Car Racing without Money

Chapter 29 - 26: Absolute Strength Gap

Even though aware of the gap between them, Qin Lianjie’s pride as a driver prevents him from admitting defeat easily.He chooses to exceed his previous cornering speed, braking to maintain a speed of 120 km/h, while abandoning his familiar cornering route to follow the same line as Chen Xiangbei.

The car’s front enters at high speed, creating the illusion of a massive lateral acceleration that might overturn the vehicle at any moment.

Instinctively, Qin Lianjie wants to hit the brakes to slow down, but his reason and competitive spirit suppress the impulse, and ultimately, his Civic Type-R smoothly navigates the corner!

However, the success of negotiating the high-speed corner doesn’t bring excitement to Qin Lianjie; instead, it plunges him into self-doubt.

He has been driving on the Nanyun Mountain Road for several years, yet for the choice of the best cornering line, he’s actually worse than a rookie high school kid.

Did he choose the wrong line from the start, or is it due to a difference in talent?

There’s no time for Qin Lianjie to figure this out; just one corner, and the distance previously closed on the long straight of the start is now widened again by a 10-meter gap.

Ahead is the V-shaped hairpin on Nanyun Mountain, a corner where the normal line cannot get through unless the speed is drastically reduced to an exaggerated degree.

But doing so would waste a lot of time in both entry speed and exit acceleration; it’s a corner that must be drifted through.

Having seen Chen Xiangbei’s skills in managing the line, Qin Lianjie doesn’t believe that a high school kid can surpass his professional mountain racing skills even in drifting!

A few dozen meters of mountain road pass in an instant, and Chen Xiangbei has already reached the V-turn. He brakes to slow down and shift gears, then slightly steers the direction.

As the car’s front enters the corner, Chen Xiangbei presses the accelerator hard, and the EJ20 engine’s powerful output instantly exceeds the tire’s grip limit.

During the pre-race, Liang Chi had already adjusted the power output ratio of the Subaru Impreza’s four-wheel drive system to 1:9, making the rear wheel drive power far greater than the front, making the driving style more akin to a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

Chen Xiangbei exploits the power difference between the front and rear wheels, using the accelerator to precisely control the degree of steering, executing a beautiful tail drift around the corner.

Once the car body is aligned and the front end is aimed at the corner exit, he floors the accelerator again, speeding out of the bend.

The entire set of maneuvers is seamlessly executed, making it seem as if the Subaru Impreza comes alive in his hands, precisely hitting every target!

"Damn! I lost at this corner last time; can’t believe this punk drifts around even faster."

Standing on the mountaintop platform watching, Tao couldn’t help but mutter.

Last time, Tao tried to take the corner at high speed, but his driving skills didn’t allow it; he failed to follow the line at the corner apex and, unable to drift, had to slam the brakes to a halt.

Fortunately, the mechanical qualities of the Mercedes-AMG were solid, braking hard within the corner and avoiding a collision accident.

On that day, Chen Xiangbei drove Fatty Wang’s Corolla. Considering the car’s durability, and since Tao had already braked to admit defeat, he didn’t attempt any high-speed drift maneuvers, just a routine slowed-down corner overtake.

Today, with this Subaru Impreza letting him fully demonstrate his skills, Tao realized this punk had been holding back!

"Are you stupid? Which side are you on, anyway?"

Hearing Tao say that Chen Xiangbei’s drifting was faster, Ma Minghan got infuriated on the spot, thinking his brain had gone soft watching the race, unable to distinguish friend from foe.

After snapping at Tao, Ma Minghan turned with a gloomy face to ask Liu Shaoquan, "What does Car Master Quan say? Can he surely beat that kid?"

Even though Ma Minghan isn’t that familiar with racing, he’s seen videos; the driving skills Chen Xiangbei displayed definitely aren’t something a green rookie could possess.

Looks like he had underestimated this punk before, and falls for the guise of a hiding tiger!

"There are many ways to win, as long as you can afford the price."

Car Master Quan’s tone remains calm; professionalism acts as the ultimate litmus test, equalizing all beneath it.

He didn’t look down on Chen Xiangbei personally, but he does look down on all street racers!

"I understand."

Ma Minghan nods; he grasps what Car Master Quan means, and it’s exactly what he wants.

Sitting in the trailing car, Qin Lianjie sees Chen Xiangbei execute a clean and beautiful Power-Drift on the mountain road, and his jaw drops in disbelief.

videos later showing luxury sports cars on unfamiliar village roads, losing out at night to a Wuling Hongguang.

Before Cao An could think of how to respond, the radio transmits again with an observer’s "alarmed" voice.

"Subaru Impreza took the line through the 3rd corner, Civic Type-R is still chasing from behind, yet the gap widened again!"

"Subaru Impreza gets faster and faster; at the 5th corner, it uses inertia drift, nearly brushing the guardrail through, while the trailing Civic Type-R is about to lose sight of the rear lights."

...

"Slowed down! Civic Type-R slowed down after the 6th corner!"

"Seems like Brother Jie decides he can’t catch up to the front car and chose to slow down, ending the race voluntarily; Subaru Impreza wins!"

The observer speaks with a mix of shock and regret, not expecting the race to end this way.

Even more surprising is that the ultimate victor turned out to be the high school kid!