After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

The next morning, in the temporary office of the event organizing committee.

Chen Haitao sat in the row of folding chairs against the wall.

A middle-aged man in a dark gray shirt sat behind a desk.

He looked to be around fifty years old, with gray hair cut short and neatly. His skin was pale from sitting in the office for many years. He had low cheekbones and wore thin-rimmed glasses on his nose.

"Old Chen, you came to see me today because of the Chengdu station?"

"right."

Chen Haitao leaned forward slightly from the folding chair, his voice very low.

"Old Zhao, let me be blunt. Did you notice anything unusual about those 820rr motorcycles from the Mars team during your vehicle inspection?"

Technical Representative Zhao: "We've noticed. The flatness of the chassis welds on those vehicles exceeds the standard requirements, and the suspension system tuning data is also within the compliance range. There are no abnormalities in the data readings of the electronic control system. What would you like to ask?"

"My question is, if we check according to stricter standards, wouldn't some of those cars' parameters just happen to be on the borderline?"

Technical Representative Zhao: "The frame stiffness data for the 820rr is indeed too high. The racing standards do not have a clear upper limit for frame stiffness, but there is a vague clause that 'it must not significantly exceed the production car standard.' This clause is not strictly enforced normally, but if someone raises an objection, the technical representative has the right to request the team to provide additional supporting documentation. Providing documentation takes time, and the car cannot be used until the documentation is approved."

Chen Haitao: "What conditions are required to raise objections to the frame rigidity of those cars?" "Someone needs to submit a written application to the race organizing committee through formal channels, attaching specific reasons for the objection and comparative data. After the application is submitted, the organizing committee will arrange an additional technical review. During the review, the vehicles involved will be suspended from the competition."

How long does the review process take?

"It could take two days, or a week. It depends on how well the convoy cooperates and how complete the materials are."

Chen Haitao tapped his knee lightly twice with his fingers.

Two days to a week, if it happens a few days before the main race, is enough to disrupt the entire setup and practice rhythm of the Mars team.

He looked up at Technical Representative Zhao: "Old Zhao, can you handle this?"

Technical Representative Zhao: "Old Chen, we've been colleagues for a while, so let me make some things clear to you. I can handle this, but only within my authority. I won't do anything against the rules; all procedures will be followed according to the standards, only the standards are a bit stricter than before. If anyone asks, every step I take will be documented."

"I see."

"besides."

Technical Representative Zhao lowered his voice.

"This application can only be submitted in your personal name and cannot involve your racing team. If it is found that the racing team was behind it, then the nature of the matter will be different."

"I understand. I will submit it in my personal capacity." Technical Representative Zhao nodded, wrote an email address on a sticky note, and pushed it towards Chen Haitao: "Send the application to this email address. Clearly state your reasons and ensure the data comparisons are thorough. I will arrange a review after receiving it."

Chen Haitao folded the note and stuffed it into his pocket, then stood up from the folding chair: "Thanks, Lao Zhao."

"Don't thank me. I didn't do anything, I was just following the rules."

As Chen Haitao reached the office door, Zhao, the technical representative, spoke from behind him, his voice carrying a hint of warning: "Old Chen, that Lin guy from the Mars team has a powerful background. Once you take this step, there's no turning back."

Chen Haitao turned his head to the side: "I know. But I have no other choice."

He pushed open the door and went out.

That afternoon, in the maintenance area of ​​the Chengdu International Circuit.

Lin Ye was squatting at the entrance of the tent.

Xiao Zhi crouched at the back of the car, adjusting the rebound damping of the rear shock absorber: "Brother, I've already flashed in the Chengdu-specific calibration that Zhang Yu mentioned. The traction control module's compensation for undulating roads is more detailed than the previous version, but Bai Xiaojing needs to run two laps to confirm the effect."

"Then run two laps."

Bai Xiaojing walked out of the tent.

She straddled the silver-gray 820rr, adjusted her riding position, and twisted the throttle. She drove out of the pit lane, slowed down at the track entrance, and entered the corner with clean, crisp movements.

When she returned after running two laps, her expression was a bit more somber than before.

She parked the bike at the entrance to the repair area, braced herself with one foot, took off her helmet, and turned to look at Lin Ye: "Brother, on the fourth lap, the rear suspension rebounded a half beat faster than I expected on the undulating road. When exiting Turn 7, the rear wheel slipped slightly, and I had to ease off the throttle to stabilize it."

"Export the data and let Xiaozhi take a look again. Zhang Yu's calibration may need to be adjusted again based on the actual road surface roughness."

Bai Xiaojing nodded, hung her helmet on the handlebars, and turned to walk towards the tent.

She took two steps and then stopped, turning her head to look at Lin Ye: "Brother, I saw that dark blue race car on the track just now. It followed Xu Lizhu for three laps without overtaking her, but its racing line kept changing, as if it was deliberately observing Xu Lizhu's cornering habits."

Lin Ye leaned against the tent frame, his gaze fixed on the race track: "How many laps have you been following?"

"Three laps. The line for each lap is different. The first lap is on the outside line, the second lap is on the inside line, and the third lap is about half a car length behind Xu Lizhu."

"It's collecting data on Xu Lizhu's entry and exit points. In the next practice session or the race, it will use this data to disrupt Xu Lizhu's racing line."

Bai Xiaojing's face darkened: "Then what do we do?"

"Tell Xu Lizhu to deliberately change her running route in the next round so that the opponent can't figure out her pattern."

Bai Xiaojing nodded and turned to run towards the rest area. Lin Ye stood at the tent entrance, glancing sideways at the dark blue race car at the other end of the repair area.

The vehicle was parked in front of the Southwest Team's tent, with several mechanics in black overalls surrounding the rear of the vehicle. One of them was bending down to adjust the preload of the rear shock absorber.

Standing next to him was a middle-aged man wearing a dark gray PL shirt, holding a tablet in his hand, with an open telemetry data graph on the screen.

Chen Haitao.

Lin Ye leaned against the tent frame.

Old Zhou walked up to him without him noticing: "Xiao Lin, that dark blue race car kept changing its line this afternoon. Every time it changed its line, it got half a meter closer to Xu Lizhu. If Xu Lizhu keeps running on the same line in the next practice session, it can block Xu Lizhu's exit point in the race."

"I spoke to Xu Lizhu and told her to switch lines in the next quarter."

Old Zhou nodded.

Lin Ye stood at the tent entrance.

Wang Xiaoying walked over: "Zhao Xiaoyue just saw a newly posted notice on the bulletin board at the entrance of the repair area. The race organizing committee said that tomorrow morning's vehicle inspection will be an hour earlier than originally planned, and a new 'frame rigidity verification' inspection item has been added. All participating vehicles must pass it."

Lin Ye nodded: "Tell Xiao Zhi to compile the chassis data for the three main vehicles tonight. I need to know the rigidity parameters of each of our vehicles before tomorrow's inspection."

Wang Xiaoying: "They're already tidying up. Also, I just saw Chen Haitao coming out from the direction of the event organizing committee's temporary office." "Perfect timing."

The twilight of Chengdu slowly seeped in from the edge of the maintenance area's roof.

Xiao Zhi and his apprentice squatted next to four main 820rr motorcycles, measuring the pipe diameter and weld thickness of key nodes on the frame of each motorcycle. Xiao Yu stood beside them, holding a tablet and simultaneously entering each set of data into a spreadsheet.

Lin Ye sat on a folding chair in the tent, with the list of participants and vehicle information sheet that Zhao Xiaoyue had just sent in front of him, and a summary of frame rigidity parameters compiled by Wang Xiaoying next to him.

The next morning at eight o'clock, in the vehicle inspection area.

At the entrance to the vehicle inspection area, a row of red and white warning tapes was set up. Several vehicle inspection stations were lined up in a row, and next to each station stood two event staff members in dark blue uniforms, holding record boards and measuring tools.

A long row of race cars had already been lined up on the concrete ground outside the vehicle inspection area. The mechanics and drivers of each team stood next to their respective cars, waiting for their inspection numbers to be called.

The Mars team's four main vehicles were positioned in the third row of the formation.

Bai Xiaojing squatted next to her silver-gray 820rr.

Guo Erjia leaned against the toolbox next to her.

Xu Lizhu and Dajuan stood side by side next to their respective race cars. Neither of them spoke, but their eyes remained fixed on the entrance to the vehicle inspection area.

Lin Ye stood beside the tent, watching the middle-aged man in a dark gray shirt walk out of the work passage at the entrance of the vehicle inspection area. Zhao, the technical representative, held a document in his hand, walked to the entrance of the vehicle inspection area, whispered a few words to a uniformed staff member next to him, then turned his head and glanced at the race cars in line, finally landing on the four silver-gray 820rr cars of the Mars team.

Xiao Zhi crouched down and walked over to Lin Ye: "Brother, I've compiled all the data. The frame rigidity parameters of all four main vehicles are within the compliance range; none of them are off the line."

"Print it out and bind it. If they request materials, hand them over immediately."

Xiao Zhi nodded and turned to walk towards the tent.

When the inspection number was called for the Mars team, the sun had already risen directly above the roof of the maintenance area, illuminating the entire concrete floor.

Bai Xiaojing was the first to push the cart into the vehicle inspection station.

The staff member walked around the car with a record board, glanced at the vehicle identification number (VIN), and then wrote it down on the board.

The young technician in the dark blue uniform squatted down, shone a flashlight on the weld seam of the frame, and carefully inspected it for nearly half a minute. Then he stood up and wrote a few lines on the record board.

Technical Representative Zhao stood up from behind the makeshift desk next to his workstation, walked to Bai Xiaojing's car, glanced down at the welds, then touched the smoothness of the paint on the frame surface before speaking: "Frame rigidity verification requires additional data for comparison. Do you have a frame rigidity parameter table prepared?"

"have."

Xiao Zhi walked briskly from the direction of the tent and handed the bound materials to Zhao, the technical representative.

Technical representative Zhao took the data, flipped through a couple of pages, and handed it back to Xiao Zhi: "The data is complete. The frame rigidity parameters are within the compliance range. Approved."