The afternoon race ended early. After eating dinner and returning to the hotel, Wu Shi couldn't sleep. He took a shower and casually picked up a book.
"Hi, Wu Shi!" Louise leaped onto the bed. After a glance at the complex Chinese characters in his book, she immediately lost interest and lay down, leaning against him.
"Wu Shi, Mom said you're going to Italy. How about I teach you English?"
Wu Shi looked at Louise, puzzled.
"Ugh! This is so frustrating! Mama, hurry and translate!" Louise yelled.
"Yeesh!"
The girl's voice was so shrill that Wu Shi had to turn his head away.
"Louise, don't bother Wu Shi. Let him rest."
"But isn't he going to Italy? I want to teach him English."
"I think it would be better to hire a professional English teacher. Your thick accent isn't very suitable for teaching someone," Martina said.
It was true. Louise's English had a strong Italian accent. For someone already fluent, it was no big deal, but it wasn't ideal for a beginner. It would be too easy to pick up the wrong pronunciation.
In fact, Wu Shi already knew Italian. After all, in his past life, he had been an F1 driver for Rafa and spent years based there.
'Come to think of it, at my current age, will I end up entering F1 around the same time as Lock?'
Wu Shi almost laughed. When the time came, he might even push Lock out of his seat at Rafa.
In his past life, by the time he got into F1, Lock was already a veteran, while he was the talented new rookie.
But his smile quickly vanished at the thought of Rafa's bullshit strategies.
As a Rafa driver, you had to make your own calls. Otherwise, you were very likely to get screwed over by the team.
'I wonder what Aunt Martina does over there. I'll have to ask Dad about it.'
If he could secure the backing of a local Italian financial group, it would give him enough of a voice within the team to make his future races much smoother.
F1 wasn't just about driving. Internal team problems and paddock politics were all a massive headache.
Wu Shi let his thoughts wander for a moment. When he turned his head, he found that little Louise had already fallen asleep against him!
She was such a good sleeper!
He was envious.
Kids his age were supposed to sleep well, but he had too much on his mind and had never enjoyed the luxury of falling asleep the second his head hit the pillow.
"So? Isn't Louise adorable?" Martina said, walking out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, like a doll," Wu Shi nodded, not feeling the least bit embarrassed.
Her features were already delicate, and combined with her creamy-white hair, she really was his type. Who doesn't have a thing for white hair, after all?
"She's just too noisy and rambunctious sometimes."
"Well, she's just a kid, it's perfe—…" Wu Shi trailed off, realizing how strange it sounded coming from him.
"Pfft!" Martina burst out laughing. "Aren't you just a kid yourself? You talk like a little old man."
"Hehe," Wu Shi feigned innocence.
"Alright, you should get some rest, too."
Martina stepped forward and carried away Louise, who was clad in a little nightdress.
Wu Shi tossed the book onto the nightstand and stretched. He'd wanted to stay up all night, but unfortunately, that wasn't an option.
Besides, it was only 2007. There wasn't much to do when staying up late besides eating street skewers or going to nightclubs.
...
The next morning began with an opening ceremony where some officials gave speeches wishing the competitors good luck. After that, it was time for the pre-final.
After yesterday afternoon's qualifying heats, Wu Shi had taken three first-place finishes, giving him 0 points and pole position for the start.
Zeng Tianyi was next; he only scored points in his heat against Wu Shi, where he took second place. With a final score of 2 points, he would start in second.
Lin Cong was third on the grid. He had taken second place in all three of his heats, giving him 6 points.
Ling Kang was in fourth. He had placed fifth in his heat against Wu Shi for 8 points, and second in his heat against Zeng Tianyi for another 2 points, totaling 10 points.
With all 21 drivers participating, the pre-final would use a rolling start.
"Hi, I'm Zeng Tianyi. Could I ask you for some advice after the race?"
Zeng Tianyi approached Wu Shi before the race.
"Oh, of course," Wu Shi nodded. He was always happy to help his countrymen who were passionate about racing.
"Me too! Wu Shi! I'm begging you, teach me! How did you take Turn 1?!" Ling Kang shouted, running over as well.
Lin Cong stood a short distance away, his expression stiff as he put on his helmet.
At the pit lane exit, the karts were lined up in order of their qualifying points, from lowest to highest.
A marshal waved, signaling for Wu Shi to lead the karts out for the formation lap.
VROOOOM!
The NCJ-A pre-final was underway!
In the grandstands, Martina said to Boss Chen, who had also come to watch, "Wu Shi is incredibly talented."
"Yes, I can see that. I took a trip to Shanghai a few days ago. It's a shame Ma Qinghua is already coaching other drivers, or I would have pulled some strings to get him to come over," said Boss Chen.
"Ma Qinghua?" Martina asked, confused.
"The overall champion of the 2004 Asian Formula Renault Challenge and the Shanghai Karting Grand Prix ICA-class."
"Oh, that's very impressive. How old is he?"
"Around twenty, I believe," Boss Chen said. A thought seemed to cross his mind, and his expression grew serious.
"Is he planning to further his career in Europe?"
"I hear he has plans to move into formula racing," said Boss Chen.
"He's a bit old for that," Martina said, her tone tinged with regret.
Boss Chen didn't reply. This was one of his worries as well. If a driver as outstanding as Ma Qinghua only had the qualifications and financial backing to enter formula racing around the age of twenty, then what about Wu Shi?
He knew Wu Zhenlin's family wasn't short on money, but that was just the first step to becoming a formula driver. After that, a great deal of networking and maneuvering would be required.
Back on the track, the warm-up and formation laps were complete. A track marshal took a deep breath, then waved the green flag.
The pre-final officially began!
VROOOM!
The karts shot forward, and with many drivers pulling out to overtake, the main straight immediately became chaotic and congested.
The young drivers had to watch not only for overtaking opportunities but also their surroundings to avoid collisions.
SWOOSH!
Wu Shi took Turn 1 with his signature light tap on the brakes, instantly opening a three-tenths-of-a-second gap to second place.
The coaches stared intently, trying to figure out the secret to his technique.
"I can't figure it out!"
"Agreed." The two coaches shook their heads.
"What's wrong with the last two? Are their karts having issues?"
On the track, two drivers kept reaching back to adjust their carburetors, making people worry they might have to retire due to mechanical failure.
"Hey, isn't that your kid? What's happening?" a mother asked the person beside her.
"Uh, I don't know what's going on either."
The parent shook his head awkwardly. He knew perfectly well what was about to happen, but that was fifty thousand bucks on the line!
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Wu Shi quickly completed his first lap. After passing Turn 1 and the next two sets of chicanes, he saw the two karts that appeared to be having trouble. He adjusted his line early to get around them.
Even though he was in the lead, his advantage wasn't significant. The two drivers behind were right on his tail, and the slightest obstruction would let them close the gap.
A marshal up ahead was already waving a blue flag, signaling the two drivers to let him pass.
The racing line was cleared. Wu Shi glanced back and saw his lead was still intact.
Just then, however, one of the drivers ahead suddenly changed his line, moving to block Wu Shi's path.
'Shit!'
The sudden maneuver caught Wu Shi completely off guard.
He yanked the wheel hard while slamming on the brakes.
SCREECH!
BAM!
The tires shrieked as they scraped violently against the pavement. In the end, his front-left side still clipped kart number 315.
'What is he doing?!'
Although he had narrowly avoided a major crash, the delay was all it took for Zeng Tianyi's kart to pull up alongside him.