Chapter 110: I Have to Give Him My Nickname!

"Is the gap really that wide?" Qiao Yu asked, startled.

Ling Feng nodded. "Based on my understanding of Meng Meng's riding skills, that is indeed the case. While our group of young people in Zhuoshanzi all ride motorcycles, none of us have reached this level. The only person I thought could compare to Zhou Chun is back in our hometown, busy taking care of his baby. Forget it, as Meng Meng said, it’s no shame to lose to a former national champion!"

Hearing this, Qiao Yu complained to Chen Jiao, "See? This is the trouble you caused!"

Chen Jiao pulled a long face. "I didn't know it would turn out like this! By the way, Ling Feng, you mentioned 'leaning-in with body hanging' and 'leaning-in cornering' earlier—what’s the difference between these two techniques?"

Ling Feng lit a cigarette, took a puff, and explained, "Motorcycle cornering technique is constantly evolving. In the past, most riders used 'leaning-in with body hanging,' which involves shifting the center of gravity using the waist as the pivot point, spreading the knee toward the ground to maximize weight shift for quick cornering. The sparks that flew when Zhou Chun's knee grazed the ground just now were because he was using this technique."

"With the evolution of electronic control systems and significant improvements in tire performance over the last decade, most professional riders have adopted a technique called 'leaning-in.' Instead of moving the waist, the rider leans their upper body and head toward the inside of the curve. This allows for a deeper angle and higher speed. There’s a rider in Japan who uses this technique to lean the bike at nearly 69 degrees—the whole machine looks like it’s lying flat on the ground."

Qiao Yu scoffed, "Only the Japanese would bother challenging such an absurd record."

Ling Feng shook his head. "Actually, to be precise, this cornering posture was pioneered by the Japanese, but not by professional racers—it was by Japanese police officers."

"Police?" Quan Yajing asked, confused. "Do police become professional motorcycle racers?"

Ling Feng shook his head. "Just regular Japanese police. Because they ride white motorcycles, this posture is known as the 'White Motorcycle Posture.' The police often hold competitions to test their riding skills. According to the rules of their time trials, no part of the bike or rider can touch the ground. The rule was originally intended to ensure officers could complete their tasks safely under any circumstances. Furthermore, their bikes are equipped with standard tires and are heavy and bulky, and they have to go out in rain or snow. For safety reasons, they wouldn't use the 'hanging off' method, so over time, they developed this 'leaning-in' technique."

Chen Jiao asked, "But just now, I noticed Zhou Chun’s lean angle wasn't that deep. Why did you say he chose the best technique?"

Ling Feng gave a wry smile. "That’s a multifaceted issue. Blindly pursuing a steeper angle is wrong; too much tilt actually slows the bike down and weakens tire grip because the contact patch between the tire and the road shrinks. The goal is to keep the bike as upright as possible. Ideally, the rider should be off the bike while the machine stays upright—though, given centrifugal force and inertia, that’s impossible. The faster you corner, the greater the lean angle naturally becomes. In a competition like MotoGP, riders lean at over 65 degrees because the speed is so high that they need that angle to counter centrifugal force and inertia. Just like the Japanese police, it’s a matter of safety."

"And what’s the most important thing in cornering? Grip! The grip is strongest when the tire is upright and the contact area is largest. When cornering and leaning, grip is at its minimum. Increasing the lean angle to press onto the tire's sidewall is a way to increase the contact area. Standard tires don't have the insane grip of racing slicks. Even though they are using semi-slicks, there’s still a huge gap compared to track tires. Plus, they’re on a public road, not a track. Zhou Chun's cornering choice was textbook perfection."

After hearing Ling Feng’s explanation, everyone doubted Yang Meng could win. Since Ling Feng was a close friend of Yang Meng and understood him well, his assessment made it seem like Yang Meng’s chances of winning were near zero.

Quan Yajing looked toward where Yang Meng had ridden off. "Has Meng Meng given up?"

Everyone turned to look. To their surprise, Yang Meng was riding leisurely, tracing an "S" pattern on the road.

Ling Feng frowned. "He hasn't given up; it looks like he’s getting serious. He’s scrubbing the tires to build up heat. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"A bad feeling?" Qiao Yu asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Ling Feng blinked. "The best-case scenario is that you’ll need to replace your tires."

"And the worst-case?" Qiao Yu asked.

Ling Feng didn't answer, but his eyes were filled with tension.

Just then, a roar echoed. Yang Meng’s red HP4 suddenly accelerated and surged toward the curve.

Ling Feng, who had been sitting on his Harley 833 smoking, jumped up in terror as he watched the bike disappear. The cigarette butt burned his hand, and he flicked it away, but by the time he looked up, Yang Meng was already gone.

Ling Feng quickly turned to the others. "Where is Meng Meng?"

"Huh? He rode far ahead!" Qiao Yu replied.

Ling Feng let out an astonishing remark: "He didn't crash?"

"What?" Quan Yajing was stunned. "Isn't Meng Meng your good friend? Why would you hope he crashes?"

Ling Feng’s eyes widened. "This is impossible... this is absolutely impossible!"

"What's impossible?"

Ling Feng put his index finger in his mouth to wet it and held it up. "Considering the wind speed and direction... he took that turn at at least 120 km/h!"

"120? That's fast!" Chen Jiao said.

Ling Feng covered his face with his hands. "Do you guys even ride? How fast do you usually take turns?"

The women looked at each other. Qiao Yu spoke up: "I take normal turns at 70."

Ling Feng pointed at the S-curve. "You call that a normal turn?"

Chen Jiao interjected, "I saw a movie with Andy Lau and Gigi Leung where she said he dared to take turns at 200 km/h! That’s our ultimate goal!"

Ling Feng was speechless. "Sister, that’s a movie! You’re really going to believe a movie? Let me put it this way: even top MotoGP riders wouldn't dare take a turn at 200!"

"Oh?" Chen Jiao was stunned.

Ling Feng explained, "Let me clarify. Let’s start with a cliché: which is faster, a motorcycle or a car?"

"A motorcycle, of course!" the three women replied in unison.

Ling Feng laughed bitterly. "That’s because you’re comparing your bikes to ordinary cars. Motorcycles have fast acceleration. In a match between equivalent machines—like F1 versus MotoGP, or a liter-class bike versus a supercar—the motorcycle has the edge in acceleration and top speed. But when it comes to braking and cornering, a motorcycle is no match for a four-wheeled vehicle of the same tier."

"No way," Qiao Yu said, confused. "My riding skills can beat cars!"

Ling Feng sighed. "What are you comparing them to? Take this Audi—it’s a sports car, right? But it’s not in the same league as your bike! Your HP4 is a liter-class sportbike, the top tier, so it should be compared to hypercars like a Bugatti. Take the Circuit of the Americas, which hosts both F1 and MotoGP. The fastest F1 lap time is 1:40, while the fastest MotoGP time is 2:04. Do you think that gap is negligible? While the motorcycle's top speed is indeed higher than an F1 car's, that's it."

"Why is the gap so large?" Qiao Yu asked.

Ling Feng said, "There are too many factors. Cars have four tires, meaning much higher grip, allowing for faster cornering. And what does F1 prioritize most? Aerodynamics! An F1 car generates nearly a ton of downforce, allowing for faster cornering speeds, especially on high-speed curves. For example, at Turn 19 of the Austin circuit, the fastest F1 cornering speed is 169 km/h, while for a motorcycle, it’s only 115 km/h—a difference of over 50 km/h! At the same speed, a motorcycle's braking distance and time far exceed those of a car. It's no surprise the lap time gap is so huge."

Qiao Yu finally realized the issue. "You said Yang Meng took that turn at at least 120? How did he do it?"

Ling Feng spread his hands. "You're asking me? Who the hell knows? Motorcycle aerodynamics are pathetic compared to cars! Even with the winglets on current MotoGP bikes, the jury is still out on how effective they really are. How could he keep the bike stable at that speed? How much downforce would he need? And if the downforce is too high, the tires might not even handle it! I can't wrap my head around this. It looks like I need to hand over my nickname to him."

"Hand over your nickname? What is your nickname?" Quan Yajing asked curiously.

Ling Feng replied flatly, "The Madman."