However, both were top drivers, and the distance was almost imperceptible.
Soon, more than twenty main race drivers entered the first section, the Ballagarri mountain stage.
Entering this mountain track, the ground was no longer flat, and the drivers' cars leaped with the undulations of the ground, but their speed did not slow down at all.
As Lin Yan twisted the throttle, the Ducati V4SP beneath him roared.
He sped madly on the track.
The precise braking at every braking point was as simple as playing house for these main race drivers.
The biggest difficulties they had to face were the uncertain road conditions and the houses lining the streets.
Accelerating out of the corner, Lin Yan navigated every turn precisely, doing every detail as perfectly as possible.
From the perspective of the helicopter in the air, the cornering actions and entry lines of each of these drivers were almost exactly the same, including their braking times and locations at each corner, which were astonishingly similar.
This was the strength of the highest category, precise cornering like robots.
However, among these people, if you looked closely, you could clearly see that Michael, who was ranked first, and Lin Yan, who was second to last, were slightly faster than the other drivers.
But it was very subtle, and if you didn't look closely, you couldn't notice it, but the key to winning in the highest category was often such small differences.
Among these more than twenty people, there was only one exception, and that was the driver ranked last, the one who had given Lin Yan a thumbs-up before.
Compared to others, his actions were clearly a little slower, which was normal and the usual practice for new drivers on the Isle of Man every year.
"So our Lin Yan was hiding his strength before!"
At this moment, Hao Dong in the live broadcast room suddenly realized. After observing for a long time, he noticed that Lin Yan's actions seemed to be slightly faster than others. Although it was not particularly obvious, he still noticed it.
Coupled with the real-time vehicle information of the drivers in the lower right corner of the screen.
Hao Dong knew that Lin Yan had probably hidden his strength in the previous qualifying race.
The strength of our Chinese driver is truly terrifying.
However, thinking that he was a Chinese driver, Hao Dong felt a surge of excitement, wishing he could immediately stand up and shout three times.
"Hiding strength? Is it true or false?"
"Dongzi, what are you holding back, hurry up and tell us what's going on."
"If he could qualify by hiding his strength, how strong must his real strength be."
"Yes, don't keep us in suspense, tell us quickly."
"Hurry up and tell us, and I'll brush you dog food."
......
Seeing the questions in the bullet screen, Hao Dong calmed his excitement, coughed, and then said unhurriedly.
"Carefully observe Lin Yan's car's braking points and the braking points of the car in front of him. Compare them carefully. What do you find?"
"Lin Yan's braking points are generally further back, and his cornering actions are also faster than the drivers in front of him."
After about five seconds, the bullet screen began to respond.
"Now that you mention it, I seem to have noticed it too."
"I noticed it too!"
"Hey? Why do I feel like car number 27 is leaning into the corner lower?"
"The one above, remove the first six characters of your sentence."
......
The twenty-odd cars successfully passed the Ballagarri stage, and their times were all around two minutes.
Two minutes was very good in the qualifying race, but in the main race, it was just a normal performance.
According to the lap data in the lower right corner, Lin Yan completed Ballagarri in 1 minute 57.863 seconds, while Michael took 1 minute 57.876 seconds. Their times were almost identical.
"This... Lin Yan is actually faster than Michael."
"Uh, it seems to be less than half a second faster."
"Is less than half a second not considered fast? Half a second is also fast, you know."
"Go China! Go Lin Yan!"
"Mado, worthy of being China's fastest man!"
......
At this moment, on the spectator stands, thousands of Chinese spectators were closely watching the red figure on the big screen, speeding on the track.
"Sister Yue Yan, do you think he might really be the little brother we met before?"
Looking at Lin Yan on the big screen, Reba asked Gu Yueyan uncertainly.
She had indeed had some doubts after hearing the shouts of the people around her.
"Okay, stop thinking about it and watch the race properly."
Compared to Reba's curiosity, Gu Yueyan didn't think as much. However, in her opinion, there was a high probability that it was him.
"Could it really be that guy..."
Reba mumbled.
After exiting the Ballagarri stage, the drivers successively entered the next stage, the Black Bear stage.
Here, the drivers' speeds were significantly lower than before. The sunlight filtering through the tree canopy hit the ground, making the entire ground more mottled and dazzling, forcing the drivers to slow down.
But on the shaded sections of the road, they immediately accelerated again.
Sweat flowing into his eyes, combined with the dazzling sunlight on the ground, caused Lin Yan to feel a sense of dizziness, his hands gripping the handlebars tightly.
However, the throttle in his hands did not decrease at all.
The howling sound of the wind rushing through broke through the air as he sped on the track.
After exiting the Black Bear stage, Lin Yan and Michael were already nearly a second ahead of the other drivers, while the last new driver was a second slower. This was less than half a lap.
The Joey stage, the honor stage of the Dunlop family, Michael had practiced here on the simulator thousands of times.
Here, Michael was the fastest, a fact that even Lin Yan could not deny.
However, Lin Yan was not to be outdone, and after the Joey stage, the gap between them was only 0.3 seconds.
"As expected, even though he's over thirty, Michael is still invincible on the Joey stage."
Hao Dong sighed at this point. This was a fact he had to admit, but Lin Yan today had brought him great surprises.
As a Chinese commentator, he was extremely excited that a new driver could keep pace with Michael, who held multiple world championships.
He also had to marvel at Lin Yan's strength, and he had learned that Lin Yan was only twenty years old this year, so young.