NOVGO.NET Chapter 208: Silverstone
Chapter 208: Silverstone
Whooooooooo!
Fatih breathed out as he walked out of the corridor connecting the garage to the pit area, with his racing suit still in its casual mode, heading towards his side of the garage, which was the farthest from the pit lane exit.
Per the arrangements, he was set to go on last, as his arrival time made it impossible for him to finish his final car setup. The other two, who came earlier than scheduled, had managed to have their cars set up with the basic settings like pedal force and distance, seating adjustments, and other minimal changes to fit each driver.
“Ah, you’re finally here,” Lisa Cartwright, Fatih’s chief mechanic for both his training and his F4 season, said as she motioned for Fatih to come towards her. She was standing next to the car, adding, “We have used the measurements we had during the fitting day, but we need to make adjustments in case of changes in preference or growth during that period, so it shouldn’t take long.”
“Okay…” Fatih said, but just as he was about to resume his response, he stopped upon hearing the Ford 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine being powered on, attracting his attention from the other side of the garage. The engine had started after a long oil heating process that had begun hours ago.
Due to the small number of people present, the sound that would have been dampened by an audience was quite crisp and clear on the now-empty track. Fatih closed his eyes for a moment, trying to enjoy it, as it also marked his shift from small karting engines to actually powerful ones that dwarfed the performance by magnitudes.
“Okay, let’s get it done quickly so that you can go and monitor the one heading out on the track,” Lisa said, clapping her hands after Fatih remained with his eyes closed for more than ten seconds, enjoying the sound.
“So, only the minor setups remain now, and everything else is ready?” Fatih asked the moment he opened his eyes.
“Yes,” Lisa answered, looking on the verge of almost carrying Fatih into the car herself.
Seeing her face, he didn’t bother to ask more questions as he didn’t have any. He walked to the car and squatted on the right side of his car’s monocoque for a moment with his hands resting on the car, looking as if he was undergoing a ritual in the eyes of others.
However, Fatih was doing it for a completely different reason.
[Would you like to register this vehicle? (-100SP)]
[Yes] [No]
Without wasting a second, Fatih selected [YES] and instantly…
[Vehicle Registered! MYGALE_M14-F4_2018_BASELINE_001 added to Simulation.]
He immediately went to the simulation window to see the registered car.
[Simulation]
Registered Vehicles (1/2):
> MYGALE_M14-F4_2018_BASELINE_001
And there it was, his new car finally registered in the simulation. He had already cleared the karts from the system the previous day in preparation for this, as Apollo had stopped him from driving karts in the simulation, fully focused on teaching him to adapt to his new, upgraded senses.
He immediately clicked on the name, and the detailed description of the car appeared.
[FORMULA_CAR_REGISTRATION: MYGALE_M14-F4_2018_BASELINE_001]
————————————————————-
VEHICLE ID: MYGALE_M14-F4_2018_BASELINE_001
1
SERIES: British F4 Championship (FIA Certified)
YEAR: 2018 Model
STATUS: Ready for Simulation
————————————————————-
[CHASSIS SPECIFICATIONS]
> Manufacturer: Mygale S.A. (France)
> Model: Mygale M14-F4 (FIA Formula 4 specification)
> Structure: Carbon fiber composite monocoque (FIA F3 crash standard)
> Weight (w/ driver): ~570 kg (minimum, series regulated)
> Dimensions:
– Length: ~4,400 mm
– Wheelbase: 2,800 mm
> Safety:
– FIA-spec front/rear impact structures, removable safety seat
– HANS-compatible restraint system, high cockpit sidewalls
– Fire extinguisher and kill switches
[AERODYNAMICS]
> Adjustable front/rear wings (single element; basic multi-configuration)
> Flat undertray, rear diffuser, regulated floor
> Downforce at 200 km/h: ~520 kg (default aero)
[ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS]
> Engine Supplier: Ford
> Type: 1.6L Ford EcoBoost, turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
> FIA F4 tune (sealed, spec)
> Max Power: ~160 bhp @ 6,500 RPM
> Max Torque: ~240 Nm
> Rev Limit: 6,500 RPM
> Turbo Boost: Series-locked
> ECU: Cosworth FIA-spec
[TRANSMISSION & DRIVELINE]
> Gearbox: Sadev six-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox
> Clutch: Single-plate, foot-operated (manual F4/FIA spec)
> Drive: Rear-wheel-drive (RWD)
> Differential: Limited slip
[SUSPENSION]
> Double-wishbone front and rear
> Adjustable push-rod actuated coil springs over dampers
> Anti-roll bars (adjustable front/rear)
> Series-regulated damper/spring specs
[BRAKING SYSTEM]
> Four-wheel ventilated steel disc brakes (AP Racing)
> Front/rear brake bias adjustable (cockpit lever)
> Driver-adjustable pedal box
> No ABS
[WHEELS & TIRES]
> Wheels: OZ Racing, 13-inch cast aluminum alloys, center-lock
> Tires: Hankook F4 slick/intermediate/wet control tires
> Tire dimensions (Front/Rear): ~180/550/13, 240/570/13 (slicks)
[STEERING & CONTROLS]
> Steering: Manual, no power assist; quick-release wheel
> Paddle shifters (up/down)
> On-wheel display (gear/numeric), warning lights
> In-cockpit controls for brake bias, radio, pit, drink, engine kill
[PERFORMANCE METRICS – SIMULATED BASELINE]
> 0–100 km/h: ~3.9 seconds (optimal starts)
> Top speed: ~235 km/h
> Cornering G-Force: Up to ~2.2G sustained (high downforce tracks)
> Braking: 0–100 km/h to stop: ~28 m (threshold, optimal temp)
> Lap time (Silverstone National, baseline): ~55 sec (series average)
[SYSTEM NOTES / QUIRKS]
> Turbo “lag” minimal but present at low RPM—throttle modulation needed.
> Clutch use mandatory for standing starts and pit lane; gear changes paddle only at speed (no lift-sensor).
> Tire switching/compound change only in simulation options (real series: single “wet/slick” compound per event).
> Driver cooling via cockpit duct—minimal, requires acclimatisation to heat.
————————————————————-
[SIMULATION OPTIONS]
> [DRIVE]
> [SETUP & TUNING] (wing, brake bias, steering rake, pedal position)
> [DATA ANALYSIS] (telemetry, overlay, replay)
————————————————————-
He didn’t read it in detail as he didn’t want to waste the time of the mechanics waiting for him, so he just parsed through it to the important notes. Once he was done, he immediately stood up, put on the suit as if he was ready to race, and got in the car without his balaclava and helmet, as it was just for minimal adjustments.
The moment he fully got into the car, he felt extreme comfort surrounding him, as if everything was in the right place.
“How does it feel?” Lisa asked him the moment he got comfortable in the car.
“It feels like I’m being hugged,” Fatih said without beating around the bush.
“Looks like the custom seat was made right,” Lisa said with a smile. If the seat was uncomfortable, then Fatih would have to drive in an uncomfortable car while they waited for a new customized seat that would take weeks to get ready, making it difficult for him to learn comfortably, as he would be experiencing too much discomfort to fully focus on driving.
“Okay, let’s get on with the seat belts,” she said before turning to Fatih and saying, “Get ready to become one with the car.”
And she wasn’t wrong. Fatih was now being strapped in by the five-point harness that fully secured him to the car, making it impossible for him to move his upper body at all, other than his head.
While he was focused on the sensation, his ears finally picked up the sound of one of the cars being pushed outside the garage and set on the fast lane before the driver was allowed to drive away in it.
…….
“Ah, come on,” Jack Doohan said to himself when he stalled the moment he was given the green light. He felt embarrassed, as he could feel everyone’s gaze on him, and he didn’t like it at all.
{Don’t worry about it, everyone goes through it. Just calm down and try again,} the calm voice of James Holton, acting as Jack Doohan’s temporary race engineer, was heard through the radio.
“…” Jack didn’t say anything in response, but he tried once again. He engaged the clutch, put the car in first gear, and as he slowly pressed the throttle, he slowly lifted the clutch. Once he felt the biting point, he released the clutch, but not fully until he felt the tug. Only then did he release it completely as he slowly started rolling forward. The moment the car started moving, he instantly pushed the throttle to fifty percent, pushing his head back for a moment as he shouted, “YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH,” inside his helmet, audible only to him and the microphone set by the docuseries team. He slowly drove out of the pit lane and joined the track, officially beginning his physical test.
To make the most of the training time, they were using the F1 configuration of the track, which was the longest, instead of the shortest configuration that was usually used by the F4 series.
……….
“That’s your seat,” James Holton said as he pointed towards one of the empty seats on the pit wall to Fatih, who had just gotten out of his car.
“Thanks,” Fatih said as he picked up the headphones set out for him and put them on before he started focusing on the screens that were showing different telemetry from the car and the different camera feeds from both inside the car and around the track.
Permanent tracks like Silverstone have permanent infrastructure like a fiber optics network, radio repeaters, and other additional fixtures. The current team was tapping into it to access all of the live information being transmitted from both the car and the cameras that were being commandeered by the docuseries team, along with the track’s CCTV feeds. This allowed them to have live access to both the visual and data being gathered in real-time, so the two drivers waiting for their session could access the data of the other driver and even watch them live to learn from their actions.
Three minutes and thirty-five seconds. That was how long it took Jack Doohan to go around the F1 configuration of the track. It was obvious that he was being very careful in the corners and was holding back on the straights, but it was normal. It was his first time ever driving the car, so the first half an hour was meant to let the driver take his time getting used to the car and how it operates and feels. Any improvement feedback would be given after the first session, and real-time adjustments would be provided starting in the second session.
’What is wrong with him?’ James found himself glancing at Fatih, who seemed to be fully focused on a single screen that showed nothing but telemetry coming from the car and didn’t even try to look at the screen showing the camera feeds.
Unaware or unbothered by the gazes he was receiving from those around him, Fatih was fully focused on the telemetry data as he tried to push his brain to the limit as an exercise.
Per Apollo’s suggestion, Fatih was now trying to convert the live telemetry into a 3D image in his mind in real-time, so as to allow him to be able to immediately visualize the situation from just a telemetry image.
And he was failing miserably at it.