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Rallying to the fore
It's the speed, the thrill and the passion of rally racing that drive amateur competitors like Zhu Zhenyu, writes Zhou Zuyi.
As an amateur racing driver who has been racing regularly for just a few months, the sophomore computer science major finished 22nd out of 47 S-class (domestic manufacturers) competitors at the recent season opener of the six-round 2004 China Rally Championship in Shanghai. It was all the more satisfying considering that Zhu's debut outing, a distance of 420 kilometers in 14 stages over suburban Sheshan in Songjiang District, was made in an hastily adapted four-door household sedan, a gift from his father. ``It's certainly not bad,'' says Zhu, speaking of the outcome of the event. ``I had originally thought that I would be driving a mature race-version 1.6-liter Polo, along with my teammates. But it turned out that since a couple of senior drivers signed up on very short notice, the team ran out of Polos. So I had no choice but to drive my own car.'' Shanghai Volkswagen 333 Racing, which took Zhu on board after a test drive in early January, began their defense of the national S-class championship with six pairs of drivers and co-drivers. Backed by the Sino-German constructor Shanghai Volkswagen, the team pulled off a solid start to the new season in Sheshan. Despite the last-minute withdrawal of Wang Rui and Xiao Song for a technical failure, Wang Shaofeng and Fang Junwei edged out the rest of the grid by a 1.8-second gap in their Polo 1.6. With another two pairs in third and fourth places respectively, the Shanghai team secured the top slot on the 13-member S-class constructors' board. ``Everybody knows that we don't have many tricky gravel road sections in the Shanghai rally,'' says Zhu, hinting at tougher challenges ahead for both his team and himself as an individual driver. ``Nevertheless it's a perfect initiation for a rookie like me.'' Zhu's passion for auto racing dates back to the age of 13, when he first tried his father's Russia-made Volga sedan. The interest upgraded into a hobby when Zhu came across a poster touting the Volkswagen 333 Racing Club, a subsidiary of the racing team, shortly after he was admitted to the Shanghai University of Science and Technology. Zhu soon joined approximately 500 other local auto-sport fanatics, spending most of his weekends at the suburban Tianma Circuit, home to both the team and the club. ``To enlarge the fan base, we need to reach down to the grass-roots level,'' says 333 Team boss Xia Qing. ``But in Zhu's case, the club is also a source for talents.'' Paid membership allows Zhu and his fellow auto racing aficionados to speed around the Tianma track in adapted Santanas, an overwhelmingly popular model in the local market which 333 team used for national rally championships in both 2001 and 2002. Members who aspire to go further are offered a short-term qualification course: Successful applicants, with more than two years of road-driving experience, can qualify for a racing license. The license makes one eligible for domestic events like the National Rally Championship. Zhu was among the lucky few who got through. As a result, his 90,000-yuan (US$112,500) Gol, which was turned from a white-collar favorite into a roaring monster, is equipped with wireless communication and race-specific shock-waivers. Zhu was not the only amateur driver to hit the road in the rally championship this year. More than 10 independent driving pairs from all over the country sat behind wheels among the record 75 cars -- either S- or N-class (foreign manufacturers) -- waiting on the starting line at the Shanghai rally. ``The boost in the number of the competitors signals a higher participation level in rally racing, and motor racing at large,'' says 333 Team boss Xia. ``It's partly thanks to the introduction of Formula One and other world-class motor sport events in China this year.'' Xia also reveals that the 333 Team is considering taking part in a few junior Formula races later this year at the Shanghai International Circuit, the venue for the intended inaugural F1 Chinese Grand Prix due in September. ``But rallying remains our focus,'' Xia insists. ``Compared with those relatively expensive Formula racing, rally racing is more accessible to the public. Models like Polo and Gol are easily available, and it just takes a few modifications to set them up to racing standards.'' Yet even a ``cheap'' rally, by auto-racing standards, means high-flying expenses for ordinary people. A one-hour driving session at the Tianma Circuit costs 500 yuan. Even Zhu, who comes from a comparatively wealthy family, calls it an ``expensive sport.'' ``Formula racing is the ultimate dream, but it's too expensive. Rally racing has already put too much of a strain on my family's bank account,'' Zhu admits. ``It's the love of the sport and a passion for racing that keep people like me going. You know, every time I pull the car back under control when it's about to drift in a high-speed curve, I feel that there couldn't possibly be anything more thrilling in the world. ``My dream is to move up the ladder into international rally events, and maybe it sounds far-fetched, but I would like to be a World Rally Championship driver in five years,'' he adds. ``I'll give up dreaming if I can't do it in five years, but until then, I'll try my best.'' |
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When his silver-painted 1.6-liter Gol finally made it back into the service
area, Zhu Zhenyu had a long list of reasons to revel in his accomplishment.
