Car Racing without Money-Chapter 430 - 173: Future Chinese Hero (Part 2)

When the sponsorship money comes through to get through tough times, if a paid driver still cannot show their strength, they are not far from being kicked out of the paddock.

China only has this one hope, and Li Bing would prefer to see him racing in the F1 Paddock!

Chen Xiangbei drove the car back to the pits, and the crew also congratulated and encouraged him, with no trace of defeat or discouragement on their faces.

"Xiangbei, you’re amazing, defeating Schumacher."

"Reaching the semifinals, we’ve done well enough."

"The Chinese driver drove beautifully!"

"We’ve proven that we’re not the weakest team!"

Among the encouraging crowd, only Han Han had a face filled with guilt.

He walked up to Chen Xiangbei and softly said, "I’m sorry Xiangbei, the loss was my fault."

"No, opposite to that, without your two wins, we wouldn’t have reached the semifinals."

Chen Xiangbei responded with a smile, then extended his arm and gave Han Han a shoulder bump.

He knew better than anyone that Han Han had done his utmost.

Some things cannot be overcome with sheer passion alone, before the ROC Nations Cup.

Who could have imagined that a domestic champion could challenge and defeat a world champion?

If there were any regrets, it was that Chen Xiangbei didn’t enter the top three as Peng Sheng hinted.

It was just that the leaders of national capital misunderstood the racing context and underestimated the strength gap between domestic and international drivers.

Moreover, Chen Xiangbei couldn’t change everything by individual effort in such team events.

Of course, Chen Xiangbei wouldn’t show these thoughts in front of Han Han, nor burden him with excessive comfort.

After exchanging a few words, the two sat in the pits to watch the following matches.

The second semifinal was between the French team and the Nordic team, featuring a showdown between nine-time Rally King Loeb and nine-time Le Mans winner Kristensen!

This semifinal was extremely exciting, especially Loeb’s display of godly control skills on the low-grip surfaces, which even made Chen Xiangbei gasp in admiration.

No wonder this King of Rally could win three Driver’s Cups, it seems there’s no racing event he hasn’t conquered besides the highest level Formula One!

The ROC Nations Cup event progress didn’t change because of Chen Xiangbei’s presence, and the final still followed the historical trajectory with the German team against the French team.

In the end, the combination of Schumacher and Vettel won the final, achieving a three-time consecutive ROC Nations Cup victory!

As the event ended, at the award ceremony, Chen Xiangbei watched Schumacher and Vettel stand on the podium from afar, enjoying thunderous cheers and applause from the audience, and it was hard to say he wasn’t envious.

No Chinese driver doesn’t want to stand at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium’s peak, receiving congratulations from 80,000 compatriots.

Yet, competitive sports are like this; losing means losing.

"Xiangbei, I believe one day, you will be just like them."

Standing beside him, Han Han saw through Chen Xiangbei’s inner envy and said confidently.

The career lifespan of Formula One drivers is long, Chen Xiangbei’s journey has just begun, and he will one day stand at the world’s peak!

"I will."

This time Chen Xiangbei didn’t show humility but gave a definite answer.

This is not just confidence; it is a promise.

The next time when China hosts, Chen Xiangbei will let his compatriots witness their national driver standing on the highest podium!

...

After the race, Chen Xiangbei did not attend any media interviews but received Peng Sheng’s call to go to the VIP box, meeting several managers of national team sponsors as rumored.

Chen Xiangbei initially thought he hadn’t reached the promised results, but he overlooked the difference between ROC’s format and Formula One, which does not include third and fourth place races.

It meant that as long as you reached the semifinals, you were third!

Of course, in fact, there are still judgment standards between third and fourth place.

It lies in the time difference between the drivers; according to the norm, the shorter time means third place.

However, for the national team sponsorship, achieving third place is merely a validation means and not the final assessment.

Conversely, Chen Xiangbei’s performance was the true value of sponsorship!

Undoubtedly, from the moment Chen Xiangbei defeated Schumacher, he gained the recognition of the national team managers.

There was no negotiation process, two domestic giants immediately laid out their proposed sponsorship plan, amounting to one hundred million RMB, approximately fourteen million US dollars.

Ten million US dollars were allocated to buy the side box ad placement on HRT Team for one year, and the remaining four million dollars were used to buy the most conspicuous position on Chen Xiangbei’s cap for the ad logo.

As to whether there will be further cooperation additions and whether to sign a long-term contract, it depends on the ultimate advertising benefits.

Chen Xiangbei expressed acknowledgment as there weren’t many negotiation options for him.

Compared to private sponsorships carrying self-funded gains or losses, the responsibility of national team sponsorship is heavier, and the procedural flow more complex.

HRT Team’s prospects, the performance of TF110, everything was based on Chen Xiangbei’s God perspective, knowing their potential and future.

From the external viewpoint, HRT Team is just an F3 base, accepting some F1 heritage as a "newcomer" team, with no historical results to prove commercial value.

Compared to the same side box position, Lenovo ThinkPad’s sponsorship of the Williams Team is ten million US dollars annually.

Although the Williams Team has declined since 2000, the reputation and foundation of the old "Big Three" place them still maintaining a middle-tier position.

HRT cannot compare to Williams but can get the same sponsorship amount.

It was clear that there was indeed an element of support here.

After signing the agreement, Chen Xiangbei didn’t stay in Yanjing but rushed to the airport, preparing to board a flight back to London, UK.

Sitting in the airport waiting lounge, Chen Xiangbei watched the ROC Nations Cup post-event news on television, with many onsite audience interviews referring to him as a hero.

At this moment, Chen Xiangbei suddenly understood why Nakajima Goro was called a "Japanese hero."

Just because he and himself achieved historical zero breakthroughs for their nations.

At least before Chen Xiangbei, nobody dared to imagine a Chinese driver defeating Schumacher.

Only for Chen Xiangbei, he felt he hadn’t done enough yet.

After a dozen hours of flight, Chen Xiangbei finally arrived at London International Airport, with Lu Xiaoman already informed and waiting for pick up.

Seeing Chen Xiangbei wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses emerging from the crowd, Lu Xiaoman couldn’t help but joke: "Have you become such a big star at home that you have to disguise yourself now?"

"Indeed, I am somewhat famous."

Chen Xiangbei replied with a smile, then took off his sunglasses, revealing heavy dark circles.

The intense training and race schedule within days, coupled with the time difference of flying back and forth, indeed required high physical stamina.

The reason he wore sunglasses and a baseball cap was primarily to get some sleep on the plane.

"By the way, how’s the progress on TF110?"

An eager inquiry came from Chen Xiangbei; besides the ROC Nations Cup event during his years home, his main concern was TF110’s development progress.

After all, all performance predictions are based on computer simulation data.

Without discussing speed, at least make sure it successfully ignites and that all subsystems are compatible.

Knowing even the McLaren Team at its peak had a clown show situation where their developed car chassis couldn’t fit the Mercedes engine.

While the Toyota Team wouldn’t be as exaggerated, ignition is also a key competitive edge in car development.

"It’s successfully ignited, and TF110 mounted with the Toyota RVX-09 Engine has been tested, guess what?"

Lu Xiaoman didn’t answer directly but interjected with a playful tone.

"Sister Man, just say it straightforwardly."

Chen Xiangbei had little interest in guessing other things, but for car performance, he was impatient.

"It’s very strong, according to manager Briatore’s description, it surpassed Renault’s engine data of this year!"