Chapter 94 - 24: Accident & Restart

Chapter 94: Chapter 24: Accident & Restart

Since the two drivers on the front row both had excellent starts, their positions were incredibly stable, so there was naturally no battle between them. But further back, the situation was completely different.

The commentators now turned their attention to the battle from third place onward.

"O’connor’s pace is good, but a slow start held him back, preventing him from keeping up with Bromquist. The drivers behind him, Focca and Max, also had issues at the start, so they’re no threat to him!"

"Wow, Félix, who started in P6, has already caught up and is side-by-side with Focca and Max! And King, starting from P7, isn’t backing down! They’re all bunching up!

"They’re approaching Turn 3 now! How will they choose their lines?!"

Just as the commentator finished speaking, Verstappen tried to seize the position by shutting the door on Focca. Focca chose not to fight back, lifting slightly off the throttle to avoid a collision.

But Félix seized on the opportunity created by their battle, sweeping around the outside to pull alongside Verstappen.

Félix’s sudden appearance made Verstappen realize instantly that even if he forced Focca wide, he couldn’t save the position. King was following close behind Félix; letting one car by might mean letting two cars by!

Mid-corner, he steered his car outward to squeeze Félix and disrupt his line. But whether it was because Félix wasn’t paying attention or simply couldn’t control his car, he steered right into Verstappen.

Verstappen immediately jerked the wheel toward the inside line, but it was too late!

BANG!

The cars collided. Verstappen slammed on his brakes at the last second.

But Félix was already ahead and pushed past, taking off Verstappen’s front wing in the process before shooting straight onto the grass.

"Trouble! Félix and Max have collided! Max’s car has heavy damage! King seizes the opportunity to move into fourth! The collision sent Félix off the track, causing him to drop down the order and get passed by Latifi!"

The commentator spoke at a rapid-fire pace. Verstappen’s damaged car created a huge bottleneck, blocking the cars behind him one by one and forcing them to navigate around the wreckage.

After catching a glimpse of the situation in his rearview mirror, Wu Shi asked over the TR, "Is Max okay?"

"Okay," Alan replied.

The collision wasn’t catastrophic. Verstappen’s car was still able to limp back to the pit lane, but there was no point in making repairs. He would likely just retire from the race.

ROAR! ROAR!!!

The effects of the accident didn’t dissipate quickly. As the pack made its way through Turns 6 and 7, another intense battle in the rear caused a driver to lose control, run off the track, and damage their car.

As Wu Shi approached Turn 9, he saw a marshal by the trackside barrier waving a yellow flag.

He immediately slowed down, and then Alan’s voice came over the TR.

"Safety Car."

"Copy."

No one had expected a Safety Car on the very first lap. Wu Shi’s taut nerves finally relaxed. He gently nursed the car across the finish line, and at the Turn 2 pit exit, an Audi Safety Car pulled out, taking the lead of the pack.

"Phew, good thing Wu Shi was already so far ahead," Louise said from the stands, patting her chest with a sigh of relief.

"Is racing always this dangerous?" Ophelia was starting to lose her nerve. She had thought motorsport was just like driving on the street, a competition to see who could drive faster within safe limits.

She never expected the drivers to fight so fiercely for position, leading directly to two serious accidents.

The first accident hadn’t seemed so bad, but it looked like the medical car had been deployed for the second one.

"It’s actually very safe, you know," Louise mumbled, though even she felt her words lacked conviction.

The Safety Car stayed out for four laps. At the start of lap five, the race got back underway.

’Of course Bromquist will try to attack now,’ Wu Shi thought. ’But my tires are in perfect condition. As long as my reaction time is good, I won’t give him an opening.’

The Safety Car pulled in, and the race was back on!

WHOOSH!

ROAR!

The Volkswagen engine of car #32 roared to life, vying for supremacy against the identical Volkswagen engine in car #31.

"The race is restarted! Wu is quicker! His car has so much power, the acceleration is silky smooth! Bromquist can’t keep up!"

"Into the corner they go!"

Wu Shi was incredibly fast into Turn 1, but his slow-in, fast-out technique allowed Bromquist to close right up to him at the corner entry.

"Hold the position!" Louise whispered intensely, her fists clenched tight with nerves.

Wu Shi dared to use the slow-in, fast-out approach and leave the inside line open because he had judged the distance to the yellow #31 car in his mirrors. He knew that unless his opponent went for a torpedo-like lunge, there was no way he could be overtaken in that brief window.

Sure enough, Bromquist had reached his braking limit and was beginning to slow down, while Wu Shi was already turning toward the apex and getting on the power!

With one slowing and the other accelerating, the gap between the two cars widened once again—even more than before!

Wu Shi TR: "How much faster is my minimum speed than his?"

Alan TR: "Three kph."

Hearing the reply, Wu Shi licked his lips. ’A slow-in, fast-out strategy plus three kph more at minimum speed... the advantage is all mine!’

The section between Turn 1 and Turn 3 was the gentle curve of Turn 2, which could be taken at nearly full throttle.

Building on his advantage, by the time he reached the approach to Turn 3, he had already opened a gap of nearly two car lengths on Bromquist.

Alan TR: "You have a 1.3-second lead. Just maintain your rhythm."

Wu Shi TR: "Copy."

In F3, a spec series, the performance difference between cars is much smaller than in F1—unless you come up against a specially tuned car. Therefore, once you pull a one-second gap, as long as there are no more incidents, your position is basically secure.

From here on out, it was just a matter of cruising to the finish.

"Yay! Look, look! He’s leading!"

In the stands, Louise cried out in excitement, releasing all the emotion she had been holding back.

Ophelia was about to pull her back down, but then the people all around them rose to their feet and cheered, many of them shouting "Wu Shi!" or just "Wu!"

She looked at the crowd and saw quite a few Hua Country People among them. Some were even holding up large, printed posters of him.

’That’s right, Wu Shi is a driver from Hua Country,’ she realized. ’I just didn’t expect so many of his fellow countrymen to come out and support him while he’s still in F3.’

Louise’s voice was hoarse from shouting. She coughed a couple of times before finally sitting down.

"What are you so excited about?" Ophelia asked, handing her a bottle of water, completely baffled.

"Wu Shi defended first place! He’s going to lead all the way to the finish line and get his first-ever F3 victory! How could I *not* be excited?!" Louise exclaimed.

Ophelia was speechless. "Er..."

"Hahaha, Ophelia, you wouldn’t understand. That’s the power of love for you," Caroline chimed in.

"Wha-what?! That’s not the reason at all! I-I was just..." Louise suddenly stammered.

"Just happy for him because you grew up with him and see him as family, right?" Ophelia recited in a flat, weary voice.

Louise blinked twice, her expression a perfect picture of confusion, as if to say, ’How did you know?’

Ophelia sighed. ’Louise has been feeding me that same line every day since their karting days. How could I not have it memorized?’

Caroline watched from the sidelines, a fond, knowing smile on her face.