CHAPTER 94: CHAPTER 83: A BRAND NEW TRACK RECORD

"There’s something off about this kid called Xiangbei!"

Hashimoto Ichiro’s accompanying driver expressed doubt. They all run underground races, so naturally, their understanding of vehicles and driving skills far exceeds that of tourists visiting the Suzuka Circuit.

The coordination between throttle and clutch is the most basic yet hardest thing for a driver to master.

Not to mention ordinary drivers, even at the F1 level, there are clear distinctions in skill.

Just like Norris with the McLaren Team in 2024, his hard skills are not lacking, and he’s driving the strongest contenders car for the championship in the second half, yet he still cannot threaten Verstappen’s championship status.

A big reason is that Norris, even when starting at the front row, has shortcomings in the start and racing line, causing him to fall back in position.

In top-tier battles, the front-row drivers are as if god-like fighters, it’s like climbing a mountain to overtake if you fall behind, especially against the hexagon warrior Verstappen?

Chen Xiangbei managed to achieve the same acceleration as a modified GTR with a car that has inferior performance. Either Hashimoto Ichiro made an operational error, like tire burn or slipping, or shifting too slowly, or Xiangbei’s throttle clutch coordination is a notch above his opponent.

Looking at the situation on the spot, it seems more like the latter!

"Yamamoto-san, what do you think of this kid’s skill level?"

The young man driving the Audi RS4 in the group turned to ask the driver in the Mazda RX7.

Hashimoto Ichiro, being an underground mountain racer, came to the Suzuka Circuit today more to accompany this driver named "Yamamoto-san".

His full name is Yamamoto Naoki, a disciple of Takahashi Guoguang, a legendary figure in Japan’s racing world, known for creating the famous Japanese SUPER GT tournament.

Yamamoto Naoki’s racing talent is equally astonishing; he is a dual-surface driver in formula and touring car races. In history, he has won the Japan Super Formula championship titles in 2013 and 2018.

This Japan Formula championship title is extremely prestigious, second only to Formula One in speed, faster than F2 (GP2), and many famous F1 drivers, including Schumacher, have competed.

In 2018, Yamamoto Naoki partnered with F1 world champion Jenson Button, winning the Japan Super GT’s drivers’ championship, truly reaching the pinnacle of Japanese circuit racing.

He was also pushed strongly by the Honda Group in 2019, replacing the Red Bull Driver Gasly for practice races. If not for age and a crash, he might have seized a spot with the factory team’s sponsorship advantage.

But all these achievements are future history; currently, Yamamoto Naoki is preparing for the Renault European Tour, a ticket to top-notch racing zones that every Asia-Pacific driver desires.

"Very strong, at least professional level."

Yamamoto Naoki said this with a serious expression.

He initially thought this would be Hashimoto Ichiro’s easy entertainment; after all, the Japanese peers who are skilled have all crossed paths in karting or touring car events.

In the Honda Racing Academy, only Hoshino Yoshi caught Yamamoto Naoki’s eye.

Now, out of nowhere comes a kid showing hard skills at the start not weaker than Hashimoto Ichiro, no wonder Hoshino Yoshi said they were sure to lose.

With this realization, Yamamoto Naoki looked towards the other side of the stands at Hoshino Yoshi and walked over.

Meanwhile, although Chen Xiangbei did not fall behind in the start, as the two cars advanced side-by-side onto the track, in the full-throttle acceleration section, the gap immediately widened.

Chen Xiangbei’s G35 has a maximum horsepower of 275, while the opponent’s GTR, according to Hoshino Yoshi’s description, has a minimum horsepower of 350 or more, not to mention the shift response and modified optimization differences.

The horsepower gap of at least 75 is enough for the GTR to eat the G35 on the straight. After all, everyone can floor the throttle; at this point, it’s more limited by the vehicle’s physical performance than the driver’s skill level.

At this moment, Hashimoto Ichiro’s GTR enters the corner first; although he is a professional mountain racer, due to the Suzuka National Track’s status, any Japanese driver is familiar with it.

Hashimoto Ichiro’s cornering line is very proficient, much faster than the hobbyists on the track, theoretically leaving no room for Chen Xiangbei to catch up.

With this confidence and pride, after exiting the corner, Hashimoto Ichiro glanced at the rearview mirror, wanting to see how far he could shake off the novice opponent in the bend.

The result from that glance almost made him question reality; he just saw Chen Xiangbei’s extremely smooth cornering line, and the speed in the corner far exceeded his GTR, instantly closing the distance widened by the full-throttle straight.

"Nani, so fast?"

Hashimoto Ichiro couldn’t believe his eyes; even racing against Yamamoto Naoki never shocked him this much!

On the stands, Yamamoto Naoki’s mood was similar to Hashimoto Ichiro’s; he had seen the technical content of Chen Xiangbei’s cornering line, a standard formula driver shoulder-exiting method.

Hashimoto Ichiro was still running as if on a mountain road, only to encounter a crushing defeat.

The shoulder acts like the "drainage channel" on mountain roads, using a widened road area to obtain larger cornering space and faster cornering speed.

Mountain racers, unless they are extremely familiar "local snakes," generally don’t dare to use the drainage channel for cornering, who knows whether the grille cover on top is sturdy, if it collapses, it would be over.