Car Racing without Money

Chapter 859: Chapter 352: Tactical Dimensionality Reduction Strike (Part 2)

The problem now is that Chen Xiangbei has never raced here, yet the proficiency he demonstrates is completely on par with the top indigenous co-drivers of Leb, moreover his co-driver Emily is also a young girl from the United Kingdom, theoretically even a native of Monaco cannot compare to Leb’s team.

Many people don’t know, actually, car racing is just like many sports events, divided into women’s group and all groups.

This means, theoretically, a female driver can easily participate in top events like WRC or F1, while conversely, a male driver cannot participate in women’s group events.

Car racing seems to be a sport of skill, but actually, it is a sport of physical strength, a fact known by many.

What most people don’t know is that the co-driver, who seemingly only needs to report the road book without operation, equally requires a strong expenditure of physical and mental strength, much like in chess sports.

Women equally cannot compete with men.

The gap between co-drivers coupled with the gap in race experience, theoretically Chen Xiangbei has already been far left behind by Leb, yet now it is developing in the completely opposite direction, ’genius’ is not enough to describe this Chinese F1 newcomer’s performance.

He should be the next all-round superstar, with a chance to dominate both track and off-road racing as the first!

"Front 50 right curve bend, angle 6, full throttle."

"100 meters later, U-turn, follow by right turn after exiting."

"Short straight 50, gravel bumpy surface, full speed!"

Node after node of information flew quickly from Emily’s mouth, she had already put aside the last shred of doubt and tension, completely immersed in Chen Xiangbei’s wild control.

The essence of a driver is about being willing to smash into pieces rather than slowing down.

If you’re afraid of dying, don’t become a driver, and likewise, don’t become a co-driver, a race without daring to give it your all is meaningless!

The speed needle on the race car kept frenetically dancing, the high-speed spinning tires whipped up clouds of fine sand and dirt, presenting a shocking mechanical velocity impact sensation.

"Bend 100 mud road, follow the tire tracks, keep middle line, full throttle!"

The advantage of starting from the middle group is that there are traces to follow on the track, after the drivers at the front had crossed, two obvious tire tracks were formed in the middle of the mud road, following the tracks allows to avoid slipping as much as possible.

Planting trees ahead for later riders to rest in the shade, Chen Xiangbei doesn’t need to worry about choosing a line, nor needs to slow down and decelerate, he just needs to weld his right foot on the accelerator and rush through at the fastest speed.

The high-speed racing in the mud road line is even more wild, the broadcast footage even couldn’t distinguish whether Chen Xiangbei drove past or slid past.

Many times, even in the eyes of the live audience, it looked like Chen Xiangbei’s racing car had already slipped out of control, yet it didn’t break through the critical point of rushing off the track, still steadily controlled in the hands of the Chinese Kid.

Compared to F1 which requires a higher viewing threshold, at this moment, in the eyes of the WRC audience, walking the edge of losing control seemed to have been materialized, they truly understood the peril of Chen Xiangbei walking the tightrope.

"Beautiful!"

In the Ford team camp, many staff already couldn’t help but clapping in praise.

Though Chen Xiangbei is merely a cross-border "performance" temporary team member, this mud road line drifting control could already be described with the beauty of technology, it’s hard not to get immersed.

Meanwhile, WRC commentator Allen’s voice came through on the wireless FM: "Ladies and gentlemen, I just received data from the race center’s infrared radar, Driver Bei’s average speed on the mud road bend exceeded 85km/h, and Leb’s average speed was only 82km/h."

"Simply put, Driver Bei’s cornering speed has surpassed Leb’s, however Leb was superior to Bei in route selection, leading to their average speeds being evenly matched."

"The rally standard displayed by Driver Bei is indeed astonishing."

Allen, who was previously not so impressed and felt that the accolade given to an F1 driver was a bit much, had to lower his head in the face of Chen Xiangbei’s speed on the unpaved mud road.

Being able to exceed Leb in cornering speed means this driver is not merely walking the edge of losing control, instead reaching the edge of life and death!

Don’t look at it, here the speed doesn’t exceed hundred, in F1 it’s nothing, even if hitting the wall, the driver wouldn’t lose a strand of hair.

But don’t forget, here is WRC!

The edge of the track has no guardrails, nor any buffer zone, next could be a wall, a tree, a reservoir, a cliff.

Challenging the limit means challenging life and death, each bend has no opportunity for a redo, any mistake you make will cost the entire race, and possibly both your and the co-driver’s lives.

Chen Xiangbei reaching such speed, is worthy of a true driver’s identity, Allen believes he should be given respect.

"Go, Chen Xiangbei, rally track creates miracles once again!"

"I knew you would become the strongest driver, just didn’t expect this day to come so quickly."

"Bei, prove you are the man standing at the pinnacle of the racing world!"

"Champion of Monaco Monte Carlo dual course, just thinking about it drives people crazy!"

At the scene, supporters of Chen Xiangbei couldn’t help but start cheering ahead of time, though the race is only halfway through, many know as long as Chen Xiangbei doesn’t fall behind in mud roads, he would have a greater advantage on icy snow terrain.

Because compared to asphalt and mud roads, Leb’s performance on icy snow terrain has never been strong, even when running Northern European events like Finland, he would choose a conservative approach to safely complete the race rather than aggressively defeat Finnish local drivers.

To be honest, this is a smart tactic, just like the war between Prost and Senna back then.

By relying on his smart mind and "trade-off", even though he couldn’t match Senna in absolute speed, Prost still grabbed more points and championships, conversely, Senna’s errors and malfunction risks increased by exerting all his strength, leading to Prost surpassing him in total points.

After finishing the muddy sections SS4, SS5, Chen Xiangbei didn’t pull away from Leb, instead, the gap with Raikkonen expanded to 1.7 seconds, it obviously felt like Raikkonen was uncomfortable with the muddy roads.

The race proceeded to the final snow terrain, many drivers at this point chose to pit and switch to snow tires, otherwise, it’s impossible to grip the ground on icy snow terrain.

But at this point everyone was surprised to find Chen Xiangbei didn’t pit!

To know during the mid-race, most of the teams determined that Chen Xiangbei’s leading speed was because he wasn’t saving tires by pushing, theoretically tires would wear out faster and more extremely, not losing control on muddy roads has already exceeded many’s expectations.

Now on the slipperier icy snow terrain, Chen Xiangbei still doesn’t change his tires?

Maybe aware of everyone’s confusion, or maybe even the broadcast director was uncertain. So the helicopter camera was quickly zoomed in, capturing Chen Xiangbei’s tire condition in a close-up.

After seeing clearly Chen Xiangbei’s tire condition, the question in everyone’s heart before the race finally unraveled, they understood the true purpose of the cross-pairing!

Two studded tires paired with two snow tires, Chen Xiangbei never intended to change tires from beginning to end!

The studded rally tires are somewhat similar to studded soccer shoes, but the material is special soft metal, its strength and wearability are not better than traditional rubber snow tires.

Many might not understand why use metal less durable and harder than rubber. This is akin to the wearability principle of ordinary household tires, the harder and more wear-resistant the tires, the more carbon black they contain and the harder they are, conversely, the softer and less wear-resistant the tires, the better grip they offer.

The grip effect brought by special soft metal studs is better than traditional rubber studs.

In the early stages of the race, the wear of studded tires was greater, indirectly protecting the lifespan of Chen Xiangbei’s snow tires, in the later stages of the race, when all special metal studs are worn off, they become ordinary treaded tires that don’t create sliding obstruction on snow terrain.

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei’s mounted two snow tires begin to function, providing grip on the icy snow sections, the worn studs instead become support.

Perhaps in terms of absolute grip, two snow tires are inferior to four, but they still far exceed four ordinary tires.

The most important point is saving one pit stop time.

Compared to F1 where the entire pit window period is about 20 seconds, WRC tire-changing pit time lasts up to a minute!

It means as long as Chen Xiangbei can stabilize in icy snow terrain without an accident, also without being too slow, he can utilize the time saved from not pitting to firmly take the championship of the first stage in Monte Carlo night battle.

This is a tactical reduction in dimensionality from the future, a premature declaration of "death penalty" on Leb and other opponents!