On the track, Ren Fei's entry did not change the situation. Lin Yan was four point six seven seconds faster per lap than Doss, and Ren Fei was four point five seconds faster, still far ahead of the others behind him.
The newly replaced Kawasaki rider was not as strong as Doss, and was even further behind after one lap.
As for the Suzuki riders behind, they were also much slower, clearly these teams had placed their strongest riders at the front, with more ordinary ones following.
Soon, another half hour passed, and Ren Fei caught up to the tail of the pack again. Ren Fei's consistent riding was not much worse than Lin Yan's overall, and he then began to overtake.
Watching Ren Fei overtake, the assistant to the Suzuki representative below the stands changed his expression, a hint of green light faintly appearing in the corner of his eye.
Lin Shen dared not make a move, but Ren Fei dared.
Soon, Ren Fei overtook six people and came up behind a Suzuki rider.
Ren Fei's overtaking was as simple as cutting melons and vegetables; they were not on the same level.
This Suzuki rider quickly noticed Ren Fei behind him. He had received instructions from the little assistant to block Ren Fei for a while, no matter what.
Soon, when Ren Fei caught up to him, this guy started to act.
His blocking method was very crude, swaying left and right in the corner entry area. He wasn't defending a specific direction but was directly swaying left and right, occupying a small area on the outer side of the track. Although this method was clumsy, it was indeed effective against Ren Fei, and even against most GP riders. Corner entry in racing emphasizes the "outside-inside-outside" line, and this guy had effectively sealed off a small strip of the outer line. For Ren Fei to enter the corner, he would either have to take the inside of the track or follow behind him.
And this guy had also slowed down a bit.
Below the stands, Lin Yan, who was watching the race, frowned.
"Go and complain to the race officials."
Zhang Mingzhi did not hesitate and immediately went to complain to the race officials. This was already unfair defense.
In the Suzuki pit, the representative's expression changed. He scanned the faces of the staff in the room and then returned his gaze to the screen, his brows furrowed tightly, but he said nothing more.
In the next few corners, Ren Fei did not make a move. He was blocked for a considerable amount of time by the opponent, but soon, on a small straight, Ren Fei overtook him using his exit speed.
If the opponent had continued to use those disgusting tactics in the corners, Ren Fei would have had no opportunity, so he had to use the straight.
The speed was fast, and soon the race officials' announcement came down: one warning, and a penalty for the second offense.
Seeing this announcement, Lin Yan shook his head. The penalties in endurance races were too light. If this were
"They've been penalized like this before. Because the race is calculated by laps, perhaps these times are not considered significant by the race officials."
Lin Yan remained silent. Without seconds, there would be no lap times.
If this guy dared to play any more tricks, he would make a move. He didn't believe the race officials would dare to not give him face.
Nearly two hours had passed in the race, but the audience on site continued to grow, with new spectators constantly arriving. These spectators were all here for Lin Yan. Although Lin Yan's influence abroad was not great, he still had many fans. As soon as they heard that Lin Yan was participating in the race, they all came. At the same time, many people from China were also boarding planes and flying to France.
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In the blink of an eye, it was five o'clock in the evening. Five hours had passed since the start of the race. Lin Yan had just come down from above, and Ren Fei had taken his place.
The sky had slowly darkened, and the air temperature had dropped significantly, with increased humidity. The vast race track was covered in the afterglow of the sunset. When Lin Yan got off the car just now, he had already noticed that the engine had become very hot, and the drawbacks of the racing car were starting to show.
Lin Yan was not afraid of heat or engines overheating. All superbikes were hot. Ducati was actually considered good among them. Due to its engine characteristics, Ducati distributed the heat source into two streams, while inline-fours had one.
So, even though Ducati's hot spots were in awkward positions, the heat was still manageable.
Inline-fours, also known as parallel-fours, are engines where four cylinders are connected in parallel. The cylinder block is the heat source of the engine, and inline-four cars are hot in the knee area, which is where the cylinder block is located. As for the Ducati V4, although it divided the heat source into two parts, it was hot in two places.
The Ducati V4 engine splits the original four cylinders into two groups, two in each group, arranged at a 90-degree angle. The angle between these two groups of cylinders forms a V-shape. One group of cylinders faces the knee area, and the other group, perpendicular to it, faces the thigh root area at the bottom of the seat.
This engine layout also created a meme that is widely circulated among motorcycle enthusiasts.
The parts inside a narrow V-engine are extremely precise, much more so than in an inline-four. This is the key concern for Lin Yan.
After watching for a while, Lin Yan closed his eyes and rested on the sofa. Su Mojin's massage also became much gentler behind him.
Lin Yan had been running for three hours, and the race was not even halfway through. It had to be said that endurance racing was truly tiring!
Ren Fei continued to lap the field, the roar of the engine incessant. After such a long period of roaring, Ren Fei's earplugs were starting to lose their effectiveness.
After the race officials' announcement, the Suzuki rider became much more subdued and did not repeat his previous actions. He once again overtook Doss. At this point, their Ducati team was six laps ahead of the second-placed Kawasaki team. In five hours, they were six laps ahead of the second-placed team, setting a record for the largest advantage in a five-hour endurance race.
Time reached five-thirty, and the sky grew even darker. Riders on the track began to turn on their headlights one after another.
There were no headlights for an eight-hour race, but there were headlights for a twenty-four-hour endurance race. Otherwise, how would the riders race at night?