Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 128 A Strength That Can Be Called Evolutionary (Part Two)

Buy vehicle advertising space?
Upon hearing Qin Lianjie's idea, Chen Xiangbei began to ponder it.

Formula One sponsorship comes in many forms, including direct sponsorship of drivers and direct sponsorship of teams.

Another method is to indirectly sponsor a team through driver connections, which is somewhat similar to the later internet slang term "bringing investment into the team".

There are two main reasons why indirect sponsorship occurs through a "passing through a middleman".

The first reason is that drivers have limited influence, and sponsors need advertising space on the race car to expand brand awareness.

Just like the "Big Three" Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari, the focus of the entire F1 race broadcast is basically 70-80% on them. At this time, the advertisements on the race cars are equivalent to a global live broadcast.

Conversely, the advertisements on the drivers' racing suits may not get much screen time throughout the race if they don't get featured in pre- or post-race interviews.

At the same time, sponsoring a team through driver relationships can also help secure a spot. If the team wants to terminate the contract and replace a driver, they also have to consider whether the sponsor will leave with them!

The second scenario occurs when competing for an F1 seat requires a large amount of money.

In this situation, the primary consideration is not advertising space on the racetrack, but simply that the sponsor needs an F1 driver present in the paddock so that the cost can be recovered through other marginal effects.

For example, when Zhou Guanyu joined Juss Sports, the biggest sponsor of F1, there was no logo on the Alfa Romeo race car at the time, and they didn't care about such an advertising space.

Even many ordinary people don't know that it is Zhou Guanyu's biggest sponsor.

But as long as Zhou Guanyu can appear in the F1 paddock and the Chinese Grand Prix can be held as scheduled, Juss Sports will have achieved its goal.

Peng Sheng's sponsorship of Chen Xiangbei, and his promise to pay for his competition for an F1 seat, were, in a sense, based on similar reasons.

Under normal circumstances, with indirect sponsorship from drivers, the team would definitely profit from the money.

However, Chen Xiangbei's participation in the Grand Prix is ​​special, as he represents the Brawn GP team.

The problem is that Brown GP has just completed its restructuring and acquisition, and it doesn't have an F3 team at all; it's just a name without substance.

Chen Xiangbei handled all the event expenses and technical support himself.

With equal rights and responsibilities, the revenue generated during the event belongs to Chen Xiangbei as well, and he does not have to share the money with any team.

"No problem, just transfer the money to my card."

Chen Xiangbei nodded and agreed immediately.

There's also the possibility that Qin Lianjie is sponsoring the project as a favor, with Cao An willing to contribute money to jointly purchase advertising space on the race car. From a business perspective, this means the benefits will definitely outweigh the expenses.

Since it's a mutually beneficial deal, what's there to hesitate about?
After finalizing the sponsorship arrangements, we simply chatted casually while enjoying the mountain breeze.

Qin Lianjie talked about the changes in Nanyun Mountain after Chen Xiangbei left, and the adoration he received from the underground racing circles in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

After all, in the eyes of the outside world, this is a legend who went from the streets to an F1 team!
Think about it, a high school student who was called a "loser" just a year ago has now signed with the Brawn GP team and is about to participate in the famous Australian Grand Prix.

The whole process was like making up a story...

Many local drivers from Nanyun Mountain, whether they know Chen Xiangbei or not, are now boasting about having raced against "Driver Bei" and treating it as their glorious achievement.

So much so that even Show-off Hui, who had actually raced with Chen Xiangbei and was a laughingstock for a long time, unexpectedly turned his life around and became a celebrity in Nanyun Mountain after Chen Xiangbei signed with the Brawn GP team.

It's not surprising that the Mercedes-AMG lost to the Corolla, which is considered a "car god".

It's like asking you to drive a Ferrari; it doesn't necessarily mean you can outrun Schumacher's "three-wheeled car."

When Qin Lianjie recounted these words, Chen Xiangbei glanced at Shaiminghui with a complicated expression.

He never expected that he would let this bastard take advantage of him!
After telling the story of Nanyun Mountain, Qin Lianjie asked, "Xiang Bei, when do you plan to go to Macau?"

"Just these two days."

"But before going to Macau, I still need to visit my elders in Hong Kong."

The elder Chen Xiangbei was referring to was Zhang Zhicong. Although Zhang had retired from the racing industry, he still provided considerable help to Chen.

Are you familiar with the Guia Circuit?

"Not familiar with it."

Chen Xiangbei readily admitted this.

Before returning home, he carefully watched Grand Prix race videos, trying to familiarize himself with the track in this way.

The problem is that the more he looked, the more he discovered that the details of the Guia Circuit in Australia changed almost every year.

This includes changes to the asphalt road, changes to pre-race renovations, and even different placements of metal railings, water-filled barriers, and tire buffer walls!
It's important to know that street racing, due to the lack of sufficient run-off areas, demands extremely high precision in handling. Top drivers judge the distance to the edge of the track to the centimeter standard.

If you're at the level of Senna or Schumacher, it wouldn't be surprising to see cornering handling that's accurate to the millimeter.

Note that this centimeter and millimeter standard is based on the premise of racing cars cornering at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, not on driving a family car and slowly brushing the edges, claiming that you can also have centimeter-level handling precision.

A story about Ayrton Senna, the legendary racing driver, still circulates today. In 84, at the Dallas Grand Prix in the United States, because the track was a temporary conversion of a street and a park, the organizers used billboards as barriers to save money.

During qualifying's flying lap, Senna's front wing hit the wall. After returning to the pits, he reported to the team that it wasn't his fault, but rather that the track barrier had intentionally "hit" him, and requested an investigation from the race organizers.

If anyone else had said those words, they would probably have thought this guy was really trying to shift the blame.

Damn it, it's one thing to drive your car onto the wall, but to come up with such an outrageous excuse!

But this person is the legendary genius driver Ayrton Senna, and he repeatedly emphasized to the team that he did not crash into the wall when cornering in the same way on the previous lap, that he did not make any mistakes in his handling, and that the cornering line was exactly the same.

With this question in mind, the team requested an investigation from the FIA, which involved on-site measurements and video recordings by race officials.

It was determined that due to a fixed defect in the billboard, a driver's tire scraped against it, causing the vehicle to shift less than two centimeters.

Immediately after Senna's flying lap, due to this less than two-centimeter change in the track, the front wing crashed into the wall.

If Senna's story seems too distant, there are similar stories in China.

Han Han's assessment of his own control precision was based on the thickness of a book.

Whether this book is a dictionary or a regular workbook depends entirely on the player's state of mind, performance, and familiarity with the track.

“I’m quite familiar with the Guia Circuit in Macau, and since it’s not a closed track, I can run a couple of laps with you to get acquainted with it.”

"You've even run the Guia Circuit?"

Chen Xiangbei sounded somewhat surprised.

Qin Lianjie isn't unwilling to become a professional racer, so how could he be familiar with the Guia Circuit?

“I didn’t run the Guia Circuit, but rather the Guia Street.”

"Don't forget, I'm from Hong Kong Island."

Qin Lianjie specifically emphasized that only during the closed-door competition period can the East Guia be called a race track; otherwise, it is just an ordinary street.

Before coming to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, he had participated in underground races on Hong Kong Island. To some extent, Hong Kong and Macau are inseparable, so he was naturally quite familiar with the road features of Guia.

"Okay, I'll let you know when I get to Hong Kong Island."

After chatting for a while, Chen Xiangbei glanced at his phone and saw that it was already 1 p.m.

"Qin Lianjie, are you busy later?"

"It's nothing. What do you need me to do?"

Qin Lianjie countered with a question, knowing that Chen Xiangbei never spoke nonsense.

"It's nothing, it's just that it's hard to get a taxi on this mountaintop, could you give me a ride?"

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Qin Lianjie's face as he recalled his first meeting with Chen Xiangbei.

This guy didn't have a car, so he took a motorcycle taxi to the top of Nanyun Mountain.

Thinking of this, Qin Lianjie took out his car keys from his pocket and handed them over.

"You drive."

"Want me to show off my skills?"

Having spent a long time with Qin Lianjie, Chen Xiangbei now understands his intentions very well.

"Ah."

Qin Lianjie nodded. So many members of the Light Spot Racing Team had come today, each with an expectant expression. To put it bluntly, they all wanted to witness firsthand just how fast and strong Chen Xiangbei, the legendary racing god of Nanyun Mountain, really was.

Take a look at the difference between a professional Formula One driver and a street/mountain road driver.

"Then I'll take two turns."

Chen Xiangbei at this point would naturally not be running a mountain road race.

However, demonstrating a few cornering techniques is not a big problem.

After taking the car keys from Qin Lianjie, he got into the driver's seat of the Civic Type-R and started the engine amidst the "anticipation" of everyone.

To be honest, many people in the Guangzhou and Shenzhen subway car circles praise Chen Xiangbei mainly based on his achievements in Formula One racing, and then embellish the story with various fantasies.

Not many people actually saw Chen Xiangbei running to Nanyun Mountain.

No one has ever seen him complete the entire race.

The reason is simple: Chen Xiangbei has never publicly driven the entire course. The last time he drove a Subaru Impreza STI, he only drove halfway before shaking off Qin Lianjie and then slowed down to drive down the mountain normally.

As Chen Xiangbei stepped on the gas, the Civic Type-R's engine needle precisely stopped at 5,000 RPM, and then remained motionless as if it were fixed in place.

When Qin Lianjie, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw this scene, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

It's important to know that this car is a heavily modified Civic Type-R. From the chassis to the suspension to the powertrain, almost everything that can be modified has been changed. The entire tuning data is completely different from the original, and even the engine speed has reached the track-level standard of 10,000 rpm.

If someone else were preparing for a launch start and revving the engine in neutral, facing such a high-revving engine, they would instinctively rev it too high. At that point, due to the excessive starting torque, the tires wouldn't be able to handle it and would spin out.

Chen Xiangbei got the approximate optimal starting speed right the first time he drove this car. Could this be the top-level driving feel that Formula One drivers possess?
"Are you sitting tight?"

Chen Xiangbei placed his hand on the handbrake and asked Qin Lianjie in a low voice.

"Ah."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "snap" sound as the handbrake was applied, and the Civic Type-R shot off like an arrow, without the slightest tire squeal throughout the entire process.

"Captain An, Chen Xiangbei's start is as precise as ever."

Tao, a member of the Guangdian Racing Team, said with deep emotion.

He had personally witnessed Chen Xiangbei's two runs in Nanyun Mountain, especially the one where he ran a Corolla against Shaiminghui's Mercedes-AMG. He vividly remembered the precise coordination of the clutch and accelerator during the start.

Tao Zai even followed Qin Lianjie to the middle of the road to carefully observe whether Chen Xiangbei left any burn marks on the tires when he started driving. As it turned out, there weren't any!
It was from that moment that he realized the extraordinary nature of high school students.

The long straight stretch of road passed in an instant, and soon Chen Xiangbei drove his Civic Type-R to the first C-shaped bend.

In the past, Chen Xiangbei always chose to take corners by using the line method, partly because it was a habit of Formula One drivers, and partly because in most cases, drifting through corners is not as fast as using the line method.

But this time it was purely a "performance," and he used drifting, which is more preferred by street racers.

As Chen Xiangbei slowed down to enter the curve, he simultaneously pressed the brake and accelerator with his right foot, and then quickly downshifted with his right hand, performing an extremely standard and fast heel-and-toe maneuver.

Qin Lianjie was not at all surprised that Chen Xiangbei knew how to do the "heel-toe" move on the street.

After all, for those who have reached the level of F1 test drivers, the operation is not a matter of whether they know how to do it, but whether they like to use it or not.

What truly surprised Qin Lianjie was that, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tachometer needle return to the 5,000 RPM mark, remaining as steady as a rock without the slightest fluctuation.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Xiangbei swerved the steering wheel sharply, then pulled the handbrake and swerved through the bend, the front of the car scraping against the guardrail on the inside of the bend, with the distance between them never exceeding five centimeters!
His Civic Type-R drifted past with an incredibly smooth motion, as if its wheels had been oiled.

The engine speed maintained when exiting the corner came into play. The optimal torque and gear combination allowed Chen Xiangbei to straighten the steering wheel and lightly tap the accelerator, and the car sped off again. The power delivery was extremely smooth throughout the process!
It's worth noting that Qin Lianjie's Civic Type-R is a front-engine, front-wheel-drive model.

This means that during the entire drifting and cornering process, Chen Xiangbei relied entirely on the speed of entering the corner to accurately fishtail, and could not do the same kind of throttle correction in the corner as a rear-wheel drive car.

If there were even the slightest flaw in his handling, or the slightest misjudgment of the speed entering and exiting the corner, Chen Xiangbei would never have been able to perform such a perfect drift.

But this was the first time he had ever driven his own Civic Type-R!
Qin Lianjie asked himself honestly, he could never have done that kind of drifting maneuver and cornering speed.

So Chen Xiangbei's strength has reached such a terrifying level?

To be honest, this feeling is completely different from the impact of sitting in the audience and watching Chen Xiangbei's match.

After all, no one understands the characteristics and limits of his car better than Qin Lianjie.

At that moment, he deeply felt the absolute gap between himself and professional drivers!

Moreover, the drivers on the mountaintop platform were equally stunned as they watched the entire race.

"Holy crap, even Brother Jie himself couldn't drift out of that cornering trajectory just now, right?"

"I've never seen a front-wheel-drive car drift like that."

"The problem is that Chen Xiangbei is a Formula One driver. Drifting isn't his forte, so how fast and skilled can he be at racing?"

"Nonsense, otherwise how could he become the racing god of Nanyun Mountain?"

Amidst gasps of surprise, Chen Xiangbei quickly arrived at the second V-shaped bend.

This time his drift was even more precise. The front of the car seemed to freeze in place like a compass, and then the rear of the car drew a perfect arc.

Upon witnessing this scene, Qin Lianjie was speechless.

I initially thought I'd run into Chen Xiangbei, but now it seems like I was just humiliating myself!

For the next S-curve, Chen Xiangbei didn't continue drifting and instead used a straight line to get through.

The people on the mountaintop platform witnessed once again what it meant to turn a curve into a straightaway. Chen Xiangbei seemed to be driving straight through the curves without even turning the steering wheel, his speed exceeding all expectations!

However, Chen Xiangbei's performance ended abruptly there, and he then drove normally towards the foot of the mountain.

"Xiang Bei, is there really that much career advancement potential?"

Qin Lianjie asked quietly, knowing there was a huge gap between professional and amateur.

I just didn't expect Chen Xiangbei's improvement after turning professional to be so amazing. He seems to be much better than he was during his time at the Suzuka Drivers' Academy in Japan.

"Of course, otherwise why would you say don't use your hobby to challenge your profession?"

"But I feel that compared to ordinary professions, yours is a qualitative leap in evolution!"

Qin Lianjie has had contact with professional racers before; on the contrary, he has met quite a few in the underground racing scene over the years.

No one can bring the same sense of unattainability that Chen Xiangbei has today.

"It's alright, it's not that bad."

Chen Xiangbei smiled. Qin Lianjie's impression of him was probably still that of a Renault trainee.

In fact, with the increase in professional intensity and physical training, Chen Xiangbei has gradually approached the peak strength of his previous life.

This is equivalent to Qin Lianjie experiencing the driving of an F2-level driver, which is naturally far beyond what he has encountered from ordinary professional drivers.

"That's outrageous!"

Qin Lianjie confirmed once again, "As expected, those who can drive Formula One cars are all monsters."

Chen Xiangbei's home is not far from Nanyun Mountain; it only takes about ten minutes to drive to the entrance of the community.

When he got home, his mother, Zhao Yumei, had already prepared a sumptuous meal. She had even taken a few days off to spend more time with her son.

However, Chen Xiangbei didn't have time to stay long. His unfamiliarity with the Guia Circuit was always a concern for him, and he felt uneasy until he mastered it.

In addition, Qin Lianjie said that he was very familiar with the Guia Circuit, which also made Chen Xiangbei want to go to Macau Island to run a couple of laps as soon as possible.

After much hesitation, Chen Xiangbei decided to set off the next day!

As before, Chen Xiangbei left alone in the morning with his luggage; he disliked the fussy farewells.

However, when Chen Xiangbei arrived at the entrance of the residential area this time, he saw a familiar figure walking back and forth. It was Hu Lingfei, who had almost been bullied by that bastard Ma Minghan before.

At the same time, Hu Lingfei, who was carrying a schoolbag, also saw Chen Xiangbei. She froze on the spot, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Ever since Chen Xiangbei dropped out of school to go racing, Hu Lingfei felt as if he had disappeared from her life. She sent him many QQ messages but received no response. Many times, she could only muster up the courage to ask Aunt Zhao for information.

Over time, Hu Lingfei developed a habit of lingering at the breakfast shop at the entrance of the residential area, waiting for Chen Xiangbei to come out to go to school, just like before.

Half a year passed quietly, and just when Hu Lingfei had given up hope, Chen Xiangbei suddenly appeared in front of her. At that moment, she felt as if she were dreaming.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Chen Xiangbei waved and greeted him.

Hu Lingfei only snapped out of her daze upon hearing Chen Xiangbei's voice.

For a moment, I didn't know whether to be happy or to say something else.

My mind went blank, and I instinctively replied, "Long time no see."

"The college entrance exam is just around the corner, you must be studying really hard right now, right?"

Chen Xiangbei didn't notice Hu Lingfei's unusual behavior. In his view, it was just a "long-awaited reunion" between classmates or friends, and the two would just chat for a few minutes.

"Ah."

Upon seeing Hu Lingfei, who remained as shy and introverted as ever, Chen Xiangbei smiled.

Then, suddenly remembering something, she asked, "By the way, did that bastard Ma Minghan stop bothering you after that?"

"No."

Hu Lingfei shook her head.

He then added, "It seems he's pursuing Dong Yuanxi."

Is Ma Minghan pursuing Dong Yuanxi?

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiangbei burst out laughing.

Unless Dong Yuanxi is blind, she could never be interested in a piece of trash like Ma Minghan.

Just then, a taxi drove up from a distance, and Chen Xiangbei quickly waved it down.

"Heading north, where are you going again?"

"Yes, I'm going to Hong Kong Island."

The taxi stopped in front of Chen Xiangbei as soon as he saw him waving.

"Then I'll be going now, see you next time."

Chen Xiangbei opened the car door, intending to get in directly.

"Head north..."

Upon witnessing this scene, Hu Lingfei finally couldn't contain her impulse and called out his name.

"Is there anything else?"

Chen Xiangbei turned around and asked with some confusion.

"I……"

"I...it's okay."

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Hu Lingfei ultimately didn't say them; she herself didn't know what to say.

"Bye-Bye."

Chen Xiangbei waved his hand and got into the taxi.

Hu Lingfei stood there, watching the taxi drive away until it disappeared from her sight.

She was actually a little unsure whether she felt grateful to Chen Xiangbei or if there were other emotions mixed in.

It can only be said that you shouldn't meet someone too amazing when you're young, otherwise they'll become like a white moonlight.

Even if others forget it, you will never forget it.

Just like when Hu Lingfei was most afraid and helpless, Chen Xiangbei appeared by her side.

Of course, Chen Xiangbei, who was in the taxi, was rather oblivious and didn't realize the girl's complicated thoughts.

He took out his phone and was composing a text message, sending his completion time to Qin Lianjie and Zhang Zhicong respectively.

Meanwhile, on Hong Kong Island, Cheung Chi-chung was meeting with a big-nosed international superstar.

Zhang Zhicong was unaware that Chen Xiangbei had already reached a sponsorship agreement with Jiuli Sports. He hoped to use his connections and influence to help Chen Xiangbei secure more sponsorship funds to cover the expenses of participating in the races and to prepare for his future pursuit of an F1 seat.

This international superstar is very passionate about racing and has the idea of ​​forming a top-level racing team. Zhang Zhicong hopes that the other party can shift their attention to Chen Xiangbei.

(End of this chapter)