There were no undulating sections.
The rider overtaken by Lin Yan was still following not far behind.
His heart was filled with shock. He still couldn't figure out how the other party had caught up to him. He even suspected if something was wrong with his bike, allowing the opponent to seize the opportunity.
He never thought that Lin Yan had caught up purely on skill.
Because overtaking on the Isle of Man qualifying race was undoubtedly an incredible feat.
With a gap of nearly twenty seconds between them, it would be difficult even for top Isle of Man riders to close that gap within one lap.
Soon, both bikes entered the final long straight.
Lin Yan pushed the Ducati V4 SP to its absolute limit, the bike speeding rapidly down the long straight.
On both sides of this nearly two-kilometer-long straight, the grandstands, stretching for nearly a kilometer, were already packed. Fans from all over the world had filled the area, leaving no standing room.
Their gazes were fixed on the riders speeding on the track.
Every time a rider from a particular country crossed the finish line, it would be met with a roar of cheers from the grandstands.
These two grandstands could accommodate nearly thirty thousand people.
They came from various countries.
Among all the tickets for the Isle of Man, these two grandstands were the most expensive.
This was because they not only offered a view of the riders at the start
but also allowed spectators to witness the historic moment of the riders crossing the finish line.
A ferocious roar of the engine.
Lin Yan, riding the Ducati V4, surged towards the finish line and crossed it steadily.
When the Chinese fans in the audience saw the Chinese flag on Lin Yan's bike,
they all stood up to cheer for him.
Thunderous shouts erupted from the grandstands.
The Chinese fans in the venue had all come to support the Chinese riders.
Even though they knew that these riders might not make it into the main race, as long as they crossed the finish line smoothly, they would always cheer for them.
Among the nearly a thousand Chinese spectators, one Chinese uncle shouted the loudest.
He had been coming to the Isle of Man for four years, just to witness the emergence of a Chinese rider.
But he had waited a long time for this day.
However, he always believed that Chinese riders would not disappoint them, so he came again this time, still buying the most expensive seats.
As Lin Yan crossed the finish line, the eyes of the Chinese fans turned to a large screen next to the finish line. They were eager to know the Chinese rider's result and whether he had a chance to qualify for the main race.
The large screen next to the finish line displayed the riders' results, with the times of the top 23 riders already listed from fastest to slowest.
After Lin Yan crossed the finish line, Lin Yan's name appeared next to the number 27 rider on the screen, followed by the rider's lap time.
16 minutes 59.546 seconds
Compared to the second-place rider, he was more than eight seconds ahead.
As soon as this result appeared, Lin Yan's ranking began to climb instantly, directly reaching the top spot.
The moment the large screen updated Lin Yan's time, the Chinese crowd in the venue erupted in cheers again.
The uncle, seeing this, jumped up from his seat and shouted with all his might, his heart filled with excitement.
They were all veteran fans and naturally knew that this time was more than enough to qualify for the main race.
Not only them, but even those watching the race on television were incredibly excited. The bullet comments in Hao Dong's live stream were flooding in.
"From my professional perspective, this time will definitely qualify for the main race without any suspense. Brothers, I'm arranging big red envelopes for you. Damn, I'm so excited right now. China is awesome, Lin Yan is awesome!"
Hao Dong shouted excitedly in his live stream, his expression quite comical.
As a commentator for the Isle of Man races, he had been waiting for this day for a long time.
"I'm not saying anything else, I'm going to cry now."
As he shouted, tears streamed down Hao Dong's face. No one could understand his feelings at this moment.
As a Chinese commentator, nothing could make him more excited than seeing a Chinese person on this track.
"Alright, Dongzi, don't cry..."
"Damn, I'm crying too."
"It's been so tough all these years..."
"Dongzi, you need to pull yourself together."
...
The bullet comments were also comforting Hao Dong.
Meanwhile, far away in Beijing, China,
in a private hospital room,
Xu Xiaoyue was chatting with Su Mojin, who was lying in bed.
Su Mojin's arm was still bandaged.
Chen Ruilong, sitting on a chair behind her, was idly watching the live stream on his phone.
"What's going on with your boyfriend? You're injured, why hasn't he come to see you?"
Xu Xiaoyue, leaning over the bed, said with some dissatisfaction. She had been quite pleased with Lin Yan after getting into the car and eating at the hotel.
Hearing Xu Xiaoyue's words, Su Mojin didn't mind.
The moment she got out of the car and saw Lin Yan take off his helmet and run towards her desperately, she had already confirmed that Lin Yan was the person she wanted to spend her life with.
Moreover, Lin Yan had already explained things to her before he left.
"Alright, stop complaining. He said he's busy with something lately."
Su Mojin said from the bed. Lin Yan had indeed told her that.
He said he had some things to attend to out of town and would probably be back in a few days.
"Heh... men!"
Xu Xiaoyue scoffed but didn't dwell on the topic. Instead, she continued.
"Oh right, let me tell you, you weren't in the dorm yesterday, you didn't see Liu Jiali's expression..."
Just as the two were chatting, Chen Ruilong, who was watching the live stream, suddenly jumped up from his chair and cheered, looking rather eccentric.
Hearing the commotion, Xu Xiaoyue and Su Mojin turned their attention to him.
Seeing Chen Ruilong "dancing" in place, they were baffled.
What was wrong with this kid...
...
In the pit lane, Zhang Mingzhi nodded with satisfaction upon seeing the result.
He wasn't very familiar with the Isle of Man, but he knew that the current fastest lap record for the Isle of Man was around sixteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds.
He was only a little over a second slower. Although he knew Lin Yan hadn't used his full strength, even this time would have been enough to win the qualifying race.
He wasn't surprised by Lin Yan achieving this result. This was just a qualifying race, a single-lap competition where riders didn't need to conserve tires, so achieving a fast lap time was normal.
In the main race, a six-lap competition, riders would try to minimize tire wear, and therefore wouldn't use extreme lean angles when cornering.