The mountain road section of Ramsey hairpin that followed saw the riders slow down as their tires had worn down compared to the first two laps.
Even Lin Yan had to abandon the idea of overtaking the riders ahead on this most dangerous stretch.
Fortunately, on the downhill section, Lin Yan once again utilized the advantage of Rossi's late braking to overtake the Augusta rider in front, though it was extremely perilous, and the bike almost crashed again. However, he managed to stabilize it in the end and hold the inside line.
Augusta did not find any opportunities in the next two stages and was gradually pulled away by Lin Yan.
After two more stages, they reached the main grandstand. Augusta had chased all the way but couldn't find a chance to overtake Lin Yan.
The Augusta rider behind looked at the receding figure of the Ducati V4SP ahead with a sense of helplessness.
As the riders crossed the finish line again, the race entered its fourth lap.
Lin Yan scanned the road ahead through his helmet visor, precisely grasping every detail of the track.
His arms were already starting to ache, and sweat poured down like rain.
His tires had little left, and the bike had begun to wobble when entering corners.
Although his current condition was poor, he knew that Michael's condition wouldn't be much better.
At the end of the third lap, Lin Yan's lap time was 16:59.744, about a second slower than his first lap of 16:58.898.
However, he still led Michael by 0.7 seconds. Michael's lap time in the third lap had reached 17 minutes.
It was clear that his condition at this point was not much better than Lin Yan's.
On the overall standings, the Yamaha R1 rider in third place was already three seconds behind. Even if his tires had some reserve, it was almost impossible to make up a gap of over three seconds in the remaining two and a half laps.
This meant that the championship could only be decided between Lin Yan and Michael.
Hao Dong also noticed this and was analyzing it for the fans in the live broadcast.
"Twenty years old can't beat thirty-something? How is that possible? It's a no-brainer."
"Indeed, I agree, it's a no-brainer."
"I think unless Lin Yan crashes, the overall championship will definitely be Lin Yan's."
"No more talking, Lin Yan is awesome, and the guys behind, keep formation."
"Lin Yan is awesome..."
"Lin Yan..."
"Lin Yan, charge for me! Lin Yan is awesome, China is awesome!"
...
The race had entered a fever pitch.
What Lin Yan needed to do next was to maintain this 0.7-second gap in two and a half laps, but only Lin Yan knew how difficult it was to achieve this.
Why? Because Lin Yan had consumed far more tires than Michael, who started from pole position. This was also due to the overtakes, as overtaking meant using a larger lean angle, which in turn increased tire wear.
This was also why Lin Yan had to overtake the Augusta rider ahead as quickly as possible.
Engaging in battles with other riders would consume tires.
And Michael, who started from pole position, clearly didn't need to engage in battles because there were no other riders ahead of him.
Therefore, his tires might be in better condition compared to Lin Yan's.
This could be considered an invisible advantage of starting in the first position.
Another lap passed. After the fourth lap, Lin Yan's lap time dropped by another second to 17.0699 seconds, while Michael also slowed down by half a second compared to the third lap. The gap between them had narrowed to 0.2 seconds.
"What the hell is going on? Why is this lap so bad?"
"I feel it too, why is it getting worse and worse?"
"When he went through the corner just now, I thought I saw Lin Yan's arm twitch a few times. I don't know if it was my imagination."
"Damn it, is it really true that a twenty-year-old can't beat a thirty-year-old?"
"Stop spraying nonsense upstairs, maybe this is his tactic!"
"Exactly, a bunch of armchair fans just spewing nonsense."
"Do you need to spray? He definitely took money..."
Seeing Lin Yan's lap times getting slower, the live broadcast comments were filled with complaints, though there were also supporters. The two groups immediately started arguing.
Indeed, it's the same in any field; there are always online trolls.
Hao Dong kept his eyes glued to the screen. He also saw Lin Yan's arm twitch. His first thought was exhaustion, but upon closer consideration, he felt something was off. A rider of this caliber, and so young, shouldn't experience such a situation.
As for the comments about Lin Yan throwing the race, that was absolutely impossible. He was certain that Lin Yan would never throw the race, and there was no such thing as throwing a race on the Isle of Man.
However, he couldn't explain what was happening before his eyes.
"What's going on? I feel like we're being caught up."
Reba, watching from the main grandstand, instinctively asked Gu Yueyan beside her after seeing the lap times for this lap.
Unknowingly, Gu Yueyan had become his consultant in this regard.
"Perhaps there was a mistake this lap."
Gu Yueyan was not a professional and didn't notice anything. She said this only as a guess; a small gap of half a second was indeed difficult for an outsider to spot.
The Chinese fans in the stands were also puzzled, but compared to the fans watching the live broadcast, the fans at the scene were more rational and continued to cheer for Lin Yan.
After the fifth lap ended, Lin Yan's lap time dropped again, and he was caught up by Michael. The third-placed Yamaha rider was now only two seconds behind them. As the race approached its end, he stopped saving tires and prepared to go all out.
Of course, with this lap time gap, it was almost impossible to contend for the championship in the final lap.
The sixth lap began. In the final lap of the race, the spectators in the main grandstand became nervous. The chatter gradually subsided, and everyone focused intently on the big screen, not wanting to miss any detail.
In the pit room, Zhang Mingzhi watched the footage from the high-frame-rate camera, his hands clenched tightly, his tension evident.
Compared to the spectators at the scene, he knew Lin Yan's true condition best, so the more critical the moment of the race, the more he worried about Lin Yan's stamina.
As the final lap began, as the bike entered the first corner of the Ballaugh Bridge section, the trembling in Lin Yan's arm became even more pronounced.