Chapter 48 - 12: Belgium KF5 Championship

Chapter 48: Chapter 12: Belgium KF5 Championship

After carefully examining Wu Shi, Martina frowned and said, "I think it would be better for your future if you move up through the normal categories."

"Yes, that’s usually how it goes. But racing in the lower categories is too boring for me. As long as the kart doesn’t break down, I can win the championship. It makes me feel like this is too simple of a sport," Wu Shi replied.

He wasn’t one to brag, but thinking of Verstappen’s terrifyingly fast promotion speed later on, he didn’t want to fall behind. He believed that even without his Absolute Car Feel, he wouldn’t be any worse than Verstappen. It was just that having Absolute Car Feel gave him abilities that surpassed those of an ordinary human.

He couldn’t wait to bring his talents to F1.

"Well, although I work at Rafa, you’re simply too young," Aunt Martina shook her head.

Hearing this, Wu Shi wasn’t disappointed; instead, his eyes lit up. Aunt Martina couldn’t help him skip grades, not because she didn’t have the connections, but because he was too young! This meant that once he grew a little older, skipping grades would be entirely possible.

Just like that, the spring of 2009 arrived.

When the flowers were in full bloom, Wu Shi received a letter from his home country. He was quite surprised when he saw the sender—it was Ye Zhaohui’s father, the elegant gentleman.

"Little Wu Shi, news of your excellent results has reached home, and I have heard of them. Zhaohui and Ningning also constantly bring up your dazzling achievements. Zhaohui in particular wants to go to Europe for further training.

"However, due to some family circumstances, I cannot let him leave the country. This is naturally quite a pity. He said he learned a lot from you. I believe him, as I have also seen qualities worth learning in you.

"I am sending this letter, firstly, to thank you for the wonderful race you brought us at the Zhuhai Station; secondly, because I heard that pursuing a racing dream in Europe is no easy feat. I cannot help you in other aspects, but I can provide a small sponsorship.

"Lastly, I hope you can achieve even greater glory. Peng City is your starting point and will always be your strongest backing."

After reading the letter, Wu Shi sharply caught the words "Peng City." Realizing something, he decisively bypassed the firewall to access the domestic internet and searched for Ye Zhongming.

He had searched for this elegant gentleman when he was still in the country. Back then, there was no search entry for "Ye Zhongming," but now his name prominently appeared at the very top. His resume and experiences were so extensive that it was unimaginable why he couldn’t be found before. And his most recent appointment was directly related to Peng City.

"Wow, what kind of rank is this?" he thought to himself.

Wu Shi wasn’t sure, so he told his father about the situation. Wu Zhenlin was very surprised, but that was about it. He only told Wu Shi that he needed to write a letter of thanks in return.

However, two days later, Wu Zhenlin called and said, "I received a sponsorship contract from back home for 500,000 a year."

"Huh?" Wu Shi was surprised.

"It’s from Peng City Airlines, and I’ve agreed to it. Leave the most prominent spot on your kart for the red roc logo. I’ll communicate with Sid about it," Wu Zhenlin said.

He knew about Sid becoming Wu Shi’s manager, and the arrangement of sponsor logos couldn’t just be done haphazardly.

"Okay."

Wu Shi nodded. Five hundred thousand was neither too much nor too little, but he was only a few months past his tenth birthday!

In March, Wu Shi’s new karts were completed—two in total. One was specifically for participating in the 60 MINI series, and the other was strictly for the KF5 series. Inside the warehouse, besides these two karts, there was another kart stored away. It was the very one Wu Shi had used to win the championship in 2008.

"I’ll keep this one well-preserved here. It might serve as a great souvenir in the future," Seth said with a smile.

Wu Shi blinked but didn’t speak. In his past life, he was far less well-off than he was now. Whenever he moved up to the next category, his karts would be immediately dismantled and sold for parts to recover funds. After all, a kart chassis alone cost anywhere from a few hundred or thousand euros for the cheaper ones, to tens of thousands for the expensive ones. And for racing purposes, one naturally had to buy the expensive ones.

"Wu Shi, my advice to you is not to limit yourself to races in Italy. Since you want to enter higher-level competitions faster, I suggest you go and race a few times in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom," Sid said.

Seth nodded and sighed helplessly, "Although I really want you to stay in Italy and run another season under our team’s name, it is indeed as Sid said. Traveling to other countries to participate in races and boost your popularity is also highly important."

"We can arrange it like that," Wu Shi nodded.

"Then let us continue preparing the karts for you?" Seth asked.

"Of course. I’m a member of the C.D Speed Team. If the team doesn’t prepare the karts for me, where else would I go to get them prepared?" Wu Shi chuckled. He didn’t have an F1 driver dad to help him out, so he still had to trouble the team with the preparation of his vehicles.

"Great. I’ve mapped things out for you. Belgium and France—you’ll be racing in these two places this year," Sid said.

"What kind of races are over there?"

"The KF5 Championship in Belgium, and the Cadet Series in France," Sid explained.

"Alright, I’ll follow the arrangements," Wu Shi nodded.

Thus, in April, Wu Shi, Sid, and the rest arrived at the Mariembourg circuit in Belgium.

"Your inspection is complete and up to standard. You may proceed with the upcoming races," a staff member said as they demarcated a spot in the pit lane for the group.

"As expected of someone from a major team. I’ve never even been here before," Seth clicked his tongue in wonder.

"This is exactly why I wanted Wu Shi to go to the Laya Team back then. The Laya Team can provide him with much more abundant developmental resources," Sid raised an eyebrow and called out to the mechanics to start their preparations.

Although regional karting events were also based on the FIA-CIK regulations, there were inevitably differences between regions. Therefore, the vehicle prepared for Belgium was yet another brand-new kart, once again adorned with the logos of various sponsors.

"Hey, Wu Shi, what are you looking at?" Seth called out.

"Oh, I just saw a guy who looks pretty formidable," Wu Shi replied.

As soon as he said this, not only Seth, but everyone on the team followed his gaze. They saw a little boy with a buzz cut standing there; he had thick lips and noticeably flushed cheeks.

"How can you tell?" Sid asked.

"Intuition," Wu Shi stated.

"Well, it seems your intuition is quite good. I don’t know the little guy, but I recognize the person next to him," Sid commented.

"What kind of nonsense is that! That’s Jos Verstappen, a former F1 driver. Who here doesn’t recognize him?" Seth was quite shocked to see a former F1 driver here.

"Is that his son?" one of the mechanics asked.

"I believe so. No one can afford to hire an F1 driver to coach their kid in karting unless the kid is the F1 driver’s own son," Sid nodded.

"No wonder he feels so strong," Wu Shi muttered on purpose. He hadn’t expected to meet Little Verstappen here so soon.

If he accidentally beat him, Little Verstappen would probably be heavily pressured and tormented by Jos Verstappen.

At this thought, he couldn’t help but shiver.