Chapter 54 - 18: 2010 Tournament Plan

Chapter 54: Chapter 18: 2010 Tournament Plan

The early spring breeze had not yet lost its icy chill, blanketing Lonato in a layer of frost.

As a driver specially invited to join, Wu Shi enjoyed a solid standing within the team. On his first day at the headquarters, the team principal took him on a tour of the technical center and factory.

The CRG Team’s technical center spanned a massive ten thousand square meters. Here, the staff researched and developed chassis, parts, and various other racing products.

"We actively pushed for the implementation of several technical standards in the CIK, which increased both the safety and cost-effectiveness of karts," the principal explained, pausing to observe the production line. The unique charm of a mature industrial production line was laid bare right before Wu Shi’s eyes.

After touring the headquarters, Wu Shi finally headed to the team’s base to meet his future teammates. In a racing team, teammates were both comrades and rivals. Navigating that delicate relationship was entirely up to the individual driver.

Unlike C.D SPEED’s shabby garage, the CRG Team’s facility was incredibly spacious. Various items were organized into different zones. Dozens of bare kart chassis were hung on the walls by category, completely devoid of tires and engines.

"We will prepare a kart for you to race in. For the next few months, we must use every available moment to tune the vehicle, and you need to provide ample feedback to your engineer." The principal called over a blonde female engineer. "This is Rosa Reyes, one of our top engineers here. From now on, she will handle all technical communications with you."

"Hello, Rosa. I’m Wu Shi," he said, extending his hand.

"Hello. I’m thrilled to be your engineer going forward. I hope we have a wonderful year together," Rosa said, bending down slightly to shake his hand.

After getting a general grasp of the team’s situation, Wu Shi was about to push his kart onto the test track when he spotted a familiar face.

"Uncle Jos?" Wu Shi called out in greeting.

"Hm?" Jos Verstappen turned his head. He didn’t look particularly surprised to see Wu Shi. "Sure enough, you’re here too. The exceptional driving ability you showed last year made it incredibly difficult for Max to surpass you. I initially thought he was just being too slow, but after analyzing it for the entirety of Christmas, I realized that you were simply too fast."

Wu Shi hadn’t expected Jos to unleash such a long speech in response to a simple greeting.

"However, Max won’t admit defeat, and neither will I," Jos continued.

"Uh, Uncle Jos, I just came over to say hi, not to declare war. Max is outstanding. If I weren’t here, he would be leagues ahead of everyone else his age," Wu Shi replied.

Wu Shi was telling the truth. In his previous life, Verstappen was exactly like that—whenever he entered a race, he would utterly crush his peers and challenge the seasoned veterans.

Jos fell silent.

"Wu Shi, go take it for a few laps first, then come back and tell me how it feels!" Rosa called out.

"Alright, coming!" Wu Shi climbed into his brand-new ride. This kart’s chassis alone cost thirty thousand euros. Back home, that was nearly three hundred thousand yuan. In 2010, that amount of money was enough to buy an eighty-square-meter apartment in what was currently considered the outskirts of Peng City. In the future, such a place wouldn’t go for anything less than a million or two! However, he had already told his dad about these real estate trends back in 2007, so he didn’t need to overthink it now.

VROOM!

The kart sped onto the track. As expected of a machine produced by a major manufacturer, its traction and smoothness were excellent. The chassis was incredibly rigid, and there was barely any drag or sluggishness when taking corners. Of course, these driving sensations were mainly optimized to make handling more comfortable for the driver. To truly optimize lap times, they would have to make minute adjustments to the front and rear camber, the suspension, the carburetor, and other tunable components.

After a few laps, Wu Shi already had a solid feel for the vehicle’s condition. To develop an absolute feel for the car, he’d only need to rack up a little over a thousand kilometers. Well, that was less than a thousand laps. At a rate of twenty laps a day, it would only take about two months. There was still plenty of time before this year’s competitions kicked off.

Pulling into the pit lane, Rosa brought over her laptop and asked, "Describe how it felt."

"It feels okay, but the steering isn’t responsive enough. I think I need to free up the steering more." Wu Shi favored oversteer.

"Alright. Here is your current data; the steering angles for every corner are recorded here. After I make the adjustments, take it out for a few more laps, then come back and tell me how it feels," Rosa said.

"No problem," Wu Shi said, putting his helmet back on and heading out onto the track once more.

To ordinary spectators, hot-lapping wasn’t exactly a thrilling spectacle. They merely saw the car going around in circles. No matter how much the kart leaned through a corner, as long as it didn’t flip, it all looked the same to them. But for the drivers and engineers, it was an entirely different story.

While constantly lapping the track, a driver’s heart rate remained sky-high, as they had to precisely control the vehicle’s corner entries at all times. Often, the straights were the only places where they could briefly relax their nerves. Meanwhile, the engineers kept their eyes glued to the data graphs on their computers, meticulously analyzing the vehicle’s condition. And this was just at the karting level. In the higher-tier formula series, the data they needed to analyze and master would be far more abundant and complex.

A hard day’s work concluded. The drivers were only forced to leave the circuit when the fading light grew insufficient.

His mouth completely dry, Wu Shi accepted a bottle of water from Rosa and chugged it desperately. Turning his head, he saw Jos saying something to Verstappen. Listening to his father, Verstappen nodded repeatedly. Suddenly noticing Wu Shi, he looked up and met his gaze.

Jos noticed this as well, so he simply brought Verstappen over. "Your lap times are about the same, but I feel like you’re driving right at the absolute limit," Jos said.

"Uh, am I?"

"Your cornering speed is very fast, but your straight-line speed is noticeably slower. Are you using a special setup?" Jos muttered, analyzing the situation to himself.

Wu Shi didn’t reply. How could he admit that he had been slightly lifting off the throttle on the straights? After all, this was just practice, primarily focused on cornering. There was absolutely no need to test straight-line performance here; otherwise, he’d be giving away all his secrets.

"What races are you entering this year?" Verstappen suddenly asked. His voice was a bit muddled, sounding like he was right in the middle of puberty.

"The Europe KF3 Championship, the Sweden KF3 Viking Cup, and the KF3 World Cup. If I have time, I might take a trip to Monaco as well. I heard WSK is hosting races too, so I’ll go to those," Wu Shi said.

"Mhm. I’m planning to enter the Europe Championship, the World Championship, and the WSK KF3 Series," Verstappen nodded.

"I don’t recommend you go to Sweden or Monaco," Jos chimed in.

"Why not?" Wu Shi asked.

"The Europe Championship and the World Championship are enough to prove your strength. Meanwhile, the WSK Series will schedule a higher number of races, sparing you from traveling to so many different locations and saving you both energy and money," Jos explained.

"Ah, I see! I understand. Then I’ll just do what Max is doing and stick to those races," Wu Shi nodded.

Jos’s perpetually stern expression softened. "That would be perfect. I want to see you and Max race; he has improved quite a bit since last year," he said.

He thought, "Wait, so this old geezer only gave me that advice to use me as a whetstone for Verstappen?!"