The first rays of morning sun pierced through the glass and landed on Lin Yan’s face.
Lin Yan climbed out of bed, glanced at the time – seven in the morning – and got up to prepare for his morning routine.
After breakfast, at eight o’clock, everyone boarded the car and set off. The weather today was even gloomier than yesterday. It was still overcast at eight, and the wind was strong. It seemed rain was unavoidable.
Su Mojin sat beside Lin Yan. Seeing the weather outside, she was also a little worried, but she wasn’t a professional, so she didn’t dare to say much.
Lin Yan gently held her in his arms.
“Be careful today.”
A hint of worry flickered in Su Mojin’s eyes, and she nestled closer into Lin Yan’s embrace.
Lin Yan smiled as he looked at her.
“Don’t worry, this is all small stuff for me today.”
This was no exaggeration. In his previous life, Lin Yan was a man who dared to race on the Isle of Man circuit in the rain. What was an eight-hour endurance race?
If it weren’t for the need to improve his physical endurance, he wouldn’t have participated in this competition at all.
The car soon arrived at the back gate of the Jianghai City International Race Circuit.
After entering the circuit and the car stopped, Lin Yan didn’t rush to get out. The time was still early. He and Su Mojin stayed in the car for a while, being affectionate, and only got out of the car slowly after nine o’clock.
By the time Lin Yan got out, the staff had already finished tuning the race car. The spectators in the venue had already increased significantly.
However, the sky had turned even darker, completely covered with dark clouds. The organizers had anticipated the possibility of rain and had issued a notice in advance, asking all teams to prepare rain tires.
A total of thirty teams participated in the main race, with two riders per team competing in an eight-hour relay race.
Compared to the previous qualifying rounds, this was the real test.
From day to night, eight hours. It was exhausting not just for the riders, but even for the spectators.
Lin Yan slowly walked into the pit garage. Xiao Li was doing squats in the pit garage, feeling particularly nervous for today’s main race.
This was because most of the riders participating in the main race were stronger than him, especially King from the Kawasaki team, who was reportedly the WSBK world third runner-up last year, and possessed formidable strength.
It was only because Lin Yan was here that he could feel slightly at ease.
“Young Master, according to the plan I discussed with Vinales, we’ve decided to have you go out first. What do you think?”
As soon as he entered, Zhang Mingzhi hurried over to seek Lin Yan’s opinion. This was the result of his discussion with the team members just now.
“Okay.”
Lin Yan said decisively.
He had originally planned to go out first. Based on yesterday’s rankings, he should have started in twelfth place.
It wouldn’t be difficult for him to climb from twelfth to first within an hour.
As long as he could create some distance, Xiao Li could maintain it afterwards.
Moreover, Xiao Li was a steady rider, making him the most suitable person to ride the last hour.
After receiving the Young Master’s approval, Zhang Mingzhi turned and went into the pit garage to inform Xiao Li.
After Zhang Mingzhi left, Lin Yan got onto the simulator and practiced a simulation of the Jianghai International Circuit in rainy conditions.
He then meticulously inspected the race car again to ensure everything was foolproof. By then, it was already eleven in the morning.
Su Mojin knew Lin Yan was busy, so she sat quietly in a corner of the pit garage.
She didn’t feel bored. Watching Lin Yan busy at work, she felt an inexplicable sense of happiness, a very peculiar feeling.
Although Lin Yan was a second-generation rich, he was not like the rich second-generation individuals she had seen at school.
Those rich second-generation students at school only knew how to chase women and go to bars, doing nothing substantial.
Lin Yan, on the other hand, was full of substance and talent. Most importantly, he wasn’t as philandering as the rumors suggested.
Today, there were even more spectators than yesterday, a total of 160,000, setting a new record for the highest spectator count at the Jianghai Eight-Hour Endurance Race.
This was thanks to Lin Yan, as most of the audience were his fans.
Many Isle of Man and GP fans had rushed over specifically to watch Lin Yan’s race.
As a result, the official in charge had specially visited the Ducati pit garage for pleasantries and a round of mutual praise.
Around half past eleven, the riders officially prepared to enter the track.
Lin Yan put on his leather suit and helmet. Just as he was about to step out of the pit garage, a petite figure darted into his embrace.
Looking at the lovely Su Mojin in his arms, Lin Yan was amused and exasperated. He wasn’t going to an execution, why the need for such a reluctant farewell.
Despite Lin Yan’s lengthy explanations, Su Mojin remained worried. After Lin Yan comforted her for a while and patted her back, Su Mojin finally let go.
Watching Lin Yan leave the pit garage, Su Mojin returned to her corner and sat down again.
The temperature today was only 25 degrees Celsius, even lower than yesterday, and the air carried a damp feeling.
This kind of weather greatly affected the grip of the racing tires.
“Look, Lin Shen is out!”
“Sisters, look quickly!”
As soon as Lin Yan emerged from the pit garage, a scream erupted from the stands.
Hearing the sound, Lin Yan looked towards the stands. As far as his gaze could reach, the entire stands were densely packed with number 27 flags.
Especially the East stand, which had a banner that read ‘Lin Shen’s Female Fan Club’.
The scream just now had come from the East stand. Lin Yan waved towards his fans and then walked on foot towards the finish line.
After Lin Yan left, the stands erupted in another wave of screams.
However, what Lin Yan didn’t notice was a rider emerging from the adjacent Kawasaki pit garage, who had been watching Lin Yan intently.
This person was King. For him, Lin Yan was the biggest obstacle on their path to championship.
Although he was usually confident in himself, this person in front of him gave him a profound sense of powerlessness.
Since watching the video, this feeling had only intensified.
Like the start of most circuits, the Jianghai circuit’s start line was also flanked by iron railings. The side closer to the track was the pit garage area, while the outside was the spectator stands, positioned on both sides of the start.
At this moment, rows of race cars were lined up opposite Lin Yan, and the team staff were installing tire warmers on the cars.
Opposite Lin Yan was the Ducati V4.
Extending outwards from the start line to turn one, turn one was a ninety-degree right-angle turn. The sides of the bend were buffer zones composed of grass and sand.
The stretch from the start line to turn one was the longest straight on the entire circuit, spanning a full kilometer. This offered a significant advantage to Kawasaki.
In the realm of production cars, Kawasaki’s straight-line acceleration was quite fierce.
However, in top-tier competitions like this, the ultimate decider was always the human element.
…
“No way, Guoxiong, how can they race in such bad weather?”
Lin Family Manor.
Lin Guoxiong was spending half the day at home, a rare occasion, just to watch his son race.
But before the race even began, he had already listened to Fu Qingyun complain for half an hour.
He had felt alright initially, but after his wife’s constant nagging, he too started to feel a little worried.
…
The wind vane at the start of the circuit, used to test wind speed, spun with a whirring sound. There were five minutes left until the start of the eight-hour endurance race.
The entire venue was filled with a tense atmosphere. The safety car slowly moved forward.