Chapter 71: Chapter 68: Renault Winter Tour
Is there finally some news?
Seeing this text message, Chen Xiangbei breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Liang Chi didn’t inform him of Japan’s response, if it was a refusal, there wouldn’t be the words "reply quickly" at the end.
There was no doubt that Chen Xiangbei’s racing data passed the Honda Suzuka Racing School’s assessment!
"Mr. Peng, there’s something going on with Huasi Sports, I need to leave first."
"Alright, leave a contact so we can talk about sponsorship later."
Peng Sheng nodded. The brief interaction made him feel that Chen Xiangbei was a straightforward person, and there was no rush to finalize the sponsorship contract.
While they were exchanging contact information, a Civic Type-R and a Mercedes business car approached.
As soon as Qin Lianjie got out of the car, he said in an extremely amazed tone: "Xiangbei, this is the first time I’ve seen brake discs brighter than brake lights. Did you know that in the dark, the Impreza STI’s four rims turned into a wind-fire wheel?"
Qin Lianjie’s words were not an exaggeration. The intense driving had put a lot of pressure on the brakes, making the entire brake disc glow red hot. The darkness magnified this visual effect, making it look like four wind-fire wheels from the outside.
Chen Xiangbei had no time to joke with Qin Lianjie, he just replied: "There’s something up at the Huasi base, I’m heading back first."
With that, Chen Xiangbei sat in the Impreza STI’s driver’s seat and roared away with a step on the gas pedal.
Qin Lianjie was left standing there in surprise, not fully processing what had happened until the Impreza STI’s taillights disappeared from view.
Meanwhile, in Peng Sheng’s mind, a seed of curiosity had sprouted. How did Chen Xiangbei know about his interest in Formula racing?
...
The closed road in the outer ring and the Huasi base both belong to remote areas of East Sea and are not far apart in a straight line.
After driving for just over ten minutes, Chen Xiangbei returned to the racing base, where the interior of the office building was ablaze with lights, and the racing team members were all gathered in the lobby waiting.
As soon as Chen Xiangbei walked in, Lu Xiaoman began clapping and congratulating him.
"Xiangbei, congratulations on passing the Suzuka Racing School review. They’ve invited you to go to Japan immediately to compete for a spot in the Renault Europe tour race!"
The FIA’s tiered Formula race system consists of five levels, with the initial level being the national-level F4 Formula.
The second tier is regional Formula, such as the North American Ford Formula, Asia BMW Formula, Europe Renault Formula, etc.
The remaining are F3, F2 (GP2), and F1.
The vehicle performance of F4 is so poor that it’s often indistinguishable from super karts, so many early Formula drivers choose to skip it and directly participate in regional Formula as the starting point of their professional careers.
Among many regional Formula events, the Europe Renault Formula is recognized for its overall level and attention, and its achievements are widely acknowledged by Formula teams.
For instance, the F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen used the title of Europe Renault Formula champion to skip F3 and GP2, making a historic leap to become an F1 driver!
Under normal circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for Chen Xiangbei to directly participate in the Europe Renault Formula. They wouldn’t accept a driver without a karting championship title, especially not one who is an over-aged Chinese person.
You must know that Formula racing has long been a "noble sport" dominated by whites, and invisible discrimination still exists to some extent.
Even if Chen Xiangbei had achievements, unless they were overwhelming, he often wouldn’t be prioritized.
However, due to the "winter break" tradition in Europe and America, the FIA organizes winter tour races to boost the overall excitement of the events, giving Asia-Pacific region drivers an opportunity to participate.
The 2008 Europe Renault Formula winter tour happens to be held at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit. The capable drivers from the Asia-Pacific region will compete for this entry spot, and the final winner will go to Europe to participate in the Renault Formula official race.
In other words, this is a direct springboard to Europe!
"Congratulations, Xiang Bei-kun."
"Xiangbei, congratulations."
At this moment, other team members in the lobby also congratulated Chen Xiangbei one after another.
They all knew how rare this opportunity was. Considering the disadvantages of age and nationality, it could be said that Chen Xiangbei used his own training speed to create a small miracle.
"Thank you, it’s everyone’s contribution."
Chen Xiangbei nodded in gratitude. At this moment, he felt a mix of emotions, possibly the touch brought by teamwork.
"Alright, it’s just the beginning, don’t act like you’ve never seen the world."
"It’s late, those who should rest, go rest. Wait until you actually enter Renault to celebrate again."
Zhang Zhicong waved his hand to signal everyone to disperse, he had some matters to discuss with Chen Xiangbei.
Once the team members left one by one, Zhang Zhicong spoke: "Xiangbei, the Honda Group has already sent an invitation. I’ll handle your race visa under Huasi Sports’ name, and you might have to depart as soon as tomorrow."
Zhang Zhicong reminded, to give Chen Xiangbei some mental preparation.
The reason he acted so swiftly was that Japan indicated that after Chen Xiangbei’s arrival, he would still need to participate in an internal trial run at the Suzuka Racing School. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even qualify to participate in the tour race.
The reason is simple: the Suzuka Racing School doesn’t quite believe the racing data transmitted by Miyamoto Shigeru.
They suspect the racing data might be incorrect or that the Chinese side, Huasi Sports, might be falsifying it.
Of course, Zhang Zhicong didn’t plan to tell Chen Xiangbei about these company disputes, to avoid causing him any mental burden.
Although Liang Chi always says this kid’s emotions are extremely stable, in Zhang Zhicong’s eyes, Chen Xiangbei is still a young man not yet experienced in the world.
"Uncle Zhang, no problem."
Chen Xiangbei naturally didn’t know about Zhang Zhicong’s considerations, but even if he did, he wouldn’t have any mental burden.
He’s experienced similar doubts and belittlement too many times in his past life and is already indifferent to them.
"By the way, Uncle Zhang, how do we handle the issue of the racing license?"
Zhang Zhicong’s mention of the visa reminded Chen Xiangbei of another important issue: he didn’t have a professional racing license yet!
With the status of a student, no racing license is needed for trial runs and training on the track, but once ready to participate in official events, without a racing license that meets FIA regulations, there wouldn’t even be a qualification to register.
The FIA categorizes racing licenses in six levels from low to high: G, E, C, B, A, S, with the S-level being the legendary Super Driver’s License, exclusive to F1 drivers.
For participating in regional events like the Europe Renault tour, the minimum requirement is a C-Class racing license.
However, the initial plan of Liang Chi and Chen Xiangbei was simply to take advantage of the remaining resources of Huasi Sports before its closure, to accept karting training and gain a foundation in driving Formula cars.
They never thought they would receive a recommendation from Japanese technicians nor did they expect to have a chance to compete for a spot in the Renault tour race.
It’s just that Chen Xiangbei’s training progressed so quickly that plans couldn’t keep up with the changes!
Amidst the chaos, while Chen Xiangbei was bewildered, a smile appeared on Liang Chi’s face as he pulled out a C-Class racing license from his pocket.
The photo and name clearly showed it was Chen Xiangbei himself.
At this moment, Chen Xiangbei was even more baffled. He hadn’t even submitted an application to the FIA, where did Liang Chi get this racing license from?
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Xiangbei said with a complex expression: "Uncle Liang, don’t tell me you got this fake through a classified ad on a utility pole?"