Car Racing without Money-Chapter 427 - 172: Plunging into the Mad "Bird’s Nest" (Part 3)

Chapter 427: Chapter 172: Plunging into the Mad "Bird’s Nest" (Part 3)

But no matter what, at this moment in 2009, the rising Vettel is indeed world-class!

As if to validate Chen Xiangbei’s words, even with his rally car that he’s adept with, Han Han was still overtaken by Vettel right from the start.

As they entered the first turn of the track, the difference in their handling lines was evident to the naked eye. The big screen showed Vettel’s cornering speed, directly setting the current fastest record!

Before absolute power, any struggle is futile.

Seeing this scene, Ye Yong was about to say something but swallowed his words.

He finally witnessed the terrifying full power of Vettel, and saw the dominating strength of the world’s runner-up in his prime.

To be honest, Ye Yong felt that Vettel was even faster than last year’s new champion Button!

In the eyes of the on-site racing professionals, Han Han had no chance of winning.

Yet, the thunderous cheers still reverberated above the Bird’s Nest National Stadium.

"Go Han Han, find a way to catch up!"

"China’s only double champion, you are not weak!"

"Don’t give up, we still have hope!"

"Han Han, always believe in yourself!"

Han Han, during the race, couldn’t hear these voices, but Chen Xiangbei standing at the pit stop heard them clearly.

This is why many athletes say that their most glorious moments in life are when they feel the cheers and encouragement of their compatriots at home.

Many times, compared to money, this spirit of fighting for the country surpasses everything!

However, the cruel point of competitive sports is that since there is the joy of the winner, there must also be the sorrow of the loser.

The gap in strength ultimately cannot be erased by cheers. When the two Volkswagen Sciroccos crossed the finish line, the time displayed on the big screen showed Han Han was more than three seconds behind Vettel.

"Han Han, he did his best."

Race commentator Li Bing could only express this with a tone of regret facing this result.

During the race, it was obvious to see Han Han’s car several times scrape the edge of the tire wall, indicating he was skating on the brink of losing control.

But even so, he could not defeat Vettel.

After all, this future star from Germany is seen as Schumacher’s successor by the outside world and has also participated in three ROC National Cups, thoroughly crushing Han Han in all aspects.

To say it without exaggeration, they aren’t even in the same league.

"It’s my turn to compete."

Faced with this lap time gap, Chen Xiangbei was calm as water.

Han Han already performed very well. Historically, when facing a driver of Vettel’s level, Han Han would at least be more than five seconds slower per lap.

More than three seconds is completely an exceptional performance.

"Xiangbei, go for it!"

"Go!"

"Go!"

The pit crew members uniformly spoke these encouraging words to Chen Xiangbei.

No matter the final result, getting to the semifinals is already a victory for Chen Xiangbei and Han Han!

Doing your best is what’s important.

In response to the team’s encouragement, Chen Xiangbei smiled and waved before he popped down the visor and drove the Solution F touring car to the outer lap starting line.

At the same time, Schumacher also parked at the starting line of the inner lap.

As if by some intuition, both men subconsciously looked towards each other, the dark helmet visors obscuring any facial expressions.

But just that glance made Chen Xiangbei’s blood boil. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Changing gear, revving the engine, with the roar from the engine, all distractions in his mind were purged, and Chen Xiangbei was fully immersed in a competitive state.

After the customary warming lap ended, Chen Xiangbei returned to the starting line, glanced again at Schumacher’s car beside him through the car window, and then shifted into second gear using his hand.

In the previous two races, Chen Xiangbei’s feel for the car allowed him to sense the limits of the grip on the ground.

For race-level vehicles to enhance acceleration, low torque is usually extremely powerful, and if you press the throttle too deeply at the start in first gear, it might cause the tires to slip and spin.

But choosing to start in second gear means your starting torque is weaker than your opponent, and you’re likely to accelerate slower.

Even with torque as strong as an F1 car, no driver takes the risk to challenge starting in second gear.

However, there is one exception, which is under insufficient grip in wet conditions, many F1 drivers will start in second gear.

The Bird’s Nest Track is not a wetland, but the cold tires together with the lack of surface grip present the possibility of starting in second gear!

Additionally, compared to the seamless sequential gearbox in F1 cars, the regular sequential gearbox in Solution F touring cars has an approximate 0.1-second power connection loss when changing gears.

Normally, for Chen Xiangbei, trying to win against Schumacher in the field race with a touring car is nearly impossible.

Not to mention the three-second-plus gap between the two teams.

So Chen Xiangbei’s only chance is to take an unconventional approach!

The five indicator lights above the track went out, and both cars shot off simultaneously; just from the start’s reaction and speed, it could be said they were almost equal.

Given this result, the crowd was already extremely thrilled.

After all, this was neck and neck with the King of Cars Schumacher!

But the next scene directly impacted the cognition of the on-site audience and drivers.

Chen Xiangbei’s car seemed to have acquired some mysterious accelerating force; in the flash of an eye, on the short straight road just after the start, he pulled ahead of Schumacher by half a car length, and the gap continued to widen.