Chapter 61 - 25: KZ2-Shifter Kart

Chapter 61: Chapter 25: KZ2-Shifter Kart

What generally happened after people made bold claims? They faced the harsh reality of their predicament, of course.

Forgetting sounded simple, but it was incredibly difficult. After all, even now, Wu Shi could recite famous pieces like the Yueyang Tower Record and the Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion backward and forward, despite not having read either of them for nearly thirty years.

Since he couldn’t solve the problem, he could only do what he liked best—running laps endlessly on the track. Without fully sensing the vehicle, he tried to replicate the maneuvers he would make if he were fully sensing it. Perhaps this way, he could forget his previous perceptions.

"Turn one entry. First, press half the car onto the rumble strip..." he calculated. "No, that’s not right. The nose enters at the halfway point, then pulls in about one-eighth of the chassis. At this moment, I need to start turning toward the apex. The throttle opening is..."

With every corner he approached, his mind calculated frantically. "There’s also wind speed, track temperature, tire temperature, engine condition, carburetor condition..."

Since he couldn’t get specific data, he could only judge the kart’s condition by feeling the tires roll over the tarmac and the grip during cornering. The mental energy required for this process was no less than what it took to fully sense the vehicle.

WHOOSH!

Hitting the apex perfectly, he had a brief two or three seconds of relief before arriving at the next corner. Just like that, he calculated every corner, constantly wrestling with the kart.

SWOOSH!

He finally crossed the finish line. 47.123.

A pretty good lap time that could basically secure pole position. Wu Shi drove into the pit lane. Upon seeing his lap time, he headed out again before Rosa could even ask for details. He had expected to break into the 46-second range on that lap. Clearly, he hadn’t reached the absolute limit, which meant something had gone wrong just now.

Where was the problem? He had to test it out slowly until he pushed out the limit.

"Mr. Jos, you should probably talk to him," Rosa said.

"No, talking him out of it would only ruin him. Let him run," Jos said, shaking his head. He then glanced at Verstappen, who was installing a half-shaft nearby, and shouted, "Max! Are you done with the installation? Get ready to hit the track!"

Verstappen looked outside the factory. The setting sun had dyed the clouds purple and yellow. It was a time when they should be resting, yet they still had to run laps. However, he voiced no complaints or dissatisfaction, simply nodding. "Got it!"

Thus, on the track illuminated by high-mast lights, two karts buzzed along, lap after lap.

It wasn’t until past nine at night that a CLUNK came from Wu Shi’s kart. The engine had failed, and it rolled to a stop after losing power. Behind him, Verstappen hit the brakes immediately and stopped beside him. Opening his visor, he called out, "Wu Shi, what’s wrong?"

"Engine failure. That’s it for today," Wu Shi said. He got out, flipped up his visor to let the cool breeze into his helmet, and began pushing the kart back.

Verstappen didn’t drive away. Like Wu Shi, he pushed his kart back.

"I feel like you’ve encountered a problem even more difficult than the bottleneck I mentioned before," Verstappen said.

"Do you think I’m driving slowly right now?" Wu Shi asked in return.

"Of course not. You’re still the fastest driver in our category. It’s just..." Verstappen thought for a moment.

"Just that I’ve lost my dominance?"

"Yeah. Now, I actually have thoughts of overtaking you and beating you on the track," Verstappen admitted frankly.

"Ah, that means you had absolutely no such thoughts in 2010 and 2011," Wu Shi said with a laugh.

"Your speed over those two years made me feel like you were driving a kart from a higher category. No, even better than a higher category kart. I don’t know how you did it, but I was certain I couldn’t beat that version of you." Verstappen looked at his own kart. He loved racing. He loved running lap after lap, feeling the joy of challenging the limits. He was also very candid—if he couldn’t win, he admitted he couldn’t win.

"Then I’ll strive to find that version of me again before the official races begin." Wu Shi wasn’t downcast at all, even though it still seemed impossible to forget his old racing habits to make room for perceiving the new kart.

The training continued, to the point where there was no longer a distinction between weekdays and weekends. Yes, Wu Shi had asked for a leave of absence from school.

By the end of January, Jos brought good news.

"Wu Shi, doesn’t Hua Country have a concept of nominal age?" Jos asked.

"There is such a concept."

"Excellent. When the race officials ask you, just say that although your ID says you were born in ’98, according to the customs of Hua Country, you are already fifteen years old. Demand that the organization respects the cultural rights of special groups," Jos instructed.

Wu Shi gaped, stunned by this method of handling the situation.

"Just do as I say. It’s merely a compliance check."

"Understood." Wu Shi nodded. This was nothing more than exploiting a loophole, one colored by human leniency.

In short, after the inquiry, Wu Shi successfully obtained his qualification to participate in KF2.

"Max is going to participate in the KZ2 series this year too. Will you join him?" Jos asked. Although Wu Shi didn’t have his previous dominance, he was still the strongest competitor in his category, and his chances of winning the KF2 championship were the highest among everyone. Therefore, for a smoother transition into lower-level formula racing, it was best to start getting involved in KZ2-level events now.

KZ referred to gearbox karts, as opposed to direct-drive karts like the KF class. KZ2 karts generally featured a six-speed transmission. The engine displacement was the same as the KF series—125cc—but the presence of the gearbox made their overall weight heavier than the KF karts.

These changes collectively made KZ karts much harder to drive compared to KF karts. Many drivers couldn’t adapt to the complex operations of shifting gears and the increased difficulty in cornering caused by the heavier weight. As a result, their performance would steadily decline after entering KZ events, ultimately leading them to quit professional racing. Of course, there were also some drivers who managed to find their rhythm amidst the complex operations, thereby surpassing opponents they previously couldn’t beat.

"Of course," Wu Shi nodded.

Under the plans made by the team and Sid, he didn’t need to touch KZ2 this early. However, his performance last year had been simply too outstanding; staying in KF3 for another year was entirely unnecessary. In his recent KF2 tests, although he no longer possessed his terrifying dominance from KF3, he was still a championship-caliber driver. Therefore, running KZ2 concurrently wouldn’t be rushing things.

Most importantly, Wu Shi had already used connections to get his ticket into KF2 despite being under fourteen years old. So, why not simultaneously enter KZ2, which had the exact same age requirement?

CRG quickly prepared the vehicle. Before Wu Shi drove the gearbox kart, Jos specifically came over to give a lesson on the differences between gearbox and direct-drive karts.

Compared to direct-drive karts, gearbox karts had gears, which could be understood as the transition from an automatic to a manual transmission. This change wasn’t as simple as just needing to shift gears manually while driving.

As everyone knew, the underlying mechanical logic of a gearbox was trading speed for torque, or torque for speed. In low gears, the engine engaged with a smaller gear, meaning that at maximum RPM, it could unleash stronger torque, giving the vehicle immense power. In high gears, the engine engaged with a larger gear, meaning that at maximum RPM, it could produce much higher top speeds.

The key to driving a gearbox kart lay precisely in this balance: since high torque and top speed could not be achieved simultaneously, the driver had to perfectly adapt the gears to the track conditions.