Chapter 40 ACI Karting Championship
Sid looked at Seth, whom he didn't recognize and figured wasn't from a big team, so he said, "Wu Shi, we just agreed that Mr. Raul has agreed to let you join the Laya team and be one of the four drivers competing this year."
Wu Shi was taken aback. If they had reached an agreement, what about the others? Wasn't this a sign that they didn't want him?
"Five hundred thousand euros," Louise ran up and whispered in his ear, her warm breath tickling him.
Wu Shi looked at Martina and saw that she had a calm expression, so he said to Sid, "Are the four of us competing on equal footing?"
Sid did not reply.
"Hello, ma'am, are you Wu Shi's mother?" Seth had given up hope, but seeing Wu Shi's question, he realized there was still a chance, so he turned to Martina and said.
"Oh, yes." Martina blinked and smiled.
"I just told you that if your child joins our team, we will allocate resources to nurture him and make him our top representative," Seth said quickly.
This time it was Sid's turn to be stunned. What was going on?
"Sid! That's enough!"
At that moment, Raul's voice came from the top of the stairs. Leaning on his cane, he said firmly, "We don't need a foreign driver."
"But just now..."
"Dionysius Marcus, Birke Bessler, Mizevich Makar, which one of them is not good enough?" Raul retorted.
Dionysios is Laya's ace in the mini class this year and is a strong contender for the championship.
Sid knew, of course, that the driver was exceptionally talented, but he still felt that Wu Shi was the one who could truly help the Laya team win the championship, so he said it aloud:
"He can win the championship."
Raul gripped his cane tightly and took a few deep breaths. Clearly, he was furious with the stubborn financial manager.
"That's your opinion, and as you've seen, this kid wants to take on a significant position as soon as he joins the team. He's arrogant, conceited, and ignorant!"
He left after saying that.
Sid sighed.
"So, ma'am, shall we consider drafting a contract?" Seth pressed his advantage, wanting to finalize the matter.
His convoy is so small that if any of the other larger convoys react later, he might lose this opportunity.
"Okay, let's go take a look first."
In the reception room of the stadium, the group sat down one after another.
"Sir, you must be from the Laya team, right?" Seth couldn't help but ask when he saw Sid come in.
"That was true just now, but not anymore." Sid showed Raul an email he had just sent, a resignation letter. He said, "Martina, may I participate in this discussion as an advisor?"
"Of course, I trust your professionalism."
Martina nodded. As the financial manager of the Laya team, Sid's abilities were beyond question.
Just like before in the Hunan restaurant in China, Wu Shi didn't have much of a chance to participate in the adults' discussion. He could only sit on the side, twirling Louise's hair around his fingers and lost in thought.
After a morning of work, the contract was finalized. It was for a term of one year, and Wu Shifang would pay 300,000 euros for daily expenses. Any excess money would be returned after one year.
If the cost exceeds 300,000 euros, a supplementary payment would normally be required, but Sais has offered a clause that the payment will be waived if the driver wins five championships in this year's Italia ACI Karting Championship.
"Mommy, do we still come here every weekend?" Louise asked on the way back.
"Well, if Louise has her own things to do, she doesn't have to come along."
"I don't have anything to do, I'm just feeling really bored sitting alone in the back," Louise said, turning her head away.
"Oh, I see." Martina said, finding a spot to park the car and turning to Wu Shi, "Little Wu Shi, why don't you go to the back and keep your sister company?"
"."
Wu Shi reluctantly got out of the passenger seat and went to the back seat, where he saw the girl looking at him.
"Okay, what do you want me to play with?"
"Let's play cat's cradle!"
"OK."
In the days that followed, I went to school on weekdays and spent weekends practicing driving in Sarno.
The year ended on March 1, 2008, when the Italie ACI Championship began.
The ACI Championship consists of seven events throughout the year, with multiple categories including 60mini, KZ2, KF3, KF2, and KF1.
And the first stop this year is Sarno.
Wu Shi arrived relatively early, but the CD SPEED team's mechanics arrived even earlier, or perhaps they were already long-term mechanics at the racetrack.
With the help of professionals, shunting the train became much clearer.
Over the past few months, Wu Shi has provided feedback every time he comes to practice. Now the go-kart is completely his own. If any other kid were to drive it, they would definitely oversteer and skid.
"Hey, Wu Shi, this car has too little stability. Are you sure you want to drive up like this?" Before the race, Seth was still a little worried.
"Team leader, I've never had an accident during my usual training," Wu Shi said.
"Well, I hope you have a good start. We've got the champagne ready," Seth said.
"Thank you for your well wishes. I hope the organizers have prepared the national flag and anthem. I don't want to find something is wrong when I stand on the podium," Wu Shi reminded him.
"Wow! You're very confident!" Seth said with a chuckle.
After testing for a period of time, he still couldn't quite figure out Wu Shi's level, but he was indeed very fast and very stable.
The ACI Championship process is more complex than that of domestic karting competitions.
On Friday, which is today, there will be a qualifying test, followed by a period of free practice.
The following Saturday will see qualifying rounds and combined qualifying rounds to determine the finalists. In addition, if there are a large number of participants, there will be a revival round.
In short, the entire competition is quite long.
"Hey, foreigner, I heard you turned down joining us back then?" the short-haired kid said as he walked over.
"Who are you?" Wu Shi looked the newcomer up and down.
"Dionysius Marku, I'm going to show you with my lap times that Mr. Raul is right to look down on you! You guys don't know how to race at all! You're not qualified to compete with us!"
The child left after uttering some harsh words.
"It's just a competition, why do they all like to talk tough?" Wu Shi thought with a headache.
"Keep it up, we support you. He doesn't know your lap time; if he did, he wouldn't dare to challenge you," one of the technicians said.
"Your speed is absolutely overwhelming, and I can't wait to see you win the race," another technician said.
"Come on, I can't outrun them, but you can," a teammate said.
"Of course, I will do my best."
Friday passed quickly, and Saturday's qualifying matches were uneventful.
If Wu Shi controls his lap time slightly and keeps it around 1 minute and 18 seconds, he can reliably enter the final.
After two qualifying rounds, 32 drivers were selected to enter the final, and the competition for starting positions in the final quickly began.
The kid who had previously made some tough talk to Dionysius certainly had the guts. With the average lap time across the field ranging from 1 minute 18 to 1 minute 20, he clocked a time of 1:17.914.
This high-speed lap has excited many people.
Immediately afterwards, a driver named Alexander Zhirkov set a lap time of 1:18.073, placing him second overall.
The remaining drivers were all within a few hundredths of a second apart.
"Why hasn't Wu Shi run away yet?" Seth asked anxiously.
"Don't worry, he prefers to do lap times later."
Louise, standing next to Martina, said that she still remembered the first competition in China, where Wu Shi leisurely made the fastest lap of the entire competition.
"I hope he's not too nervous." Seth interlaced his fingers, clearly very anxious.
①: ACI did not establish a 60MINI category in 2008; the race rules were quite complex and were simplified, for example, the two final races that should have been 8 and 9 laps were simplified into one.
②: Karting competitions are mainly divided into two categories: direct drive and geared (high-speed karting is not discussed). KF karting is a direct drive category, which was replaced by OK karting in 2016. KZ is a geared karting. The numbers after the two categories represent different levels (the main difference lies in the rules and restrictions). In addition to being distinguished by drive type, karting is generally also differentiated by age. The mini level is special, so it is discussed separately.