Car Racing without Money-Chapter 458 - 182: Increasing the Pace of the Paddock Competition

Chapter 458: Chapter 182: Increasing the Pace of the Paddock Competition

Briatore didn’t show any expression of surprise; instead, he calmly instructed Trulli to PUSH.

The reason was simple: Chen Xiangbei’s lap time was too fast, somewhat beyond what Briatore knew from his many years as a team manager.

At this moment, Briatore also wanted to know whether it was the car that was fast or the person.

Moreover, Chen Xiangbei’s full-speed advancement proved that lowering the engine power still allowed it to withstand the pressure, so there was no need to be as cautious as before.

Facing Briatore’s sudden instruction, Trulli was very surprised.

The competition between him and Chen Xiangbei had temporarily stopped following the engine blowout incident, coupled with the need to protect the engine’s life, why would he be asked to go full speed at this time? 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

There must be something unusual behind the scenes. Just as Trulli was pondering the reason, a car with the same black-orange color scheme roared past him.

At that moment, Trulli seemed to understand something.

"Sote, what’s Xiangbei’s lap speed?"

"1 minute 18 seconds 993."

Hearing the race engineer Sote’s response, Trulli was completely stunned.

The Chinese Kid can run under 1 minute 18 seconds?

To be honest, if those words hadn’t come from his race engineer Sote but from Briatore, Trulli definitely wouldn’t believe it.

But having worked with Sote for many years, he knew his German race engineer would never joke about crucial information.

Briatore also heard the TR radio, but this time he didn’t mock or stimulate Trulli to speed up.

On one hand, he was worried about another engine blowout.

On the other hand, Chen Xiangbei’s speed was too exaggerated. If Trulli really pushed to the limit, it would greatly increase the risk of crashing.

The necessary weighing of pros and cons, Hua Bu still considered.

"I understand."

Trulli let out a long sigh, adjusting his shocked mindset.

He was a veteran racer and a driver known for his single lap performance.

He understood the racer’s credo that losing is acceptable, but fear is not!

Especially since the opponent was merely a Chinese rookie.

Whether for the treatment of a number one driver or for the dignity of a veteran, Trulli would show his full strength on this lap to prove his speed.

While Trulli accelerated on the track, Chen Xiangbei entered the pit for a tire change.

But this time, he did not opt for soft tires to push the limits but instead followed the team’s instructions to switch to medium yellow tires to test the car’s long-distance tire consumption and stability.

Judging from its performance so far, the TF110’s aerodynamic layout was excellent, coupled with the presence of the exhaust diffuser as a piece of black technology, Bob Bell speculated it could rank in the top three of winter testing speeds.

He wasn’t worried about speed but more about stability and tire consumption.

Simply observing the tests by Chen Xiangbei and Trulli, it was apparent that high downforce led to significant tire wear, and brake discs and tire temperature were also inclined, even adjusting the wing angle couldn’t completely solve the issue.

This time, the tire change duration showed improvement, with Chen Xiangbei stopped for a total of 3.1 seconds.

Yet Briatore still displayed a dissatisfied expression; the gap from his 2.5 seconds standard was quite large, and there was evident instability from the condition.

However, at this moment, Hua Bu didn’t have spare energy to focus on the details of pit stops and tire changes; his gaze quickly locked on the monitoring screen in the P-room, where Trulli’s car data was displayed in detail.

From the speed alone, Trulli was hardly slower than Chen Xiangbei.

"Briatore, it seems I was right; the TF110 doesn’t consume extreme power, the KERS energy recovery system can make up for the straight-line tail speed, the cooperation of output mode and torque curve is the key to car speed!"

Bob Bell’s tone was extremely excited; nothing is more important for a design director than establishing the main direction of car development.

Whoever masters the KERS energy recovery system and the exhaust diffuser these trendy inventions in the new season will become the next "Mars Rover."

Listening to Bell’s words, Hua Bu displayed some awkwardness.

A design director can stand on a completely neutral position and purely rejoice for the car’s speed.

Briatore, however, had "conflicts of interest" with Trulli; he was still planning to find an excuse to kick the guy out of the team and use his official driver seat for value exchange.

Now that Trulli wasn’t slow, how could this be done?

Back in those days, Hua Bu didn’t care about a driver’s strength; one blocking his money path should roll away.

But today is different, the "Crashgate" incident brought widespread criticism, and the FIA suspension storm made Briatore lose the capital to act recklessly.

Alternatively, it could be said that there must at least be some achievement before messing around.

Competitive sports are like this; leading a team to success means even scumbags are sought after.

Without achievement, you are worthless even if you are a saint.

"It seems the car is fast."

Ultimately, Briatore could only say this reluctantly; asking him to congratulate Trulli was impossible.

He hadn’t congratulated for the Monaco championship back then, not to mention a mere winter test!

As Trulli crossed the finish line, his lap time appeared on the monitor screen.

minute 18 seconds 995.

This speed brought joyous celebration to the HRT Team P-room.

The most concerning issue didn’t occur; Toyota’s engine didn’t have severe design defects, only its extreme output wasn’t as dazzling as the paper data suggested.

But the aerodynamic layout of the Toyota TF110 perfectly matched the engine’s performance output; perhaps this was the actual design idea of the Toyota engineers!