Lina accepted it with a casual gesture, bowing forward slightly. Her gaze was fixed on the tablet, completely oblivious to Peter's subtle movement behind her.
Peter awkwardly retracted his hand.
The eldest son of the Lin Group? A group with a market value of at least a hundred billion? Lina's eyelids twitched as she saw the information on the screen.
She had expected his family background to be significant, but she hadn't anticipated it to be this powerful.
"This is a bit difficult!"
After a moment, Lina said softly.
"Indeed, it's difficult! His background is far stronger than yours. You have no leverage to negotiate with him."
Peter quietly withdrew his arm, feigning nonchalance as he spoke.
He already knew Lin Yan's background and wasn't surprised.
"According to the information, what you said earlier makes a lot of sense. It's difficult, but not impossible to try."
Lina had initially intended to invest, believing it would give her an advantage. However, after reviewing the data, she found herself feeling rather foolish. Did a family of this caliber even need sponsors? They could sponsor themselves.
At the same time, she wondered why scions of such prominent families would participate in extreme sports.
Lina's family controlled half of A Country's film and television media industry, but they were no match for the Lin Group. The gap was immense.
Their reach was vast, while her family was merely a leader in one sector. The difference was too significant.
Furthermore, such large conglomerates were typically low-key. While valued at over a hundred billion, their actual worth was likely far greater.
Lina understood that the larger a group became, the more risks it had to mitigate. This valuation was likely something they managed themselves. Even based on their publicly visible assets, the value probably exceeded a hundred billion. Smaller groups liked to make a spectacle, while major ones generally played it discreetly.
It wasn't always a good thing to display a lot of assets; everyone understood the principle of diminishing returns.
It seemed that if she truly wanted to cooperate with them, she would have to pay a considerable price. Moreover, it depended on whether they intended to penetrate the international market. If not, all of this would be wishful thinking.
By now, the race was more than halfway through. The drivers had entered a tire-saving phase, with only Reissna and Qionghai exchanging positions. The battle for second and third place was ongoing.
The two bikes fought fiercely until the fifteenth lap, with the two riders behind Lin Yan still unable to decide the winner. Reissna's skill was slightly superior to Qionghai's, but the difference in their bikes and the advantage of competing on home turf had effectively leveled the playing field.
As it was a home race, Qionghai had the largest fan base. Every time they crossed the finish line, the roar of the crowd was deafening. Unquestionably, Qionghai's influence in A Country's racing scene was second to none.
With the Yamaha's cornering speed, Qionghai even managed to subtly outpace Reissna. This minute difference in skill was being compensated for by the bike's performance.
Lin Yan was now less than two seconds ahead of them. He had lost nearly two seconds in five laps, which clearly indicated a problem with his tires.
Seeing Lin Yan getting closer, both Qionghai and Reissna wanted to shake off the other first. Given Lin Yan's earlier fall and the fact that he was riding a Ducati, if they could get ahead of him, the championship would likely be theirs.
The mechanics from Honda and Yamaha in the pit lane thought the same. Even with Lin Yan's prowess on a Ducati on this track, his chances of winning were still slim.
The racing bikes' engines were pushed to their limits. Reissna and Qionghai both achieved an extreme lean angle of sixty-six degrees, scraping their elbows through the corners.
As they truly began to push, Hao Dong's commentary struggled to keep up.
The atmosphere in the Honda and Yamaha pit boxes became tense. In front of the screen, Honda's chief mechanic frowned deeply. He felt that Reissna might not be able to beat Qionghai this time, as Reissna's injury would surely affect him.
"Damn it, those useless guys in the technical department," the Honda chief mechanic cursed inwardly. If they didn't come up with better upgrade solutions next time, he wouldn't hold back.
Taking advantage of their intense battle, Lin Yan finally got a moment to breathe. He needed to conserve his tires for the final showdown. The longer they fought, the more beneficial it would be for his final push. As for his slowing pace, it was purely due to his tire conservation.
Lin Yan's lap times decreased, and the atmosphere among the spectators grew somber. Some discordant voices also emerged, but the majority of fans were rational. After all, those who could afford to travel abroad to watch a race were usually seasoned enthusiasts.
However, Hao Dong's live chat was in chaos. Not only were there uninformed onlookers, but also many paid trolls from the Song Group stirring up trouble. These individuals were engaged in fierce arguments with Lin Yan's loyal fans, and the moderators were overwhelmed with bans.
"Damn it, so fierce in the early stages, and now he's fallen so far behind! Go home and farm!"
"Running like this at the end, do you even care about us? Fire Zhu, I just gave you a gift, damn it, give me my money back!"
"You bunch of idiots, racing requires considering tire wear. It's normal for Lin God to be a bit weaker at the end after pushing so hard in the beginning. Besides, this track is a huge disadvantage for Ducati!"
"Yeah, Lin God is already amazing for running this well on this track with a GP22. Even if he doesn't win, what's the big deal? A bunch of newbies are just spewing nonsense."
......
The deafening roar of the racing engines ignited the hormones of the fans. Countless vibrant flags fluttered in the stands.
The scorching weather of A Country's capital could not dampen the spectators' passion for motorcycles.
The race entered its twentieth lap. The gap between Lin Yan and the two riders behind him narrowed to one second. By this point, the duel between the latter two had concluded.
Reissna, still nursing an injury, was ultimately a step behind. After shaking off Reissna, Qionghai began to chase down Lin Yan. The Yamaha M1 roared down the track, its crossplane crankshaft engine unleashing its power.
In the pit box.
"Who do you think will win this race?"
Zhang Mingzhi asked Viñales, who was beside him.
The situation on the track was not optimistic. Lin Yan's tires appeared to be nearly depleted.
"Lin!"
Viñales was as confident in Lin Yan as ever. He now suspected that Lin Yan's earlier incident might have been deliberate. A top racer would never have applied such heavy braking at that point.
Hearing this, Zhang Mingzhi nodded in approval, his worries somewhat eased. He had noticed in previous instances that Viñales's intuition was remarkably accurate, and he hoped it was correct this time as well.
With that thought, he stopped watching the race and turned to leave the pit box. He had more important matters to attend to.
The race reached its twenty-fifth lap, and Qionghai was now within overtaking distance.
Lin Yan, ahead, also sensed Qionghai behind him and began to adopt a defensive strategy. However, Lin Yan knew that a defensive approach on this track was not very effective. There were too many consecutive corners, any of which could be used for overtaking.
His tire wear in the earlier stages was indeed significant, but not as much as they imagined. Qionghai's tires were likely also running low. His earlier "fake fall" had played a crucial role.
Therefore, their tires were now roughly equivalent. What remained was a battle of skill.
"The heavyweight showdown of this race is about to begin, a battle between Ducati and Yamaha."
Hao Dong took a sip of water to moisten his throat. The clarion call before the great battle had sounded.
The Yamaha M1 was continuously closing the gap to the GP22 ahead at every corner. Beneath his helmet, Qionghai's eyes were fixed on Lin Yan's movements, searching for an opening.