All-round Athlete

Chapter 599 Dry goods!

On the plane to London, Zhang Guan held information about the Honda team.

The Honda team was established as early as 1964. It is a team with a long history, but the current Honda team is not the original old Honda team, but the British-American team that was purchased. BAR is owned by British American Tobacco. Later, tobacco advertising restrictions gave Honda the opportunity to buy a part of BAR. In 2005, Honda bought all the shares of BAR, and BAR was renamed Honda. The current team's two drivers are Button, who "doesn't win the championship, don't get married" in Xuancheng, and Barrichello, the old partner of the car king Schumacher. However, as Honda announced its withdrawal from Formula One, Button and Barrichello are also facing the danger of losing their jobs.

The headquarters of the Honda team is in the UK, and Zhang Guan flew to the UK, of course hoping to buy the Honda team, but Zhang Guan did not rush to the headquarters of the Honda team immediately, but went to meet a person first, that is Ross Brown.

Ross Brawn is currently the CEO of the Honda team, and he can be regarded as a racing legend. Ross Brown once unearthed Schumacher, the king of cars. When Ferrari dominated the car industry, it was known as the "four carriages". Ross Brawn and race car designer Rory Byrne.

The reason why Zhang Guan went to Ross Brown was not only because he was the CEO of the Honda team, but also because without Ross Brown, it would be difficult for Zhang Guan to have a racing car that could win the championship.

Affected by the economic crisis, the Honda team decided to withdraw from F1. This money-burning sport is also a heavy burden for such a large multinational company. In the course of history, the Honda team has not been sold for half a year. In the end, it was Ross Brown who took over for 80 million US dollars, and then renamed the Honda team as the Brown GP team.

At that time, the entire Brown GP team had only 5 million US dollars in operating capital, and basically they could not even do the wind tunnel test. They even got the car engine on credit from Mercedes, and the two drivers Button and Barry Chero even said that he could stay in the team and drive without salary.

But Ross Brawn built the fastest racing car BGP001 at that time. He led such a team that almost went bankrupt, and won the 2009 team championship and driver championship, creating a BPG miracle in the racing industry!

The reason why Zhang Guan is so sure that he can win the Formula One world championship next season is precisely because he knows this. He knows that the Honda team will withdraw from F1. He knows that Ross Brawn can come up with a fastest car. Racing!

...

In a villa in the suburbs, Rose Brown came over with black tea and snacks. Black tea and snacks are traditional food for the British to entertain guests in the afternoon.

"China is the birthplace of tea culture. Your cup of tea does not contain milk or sugar. I hope you can get used to it." Rose Brown poured milk into his teacup as he spoke.

"Thank you, Mr. Brown. You are so kind." Zhang Guan expressed his thanks.

"I didn't expect you to come to me. This really surprised me." Ross Brown took a sip of tea and savored it carefully.

"Mr. Brown, I take the liberty to visit, but it's actually for the Honda team." Zhang Guan said straight to the point.

"Honda team!" Ross Brown shook his head with a wry smile: "Honda team no longer exists! The impact of the financial crisis this time is really too great. First, Toyota's second team withdrew midway, and now even the Honda manufacturer The team can't play anymore! Even I am now unemployed!"

The second Toyota team mentioned by Ross Brown is Japan's Super Aguri team. They use Toyota engines. Many technologies in the car are also supported by Toyota team. Team owner Suzuki Aguri has a close relationship with Toyota. Because of the close relationship, it is often called the second Toyota team.

In the Formula One competition, there are factory teams and non-manufacturer teams. Manufacturer teams are teams that rely on automobile manufacturing companies. Their research and development technologies and engines are all products of the company, such as Ferrari. They must It will only use the car engine developed and produced by its own company. Last season, the factory teams included Ferrari, Renault, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota and Honda. For these teams, you can know the car manufacturers behind them just by listening to their names. It is worth mentioning that Mercedes-Benz owns the shares of the McLaren team, so McLaren is regarded as the factory team of Mercedes-Benz.

The other teams are non-manufacturer teams, which can also be called independent teams. Their car R\u0026D and design may be carried out by themselves, but the most critical car engines must be provided by the manufacturer team. The car engine is the heart of a car, and all the research and development of the independent team is also aimed at maximizing the operating efficiency of the car engine. For example, Toro Rosso uses a Renault engine, Toro Rosso uses a Ferrari engine, Williams uses a Toyota engine, and so on.

For the factory team, it is not a last resort to quit Formula One. After all, the Formula One competition is the most famous motorsport in the world, and it is also the top competition in the racing industry. Participating in the Formula One competition itself is a manifestation of strength. If a car manufacturer can enter Formula One, it can even get the If it is awarded an award, it can at least show that it can build the top cars in the world, which will improve the entire brand immeasurably.

Formula One is very expensive, but for the world's top car manufacturers, spending 100 million US dollars a year to play Formula One may be more cost-effective than asking celebrities to endorse and advertise. For example, Ferrari, a "nail house" in F1, has played Formula One for decades, and finally played itself into the world's top sports car brand.

Formula One can be played with an investment of 100 to 200 million US dollars a year, and 50 to 60 million US dollars a year can be played. Anyway, it is also the bottom one of the world's top racing competition, and the phoenix tail is worth more than the chicken head no matter what. For a multinational car company with annual sales of tens of billions of dollars and annual profits of billions of dollars, the money spent playing F1 is nothing at all. Therefore, if a multinational company like Honda chooses to abandon F1, it also shows that the company is coming to the end of its rope, and they have to save tens of millions of dollars in promotional fees.

In fact, due to the impact of the economic crisis, Honda really can't continue to play. The past October was supposed to be the peak season for car sales, but Honda's profit dropped by 90% compared with the same period last year. Honda has even decided to cut production by 20% next year. To deal with weak sales, there may be layoffs in the future, so quitting Formula One is just the first step for Honda to save itself.

At this time, when Ross Brown was teasing himself about being unemployed, Zhang Guan beside him couldn't help laughing. Zhang Guan knew that even if Schumacher lost his job, the old man in glasses would not lose his job. With Ross Brown's reputation, any car company in the world would have to treat him like a grandfather.

"This economic crisis has indeed affected many companies, but I think it is also an opportunity. For example, Honda is preparing to sell their F1 business." Zhang Guan said intentionally or unintentionally.

Ross Brown is not a fool. Although Zhang Guan is a world champion, whether it is track and field, tennis or basketball, he has nothing to do with racing. So when Zhang Guan arrived, Ross Brown realized that Zhang Guan must be for Honda. The convoy thing came.

At this time, Ross Brown sat up straight, and he asked, "Mr. Zhang Guan, I'm sorry to ask, are you interested in buying the Honda team? Or are you here on behalf of someone else?"

"It's me." Zhang Guan said without hesitation, he looked at Ross Brown, and then said: "Or to put it another way, I want to cooperate with you, Mr. Brown, and we will win the Honda team together!"

"Cooperation? Together?" Ross Brown finally showed a serious look on his face, and he had vaguely guessed Zhang Guan's intention.

"I hope we can jointly invest and then buy the Honda team, and we will be the owners of the Honda team together." Zhang Guan said seriously.

Ross Brown frowned, he was almost sixty years old, of course he would not be tempted by Zhang Guan's words, he thought about it seriously, and asked: "Mr Zhang Guan, according to my understanding , this time the Honda team can be said to be a big sale at a loss. Although I am the manager of the Honda team, I actually have no say in selling the team. With all due respect, I can't help you save any expenses. And even if there is no In my case, with your financial resources, you can also take over the Honda team alone, right?"

"Yes." Zhang Guan nodded without hiding anything, and he continued: "I want to participate in the Formula One competition next season, not as a team owner, but as a racing driver! So I Gotta buy a fleet."

"What? Racer?" Ross Brown's eyes widened in surprise.

Ross Brown has contacts with many rich people, and he also knows many rich sons and brothers, and has seen the methods of rich people to show off their wealth. Ross Brown has seen a lot of private jets, private yachts, and private islands. But it was the first time that Ross Brown bought a team for the purpose of being a racing driver.

Motorsports is a very dangerous sport. In the past Formula One races, drivers died every year due to accidents. Fatal, even Schumacher had multiple fractures in the leg that was hit that year. So rich people looking for excitement, may go back to play some extreme sports, or some people may go to drag racing, but absolutely no one will drive F1, a car with a speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour, not only burning money, but also killing their lives!

"Mr. Zhang Guan, I know that you are the best athlete in the world. You have the ability to cross multiple sports and stand on the top of the world, but I must remind you that motor sports and other sports are not Same, this project is very dangerous! A Formula One world champion not only needs excellent racing skills, but also needs a fast enough car." Ross Brawn said.

"I know, that's why I came to you. I believe that Mr. Brown can provide me with the fastest racing car in the world!" Zhang Guan said with a smile.

"Thank you for your compliment." Ross Brawn bowed his body slightly. He obviously did not deny that he had the ability to design the fastest racing car in the world.

"Mr. Brown, I know you will question my driving skills, but what I can assure you is that I have the ability to drive a Formula One car. Let me drive a Formula One car to the track for a few minutes. It can prove this point. Of course, I also know that experience is also very important for a driver, but I think any driver comes from the rookie era, and now Lewis Hamilton of the McLaren team, Didn't he also get on the podium in his first F1 race?"

"Hamilton is indeed a very good driver." Brown smiled slightly, but there was a slight disdain in the smile.

Who is Lewis Hamilton? That was last season's Formula One world champion. When he was still a child, he swept the karting world, was dubbed the title of "genius driver", and entered McLaren's youth driver training program, and then he won the Formula Renault championship, the F3 annual Champion, GP2 annual champion, plus he has just won the Formula One world championship, Hamilton can be said to have won the championship of almost all formula cars he has encountered.

Such a genius-level driver is afraid that only a generation can produce one. Ross Brown obviously feels that Zhang Guan is a bit arrogant when he compares himself with Hamilton! His disdain was not for Hamilton, but for Zhang Guan.

Zhang Guan noticed Ross Brown's expression, he was not surprised, let alone angry. Any sports competition is all about performance. Even though Zhang Guan is the greatest athlete in the world, in the field of racing, Zhang Guan's past performance is "zero", so he wants Ross Brown to believe in himself with empty words. Obviously impossible. Assuming that Schumacher came to talk to Ross Brown, it is estimated that the specific shareholding ratio has already been discussed. So for the current situation, Zhang Guan had long been prepared.

The current situation is that Zhang Guan needs Ross Brown, not Ross Brown needs Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan is not a car designer, and his system does not teach the skills of designing racing cars, so Zhang Guan needs Ross Brown to create the fastest car in the world. Ross - Brown is different, with his ability, which team will receive the warmest welcome.

In any field, talent is always the most important!

Zhang Guan knew that it would be difficult for someone like Ross Brown to become his employee on his own, so he planned to talk to Ross Brown in the form of cooperation from the very beginning, but now it seems that even if it is cooperation, Ross Brown Brown didn't take all this seriously either!

Zhang Guan knew that if he wanted Ross Brown to pay attention, he had to come up with some "dry goods"!

I saw Zhang Guan opened the briefcase he carried with him, took out a document from it, and handed it to Ross Brown.

"Mr. Brown, I have some interesting things here, I guess you might be interested!" Zhang Guan paused, and then added: "This is related to racing!"

"It's related to racing..." Ross Brown didn't refuse. Instead, he had a playful smile on his face. He felt that Zhang Guan, a layman, shouldn't be able to come up with any "dry goods"! But Zhang Guan's way made him a little curious.

However, when Ross Brown looked down at the document, just the title on the cover made his face change drastically!

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