Chapter 67: Chapter 64: Imagining the Future of F1 Teams
Time passed unknowingly, and soon Chen Xiangbei had been in East Sea for half a month.
The professional training over these dozen days has greatly improved Chen Xiangbei, after all, his foundation from his previous life is solid, what he lacks more are rehabilitation opportunities and a professional racing team.
Now, Chen Xiangbei’s best lap time at the racing base has been updated to 1 minute 22.96 seconds, compared to Zhang Zhendong’s initial run of 1 minute 27.66 seconds, it’s a full 4.7 seconds faster.
For formula racing, any improvement of a few tenths of a second in the track record of the same car is already considered an astonishing speed.
The 4.7 seconds figure can completely be described as terrifying.
And there’s an even more terrifying point, which is that Miyamoto Shigeru has finally confirmed one thing, 1 minute 22.96 seconds is not Chen Xiangbei’s limit, but the mechanical performance limit of this CFR2000!
The reason is during Chen Xiangbei’s last dozen laps of racing, under good tire conditions, the time difference between each lap remained within a hundredth of a second range.
To evaluate the level of a formula driver, it’s not just the ability to push limits, but also his stability in each lap.
Because F1 is not a qualifying or single lap game, the victory rule is to finish the entire sixty-lap race, the driver who remains stable throughout and laughs at the end is the champion standing on the top podium.
Each subsequent lap run by Chen Xiangbei was almost identical in lap time, meaning he had squeezed out the last bit of performance from this CFR2000 racing car.
Even Miyamoto Shigeru, to verify this, unpacked a brand new Ford engine from storage and replaced it, the final lap time still maintained around 1 minute 22.9.X, showing an astonishing consistency.
With both the extreme and stability, Miyamoto Shigeru and his team of Honda technical personnel, in the end, were unsure what more advice could be offered to Chen Xiangbei.
The only thing they could do was send the latest racing data to the headquarters of the Honda Suzuka Racing School every day, urging them to give a response as soon as possible.
After dinner that day, Chen Xiangbei’s phone rang, the caller ID on the screen displayed Qin Lianjie’s name.
He pressed the answer button and held it to his ear, and on the other end, Qin Lianjie directly said: "I’m at the entrance of Huasi Base, do you have time to come out and meet up?"
"Okay, give me five minutes."
Chen Xiangbei also enjoyed the simple and efficient style, gave a definite time and hung up the phone.
Five minutes later at the gate of the racing base, Qin Lianjie stood with his arms crossed leaning against the front of a Civic Type-R, seeing Chen Xiangbei come out, he showed a hint of a smile.
"How’s the professional training going?"
"It’s pretty good."
"Can you pass the training with Huasi’s Japanese partners?"
Qin Lianjie asked a question, he could actually be considered half an East Sea native, plus he was once invited by Liang Chi to join, making him quite familiar with Huasi Sports selection process.
"Consider it passed, currently waiting for a response from Honda Suzuka Racing School."
Hearing this, Qin Lianjie showed a surprised expression, he knew very well that the best outcome for Huasi training drivers is to receive recommendations from Honda technical personnel to go to Japan for more professional training.
Chen Xiangbei had been in East Sea for just over ten days, he, a newcomer who had never touched formula racing, within a short time received recommendations from Honda technical personnel?
Honestly, Qin Lianjie was somewhat incredulous.
However, as the two gradually got familiar, Qin Lianjie knew Chen Xiangbei wasn’t someone to boast randomly, plus he also once without any professional experience, won against CCC champion Han Han at Haizhu International Circuit.
One could only say that being a regular person, he couldn’t quite comprehend the domain of a racing genius!
"Congratulations, you’re amazing."
Qin Lianjie sincerely said, he knew Chen Xiangbei was strong, yet hadn’t expected this guy to be so strong in formula racing.
In response to Qin Lianjie’s praise, Chen Xiangbei merely smiled, then asked: "Did you come for the East Sea underground race?"
"Indeed, the East Sea underground circle has exploded, rumors spread everywhere of a mysterious master driving a Subaru Impreza STI, defeating opponents quickly, I guess that master was you, right?"
Subaru Impreza STI in the realm of modified cars isn’t actually uncommon, considering the WRC twin-star reputation, there are quite a few die-hard fans.
But having a driver with instant knockout capability, the only one Qin Lianjie could think of was Chen Xiangbei.
Seeing Chen Xiangbei not respond to deny, Qin Lianjie knew his guess was correct.
He continued, "Also, I have to tell you one thing, this East Sea underground race had its route changed, and more top professional drivers are participating, both difficulty and danger have increased compared to previous events."
"I know."
"Lu Xiaoman told you?"
"Yeah, do you know her?"
Facing Chen Xiangbei’s counter-question, Qin Lianjie helplessly shook his head and said, "Our families have business dealings, plus there are only a few female drivers in underground races, it’s hard not to know."
"What kind of business is your family in?"
Chen Xiangbei curiously asked, surprised that these two somehow managed to have business relations.
"My dad is an investor in Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific."
Qin Lianjie never talks to others about his family background, even after returning from studying abroad in Japan, he lived alone between Guangzhou and Hong Kong Island.
Yet, for some reason, he felt he had similar interests to Chen Xiangbei and had a mysterious sense of trust.
Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific?
Upon hearing this name, Chen Xiangbei was somewhat surprised, knowing that Goldman Sachs is a top-level foreign investment bank, its name often appears in the share distribution of many domestic top-tier companies.
As they chatted, Chen Xiangbei recalled something and deliberately asked jokingly: "Earlier this year, the media reported that Huali Automobile was negotiating with Ford, planning to take advantage of the financial crisis to acquire Volvo Cars, heard they lacked funds hoping for overseas consortium financing loans, including Goldman Sachs Group."
"Is this true or not?"
"It’s true, Huali Automobile is indeed financing."
Qin Lianjie unhesitatingly admitted, such large-scale financing loan projects in the finance world aren’t exactly a secret.
"How does Goldman Sachs think about it?"
"My dad happens to be in charge of this project, most of Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific internally believe the risk is too high, Huali Group’s acquisition funding relies entirely on debt, it’s a typical case of the small gambling with the big, snake swallowing the elephant."
In 2008, Huali’s car manufacturing was still in the stage of imitation, with only six hundred million RMB in working capital, yet aiming to acquire Volvo Cars, Ford’s asking price of six billion US dollars luxurious brand, was almost crazy.
At the time, public opinion, industry, and investment banks all looked down on them, hardly anyone thought the acquisition would succeed.
But crises often mean opportunities, the financial crisis is no exception.
If low-cost acquisition can endure, it will yield several times to several dozen times returns afterward.
Huali is currently the only domestic car manufacturer with ambitions to compete in formula racing, even F1.
If it can succeed in entering, enduring a few years until Liberty Media takes over F1 event operations, the team’s value will grow explosively.
It’s noteworthy that during this era, F1 teams are all at bargain prices, later renowned Red Bull Racing Team bought Jaguar Racing Team for just 1 dollar to enter the paddock.
Similarly, joining paddock in 24th year, General Motors Cadillac Team alone needs to pay a 600 million US dollars entry fee, with overall input possibly reaching 2 billion US dollars.
Moreover, participating in F1 highly fits Huali’s development philosophy, its reason for hosting AGF Formula and acquiring Volvo is primarily to elevate its own brand value.
After all, domestic cars in the early stage could not shake off titles like imitation, cheap, low-end, poor quality for a long period.
F1 is not just the highest haven for drivers, but it’s also the crown jewel of the automotive industry, many civilian car technologies have once been technology shared from F1.
Such as ABS, CVT transmission, active adjustable suspension, variable valve timing, kinetic energy recovery, etc...
If Huali Automobile can gain F1’s endorsement, it will quickly shed negative labels, just like Japanese manufacturers in the sixties and seventies, they similarly started with mimicking European and American systems, yet by participating in various races became a symbol of technical prowess.
If possible, Chen Xiangbei hopes to contribute his strength, promoting the advancement of Chinese racing!
PS: Cycle has already reached Sanjiang, promised the brothers to add more Chapters tomorrow.