Chapter 89 F3 First Shot & Three-Shot Combination
The commentator's passion still lingered on the track as Wu Shi entered the second timing phase on the Woodcott straight. When the car reached Turn 9, its top speed had already reached 250.465 km/h.
This marks the second time the car's top speed has exceeded 250 kilometers per hour since the turn six!
Ailan immediately pulled up the data comparison chart. In the previous tests, none of them had reached a maximum tail speed of 250 kilometers per hour.
However, since everyone is using standard-spec cars, their top speeds are definitely similar. Therefore, teams can now rely on practice data to deduce the top times of other teams' drivers.
The data analyst quickly concluded: "If other vehicles can reach this top speed, based on their fastest lap lap trajectory in practice, they will still be slower than Wu."
Alan remained silent, simply staring at the data on the computer screen.
To achieve a faster top speed and squeeze out more time, the maximum engine power, the fastest corner exit speed, and the smoothest gear shifting are often required.
Wu Shi accomplished all of this, but he did more than other drivers.
That was his unusual driving style at Turn 5, where he created the longest straightaway!
If nothing unexpected happens, the speed on this lap will be terrifying.
At this point, Wu Shi had already passed turns 10, 11, 12, and 13 in succession and was heading straight into turn 15.
Upon seeing the data for the second timing segment, the commentator exclaimed excitedly, "Wow! Even faster! Wu has broken his own record for the second timing segment! It looks like he's going to completely break his own record this lap!"
"Turn 15! Great, very smooth. Then, Turn 16, his braking point is very late! Oh! He took a lot of the kerb, the car is shaking a lot, will this affect his time?!"
Wu Shi was bounced up and ate too many laps off the road, which is bad for the car and for his health, but it's acceptable for qualifying, especially for a push-up lap.
Turns 16 and 17 require a significant reduction in speed, so the bounce at these points will not affect the subsequent use of grip.
"Great, he's past turn 17, and the last turn is just around the corner. This one is completely easy!"
As the commentator finished speaking, Wu Shi had already pressed onto the apex of the last bend and then suddenly accelerated.
Rustling sound!
The race car crossed the checkered lines, achieving a dazzling result.
1:50.212.
When Alan saw this result in the team's pit lane, he clenched his fist and clenched it tightly! That lap was absolutely amazing!
He turned around and high-fived the data analyst next to him.
They still seemed somewhat reserved, while the rest of the crew had already cheered.
Wow!!!
"Roar!!!"
Meanwhile, applause and cheers erupted from the crowd watching the game.
Being a second faster than in practice is a remarkable achievement, and anyone with eyes can see that it is no small feat, so praise is certainly due.
"An amazing lap! I can already say that it was a pole position lap time. I simply cannot imagine how extreme he pushed this car!"
"Although I would like to draw a conclusion that this is the pole position result, the other drivers are still fighting and the outcome is still uncertain. Let's go back to the track and see how the Prema drivers perform."
"Wow, Felipe Guimarães of the R-R team also set the fastest lap, 1 minute 52.166 seconds. In practice, that's enough to put him in the top eight!"
"Look! JAWC team's Bromqvist is about to cross the finish line. He has improved his own time in the first two stages and crossed the line!"
"His time is 1 minute 51.327 seconds! Second only to Wu's time!"
"Unexpectedly, the first rider to break the 51-second barrier was this JAWC team rider from the United Kingdom, who has a history of outstanding performances."
After achieving his goal, Wu Shi went straight back to the repair area.
The crew members shook hands and clapped with him.
"Congratulations on your first F3 pole position," Alan said with a smile.
"Thank you," Wu Shi replied.
He looked at the screen. At this moment, no one on the lap time leaderboard had broken the 1 minute 51 second mark and reached 1 minute 50 seconds. In fact, most people were hovering around 1 minute 52 seconds.
"Jules and Gustavo have decided to try a couple more laps," Alan said.
"Hmm, where's Max?"
"He has started his final lap attempt. His previous time was around 1 minute 51.7 seconds, which he was not satisfied with."
Rustling sound!
Verstappen crossed the finish line with a time of 1:51.402, effectively ending his race. He had already completed nine laps, and further tire wear would be a burden for the main race.
"He's currently ranked fifth," Alan said.
Wu Shi nodded. The first was him, the second was Blomqvist at 1:51.327, and the third and fourth were Ocon and Antonio, the former being two-thousandths of a second slower and the latter being fifty-one-thousandths of a second slower.
"Ocon is very strong," Alan said.
Wu Shi nodded again. This guy's defense is tough to deal with, of course, provided you're his teammate.
The 20-minute qualifying round ended quickly, and Wu Shi maintained his time until the end. No one could surpass him, and no one could even break the one minute and fifty seconds barrier.
"You're still so fast," Pan Zi said. He was somewhat disappointed with his performance, but he was also quite frank: "I made a mistake at the end, otherwise I could have been even faster."
"Of course, you spent too much time adjusting the vehicle in the high-speed corners."
"Yeah, the entry angle was a bit off, so I couldn't sway the car."
"Take a break, there's still a qualifying match next."
Ten minutes later, the competition organizers officially announced the results, which meant that all the results had been verified and were valid.
The second qualifying round began at 5:40 PM.
Wu Shi's tire allocation was very simple: he just used the second set of new tires and ran two laps in a row.
The qualifying session began with Jules and Gustavo taking to the track first, followed by Wu Shi and Verstappen a little later.
Unlike the previous qualifying round, the track conditions were very poor this time. Wu Shi only got one window, and after setting a time of 1:51.001, he had to continue looking for opportunities.
Finally, with someone interfering, he managed to get another time of 1:51.321.
Alan TR: "It's over, you can come back now. Your second fastest lap was one-thousandth of a second faster than Ocon's fastest lap. Pole position for the second and third races is locked in."
Wu Shi TR: "copy."
Because the second qualifying session requires two times, everyone generally ran more laps than in the first session.
At 6:30, the organizers announced the starting grid for the second and third races.
Wu Shijun is in first place, which means he has secured three pole positions!
Verstappen did not perform well; he started sixth on the grid in Race 2 and fifth on the grid in Race 3.
Ocon, on the other hand, performed strongly, securing two second starting positions, while Latifi overtook Antonio to start in third place.
Bromqvist, who had a good ranking speed in the first round, ended up in fourth place.
Overall, four of the top ten starters are from the Prema team, while JAWC, Carlin, and Van Amersford each have two.