Chapter 91 Accident Restart
Because the two people in the front row had a good start, their positions were very stable, so there was naturally no struggle. But the situation was different in the back.
The commentators then focused their attention on the third place and beyond.
"Ocon has good speed, but his starting speed slowed him down, preventing him from keeping up with Bromqvist. Foco (Antonio) and Max behind him also had problems with their starts and posed no threat to him!"
"Wow, Félix, who started sixth, has caught up with Foucault and Max, who were running alongside him. KING (Jordan King), who started seventh, is not to be outdone! They all squeezed in!"
"We're almost at Turn 3, how will they choose their route?!"
As the commentator finished speaking, Verstappen tried to close Foco out in an attempt to gain position, but Foco did not choose to confront him. Instead, he eased off the gas slightly to avoid a collision.
However, Félix seized the opportunity during the battle between the two, crossing over from the outside to Verstappen's side.
The sudden appearance of Félix made Verstappen realize instantly that even if he forced Foucault out, he wouldn't be able to keep his position. After all, King was right behind Félix, and letting him go might mean letting two cars go!
He tried to squeeze the car outwards in the corner to interfere with Félix's driving, but whether Félix was not paying attention or was unable to control the car, he ended up crashing into Verstappen.
Verstappen immediately veered towards the inside, but it was too late!
Bang!
The race cars collided, and Verstappen slammed on the brakes just before the goal.
But Félix overtook him, taking his forewing with him, and then charged straight onto the grass.
"Oh no! Félix and Max have collided! Max's car is badly damaged! King has taken advantage of this opportunity to move into fourth place! Félix went off the track due to the collision, his ranking dropped, and he was overtaken by Latifi!"
The commentator spoke at a rapid pace, explaining that Verstappen's vehicle had broken down, creating a huge traffic jam that forced cars behind him to detour.
After getting a glimpse of the situation through the rearview mirror, Wu Shi asked in the TR, "Is Max alright?"
"OK," Alan replied.
The collision wasn't too serious, and Verstappen's car was able to drag its wrecked body back to the pit lane, but there was no need for repairs, so he will probably retire from the race.
Huff, huff!
The impact of the accident did not subside quickly. As the car approached turns six and seven, the intense battle behind caused another driver to lose control of his car, run off the track, and damage another car.
As Wu Shi approached Turn 9, he saw someone waving a yellow flag by the track fence.
He quickly slowed down and then heard Alan's TR.
"Safety car".
"copy."
No one expected that a safety car would appear on the first lap. Wu Shi's tense nerves relaxed, and he slowly pushed the car across the finish line. At the pit lane exit of Turn 2, an Audi safety car drove out and entered the safety car lead phase.
"Phew, luckily Wu Shi ran fast." Louise patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief from the stands.
"Is motorsports really that dangerous?" Ophelia was getting tired of watching. She thought motorsports were just like driving on the street, a competition of who could drive faster within safe limits.
Unexpectedly, the drivers' fierce and intense battle for rankings led to two serious accidents.
The first accident was alright, but it seems like a medical vehicle came after the second one.
"Actually, it's already quite safe," Louise muttered, feeling that her words weren't very convincing.
The safety car circled the area for four laps, and on the fifth lap, the car restarted.
Wu Shi knew, of course, that Bromqvist would definitely choose to attack at this moment, but his tires were in good condition, and unless he reacted too slowly, he wouldn't be given a chance.
The safety car leaves the field, and the game restarts!
Rustling sound!
roar!
The Volkswagen engine of car number 32 roared as it competed with engine number 31, which also used a Volkswagen engine.
"The race has restarted! Wu is faster! His car is powerful and accelerates smoothly; Bromqvist can't keep up with him!"
"Enter the bend!"
On Turn 1, Wu Shi was going very fast, but his habit of slow in and fast out still allowed Blomqvist to almost catch up with him at the corner.
"Hold your position!" Louise whispered, her fists clenched, extremely nervous.
Wu Shi dared to use a slow-in, fast-out strategy, giving up the inside lane, because he judged the distance to the yellow No. 31 race car through his rearview mirror and knew that unless the other car launched a torpedo, it would be impossible for him to overtake him in such a short time.
Sure enough, Bromqvist had reached his limit braking point and his speed began to decrease, while Wu Shi had already turned towards the apex of the bend and started to accelerate!
With this combination of slow and fast speeds, the distance between the two race cars widened again, even more than at the beginning!
Wu Shi TR: "How much faster am I than him at my slowest speed?"
Ailan TR: "Three kilometers."
Upon hearing the reply, Wu Shi licked his lips. With a slow in and fast out speed, plus a minimum speed of three kilometers per hour, it was a clear advantage for him!
Between Turn 1 and Turn 3 is Turn 2, which has a relatively small arc and can be passed almost entirely on full throttle.
Thanks to his previous advantage, he had maintained a distance of nearly two car lengths from Bromqvist by the time he reached Turn 3.
Alan TR: "You're 1.3 seconds ahead, keep up the pace."
Wu Shi TR: "copy."
For standard F3 cars, the performance differences are far less significant than in F1 cars—except for specially tuned cars. So, once you've gained a one-second lead and nothing else goes wrong, you've basically secured your position.
What follows is simply cruising.
"Hey! Look, look! We're in the lead!"
In the stands, Louise shouted excitedly, releasing all the emotions she had been suppressing.
Ophelia tried to grab her, but the people around her stood up and cheered, many of them shouting syllables like "Wu Shi" and "Wu".
She looked at the group and noticed that many of them were Chinese; some even had printed large posters and were holding them up.
Yes, Wu Shi is a Chinese driver, but I didn't expect so many Chinese people to come and support him in the F3 stage.
Louise's voice was hoarse from shouting, and she coughed twice before sitting down.
"Why are you so agitated?" Ophelia asked, handing her water.
"Wu Shi has held onto first place and will lead to the finish line! He's secured his first victory in F3! How could I not be excited!" Louise exclaimed.
"Uh…" Ophelia was speechless.
"Haha, Ophelia, you don't understand. This is the charm of love," Caroline remarked.
"No, no! That's not the reason! I, I just…" Louise suddenly stammered.
"I just grew up with him and treat him like family, so I'm happy for his achievements, right?" Ophelia said weakly in a flat voice.
Louise blinked twice, looking puzzled, as if to say, "How did you know that?"
Ophelia sighed. Louise had been talking about these things with her every day since the go-kart era. How could she not know them well?
Caroline watched from the side and laughed like an aunt.