Although Costa winning the FE world championship is not weak, compared to F1-level drivers, there is still a certain gap, just like De Vries, who is also an FE world champion, trailing in F1 races.

Costa's hard capabilities, even with a teammate providing slipstream, are not enough to support such an exaggerated lap time, which can be completely called a burnout state.

"So, do you still have confidence in taking the pole position?"

Seeing that Chen Xiangbei didn't speak, Odetto asked again.

"I won't give up the pole position."

Chen Xiangbei didn't give a mindless confident answer; the lap he did during practice was already at a nearly perfect state.

The re-tuned car, the recurrence of old injuries on his left shoulder, apart from increased familiarity with the track, his overall condition compared to the track environment was actually not as good as during practice.

All he could say was that he would never admit defeat, as for whether he could win, only the heavens knew.

"Do your best."

This time Odetto didn't force it, recognizing that on the track, there are wins and losses, and sometimes you have to admit others' extraordinary performances.

Indeed, even Costa himself and the entire Manor Team couldn't quite believe the lap time just run out—it was truly an unrepeatable kind of performance.

"North, the car is ready, you can go out."

Sawano Hiroyuki came over to remind him, following the last three minutes of countdown, Chen Xiangbei, in a warm-up lap, could still run two flying laps.

According to the qualifying timing rules, as long as a driver starts a flying lap before the countdown ends, the result is valid even if the time ends.

If Chen Xiangbei chose to do two warm-up laps, then he would only have one shot at a flying lap.

"OK."

Chen Xiangbei nodded and turned towards the car.

At this moment, Kobayashi Shuji's voice came through the TR.

"Has Xiangbei-kun left the pits? I can push hard for another lap and give him a tow."

Hearing this TR, the entire pit team was visibly surprised.

You know that the two drivers are competitors. Although the gap has widened and the competition's meaning is lost,

at least on the surface, Kobayashi Shuji and Chen Xiangbei have no connections, and it wasn't expected he'd sacrifice his last push lap to offer slipstream.

"Kobayashi, North has already launched, are you sure about this?"

Odetto confirmed once more.

People have their biases, and it's impossible to be absolutely fair.

Through recent interactions, Odetto naturally leaned towards the stronger, more performing Chen Xiangbei.

However, he never treated Kobayashi Shuji differently nor held him to a number two driver standard.

"I've decided, Xiangbei-kun needs this pole position."

Kobayashi Shuji didn't say much more; his willingness wasn't for Chen Xiangbei, but for the glory of Asian drivers.

Kobayashi had witnessed Chen Xiangbei's conversations with Odetto and the conflict on the Mansel Track.

He also faced similar provocations and contempt but couldn't counterattack like Chen Xiangbei did.

Additionally, during the red flag pause in qualifying, he noticed Chen Xiangbei's shoulder injury, realizing the physical and psychological pressure his Chinese teammate endured to showcase toughness and guts.

Kobayashi also knew the continued breakthrough in lap times on the track and Manor Team arranging drivers to provide Costa with slipstream was to demonstrate the strength of European drivers—they wanted to press Chen Xiangbei!

If that's the case, then let Chen Xiangbei fight for the glory of Asian drivers this time!

"OK, North, how many warm-up laps do you plan to take?"

Odetto asked Chen Xiangbei, interrupting the planning for slipstream-assisted lap timing.

"Two laps."

Chen Xiangbei left no retreat for himself; he only planned for one flying lap.

The reason is simple: each flying lap takes a significant toll on the tires, and with reduced grip on the second lap, it may not be faster than the first one.

Also, Kobayashi Shuji's tires were only sufficient for one lap's slipstream!

"Understood, Kobayashi, pay attention to speed and wait for team instructions."

"Roger."

Following the TR communication, Chen Xiangbei's number 13 car blasted off the pit with a throttle push.

"Viewers, the pole sitter and defending champion from the last race, driver Beibei, has finally appeared on the track. You can see from the subtle differences in the car that Beibei has likely deployed the spare car."

"Can Beibei still achieve the consecutive pole positions in the face of the re-tuned car and the astonishing lap time from the opponent?"

James asked the audience a question, but in reality, they already knew the answer in their hearts.

It's impossible for Chen Xiangbei to surpass Costa's lap time!

On the track, Chen Xiangbei warmed up expressionlessly. As the qualifying session came to its end, many drivers chose to pit, leaving the entire track increasingly empty.

The broadcast cameras locked onto Chen Xiangbei, and everyone, including the director, wanted to see what kind of answers this Chinese kid could deliver in the end.

As Chen Xiangbei finished warming up and hit full throttle to speed past the starting line, the lap timing and session end countdown numbers nearly synchronized.

At this point, someone noticed that in front of Chen Xiangbei's car, there was a flying Super Dream Team number 16 car.

The two cars became an arrow, advancing madly at an incredible speed!

"SHIT, Super Dream Team is giving Chen Xiangbei a tow, this is cheating!"

A track spectator recognized the anomaly and shouted in dissatisfaction.

"Cheat my ass, didn't you complain when Manor Team did it before, can't you lose gracefully?"

"Who told you slipstreaming is cheating, this is called team coordination, understand?"

"Lap time isn't even out yet, and you're barking, looks like you're really afraid of Chen Xiangbei!"

The Chinese fans in the audience unleashed their full support for Chen Xiangbei at this moment.

They also knew that as the countdown ended, this was Chen Xiangbei's last chance.

Even the Japanese driver from Super Dream Team started giving slipstream, so no matter what happened, they needed to present a united front.

On the track, the two cars zipped through each corner at extreme speed, but you could clearly see that the distance between the two was decreasing, with Chen Xiangbei's trailing car being much faster than Kobayashi Shuji in the front.

"Xiangbei-kun, I can't keep up with your pace anymore, use the slipstream effect to sling past me on the long straight, I'll vacate the racing line directly."

Kobayashi Shuji's voice came through the TR, he initially thought he could provide slipstream for the entire lap, but he got caught up with by half.

But this also proved something indirectly, that Chen Xiangbei's speed was astonishing, Costa's pole lap time could indeed be surpassed!

"Got it."

Chen Xiangbei replied simply with two words, then completed overtaking Kobayashi Shuji on the long straight.

Meanwhile, leveraging the slipstream boost again, he added a bit more speed to his car.

T8, T9, … T11, one corner after another passed, as the long starting straight arrived, the finish line was right before Chen Xiangbei's eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Chinese driver Beibei has crossed the starting line, and his final result appears on the big screen."

"A lap time of 1 minute and 08.131 seconds, Chen Xiangbei has taken the pole in this race with 0.06 seconds ahead of Costa, and also broke the Renault Formula's lap record at Donington Park Circuit."

"Without a doubt, this is definitely a day worth recording for Renault Formula, with Chinese driver Beibei achieving two consecutive poles and breaking the record, creating the best performance by an Asian driver."

"Let us give the warmest applause and cheers to congratulate the next genius driver, Beibei!"

At this moment, James was completely convinced, directly acknowledging Chen Xiangbei's identity as a genius driver.

Costa almost completed a theoretically perfect lap but was still defeated by Chen Xiangbei's fastest lap.

Donington Park lives up to being a track adept at creating miracles, Senna ran the "Circle of God" here in '94, and today a Chinese driver similarly created his own "Star Circle" miracle!

After a brief silence in the stands, an eruptive cheer and applause burst forth like thunder.

Indeed, Chen Xiangbei's lap shattered many preconceived notions, no one imagined he could break a record and take pole position, and even fewer thought the one achieving all this would be a Chinese driver.

It seems the famous YouTube video is not mere "clickbait," Chinese drivers have risen, and he is indeed going to dominate the Renault events!

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