Chapter 42: Chapter 39: Unbelievable Speed
Upon hearing the race engineer Wang Xiao’s exclamation, the team manager Ye Yong turned his gaze toward the data on the computer screen.
The scene of the start had just happened, and Ye Yong had also seen how Chen Xiangbei surged ahead of Han Han by almost half a car’s length.
However, Ye Yong didn’t believe this was due to Chen Xiangbei’s superior driving skills but rather judged that Han Han was somewhat slack and careless, resulting in a small operational flaw that led to the "illusion" of Chen Xiangbei having a faster start.
We must acknowledge that reaction time is indeed dominated by innate talent. Yet, many people, throughout their lives, fail to fully unleash their talent, and it mostly requires postnatal training to enhance.
Chen Xiangbei, being a typical high school student, even if exceptionally gifted with solid street racing skills, cannot surpass genuine professional drivers in terms of reaction time without systematic professional training.
Take a simple analogy—ask any street racer whether they frequently engage in reaction training like catching and throwing balls?
Ye Yong dared to bet that among ten street racers, at least nine hadn’t encountered reaction training, let alone a high school student!
But the issue is that data doesn’t lie; the computer screen clearly displayed the start reaction time, indeed reaching the level of top drivers.
What Ye Yong couldn’t accept more was that Han Han’s 0.3-second start reaction wasn’t actually slow, even above average compared to his past performances.
Without any distraction or flaws, yet still surpassed by Chen Xiangbei, there’s only one thing that this proves—this high school student is indeed faster!
"Wang Xiao, is it possible that Chen Xiangbei anticipated and jumped the start?"
Ye Yong brought up a possibility that even in F1 racing, there have been many drivers who anticipated and jumped starts to gain a leading advantage.
"Impossible, now the system randomizes the time for the lights to go out."
Wang Xiao shook his head, explaining that the loophole of anticipatory start-jumping has been covered—from fixed seconds for lights out to a system randomizing within several seconds for the start.
Even in F1 racing, to prevent teams from intercepting the start signal, allowing the driver to know the exact light-out time, they’ve reverted to an artificial random setup.
All these defense measures prevent any possibility of Chen Xiangbei jumping the start predictively; his reaction speed is simply faster than Han Han’s!
To be honest, Ye Yong wasn’t ignorant of these principles; the reason why he asked was more to find a "excuse" for himself.
After all, this situation is somewhat against common sense—how can a high school student surpass a CCC national champion?
The discussions in the pit, naturally, were unknown to Chen Xiangbei on the track; his attention was completely focused on turn 1 at this moment.
Che Laoquan relied on the power advantage of the Mitsubishi EVO, accelerating in the latter part of the starting straight to overtake Han Han’s race-level Volkswagen Polo. But Han Han wasn’t easy to be underestimated, and the two cars didn’t have absolute performance differences, merely possessing certain advantages and disadvantages in specific traits.
After the cars entered the corner, Han Han immediately leveraged the traction advantage of the custom four-wheel-drive system, engaging in a crossover line maneuver with Che Laoquan. At the moment when the two cars crossed the apex, Han Han’s car-light and quick-response advantage was displayed—one pedal on the gas and he completed the overtake.
Brilliant!
At the very end, Chen Xiangbei kept the two drivers’ line strategies in his view, showcasing the clash of skills that professional drivers should possess.
Yet, even more spectacular moments occurred with Chen Xiangbei himself; he didn’t slow down at the conventional braking point in the curve but maintained as high speed as possible from the long straight and delayed the corner entry using heavy braking.
This maneuver is referred to as "late apex" in racing terminology.
The advantage of late apex is the larger angle of turning, making the exit route straighter and subsequently increasing the top speed at the next straight’s end.
Chen Xiangbei was clearly aware of the handling and power response gap between his Subaru Impreza STI and Han Han’s race-grade car.
If he strictly competed on the line strategy, even if his driving skills were superior, allowing him to lead in the curve, he would still encounter what happened to Che Laoquan, who was overtaken by Han Han’s crossover line.
Race-grade vehicles have the seamless mechanical capability to allow the driver to do whatever he wants!
No choice left, Chen Xiangbei could only go against the norm, like Che Laoquan’s Mitsubishi EVO, relying on power advantage on the straight to chase Han Han’s Volkswagen Polo.
Finally, he relied on the late braking to enter the corner first, then blocked or sealed the opponent’s corner line to complete the lead.
Hence, a scene unfolded on the track where, although Chen Xiangbei was still at the very end, he miraculously closed the gap with the two cars ahead, catching up to the tail of Che Laoquan’s Mitsubishi EVO after exiting the corner.
Conventionally, Chen Xiangbei was perceived as the least skilled, even if closing the gap with the professional drivers required relying on the car’s performance advantage to catch up on the straight.
After all, everyone can step on the gas, flooring it on the straight and speeding ahead!
Yet the fact unfolded differently; in the corner where distances were supposed to widen, Chen Xiangbei instead shortened the deficit from the starting straight.
This proves a fact—Chen Xiangbei’s cornering speed is faster than both Che Laoquan and Han Han!
At this moment, Zhang Zhicong and Liang Chi stood on the pit area’s stand, witnessing everything that transpired at turn 1.
Although Zhang Zhicong came from a racing manager background, he himself is a passionate enthusiast with a racing license. Furthermore, as the organizer of China’s top tier touring car races, his understanding of racing techniques far exceeds that of an ordinary company boss.
The corner is where a driver’s skill truly shines; there’s no coincidence in Chen Xiangbei closing the gap—it’s pure hard skill that surpasses everyone’s expectations.
"This high-speed heavy braking late apex, many professional drivers wouldn’t dare to gamble, how does Chen Xiangbei gauge the cornering limits?"
Zhang Zhicong asked Liang Chi, pondering that a high school student possessing such skills must have been mentored by someone.
Undoubtedly, this person must be Liang Chi.
Heavy braking late apex seems to gain a straighter exit path, or the highest speed at the next straight’s end.
But in reality, it demands extremely high precision on the driver’s braking force and timing!
It’s like when a normal person drives into a corner—do you choose to slow down early or choose to slam the brakes and sharply countersteer?
Those who choose the latter probably received a slap from the coach when they first got their driver’s license...
Racing is similar; a heavy brake could, at least, lock the tires, causing tire wear and even slower speed.
At worst, it could lead directly off the track, beyond the possibility of saving the car.
Chen Xiangbei’s entire late apex operation, at least to Zhang Zhicong’s view, didn’t show any tire locking smoke, indicating his acute precision in controlling brake force.
And while entering the corner, he still aligned with the inner apex, indirectly proving his mastery in speed and steering timing!
Such judgment and skill are simply impossible to appear from a high school student, at least not from one who hasn’t received professional racing training from a young age!
"Do you think I could train a driver to this level?"
Liang Chi laughed wryly; Zhang Zhicong really overestimates him.
Han Han, such a top domestic touring car driver, couldn’t match this kid in cornering; how could he, a racing engineer, possess the skills to mentor Chen Xiangbei?