CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 73: PREJUDICE IS A MOUNTAIN

The reason why the Suzuka Circuit has become one of the world’s most famous tracks is not only because it used to be the final race of the F1 season, keeping the championship suspenseful and drawing more attention.

It’s also due to the track’s design itself, which is extremely excellent and distinctive.

The "8" figure-eight layout means drivers will experience both clockwise and counterclockwise sensations on the same track.

Additionally, the vertical drop of up to 40.4 meters makes the feelings of uphill and downhill on the track quite pronounced, so much so that an overpass can be built at the "8" figure crossing point.

Particularly the iconic 130R left turn, where the full-throttle cornering speed reaches as high as 320 km/h, poses a significant challenge to both the car and the driver. Over half a century, including motorcycle races, a total of 17 drivers have lost their lives here.

Furthermore, in the 2005 Japanese F1 Grand Prix, Renault Team’s "Alonso" made a strong overtaking move on Schumacher at this very turn, securing the world championship title that year and marking a change of the king’s position in the racing world.

The first and second turns of the Suzuka Circuit are two consecutive right turns. Normally, the fastest way to approach these corners is to ease the throttle before entering, use inertia to reach the apex, then decelerate, brake, and exit the turn.

This not only enhances speed but also reduces the pressure on the brakes and the wear on the tires.

We must understand that in top-level formula racing, "tire preservation" is an extremely high art. Often, by making one less pit stop for a tire change or waiting until the track incident phase to change tires, one can save at least seventeen to eighteen seconds to complete an overtake.

However, under rainy conditions, the tire grip is significantly insufficient. Entering the turn with inertia means the speed is still too fast, and one must brake early to decelerate.

Matsuboto Brown’s operations on the track weren’t wrong; he braked before entering the turn to prevent skidding out at the apex later.

But his timing to brake was off, considerably earlier than the normal braking point, which indicates a lack of confidence in cornering and opting for a conservative approach.

Sawano Hiroyuki did not comment on this; often, conservative does not mean wrong, especially in the case of setting the fastest lap in three laps scenario.

If one aggressively skids off the track instead, it might even become counterproductive.

However, the moment Matsuboto Brown’s lines appeared on the screen, Sawano Hiroyuki’s brows furrowed unintentionally.

He actually didn’t use even a sliver of the curbs!

The Formula racing tracks are different from road lanes; there’s no violation for crossing lines. On the contrary, the existence of curb markings allows drivers to push the track’s cornering potential to the limit.

As long as all four wheels of the racing car don’t completely leave the track, using the curbs to the fullest extent allowed equates to getting a part of the corner’s buffer zone for free.

In many F1 races, one often hears of drivers’ lap times being canceled or receiving multiple violation warnings.

It’s because the driver was cornering too fast, couldn’t stop in time, hit the curbs too hard, and all four wheels of the car went off the track. If the judges spot it, they’ll penalize it as a violation.

Additionally, every advantage has a disadvantage. Using the curbs isn’t always 100% reliable, as they are made of different material compared to the track’s asphalt, with paint that is more slippery and lacks grip.

If one doesn’t follow the conventional cornering line with tire rubber adherence, the risk of sliding out of control increases significantly.

Now the track is wet, and the grip on the curbs is further weakened, so the risk of aggressively using them is naturally greater.

But racing has always been a game for the brave, with its charm lying in seeking opportunities amid risks. Matsuboto Brown’s early braking is acceptable to Sawano Hiroyuki, but his unwillingness to take even a little risk by using the curbs is somewhat unsatisfactory.

Are you planning not to take any risks in future top-level formula races when competing wheel-to-wheel with opponents, waiting for them to yield on their own?

Surely, a rain race is the best litmus test for a driver’s personal skills, and previously, Sawano Hiroyuki hadn’t noticed these detailed issues with Matsuboto Brown.

The next turns, 3 to 7, are basically continuous S-curves, and since there’s no long straight or high-speed corner in this section, the overall speed isn’t very fast. It’s more about testing a driver’s line-taking ability.

Matsuboto Brown’s basics are indeed very solid, and his line-taking is exceptionally precise and beautiful, which makes many members of the Honda Team watching in the pits nod subconsciously in approval.

"Director Sawano, Matsuboto’s fundamentals are still very solid. With this level of line-taking, let’s not say giving 5 seconds, but even under the same standard, newcomers from Huasi Sports in China probably don’t stand a chance of winning,"

expressed Watanabe Hideyuki, the chief technician of the Honda Racing Academy, to Sawano Hiroyuki.

Compared to Chen Xiangbei, he naturally leans more towards the familiar Matsuboto Brown, which is human nature.

However, Watanabe Hideyuki publicly took a stance for another more important reason: he once provided technical support when Huasi developed the CFR2000, so he is very aware of that car’s mechanical performance.

Years of professional experience in motorsport tell Watanabe Hideyuki that the driver data sent by Huasi surely has issues.

Whether it is Chen Xiangbei himself "faking" subjectively or Huasi Sports, in its pre-closure desperation, using this approach for commercial marketing, hoping to attract students or sponsors to maintain the racing base doesn’t change the essence of "faking"!

If Chen Xiangbei had been humble and eager to learn, Watanabe Hideyuki might have had a better impression of him. Perhaps, young people from China could rely on their efforts to make up for past "mistakes."

But now, his performance is completely opposite; relying on fake data to get into the Honda Racing Academy and not recognizing his real level, he went as far as boasting about giving a 5-second advantage.

A driver with such character, to be honest, doesn’t deserve to remain at the Honda Suzuka Driver Academy!

"Watanabe, do you think Matsuboto’s speed is fast?"

Sawano Hiroyuki asked calmly in return, knowing that many within the academy viewed Chen Xiangbei with a preconceived bias towards Chinese drivers.

Prejudice in people’s hearts is like a mountain. Trust and explanation are futile, and one must prove themselves with strength and results.

He doesn’t want to discuss whether Chen Xiangbei has a chance of winning now, only to analyze Matsuboto Brown’s potential first.

"At least it’s not slow."

Watanabe Hideyuki answered honestly.

Matsuboto Brown’s early braking and his reluctance to use curbs mean his absolute speed indeed cannot be called fast.

But his current speed is completely sufficient for peers of the same level. For many, encountering a rain-drenched track for the first time in formula racing often results in them skidding off the track more often than not.

Even at the F1 driver level, a rain race is still the stage with the highest rate of track accidents, without exception!

It’s not that Matsuboto Brown is slow, it’s that Sawano Hiroyuki’s requirements are a bit too strict.

As Matsuboto Brown exited turn seven on the track, the driving difficulty of the remaining mileage corners will steeply increase.

There is a short straight before turn eight for acceleration, requiring high judgment accuracy on the braking point, followed immediately by a right-angle turn nine.

If you want to maintain speed in this combination of turns, the transition between the two corners must be very smooth.

It’s clear Matsuboto Brown doesn’t have enough strength to handle high-difficulty consecutive turns; he can only slow down as much as possible to prevent sudden braking tire lock-up and skidding, and once again use conservative methods to corner.

Seeing this, Chen Xiangbei’s lips curled slightly, revealing a mocking smile.

Even though his karting skills at home were very poor in his previous life, when he arrived in Europe to encounter his first Formula race in the rain, he wasn’t as conservative as Matsuboto Brown.

He even felt that this couldn’t even be described as conservative—it was cowardly!

Matsuboto Brown’s way of racing made the remaining track mileage lose suspense; when the Renault car crossed the starting line again, the lap time displayed on the computer was 2 minutes and 31.748 seconds.

Sawano Hiroyuki set the minimum standard at running within 2 minutes and 35 seconds. Undoubtedly, Matsuboto Brown met the standard and even exceeded it by more than three seconds.

But Sawano Hiroyuki is not satisfied with this result; Matsuboto Brown, as the Asia-Pacific karting champion driver, should not have this pace.

Thus, he pressed the intercom button on the earpiece, directly issuing instructions to Matsuboto Brown, "Matsuboto, this lap needs speed, show me your potential."

Sawano Hiroyuki doesn’t know whether Matsuboto Brown is truly unaccustomed to wet track conditions, or if the wager with Chen Xiangbei brought him psychological pressure.

It’s worth noting that in previous dry land normal training, Matsuboto Brown’s fastest single lap could reach 2 minutes and 8.332 seconds, just under 3 seconds off the track record!

While the gap seems significant, the fact is that the fastest lap time for the Suzuka Circuit’s Renault Formula is set by future F1 driver Kobayashi Kamui, known as Japan’s new generation of genius drivers.

Kobayashi Kamui has almost swept every championship title in Japan in karting and lower-level Formula races.

Remember, it’s a complete sweep!

For Matsuboto Brown, a racing academy trainee who has been training for less than a month, being two to three seconds slower compared to top genius drivers like Kobayashi Kamui is quite normal.

"Received, Director Sawano."

The previous lap time of 2 minutes and 31 seconds was indeed not Matsuboto Brown’s limit. He spent the first lap familiarizing himself with the track conditions and feel; only now is it time to fully push!

As the second lap begins, Matsuboto Brown’s speed visibly increases, and he no longer takes the most conservative routes for corners, opting selectively to eat curbs to enhance speed.

"I told you, this is Matsuboto’s strength."

"It seems Matsuboto was too cautious before. If the Chinese rookie can meet Director Sawano’s minimum requirements, that’s commendable."

"I have a hunch Matsuboto will at least break the 2-minute 30-second barrier this lap."

The racing academy began to discuss animatedly. Matsuboto Brown’s hard strength is evident, and it’s simply a matter of adapting to the rainy track environment.

Soon the lap swept by, the display screen’s lap time stopped at 2 minutes and 27.691 seconds.

Upon seeing this number, cheering erupted in the P-room.

Achieving this lap time with full rain tires is already quite impressive; with Matsuboto Brown’s adaptability and speed of improvement, running into 2 minutes and 25 seconds in the final lap is not unexpected!

Indeed, a karting champion still possesses the essence of a champion.

As everyone cheered, Sawano Hiroyuki shifted his attention to Chen Xiangbei.

Based on Matsuboto Brown’s lap speed, for Chen Xiangbei to win despite a 5-second concession, he’d need to run at least into 2 minutes and 20 seconds for stability.

Full rain tire speeds are inherently slower than slick tires, compounded by slippery and complex track conditions. If Chen Xiangbei can run into 2 minutes and 20 seconds, the lap time converted might be very close to the track record.

That is Kobayashi Kamui’s track record!

Despite widespread opposition, Sawano Hiroyuki managed to let Chen Xiangbei obtain the racing academy’s trial training qualification.

But he merely wanted to give the Chinese rookie a chance; it doesn’t signify he considers Chen Xiangbei to possess true mega talent or potential.

As long as Matsuboto Brown runs full out into 2 minutes and 25 seconds, Chen Xiangbei can be said to have no chance of winning—the Honda Racing Academy’s training career hasn’t even begun before it’s prematurely declared over.

Yet during Sawano Hiroyuki’s observation of Chen Xiangbei, he unexpectedly discovered this Chinese rookie showed no change in facial expression from start to finish, not a hint of tension or anxiety.

As if he’s completely unaware that a lap time of 2 minutes and 27 seconds means anything, or hasn’t even realized the difficulty of winning the wager on a rainy track.

In Sawano Hiroyuki’s perspective, Chen Xiangbei merely calmly focused on watching the screen image, ignoring the cheers and provocations behind him from the racing academy trainees.

In Sawano Hiroyuki’s coaching career at the Honda Racing Academy, he has yet to encounter such a peculiar rookie; he can only think of two possibilities.

Either Chen Xiangbei is indulging in failure, believing outright loss is inconsequential.

Or he possesses absolute confidence, that no matter what lap time Matsuboto Brown sets, he will certainly be 5 seconds ahead.

Under normal circumstances, the mindset is likely the former.

Yet for some unknown reason, Sawano Hiroyuki somehow believes it’s more likely the latter!