595 Race against time (Chapter 3)
"Cosell, the racing car seems to be showing signs of going off the ground again."
Zhang Yifei informed Cosell of the news as soon as possible. During the race, the drivers had no solution, and they could only rely on the team to give a plan.
Upon hearing this news, the members of the Prost crew were a little confused, especially Charlie of the maintenance technician team, who stood there completely blankly.
After more than ten years of his career, he is very confident in his technical level. After dismantling and repairing it, he can be sure that there are no hidden dangers left, so why is he still going off the wrong path?
Almost at the same time, Yamamoto Ukyo, who monitored the data, shouted: "The error of the front axle data sensor should be related to the steering deflection of the car."
"Why is this happening?"
Henry turned to look at the chief technician Charlie and design director Leo. They were racing technicians. Only the two of them knew the most about the problem.
"Maybe it was the front cantilever deformation and damage caused by riding uphill shoulders when you surpass Schumacher?"
Charlie first thought of a possibility.
This time, Zhang Yifei's route was not as crazy and radical as in previous competitions. He always wanted to borrow the road shoulder to follow the extreme route.
Because of the disadvantages of this behavior, Kossel reminded him a long time ago, and Zhang Yifei also understood that this method can work in the short-scheduled Formula Renault, but in the one or two-hour F1 main competition, the front suspension cannot withstand so many shocks.
Therefore, Zhang Yifei's current routes are actually relatively restrained, and he began to develop from his previous reckless style toward the direction of technological flow.
After all, people always need to grow, and their driving skills must also develop accordingly.
So Charlie's idea was directly denied by design director Aure.
"The speed of Turn 11 is not fast. Even if the front suspension hits the road shoulder, it is much smaller than many high-speed curves and should not be that fragile."
Hearing Leo's answer, Henry looked at Cosell.
"Cosell, what do you think should be done? Should I let Fei persist or check it in the station?"
There are only two paths in front of you now. The first one is to run off the left and run the remaining dozen laps. However, I don’t know if the fault will become more serious, and I don’t know how long it will take for the two drivers to decide the winner and lose.
The second item is to check the site, but the risk of this choice is greater, because the fault may not be found in a short time. Even if it is found, it may not be repaired in a short time.
Even if everything is solved perfectly according to the plan, including the stop time, Zhang Yifei may not be able to catch up with Montoya and Schumacher, and the loss will not be worth the effort in the end.
Judging from this situation, the first one can bet on luck, while the second one is more like a dead end.
As the team's chief competition engineer, this difficulty comes to Cosell. He must make a decision in a short time, or even take the blame.
"Fly, check this round of entry to the station!"
Kossel did not hesitate too much, and he did not allow him to hesitate in time, so he made a decisive decision.
Because the two drivers behind us came in a fierce manner, although they are fighting very hard now, Zhang Yifei has a advantage of about three seconds. However, once the winner is decided, with the momentum of defeating the opponent, even if the fault does not change seriously, Zhang Yifei will definitely not be able to escape due to the problem of running offense.
Like Zhang Yifei, Cosel is a radical gambler, but they don’t like that completely illusory luck. Even if it’s just a bet, at least the chips are in their own hands!
"Charlie, up to 10 seconds, you must find and solve the problem!"
"The maintenance team is ready to replace the super soft tire!"
After making the decision to enter the station to inspect, Cosell instantly issued two instructions to the fleet maintenance team.
Currently, the drivers on the track basically have a stop-off tactic, and Schumacher and Montoya are both like Zhang Yifei, who enter the station and change their tires when they are over 30 laps.
So the more the competition goes, the peak grip of the tires shows a downward trend. If Zhang Yifei replaces with super soft tires to sprint, he can fill in the disadvantages in the entry time.
The reason why Schumacher was able to create the four-stop miracle in later generations was that he relied on the speed advantages of light oil and super soft tires to recover the disadvantages of the entry time. However, this method has extremely strict requirements on the strength and control of the driver, and it also requires a little destiny, otherwise he would just change the tire honestly according to the rules.
But this time, Zhang Yifei is not only at the disadvantage of entering the station, but also at the top of the matter. Cosell can only give Charlie ten seconds at most, which is also the limit he thinks that Zhang Yifei can recover in the next ten laps.
If this time exceeds this, unless Senna is possessed by an irregular rain battle, he will definitely lose!
"I can solve the problem in 5 seconds!"
Charlie naturally knew that every second was extremely precious at this time. Ten seconds were too difficult for Zhang Yifei, and he had to do it in five seconds!
"Very good, five seconds!"
Cosell didn't say nonsense and asked Charlie to solve the problem.
On the fifty-seventh lap, Zhang Yifei suddenly chose to enter the station when he passed the entrance of the maintenance passage.
This scene almost made everyone on the track stunned. With the stoppage tactic, Zhang Yifei is now in the lead, and with the battle between Schumacher and Montoya, his leading advantage is still expanding. Why choose to enter the station at such a critical moment?
Isn’t this equivalent to giving up the championship?
"What's wrong with Fei? Why choose this time to enter the station?"
Brendel asked differently, then signaled to the director to lock the picture on Zhang Yifei who entered the station.
Zhang Yifei on the screen stopped in the repair parking space, and the crew members began to quickly replace him with super soft tires.
So far, it has been shown that Zhang Yifei wants to enter the station to change the tire and brush the lap speed, but it is a bit unreasonable. Since he has decided to change the super soft tire and brush the lap speed at the last moment, then don’t use the one-stop tactic before, and the speed of reducing the oil load will be faster, which is really a contradiction.
But soon, an unusual scene appeared in the camera, and a Prost maintenance technician was frantically twisting the suspension screws. When he saw this, Brendel instantly understood that it was Zhang Yifei's racing car that had a malfunction.
"The Chinese boy's racing car has malfunctioned. It seems that the American track is not suitable for him!"
Lewis also saw the problem and told the audience the reason in a tone of putting in trouble.
After hearing this news, American IndyCar fans on the track instantly released from their previous depression.
"God bless America!"
"This is God's will. The Chinese still want to conquer the American track, dream!"
"Montoya, surpass Schumacher, you will reach the top again!"
“usa!usa!usa!usa!”
Crazy scenes began to sweep, and even many IndyCar fans began to celebrate the victory, which in their opinion, Chinese boys had no hope of catching up.
Maybe it was inspired by the atmosphere, or maybe it was Montoya that eventually broke out. When Zhang Yifei entered the station, he surpassed Schumacher who was standing in front and became the first car of the track again.
This scene even more exciting the IndyCar fans on the scene. The track was about to be overturned by their cheering sounds, as if the competition was about to end early.
"Set off!"
Charlie roared, five seconds were not too much, he found the loose torque shaft of the front suspension and solved the problem.
The engine's voice began to roar, and Zhang Yifei rushed out of the runway with a cold expression. He knew that the last fifteen laps were the time for his last attempt.
After Zhang Yifei left, there were a few drops of dark oil stains on the ground. It was obvious that Kossel's concept was correct. The hidden danger of racing deviating was more serious than expected. If there was no entry to the station for maintenance, the entire bearing might fall off in the event of an impact.
Zhang Yifei, who was driving back on the track, was a long distance away from Schumacher and Montoya. From the beginning of the lead, he was almost 10 seconds behind.
In fact, there is still a great chance to recover the gap of more than ten laps. However, the two drivers in front of them are Schumacher and Montoya. Their lap speed is currently amazing. Even if they are replaced with super soft tires and light oil, Zhang Yifei's challenge is extremely huge.
But until the last moment, Zhang Yifei would not give up easily!
The sixty circle, sixty one circle, sixty five circle, sixty eight circles!
Zhang Yifei chased the two opponents who were far ahead with lightning speed.
When we arrived at the 69th lap, Schumacher was shocked to find that the familiar blue Prost car appeared again in his rearview mirror!
Is this kid really a "blue god of death"? Can you catch up with it?
Schumacher has done similar feats in his career, but it is still unbelievable that a Chinese driver has done in his newcomer season.
At this moment, Schumacher racing tires were basically almost smoothed after 40 laps of the race. Zhang Yifei's super soft tires were at peak grip, and the cornering speed could be said to crush Schumacher.
To be honest, Schumacher at this moment had no more fighting spirit after being surpassed by Zhang Yifei and Montoya. After all, nothing unexpected happened. The world championship title had been won, so he was naturally not as good as Zhang Yifei and Montoya.
After symbolically blocking it, Schumacher was successfully overtaken by Zhang Yifei. This time, Schumacher, who had worn out his tires, did not risk rushing out of the track and blocking the car.
On the 70th lap of the track, Zhang Yifei has only the last opponent, Montoya, but the time difference between the two is at least more than two seconds. With Montoya's madness and fighting spirit, he will never give Zhang Yifei a chance to turn the tables in these last three laps.
At the same time, in the last three laps, Zhang Yifei was one second ahead of Montoya in each lap, and then surpassed him before the end of the game, which was also a difficult challenge.
Chapter completed!