This can definitely be called unprecedented!
At this moment, Hao Dong was incredibly excited because China finally had a genius racer.
And not just any genius, but a genius with the potential to reach the pinnacle of the Isle of Man.
Seeing Lin Yan cross the finish line.
He could already envision the scene of Lin Yan winning the championship later.
He knew that in the first few laps, the racers would try to conserve their energy as much as possible. Although the extreme lean angles might cause significant tire wear.
But with Lin Yan's young body, his stamina would surely be abundant. In the next few laps, he would definitely be stronger than Michael, who was already over thirty.
Compared to tire wear, as long as Lin Yan didn't crash and could maintain his composure, with his abundant stamina, winning the championship wouldn't be that difficult.
With this thought, Hao Dong directly took out the banner he had prepared in advance and hung it on the wall of the live broadcast room.
Seven large characters written in marker on a red bedsheet.
'Lin Yan is invincible and dashing.'
This was what he had prepared to unfurl when Lin Yan safely finished the race. He hadn't expected things to exceed his expectations; in just one lap, Lin Yan had already set two records.
So, he took out the banner in advance and even boasted to the viewers, saying it was his personal nomination.
The act of holding the bedsheet also maximized the impact of the broadcast.
"Dongzi, what are you doing?"
"Is this a family heirloom red rag?"
"Does it perhaps carry Dongzi's scent?"
"You upstairs, what are you doing? I'm eating."
"Although the words are good, you're too perfunctory."
"The last five words seem to be about me!"
"I thought it was quite good, but the words 'personally nominated' instantly devalued it..."
...
Looking at the comments, Hao Dong showed a rare, 'honest' smile.
"I'm limited by my conditions, brothers. How about you all send some 'dog food' to support me? Next time I'll go to the neighboring studio to get a custom banner."
'Dog food' was just a free gift on a certain platform. Of course, Hao Dong wouldn't take this opportunity to fleece his fans.
Seeing Hao Dong's somewhat joking tone, the comments section went wild.
"Alright, Xiao Dongzi, for your sincerity, I'll bestow upon you!"
"A mere portion of dog food, can't I afford to send it?"
"Good heavens, Dongzi, you've changed. How did you become so materialistic?"
"One hundred portions of dog food have arrived, please check your inbox!"
...
Gifts flooded the comment section. Of course, besides 'dog food,' there were other small gifts.
Fans wouldn't really just send 'dog food'; some were quite supportive of Hao Dong.
After the record was broken.
The fans in the stands were cheering, and the viewers in front of the television were also cheering.
Because they felt they were witnessing history, witnessing the birth of China's first Isle of Man champion.
But at this moment, Lin Yan couldn't be as happy as they were. The reason was simple.
He hadn't expected that even with almost all his trump cards revealed, he was only leading Michael by 0.6 seconds. This was also due to his physical condition; some transitions were still quite stiff, preventing him from achieving the smoothness of his previous life.
However, Michael was even more surprised. He had already performed beyond his usual capabilities in this race, which was also due to his change to a more top-tier race technician.
His former race technician had retired and gone home, so he had found a new one. The new technician had quite a background, being a former...
Looking at the Augusta rider just ahead, Lin Yan had to abandon the thought of overtaking him on this lap.
In the first lap, it was because the opponent was conserving tires and not using greater lean angles on corner entry, which allowed Lin Yan to close the gap better.
But now, the opponent had also increased his front wheel lean angle on corner entry, coupled with his own tire wear. After all, he was a professional racer, and it seemed unrealistic to catch up to him on this lap.
The third lap began.
By now, Lin Yan's tires were far from as abundant as they were in the first two laps. But he knew he had to continue increasing his lap speed, otherwise, if it dragged on to the later laps, he would have no chance at all.
Michael was in the same situation. His left arm and collarbone each had a steel plate embedded in them, which were old injuries he had sustained over the years. Riding in such an aggressive manner for a long time not only exhausted his stamina but also took a toll on his body.
Arriving at the Ballaugh Bridge section again, Lin Yan utilized the 'Rocher Leg' to its absolute limit on almost every corner.
Riding in a manner that was almost stingy with his tires, he forcefully closed the gap to the rider in front to within one second.
The gap between them was now only 0.7 seconds.
It took him almost a lap and a half to close the gap by 1.3 seconds. This result was much slower for Lin Yan.
"Damn it, is this guy crazy? He's riding so aggressively at the start of the third lap. Doesn't he need to conserve stamina and tires?"
Seeing Lin Yan about to catch up, this rider dared not be careless and increased his tire lean angle on the corners.
He had given his all in the second lap just to prevent Lin Yan from catching up.
For this reason, he had consumed a large portion of his tires, which was extremely disadvantageous for his subsequent race. However, the tire wear had resulted in a faster lap time for him.
He had even broken his own fastest lap record without realizing it.
At this moment, fans from his country were still watching him from the main grandstand. If he were to be overtaken, it would be a huge embarrassment. After all, being overtaken in a formal race was a very shameful thing for a racer, as a ten-second gap was too large.
However, even so, after passing the Ballaugh Bridge section, Lin Yan had narrowed the gap between them to within 0.3 seconds, which was already a distance that allowed for overtaking.