Chapter 10: Delayed Braking

The aggressive front splitter, side skirts, and massive rear wing clearly proclaimed its pure track-bred lineage.

The Maple Grove Racing Team’s logo was plastered on the car’s side windows.

Her brother, the team manager and race engineer Feng Yuxiao, was already waiting there. He was bent over his tablet, his expression focused.

“Morning, Bro!”

Feng Miwan patted the car body.

“What are we practicing today?”

Feng Yuxiao looked up and handed her the tablet.

“Today’s focus: late-braking corner entry training.”

He pointed at the complex curve graphs on the screen and explained,

“The Yongcheng Street Race in May tests courage and precision the most. The corners are tight and narrow, overtaking opportunities vanish in an instant.”

“We have to push the braking point for every corner as far back as possible, seeking the limit.”

“It’s the most effective way to improve single-lap times, but also the most dangerous.”

“Got it.”

Feng Miwan’s eyes grew focused too, and she nodded.

Delayed braking meant higher corner entry speeds, placing huge demands on the braking system, tire grip, and the driver’s ability to control the car at the limit.

Training began.

In the first few laps, Feng Miwan was still getting familiar and finding the feel. Her braking points were slightly later than usual, and the car showed some unsettling twitchiness on corner entry, but she controlled it.

As laps piled up, under Feng Yuxiao’s instructions, Feng Miwan pushed the braking point back again and again.

The car’s speed at the end of the straight grew faster and faster, its charge toward the corner more and more terrifying.

After a long while, Feng Yuxiao stood beside Feng Miwan, who had just climbed out of the race car, tablet in hand.

“Hmm. The data shows room for improvement, but the risk is increasing too.”

“How does it feel? Neck muscles and arms feeling heavy?”

“It’s okay, a bit sore, but no problem.”

Feng Miwan removed her helmet and rolled her shoulders.

“I feel like I’ve got the hang of it. A bit more practice, and I can push it back another half meter!”

“Don’t just think about pushing later,”

Feng Yuxiao cautioned, tapping a curve graph on the tablet.

“Stability is more important. Look here—in the last two laps, your braking point was later, but the car’s twitchiness on entry intensified, and exit speed dropped, costing 0.3 seconds.”

“That means tire grip hit the limit. Weight transfer was too aggressive; the car couldn’t handle it.”

Feng Miwan leaned in to look and nodded.

“I know… That moment on entry, it felt like the rear was skidding on ice. Had to be super careful with the steering.”

Feng Yuxiao laid out the strategy.

“So the goal from now on isn’t blindly pushing back, but finding that balance point: late braking while keeping the body stable for a smooth exit.”

“We want fast and steady, not gambling.”

Feng Miwan put her helmet back on.

“Got it! Let’s keep going then, Bro. I’m ready to tackle it.”

Over the next few days,

training intensity didn’t let up at all.

Feng Miwan challenged that invisible limit every day.

Again and again, she braked later at the end of the straight, feeling the car’s struggle under massive inertia, the tires and brakes protesting their overload in her ears.

She and the technical team fine-tuned the brake bias (the distribution ratio of braking force between front and rear wheels; improper balance can cause the front or rear wheels to lock first, leading to loss of control) and downforce (the downward force generated by the car’s aerodynamic design pressing it to the ground, enhancing tire grip but increasing drag) settings, trying to find that sweet spot.

Progress was slow and grueling, sometimes even regressing.

Feng Yuxiao eyed the less-than-ideal data on the screen and asked with concern,

“Off today?”

Feng Miwan shook her head, flinging sweat from inside her helmet.

“Not off… it’s the feel.”

“Bro, I think… it’s still not late enough.”

“I can push it harder.”

Feng Yuxiao saw the familiar fire of adventure in his sister’s eyes.

“You’re sure? Tire wear (from friction and compression during driving; excessive wear reduces grip and requires early replacement) is getting high today.”

Feng Miwan’s gaze was utterly determined.

“Trust me, Bro.”

“If we don’t push to the real limit, we won’t have confidence when surprises hit in the race.”

Feng Yuxiao was silent for a few seconds, then finally nodded.

“Alright. One more time, just once.”

“Stay focused—pull back if it feels off!”

“Got it!”

Feng Miwan refastened her helmet and took the car back onto the track.

Her eyes locked on the brake marker barrels (colorful barrel-shaped markers beside the track used to indicate braking point positions, helping drivers judge timing) for the next corner.

Revving the engine high, speed built relentlessly.

Right here!

She targeted a point later than any she’d tried before, slamming her right foot on the brake pedal!

“Screeech—grrr—!!!”

This time, the shriek dragged on endlessly!

The massive deceleration G-force (inertial acceleration from violent deceleration) pinned her to the seat.

Speed plunged, but corner entry speed was still way higher than before!

The instant she went to turn the wheel into the corner, she felt the right front tire lose grip—

Braking force too hard, too sudden, exceeding the tire’s limit and causing a brief lockup (when the brakes make the tire stop rotating while the car slides forward, losing grip and steering control)!

That millisecond of loss of control was enough to throw the car off line.

The nose didn’t fully turn, carrying residual speed straight toward the outside of the corner!

“It’s over!”

Feng Miwan yanked the wheel back and tapped the brakes to correct, but it was too late!

“Bang!!!”

A massive crash—the right front of the car slammed solidly into the tire wall.

The impact jolted her forward, then the harness (race-specific multi-point safety belt that locks the driver firmly in the seat, preventing ejection or violent movement on impact—a core safety feature) yanked her back hard.

Her right wrist throbbed with intense pain from bracing the wheel in that instant!

The engine died, faint blue smoke rising from the right front wheel.

“Xiaowan! Xiaowan!! Respond! You okay?!”

Feng Yuxiao’s anxious voice flooded her earpiece, backed by the chaos of running footsteps.

Feng Miwan slumped in the seat, taking a long time to shake off the daze from the impact.

She tried moving her right wrist and immediately hissed in pain, her face paling from the stabbing ache.

Gritting her teeth, her voice trembled from the hurt.

“Bro…”