It’s a place where dreams bud
A dream to be a hero everybody admired from a mere nobody had always been in little Arthur’s mind since he drew out the sword from the stone…

From the crowded and barren land to the vast fertile soil, just for this dream, the Mediterranean became the cradle of Greek Civilization; the development of the west started the prosperity and powerfulness of the United States; Jews thank Abraham for his wise instruction and monks still remember the sutra delivered by Buddha and Sakyamuni’s smiles to this day…

There is a special group around us. They have a cool job and a cool dream. They are also cool themselves. They are connected with high technology while they are wild, untamed and not bound by the scientific reasoning in the lab. They are often surrounded by attracting landscapes while they seem to have no interest in those scenes and come and go again and again without any delay. Actually their dream is to be quick, quicker and quickest. In order to pursue their dream, they constantly surpass themselves and their rivals even sometimes they have to be in danger for that dream. But they don’t care and what they really care about should be champagne sprinkled after victory and wreaths for the success…

Their dream is racing! Shanghai should be the place where their dream starts…

Then, let me give you a story of my acquaintance with the two best drivers of the group.

Acquaintance
It’s not in conference room, not in Starbucks or tennis court but beside lake in the remote suburban area that I have first met this group. The common issue between us turned from coffee into car.

That time, I went to attend a car-trial activity at the invitation of an auto magazine. On my way, I learned that the guy coming to try the car was Ge Jun, a racing car driver of Shanghai Volkswagen 333 Racing Club, when I was chatting with my counterparts. Depending on good instinct developed in my many years of work, I predicted that something unexpected may happen.

With well-tailored suit and delicate suitcase, Ge Jun looks like a gentleman and a white-collar walking under the shadow of mansions in a city. For some reason, I don’t think his dress fits him well.

When I got on the rear seat of the new car, and was prepared to enjoy the air conditioning system, I feel myself suddenly pulled back. Since then, I sit in the seat with my back sticking to the seat for a long time. I was embarrassed by sudden brake without any sign after I was accustomed to the high speed. It’s Ge Jun who was trying the car! It’s really an exaggeration for him to march on in this way on the smooth bituminous macadam. He even showed us the skill of side sliding only available in rally ground. On the journey, he never forgot telling the passengers that he was swerving at a high speed. To tell you the truth, I was really concerned when he drove the car this way on the narrow highway surrounding the lake. His way of car trial close to “savage” completely damaged his impression of white-collar in my mind. I ruthlessly classified him into madmen who don’t want their own lives. It seemed that the car owner thought alike with me. Seeing the “treasure” tortured by other people rampantly, the owner really worried. After the trial, he just smoked alone.

Background information:
Ge Jun: born in Shanghai, co-driver of the 333 racing team since the 2002 season and his total score as a co-driver ranked the third in the 2001 National Rally Championship.

Production of star
To help us relieve our shock, Ge Jun suggested that we have a rest in the base of the 333 racing club where he worked. It was said that a car race training session was held there, and we would have the opportunity to have a look at the real racing car. I was excited for a while after knowing the information. Although my driving skill is not very good, I’m passionate about racing car, and proud of capable of speaking names of racing car drivers of F1 teams or WRC teams. It must be very pleasant to have the opportunity of communicating with and learning from real racing car drivers closely.

Before we entered the base, noise generated by the racing cars forced out hearts to resonate with them. Besides engine of racing cars, shouts from students there also tested our hearing. What made these adults as crazy as children? Due to my professional instinct, I went to see what was happening in a hurry. The program ongoing was named “artificial ABS”. It’s said that in this program, students are required to learn how to imitate ABS by stopping the car at the fixed final position 200 meters far from the starting point within very short distance (200m) and at high speed (100km/h) without locking the tire. It seemed that this mission was hard to accomplish. It’s a pity that several students failed the mission and slid into ditches on both sides of the road in a short while. It’s not easy to become a racing car driver. To endure hardship is the first step they must experience to be a star.
Coach’s car stopped before us. It seemed that it was time for a break. It took long time for dust floating in the air to disperse, and the outline of the racing car in front of us blurred. The door of the car was open, a big and tall young man got off the racing car. “He’s Xu Lang, my partner, another champion driver of our team, and also one of the coaches of this racing car training program”, introduced Ge Jun. It seemed that Ge Jun was very satisfactory with his partner.

Background information
Xu Lang: 24 years old, born in Wuyi, Zhejiang province. He’s the youngest driver of the 333 racing team last season. His driving style is adventurous and passionate without losing calmness.

In 2001 season, Xu Lang became mature, crowned as one of the most promising drivers in 2001. As the representative of new generation of racing car drivers, he has a promising future and a lot to improve.

Existence and discovery of champions
“Wise Ge Jun and fearless Xu Lang” is the assessment of the two drivers by the whole Shanghai Volkswagen 333 Racing Team. After watching the three-day match in Shaoguan, the last station of the National Rally Championship, on invitation, I began to agree this assessment in real sense.

For this match, the 333 team suddenly gave up Santana familiar to the drivers, and presented their “secret weapon”, brand new POLO, which was the third generation of racing cars produced by German Volkswagen. In a sudden, their “war horses” were changed into unfamiliar racing cars that even could not be found in China. Someone once asked Xu Lang, “Are you confident of yourself while driving POLO for the first time”. However, Xu Lang answered without caring a rush, “No problem. I can control all kinds of cars!” It’s like imprudent remarks of a young guy. Whereas, no one cared what he had said. They did not focus on the new comer, but shed spotlight on other veteran drivers with abundant experiences.

What shocked the public just happened to this couple of up-and-coming youngsters. At the match on the first day, Xu Lang drove with his co-driver Ge Jun, and surpassed all the predecessors of the racing car field and marched on without difficulty. All this depended on their perfect coordination. Those drivers of racing cars with super power that had been surpassed by Xu Lang and Ge Jun were ashamed of themselves while seeing the beautiful POLO racing car. On the last day, their advantage was already obvious. However, adventurous Xu Lang did not want to stop, and wanted to chase after racing cars with power bigger than POLO of other groups just for “joy”. This idea really frightened the high level officials of the 333 club. How can the score of a racing team be joked? At this crucial juncture, “wise Ge Jun” played his role. To force Xu Lang to drive slower so that the racing car’s condition could be ensured for the final victory, Ge Jun did a lot. When the speed was too high or the condition of road was so bad that the racing car might be destroyed, he would joke with Xu Lang by refusing navigating for him. In this way, this couple drove slowly to finish the whole journey as they wished. In spite of this, they ranked first with overwhelming advantage of over 4 minutes over the runner up. Experts who have watched rally for many years were astonished, and finally knew about the fearlessness of the up-and-coming youngsters.

Dinosaur eggs in boskage
Xu Lang and Ge Jun, as golden partners, are going to take part in national rally champion again in 2002. For them, there’s still a long way to go on their journey of racing. What wait for them include both flowers and roughness. I believe they will make further progress!