between himself and Gan Mengning closing at a visible speed, Shu Long knew he had definitely guessed correctly.

However, simply explaining the principles of wiring doesn't guarantee you'll know how to do it.

A light rain started falling while we were having a barbecue. Now, the track, which has hardly been maintained, is covered in muddy water. Add to that the old, worn-out tires that probably haven't been replaced since the track opened, and you can imagine how slippery the surface is.

Moreover, go-karts only have rear wheel brakes, and it's easy for the rear wheels to lock up if you're not careful. Even Gan Mengning, who was always very careful, was scared out of her wits several times by the uncontrollable skidding of the go-kart.

However, she seems to be blessed with good luck today, as she hasn't been on the wall even once so far.

At this point, we have to mention the amazing term "friction control".

Even though he had only fully unlocked the system a few days ago, apart from enabling Shulong's skills to make a big leap forward in table tennis, he discovered a whole new world almost the moment he touched the steering wheel today.

The accelerator, brakes, and even the force feedback from the steering wheel and the seat under his back quickly gave Shu Long a complete understanding of the go-kart's state in motion.

The strange feeling of directly conversing with four tires that were fighting against physical phenomena made Shu Long feel a tingling sensation from his tailbone to his scalp. For a time, he was so engrossed in the experience that he forgot he was engaged in a battle with Gan Mengning that was a matter of male dignity.

Like an instinct etched into its genes, Shulong subtly and clearly senses under what circumstances each tire can reach its limit of losing control, and even begins to use a rudimentary technology called "track braking" without any instruction during each lap.

"This lesson is almost over, parents please pay attention."

"Matthew" next to him, expressionless, was ticking the stopwatch in his hand, startling the bear, who was completely absorbed in his son's every lap. This clueless layman probably couldn't understand the intricacies of the situation, but if he didn't continue paying, he wouldn't be allowed to drive more than a lap.

A black and white flag was being waved on the sidelines. This was something the staff had instructed them to do before the start, signaling the person to go for the final lap and then stop before crossing the finish line.

However, at this moment, Shu Long was still firmly stuck behind Gan Mengning, and the crash bars of the two vehicles were almost touching.

The track wasn't very big, and the width of the road was only about two and a half karts. Gan Mengning, who was driving steadily in the middle line, could completely block the line if he changed lanes even slightly.

The girl had obviously noticed the dragon behind her car that kept kissing the back of her car. If she was still focused on driving and didn't have any specific feelings about winning or losing, now that she was just one step away from victory, how could she be willing to give up the position?

The girl, whose competitive spirit had been aroused, began to consciously play defensively.

However, being a complete novice driver, the pressure from Shu Long made Gan Mengning, who was already nervous, not so much completely disorganized in her defensive actions, but rather lacking in finesse. At one point, she almost managed to push Shu Long against the wall.

There's no other way but to watch the last sharp right turn before the starting straight!

Because the pit lane entrance is located there, the last corner has the fewest tire walls, and there is an open space next to it for parking idle cars, making it one of the few relatively spacious areas on the entire track.

Just as he was about to brake, Shu Long decisively pushed forward and gently tapped the right rear of Gan Mengning's car, giving her the illusion that he was going to overtake from that side.

Based on Shu Long's observations after following the car for several laps, both Gan Mengning and himself, who were relatively new to driving, subconsciously felt that the primary choice for overtaking was usually the shorter inner lane.

As expected, Gan Mengning, who noticed the unusual movement of the car, immediately followed suit, making way for a very wide corridor for the outside line.

Shu Long's face showed no smugness at his successful scheme. The two cars had similar straight-line speeds, and at such snail-paced speeds, the wind resistance was almost negligible, making it impossible for him to overtake them.

His only chance now is to brake later than Gan Mengning and use all the space the track can provide to get ahead of the corner before exiting the corner!
The unconventional braking point means that the positioning previously summarized by Shulong is completely irrelevant.

Now all he can rely on is his overall sense of speed and space, and his judgment of the machine's performance based on his control over the previous twelve laps.

With a sudden, hard slam on the brakes, Shulong, having successfully pulled away from the front wheel, began to steer while still braking. It continuously adjusted the pressure of the brakes based on feedback from the front wheels to prevent the vehicle from losing its steering ability due to exceeding the front wheels' grip limit.

However, Shu Long miscalculated; he underestimated the strength of his opponent.

It's not that Gan Mengning is a hidden master, but rather that this impatient young girl, upon seeing Shu Longchao beside her, instinctively slammed on the brakes and revved the engine.
Now things are really messed up. The balance of a race car in a bend is already very delicate. Realizing that the car had completely lost control, Gan Mengning simply closed her eyes and, with her body stiff, crashed headfirst into the side of Shulong's car.

A perfect pit!

Shu Long's car started spinning almost immediately, but with victory in sight, how could he allow his hard-won opportunity to slip away!

Just as when people's bodies adapt to the dynamics of riding a bicycle, maintaining balance changes from a conscious "manual transmission" to an unconscious "automatic transmission".

Similarly, Shulong, who has developed a systematic behavioral logic for controlling go-karts, subconsciously begins to counter-steer even before his brain has made a judgment on how to respond. At the same time, his right foot begins to rhythmically add throttle, almost every time helping him to straighten the car's direction a little.

The outer left rear wheel had already snagged on the roadside grass, kicking up a spray of water droplets, and the side rear frame barely grazed the guardrail of the repair area in a breathtakingly tight, extreme position.

(End of this chapter)