CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 81: CLASH OF GENIUSES (5K)

Hoshino Yoshi’s performance has reached his limit, while Chen Xiangbei remains calm throughout, showing no signs of feeling challenged.

Sawano Hiroyuki has only seen this state of absolute confidence in winners, meaning Chen Xiangbei’s lap times have not reached their limit; he is assured of victory!

Actually, Nakajima Goro had already noticed during Chen Xiangbei’s simulator laps that the kid hadn’t reached his limit.

The reason is simple: Chen Xiangbei consistently sticks to the standard racing line!

This isn’t saying the standard line has issues, but in a racing simulator, there’s no car damage or safety concerns, so many practice drivers push to the limit, like using the full extent of the curbs.

In rain practice recordings, Chen Xiangbei dared to eat the curb aggressively, but in the simulator, he hesitated.

Would a driver of Nakajima Goro’s caliber fail to see restrained strength?

He just was somewhat reluctant to admit it.

After a long silence, Nakajima Goro spoke with mixed emotions: "Sawano, continue training Chen Xiangbei intensively. If he can maintain this high level of competitive state, then he will represent Honda Racing Academy in the Renault Winter Tour."

Nakajima Goro ultimately compromised; the Honda Racing Academy needs to provide opportunities for local drivers but more so needs strong drivers to achieve results.

When you have the strength to defeat competitors, you naturally become the only choice.

...

On the other side, Hoshino Yoshi returns to the trainees and meets Chen Xiangbei’s gaze again.

This time, he hesitated before speaking, "You’re amazing, I can’t beat you."

To outsiders, Hoshino Yoshi only lagged 0.1 seconds, perhaps with a bit more effort he could have won.

But only he knew how extreme this lap was driven.

In a way, formula car lap times are very much like a hundred-meter sprint; for drivers, a 0.1-second gap often represents an insurmountable chasm!

Moreover, Hoshino Yoshi could tell that Chen Xiangbei’s limit was more than just 0.1 seconds faster.

Initially, Chen Xiangbei was merely curious about Hoshino Yoshi, wanting to know how strong Japan’s new generation of genius drivers was.

But with this statement, Hoshino Yoshi left him with a more favorable impression.

This isn’t about Hoshino Yoshi praising him, but rather how most people in this world are sore losers, especially when lap times are close between two individuals.

Hoshino Yoshi’s candid acceptance of his loss signifies not only that he can afford to lose but also that he can recognize the deeper gap in skill.

Knowing where your opponent excels provides hope for catching up and surpassing them, indirectly proving that Hoshino Yoshi has higher potential and talent.

"You’re good too."

Chen Xiangbei replied briefly, to which Hoshino Yoshi smiled. He wasn’t actually much of a talker.

The simulator practice continued; before starting the second round, Chen Xiangbei approached race engineer Mizutani Sho to give feedback on some fundamental calibration parameters.

Miyamoto Shigeru, sent by Honda, had said the Chinese kid can tune cars, though Mizutani Sho was always skeptical.

Being able to drive is good enough; are you kidding me by saying a newbie can tune cars?

As it turns out, Chen Xiangbei genuinely can!

After the second round of simulator practice ended, Chen Xiangbei set a lap time of 2 minutes 04.674 seconds on the Suzuka Circuit, improving his single lap time by 0.3 seconds, nearly 1 second faster than the real track record!

It’s known that formula cars have a theoretical limit; the closer you get, the harder it is to break through.

Let alone improving by 0.3 seconds, even a millisecond counts as a breakthrough.

And it goes beyond that; Mizutani Sho discovered that Chen Xiangbei’s fastest lap time was nearly as fast as the ideal time calculated by the computer!

This indicates that all of his car feedback and calibration were effective parameters.

The emergence of this scenario completely overturned Mizutani Sho’s understanding; his grasp of race car parameters as a race engineer pales in comparison to a newcomer who joined the academy just two days ago?

In truth, Chen Xiangbei’s ability to achieve this isn’t because he’s truly omnipotent.

It’s due to the fact that the fundamental performance of Renault’s cars hasn’t changed much, and future simulators are much more advanced than those in ’08, inherently producing more accurate computer-generated data.

Another factor is that in Chen Xiangbei’s previous life running formula cars, due to lack of resources and money, the team didn’t provide much, so he often worked with technicians personally on repairs and calibrations, rather than being a hands-off manager.

This kind of part-time technician phenomenon was also common among Chinese drivers in the past, and his understanding of mechanical performance truly rivals that of regular engineers.

Having reached this point, Sawano Hiroyuki can essentially confirm that as long as the weather improves and the track conditions are favorable, Chen Xiangbei racing on the actual track will deliver lap times close to or even surpassing Kobayashi Kamui’s.

At least a talented driver at the Asian level is already starting to take shape!

After the morning simulator training concluded, the trainees dispersed for lunch before proceeding with afternoon physical training. Due to the track open day during the weekend, there were no racing practice sessions scheduled for today.

Since Suzuka Circuit isn’t just an F1 track, but actually a comprehensive resort.

It offers various racing experience activities that allow ordinary people to enjoy the thrill of going on a racetrack. Additionally, there’s a Honda Automobile Museum built here, drawing numerous car enthusiasts and tourists every weekend.

After lunch, Chen Xiangbei sat in the stands above the pit area, observing the bustling scenery of Suzuka Circuit. This has become a habit of his, using this way to find calm amid the chaos to relieve the exhaustion and pressure brought by the profession.