Exiting turn five, the turn leads into turn six, which is a high-speed corner. From this corner, it's evident that the GP23's cornering performance is still somewhat weak.
High-speed corners are gentle turns, and this turn six is no different. The cornering angle is very small, requiring the rider to pass through at an extremely high speed.
High-speed cornering is the ultimate test of a car's cornering performance.
With a lean angle of less than fifty degrees, captured by the cameras at the apex, two racing cars whiz by, one after the other.
Resna still hasn't given up in this corner, staying incredibly close, almost with his front wheel touching the rear wheel of the car ahead.
Although Resna's cornering speed is no different from Gena's, the difference in body shake is significant.
Resna's car shakes like a tractor through this high-speed corner. To keep up with Gena, Resna is giving it his all.
The saying that Ducati riders tend to lose grip in corners isn't just talk.
Instability in corners increases the risk of crashing.
"Turn six, exiting. Both cars are entering turn seven. Resna is still following closely. I'm curious to see where he'll make his move."
"Probably turn eleven, as there's a short straight after turn eleven, which should be ideal."
Hao Dong and Su Chen analyze the situation with their back-and-forth commentary.
The entire track has two straights. One is the extremely long straight at the finish line, spanning 1.3 kilometers. The other is the section connecting turn eleven and turn twelve.
There's a 0.8-kilometer straight there. These two straights are the happy hunting grounds for the horsepower-focused bikes on this track.
If Resna wants to overtake cleanly, these are the only two places he can choose.
Of course, it's not to say that cornering is impossible.
Matt watches the race screen quietly in the pit box. He saw Resna's skill when practicing with his boss. Logically, Resna should have a good chance of overtaking Honda in the corners.
However, he's not entirely sure why Resna hasn't made a move yet. He suspects it might be for revenge or to hide his strength.
The two cars weave their way into turn eight. Under his helmet, Resna's gaze is fixed on Gena's car ahead. His focus is intense; at this following distance, a slight mistake could lead to a collision.
"Alright, both cars downshift and brake simultaneously to enter turn nine. You can see that Resna's speed is gradually picking up, but he's still patiently holding back."
"Turn ten, still no change."
"Here comes the crucial part. Pay close attention to turn eleven. Will Resna make a move here?"
Hao Dong expertly controls the commentary's rhythm.
The director switches the camera from Lin Yan to Resna and Gena at a very opportune moment. The two cars are about to enter turn eleven.
Braking, entering the corner, extending a leg, Resna's car gradually leans towards the inside apex of turn eleven. Gena's racing car is right in front of him, with the front and rear wheels of the two cars almost touching.
Leaning into the corner simultaneously, at the apex, Resna's gaze shifts to the exit of the corner.
The two cars also shift their gaze almost in sync, looking towards the corner exit.
"Okay, exiting turn eleven! Let's see if Resna has an opportunity!"
As Hao Dong shouts, Tesu's eyes are also fixed on the screen in the pit box, not blinking.
Shifting from first to second gear, then second to third, the engine RPMs skyrocket, and the engine sound roars like thunder in the air.
The two cars violently exit the corner.
At this moment, Gena has sensed someone behind him. After all, he's heard different engine roars in the past few corners, but he doesn't know who it is yet.
Exiting the corner, Gena throttles up, accelerating violently.
As Resna twists the throttle, his gloved hand also presses the suspension adjustment button on the right handlebar.
As the car exits the corner, Resna's front suspension is firmly pressed into the front of the car, not rising.
"Damn, is he planning to blow past Honda?"
"Do you even need to ask? Isn't this exactly what Resna has been waiting for?"
"Hahaha, back in the day, Resna was blown past by a powerful bike when he was on Honda. Now, riding a powerful bike, he's blowing past Honda. Awesome."
"......"
Discussions erupt in the stands.
The two cars exit the corner almost simultaneously. As soon as they exit, the GP23's advantage becomes apparent. The powerful engine directly pushes Resna out of the corner. Combined with the strong aerodynamic kit, even with the throttle wide open, the car's front wheel doesn't lift at all.
Drafting behind, then pulling out, the speed increases rapidly, directly blowing past on the straight.
The GP23 blows past Honda!
From the aerial view, a small sky-blue dot slowly approaches the orange-yellow dot ahead, gradually closing the gap until they are parallel and then overtaken.
The explosive sound of the wind rushing past Gena's ears, a sky-blue figure slowly emerges from the corner of his helmet visor.
The bike is a Ducati. Gena sees it, but the rider surprises him. After a moment, he realizes it's actually Resna.
Could it have been this guy following me all along?
Resna?
He's adapted to the new bike so quickly.
Gena is stunned. He's truly stunned. Adapting to the new bike so quickly and so well genuinely surprises him.
But he can't lose!
As the new main rider, if he's beaten by Resna, who just switched teams, how will he face everyone? What will the chief engineer think of him?
There's no time to think. The 0.8-kilometer straight flashes by, the entire process taking less than six seconds. The top speeds of both cars reach 307 kilometers per hour. Resna's top speed is a full ten kilometers per hour faster than Gena's, at 317 kilometers per hour.
On the straight, the horsepower-focused bike is still the horsepower-focused bike.
"Hahaha, Honda's straight is still as weak as ever, getting blown past directly."
"It's not Honda's straight that's weak, it's that the GP23 is too strong."
"Wait, look quickly, what is Gena doing? Is he going for a late brake?"
"......"
Seemingly spurred on by Resna's move, Gena makes an extremely aggressive late brake at the end of the straight when preparing to enter turn twelve, trying to forcefully erase the speed difference on the straight. A ten-kilometer top-speed difference isn't easily erased.
Brakes locked, the rear wheel skids and drifts in the air. From the perspective of Hao Dong, no, from the perspective of all the spectators present, this is an unrecoverable braking situation.
Ten kilometers. Let alone Gena, even Lin Yan couldn't erase a ten-kilometer top-speed difference with a late brake.
Resna smoothly enters turn twelve, while Gena takes a wide line and almost runs off the track. Tesu in the pit box almost curses out loud.
"Gena on Honda has too immature a mentality. I really don't know what that chief engineer was thinking."
In Lin Yan's pit box, seeing Gena rush out of the track in a daze, Zhang Mingzhi shakes his head helplessly.
While veterans may experience a decline in form, this rookie's practical experience is truly lacking. He can't handle the pressure after being blown past on the straight.