Chapter 92 - 22: F3 First Pole & 3 Consecutive Poles

Chapter 92: Chapter 22: F3 First Pole & 3 Consecutive Poles

The commentator’s passionate voice still echoed across the circuit as Wu Shi entered the Great Straight of the Woodcote curves in sector two. As his car reached Turn 9, its trap speed had already hit 250.465 km/h.

This was the second time the car’s trap speed had exceeded 250 km/h, following the run-up to Turn 6!

Alan immediately pulled up the data comparison chart. During the previous tests, no one had reached a top trap speed of 250 km/h. However, since everyone was driving standard spec cars, the top speeds were bound to be similar. Therefore, the team could easily rely on the practice session data to reverse-engineer the absolute limit lap times of the other drivers.

Soon, the data analyst reached a conclusion. "If other cars can also reach this trap speed, based on their driving lines from their fastest practice laps, they will still be slower than Wu Shi."

Alan remained silent, simply staring at the data on the computer screen.

Achieving a higher trap speed to squeeze out more time usually required maximum engine power, the fastest corner exit speed, and the smoothest gear shifts. Wu Shi had accomplished all of this, but he was doing even more than the other drivers.

That extra edge was his peculiar racing line through Turn 5, which allowed him to create the longest possible straight-line distance!

Barring any accidents, the pace of this lap was going to be absolutely terrifying.

By now, Wu Shi had already cleared Turns 10, 11, 12, and 13 in quick succession, diving straight into Turn 15.

Seeing the sector two data, the commentator grew ecstatic. "Whoa! Faster! Wu has set a new personal best in sector two! It looks like he’s going to completely shatter his own record on this lap!

"Turn 15! Excellent, a very smooth pass! Heading into Turn 16, his braking point is incredibly late! Oh! He’s taken quite a bit of the kerb, and the car is shaking violently! Will this affect his time?!"

Wu Shi was bounced around in the cockpit. Riding too much kerb was bad for the car and bad for his body, but in qualifying, when pushing for an absolute limit lap, it was an acceptable risk. Turns 16 and 17 required heavy deceleration anyway, so the bouncing at this stage wouldn’t affect his utilization of grip afterward.

"Great, he’s cleared Turn 17! Just the final corner left, and it’s a completely straightforward section!"

As the commentator’s voice fell, Wu Shi had already hit the apex of the final corner and aggressively accelerated.

SWISH!

The car dashed across the checkered line, and a dazzling time appeared on the board.

1:50.212.

In the team garage, Alan saw the time and fiercely pumped his fist! This lap was simply too strong! He turned around and high-fived the data analyst next to him.

While they still tried to maintain a bit of composure, the rest of the crew had already erupted into cheers.

"WOOHOO!!!"

"YEAH!!!"

Out on the circuit, applause and roaring cheers burst from the spectating crowd as well. Being a whole second faster than his practice session time—anyone with eyes could see what an incredible achievement this was, and they naturally did not hold back their praise.

"An astonishing lap! I can honestly say right now that this is a pole position lap time. I can’t even imagine how much he’s pushed this car to its absolute limits!

"Although I’d love to conclude that this is the pole time, the other drivers are still fighting hard, and the outcome could still change. Let’s return to the track and check out the performance of the Prema Team drivers.

"Whoa, Felipe Gimenez of the Double R Racing Team has also set a fastest lap—1:52.166! In the practice session, this would have been enough to put him in the top eight!

"Look! Bromquist from the JAWC Team is also approaching the finish line! He’s improved his personal bests in the first two sectors! He crosses the line!

"His time is 1:51.327! Second only to Wu Shi’s time!

"I didn’t expect the first to break the 1:51 mark to be this JAWC Team driver from the United Kingdom! He’s also had some very impressive performances in the past..."

After setting his time, Wu Shi drove straight back into the pit lane. The crew members gathered around to shake his hand and give him high-fives.

"Congratulations, your first F3 pole," Alan said with a smile.

"Thanks," Wu Shi replied.

He looked at the monitor. On the timing screens, no one else had broken the 1:51 barrier to enter the 1:50 range. In fact, most were still hovering around the 1:52 mark.

"Jules and Gustavo have decided to try for two more laps," Alan noted.

"Yeah. What about Max?"

"He’s already started his final flying lap. His previous time was a 1:51.7 something, and he isn’t too satisfied with it."

SWISH!

Verstappen crossed the line, settling for a time of 1:51.402 and deciding to end his run there. He had already driven nine laps; wearing down his tires any further would become a burden for the main race.

"He’s currently in fifth," Alan said.

Wu Shi nodded. He was in first, followed by Bromquist in second with a 1:51.327. Third and fourth were O’connor and Antonio, respectively. The former was just two-thousandths of a second slower than second place, while the latter was fifty-one thousandths behind.

"O’connor is incredibly strong," Alan remarked.

Wu Shi nodded again. This guy’s defense was notoriously tough—of course, that was assuming you were his teammate.

The twenty-minute qualifying session soon ended. Wu Shi held onto his time until the very end; no one was able to surpass him, and no one else even managed to enter the 1:50 range.

"You’re still as fast as ever," Verstappen said. He was slightly disappointed with his own time but remained quite open about it. "I made a mistake at the end; otherwise, I could have been faster."

"Of course. You spent too much time adjusting the car in the high-speed corners."

"Yeah, my entry angle was a bit off, so I couldn’t swing the car around."

"Get some rest. There’s another qualifying session coming up."

Ten minutes later, the race stewards officially published the results. This meant that all the times had been verified and were valid.

At 5:40 PM, the second qualifying session began.

Wu Shi’s tire strategy was straightforward: run directly on his second set of fresh tires for two consecutive flying laps.

As qualifying began, Jules and Gustavo were once again the first to hit the track, with Wu Shi and Verstappen leaving the pits a bit later. Unlike the previous session, the track conditions were extremely poor this time. Wu Shi only found one clean window, setting a 1:51.001 before having to continue hunting for another opportunity.

Finally, despite encountering traffic, he managed to set another time of 1:51.321.

Alan TR: "Session over, you can come back in. Your second fastest lap was one-thousandth of a second faster than O’connor’s fastest lap. The pole positions for Race 2 and Race 3 are locked in."

Wu Shi TR: "Copy."

Because the second qualifying session required two valid times to form the grid for the upcoming races, everyone generally ran more laps than in the first session.

At 6:30 PM, the race stewards announced the starting grid for Race 2 and Race 3. Wu Shi was classified first for both. In other words, he had secured all three pole positions!

Verstappen hadn’t performed to his usual standard; he would start from sixth in Race 2 and fifth in Race 3. On the other hand, O’connor put in a strong performance, claiming second on the grid for both races. Latifi also managed to leapfrog Antonio, securing the third starting position. Bromquist, who had shown excellent pace in the first qualifying session, dropped down to fourth.

Overall, of the top ten starters, four were from the Prema Team, while the JAWC Team, Carlin Team, and Van Amersfoort Racing Team each had two.