This wasn't a race, so Lin Yan didn't pay it too much mind.
He would be participating in the Shanghai stop next week, so he would definitely get one then.
With a deafening roar of the engine, Lin Yan drove the GP22 out of the pit lane.
A staff member handed Lin Yan a pair of earplugs and a helmet.
Because MotoGP bikes don't have silencers in their exhausts to avoid reducing power, GP riders need to wear earplugs while riding. Otherwise, prolonged exposure to such noise levels can cause serious hearing damage.
Lin Yan took them and put on his helmet and earplugs.
He rode the GP22 back onto the track.
The wild engine roar echoed across the circuit.
Lin Yan's gaze was fixed intently ahead.
After the first few laps of adaptation, Lin Yan had familiarized himself with the bike.
He had to admit, Ducati's straight-line speed was truly impressive.
However, its shortcomings were also obvious: slow cornering speed and severe brake fade.
Of course, Lin Yan believed he could compensate for these issues with his own skill.
After all, it was the rider, not the bike, that was truly strong.
In his previous life, Aprilia was so weak at the beginning, yet Lin Yan had carried them forward single-handedly.
By the seventh lap,
Lin Yan, through his helmet visor and windscreen, stared at the long straight ahead.
First gear...
Second gear...
Third gear...
Fourth gear...
Fifth gear...
...
Lin Yan pushed again,
pushing the speed to 358 km/h.
Then, with a heavy brake, the rear wheel lifted slightly before settling back down, wobbling.
Lin Yan braced himself with his elbows and executed a fluid cornering maneuver, leaning at an astonishing 68 degrees. This sight stunned the test personnel in front of the computer screen.
"Si...si...sixty-eight degrees, did I see that right? Just now... Oh my god!!!"
"I think I saw it too, it was really sixty-eight degrees!!! And the exit speed reached an incredible 358 km/h."
The two test personnel exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
A 68-degree lean into a corner was extremely rare, even in MotoGP.
And 358 km/h on this track was unheard of. Even Dovizioso, widely recognized as the best Ducati rider, had only reached a maximum speed of 355 km/h on this track.
However, Lin Yan didn't have time to dwell on this at the moment.
After a left turn, a right turn followed immediately.
Lin Yan shifted his body,
executing another fluid cornering maneuver, the GP22 hugging the apex of the turn.
Meanwhile, Ren Fei, who was watching Lin Yan, had his mouth agape.
Sixty-eight degrees.
Let alone him, even Dovizioso couldn't do that. Among the current MotoGP riders, only Marquez could barely manage to lean the bike to such an angle in a corner without crashing.
He hadn't expected Lin Yan to achieve it so easily, and with a factory Ducati bike at that.
As everyone knew,
Ducati's strength had always been on the straights; they never had an advantage in the corners.
After eight laps, Lin Yan returned to the pit lane and jumped off the GP22.
Damn, it was really hot.
It wasn't that he didn't want to ride anymore.
It was that his physical condition was starting to falter after such a long time riding.
It's important to note that a MotoGP rider can lose three to four liters of fluid and about four kilograms of body weight during a forty-minute race.
Their dehydration rate is twice that of an F1 driver, and the physical demands on the rider are extremely rigorous.
Don't wonder why riding a bike can be so tiring; aren't they sitting down the whole time?
During a race, a rider probably spends less than two minutes actually sitting on the seat.
They grip the bike with their leg muscles to better feel the bike's center of gravity,
thereby achieving higher speeds.
Since there was another test race later, Lin Yan felt he should conserve some energy.
Overall, Lin Yan found the GP22 to be quite decent.
Perhaps because it was Ren Fei's bike, Lin Yan felt a bit awkward riding it.
He would have Zhang Mingzhi get him one in the future.
Even if it couldn't be ridden on the road, it would be fine to keep it at home as a collectible.
Just as a display piece.
Lin Yan got off the bike and had a brief chat with Ren Fei about his experience. Listening to Lin Yan's nonchalant tone, Ren Fei was filled with admiration.
At this moment, he believed that with Lin Yan's skill, if he participated in MotoGP, he could absolutely win the world championship.
After they talked for a while, Ren Fei suggested they go to the rest area to relax and recover their energy, and also to explain the rules of the upcoming test race.
Since it was a test race organized by the factory team itself, the participating riders were only the factory team's own riders, along with some well-known riders from the Kyoto region.
The number of participants wasn't large, but there were still over twenty in total.
To save time, there would be no qualifying session; starting positions would be determined by a draw.
The track would naturally not be this one, as the factory team's training base wasn't accessible to everyone, and some things couldn't be shown to outsiders.
Of course, Lin Yan was an exception, given his status.
Even if it were the most confidential information, if the big boss came to see it, would you refuse to show it to him?
"I heard there will be grid girls at this race... hehehe!"
Thinking of this, Ren Fei's face showed a lewd expression.
Grid girls, of course, were the promotional models responsible for holding umbrellas for the riders on the track.
Colloquially known as
'umbrella girls'.
Lin Yan looked at Ren Fei's expression and felt speechless.
He glanced at his watch; it was past two in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day. Lin Yan guessed they would be heading out soon.
As expected, the door to the lounge was pushed open shortly after.