The collaborator was found by Lin Yan, or rather, the Lin family's subsidiaries happened to have one.
Even if they couldn't be master and disciple in this life, being collaborators was good. If Lin Yan planned to establish an academy, he could learn from his master's experience.
"Collaborator? Collaborate on what? I'm not very clear."
For a moment, Venareath couldn't quite recall.
However, Venareath soon remembered. It seemed there was indeed such a matter, but it was quite some time ago.
"There was, but it's been a while. I don't know if..."
"Alright, that's all. You can go now."
Knowing that such a matter existed was enough. This thing was incredibly difficult to find; otherwise, his master wouldn't have searched for so long back then. Lin Yan wondered if he should take the opportunity to extort his master.
It seemed a bit unethical, but the opportunity was rare. After all, he never had the chance to extort his master in his previous life.
Seeing Lin Yan about to dismiss him, Venareath became somewhat displeased and turned to leave dejectedly.
If only he weren't the boss, I would definitely...
After the unloading was complete, two simulators worth tens of millions were delivered to Lin Yan's second-floor room.
There were four rooms on the second floor: two master bedrooms, an indoor fitness area, and a tea room. These two simulators were placed in the tea room.
The tea room was the smallest, about a hundred square meters, which was more than enough to accommodate the two simulators.
Professional technicians were there to install them.
"Young Master, according to reliable sources, the Ben Tian factory team's development of the racing car's rear wing has been very successful, greatly improving their performance in straight lines and closing the gap with us."
While the installation was underway, Zhang Mingzhi approached Lin Yan and said.
Upon hearing this news, Lin Yan's expression remained unchanged, as if he had anticipated it.
"And what about ours?"
"Uh... there were some issues, and it might be too late. However, there's also some good news: Ben Tian's chief technician recently suffered a relapse of his heart condition and is hospitalized."
When Lin Yan inquired about their development, Zhang Mingzhi felt a bit awkward because their research had temporarily failed and would likely take some time to succeed.
"Heart condition relapse? What's going on?"
Lin Yan was a little disappointed that their race car development was behind schedule, but it was within reason. After all, race car development, like scientific research, was an extremely difficult undertaking, consuming both time and money.
However, he was curious about the situation with Ben Tian's chief technician being hospitalized for a heart condition.
"It should be an accident. The news media reported that he encountered a car accident on his way home from work. He was unharmed, but he was startled. It will likely take some time before he's discharged, and it's uncertain if he can make it to the race."
Zhang Mingzhi continued. The chief technician's hospitalization, if he missed the Austrian Grand Prix, would be great news for Lin Yan and his team, especially at this critical juncture of car upgrades.
Even if the car was upgraded significantly, the absence of the chief technician during the race would be a devastating blow to the team.
Car performance was one aspect, but tuning was another. The tuning for each race was different, with the chief technician developing specialized car setups for each track.
Tires were similar; the difference in the number of left and right turns on a track would affect the balance of tire allocation. It was common for the materials on the left and right sides of the tires to differ.
The consequences of the chief technician's absence were predictable. Even if someone else stepped in, the effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
This was why it was said that if Ben Tian's chief technician retired, Reisner would essentially be out of contention for the championship.
Unless Ben Tian was willing to pay a hefty price to hire another top technician, and even then, it would depend on how well the new technician meshed with Reisner.
This was indeed good news. Lin Yan nodded, but he couldn't afford to be careless. Hospitalization didn't necessarily mean the person would miss the race.
After all, it was common for drivers to compete with injuries in this sport, let alone a chief technician with such significant responsibilities.
"We can't be careless. Keep a close eye on news regarding this."
Lin Yan instructed.
After the simulator installation was complete and Zhang Mingzhi left, Lin Yan sat down and did a brief acclimatization. Su Mojin was also a bit curious and came to watch.
The simulator's upper limit was very high, and Su Mojin, with her current skill level, couldn't fully grasp it yet.
This was because Su Mojin didn't yet know how to corner properly, but the arrival of the simulator would make it convenient for Lin Yan to teach her hands-on.
Soon, evening arrived.
After syncing some data and contacting his master, they entered a PK room through the simulators.
Since Luo Xi had retired a long time ago, the latest two generations of factory cars on his simulator were not accessible to him.
Therefore, both of them were using cars from three years ago.
Lin Yan was using an Aprilia, and Luo Xi was using a Yamaha, his former team.
The track was randomly selected, but the one that came up made Lin Yan frown.
"Let's switch,"
Lin Yan said through the headset. Luo Xi didn't reply, and they switched to the next track.
Austrian Grand Prix.
There were no other participants in this race; it was a direct competition between the two of them.
The qualifying session started first.
The previous track involved some emotional trauma for his master, so Lin Yan chose to skip it on the spot.
Few people knew that besides his own number, Luo Xi's helmet also bore a special number.
Others didn't know, but Lin Yan did.
This number belonged to his master's close friend. They had known each other since childhood, were from the same hometown, and the friend regarded his master as a role model, a senior, and an older brother. They were rare close friends in the racing world.
However, fate played a cruel trick, and due to an accident, his master personally killed his good friend.
He learned these details from his master's old acquaintances, and there were even race recordings at the time.
Even after so many years, Lin Yan still remembered that race, that corner. He wondered if he could have avoided it in such a situation.
But an accident was an accident, and one accident became a lifelong scar for Luo Xi.
That race back then was the Xue Bang Grand Prix.
Ximeng was ahead of Luo Xi, and Luo Xi was battling with someone behind him.
When the race reached lap 11, Ximeng, who was in front, suddenly lost grip in a corner and spun out, his car sliding sideways.
As it slid outwards, the car seemed to regain grip and sharply turned inwards.
It was a right-hand corner, and Ximeng's body was positioned on the right side of the car as it rounded the bend.
Luo Xi and another rider behind them were just exiting the corner, accelerating at that moment.
The rider battling with Luo Xi was on the outer line, while Luo Xi was on the inner line.
The car, after being thrown outwards, turned sharply inwards, heading directly onto the track.
Imagine the situation at that time. With the limited field of vision inside a helmet, no one could have avoided it, not even the formidable nine-time champion Luo Xi.
The two behind them couldn't react in time and collided head-on with Ximeng's body that had been flung outwards.
The outer rider hit the torso, while Luo Xi, on the inner line, ran over Ximeng's helmet.
At nearly two hundred kilometers per hour exiting the corner, by sheer coincidence, Ximeng's helmet was a size too large and came off upon impact.
He was rushed to the hospital by helicopter for emergency treatment, but despite an hour of intensive care at the local hospital, it was in vain.
The hospital declared Ximeng dead due to severe injuries.
...................................................................
ps: The main reason for writing this is to inform all brothers who want to buy a car or have already bought one about the importance of helmets.
This happened more than ten years ago. The quality and safety of helmets now are much better than back then.
Even at that time, even if it fell off or came loose, it delayed the rescue by an hour, but he did not die on the spot.
I saw comments from people saying that helmets are useless at high speeds.
There were also those who said they never wore helmets when riding their bikes.
I don't want to say anything to these people, but any decent helmet, unless it's pierced by an extremely sharp object during an accident, will most likely save your life.
Also, it's okay if your conditions are limited; just don't buy fake helmets or those without safety certifications and guarantees (this is the most important part!!!).
It's best not to buy helmets made of ABS material (this is personal advice).
If you have the means, go for the best right away.
It's recommended to progress from small displacement to large displacement motorcycles, but for helmets, it's best to go for the top-tier if you have the money. Top-tier helmets also hold their value well, depreciate less, and are easier to sell when you quit or upgrade, resulting in fewer losses.
(That's enough rambling. Four updates today as well.)