Chapter 76 Two Pity
In the afternoon, the countdown to the start of the main competition had begun.
All the drivers are in their positions, in their respective pit garages, unable to see each other. However, in the pit lane, someone always suddenly pops out and wanders around, most likely someone from another crew trying to get some information.
Unfortunately, everyone's tires were covered with tire warming blankets, so you couldn't tell what was going on.
After the car start signal came over the loudspeaker, Wu Shi was the first to drive out, followed by Antonio, Latifi, Verstappen, Calderon, and others.
After a round of tire warm-up, all vehicles returned to the starting straight.
This series of races will use a static start; the start will occur when all the indicator lights are on and then turn off.
As Wu Shi sat down, his heart began to race.
No matter how many years he's driven, he always gets nervous at the starting line. There's nothing he can do; it's a physiological mechanism he can't overcome.
His eyes were fixed on the indicator lights. When all the indicator lights came on, he was ready to release the clutch. However, this time, the lights stayed on for a full two seconds.
This gave all the drivers a sudden burst of anticipation; when people are completely focused, those two seconds feel like two minutes.
Even Wu Shi was stunned when the lights went out.
Buzz!
But when he realized what was happening, he released the clutch, the engine speed matched perfectly, the vehicle's tires barely spun, and the torque and grip were perfectly coordinated.
The vehicle gradually accelerated.
Behind them, many drivers were caught off guard by the sudden start and their handling was off. If they hadn't been so experienced, they probably would have stalled right away.
The mere act of starting the train divided the vehicles into several classes.
The first gear consisted of the first four cars. Wu Shi was a bit slow to react, so he was slightly overtaken by Antonio. In addition, Antonio was probably using the latest tires, which gave him a better starting performance.
However, Wu Shi's starting maneuver was so smooth that he almost made up for the slight mistake in his starting reaction and the difference in tires on the starting straight.
"His gear shifting is so pleasing to the eye. Look at this curve. He always shifts gears at the most suitable RPM to drive the race car with the maximum torque. Just this starting technique alone will take the drivers behind him several more years to learn."
After parking his vehicle in the starting grid, Joss went to Wu Shi's pit room. He knew that the data there was always the most interesting.
However, no one paid him any attention at this moment, because Wu Shi and Antonio were almost neck and neck and were about to reach the first corner.
Turn 1 is a left turn. Antonio is on the left and Wu Shi is on the right. This means that the former naturally occupies the inside line. However, because it is the dirty side, the grip will be slightly worse.
Wu Shi did not try to squeeze his opponent inside, but instead moved to the right side as much as possible, preparing to move slowly in and out quickly to secure his position.
Antonio adopted a more aggressive strategy, abandoning the inside and following Wu Shi to the right, as if trying to push Wu Shi off the track.
This strategy was very effective. After all, he was inside the paint, which naturally blocked Wu Shi's path into the corner. And by following him like this, he completely blocked Wu Shi on the outside.
Wu Shi was well aware that his decision would be exploited, and he did so on purpose.
As the two reached the braking point, Antonio could no longer remain calm and began to brake. However, Wu Shi suddenly lurched forward thirty centimeters before he started to brake.
'How could you brake so late! Won't you go off the track?!' Antonio roared inwardly.
His question was quickly answered when a wisp of white smoke flashed past in his peripheral vision.
'It's locked as expected!'
Doubt turned into excitement; they were determined to be number one!
But the excitement quickly turned into doubt, because Wu Shi did not slow down drastically, but maintained an excellent speed when entering the corner and squeezed towards him with great force.
He turned his head to the side and saw Wu Shi's race car with its huge rear wheel almost touching the side box. From a distance, the two cars looked almost embedded together.
Upon seeing this, his steady direction almost instinctively shifted further inward, which meant slowing down.
What's even more amazing is that Wu Shi still moved closer, as if the small distance he was veering towards the inside didn't exist.
Antonio broke out in a cold sweat instantly. He felt like he was about to crash at any moment. His instinctive dodge made him lean further inward, which further reduced his speed.
Finally, his race car and Wu Shi's race car separated, and the distance between them increased.
However, Wu Shi maintained an even faster pace and had completely taken the lead.
When they came out of the corner, Wu Shi's car accelerated more smoothly than his and pulled away a little further.
On a single bend, the contest of skill and courage was on full display.
"good!"
"Yes!"
The crew members clenched their fists and waved them; although it was only a temporary team, their competitive spirit was still there.
The engineer immediately said in TR: "GOOD JOB, you've already pulled ahead by 0.1 points. Even though he has new tires, he's slower than you in the corners."
"copy."
Wu Shi saw Antonio's figure through the rearview mirror.
The next combination of turns was still mainly left turns, which gave Antonio the opportunity to launch another attack, so he had to move slightly towards the center line.
As Antonio approached, he quickly moved from the innermost side to the outermost side, preparing to pull back from the outside.
Wu Shi was puzzled. The next turn wasn't a reverse turn, so there was no way to change from the outside to the inside to overtake. Moving to the outside line at this point would undoubtedly mean missing the best racing line.
Without understanding his opponent, he blindly charged forward.
As he approached the bend, he braked early, and the oncoming car seemed to accelerate as it overtook him.
'Learn from me?'
Wu Shi laughed. The effect of braking at different times will vary greatly depending on the curve. Moreover, the most important thing is, can you control the brakes to lock slightly for a moment and then release and lock again, almost to make the tires exert maximum friction in stages, and manually activate the ABS?
The answer is definitely no. Even though Antonio tried to apply the brakes intermittently, such intermittent braking only added a few more flat spots and did not produce better braking results.
With a pull and a tug, Wu Shi overtook again, and after smoothly navigating the continuous curves, he had already taken a body length lead and quickly moved from the inside line to the outside line.
Whoosh!
After the combination bend, Wu Shi completely overtook the opponent and took the lead.
Then, on the next bend, with no one attacking, he quickly pulled away.
"Save on tires!" the engineer had to remind them in the TR.
"copy."
Wu Shi slowed down slightly. He knew the engineer was right; he could maintain faster lap times, but the tires would definitely break down before the end of the race.
Once the cruising phase began, Antonio stopped attacking, because Latifi was watching closely from behind, and neither dared to waste too many tires on offense, thus affecting their ability to finish the race.
Whoosh!
Round and round it went, about twenty minutes passed.
"Five minutes left in the game," the engineer said in TR.
Five minutes, which is less than three laps, according to the rule of thirty minutes plus one lap, means there are actually only three laps left.
Wu Shi glanced at the rearview mirror. Due to the limitations of the tires, he was only leading by less than a second, a lead he had painstakingly built up over the twelve laps of the race.
A one-second difference may seem small, but looking down, you'll see that Wu Shi is in the lead, with Antonio several body lengths behind.
Antonio was half a body length behind Latifi, and Verstappen was almost right next to Latifi.
He didn't know if Antonio behind him would try to attack him, but Verstappen in fourth place would definitely attack Latifi.
He realized that the most intense battle was about to begin, but unfortunately it would probably have nothing to do with him. Even more regrettable was that he wouldn't be able to watch the match.