Chapter 45: Chapter 42: Born to Race
"Damn your mother, people like that should be banned from racing!"
Liang Chi, watching from the sidelines, was far less composed than Chen Xiangbei and immediately stood up, shouting curses towards the direction where Liu Shaoquan’s car crashed.
As a former race car engineer, he knew exactly what Liu Shaoquan was trying to do with his maneuver.
Even as a professional driver, playing such low tricks on the track because he couldn’t keep up, it’s really damn embarrassing!
"Liang Chi, did Chen Xiangbei avoid that just by luck, or did he predict it in advance?"
Beside him, Zhang Zhicong was more amazed by Chen Xiangbei’s handling skills. Such a reaction speed was simply incredible, something a regular driver couldn’t do in time to dodge.
Or rather, Zhang Zhicong had only seen such extreme evasive maneuvers in F1 races.
"If Chen Xiangbei slowed down, that would’ve been luck."
"But look at the distance between him and Han Han now, did it widen or close?"
Luck or prediction, the best reference is Han Han who is ahead.
Chen Xiangbei’s sudden braking wasn’t just to dodge Liu Shaoquan’s collision; it was to once again employ the ’late apex’ technique in the high-speed corner, but this time delaying the braking point even more extremely.
With this extreme cornering line, Chen Xiangbei regained some of the distance lost when blocked by Liu Shaoquan, coming within less than 30 meters of Han Han’s Volkswagen Polo’s tail.
A set of maneuvers that avoided a crash while still closing in on the car ahead; Zhang Zhicong felt that neither luck nor prediction were sufficient to describe this.
After a moment of silence, he replied with an awestruck tone, "Liang Chi, I now believe you, you might really have encountered a genius driver."
If Zhang Zhicong didn’t have much hope for Chen Xiangbei before, he now understood why Liang Chi was so certain that this kid could drive in formulas after witnessing all this.
His unparalleled speed, incredibly talented car sense, combined with his calm and composed demeanor.
All signs indicate that this kid is a born driver!
Meanwhile, in the P room of the Volkswagen 222 Team, the team members had already seen the moment Liu Shaoquan’s car crashed through the track monitoring equipment.
The event engineer Wang Xiao shouted on the spot, "There’s been a race car accident at the 7th corner, we need to stop the race!"
Having said that, Wang Xiao put on his earmuffs, preparing to use the team voice system to remind Han Han to slow down and return to the pits.
"Wait a minute!"
At this crucial moment, Team Manager Ye Yong grabbed his wrist and shook his head.
"Manager Ye, there’s been an accident and we’re still running?"
Wang Xiao was somewhat shocked; Liu Shaoquan’s Mitsubishi EVO was not a race-spec vehicle, meaning it lacked professional modifications like a roll cage.
At such a speed, crashing into the tire wall, even with a helmet and bucket seat five-point harness, could not ensure the driver’s safety.
No matter what ’dirty’ moves Liu Shaoquan did on the track, as the only professional race team currently training, the Volkswagen 222 must assume its humanitarian responsibility for the rescue.
"The track medical team is already there, and Han Han, along with the high school student, only have to run one more lap; they won’t pass the accident site again."
"In just 40 seconds, the race could reach its conclusion!"
Even an investment manager who came into the field halfway through, like Zhang Zhicong, could see Chen Xiangbei’s racing potential; how could Ye Yong, as a professional manager of the Volkswagen 222 Team, not see the speed and talent Chen Xiangbei displayed?
If in these last 40 seconds, Chen Xiangbei uses the Subaru Impreza to catch up to Han Han, even if he ultimately doesn’t overtake, he will still be the de facto winner of this race.
Ye Yong had a premonition that he might be witnessing the rise of a new star in Chinese racing!
Seeing Manager Ye’s determination, and the fact that they indeed would only be running one more lap, avoiding a second accident at the crash site, Wang Xiao finally sighed heavily, lowering his right hand that was poised to press the communication button.
On the track, Chen Xiangbei, of course, was oblivious to the outside changes. His eyes were firmly locked on the race-spec Volkswagen Polo ahead, calculating the optimal timing for overtaking in his mind.
Compared to a standard F1 circuit, the Haizhu International Circuit is a bit shorter, with the current lap already past the halfway mark. Just like Ye Yong said, Chen Xiangbei only had the last 40 seconds left; there wasn’t much time for him to overtake!
The 8th and 9th corners of the track are two connected 90-degree left-turning combination bends, roughly resembling the Chinese character "匚," only with the angles in different directions.
This type of bend demands very high line-taking skills from the driver. If you can carve a perfect cornering line, this 30-meter gap could immediately be closed.
You cannot use the late apex method in the "匚" bend, after all, after the bend is a straightaway, speeding up at the tail only requires braking heavily before the next bend.
Chen Xiangbei directly turned the steering wheel to the outermost edge of the bend, planning to utilize F1-style curb riding and extreme line-taking techniques, carving a single continuous arc inside the "匚" bend without decelerating, and clearing both 90-degree left corners in one breath!
As the Subaru Impreza entered the bend at a speed exceeding 130 km/h, although the speed was not as fast as in previous high-speed corners, the larger steering angle resulted in lateral G’s far exceeding those previously experienced by Chen Xiangbei.
Without modified racing bucket seats, the three-point seatbelt couldn’t restrain Chen Xiangbei’s body, causing him to lean to one side.
To be honest, this was an oversight during modification, mainly because the modification time was too tight, prioritizing limited resources into improvements in racing performance.
Besides, Liang Chi hadn’t foreseen that Chen Xiangbei would execute such intense and crazy driving maneuvers on the track, completely surpassing the limits of his mental comprehension!
At this moment, Chen Xiangbei could only rely on the strength of his shoulders to firmly stabilize the steering wheel without making any changes; otherwise, even the slightest tremor could cause the entire car to lose control and dash off the track.
"At that cornering speed, can Chen Xiangbei endure it?"
Wang Xiao, a racing engineer at the Volkswagen 222 Team, was staring nervously at the track sensors’ speed readings with concern.
Chen Xiangbei’s cornering speed exceeded that of the vast majority of sedans’ limits; even Han Han can only achieve a similar speed under extraordinary performance.
But you have to remember Han Han is a professional driver, piloting a professional race car; the two are in no way comparable.
An accident had already occurred, and it was unknown how Liu Shaoquan fared. Should anything happen to Chen Xiangbei, the negative impact caused by a high school student would be far greater than that of a professional driver.
Wang Xiao had already decided in his mind that Manager Ye had made an impulsive decision!
However, the scene that unfolded next completely overturned Wang Xiao’s perception. Not only did Chen Xiangbei clear the 8th corner at such a speed, he also flawlessly sliced through the 9th corner with exceptional precision.
Throughout the combination cornering, Chen Xiangbei’s brake light didn’t flash a second time; the choice of line and driving maneuver could only be described as "demonic"!
Extreme cornering resulted in extreme speed, and as the Subaru Impreza exited the 9th corner, it had already closed in on Han Han’s car tail, ready to attack into the overtaking zone at any moment.
"Did he really catch up to Han Han?"
Inside the P room, someone muttered this, and then the entire team stood stunned, dumbfounded, staring at the screen displaying the camera footage.
The Volkswagen 222 Team was already the top professional touring car team in the national racing scene. They had witnessed China’s top tier drivers, but had never seen an eighteen-year-old high school student achieve such extreme control and line-taking.
Bear in mind that he had caught up to the national champion Han Han!
More terrifying was that regardless of his driving style or composure, Chen Xiangbei showed none of the awkwardness a rookie should exhibit.
It was as if Chen Xiangbei was a precisely functioning race car machine, with his eyes solely on defeating his opponent, everything else completely irrelevant to him!
PS: Brothers, this is the protagonist’s first time on the track. To accommodate new readers of racing literature, I’ve described racing rules and techniques, making the plot appear slower. But only one more Chapter to go, so please bear with the pace.