The day's race was shortened by ten laps due to the rain, and the twenty-lap sprint race offered high tolerance for tire wear, meaning more close battles were inevitable.
Ren Fei's usual style was very steady; he would typically conserve tires and make his move in the final laps. Today, however, he was uncharacteristically aggressive, perhaps influenced by the reduced race distance.
"Pay attention to Ren Fei's position. He's glued to the KTM..."
Turn 14, Turn 15. Three machines roared past. Rossi held his line tightly, fending off Joan Mir behind him. These corners weren't high-speed and weren't particularly continuous, giving Yamaha no advantage. Rossi could still defend against Mir, and all he needed was a straight to pull away.
The race continued. Exiting Turn 15, they entered the final corner, Turn 16. Mir attempted an overtake, but there was no opening. Rossi's line was perfect, airtight.
Accelerating out of the corner, they approached the main straight leading to the finish line.
Beneath his helmet, Mir's gaze was fixed ahead, throttle clenched. He accelerated out of the corner!
He knew Rossi intended to shake him off here, and the chances were high. It would be difficult to keep up, but he had to try.
The final straight on this track was short, but for Rossi, it was just enough.
On the 0.7-kilometer straight, Rossi's bike advanced through the rain, followed closely by the Yamaha.
The roar of the engines blared past the pit garage entrance. Everyone in the Jia He team was on edge.
"Damn, look at Mir! He can't get into Rossi's slipstream, but the KTM..."
The two bikes braked hard into the corner, then gradually closed in on the apex.
As they neared the apex, the KTM rider seemed to lose control of his line.
The reason for the outer-inner-outer racing line into a corner is that the distance from the outside of the track to the apex on the inside is longer. Similarly, the closer the braking point is to the inside, the shorter the distance to the apex, requiring a larger steering angle.
Mir's bike entered the corner in the middle of the track because that was his braking limit. He chose this position because, by braking here, he was confident he could hug the apex after entering the corner, leaving no room for the KTM rider.
But the KTM rider was even further inside than him. How could he possibly brake? After all, a faster bike on the straight must have a higher top speed.
On the 0.7-kilometer straight, the KTM's top speed at the end was 317 km/h, while the Yamaha's was only 306 km/h. This meant that, theoretically, the Yamaha could brake from a shorter distance before the corner, as it needed to brake 11 km/h less.
Entering the corner, with an aggressive exit, Mir threaded his bike through the gap created by the opponent's wide exit. The Yamaha's cornering agility was fully displayed, though it was mainly due to the KTM rider's excessively wide exit this time, which even affected his acceleration out of the corner.
"Wow, amazing! The KTM rider is truly fired up to dare such a pass!"
The cornering agility of Yamaha and Suzuki stems from their engine configurations, an inherent advantage. This is why many manufacturers with V4 engines, including Ducati, focused on developing their straight-line speed back in the day.