Chapter 78: Chapter 72: Wild and Unrestrained to the Core
The inexplicable sense of crisis in his heart left Matsuboto Brown feeling very confused, constantly questioning himself in his mind, unable to believe he could feel "fear".
Matsuboto Brown is not only the champion of the Asia-Pacific Karting Championship, but he also took advantage of his dual nationality to receive a year’s training in the Ford Formula in Australia.
Throughout the Asia-Pacific region, aside from Japan, only Australia has a complete formula racing training system, having produced a total of 17 Formula One drivers, including 4 F1 world champions.
This brilliant record, even in comparison with Europe, is not inferior, and it can be said that Matsuboto Brown has a very solid career foundation.
Five seconds head start against a Chinese rookie, what’s there to fear in a sure-win deal?
"Brown, what are you hesitating for, send the Chinese newcomer home!"
"Daring to ask for a 5 seconds lead, seems like he really doesn’t understand formula racing."
"Such a rookie should just go back, staying on the track is definitely a hazard!"
Faced with Matsuboto Brown’s hesitation, other students at the racing academy were also egging him on to accept the challenge.
These racing academy students are mostly around the age of 16, a time brimming with youthful arrogance.
They’re not afraid to stir things up anyway, and besides, there really isn’t any suspense in this race.
Watching the scene unfold, the academy’s Director Sawano Hiroyuki stood by with his arms crossed, showing no intention of intervening.
This is because his teaching philosophy prefers the individuality of drivers over restraint!
For a professional driver, most of the time it is indeed necessary to control their emotions and maintain a clear and calm mind during races.
Only in this way can the most rational driving judgments be made, avoiding impulsive actions caused by emotional interference.
But in reality, historically top-level drivers often have wilful and arrogant bones beneath their surface restraint, and they are never the nice guys!
The legendary Senna was famous for his fiery and aggressive driving style, and he had many irrational behaviors on the track, eventually dying in aggressive driving, yet this does not affect his greatness and legend.
As for the contemporary King of Cars Schumacher, it goes without saying, he’s always aggressive, frequently clashing with opponents on the track and doing whatever it takes to win.
In response to external criticism, Schumacher’s response was simple.
[I don’t have the skills to get along harmoniously with other drivers because champions are always lonely!]
The future four-time champion Verstappen, with nicknames like "Turret" and "Big Baby", clearly demonstrates his character.
The most classic scene in Verstappen’s early career was during the process of fighting for the line in a corner, he would just throw the car into the turn, making it clear that whoever gives way is a mate, otherwise they get a "torpedo"!
Only the "Golden Front Left" of seven-time champion Hamilton could have an equal match with him in car collisions.
Sawano Hiroyuki’s goal is not to cultivate an excellent student, he wants to create the next F1 driver.
Drivers without individuality and determination are destined not to reach the highest hall of racing.
"Fine, I’ll race you. Whoever loses quits the racing academy."
The Chinese rookie’s blatant challenge and the jeering of his fellow students left Matsuboto Brown with only one path - to accept the challenge.
Although he couldn’t understand the source of his sense of crisis, theoretically, this was a race he couldn’t lose, how could a Chinese rookie dare to challenge him?
Seeing Matsuboto Brown agree, Sawano Hiroyuki didn’t say a word, directly telling a technician in the P room: "Take Chen Xiangbei to the rest room to change into his racing suit."
"Yes, Director Sawano."
Undoubtedly, with Sawano Hiroyuki’s words, it meant that he agreed to Chen Xiangbei’s request to run the track.
The Honda Technician led Chen Xiangbei to the driver’s rest room, which was set up similarly to the Huasi base, the only difference being that the Honda Racing Academy had prepared customized racing gear in advance according to the data sent over by drivers.
This point also demonstrates that the Chinese Formula Racing is not just behind in driver skill or car manufacturing technology, but in the entire racing system.
Even the self-proclaimed top domestic Huasi Sports doesn’t prepare custom racing suits for its trainees. Meanwhile, for the Honda Racing Academy, Chen Xiangbei didn’t even officially qualify as a trainee without passing the trial, yet they still prepared a set of custom racing gear for him.
After putting on the racing gear, Sawano Hiroyuki glanced at Chen Xiangbei and then spoke, "The 5 seconds head start and quitting the racing academy, both these conditions were your decision, and there’s no room for regret, understood?"
"Understood."
Chen Xiangbei nodded in affirmation, his life motto is that he can lose, but he cannot afford to be ashamed of losing.
"If you win, this race will count as passing the trial."
Sawano Hiroyuki evaluates drivers without considering their age or nationality, otherwise, Sato Takuma wouldn’t have had the chance to join the racing academy.
Although he didn’t think Chen Xiangbei had any chance of winning, he still gave him a promise.
A reward befitting a victor!
"Thank you."
Chen Xiangbei smiled and expressed his thanks.
Seeing that Chen Xiangbei could still smile, a profound look appeared in Sawano Hiroyuki’s eyes.
He had carefully reviewed all the practice data of this Chinese driver at Huasi Sports and conducted track simulations on the computer using the Renault Formula. If the data wasn’t falsified, Chen Xiangbei’s racing talent might surpass that of Sato Takuma.
For this reason, none of the racing academy engineers believed it.
However, even so, making a five-second gap is still astronomical, and Matsuboto Brown, as the Asia-Pacific karting champion, isn’t that weak. Few drivers of the same age can outpace him.
Unless there’s one possibility, that is Chen Xiangbei’s rain battling ability is remarkable!
The rain battle is the moment to level the performance gap between cars and test the driver’s absolute personal strength.
Why do landlubbers in F1 often fail to win the world championship? It’s not just a shortcoming issue; it also highlights the gap in personal car handling sensations.
Without top-level talent and car handling sensations, it’s impossible to conquer the rain battle.
"Each competitor gets three laps, and we’ll take the fastest lap. Matsuboto, you go first."
"Yes, Director Sawano."
Matsuboto Brown responded, then put on his helmet and sat in the seat of the Renault formula car, heading towards the starting line.
At this moment, the academy trainees, just like the crew members seen in F1 broadcast footage, sat in rows inside the pit station pit room, with their eyes fixed on the multi-screen displays on the wall.
Compared to the simple mobile control station at Huasi Sports, the pit room at Suzuka Circuit has a full set of monitoring equipment. Each corner and checkpoint on the track has high-speed cameras and sensors transmitting data for direct comparison and analysis.
However, track equipment maintenance costs are very expensive, and outside of race periods, they are not fully activated as they are today, only due to the dual factors of rain battle and competition.
After all, as a racing academy, they must ensure the safety of their trainees as much as possible.
Everything was ready, and Mizutani Sho, the race engineer and data analyst, reminded Matsuboto Brown via radio: "Matsuboto, no warm-up lap on full wet tires, start when the track signal lights turn off."
The tires on formula cars can be broadly categorized as slicks and wets. Slicks are all hot-melt slick tires that need to be preheated to working temperature to achieve maximum grip.
Wet tires are similar to civilian tires, with grooves for water drainage. The material is relatively hard without hot-melt properties, naturally requiring no warm-up.
However, in F1 races, tires still go through a warm-up lap according to the race process.
"Roger that."
Matsuboto Brown’s reply came through the radio.
"Prepare to start."
With the race engineer Mizutani Sho’s command, the five red lights above the track began to light up one by one, until the final manual random interval shut-off button was pressed to prevent drivers from predicting and jumping the start.
When the track signal light extinguished, Matsuboto Brown released the clutch and pressed the accelerator to speed up and shift up. The "screech" sound came from the rear tires of the Renault car as the body of the car subtly swayed.
However, this was not a high-definition close-up camera during the race; it was a high-speed camera used for track monitoring. Coupled with the water mist raised by the rear tires at the start, this subtle sway was entirely invisible on the broadcast screen, only the driver could feel it.
The Honda trainees in the pit room saw Matsuboto Brown’s quick start, and those close to him cheered.
You know, a wet-weather start can easily lead to mistakes. Matsuboto Brown also lacks rain battle experience, but from his starting reaction and operation just now, he completely met the standard of qualification, if not excellence for a rookie.
But data will never lie, and the torque distribution graph of the Renault car soon appeared on the monitoring computer screen.
From the torque curve, it was clear that Matsuboto Brown’s throttle application exceeded the grip of the full wet tires, showing signs of slipping at the start.
This is a common problem in wet starts. Under damp track conditions, it’s difficult for drivers to gauge the optimal revs for tire grip.
If the throttle is too high, it will slip immediately; if it’s too low, the start will be slow.
"Director Sawano, Matsuboto lives up to being the Asia-Pacific karting champion. In his first training on full wet tires, he only made minor mistakes, and he quickly adjusted, showing excellent car handling skills!"
Mizutani Sho praised, as a driver is judged by their standard.
For a formula academy trainee, you can’t expect them to reach the perfect level of an F1 driver. At least by Mizutani Sho’s standards, Matsuboto Brown adapted quickly.
Even if there were slight starting mistakes, the ability to spot and adjust in real-time reflects strong response and driving skills.
Sawano Hiroyuki made no comment on this. He maintained his posture with his arms crossed in front of him and watched the monitoring data and driving footage on the display screen expressionlessly.
The start was just the beginning; to evaluate a driver’s rain battle level, you still have to look at their cornering speed.
Not every driver can master the ability to maneuver on the edge of losing control!