In a racing competition, the leading car will often run faster and faster, while the car behind will often run slower and slower. Sometimes, even if there are two people standing on the podium, there will be a gap of more than 1 minute. It is common for the eighth place player to be lapped by the first place player when they both get points.
Therefore, during the game, the further the car behind you chases, the harder it will be for you to go further. Especially in the middle and later stages of the game, every place you advance means a huge victory.
Zhang Guan had already caught up to twelfth place, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to go further. At this time, an accident occurred on the track, and BMW Sauber's Kubica and Toyota's Te Lully crashed.
Turn 16 is the last turn on the entire track. After passing Turn 16, it is the straight before the finish line. This corner can barely be regarded as a medium-speed corner. Most drivers will pass it in third gear, so it is not too difficult.
However, on such a not-so-difficult bend, an accident occurred. Among the two cars that collided, Toyota retired directly, while BMW Sauber stumbled back to the pit area.
On rainy days, it would have been more troublesome to clean the track, so the race committee did not hesitate to show the yellow flag and deploy the safety car. This also means that Vettel, who is in first place, has his lead cleared and all cars will return to the state they were in at the start.
The safety car was obviously good news for Zhang Guan, as he evened the gap with the car in front.
An accident occurred between the two cars in front, and Zhang Guan rose directly to the tenth position. He was only two steps away from the eighth place where he could earn points.
When the safety car was deployed, someone from the car in front would inevitably take advantage of this opportunity to pit, such as BMW Sauber's Heidfeld. His pit stop allowed Zhang Guan to advance one more place, reaching ninth place.
But Zhang Guan's good luck did not end with this. Under the leadership of the safety car, Ferrari driver Felipe Felipe Massa, who had rushed to third place, suddenly stopped his car on the side of the road, with smoke coming out of the rear of his car. , slow motion showed that the car suddenly gained momentum on the straight, which was obviously an engine problem, and Massa also retired from the race.
Overtaking is not allowed when the safety car is deployed, but under the guidance of the safety car, Zhang Guan was lucky enough to reach the eighth position, and he had already entered the scoring area. If the races are completed in this order, Zhang Guan can get one point.
At this time, of the seven cars in front of Zhang Guan, the two cars from Red Bull Racing were still leading the way, followed in order by Ferrari's Raikkonen, McLaren's Hamilton, Force China's Barrichello, and McLaren's Hamilton. and Toro Rosso’s Buemi. Among them, the two Red Bull cars, Barrichello and Buemi, have already completed one pit stop, while the others have not yet pitted.
"Maybe we really have a chance!" Ross Brown's expression gradually became more relaxed. The biggest difficulty in completing the entire race without pitting was tire wear. The safety car in the first eight laps reduced Zhang Guan's tire wear. A lot, and now the safety car appears again, once again giving Zhang Guan's tires a rare rest.
The safety car led on the track for five laps. On lap 23, the safety car returned to the pit area and the race restarted.
The rain was still heavy, and the advantage of the Red Bull car was still obvious. After one lap, they left the other cars behind. In the car ahead, McLaren's Hamilton overtook Ferrari's Raikkonen, and Zhang Guan also started to attack Buemi in seventh place.
Buemi had already made one pit stop. He used a light-fuel strategy and a set of brand-new tires, so Zhang Guan got into a short fight. However, Bu Amy was ultimately defeated by Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan took advantage of Bu Amy's failure to follow a good line in a corner and surpassed Bu Amy on the 26th lap, rising to seventh place.
On lap 27, Ferrari's Raikkonen pitted for the first time. He spent more time refueling and put on a brand new set of rain tires. There were 29 laps left in the race, and a set of rain tires was enough to complete the entire race. Raikkonen is obviously preparing to use a one-stop strategy.
Raikkonen's pit stop allowed Zhang Guan to move up one place to sixth place, and he began to gradually approach McLaren driver Kovalainen.
Thirty laps later, the drivers who adopted the one-stop strategy began to pit one after another. McLaren's two cars pitted on laps 34 and 35 respectively. After exiting the pit, they ranked eighth and ninth respectively. Zhang Guan followed the trend and moved up two places to fourth. In front of him was his teammate Barrichello. It's just that Zhang Guan is still some distance away from Barrichello at this time.
There are only twenty laps left in the game. At this time, there are three drivers in front of Zhang Guan, namely Vettel in first place, Webber in second place, and Barrichello in third place. Each of these three people has completed a pit stop. Next, they will make another pit stop, and that will be an opportunity that Zhang Guan must seize.
At this time, Zhang Guan didn't have to fight with other riders. He could run at his own pace with peace of mind. In this state, his speed became faster and faster, slowly approaching.
On lap 37, Webber, who was ranked second, chose to pit for the second time. This pit stop seemed a bit early. Webber obviously hoped to use different strategies to surpass his teammate Vettel. When Webber walked out of the pit area, he lined up behind Zhang Guan, which was the fourth position.
Zhang Guan finally reached third place, a position that can lead to the podium.
Starting from the 20th place on the grid, with 19 laps left in the race, Zhang Guan became third. He rose a full 17 places!
And the race is not over yet, there are still 19 laps left!
"There is a chance, there is a real chance." Ross Brown clenched his fists. The GPS positioning system showed that Zhang Guan was gradually approaching Barrichello.
Barrichello saw the flash of red in the rearview mirror, but the water mist was too thick to distinguish what it looked like.
"Red, Ferrari? Massa has retired, so only Raikkonen is left. It's impossible. Raikkonen should have stopped. He must have completed a pit stop now, and I am now It was also a pit stop. I used a light fuel strategy and he used a heavy fuel strategy. His car weighed more than me. In the same pit stop, I ran faster than him and there was no way he could catch up with me. "
Thinking of this, Barrichello asked: "Who is the person behind me? Is it Raikkonen?"
"No!" came the decisive answer from the radio: "The person behind you is our boss. It's Zhang Guan!"
"What? There are still 18 laps to go in the race, and he has already caught up with me? He is the last one on the grid! He has risen seventeen places so quickly!" Barrichello's surprised voice came through the radio Back to the convoy.
"The boss is one second faster than you in every lap. It won't take long for him to catch up with you. There are still eighteen laps left. I suggest you pit on the next lap!" the team's engineer said.
"Okay, get me the tires and I'll pit," Barrichello said. This is equivalent to giving up his second place position.
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(End of chapter)