Sure enough, the driver of car number thirty-eight ahead seemed to know that Jiang Qiyan was going to overtake. Before reaching the braking point for turn nine, he started downshifting and braking. With an early brake, he took the inside line as Jiang Qiyan braked late and went wide, perfectly reclaiming the position.
"Honey, what is he doing?"
"I don't know. Let's wait and see. As long as Jiang Qiyan can stay steady, these are minor issues."
If this kid was trying to cause trouble, Lin Yan wouldn't let him get away with it.
With Jiang Qiyan's current skill, to overtake the driver of car number thirty-eight, she needed to brake late enough. However, if she braked too late, she wouldn't be able to hug the inside line after entering the corner. If there was a gap at the apex, the opponent could reclaim the position.
Under his helmet, the driver of car number thirty-eight sneered. This Chinese girl's skill was nothing special.
Lin Yan's guess was correct. This driver from country R was deliberately toying with Jiang Qiyan. The reason was simple: he looked down on Chinese people, and she had just rejected him.
After failing to overtake, Jiang Qiyan did not get discouraged. She steadied her mindset and continued to look for overtaking opportunities.
She guessed that the opponent might be playing tricks on her, but she wasn't someone to be trifled with. If you dare to play tricks on me, I'll beat you to a pulp!
Jiang Qiyan was not the gentle, lady-like type. Otherwise, she wouldn't have beaten someone up directly when participating in a competition organized by Lin Yan.
"Oh, what a pity."
In the live broadcast, Hao Dong was stomping his feet in frustration, clearly lamenting the failed overtake. Everyone in the live broadcast room now knew that Hao Dong was an employee of Lin Shen, and they were used to the streamer's biased behavior.
Of course, besides the streamer, they were also die-hard fans. Coupled with national animosity, they wished Jiang Qiyan would just beat the opponent soundly.
On the second lap, it was turn nine again. Jiang Qiyan braked late and overtook once more.
Exit speed, late braking, followed by going wide. The driver of car number thirty-eight did the same: early braking, inside line, then overtaking back. It wasn't just similar to the previous lap; it was a copy-paste.
After a simple exchange of positions between the two cars, the driver of car number thirty-eight was once again in front of Jiang Qiyan.
In the pit garage of Ls27 below, there was a wave of tension. It wasn't just them; the people from the Mountain Rat team were also nervous. The person in charge was sweating, constantly telling his team's driver to be reminded. He was just a project manager and couldn't afford to offend Lin Shen!
However, his reminders were useless. The Genius Junior Cup did not allow teams to display signs. The Mountain Rat team could only wave frantically from outside the track, trying to get the driver of car number thirty-eight to look at the notice at the pit garage entrance.
But the driver of car number thirty-eight didn't see it at all. The reason the race organizers disallowed teams from issuing instructions was to prevent drivers from being distracted. Although they were geniuses, their reaction speed and other aspects were still far behind top-tier competitions. Under the guidance of the team manager, the driver of car number thirty-eight was very focused.
On the fifth lap, the driver of car number thirty-eight started a new trick. His car intentionally or unintentionally moved closer to Jiang Qiyan's, and sometimes they even ran side-by-side.
"Damn it, is this guy taking advantage of my daughter?"
When two racing cars collided or ran side-by-side, physical contact between drivers was inevitable. This made Jiang Qiyan's father uncomfortable.
Jiang Qimo below was also getting angry, his fists clenched tightly. Although his brother's skill was not as good as his sister's, if anyone dared to bully his sister, he would absolutely not allow it.
Jiang Qiyan also noticed the opponent's somewhat unsportsmanlike behavior and deliberately maintained some distance from him.
This deliberate distance caused Jiang Qiyan's speed to slow down considerably. There was only one fast line, and the opponent occupied it. If Jiang Qiyan wanted to avoid him, she would inevitably lose speed.
Another lap passed, and the race reached turn nine on the sixth lap. Turn nine, the easiest corner to overtake on the entire track, was utilized to its fullest by Jiang Qiyan.
"Oh ho, turn nine again. Is Jiang Qiyan here again? Inside line, late braking. No, this time it's a feint. Car number thirty-eight fell for it and braked early."
Jiang Qiyan's car had just appeared beside the opponent when she immediately applied the brakes. This time, her braking point was slightly earlier than the previous two times. Theoretically, this degree of braking should not allow for an overtake. However, the driver of car number thirty-eight ahead braked early, creating an opportunity for Jiang Qiyan.
The driver of car number thirty-eight ahead followed his usual routine. But as he prepared to enter the inside line after entering the corner, he found Jiang Qiyan blocking his path, having already sealed off the line and occupied the inside. This time, Jiang Qiyan did not go wide.
Jiang Qiyan executed a counter-prediction. You thought I would brake late to overtake, but in reality, I neither brake early nor late. I just brake a little later than normal, a small margin that Jiang Qiyan could control.
Jiang Qiyan's maneuver was effective, confusing the opponent while also 'coincidentally' blocking his path.
With no way out, the driver of car number thirty-eight slammed on the brakes. He had already calculated this corner. No matter if Jiang Qiyan braked normally or late, they wouldn't collide. However, no one expected Jiang Qiyan to brake only slightly.
Even though the brakes were applied to the point where the rear wheels lifted off the ground, it still couldn't stop the car's acceleration. The car directly collided with Jiang Qiyan's car. The left half of the front of car number thirty-eight's car hit the rear of Jiang Qiyan's car.
The steering wheel was bent on the spot, indicating the force of the impact.
Below, Lin Yan, who was in the audience, couldn't help but smile wryly at the scene. He didn't know how Jiang Qiyan came up with such a devious trick.
"Hurting the enemy a thousand, and damaging oneself eight hundred." Jiang Qiyan definitely knew that doing so would block the opponent's line, Lin Yan was very clear about that.
The key was that she could actually do it and dared to do it, which made Lin Yan look at her with new respect. In other words, Lin Yan could only describe it with a Northeastern saying: she was too fierce.
After all, this was just a Genius Junior Cup. Although the drivers were talented, they were still too young and their understanding of cars was not yet sufficient.
If it were a current driver, not even from MotoGP, the top-tier competition, but any driver from a well-known race, they would be able to react in this corner. But this number thirty-eight, only realized the situation as the car entered the inside line.
Moreover, his first reaction upon seeing no available line was not to go off-track into the runoff area, but to brake.
The reason he chose to brake was his insufficient understanding of braking distances. Top drivers, knowing they couldn't stop in time, wouldn't brake.
Because entering the runoff area was not a foul. Drivers could enter the runoff area. The purpose of the runoff area was to reduce the damage to the drivers and prevent accidents. The runoff area had its own rules. As long as you didn't gain any advantage from it, it wasn't a foul.
The front of car number thirty-eight collided with the car body behind Jiang Qiyan's seat. The carbon fiber body above the rear wheel was on the verge of shattering and disintegrating from the impact. Jiang Qiyan's car was also knocked askew. Jiang Qiyan reduced her speed to the lowest possible, trying to keep the car steady.