48 Hours a Day

The starting grid had three rows. The leader decided to abandon the lot-drawing system, where they all agreed to let Zhang Heng’s Volkswagen be placed in the middle of the first row. On his left was the Porsche 911, and on his right was the millennial’s Mercedes-Benz SL.

Behind them were BMWs and Jaguars.

Regardless of the advantage of their modified cars, Zhang Heng was at a disadvantage even if their cars were not modified. The Porsche 911 could make the century sprint in 3.9 seconds, and its engine could churn out a healthy 420 horsepower. As a comparison, a Santana 3000 would get from 0-100kp/h in a leisurely 11 seconds, its engine pumping out a lethargic 110 horsepower. These two cars were not even on the same tier. The odds were firmly stacked against Zhang Heng, and there was a 99.9% chance that he would lose the race.

The 911 couldn’t reach its maximum speed due to the complicated road conditions, but even if Zhang Heng was a more skilled driver than the club leader, it was still not enough to make up for the gap between the two cars.

Although Takumi Fujiwara pitted his humble AE86 against cars that were a lot more powerful, the AE86 was heavily modified. If Zhang Heng could use his Polo to compete, he was confident he could win the race. For now, though, he needed to think of other ways to win.

Having planned for the worst, Zhang Heng was prepared to use the Water-Soluble Metal to cause some trouble.

Before heading out, he had already put a thumb-sized piece of Water-Soluble Metal into the half-finished plastic water bottle, and since it had been sitting there for almost two hours, it should come into effect right about now. After checking out the route, however, Zhang Heng felt that there was a chance for him to win in this race.

After all, now, only it was convenient to use Water-Soluble Metal to stir-up some chaos, but it would also bring him a lot of trouble afterward. Although the modified car club members weren’t professional drivers, they at least knew a thing or two about cars and would instantly spot the anomaly if they did a thorough check.

“Are you ready?” A skimpily dressed Little K stood in the middle of the road, looking at the nine cars in front of her.

Her eyes deliberately stopped at Zhang Heng’s Santana for half a second.

After she asked the question, the drivers all revved their engines up, like a group of hunks showing off their muscles.

Zhang Heng knew his car well enough to know that no matter how hard he stepped on the gas, the roar of the Santana’s tiny engine would be drowned out by the imports around him. So he simply extended his hand out of the car window and made an OK gesture, causing everyone to laugh at him again.

Little K smiled at him too. After confirming that all the drivers were ready, she raised both arms and started the countdown, “5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO!”

And then, her arms came down.

Thus, the late-night racing competition finally commenced. All nine cars lunged forward, like tigers breaking free of their cages!

VV

To make up for the gap between the high powered roadsters and his sedan, Zhang Heng used the launch control technique to gain the upper hand. He first engaged the clutch in a semi-depressed state and revved the engine up to 3000 rpm before the start of the race. When the lights went out, he completely released the clutch and put the pedal to the metal. Once the rev-counter neared its red-line, he shifted into second and continued to push the engine as hard as he could. After that, he would change gear again until the tires emitted white smoke. Once Little K said go, Zhang Heng released the brake immediately.

As the car took off from the starting grid, the Santana’s engine was forced to squeeze out every last Nm of torque it could muster. The powerful acceleration threw Zhang Heng back into his seat; his acceleration, only a little slower than the 911 on his left side. Zhang Heng breathed a sigh of relief. That said, using such a method to get off the line was actually extremely detrimental to the Santana 3000. It wore down not only the clutch, but its tires and gearbox would be damaged to a certain extent. It was a technique used only occasionally in an emergency. Fortunately, the car was well maintained and completed the launch control.

But soon, the Porsche 911 on his left overtook him, and so did the millennial’s Mercedes SL on his right side. The driver even wound down his window to flip Zhang Heng the bird.

And this was just the beginning. After a while, two more cars overtook him.

It was not until the first corner that Zhang Heng caught up with them a bit. His lead, however, didn’t last long. Once they were on a straight road again, the sports cars easily overwhelmed Zhang Heng’s Santana 3000.

The 911 took the lead. After overtaking Zhang Heng, it was in the first place. It headed into the tunnel, followed closely by the SL. The tattooed man initially placed on the second row had now caught up with him. The two cars were basically moving side by side.

At that moment, Zhang Heng and his Santana 3000 had dropped to fifth place.

Considering how he was driving the worst-performing car among the lot, his position had caused the club leader to stare at him for a long time. Unfortunately, fifth-place wouldn’t be winning him the race. It seemed that he could keep his fifth place until the end of the race.

Half a minute later, by the time they were out of the tunnel, Zhang Heng’s Santana had fallen to the sixth position. Although he tried his best to tailgate the cars in front of him, the road was very wide, and once the left and right car overtook the Santana, the ones behind would have no problem overtaking it as well.

Zhang Heng was a skillful driver but an overconfident one.

This was how the club leader judged Zhang Heng.

There seemed to be a great distance between the finishing line and the starting point, but it would only take them six or seven minutes to complete a lap at their current speed.

In other words, they had completed almost one-fifth of the course now. Zhang Heng’s Santana was now four cars away from the Porsche 911. After a while, he lost sight of the 911’s taillamps. It seemed that his fate had been sealed. However, Zhang Heng did not appear to be in a hurry. Although cars were constantly overtaking him, he still maintained his previous speed (mainly because the car wouldn’t go any faster). Another two minutes passed, where most drivers had completed half of the lap. Zhang Heng and his Santana were now in the final position.

On the other hand, the millennial wasn’t doing too good as well, where two opponents overtook him. The tattooed man, on the contrary, was doing exceptionally well today. He actually found a chance to surpass the Porsche 911 in one fell swoop, temporarily holding onto first place.

Then the club leader noticed in the rearview mirror that the Santana had disappeared.

Did he give up?

Did he flee from the race after knowing that he had no hope of winning the race?

If Zhang Heng had listened to his advice earlier, the club leader had no intention to cause him any trouble. But now Zhang Heng’s speech had successfully triggered his anger. He would not let Zhang Heng off the hook just like that. He was not the kind of men that one should mess around with. Before the race started, he had memorized Zhang Heng’s car plate number. With the power of his family, he could locate Zhang Heng quickly.

By that time, he would be able to force Zhang Heng to carry out his promise. But now, the race was not over. Even if Zhang Heng quit, there were still eight racers competing with him. As the club president, he had no intention to lose the race.

Less than 500 meters ahead was a large construction site. Although he could shorten the distance by going through it, the road condition was harsh, according to the information given to him earlier. The road was filled with potholes, and a lot of building materials were abandoned on the road. It was better to take the long road than risking it since it was now night time. Therefore, the club leader turned away from the construction site without any hesitation.