Fifteen laps in, Lin Yan had opened up an eight-second gap. From his current state, Lin Yan's pace was getting faster and faster, while the pace of Reisner behind him was getting slower and slower.
The speed soared, everything was proceeding smoothly. Lun Si and Ren Fei were also constantly pushing forward to gain positions, with Lun Si already behind Gena.
Just as the audience thought the race would continue to its conclusion, Qiong Hai's car suddenly blew its engine on the eighteenth lap.
Black smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe, obscuring Gena's vision behind him.
"Damn, Qiong Hai's car blew its engine!"
"Brake quickly, why isn't he stopping after blowing his engine."
"Why stop, Qiong Hai probably doesn't even know yet."
Watching the black smoke pouring out of the exhaust, some people in the stands were anxious. An engine blow-out could be dangerous in a race, but they forgot that Qiong Hai himself couldn't see the exhaust.
Qiong Hai hadn't noticed anything unusual at this moment, cornering and entering bends as usual, unaware that the technicians in the Yamaha pit were in a frenzy.
The chief technician of Yamaha waved his hands, hoping Qiong Hai would notice him, but normally, drivers would never pay attention to the pit situation.
Due to the wind, unless the car's power decreased, it would indeed be difficult for Qiong Hai to discover that his car had blown its engine.
Trailing a long plume of smoke, Qiong Hai passed six corners before finally noticing the anomaly in his car.
It wasn't that Qiong Hai couldn't detect it, but the factory car was too fast. After blowing its engine, it took tens of seconds for the power to weaken. These tens of seconds were enough for the factory car to complete several corners, or even half the track.
Sensing the power reduction, Qiong Hai immediately yielded the racing line to prevent the car behind from rear-ending him due to evasive maneuvers.
Fortunately, the finish line was approaching, and Qiong Hai immediately drove the car into the pit area to change cars.
As the car approached the pit area, Qiong Hai stood up to check the rear of the car. His actions, like hitting his thigh, indicated his annoyance.
It was understandable, as he was originally in third place on the podium, but his car broke down.
"That was close, luckily it's near the finish line. Changing cars shouldn't cost too many positions."
"Are you kidding? The pit lane speed limit is sixty kilometers per hour, and you won't lose too many positions? Even if you're first in, you'll be almost last when you come out."
"Yeah, I almost forgot, the pit lane has a speed limit."
"......"
Qiong Hai's fans in the stands were filled with worry. As expected, when Qiong Hai came out of the pit lane after changing cars, he had lost about thirty seconds, half a minute, dropping from third place to twenty-eighth.
The front of the pack had become the tail.
In competitive racing, thirty seconds could already reverse everything.
After changing cars, as soon as the car exited the pit lane, Qiong Hai revved the engine. He was in a hurry, as were the Yamaha pit technicians.
This terrible weather had a huge impact on the engine. However, there was one advantage: Qiong Hai's tires were new. But a thirty-second gap couldn't be compensated by just a tire.
At this moment, Qiong Hai was desperately trying to enter the points zone.
Seeing Qiong Hai's engine blow, Zhang Mingzhi's heart also inexplicably tightened. Theoretically, their car was the least resistant to high temperatures because its own temperature was already very high.
"If Young Master also blows his engine..."
Pah, pah, what a jinx. Realizing he had spoken incorrectly, Zhang Mingzhi quickly shut his mouth.
Under his helmet, Lin Yan's sweat dripped down his neck.
In such high temperatures, his stamina drained faster. Lin Yan's back was soaked with sweat, and his lips were slightly dry, but his eyes remained sharp, hitting every mark with extreme precision.
His cornering was still smooth and fluid, so much so that the audience couldn't tell any difference in his cornering actions from one lap to the next.
With Qiong Hai's car failure, countless eyes in the stands turned to Lin Yan. Their concerns were similar to Zhang Mingzhi's. The nickname "Du Kaodan" wasn't for nothing. If Yamaha was struggling in this heat, could Ducati withstand it?
Lun Si and Ren Fei also noticed Qiong Hai's retirement, but these were clearly not their immediate concerns. Focusing on the race was the priority.
"Oh my god, look quickly, what's wrong with Lin Shen."
"Is there a problem with the car?"
"What's going on, nothing must happen to Lin Shen's car!"
About a lap after Qiong Hai's incident, another anomaly occurred in the stands. This time, it wasn't someone else, but Lin Yan.
Lin Yan also showed an anomaly, but it wasn't a car problem. Lin Yan's car had no issues whatsoever; it was Lin Yan himself.
"Is he scratching an itch?"
"I don't know, probably not. Maybe the zipper on his racing suit came undone."
"Open it quickly. I wonder if we can see his abs. If you say that, I won't be sleepy anymore."
In the stands, Lin Yan was riding with one hand, while the other hand reached into the collar of his racing suit and scratched incessantly.
This action did indeed resemble scratching an itch. Through the camera, Zhang Mingzhi and Su Mojin's palms were sweating nervously.
They were more worried about Lin Yan having a problem than the audience.
"Is Lin Shen having some kind of issue? Why is his speed a little slower in this section? I wonder if the director can switch the camera."
Hao Dong also keenly noticed Lin Yan's abnormality.
At the urging of the audience, the director, being perceptive, switched the camera to Lin Yan's perspective, specifically a camera mounted on the car's dashboard, facing Lin Yan directly, capturing the area below his helmet.
"Huh? What is he doing? It looks like he's searching for something."
"Is he looking for hidden cash? That can't be right."
"The guy upstairs, are you out of your mind to be looking for hidden cash during a race?"
"Good heavens, you can't understand a joke? What a contrarian!"
After searching for a while, Lin Yan finally caught the bee that had stung him.
He casually tossed it away, releasing it, and placed his hand back on the handlebars.
"Good heavens, so it was a bee. I thought it was abs."
"That was close, so it was a bee. You scared me to death."
"Can't you wish for something good? If the zipper had really broken, Lin Shen would have retired. And abs."
"Hmph, none of your business!"
The female fan gave the male fan a disdainful look.
Seeing that Lin Shen was fine, they all relaxed considerably. Su Mojin, Zhang Mingzhi, and Vinares in the stands also breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the first time they had seen someone get stung by a bee during a race.
Because of the sting, Lin Yan's lap time slowed down by nearly a second, but it wasn't a major issue. He was still leading Reisner by more than eight seconds.
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