F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 7 The Transformation and Dilemmas of Driving Skills

The club has a lot of chassis in stock, but the engines will take two days to arrive. During these two days, Coach Han has Shu Long stay by his side to watch the data, learn how others drive, and how to continuously optimize his driving style based on the feedback data.

In his spare time, Han Li didn't let Shu Long be idle. Whenever he had free time, he would find a four-stroke car and let him run and play on the track.

Because every car's condition, every person's height and weight, and even their driving experience are not exactly the same, how can one translate theory into practice? No amount of talk about experience and techniques can replace letting students find the answers themselves while driving.

In the initial stages, talent can ensure a person's minimum standard. On a track, whoever drives the fastest is the one who can understand these seemingly rigid and basic things more thoroughly.

However, as skill levels continue to improve and everyone's skill levels begin to converge, these basics become the lower limit for crossing this threshold. Talent and practice are the key factors that determine what a driver can reach.

Of course, there's something even more important: the financial resources behind each driver.

nonsense!

Talented drivers are willing to consume a lot of tires and fuel every day, and they don't care that the engine needs expensive maintenance every ten hours or so, constantly refining their precise car feel with each lap.

With only average talent, and only occasionally taking to the track to run a couple of shaky laps, how could he possibly catch up with others?
Once all the parts arrived, the racing go-kart exclusively for Shulong was quickly assembled. There were also specially customized racing suits and rib protection. It was no longer the flashy style that was temporarily selected in the store to cope with the situation. Instead, it was changed to a style with an all-black main color and some red patterns as decoration, according to Shulong's own strong request.

After all, he had put in so much effort to practice, so the color scheme of this ping-pong paddle felt familiar to him, and it also looked pretty cool.

As the race car changed, Shu Long showed no signs of being unaccustomed to or afraid of the speed. On the contrary, after only a few laps, Han Li could tell from the dynamics of Shu Long's car that the little guy had already mastered the "three-wheel cornering" method by transferring load.

This steering method not only maximizes the grip of the vehicle's front wheels, but also largely avoids the impact on cornering speed caused by the lack of steering differential assistance on the rear wheels of the go-kart.

This cannot be explained by simply driving a recreational car for a couple of days. You have to understand that due to the outer anti-collision frame, coupled with the performance difference in speed, the overall body rigidity of a four-stroke recreational car in corners is much higher than that of a two-stroke racing car.

Han Li hadn't covered this point in his theoretical guidance the previous two days because he planned to use the difference in driving experience between the two types of vehicles to help Shu Long better understand the function of this driving method after he officially came into contact with the two-stroke vehicle. Who would have thought that Shu Long would actually learn it on his own?

Well, it's not that I've never mentioned it before, but it was just something I casually mentioned to Shu Xiong during a meal.

Well, Han Li had never had such an easy student before. So easy that it almost made him feel frustrated, to the point that he felt a little guilty every time Shu Xiong came to visit the class.
This racing enthusiast father is incredibly generous when it comes to his son's expenses in this area. As long as Shu Long wants to stay on the track, he doesn't hesitate to swipe his card whenever necessary.

Not only tires, but he even prepared two engines. Shulong hardly had to wait. Once the engine needed maintenance, he could simply replace it with a new one and continue driving.

But an increasingly noticeable anomaly drew Shu Xiong's attention back.

Something's not right with the balance in my membership card. It's not that I'm out of money; quite the opposite, the money in the card is being used up too quickly.

After carefully reviewing the accounts, he discovered that Shulong's tire consumption quota was far less than he had imagined.

What's going on? This kid even saved him money?
Because Han Li was mentoring more than one student, he didn't dedicate all his energy to Shu Long every moment. In fact, compared to other students who were difficult to mentor and whose parents were demanding, he spent the least amount of time on Shu Long.

Now, under Shu Xiong's watchful gaze, Coach Han hurriedly and guiltily began reviewing the data returned by Shu Long's vehicle. Besides the usual braking points and throttle curves, after a series of comparisons, he finally noticed something unusual.

"Aren't you tired of driving like this for so long?"

"It's alright. Just a couple of days ago, my neck, hands, stomach, and back hurt. Basically, everything hurt! But I've gotten used to it gradually."

Shu Long, who was called back, waved his hand dismissively. Compared to these trivial matters, he was more interested in going back and pushing the cart for a couple more laps.

For others, driving the same track for a dozen or even dozens of laps might be interesting, but driving like this endlessly would not only be physically exhausting, but would also be incredibly tedious.

But for Shulong, every lap is a process of constantly battling against the friction of the tires.

Not to mention that the constantly changing road and tire conditions allow Shu Long to capture fresh fun in every lap, the [friction control] alone makes his sensitivity to force so exhilarating that it makes his scalp tingle.

There were other gains as well. The progress of the "physical strength" and "endurance" entries has increased to some extent, while "response and recruitment" has not changed much, which may be related to the fact that the current speed is not particularly fast and there have been no accidents that require emergency avoidance.

Coach Han praised Shu Long twice, but it sounded more like he was just saying it to Shu Xiong.

After all, for these middle-aged men who are nearing the point of being unable to control their own lives and who often carry a heavy thermos cup, it's not too surprising that children have a lot of energy.

Han Li is now more concerned about Shu Longqipa's lap time curve.

After more than two weeks of learning, Shulong's lap times have gradually stabilized compared to the beginning. The problem is that he is too stable.

In the hot summer conditions of the Guangdong-Guangdong racetrack, the performance limit of a set of slick tires is generally around 200km. However, Shulong tires not only have a longer actual mileage than the theoretical value for each set, but also only show a slight downward trend in lap time.

While others typically only change tires when there are obvious signs of decreased tire grip, Shu Long, whose lap times are consistently excellent, will suddenly and decisively pit to change tires at a certain point in time.

Another point is that while Shulong's lap time isn't slow, it's not particularly fast either, especially compared to the younger students who are already participating in the National Championships this year, he's about 0.5 or 0.6 seconds slower per lap.

At this stage, many factors can affect a student's lap time. In addition to varying driving skills, different levels of development can also affect the vehicle's pace to some extent.

Of course, being too heavy is definitely not good, while being too light means that the development and strength level are not up to par, and the stability of car control is also prone to problems. Generally speaking, those students who can set the fastest lap time are closer to the middle value.

Shu Long is right in that range. Although he is shorter than his peers because he has not yet entered the rapid development period, thanks to the visible genetic talent of his grandfather Shu and Shu Xiong, Shu Long can even have his tender but exceptionally clear muscle lines when he lifts his clothes.

Moreover, judging from his previous performance, Shulong doesn't seem like the kind of child who would be afraid of speed, so he shouldn't have reached a bottleneck so quickly.

Problems need to be solved one by one. Han Li immediately told Shu Long to push the track as fast as possible for a few more laps, while he and Shu Xiong found a high grandstand to see what was going on.

Previously, we relied too much on data brought back by sensors. Now, seeing it up close on-site, not only Coach Han, but even Shu Xiong noticed the problem.

This kid runs so quietly, you can barely hear any tire noise.

"That brat doesn't seem too brave to shake me off."

"It's not that I'm afraid to shake it, it's just that I simply don't know why I should shake it."

Han Li scratched his brow somewhat awkwardly. Shu Long's growth was so natural and effortless that he had unconsciously become accustomed to the fact that Shu Long seemed to have an epiphany on his own without much teaching.

"But I roughly guess why your child has such strange data, but how can there be such a child?"

"Ha! I told you, you old codger, you'd have the same feelings as me sooner or later!"

Unlike the concepts instilled in children in Initial D, most go-kart driving instructors repeatedly emphasize from the beginning that the car should never slip and lose control. In addition to safety considerations, every time the tires slip, it is a huge waste of power.

Different types of racing cars and track conditions have a great influence on the choice of racing style. In more formal track racing such as karting, if you only care about looking cool, you will be at odds with lap times.

Of course, there are those who don't believe in superstition, but the result is likely to be not only not cool, but also extremely embarrassing.

Getting muddy on your face after crashing off the track is a minor issue; parents who incur significant expenses due to damaged bike frames won't be happy. If the child is also injured, they'll likely have to say goodbye to the sport for the rest of their lives.

However, this does not mean that go-karts must be driven like a track car, obediently gripping the ground and running.

Many talented children, when trying to break through their lap time plateau, will gradually try to push the boundaries of grip limits, and slowly, without realizing it, they will find the "slip angle" when turning in a go-kart, thus touching the threshold of the advanced skill of neutral steering.

But Shu Long was far too sensitive to the feeling of grip, so much so that the boundary of that limit was not blurred in his sensory world, but rather like a visible radiating circle, keeping him at an ambiguous distance that was always there but never really going deep.

"Slide? Wouldn't the car just rush straight ahead?"

Shu Long, who was called back, was completely confused. He felt that there should be no problem with his driving, and wouldn't it be a good thing if a set of tires could make him drive more miles?
"Being able to keep the tires intact is definitely not a bad thing. If you plan to continue to study and develop in the direction of racing in the future, being able to keep the tires intact while ensuring lap times is actually a very remarkable skill."

However, karting championship races are so short that there's practically no need to protect the tires; in fact, a poor lap time can be fatal to your starting position!

Han Li found a piece of paper and drew a rectangle with four small squares on the side on it.

"Is this a car?" Shu Long's eyes twitched, then he watched as Han Li drew two arcs around the geometry to frame it.

"This is a car. Enough with the nonsense, just make do with it!"

My clumsy handwriting has been criticized by countless students before, but this is just a minor setback.

Next, Han Li used a relatively simple description to explain to Shu Long the relationship between wheel direction, vehicle direction, and traction direction. Simply put, when all four wheels are in a slightly slipping state, they can maximize the theoretical grip performance of the tires.

If Shu Long had studied physics and understood the concepts of rolling friction and sliding friction, it might have been easier for him to understand. Unfortunately, he was still only a second-grade elementary school student until the end of this summer vacation. After the explanation, he could only drive back onto the track with a head full of doubts.

The tires need to slip, but not drift, while the car body remains stable.
Each of the individual characters in the phrase "束龙" (Shulong) is understandable on its own, but when put together, they seem contradictory, which is far too counterintuitive for his established understanding.

For the next few days, Shu Long made no progress, and Shu Xiong couldn't help but seem a little anxious when chatting with Han Li behind his back.

"Is this kid going to get stuck at this step?"

"Take it easy, your son is definitely one of the most suitable kids I've ever seen for racing."

A few weeks ago, Shu Xiong would have been overjoyed to hear this, but now he just felt numb.

"Really? What you're saying sounds so familiar, like the next line is..."

"You could consider having Longzai sign up for the monthly competition at the end of this month."

"look!"

Shu Xiong knew that when he was learning to drive with Coach Han, he was also fooled in the same way, and as a result, he was completely outmatched and couldn't even see his backside.

Han Li looked a little embarrassed and took off his hat to wipe his shiny forehead.

However, there is one point he wants to clarify: Shu Xiong's driving skills at the time were absolutely flawless; it's just that he was too strong, which put him at a significant disadvantage when competing with other young people.

"Why would I lie to you? Look at how long your son has been learning go-karting. Many other students have been driving here for years. Do you think I'd be after that few hundred yuan in registration fees?"

Unlike selling frames and courses through clubs that offer commissions, the fees for registering for races almost never go into the coach's pocket. They've already spent tens of thousands of dollars, so they don't really care about a little extra.

Even so, Shu Xiong didn't find much comfort in his heart.

Even trainees who have been training for several years don't necessarily have the same level of logistical support as Shulong. Since mid-July, nearly 100,000 yuan has already been spent on vehicles and equipment.

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(End of this chapter)