He rode a motorcycle and crashed the plane.

Chapter 619 619.ROC Nations Cup

ROC Nations Cup?
When he heard this term, Xu Jia was a little surprised, because he didn't expect the old drunkard to suddenly say this.

The English name of the ROC Nations Cup is Race of Champions, which is officially translated as "World Championship of Champions".

This kind of event is similar to the NBA All-Star Weekend, which brings together the world's top professional racing champions of various types to run for a race, satisfying the fantasy of Guan Gong versus Qin Qiong in the minds of global car fans!
For example, what would it be like to see Schumacher in F1 versus Loeb in WRC?
Or maybe Le Mans endurance race champion Kristensen will compete with DTM champion Axl Trohm. Who can be faster and stronger?
Even if the American Indy Formula Champion has a cross-border showdown with the "God of Motorcycles" Rossi, what will be the outcome?
It can be said that the ROC Nations Cup is the ultimate carnival for car fans, and it is also the finale and year-end celebration of the professional racing world every year!

It's just that in the past, Chinese drivers were not qualified to participate in this kind of peak showdown. Because every year the ROC Nations Cup only invites 8 of the world’s top drivers from 16 different countries to compete.

To be among these 16 invited drivers, there is no doubt that they are all at the world championship level. And it is not just an ordinary pheasant world championship, it must be an internationally recognized top event, such as F1, WRC, Le Mans, Indy, NASCAR, DTM and other familiar super events.

Think about this level of competition, Chinese drivers are not even qualified to participate, let alone win the championship and join the car championship competition. Naturally, others will not bring a little guy like you to the table to play.

However, there are always exceptions these days. Sometimes if you don’t have a score, you can still play on the table in other ways. This way is the host!
Just like the host country that hosts the Football World Cup will get a quota, the host country that hosts the ROC Nations Cup will also get an invitation quota.

Historically, the 2009 ROC Nations Cup was held at the Bird's Nest in Yanjing, China. At that time, Han Han became a member of the Chinese team with the CTCC and CRC double championship results.

The member driver of another national team was obtained by Chinese driver Dong Hebin. Therefore, the Chinese team at that time was not actually considered a "pure" national team because Dong Hebin was a Dutch national.

But there was nothing we could do about it. At that time, we really couldn’t find another suitable high-level driver in the country. Dong Hebin was the official driver of the GP2 Trident team and was favored by the Renault F1 team. He would have the opportunity to become the first driver in the competition. A Chinese F1 driver.

In fact, Dong Hebin did it. He officially signed with Renault F2010 Team in 1 and became the third driver, which is equivalent to a substitute driver and is higher than the F1 test driver.

Therefore, Dong Hebin at that time represented the ceiling of Chinese racing strength, and he also defeated Han Han to win the championship in the Chinese Car King Competition Trials. For the two of them to form a team to participate in the ROC Nations Cup, it is equivalent to showing the strongest strength of Chinese racing and not losing too miserably at their home court.

And having said that, although Tung Ho-bin is a Dutch-Chinese driver and can't even speak Mandarin, he is not a banana person. Or maybe he chose to represent China in order to grasp the wealth code of "I love China" .

The reason is that Tung Ho-bin is a third-generation Chinese. He was born in the Netherlands, so he has no choice in nationality.

However, when Dong Hebin registered his racing license, he resolutely chose Chinese nationality, and the national flag on the belt of his racing suit was always the bright red flag.

So when he was on the championship podium, the flag he raised was also a red flag, not the Dutch tricolor flag.

If you follow the FIA's determination of driver nationality, you can even think that China's first F1 driver is not Ma Qinghua, who became the test driver of the HRT team in 12, but Dong Hebin, the third driver of the Renault F1 team.

Seeing Xu Jia thinking and not answering, the old drunkard thought that Xu Jia had concerns or lacked the confidence to face the group of the strongest riders in the world.

So he said: "You will participate in the Asia-Pacific Rally early next year, and you need to practice adapting to more different terrain environments, such as snow and rainforests. The time may be very tight. If there is a conflict with the ROC Nations Cup, there is no need to consider it. .”

Although the ROC Nations Cup is full of competition, all the drivers who can play on the table are king-level drivers, and they can even compete directly with Schumacher.

But just like the NBA's "All-Star Weekend", this is a time when top accomplished drivers distribute "benefits" to fans around the world, regardless of their professional record. Moreover, the racing cars were driven in the same standard, which could not show the true level of the drivers. To put it bluntly, it was just an entertainment race.

If this affects the training and mentality of the official competition, it is better not to participate. It is obvious that Xu Jia's distracted state is not ready to participate in the ROC Nations Cup.

"No, Uncle Xu, I want to participate!"

Xu Jia came to his senses and responded quickly.

Just like Chinese football successfully entered the World Cup with the help of the Japanese and Korean hosts in 02. The 09 ROC Nations Cup may be the only opportunity for Chinese racing that is rare in decades.

Because it is too difficult to have two top world champion drivers appear in China at the same time.

Xu Jia in his previous life in 09 was naturally not qualified or capable to participate in such a pinnacle event. But with this lifetime opportunity in front of him, and possibly the only one in his career, he didn't want to regret it.

"If you decide to participate, I can help you sign up and feel the strength of the world champion in advance."

The reason why the old drunkard mentioned the ROC Nations Cup was actually to let Xu Jia open his eyes and truly feel the strength of the world's strongest driver, which would help the development of his career.

After all, I have competed with Schumacher on the same stage, and if I race with other drivers, at least I won't have so much psychological pressure and disadvantage.

"Well, I decided to participate."

Xu Jia nodded without any hesitation.

Even as an F1 driver in his previous life, he never had the chance to compete with Schumacher once. In this life, Xu Jia wants to face this car god!
The conversation was almost over, and it was past midnight. The old drunkard and Xu Jia dragged the drunk Le Zai, Li Wenfeng and others into the room, announcing the end of this alternative "post-match celebration".

After several people sobered up the next morning, Xu Jia briefly explained to them what he had discussed with Cheng Long. Just like the indifferent attitude of the old drunkard, these people actually don't care much about salary and benefits.

Because the current racing environment in China is like this, if you don't have to lose money by "relying on love to generate electricity", it is actually a good treatment.

Many times in this material world, fighting for dreams and hobbies instead of worrying about gains and losses may seem a bit silly in the eyes of others.

But it is precisely because of love that we can devote ourselves regardless of anything!

The championship is not only the goal of Xu Jia or Li Wenfeng, but also the entire team members. They can give up and endure many things on this journey, and money can be said to be a very important link.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have to start from scratch with the poor Xu Jia. With the strength and skills of these guys, they would be better than following Xu Jia now!

(End of this chapter)