Chapter 75: Chapter 189: Rising Star Driver Bei
HRT Team’s pit stop, Trulli, who has completed all the testing tasks, stands in front of the monitoring screen looking at Chen Xiangbei’s car data and the first-person view from the onboard camera.
In this era, F1 practice sessions are limited by network bandwidth and track operation costs, so many third-party perspective cameras are not fully activated.
For example, aerial helicopter cameras and high-speed cameras above the track.
However, for top F1 drivers, the first-person view camera is enough to judge control and line precision.
Just seeing Chen Xiangbei taking the T1 corner, intentionally taking a wide arcs to expand the cornering route, Trulli knew that this Chinese Kid had learned the essence of his race videos in a short time.
Because under normal circumstances, a rookie who has not driven on the Bahrain Sakhir Circuit would only take the textbook conventional cornering route, which is the safest and ’correct’ way.
On the contrary, taking the wide arc comes with the risk of the tires skidding on the dirt shoulder.
But by taking the wide arc in the T1 corner, the exit speed is faster than the conventional route, allowing the final top speed on the straight to exceed by 3 to 5km/h.
The higher up in the racing hierarchy, the closer the drivers’ skills are in comparison.
To stand out and become the fastest, one must be bold and meticulous, controlling every tiny detail.
There’s no doubt, this lap by Chen Xiangbei is experimental in nature, he’s exploring the boundary between the simulator and reality!
On the long straight that followed, Chen Xiangbei unleashed the power storage of the flywheel, taking the TF110’s top speed over 300km/h.
This is the predecessor of future hybrid systems and energy recovery, also relying on the braking system for energy storage, except one uses battery chemical storage, the other uses flywheel mechanical storage.
This system was also once used in civilian cars, such as the Porsche 911GT3, McLaren P1, and some Ferrari models.
Only limited by cost, middle to low-end civilian cars other than supercars can’t afford it, thus it couldn’t be rolled out on a large scale, ultimately replaced by future battery hybrid systems.
With an ultra-high top speed, Chen Xiangbei charged into the T2 corner, only braking at 80 meters into the corner.
The reason he’s daring enough to such an extreme without fear of overshooting the track is because the exit of T2 at Bahrain Circuit is very wide, the car has enough line buffering space, just needing to be careful not to cross the white lines of the track limit zone.
Compared to the old tracks in Europe, often with decades of history, new tracks like Bahrain Sakhir are characterized by track width, ample buffer space, and a good asphalt surface environment.
If Sakhir Circuit wasn’t built in the desert, the safety level could be even higher by a notch.
After exiting the corner and accelerating past the short straight, the T3 corner needs to be tackled by leaning left to clip the curbs as close as possible, as Chen Xiangbei drove up he felt the car start to bounce, similar to a daily drive over manhole covers.
Instantly, sparks flew out from the rear of Chen Xiangbei’s car, confirming that the ’wood’ of special material on the chassis had harshly scraped the curb.
Regarding whether the chassis is damaged, only a pit inspection could tell.
The T4 and T5 of Bahrain Circuit is a chicane with large lateral force, earning it the nickname ’Neck Crusher’.
Every year, F1 rookie drivers take this chicane slowly; their necks and body conditions can hardly resist the several Gs of lateral G-force, and to prevent slight steering wheel wobble and loss of control, the only choice is to slow down.
During earlier tests, when Chen Xiangbei passed slowly, he already felt pressured, this time he significantly increased speed, yet did not blindly challenge the cornering limit.
Even so, he still felt his head forcibly pulled sideways, his neck muscles all tense, and veins bulging!
Compared to the ’Enlightenment’ of driving skills, physical fitness even after more than a year of intensive training, still finds it hard to catch up with the upgrading speed of professional competitions, the long hours of high-temperature testing at the Grand Prix indeed poses a great challenge to Chen Xiangbei’s body!
Enduring the pressure brought by the G-force, Chen Xiangbei precisely navigated through the cornering lines, and after exiting, he floored the throttle to accelerate again, furiously shifting up gears using the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Until he reached in front of T6, where a heavy foot on the brakes was needed to slow down for the corner, reducing speed to 4th gear at about 180km/h.
’Whitmarsh, this Chinese newcomer does have something, seems like his lap time is faster than in winter testing.’
McLaren CEO Ron Dennis said to the team leader Whitmarsh beside him in surprise, Chen Xiangbei’s performance exceeded his expectations.
Ron Dennis can be considered a legendary figure at McLaren, his success in the role of team leader is no less than Briatore, and from a championship numbers perspective, even stronger.
Senna and Hamilton were both crafted by him.
Moreover, if Briatore is an out-and-out rascal, then Dennis fully deserves the title of hypocrite, also regarded as a ’Big Bully’ in the racing world.
Stealing technology, giving orders, litigation, poaching, whatever Briatore has done, Dennis can be said to not fall short in any aspect.
The only difference between the two lies in Hua Bu’s ugly display of conduct...
However, having said that, in the F1 Paddock, be it racers or managers, ’by any means necessary’ is a standard configuration for achieving success.
After all, competitive sports look at results, not morals.