He feared that Lun Si might be blocked when drafting behind Lin Yan, especially since the track was crowded at the start of qualifying.
The pit lane connected to the entry of Turn 15, a specially designated section outside the track that would be closed for the main race tomorrow. It connected to Turn 15 to control the exit speed of Turn 16; otherwise, starting from the main straight, the straight before the start/finish line wouldn't be long enough.
Exiting Turn 15, Lin Yan tucked his body over the fuel tank. The fuel tank had a groove specifically designed for the rider's chin, allowing the rider to lie as low and comfortably as possible to reduce wind resistance. Lying on the fuel tank, Lin Yan looked ahead. Not far in front of Lin Yan were the riders who had started earlier.
With the throttle wide open and shifting gears rapidly, Lin Yan and Lun Si rode one after another on the three-hundred-meter short straight connecting Turn 15 to the final Turn 16. Lun Si's front wheel was almost touching Lin Yan's rear wheel.
As for Ren Fei, he had fallen slightly behind due to an unintentional block by a Suzuki rider, not as close as Lun Si.
At this moment, in the Ducati pit box, Lun Si's onboard camera, his first-person perspective, was being broadcast on the screen. This view perfectly captured Lin Yan's actions in front of him. Yan Xiaoqiang and Jiang Qimo watched intently.
Exiting Turn 15, both bikes straightened up slowly, then accelerated almost simultaneously. The distance between their bikes was very close. Watching the speed soar past two hundred, Yan Xiaoqiang inexplicably wondered if they weren't afraid of rear-ending each other at such close proximity.
Next, in Yan Xiaoqiang's view, after exiting the corner, they rode for about two hundred meters on this three-hundred-meter connecting straight. When there were still one hundred meters to Turn 16.
They braked almost simultaneously. From corner exit to corner entry, Lun Si performed almost the same actions as Lin Yan, even the timing was almost synchronized. Braking! He steadily followed behind Lin Yan.
Rear-ending? Impossible. This maneuver left Yan Xiaoqiang and the others dumbfounded.
When braking just now, their speed had reached two hundred and thirty kilometers per hour. How could they still accurately see the braking point at such a close distance? They were monsters.
The apex speed of Turn 15 was one hundred and eighty kilometers per hour. After completely exiting the corner, their speed had already reached two hundred kilometers per hour. Two hundred meters, for this GP22, didn't even take a second. Moreover, with Lun Si's right-hand brake view, Yan Xiaoqiang and the others were even more astonished. They had so much to learn.
In the following few corners, Lun Si showed Yan Xiaoqiang and the others the professional right-hand throttle and brake operation of a GP rider.
In terms of operation, GP bikes were the same as production bikes, except for the reverse shift pattern. The right hand had a throttle and a front brake lever. From throttling to braking, the fluidity of Lun Si's hand movements made Yan Xiaoqiang and the others understand a sentence Lin Yan had told them before.
Lun Si's operation was simple, but difficult to achieve during normal riding, and even difficult for them to achieve in races.
From the violent acceleration out of the corner, Lun Si's wrist twisted the throttle downwards slowly, which was the action of opening the throttle on exit. Then came the crucial part: when Lun Si's hand twisted the throttle down to a certain point, his wrist quickly recoiled upwards. Then, with the recoil force, two fingers quickly hooked the brake lever, pulling the front brake all the way. This was braking into the corner, and releasing the throttle signified reaching the braking point.
Next was trail braking into the corner. As the bike entered the corner, Lun Si's fingers holding the brake lever slowly released it, not all at once, but gradually releasing the brake completely only at the apex of the corner. At the same time as releasing the brake, his wrist twisted the throttle downwards again.
Throttling, releasing throttle, braking, then throttling again. These seemingly simple actions were actually continuous for Lun Si's right hand throughout the entire race. There was no coasting; he was either braking or throttling, with no wasted effort. He even used the force of returning the throttle to apply the brake.
This operation made Yan Xiaoqiang and the others sigh in admiration.
"You can watch, and you can learn, but don't learn their finger techniques."
At this moment, Zhou Xianyong's voice came over. Yan Xiaoqiang and the other two nodded in unison, indicating they understood.
Exiting the final Turn 16, Lin Yan and Lun Si adjusted their exit speed, maximizing the horsepower on this straight as much as possible. The explosive V4 engine roared past the start line. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the three GP22s charged into Turn 1 at lightning speed.
Accelerating out of the corner and braking again, they entered Turn 2. After quickly navigating two corners, there was another sharp hairpin. The cornering speed of this corner was very slow, but the lean angle could be very low. Lin Yan, in the lead, had his body almost parallel to the ground.
Seeing that Lin Yan and the others encountered no obstacles, Viñales breathed a sigh of relief.
Next were three more corners, with two sections of speed. Lun Si's lap times were very fast. In Viñales's opinion, if he could maintain this pace, it would be no problem to match Rossi's, even if it was a bit slower.
However, the Yamaha rider in front was a bit troublesome, but it shouldn't be a major issue.
Glancing at the rider in front of Lin Yan, Viñales pondered for a moment and then didn't pay too much attention.
There was a Yamaha rider ahead, who had started ahead of Lin Yan. Now, his speed was a bit slow, and it seemed Lin Yan and Lun Si were catching up to him.
This was not a rider from the factory Yamaha team, but from a satellite team, using last year's factory bike. The possibility of Lin Yan catching up was very high. Although the new rules gave many riders more opportunities to set lap times in qualifying, there was also a drawback: no distance limit, and slow riders could easily block fast riders.
After a few more corners, Lin Yan and Lun Si's pace was surprisingly fast. With a breakthrough, Lun Si's strength had miraculously increased a bit.
Seeing the speed of the third sector, Chief Engineer Honda became a little restless. Rossi and Dani were not on the track, and Dani, after warming up, was not watching the race but chatting with his wife.
Chief Engineer Honda rubbed his forehead, feeling resigned to this.
It was impossible for Dani to draft Rossi, meaning Rossi had no one to draft behind and had to rely on himself.