Chapter 56: Chapter 53: How About Skipping the Go-Karting?
Chen Xiangbei quickly dressed, washed briefly, and left the room.
Seeing him come out, Lu Xiaoman asked, "Quite fast, do you want breakfast first?"
"No need, let’s head to the garage first."
Now Honda technicians are already waiting, meeting them for the first time, Chen Xiangbei did not want to leave a late impression.
"Alright, but just this once, not something to repeat."
Lu Xiaoman emphasized, since Chen Xiangbei has arrived at the racing base, she must take on the responsibility of a nutritionist.
"Okay."
After responding, Chen Xiangbei walked with Lu Xiaoman towards the garage within the base.
This building is called a garage, but it also has a workshop, simulators, driver training, and lounges, among other functions.
At this moment, there were about seven or eight people standing inside the garage, besides Zhang Zhicong and Liang Chi, there were also two stout young men wearing Huasi uniforms, and several technicians with Honda logos on their clothes.
Seeing Chen Xiangbei arriving, Liang Chi approached and said, "Kid, I’ll introduce you to everyone."
"These two were once my apprentices, they now hold technician positions at Huasi Sports, responsible for maintenance of karting and formula racing cars."
"Those Honda dispatched technicians are Technical Director Miyamoto Shigeru, Race Engineer Ito Masashi, and Electronics Engineer Nakamura Takashi."
Liang Chi introduced each person to Chen Xiangbei, him being a former race engineer at Huasi Sports, these were some of his old colleagues.
"Hello everyone, I’m Chen Xiangbei, very nice to meet you all."
Chen Xiangbei politely bowed and greeted, this group was to be his team support members for the next month, it’s essential to establish a cooperative foundation.
"Hello, Xiangbei."
The members of Huasi Sports greeted Chen Xiangbei warmly and exchanged a few pleasantries before the technicians returned to their work stations, leaving only Race Engineer Ito Masashi.
"Xiang Bei, today we will conduct basic training for you, I’ve heard you’ve never driven a kart before, right?"
Ito Masashi proactively inquired about Chen Xiangbei’s situation, as the race engineer, he is the team member in the closest contact with drivers, responsible for data analysis, vehicle setup, and even part of race strategies.
"You speak Chinese?"
Being familiar with the role of a race engineer, Chen Xiangbei wasn’t surprised.
He was more amazed that Ito Masashi spoke fluent Chinese.
"Quit rambling, kid, Honda’s technicians dispatched in China must know Chinese to work."
Liang Chi murmured beside him, this kid’s thoughts are really scattered, focusing on trivial stuff.
"Yes, Xiang Bei, you can speak to me in Chinese."
Ito Masashi replied politely, showcasing a typical Japanese courtesy.
"Well, I’ve never driven a kart, but I’ve spent a lot of time on simulators."
Chen Xiangbei responded, making sure to lay some groundwork, else things might be hard to explain later.
"What simulator have you used?"
Liang Chi asked somewhat surprisingly, unaware of Chen Xiangbei’s simulator experience.
"Just computer game simulators."
"Does that count as a simulator?"
"Anyway, just assume I know what I’m doing!"
Watching these two’s off-topic conversation, Zhang Zhicong couldn’t help but intervene.
"Old Liang, this is no longer your repair shop. Now that you’re at a racing base, follow professional protocols, leave training matters to Ito Masashi."
"Just watch with me nearby."
Race engineers and game engineers belong to two different professions, Liang Chi’s role fits more into chief technician within an F1 team.
However, due to the lack of talent in the domestic formula racing industry, Zhang Zhicong had no choice but to allow Liang Chi to take on some responsibilities of a technical director and participate in the CFR2000 development and design work.
Unfortunately, some forced advances resulted in unmet technical standards, eventually leading to the failure of the CFR2000 project.
Hearing Zhang Zhicong’s words, Liang Chi realized he may have cared too much, potentially impacting Ito Masashi’s training evaluation, so he nodded and stepped aside.
"Xiang Bei, considering your foundation, I’d recommend starting with the basic KF3-level karting."
Current karts certified by CIK-FIA include KF and KZ-level karts.
The former is a non-gear kart (fixed in one gear), with a displacement around 125cc. Moreover, due to variations in speed and horsepower, it is further divided into KF3, KF2, and KF1 levels.
KF3 is the lowest level, any kart lower than this can’t be considered racing kart, rather, it’s more for ordinary people’s entertaining driving."
KZ-level carts come with a gearbox for shifting gears, subdivided into KZ2 and KZ1 levels.
Despite being a kart, KZ-level karts have an explosive performance as well. Even KZ2 can reach speeds of 170 km/h, with 0-100 acceleration in less than four seconds.
As for KZ1-level karts, they have a nickname Super Kart, with a displacement of 250cc, peak speeds of 230 km/h, and 0-100 acceleration in under three seconds.
Due to the robust power-to-weight ratio, untrained learners face significant danger in handling them, requiring an international karting license and being aged over fifteen to drive them.
In Ito Masashi’s view, Chen Xiangbei is considered a complete newbie, thus should start from the lowest KF3 level.
"Ito, can I swap to a different car?"
Chen Xiangbei tried asking, mainly because KF3-level karts are typically for ten-year-olds starting out.
Even not mentioning his former life’s near F1-level prowess, in this life, at least he’s an eighteen-year-old high school student, driving this feels like those supermarket kiddie rides.
To be strict, there’s a bit of difference, namely no music, like the tune ’Daddy’s Daddy is Grandpa’...
"Xiang Bei, which kart would you like to swap to?"
Upon hearing Ito Masashi’s question, Chen Xiangbei pointed at the most prominent spot in the garage: "That one!"
The vehicle Chen Xiangbei pointed to was not a kart but the CFR2000 Formula Racing car developed by Huasi Sports. Its specifications are one notch above the entry-level Campus Formula but one notch below the renowned Renault Formula.
Despite this, it’s still a standard Formula Racing car. For newbies who’ve had no kart training wanting to drive a Formula Racing car directly, it’s nearly impossible.
Even if Chen Xiangbei exhibits unmatched driving talent, the operation style, seating position, and chassis handling of Formula Racing vastly differ from ordinary cars, incomparable.
It’s akin to a regular person driving a grocery car suddenly being asked to drive a high-powered rear-wheel-drive sports car one day.
Don’t assume they’re merely cars with four wheels, only differing in price and power. In reality, due to posture and drive mechanism discrepancies, it’s easy for beginners to lose control handling sports cars.
Especially those entirely unaware, hoping to mimic in movies with an elegant throttle push, engine roar, then experience the speed-induced thrust.
The reality is that with one throttle push, the power surpasses tire grip, causing slipping and loss of control. Hence many sports car’s ’sport’ modes are termed ’heaven’ modes.
This is why elite sports car brands offer post-sale driver training for owners, preventing such accidents.