Chapter 82: Chapter 75: How About I Take You Home First
At the wheel of the racing car, Chen Xiangbei naturally did not know the skepticism in the hearts of the Honda Team members led by Sawano.
If he knew, he would gladly explain and even have to "thank" Matsuboto Brown.
Without his starting spin causing a skid, there wouldn’t be a layer of rubber left in the starting grid from the "burnout," which allowed Chen Xiangbei to use it to enhance grip.
This principle is similar to the line strategy used in F1 during wet races; it’s best to follow the driving line of the car ahead in the race. Because the car’s long-duration travel dries the water from the driving line on the track and leaves some rubber particles from the tire.
Taking this driving route, the grip will be greatly enhanced, and naturally, the speed will be faster.
In the pit area, Mizutani Sho heard Director Sawano Hiroyuki’s instructions and immediately pulled up Matsuboto Brown’s split lap times to compare with the speed Chen Xiangbei was running.
Since the first segment timing point had not yet been reached, Sawano Hiroyuki was still unable to know in advance how much faster Chen Xiangbei was, but upon seeing this newcomer from China navigating the continuous S-curves, he basically had a figure in mind.
No wonder Chen Xiangbei dared to claim he could give five seconds; such smooth and silky cornering techniques, among entry-level formula drivers of the same tier, he had only seen with Sato Takuma and Kobayashi Kamui.
Even when he first raced on the Suzuka Circuit himself, he might have been slightly inferior!
"How exactly is this cornering line achieved? It’s simply as if he’s driven the Suzuka Circuit before."
Seeing this scene, Mizutani Sho couldn’t help but cry out in amazement.
It’s just too exaggerated; with Chen Xiangbei’s proficiency in cornering lines, let alone being a newcomer trying out at the Suzuka Racing School.
Even among the "old" drivers who’ve raced here for one or two years, there are few who have such precision.
It’s crucial to know that this is still a rainy track, and a slight mistake or excessive curb eating would immediately cause a skid and loss of control.
Chen Xiangbei, however, seemed to achieve it effortlessly, which was truly a bit unbelievable.
"Mizutani, do you remember Chen Xiangbei’s driver data and resume?"
Sawano Hiroyuki quietly responded with a sentence that stunned Mizutani Sho on the spot.
He recalled Chen Xiangbei’s driver data and resume, and at first glance, it seemed impossible to achieve like the feeling he had now.
However, it was a textual description that was dismissed as unbelievable shortly after the initial surprise, without major psychological impact.
But now it’s seen with his own eyes; Mizutani Sho witnessed Chen Xiangbei’s speed on the track, which cannot be faked through words or data.
The psychological shock it brought was completely incomparable.
The track data transmitted by Miyamoto Shigeru indicated Chen Xiangbei’s formula racing resume was blank; it merely supplemented with the speculation that he may have had karting training.
The subsequent scene was just like what Mizutani Sho experienced today; Miyamoto Shigeru and others couldn’t fathom why Chen Xiangbei could achieve proficiency seemingly self-taught in driving the CFR2000 formula racing car.
This day’s Mizutani Sho also couldn’t understand why Chen Xiangbei could proficiently race the Suzuka Circuit!
"Director Sawano, you mean this Chinese newcomer is truly a genius driver?"
The Huace data can be questioned, but the facts before them are indisputable.
Now Mizutani Sho already understands what Director Sawano wants to express, which is not to judge things unseen lightly due to biases.
"It’s not my implication; Chen Xiangbei wants to prove himself."
After saying this, Sawano Hiroyuki turned his gaze to the monitor screen.
The time for the first timing point had come out, with a lead margin even more exaggerated than anticipated, reaching a full 2.131 seconds.
"Impossible!"
Gazing at the data on the screen, Matsuboto Brown immediately questioned.
He knew he made a mistake at the start of the first lap, and his cornering lines tended to be conservative.
Yet in the low-speed corner section of the first timing point, Chen Xiangbei was already more than two seconds faster than him, leading more in the following high-speed aggressive segment compared to conservative driving.
At this rate, isn’t Kobayashi Kamui’s track record also going to be broken by this Chinese newcomer?
If these matters were spoken of outside, people likely wouldn’t believe it!
"Director Sawano, is there a problem with the monitoring equipment?"
"How could seven low-speed corners lead to a two-second advantage? Comparing super karts to formula racing cars doesn’t result in such an exaggerated disparity."
"This lap time surely has an issue; otherwise only historic level drivers would manage it."
The trainees inside the pit area likewise couldn’t help but discuss in excitement; they could accept a slight lead, as Chen Xiangbei’s speed didn’t need device detection, already visibly fast to the naked eye.
But directly leading by more than two seconds now, nobody could accept it; it exceeded their understanding at the time.
"Watanabe Hideyuki, check the equipment with the electronic engineer."
Their speculations and doubts also caused a slight wavering in Sawano Hiroyuki’s thinking; indeed, Chen Xiangbei’s lap time was somewhat too fast.
This is still the first lap, always the slowest lap. Will he truly break the circuit record in the second and third laps that follow?
"Yes, Director Sawano."
Without any hesitation, the Honda team engineer started checking whether the monitoring equipment on the track was functioning properly.
Sawano Hiroyuki’s gaze returned to the wall-mounted screen once again. He needed to rely on his own experience to assess Chen Xiangbei’s driving skills.
The characteristic of the Suzuka Circuit is that the speed increases toward the latter half, and the difficulty of control correspondingly heightens.
If Chen Xiangbei can even outpace Matsuboto Brown on the high-speed bends, then doubting the track’s monitoring equipment would already become meaningless.
On the track, Chen Xiangbei was currently driving with full concentration. Under wet conditions, one must elevate their sense of the car to the extreme, capturing even the slightest slip or spin of the tires — as losing even a fraction of a second would result in a loss of control.
The 9th corner at Suzuka is at a crossing point of the track in the shape of an "8." Due to passing underneath an overpass, this is a long downhill straight stretch where speeds can reach an exaggerated 230km/h.
But right after, there is a fast right turn leading into a left turn sharp curve. Here, there isn’t even a conventional apex point for the curve, and the tilt is large during the turns, requiring the choice of the middle line along the curve the whole way through.
When Matsuboto Brown previously took this left turn sharp curve, the speed directly reduced to 60km/h for fear of crashing off the track if going too fast.
Now Chen Xiangbei had reached this curve as well, but his speed hit a high of 100km/h, exceeding the physical grip limit of racing tires, leading Sawano Hiroyuki to judge that Chen Xiangbei simply couldn’t maintain the apex.
"Is this Chinese newcomer being too aggressive? Is he planning to crash off the track here?"
Chief technician Watanabe Hideyuki, while adjusting the equipment, happened to notice Chen Xiangbei’s current racing speed.
The speed display was absolutely not in error; indeed, the Chinese newcomer was taking the turn at a speed as high as 100km/h.
No one could answer Watanabe Hideyuki’s question. All eyes were fixed rigidly on the screen, waiting to see whether he would manage the turn or crash out. The answer was imminent.
On the Renault racing car, Chen Xiangbei immediately felt the pull of lateral G-force upon entering the curve, dragging not only his body but causing the racing car to show signs of sliding horizontally.
Chen Xiangbei chose the middle line in the curve but couldn’t overcome the inertia brought by speed and the diminished grip from the wet surface.
In such a situation, many newcomers instinctively hit the brake when sensing a loss of control, attempting to slow down.
Little do they know that hitting the brake now would lead to immediate loss of control.
Chen Xiangbei didn’t panic at all, his hands held the steering wheel tightly, while his foot lightly tapped the accelerator. He aimed to cut through the "water film" between the tires and the surface to re-establish grip for the vehicle.
However, because this segment is after a downward slope, the water accumulation is more severe than other sections, and the Renault racing car continued sliding uncontrollably toward the shoulder.
Thus, Chen Xiangbei’s trajectory through the curve manifested as a bizarre parabola, sliding from the middle line to the boundary of the track!
Just when everyone thought Chen Xiangbei was going to repeat Matsuboto Brown’s mistake by sliding into the gravel buffer beyond the shoulder, his Renault racing car miraculously regained grip and swiftly transitioned from the outer side to the inner side, smoothly entering the 12th curve.
What on earth happened?
Silence fell in the P-room; most people were wide-eyed staring at the wall-mounted screen, pondering the reason.
Why, in similar circumstances, Matsuboto Brown lost control off the track, yet Chen Xiangbei, with an even more aggressive speed and handling, managed a thrilling turn at the final moment?
Is there really some sort of divine blessing when driving a formula car?
It’s not only the ordinary students and Honda engineers; even Sawano Hiroyuki, this dual champion of Japan’s Super Formula and Super GT, found himself somewhat astounded.
Being Honda’s chief test driver, apart from regularly running track laps, he had tested countless times with Honda production cars on this Suzuka Circuit. Such a bizarre "drifting" through a curve was a first for him as well.
"I know why!"
At this moment, Mizutani Sho shouted.
"Quick, say it! Why?"
Chief technician Watanabe Hideyuki impatiently urged.
"From T9 to T11, this section is downhill, but reaching T12 is uphill, where the road conditions are relatively dry without water accumulation. The Renault racing car found grip here!"
As a race analyst, Mizutani Sho’s driving skills couldn’t match a driver, but in terms of track data, he was second to none.
Upon hearing this response, many people’s first reaction was not enlightenment but sucking in a sharp breath.
How intimately must one be familiar with the elevation changes of the Suzuka Circuit to dare perform such maneuvers?
Sawano Hiroyuki, truthfully speaking, wouldn’t dare play this way himself!
While everyone was discussing the "drifting" turn, on the track, Chen Xiangbei had swiftly navigated through the upcoming series of high-speed bends, and the screen flashed his fastest lap time.
minutes 22 seconds 417!
Confronting this lap time number, Matsuboto Brown felt his vision go black.
Theoretically, the slowest first lap of the Chinese guy was already 5 seconds faster than his own quickest lap.
Is it time to go home?