Car Racing without Money

Chapter 849: Chapter 349: Top-level Cross-border Showdown in the Racing World

"Night reconnaissance is only three minutes slower than Leb during the race?"

"Anderson is a Ford team mechanic, he shouldn’t be lying, right?"

"Is the F1 prodigy really that exaggerated? I’ve never seen anyone who could achieve such a terrifying speed on their first rally car drive."

"Otherwise, why is F1 called the crown jewel in the racing world? Drivers are all geniuses among geniuses."

"The problem is that, no matter how genius, rally and formula racing have nothing to do with each other."

"Rally indeed has nothing to do with formula racing, but talent and car sense are universal. An F1 historically significant rookie, truly worthy of the name!"

Various discussions ensued; indeed, the segment timing was somewhat exaggerated, even to the point of being unbelievable.

If Chen Xiangbei weren’t an F1 driver with a Super Driver’s License, or if there wasn’t a Ford mechanic in the car as a witness, no one would believe this speed, thinking it’s just bragging.

"Do you still think it’s going to be a farce now?"

Raikkonen said to Ogier with a blank expression, responding to the previous question.

Actually, to some extent, Chen Xiangbei’s speed even exceeded Raikkonen’s own expectations.

When Emily initially described Chen Xiangbei’s speed and strength, Raikkonen also thought it was somewhat exaggerated. Driven by long-standing curiosity about the comparisons, he decided to check out the race footage of this Chinese kid.

This look directly overturned his cognition.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Chen Xiangbei’s performance was better than my own rookie season!

Especially Chen Xiangbei’s car-saving and rain race performance made Raikkonen certain of one thing: the Chinese rookie’s perception of tires and the car’s tail swings definitely reached a historically gifted level.

It’s precisely this superhuman car sense that allows him to quickly adapt and gain a foothold in the F1 paddock with a strong adaptability.

Rally racing’s drifting and tail swinging also highly emphasize a driver’s perception of tail swings. With such talent, there’s no way he could be slow on non-paved rally tracks.

As for how fast it can actually be, it must be experienced to be known.

That’s why Raikkonen invited Chen Xiangbei to a night race at Monte Carlo.

On one hand, the WRC event overlaps with F1, avoiding time conflicts caused by changing venues.

On the other hand, the Monte Carlo night race almost represents the peak difficulty of rally racing; conquering this track means other rally tracks are no problem.

Facing Raikkonen’s words, this time it was Ogier’s turn to be speechless.

To be honest, he wanted to question it but didn’t know where to start.

He could only stubbornly say, "Reconnaissance speed can only show that North is daring enough; real strength needs to be seen in race performance."

"You’ll know tomorrow."

After saying this, Raikkonen turned and walked into the camp tent.

On the other side, Chen Xiangbei didn’t chat much with the Ford team management either; tomorrow night is the race. He still needs to confirm the racing adjustment plan with the mechanical team members and try to remember the critical information of the over a hundred kilometers race segment.

Remembering track information doesn’t need emphasis, no matter how familiar Chen Xiangbei was with the Monte Carlo track in his past life, he essentially starts from zero in this life, and many changes need to be relearned.

As for rally car adjustments, it’s equally complex, not losing out to F1 cars.

Just take the basic tire selection, rally cars also need to consider tire preservation, and there are different types like off-road, road, and rain tires, with soft, medium, and hard compounds to choose from.

Leb once changed seven different compound tires in a race segment to adapt to complex track environments, a legendary feat comparable to Schumacher’s classic four-stop strategy.

Rally and F1 may have different driving styles, but at the top level of any auto sport, there’s unique charm, it’s definitely not something simple.

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei is squatting in front of the Ford RS WRC car, alongside a few Ford team mechanics including Anderson. They will modify and adjust the car according to Chen Xiangbei’s feedback.

"I want the suspension to be stiffer, the current lateral tilt is a bit much."

"Reduce the steering system gear ratio a bit, there’s too much play in the steering wheel right now."

Anderson nodded in agreement with Chen Xiangbei’s earlier feedback, but after hearing the latter sentence, he immediately suggested, "North, rally track terrains are complex, unlike the F1 paved track environment, and the car might even jump off the ground."

"If the steering wheel play is too small, any slight bump or shake will cause a major control error. Do you want to reconsider?"

"No need, I can handle it."

Chen Xiangbei denied outright.

Joking aside, if an F1 driver can’t control the steering at speeds up to three hundred kilometers per hour due to the arm strength, how can they be worthy of being called a top driver in the world automotive arena?

Faced with Chen Xiangbei’s insistence, Anderson said no more and quietly noted it down.

"Adjust the delayed ignition system to minimize power response delays caused by turbo lag."

"Lastly, for tire cross-compatibility, since Monte Carlo requires traversing terrains, neither purely studded tires nor snow tires work well. Currently, I feel there’s a bit of tail slide control weakness on the right rear, so just swap the left front or right rear tires with snow tires. Use a cross-compatibility approach to achieve faster speeds."