The pit garages here were much smaller compared to those in Shanghai, perhaps only a third of the size, but there were quite a few of them, dozens in fact. However, with one hundred teams, these few garages were likely still insufficient.
Therefore, the organizers had installed several dozen more simple waterproof steel plate structures to temporarily serve as pit garages.
When Zhang Mingzhi and his team arrived, many other teams were already there preparing. Zhang Mingzhi even spotted several foreign teams and some of his old rivals.
After unloading the race cars from the transport, they had prepared three spare vehicles for this competition. Once the cars were pushed into the pit garages, over a dozen technicians immediately began inspecting the overall condition of the vehicles and carrying out the final adjustments.
The driver responsible for participating in the selection race was an endurance race driver from the official Dukdi factory team, and also the driver who would partner with Lin Yan in the main race. With his skill, qualifying for the main race was considered a sure thing.
If he couldn't even qualify for the main race, it would likely be a major blunder for the Dukdi factory team. Zhang Mingzhi was well aware of this.
"Xiao Li, come here."
Hearing the chief mechanic's call, the participating driver immediately stopped his warm-up exercises and jogged over to Zhang Mingzhi.
"What is it, Chief Mechanic?"
"When the selection race starts later, you don't need to push too hard. You only need to be in the top thirty to qualify. Focus mainly on being steady and avoiding any crashes."
Zhang Mingzhi said earnestly. Although it was a sure thing, he still felt the need to give some instructions. He didn't want any mishaps during the selection race.
"Understood, Chief Mechanic."
Xiao Li nodded in agreement. He had been thinking the same thing; as long as he could pass the selection race smoothly, the main race was in the hands of "Lin Shen." While not a guaranteed championship, a top-three finish was definitely achievable. The main race for him was like picking up free credit, and standing next to "Lin Shen" would undoubtedly bring him significant exposure.
After Zhang Mingzhi finished his instructions, Vinares also pulled Xiao Li aside and gave him some advice. In short, they had to ensure the selection race was foolproof.
By the time the team members finished lunch, it was already one o'clock. Xiao Li was doing some exercises to aid digestion.
Meanwhile, most of the spectators at the venue had already arrived. The total number of people in the grandstands on all four sides reached 140,000, which was quite close to the attendance at the Shanghai race.
Zhang Mingzhi glanced at the weather and felt it was acceptable. It shouldn't rain in the short term, but the selection race would last for two hours, and anything could happen. They could only hope for the best.
They had already prepared spare cars in case of rain at any moment.
Around 1:30 PM, Lin Yan, holding Su Mojin's hand, arrived at the grandstands. They had just finished lunch and were returning from outside.
Today, he didn't plan to watch the race from the pit garage. He wanted to experience it as a spectator. Lin Yan was eager to experience the feeling of looking down at everything from the grandstands, a sensation that couldn't be replicated by watching on screens in the pit garage.
Even watching on screens, the large screen in front of the grandstands was much bigger than the ones in the pit garages.
Lin Yan asked Zhang Mingzhi to arrange a seat for him, which happened to be in the west grandstand with the best viewing angle. However, there were too many people, and even with the help of Li Wei and a few others, they had a hard time squeezing in.
As soon as the two of them were seated, Su Mojin started looking around like a curious baby.
"There are so many people there!"
"That's the pit garage, where all the drivers are preparing to start."
Following the direction Su Mojin pointed, Lin Yan explained. With one hundred teams, and each team having twenty to thirty staff members, one could imagine how many people would be there.
There were some foreigners in the grandstand where Lin Yan was, but most of them were Chinese, at least in Lin Yan's immediate vicinity.
Looking down at the time, Lin Yan quietly said to Su Mojin.
"It's about to start!"
As soon as Lin Yan finished speaking, nearly a hundred race cars were pushed out from the pit garages and the steel plate structures, with two team staff members pushing each car.
Strangely, they didn't push the cars to the starting line but stopped them on the side of the track, forming a neat line on the left side of the track, much like parking by the roadside. The nearly hundred cars lined up formed a dragon nearly a hundred meters long.
This was due to the unique starting rules of endurance racing. The starting rules for endurance racing were different from most other races; they adopted a "driver-car separation" start.
Driver-car separation meant that the cars were parked on the left side of the track at the starting point, while the drivers lined up on the right side of the track. When the starting flag was waved, the drivers had to run across the track to their cars to start.
Each driver's position was directly opposite their car, and the order of the cars was determined by a draw.
While Lin Yan was explaining to Su Mojin, the large screen showed the broadcast switching to the pit garage of the Honda team. However, the person leading the Honda pit garage this time was not their chief mechanic but someone else.
Reisner was also not present; the race was managed by two endurance race drivers.
PS: If you don't understand anything, please leave a comment. Thank you very much for the gifts from my brothers. I will persevere. Thank you very much. Lastly, I'll shamelessly... cough cough... work for love.