Chapter 61 KZ2 - Gear Karting
What usually happens after people make grand pronouncements? They face real-world difficulties, of course.
Forgetting is easy to say, but hard to do.
Even now, Wu Shi can still recite famous works such as "Yueyang Tower" and "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" from memory, even though he hasn't read these two articles for at least thirty years.
Unable to solve the problem, he could only do what he liked, which was to run lap after lap on the track.
Without fully sensing the vehicle, he tried to replicate the operation of fully sensing the vehicle, so that he might forget his previous perception.
'Entering Turn 1, half of the car initially went over the curb.'
"No, that's not right. The car enters with the front halfway in, then pulls in about one-eighth of the car body. At that point, you need to start turning towards the apex of the corner, and the throttle opening is..."
At every bend, my mind was racing with calculations.
'Also, wind speed, track temperature, tire temperature, engine condition, and carburetor condition.'
Since specific data is unavailable, the only way to judge the condition of the race car is by feeling the tires as they drive over the road surface and the grip during cornering.
The effort required in this process is no less than that required to sense the vehicle.
Rustling sound!
Accurately pass the apex of the bend, and you'll have a relatively easy two or three seconds before reaching the next bend.
And so, every turn was calculated, every corner was a battle against the race car.
Whoosh!
He crossed the finish line in the end.
47.123
A pretty good lap time; he should be able to take pole position.
Wu Shi drove into the pit lane, and after seeing the lap time, he went out again without waiting for Rosa to ask him any further questions.
He expected to finish the lap in under 46 seconds, but he clearly didn't reach that limit, which means there was a problem just now.
What's the problem?
He has to try slowly until he reaches his limit.
"Mr. Joss, perhaps you should try to persuade him," Rosa said.
"No, persuading him would be harming him; let him run away." Joss shook his head, then glanced at Verstappen, who was installing the half-shaft, and shouted, "Max! Is the installation complete? Get ready to go on the field!"
Verstappen looked out of the factory; the setting sun painted the clouds purple and yellow. He should have been resting, but he still had to run around.
However, he didn't complain or show any dissatisfaction; he simply nodded and said, "Okay!"
So, on the track illuminated by the high-mast lights, two go-karts whirred and lapped around and around.
Around 9 p.m., Wu Shi's go-kart made a "clunking" sound, indicating that the engine had malfunctioned and the go-kart had stopped after losing power.
Verstappen behind him immediately braked and stopped right next to him, opened his mask and shouted, "Wu Shi, what's wrong?"
"Engine failure, that's all for today." Wu Shi got off the go-kart, opened his mask to let the cool air into his helmet, and then pushed the go-kart back.
Pan Zi didn't drive away; like Wu Shi, he pushed his cart back.
"I feel like you've encountered a problem that's even more difficult than the bottleneck I mentioned before."
"Do you think I'm running very slowly right now?" Wu Shi asked rhetorically.
"Of course not, you are still the fastest driver in our group, but…" Verstappen thought for a moment.
"Just a loss of dominance?"
"Yes, I'm starting to think about overtaking you and beating you on the track," Verstappen said frankly.
"Ah~ that means you had absolutely no ideas in 2010 and 2011," Wu Shi laughed.
"In the past two years, your speed has felt like you're driving a high-class car, no, even better than a high-class car. I don't know how you do it, but I'm sure I can't beat you."
Verstappen looked at his go-kart. He loved racing, loved going lap after lap, and loved the joy of pushing his limits. He was also very frank: if he couldn't win, he couldn't win.
"Then I'll try to find myself again before the official start of the race." Wu Shi didn't sound depressed at all, even though he still seemed unable to forget his previous race car in order to gain the space to perceive the new race car.
Training continues, and weekdays and weekends are no longer distinguished.
Yes, Wu Shi asked the school for leave.
At the end of January, Joss brought good news.
"Wu Shi, do they use the lunar calendar in China?" Joss asked.
"That's one way of saying it."
"Very good. When the event staff asks you, just say that although your ID information says you were born in 1998, according to Chinese customs, you are already fifteen years old, and request that the event organizers respect the rights of special groups," Joss said.
Wu Shi opened his mouth in astonishment, expressing his shock at the way the situation was handled.
"Just do as instructed; it's just a compliance check."
"clear."
Wu Shi nodded. This was nothing more than exploiting a loophole, a loophole with a human element.
In conclusion, after the inquiry, Wu Shi successfully obtained the qualification to participate in KF2.
"Max is going to participate in the KZ2 series this year, are you going to join him?"
Joss asked, "Although Wu Shi is not as dominant as before, he still has the strongest competitiveness in his group and the highest probability of winning the KF2 race."
Therefore, in order to smoothly transition into lower-level formulas, it is best to start getting involved in KZ2 level races now.
The term KZ stands for geared go-kart, in contrast to direct-drive go-karts like KF.
The KZ2 generally uses a six-speed transmission, and the engine displacement is the same as the KF series, 125ml. However, due to the presence of the transmission, the overall weight is increased compared to the KF.
These changes have collectively made KZ more difficult to open compared to KF.
Many riders were unable to adapt to the complex operation of gear shifting and the increased weight made cornering more difficult, resulting in a continuous decline in their performance after entering the KZ series, and eventually leading to their retirement from professional racing.
Of course, some drivers are able to find their rhythm in complex maneuvers, thus overtaking opponents they could not defeat before.
"Of course," Wu Shi nodded.
According to the team and Sid's plans, he didn't need to get involved with KZ2 so early, but his performance last year was so outstanding that there was no need to stay in KF3 for another year.
While he no longer possesses the terrifying dominance of his KF3 days during recent KF2 testing, he remains a championship-caliber driver. Therefore, simultaneously developing his KZ2 skills does not present any issues of forcing growth.
Most importantly, Wu Shi has already obtained a ticket to enter KF2 at the age of under 14 by pulling strings, so why not enter KZ2 at the same time, which has the same age requirement?
CRG quickly prepared the vehicles, and before driving the go-karts, Joss even gave a special lesson explaining the difference between geared and direct drive.
Compared to direct-drive go-karts, geared go-karts have an extra gear, which can be understood as a change from automatic to manual transmission.
This change is not simply about needing to manually shift gears while driving.
As we all know, the underlying logic of a transmission is to save effort and reduce work, and to save work and reduce effort.
In low gear, the engine and pinion mesh, which allows for stronger torque to be generated at the highest RPM, giving the vehicle powerful performance.
In higher gears, the engine and large gears mesh, allowing for higher speeds at maximum RPM.
The key to driving a go-kart with gears lies in this, because power and top speed are mutually exclusive, so the driver must adapt the gears to the track conditions.