Car Racing without Money-Chapter 134 - 95: Are You Afraid of the Track?

"Team leader, isn’t today a practice race? Why is it only our team?"

With this doubt, Chen Xiangbei asked Odetto.

"What practice race, today is just a practice day."

Upon hearing this answer, Chen Xiangbei realized that he had got it mixed up.

This era’s lower-tier formula series is quite chaotic, even F3 and F2 aren’t standardized, let alone the official practice race schedule in F1.

The so-called "practice race" in Renault Formula is actually just a track open day, where participating teams can choose to enter for training.

While the FIA imposes strict restrictions on private tests in Europe, there are still many loopholes in lower-tier events. For European local teams and drivers, the Silverstone Circuit feels almost like a home track, so there’s no rush to arrive early.

Only Chōmō, such a Japanese team, with two drivers having limited practice time on the Silverstone Circuit, needs to come early for training and testing.

On the surface, it’s not even a matter of practice time for Chen Xiangbei—he has never driven on the Silverstone Circuit!

Odetto didn’t bother with Chen Xiangbei’s reverie, instead, he turned to ask Sawano Hiroyuki, "Is the initial car setup done?"

"It’s done, biased towards high-speed setup."

Sawano Hiroyuki nodded and gave the answer.

The Silverstone Circuit is a high-speed track, and according to F1 setup style, it has mid to low downforce.

While a Renault car doesn’t have such a complex aerodynamic layout, adjustments can still be made to the rear wing and suspension to aim for low downforce and stiff suspension support.

"Get ready to take the car out for a test run."

Odetto then instructed Chen Xiangbei.

"Okay."

After responding, Chen Xiangbei put on his helmet and sat in the cockpit.

"Go for it, Bei!"

Ah Yong cheered for Chen Xiangbei, his excitement was evident, and his face was slightly flushed.

Not only Ah Yong, Brother Lei was the same, even Liang Chi’s expression slightly changed.

Because today’s scenario marks the completion of their dream, which is to compete internationally as a race team.

Although there are only three of them, this is the first Chinese maintenance team to step on foreign soil, the first to stand in the P garage of the Silverstone Circuit, and the first to push their driver onto the track!

The same scene might look mundane in Europe or Japan, but to Liang Chi and the others, it holds commemorative significance.

"No problem."

Chen Xiangbei gave a thumbs-up, smiling in response, understanding the excitement within Liang Chi and the others.

In some sense, he feels the same.

"Xiangbei, the track surveillance equipment isn’t on, we can only get information from your car, so be careful."

At this time, data analyst Mizutani Sho reminded. The Silverstone Circuit is not like Suzuka. The Renault European Cup is purely a commercial event, so naturally, operational costs and benefits need to be considered.

In lower-tier events, simple track practice means that the organizers won’t turn on the track monitoring equipment, which means at crucial moments, Chen Xiangbei has to rely on his own judgment.

"Okay, I’ll take note."

Once everything was ready, accompanied by the roaring sound of the Renault car, Chen Xiangbei drove out of the pit lane and onto the official track.

"Air temperature 18°C, ground temperature 15°C, the time for tire temperature to reach working condition will be prolonged."

Soon, Mizutani Sho’s data report came through the helmet headset.

London, UK is famously foggy, with weather often overcast, coupled with early spring factors, both the air and ground temperatures are on the low side.

However, for a driver, temperatures in the teens are the most comfortable, and Chen Xiangbei’s current state is very good.

With no competitive factors, Chen Xiangbei took his time warming the tires for two laps. Only when the tires were at optimal working temperature, did he begin to practice speeding.

As he crossed the starting line, Chen Xiangbei started accelerating, taking Abbey corner (Turn 1) and Farm corner (Turn 2) at sixth gear full throttle.

Benefiting from its long history, each corner of the Silverstone Circuit has a dedicated name. Moreover, as a high-speed track with a full-throttle rate of 71%, speeds at the Silverstone F1 can reach up to 350km/h, with an average speed of 240km/h.

Odetto was already seated on the pit stand, holding a pair of binoculars to observe Chen Xiangbei’s lap.

Without track broadcast footage, he could only use this most primitive method.

The third corner of the Silverstone Circuit is a V-shaped right turn. Chen Xiangbei braked hard at the conventional braking point, then turned through it, with a minimum speed of 80km/h.

At this point, Odetto looked down at the car data on the laptop, instinctively frowned, but did not voice anything over the team comms. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The following fourth corner is the slowest on the Silverstone Circuit, where Chen Xiangbei’s car speed had dropped to 60km/h, yet his line through the corner was still relatively smooth.

But at this moment, Odetto’s voice questioned through the earpiece, "Bei, are you afraid of driving?"

"Or are you so scared in the corners that you’d pee your pants?"

Suddenly hearing this voice in his earpiece, Chen Xiangbei felt a bit bewildered. Could his speed and lines really be considered as fear?

Not only was Chen Xiangbei surprised, but even Sawano Hiroyuki and Mizutani Sho in the P garage looked at each other when they heard this.

They were still smiling, judging by the speed display, Chen Xiangbei’s first push lap at Silverstone was quite good.

Compared to the Renault event’s historic lap times, it could even be called excellent, and in normal circumstances, such a qualifying lap could place him in the top ten!

It’s worth mentioning that this was Chen Xiangbei’s first time on a track he had never driven, only after two tire warming laps. Sawano Hiroyuki and Mizutani Sho didn’t see any problem at all.

If this constitutes fear, does it mean only recklessly rushing off the track can count as fearless?

"Team leader, may I ask what the problem is?"

Chen Xiangbei pressed the communication button on the steering wheel, attempting to ask Odetto the reason.

"Keep driving, we’ll discuss it when the lap times come out."

Odetto did not directly answer but instead issued the order to continue driving!