Simple shouts of encouragement attracted a large crowd of riders. Lin Yan guessed that this was a rider's bet, and there were definitely audience bets upstairs. The real money was in the audience bets.
The participants were all poor people, while the spectators were the big shots. This was very similar to underground boxing matches.
A scene of hundreds of riders starting at the same time was something you couldn't see anywhere else. Moreover, the race was on a mountain road.
This was just like the Ramsey hairpin section on the Isle of Man. With so many people starting at once, it was hard not to have an accident.
As everyone gathered, the organizers began to announce the rules for this year's bets.
The qualifying round bets were simple: betting on how many people would enter the main race. There were three hundred riders on site, and based on past probabilities, about a hundred riders would enter the main race, a ratio of three to one.
Bets could be placed between 130 and 70. The odds for 130 and 70 were the highest. This was a basic bet with no real excitement, so Lin Yan didn't listen closely.
The next bet caught Lin Yan's interest: betting on the lap record. This bet was new this year and applied to both the main race and the qualifying rounds.
This bet attracted a lot of interest. After all, someone broke the lap record every few years, and the odds of one to five were very tempting. Perhaps it would be this year.
The lap record from the foot of the mountain to the summit was thirteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds. The odds of breaking the lap record were one to five, exceeding one second by one to ten, and exceeding five seconds by one to twenty. The highest odds were for five seconds, with a single bet limit of five million Euros.
Upon hearing the limit, Lin Yan frowned. It seemed the organizers weren't foolish and were wary of professional riders causing trouble.
Thirteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds. If the track was the same as in Lin Yan's previous life, this lap time was indeed impressive. It must have been set by a master, otherwise the race organizers wouldn't have used it to fleece people.
However, earning one hundred million Euros was enough for Lin Yan. It was just pocket money. He wondered what the concept of "single bet" meant.
Lin Yan soon found out. The audience was calculated by company, and the people below were calculated by team.
This dashed Lin Yan's plan. He thought he could find people to bet multiple times. If it was calculated by team, he could probably only bet once, as there were only so many participating teams. Glancing at the race time, Lin Yan calculated whether Lina could make it in time.
If Lina could make it, that would be two hundred million Euros, or 1.3 billion Chinese Yuan. Although Lin Yan was rich, who would refuse free money? However, this money could only be earned once; it wouldn't work a second time.
The bets for the main race should be more interesting than this, but the officials didn't know Lin Yan would participate yet, so Lin Yan had found a loophole. By the time the officials knew Lin Yan was participating, they probably wouldn't dare to offer such bets.
While Lin Yan was thinking, someone placed a bet. Among them was the bald man, who bet on simply breaking the record, with odds of one to five, and bet one hundred thousand Euros. This was a substantial amount in the rider's area.
He had actually played a little trick. He guessed that this was the first year this bet was introduced, and the organizers would definitely let them see some benefits. The bald man's idea was not unreasonable.
Lin Yan didn't plan to bet himself. Although the organizers had probably seen the truck behind him by now, they couldn't be sure in a short period.
Lin Yan didn't plan to reveal himself for now, and he needed to bet as soon as possible. Once the organizers reacted, Lin Yan would probably miss out on this pocket money.
"Bet five million Euros!"
Walking to the betting table, Li Wei placed a bank card on the table.
Five million Euros!
As soon as he said this, all eyes at the betting table turned towards Li Wei. They wanted to see who this rich big shot was, and also what kind of person would be so eager to give money to the organizers.
"Damn, is this a sucker? Exceeding the original record by five seconds?"
"Brother, do you know who set the original record? Betting five seconds is giving money to the organizers."
Hearing Li Wei's bet of five seconds, people around him either mocked or advised him, but no one supported him.
The bald man seemed to recognize Li Wei, but he didn't try to persuade him.
He was a little curious. Wasn't the other party here to play? Why did he come to the rider's area to play?
Seeing Li Wei's bank card on the table, the bookmaker's eyes flickered. Things that were too good to be true usually were. Someone who could afford five million Euros wouldn't be so foolish. Anyone with eyes could see that breaking the five-second record was impossible.
"May I ask which team you are from?"
He spoke in A-country language with a local accent. He didn't dare to casually accept such a large amount in the rider's area. If he lost, it would be one hundred million Euros, although he knew the probability was almost zero.
Five seconds. Let alone anything else, even the currently popular Isle of Man World Champion Lin Yan, who was best at mountain roads, couldn't do it on a production bike.
Li Wei pointed behind him. The bookmaker glanced at it and said nothing more. He nodded respectfully to Li Wei.
"Sir, please wait. Your amount is too large, so I will personally handle it for you."
Saying that, the bookmaker took the bank card and trotted up the mountain.
Seeing the bookmaker run off, Lin Yan knew he was going to report it. He didn't make Li Wei wait long. Soon, the bookmaker came down and told Li Wei that the bet was successful.
Taking back the bank card handed over by Li Wei, Lin Yan was not surprised that the bet was successful. By betting so early and in front of so many people, it was like giving him money. Even if he knew there was something fishy, he wouldn't refuse it.
As for five million Euros being a large amount? That was nonsense. It was only because he saw the Ducati logo that they went up to report. The amounts bet by the bosses halfway up the mountain were probably even larger than his.
The amounts bet by the big bosses were indeed larger than his, but Lin Yan was the only one who bet more than five seconds. Even those who bet less than one second were very few. Those who bet on breaking the record were many, as the probability was almost one-third.
Technology was advancing, and cars were being updated, so it was difficult for a record to remain for too long.
There were still nearly thirty minutes before the race started, and many people were still placing bets. Lin Yan took out his phone and called Lina to ask where she was.
At this time, Lin Yan had already placed Su Mojin in the passenger seat. If he held her any longer, something might happen.
Getting down from Lin Yan's lap, Su Mojin sat back in the passenger seat, her face flushed red.
When the call was connected, Lina on the other end sounded a bit anxious, still worried about her younger brother.
"Two hundred million Euros?"
Hearing Lin Yan's plan, Lina's voice immediately rose an octave.
She put down her phone and looked at her current location, estimating the time.
"I will arrive at the scene in fifteen minutes at the latest. I will go directly to the audience area to place the bet. Please take care of my brother for me."
After instructing her driver to speed up, Lina said calmly to Lin Yan on the phone.
Cor was not far from the race venue, so there should be enough time.
Lin Yan originally thought he wouldn't make any money. Earning four hundred million Euros from these two batches was really not a wasted trip.
After agreeing with Lina, he would split the profits three and seven, which would still be over three hundred million Euros.