Just as Chen Xiangbei was surprised by Kobayashi Shuji’s strength, he rushed out of the track on the third tid lap, failing to achieve the gradual improvent in lap tis.
However, thanks to Silverstone Circuit’s wide buffer zones, the risk of going off the track here is low. Apart from wearing out a set of tires, even the chassis often doesn’t suffer serious damage.
At this mont, Chen Xiangbei suddenly understood why Odetto used the word "wet your pants," a term that could be considered insulting.
That’s because, on a track as safe as Silverstone, if you’re a driver who doesn’t dare to challenge the limits, you really are like a coward!
Here, while Chen Xiangbei was engaged in "self-reflection," Kobayashi Shuji on the track fell into "self-doubt."
He always regarded himself as a Japanese super genius, surpassing even Sato Takuma and Kobayashi Kamui.
Back during the karting stage, Kobayashi Shuji indeed demonstrated overwhelming talent, winning the Japanese Karting Junior Championship with an undefeated record!
Because of this, Honda Group allowed him to skip the academy training phase and directly sent him to Europe for racing training.
Kobayashi Shuji lived up to expectations, winning the German F4 championship again last year.
If he continues according to this script, Kobayashi Shuji’s talent and strength, in Japan and even all of Asia, should have no rivals.
However, today he discovered that he couldn’t outrun this newcor from China!
It should be noted that Kobayashi Shuji never regarded Chen Xiangbei as a teammate, considering him just an "extra" in his career.
After this Renault European Cup race, Chen Xiangbei would likely be eliminated, and the two would never cross paths again.
In fact, Chen Xiangbei had similar thoughts as well...
Until Chen Xiangbei practiced lap tis, which shocked Kobayashi Shuji and overturned his understanding. He had raced on Silverstone Circuit with an F4 car and knew how fast cars of the sa level could go.
Is this speed really sothing a newcor can achieve?
With doubts and unwillingness, Kobayashi Shuji frantically drove on the track, indeed achieving good lap tis. Just when he thought he could gradually catch up and surpass Chen Xiangbei, the car lost control and went off the track.
Kobayashi Shuji’s confidence took a blow. Could it be that even after exceeding the limits to the point of losing control, he still couldn’t catch up to Chen Xiangbei’s lap tis?
No one knows the answer; each driver has areas where they need to break through.
As ti went by, other teams participating in the Renault Formula also arrived at the P Room for equipnt tuning and preliminary preparations, making the track environnt increasingly congested.
Seeing this situation, Chen Xiangbei did not imdiately begin the second round of track practice. He returned to the P Room under Odetto’s guidance. Mizutani Sho happened to complete the adaptation adjustnts for the Renault car with Liang Chi and others using practice data.
He then approached with a notebook, asking, "Team Leader Odetto, here is the car adjustnt data. Please see what needs improvent."
Although, theoretically, Odetto belongs to the team managent, and Mizutani Sho should consult Sawano Hiroyuki on car adjustnts, as he is Chen Xiangbei’s race engineer.
But everyone knew Odetto was experienced and understood Silverstone Circuit more than Sawano Hiroyuki.
For both team managent and engineers, the criterion for judging competence is no longer driving skill, but more on technical and experience aspects.
Odetto glanced at the notebook and frowned, opposing right away, "Who told you to use low downforce tuning?"
Hearing this question, Mizutani Sho’s expression was baffled, exactly like Chen Xiangbei earlier.
Silverstone is a famous high-speed track; to achieve higher end speed for the car, of course, low downforce tuning style should be adopted, what’s wrong with that?
Seeing Mizutani Sho’s expression, Odetto knew the other party hadn’t understood the essence of Silverstone Circuit at all, and he had to suppress his nature to explain.
"Mizutani, not every high-speed track is suited for low downforce tuning. Silverstone Circuit doesn’t have long straight distances; its high average speed is mainly due to many dium and high-speed corners."
"The faster the corner, the higher the requirent for the car’s downforce; otherwise, under the influence of lateral G-force, the car simply can’t grip the ground firmly!"
"Rember, the tuning style for Silverstone Circuit, in fact, should lean towards dium to high downforce!"
After listening to Odetto’s explanation, Mizutani Sho displayed a sudden realization on his face.
Previously, he was rely a trainee engineer and had not experienced tracks outside of Japan. This was Mizutani Sho’s first ti at Silverstone Circuit.
In a certain sense, Mizutani Sho’s familiarity with Silverstone Circuit was not even as much as Chen Xiangbei!
A young racing team requires a period of integration and growth. Mizutani Sho realized he still had much to learn to fulfill his role as a data analyst.
"Team Leader Odetto, I’m enlightened."
Mizutani Sho bowed respectfully, then joined Liang Chi and others to modify the car adjustnt settings.
On the other side, Kobayashi Shuji’s car was pushed back to the P Room for inspection, and the face revealed after removing his helt looked grim. His final lap ti before going off the track was 0.4 seconds slower than Chen Xiangbei’s.
In the Formula field, this is definitely a significant gap, and Kobayashi Shuji couldn’t accept it at all.
He planned to wait until the Renault car was completely repaired, then switch to brand new tires and use light fuel to PUSH a lap with full effort!
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