Car Racing without Money-Chapter 549 - 213: Man Prevails Over Machine

"I think it’s a bit of both."

"From the broadcast camera in the third practice session, you can see that Driver Xiangbei’s car No. 13 is still continuously pitting for adjustments, proving that so far the HRT Team, or rather the driver, hasn’t fully mastered the car."

"The ranking of 13 in the practice sessions might become Driver Xiangbei’s best result for this round."

Compared to many commentators’ ambiguous answers, Prost’s words are very clear and affirmative.

On one hand, the professor’s historical results and status speak for themselves.

On the other hand, many people only know Prost as steady but do not know Prost as fierce.

This is the madman who, after retiring, faced the media accusations of being scared of Senna and being a deserter, arrogantly announced his return to the circuit to take down Senna.

Even more exaggerated, he actually did it! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Others still have to worry about the embarrassment of inaccurate predictions, Prost does not have this concern, he has absolute confidence in his judgment.

As if in response to Prost, as soon as his words fell, the black and orange HRT Racing Car drove from the pit onto the main track.

By this time, there were only a few minutes left until the end of the third practice session, many drivers had completed their test programs and returned to the pit, leaving the whole track relatively empty.

"Mazzola, monitor the data, I’m going to push to the limit this lap."

During the tire warming process, Chen Xiangbei spoke up.

Throughout the three practice sessions, he was looking for the stability of the upgraded kit.

Now, Chen Xiangbei wants to know where the speed limit of the upgraded kit is.

Stability only determines the lower limit, speed determines the upper limit of the upgraded kit, this is also one of the data Mazzola wanted to collect on the track.

An upgraded kit with no upper limit has no value for installation!

Previously, Chen Xiangbei was unable to challenge the limits, but after several practice sessions of adjustments, he believes he can now control this car.

"Received."

Mazzola responded, this is within the scope of his duties.

Only then, he saw an anomaly in the telemetry data, where the revolution speed of Chen Xiangbei’s car was pulled to the red line of nineteen thousand RPM!

You must know that in order to ensure the stability and longevity of the Toyota engine, the team had previously lowered the maximum power output.

However, on the right side of the steering wheel, there is a black button that can disable the engine setting’s RPM limiter.

By pressing this black button, the highest RPM limit before upshifting in each gear will be increased, along with the most powerful horsepower performance.

The pressure endured as a consequence increases proportionally.

Considering the issue of power unit reserve and the regulations that settings cannot be adjusted post-practice sessions, Chen Xiangbei had never pressed this button before.

But this time, Chen Xiangbei needs to challenge and test the extremes of the upgraded kit, to provide valuable reference data back to the team headquarters.

Data obtained from tractor-style running has no value!

Of course, this is the reason on the surface.

The reason behind it is the countless taunts from the circuit and the more or less contempt from many "colleagues" in the paddock, Chen Xiangbei wants to seize the opportunity to prove himself.

Nobody likes being ridiculed, and nobody is born a villain.

If possible, Chen Xiangbei would make the doubters shut up!

With a full throttle, the roar of the Toyota engine was fiercer than ever before.

As the speed increased explosively, Chen Xiangbei sprinted through the starting line of the racing lap for the first time after three practice sessions.

This full-power engine roar, coupled with the car’s direct speed change, was enough to capture the audience’s attention, who involuntarily focused on Chen Xiangbei.

Is the Chinese Kid planning to push the lap time only at the last moment of the third practice?

"Chen Xiangbei is quite fast, you can feel the difference from the previous leisurely testing."

"Was he provoked by Sutil yesterday, and now intends to make a stunning impact?"

"It’s high time for that, I’ve watched Chen Xiangbei’s lower-tier formula races, if he doesn’t show something impressive, where’s that defiant Driver Xiangbei demeanor?"

"Go for it, Driver Xiangbei!"

The Chinese audience on the track got excited, these two days of practice Chen Xiangbei has been rather steady, not pushing out any extreme lap time during the second session either.

Many foreign spectators in the stands ridiculed that Chen Xiangbei’s opening race result was just a flash in the pan.

Now it’s time to show them what true strength is!

"Odetto, has Xiangbei activated the full power output mode, is he being impulsive?"

Mazzola reported to Odetto, after all, he is the chief race engineer, deciding the driver’s track strategy.

"Yes, Xiangbei is being impulsive."

"But if young people don’t act impulsively, can they still be called young?"

The passion of motorsport lies in the blood, ambition, and fearlessness of young drivers.

If you don’t dare to chase speed and passion in practice sessions, then he wouldn’t be the Chinese rookie I once admired.

The courage to go all out is what initially made Odetto realize how Chen Xiangbei is different from other Chinese and even Asian drivers!

On the track, the TF110 car with the RPM limit disabled, began to squeeze all the engine’s potential, with RPM nearly a thousand higher under the same gear compared to before.

The increased RPM brought about more torque explosion, faster acceleration, and also more challenging control and body stability.

Within the corners, Chen Xiangbei felt the rear of his car swaying like a fishtail, requiring continuous adjustments to maintain the line.

However, this adjustment did not last long, as the number of corners increased, the number of corrections decreased proportionally.

This situation only proves one thing, that is, Chen Xiangbei truly mastered the TF110 car equipped with the upgraded kit!

The spectators, from their initial disdain, to indifference, finally looked at the timing screen in shock and disbelief.

Even Prost on the commentary stand, for the first time showed a different expression, completely caught off guard by the Chinese Kid’s progression.

As the TF110 car thundered past the finish line at high speed, the final timing for the third practice appeared on the large screen.

minute and 25.314 seconds!

This lap time directly placed him second on the practice session leaderboard, second only to McLaren Team’s Hamilton.

In an instant, the previously arrogant paddock fell silent...