Speed ​​God

Chapter 70 A blockbuster

"Now, the GP3 drivers are lining up at the pit lane exit, ready to leave. The first one is ART's number two driver, uh, Lu... Lu Zhi... Zhou."

"A first-year student. To be honest, there is no official data for him at the moment. I apologize, it's not that my preparation is insufficient, but that he has not participated in any karting or formula racing records. This is his first time stepping onto the formula racing track, representing ART in the GP3 series."

"So, what's before us now is a completely blank sheet of paper..."

There are only a handful of platforms worldwide that broadcast GP3 ​​races in their entirety, and Sky Sports in the UK is one of them. However, even Sky Sports does not broadcast GP3 ​​free practice sessions. This qualifying session is the first time their chief commentator, David Croft, has seen this group of young men.

Having just watched the third F1 free practice session, Croft was in high spirits, but now he needs to calm down.

He turned to his commentator partner, "Martin, do you have any inside information?"

Martin Brundl, a former F1 driver, never won a race in his four-season career, but his technical analysis skills have shone brightly since his retirement, making him one of the most popular professional commentators in the UK. He currently works for Sky Sports.

Brendel often pays attention to young drivers, but he knows nothing about Lu Zhizhou in front of him. All he knows are some paddock rumors. After all, Lu Zhizhou is just starting out in GP3 and lacks appeal and excitement, so Brendel has not explored him in depth.

At this point, Brendel was not going to share those unfounded rumors. "Next, we'll fill in this blank sheet of paper with his track performance, won't we?"

"From the current perspective, he doesn't mind getting to the track early. This is his first qualifying session in his career, everything is new and unfamiliar, so it's a wise choice for him to aim for a clean and unobstructed track and find his rhythm. The ART team knows its own racing style."

It was immediately clear to Brendel that this was a team strategy, not Lu Zhizhou's own initiative.

This is not a wild guess, but based on evidence.

In the ART team's pit lane, only Lu Zhizhou was on the track; the other three drivers were all waiting, not plunging into the surging traffic.

Clearly, the four drivers had different qualifying strategies.

Inside the race car, Lu Zhizhou was unaware that he had entered the public eye, and even if he had, it wouldn't have affected his focus and concentration.

Taking the lead on the track, Lu Zhizhou is indeed pursuing clean air and track conditions. Perhaps the temperature and grip are not yet at their best, but that's perfect. Lu Zhizhou is also preparing to build up his data on track temperature and wind direction changes, and test the tires.

At noon, the sun was shining brightly, and the track temperature had not yet reached its peak, but it was slowly rising.

With no vehicles ahead, Lu Zhizhou took the lead and could drive at his own pace, allowing Borrepeller to concentrate fully.

He admitted that he was also somewhat expectant, wondering if yesterday's theoretical discussions would bring any surprises today.
First lap, warming up the tires.

The second lap was spent finding the rhythm.

It wasn't until the third lap that Lu Zhizhou finally activated his acceleration mode and entered the "flying lap"—

The so-called "flying lap" is the full-speed mode in ranked matches, where you rely on this lap to set the fastest time and establish your position in the ranked matches.

Of course, due to the conditions at the Barcelona circuit, the speed lap times in the first half of qualifying are often not as good as those in the second half, and sometimes the difference can even reach a second.

However, Lu Zhizhou still started his racing lap, even though his grip was slightly worse now, the focus was on testing his rhythm.

Brendel noticed a detail immediately—

In the first two laps, Lu Zhizhou clearly pressed the throttle very hard in Turns 3 and 9, flying through at high speed. He naturally assumed that this was a rookie's mistake, blindly pursuing the ultimate speed, but forgetting that the left front tire was under great pressure, heated up too quickly, and wore out faster. Therefore, he did not express his thoughts.

That's only natural, isn't it? A young man stepping into the world of Formula racing for the first time makes the most basic and simplest mistakes. There's no need to be too strict or harsh.

However, once inside the speed lap, Brendel immediately noticed the change.

When he approached Turn 3 again, the young man did not continue to floor the accelerator. Instead, he braked early and relied on understeer and precise throttle control to stay close to the apex of the turn at the very edge of the limit. His dynamic balance control was impeccable, and he passed through the turn smoothly and effortlessly in one go, a pure visual treat.

Brendel was taken aback. Was it a coincidence?
Immediately following, the high-speed turn nine and the hairpin turn ten remained smooth and precise. Accelerating all the way, it plunged into the apex of turn ten, completing a beautiful "V" turn with a beautiful steering transition. The perfect coordination of steering and throttle silently brought back the slightly swaying tail, light and smooth, graceful and surging, like a ballet step.

Brendel held his breath, even temporarily forgetting to respond to Croft, his eyes fixed on the red and black race car speeding along the track. It was a streak of light, weaving and maneuvering through turns 13, 14, and 15. Its driving style in the second half was completely different from the first half, like a white streak in the waves, stirring up towering waves of air. Finally, it pushed its speed to the limit as it exited the turn, turning into a blur and speeding away.

Accelerate, accelerate, keep accelerating, push the straightaway speed to the limit, and unleash the full potential of the race car without reservation.

Whoosh.

It flashed by and disappeared in a flash.

1: 34.602.

"First."

"First!"

Croft's passionate voice exploded in my ears.

"In yesterday's free practice session, the fastest lap time was set by ART's Han Se-ryong, at 1 minute 35.087 seconds. Now, with qualifying just underway for less than five minutes, Han Se-ryong's fastest lap time has already been improved by more than 0.4 seconds."

Wow. Unbelievable.

"The maneuvering from turn 13 to the final turn 16 was flawless, and the defending champion ART team's straight-line speed advantage was on full display. I think we need to get to know this name as soon as possible: Lu Zhizhou."

“I have a feeling that we’ll be discussing this name frequently in the future.”

Croft paused, looking at Brendel, about to discuss it, but immediately stopped himself, "Alessi has entered the final straight."

"Alesi's cornering rhythm is excellent, and his overall driving style remains passionate."

"1:34.999!"

"That's a difference of 0.397. Wow. Lu Zhizhou has indeed completed an unbelievable lap, achieving an incredible time even without fully utilizing his grip!"

Strictly speaking, Alesi's lap times are within the normal range, almost the same as yesterday's practice session. Everything is getting into rhythm, and his lap times will gradually improve.

However, an anomaly emerged: Lu Zhizhou completely overturned the established order, causing all the caravans in the paddock to begin to stir.

Should they change their qualifying strategy?

　This is the third update today. There are only a few days left in the final sprint of the new book's run! Dear readers, I'm begging for your support, even if it means tears! The finish line is in sight, please hang in there a little longer, just a little while! Thank you everyone!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)