F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 170 The Chosen One of Le Mans
At 10:21 a.m., before the team had even notified Hartley to stop at the pits, Hartley proactively reported to the team that he needed to stop for refueling.

这也是自早上8点27之后，8号车组对比隔壁7号车组多出来的第2轮进站，现在8号车的总体油耗似乎比7号车那边要高出了13%到20%左右。

"Okay Brandon, get ready after you enter the pit. We'll switch to Shu next round."

"Copy! Does he have any good ideas? I can't save fuel at all if I want to maintain my lap time right now!"

Faced with the hopeful gaze of the engineer, Shulong, who had already prepared his equipment, simply shrugged honestly.

He said he didn't know, he was just trying it out.

"OK? Good luck to him!"

He went through a very smooth process of changing drivers at the station, and also took the opportunity to change the tire and add fuel. Before closing the door, Hartley patted Shulong on the shoulder as if giving him a final, heartfelt pat.

With about six hours left in the race, given car number 8's current fuel consumption, it's only a matter of time before it's overtaken by car number 7.

In fact, because of this stop, the mileage completed by car number 7 has now surpassed that of car number 8. Perhaps when they stop again, they will return the position, but at most it will only slightly delay the issuance of the death certificate.

It's fair to say that whoever takes the lead in driving the race car during this period will be under immense psychological pressure.

Problems with racing cars may be an objective reality, but a large number of people only focus on the objective facts that they can see.

That means that car number 8 was overtaken by the opponent while you were driving. No matter how much you contributed before, at this moment your only identity is that of the culprit who caused the team to lose the race.

So when Hartley watched Shu Long drive out of the pit lane, he felt a sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Ahem! Are you there?"

"Yes? You say so!"

"Please keep an eye on the lap times for me, and mark any places where the pace is particularly slow."

"Copy! But your tires haven't warmed up yet on the first lap. The Dunlop corners are all yellow, and the Essos high-speed corners are also yellow, but the time lost here isn't too much."

The dragon opposite TR grunted in response, indicating that the other person didn't need to come out and talk at every turn to distract him. He should mark the corners first and then finish talking to him in one go on the next lap. Then he continued to focus all his attention on adjusting and memorizing the details.

Hydraulic pressure failure is a problem that can be considered both major and minor.

The good news is that the car is still drivable, so it won't have to be withdrawn from the race and mean that all the effort of the previous eighteen hours has been wasted.

The bad news is that the race car is very sensitive and fragile at this time, and it may break down at any time if you upset it. In addition, the power output being affected and the fuel consumption being abnormal are just minor side problems.

So, if you want to solve this problem while maintaining your basic lap time, the answer is simple: "loosen the oil."

Slowing down the throttle is a mandatory skill that must be mastered in all motorsports, including F1 races. In fact, Shu Long has had many situations in the race where he needed to slow down the throttle before the braking point and in certain corners.

Especially with Haas's sensitive suspension last year, Shu Long often loosened the throttle not to save fuel and avoid failing the post-race inspection and being disqualified, but simply to reduce the burden on the car's brakes and suspension.

In touring car endurance racing, the reliance on throttle release is even greater than in Formula One, where throttle release is often done precisely to improve lap times.

Just like what Alonso said to Shu Long before the race – “Slow is steady, steady is fast.”

This is not only a trick for endurance racing in long-distance races, but also a counterintuitive fact about ensuring the speed of a car on a single lap. Touring car drivers need to contend with not only speed, but also their own patience.

Because touring cars are more sensitive to the center of gravity and inertia of racing cars, releasing the throttle before entering a corner can reduce the load on the chassis and frame caused by the car's inertia in the corner, making the angle and posture of the car entering the corner smoother.

The word "smooth" is often equated with "fast," even in Formula and rally racing, where cars need to be tamed more wildly.

Although Formula One and rally racing seem like two extremes of civilization and wildness, their relationship is more like two extremes of wildness expressed in different ways.

F1, beneath its refined handling lies a direct and brutal confrontation with mechanics, while rally, with its magnificent and grand performances, contains meticulous control.

Compared to them, the positioning of touring car endurance racing is a little awkward.

It feels like it's not quite like either of the two sides, but it has absorbed some of the characteristics of both sides. Unfortunately, it seems that neither side's experience can solve the current predicament of car number 8.

"Neither here nor there" is Hartley's current assessment of the car's condition, much like touring car endurance racing itself.

There's no way to compensate for the car's disadvantages to some extent through more extreme driving and racing lines like in Formula 1, nor is there a way to reduce the car's power loss under complex track conditions with unexpected creativity like in rally racing.

Despite not having "Formula" in its name and having more freedom in car manufacturing rules compared to Formula, endurance racing is more like being confined to a very narrow framework compared to the other two types of racing.

Because of the inherent limitations of racing car performance, the price of taking the unconventional route is losing much more time than others.

Pine oil?

Everyone knows that you need to loosen the grease. If car #8 wants to save fuel, it can only loosen the grease more than car #7. But how can the speed be guaranteed in this case?

For Hartley, he would rather weld the throttle shut on the track and eventually have to pit due to car malfunctions and lose his position than be humiliated by others on the track by loosening the throttle.

"How did things go on that last lap?"

"Forehead"

Gade didn't answer Hartley's question immediately. He quickly checked the notes he had hastily made earlier, opened TR, and began to broadcast the information to Shulong rapidly.

Since the previous lap was the exit lap, the overall lap time is not very meaningful. Instead, the time lost at each corner is crucial for Shulong.

Of the 37 turns in that loop, Shulong suffered a relatively significant time loss on 24 of them.

It was a complete disaster.

Hartley first slapped his forehead in regret, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Unfortunately, if even Shulong can't help them, then their No. 8 crew may have to accept the fact that the championship has been handed over to someone else.

Fortunately, if Shu Long had truly solved the problem that even WEC world champions couldn't solve, what would they have done with all those championship trophies they won in the past few years, which now seem a bit too hot to handle?
But now is not the time to give up. At this point, Shu Long’s task is to find a driving scheme that has the least impact on lap time through comparison and adjustment.

This includes the selection of the braking line, the judgment of the timing of throttle release and throttle application, and the corresponding braking points and braking force, etc.

Everything must serve the purpose of "smoothness," the ultimate in smoothness!
"Smooth-operator~"

"What?"

I don't know what got into Shulong, but he suddenly remembered the mysterious TR that Sainz had been ridiculed for so long last year, and for a moment he couldn't help but sing a line out.

"It's just a Smooth operator~ It's nothing, you don't need to worry about it. By the way, could you please record the situation for this lap as well, thanks?"

"."

The people in the P room were speechless at Shu Long's antics, but the atmosphere, which had been somewhat gloomy due to despair and exhaustion, had become much more relaxed.

Sitting in the corner, wearing headphones and dozing off, Eren Kruger forced himself to stay awake. He thoughtfully held up the back of a ballpoint pen to his chin and then took out a small notebook to add a few more character design proposals for the movie's protagonist that could be considered.

Don't ask him why he's here. When you have big projects and massive resources backing you, you can get through most places in the world without any obstacles. In fact, he'd been to many teams' pit garages these past few days, but ultimately chose to stay with Toyota after the race started.

Although Shu Long has not yet had any formal communication with him, he sees this young man as an inexhaustible source of valuable material. All Yi Lun needs to do is to do some artistic processing of what he sees and hears in a cinematic style.

Soon, the lap times for the next lap of Shulong were tallied.

Compared to the previous exit lap, the number of corners where car #8 experienced a significant speed loss has been reduced to 14. However, in some corners where the issues remain unresolved and the speed loss is not substantial, the overall time has now more than doubled.

Moreover, Shulong also lost a significant amount of time at the end of the Mulsanne straight in the previous lap, and was nearly three seconds slower than car number 7 in the same stage.

"Okay, I got it. Let's check the next lap."

As the competition neared its final stages, Hartley, who had originally planned to find a sleeping bag for a short rest, suddenly became alert, biting his lower lip tightly, seemingly lost in thought.

Shulong made adjustments through trial and error, and by the sixth lap, his lap time was on par with his usual long-distance push lap time, temporarily stabilizing his lead over car number 7, which had made another pit stop, at 12 seconds.

"Did you record the throttle and brake pedal curves just now?"

"Yes! Brandon is already taking notes!"

"Where's Nakajima?"

He is having a meal.

"Hurry him up, he should be in better form right now, I need to manage my own game time!"

At 12:43 PM, with about three hours left in the competition, Shu Long's total playing time had already reached nearly nine hours.

For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the rules stipulate that the total duration of a single match cannot exceed 14 hours, and the duration of a single match cannot exceed four hours.

However, there is a rule that the total time must not be less than 6 hours. In other words, unless a driver in the team is injured and there is a shortage of drivers, the maximum time for each driver to participate in the competition is theoretically only 12 hours.

Logically speaking, Shulong should still have plenty of time left, which is more than enough to finish all the remaining matches. They should take this opportunity to stabilize the current time difference and try to further expand it.

Since he rebuilt his current fuel-efficient driving style, it has been about two hours. During this time, with his precise line and point judgment as if programmed, plus the occasional extra lap to push hard for a turn or two, he has now consolidated his advantage back to 26 seconds.

Although there were no oil pressure issues with vehicle number 7 for the time being, after driving for a long time, the identical design made them hesitant to act recklessly.

Furthermore, they seem to have discovered the cause of their frequent tire leaks and pressure loss: several previous experiences driving on gravel roads had caused minor damage and deformation to their chassis and suspension, resulting in slight imbalances in their race car.

Given this trend, if car number 8 can maintain its composure, winning the championship is not out of the question.

However, the problem lies in the additional rule regarding race duration: for the sake of the drivers' health, the total driving time within any six-hour period must not exceed four hours.

In other words, although Shu Long seems to have three hours left, he actually has less than two hours left to stay on the race car. He needs someone else to fill the gap in between.

Hartley had only just gotten off the bus and hadn't had much rest yet, so it was clearly more appropriate for Nakajima Kazuki to do the job.

Although the other person's nickname and name are a bit eerie
"No, no, I might not be able to. I'll definitely make us lose!"

Shu Long was willing to ignore all the random coincidences and choose to trust his teammates, but Nakajima Kazuki seemed unable to escape his past nightmares, and was completely consumed by self-blame and internal conflict.

First, he crashed his car in practice, causing potential problems in the race. Then, during the race, the car broke down again while he was in charge. It was as if his fate was cursed by the name "Kneeling at the Finish Line".

At nearly 37 years old, Nakajima is already considered old among racing drivers. His confidence was further shaken by his own mistakes and the huge gap between him and Shu Long, who was only 21 years old. Nakajima even considered retiring after the season ended.
However, his condition was clearly no longer suitable for being entrusted with important tasks, so the crew could only place their hopes on Hartley.

"I should be able to do it. I've been studying your throttle and brake curves for a long time. You made a substitution a little early last round, so I should be able to hold on for this hour."

At 12:49, Shulong entered the station, and car number 8 was replaced by Hartley to continue the competition.

After only two laps, Hartley, feeling like he had secretly learned some incredible martial arts secrets, couldn't wait to turn on his TR and ask how his lap time was.

"Your lap time is great, but Brandon, you need to watch your fuel consumption a bit. We can't just focus on speed right now!"

"Okay, okay! My goodness, this is really not easy. Is Shu still there? Where should I adjust?"

"I'm here." Shu Long grabbed a handful of chocolate, chewed it haphazardly, swallowed it, took the earphones that Gade handed him, and then asked, "Have you studied route maps?"

"A little bit."

"Great, I'll remind you about two to three seconds in advance where to release the accelerator and brake. As for the throttle response when exiting the corner, that's up to you. Remember, Smooth—operator~"

"OK, thank you! Copy!"

Driving data curves are just a reference. The performance of a race car during driving is dynamic. Copying others' work may shorten the time spent on detours, but to truly forge your own path, you still have to rely on yourself.

哈特利这一节从12：50一直跑到了14：06，束龙也一直隔空指挥他指挥到了14：06，和康韦驾驶的7号车之间差距从26被追回到了7秒。

Given that he wasn't particularly familiar with the operation and was receiving on-site command from Shu Long remotely, Hartley's performance was already quite good; at least he didn't cause the No. 8 crew to have to make an extra refueling trip.

Similarly, Gade, who had remained steadfast until now, notified Hartley to come to the station. Shu Long grabbed a genuine bottle of Oreo Blue and White from the side, opened the cap, and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls.

Then quickly put on the balaclava and helmet, ready to help Hartley open the door and take over the baton.

Stop, change drivers, add fuel and change tires.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong. The No. 8 crew worked together smoothly, except that Shulong choked a bit after drinking those few mouthfuls of Red Bull in such a rush.

This stuff is carbonated, and the lethality it causes when swallowed is about the same as cola.

Feeling the four tires land with a thud, Shulong didn't hesitate at all, snapping on the clutch and cleanly throwing himself out of the repair area.

Only then did the breath that had been stuck in his throat prepare to turn into a burp, but Shu Long held it in and exhaled through his nose, his entire nasal cavity burning from the hot carbon dioxide.

"Wow~ This is way more energizing than any energy drink!"

Although a few hot tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, it did not stop him from having his buffs maxed out and going all out at this moment.

Next door, in the final stage, was their absolute mainstay, Kobayashi Kamui. This was the first time that Shulong had faced off against this former Toyota pole position king in this year's Le Mans race.

However, after enduring continuous hardship, many drivers now have vacant eyes, crooked noses and mouths. Not everyone is as resilient as Shulong, who has a full physique and is blessed with "special energy".

下午16：07，丰田的8号车在束龙共计11个小时的驾驶之下，以领先7号18秒的优势率先冲过摇着方格旗的胖大叔。

Relaxed? Excited? It seems more like a feeling of relief.

Unlike F1, where you have to fight until the very last moment, Shulong was already ready to win when there were still 20 minutes left in the race.

Her lips trembled slightly, but she managed to keep them pursed in a reserved manner, letting out a soft, slightly pleasurable hum through her nose.

"Looks like the God of Racing still loves me~ Thank you, Le Mans."

(End of this chapter)