The continuous corners of turn nine, a sequence of left and right turns. As Lin Yan's car reached the apex and began to turn, Qiong Hai pulled his bike to Lin Yan's right.
"Qiong Hai has blocked Lin Shen's inside line, trying for a late brake!"
By blocking the inside line, Qiong Hai gained the advantage for the next turn. Lin Yan saw Qiong Hai to his side. He knew he couldn't match Qiong Hai in this corner; the opponent's bike was faster through the turn.
"There it is! After the consecutive corners, Qiong Hai has overtaken Lin Shen. Yamaha's cornering speed is too strong. No, it's Ducati's cornering performance that's too weak. If this bike could handle corners more aggressively, Lin Shen would never have let Qiong Hai pass."
Hao Dong spoke rapidly, his meaning clear: Qiong Hai had overtaken Lin Yan thanks to his bike.
"Exiting turn ten, Lin Shen seems to want to make a move using the GP22's exit speed, but this straight after the corner is too short. The bike can't unleash its full potential. Ah."
As he exited the turn, Lin Yan pushed the bike's horsepower to its maximum, but it was still not enough.
Just as Hao Dong sighed, believing the outcome was decided, the situation on the track took a dramatic turn.
After being overtaken, Lin Yan stopped conserving his tires. With less than five laps remaining and having successfully misled his opponent earlier, tire conservation was no longer necessary. He latched onto the slipstream, closely following the Yamaha.
One blue and one red bike chased each other on the track. Lin Yan was not falling behind Qiong Hai at all, which greatly surprised Hao Dong. Lin Shen had clearly slowed down earlier, so what was happening now?
Reisner was not far behind the two. He could feel a distinct pain in his leg. Although he had treated it before the start, sweat was still seeping into the wounded area.
However, this did not mean he would withdraw from the championship contention. He increased his bike's power and followed them at a distance.
"Lin Shen is closely following Qiong Hai. I thought Lin Shen's tires were almost depleted, but I didn't expect him to keep up. And he just executed a high-angle corner. Despite Qiong Hai's strength, he can't shake off Lin Shen behind him."
It wasn't just Hao Dong who noticed this; the people in other pit boxes had also realized it.
"Hmm? Something's not right with this kid."
Yamaha's chief technician exclaimed. This kid had almost crashed earlier, and now he dared to take corners at such extreme angles.
He thought the rest of the race was practically secured, only to find that Qiong Hai couldn't shake off Lin Yan. No matter how Qiong Hai took the corners, Lin Yan could follow closely. Moreover, based on the current situation, the degree of movement in both bikes was similar.
It was uncanny. How had this kid been performing like this before?
He had watched the video of Lin Yan's earlier crash. It was clearly a loss of rear tire grip, a skid. Lin Yan's subsequent performance had reinforced this idea. But why had the Ducati suddenly become so fast now? Wasn't this kid afraid of crashing again?
In the Ducati pit, Viñales showed a hint of a smug smile. He knew it. Lin Yan wouldn't have braked unnecessarily. It turned out this kid was playing a trick, putting on a great show.
At this moment, Qiong Hai finally realized something was amiss. Lin Yan's speed had dropped earlier, clearly indicating tire issues. How could he keep up now, and on a Ducati at that, on this track, keeping pace with his Yamaha?
This was quite different from what they had seen before.
However, there was no time for him to ponder. In the next corner, Lin Yan launched an attack using the same cornering technique as before.
Qiong Hai reacted hastily, but Lin Yan's attack was not as simple as Reisner's. With seven years of championship experience, he was far superior to Qiong Hai in cornering technique and close racing.
After several consecutive corners of attack, Qiong Hai couldn't cope.
"We see Lin Shen's bike is incredibly unstable, but he's still fiercely attacking Qiong Hai ahead!"
Seeing Lin Yan's resurgence, Hao Dong became excited.
The enthusiasm of Lin Yan's fans on the track was reignited. They had thought Lin Shen was finished, but he was still as tenacious as ever.
"As expected, Lin Shen is still Lin Shen; he's not easily shaken."
A胖子 on the track shouted excitedly.
"Don't get too cocky. Qiong Hai will definitely be the champion of this race."
As everyone was getting excited, a foreigner in the stands nearby said dismissively in broken Chinese.
"Screw you, you damn foreigner! Lin Shen will show you what invincible means later."
The胖子 retaliated first, and then a barrage of spit flew towards the foreigner's side. However, faced with this group of vulgar insults, the foreigner looked bewildered; he couldn't understand a word.
Lin Yan on the track was like a madman, completely disregarding the bike's instability, relentlessly attacking Qiong Hai ahead.
Even with the Yamaha's superior cornering speed, it couldn't hold on under such an onslaught.
As the race entered its eighteenth lap, Lin Yan reclaimed the lead.
"Ducati, invincible!"
"This t
ps: An interesting thing to note (word count for two chapters has reached four thousand)
Today, a comment mentioned a bug from earlier. I racked my brain trying to figure out how to resolve it, and then suddenly, another reader provided a solution. Haha.
So, guys, don't ask me about the upcoming plot. I only know a few hours ahead of you.