At eleven in the morning, the car's warm-up tires began heating. Above the Ost International Circuit, dozens of fighter jets soared into the sky, leaving long rainbow trails.
The spectators on the field looked up at the spectacular scene in the sky.
It seemed that Ost Nation also attached great importance to this competition, even deploying fighter jets. Lin Yan also saw the scene of planes roaring overhead.
Don't be surprised. As a global sporting event, such things are common. In his previous life, similar scenes often appeared over the Shanghai circuit.
While the drivers were warming up their tires, the giant screens outside began to repeatedly broadcast Ruisna's championship achievements from childhood to the present, from the Genius Youth Cup to MotoGP. The screens throughout the circuit were replaying his career, showing immense respect.
As Ost Nation's only world-class champion driver, Ruisna enjoyed extremely high prestige here.
"Damn it, why didn't our Lin Shen get this kind of treatment in Shanghai? This is too awesome."
"Yeah, they even brought out fighter jets."
"It's not that Lin Shen didn't deserve it, it's just that Lin Shen had just debuted at the Shanghai event. Even if our Chinese officials wanted to do something, they needed a reason."
"Indeed, it's estimated that next year our Lin Shen's prestige will be even greater than it is now."
...
Honda Pit Box.
Ma Wang sat beside the chief technician, chatting casually.
Ruisna was still on the ground doing warm-up exercises, stretching his legs, but his gaze kept flicking towards them.
"What, planning to retire this year?"
After taking a sip of tea handed to him by a staff member, Ma Wang sat down and asked.
"Alas, I have no choice but to retire. The era belonging to our generation has ended, cough cough."
The Honda chief technician coughed a couple of times, his tone somewhat subdued.
Ma Wang looked at his old friend with a face full of emotion.
If this man retired, Honda would likely fall into silence for a while.
"Interested in giving some guidance?"
Midway through the conversation, the Honda chief technician gestured with his eyes towards Ruisna, who was warming up nearby, his meaning clear.
"You, you!"
Ma Wang smiled.
"Alright, you rest well, leave the rest to me."
He stood up from his chair and stretched his shoulders. He hadn't expected to be assigned a task just by coming here.
Seeing Ma Wang stand up, Ruisna beside him was overjoyed.
....................................................................
At half-past eleven, the racing cars of twenty-nine drivers, excluding Rains, were pushed out of the pit box and lined up at the starting grid.
Lin Yan was in the middle, on the fifth row.
Su Mojin stood beside him, holding an umbrella, and quietly reminded Lin Yan.
Lin Yan kept nodding in agreement.
This scene was caught by the cameras.
"Guess what the sister-in-law is telling Lin Shen."
"What's there to guess? She's definitely telling Lin Shen to be careful!"
"The comment above is right, I guess so too. I hope Lin Shen doesn't crash again in the main race."
"Difficult! Starting from the fifth row, he'll probably get caught in the pack right at the start."
"What are you panicking about? Who is Lin Shen? Starting from the fifth row is nothing."
......
The race hadn't even started, and the spectators were already discussing the outcome.
The difference between starting from the fifth row and the first row was significant. It might not matter much in an ordinary race, but in MotoGP, where the world's top drivers gathered, the gap was much larger.
Starting from the first row meant at least clear forward vision and space. However, starting from the fifth row meant the driver was blocked in all four directions, limiting their performance. Once caught in the pack, it would be difficult.
"Okay, I got it."
Lin Yan nodded. He had lost count of how many times he had agreed. He discovered for the first time that his wife was actually quite nagging.
Ten minutes before the race started.
Standing next to Lin Yan, Zhang Mingzhi performed a final check on the car, removed the warm-up tires, and prepared to go out.
"Be careful, did you hear me!"
"Okay, I got it!"
Lin Yan was helpless.
The red flags on the track began to wave, and the green flags were withdrawn.
As the safety car slowly pulled away, the MotoGP Ost Grand Prix was about to begin. The entire venue fell into solemn silence, and the vast Ost International Circuit suddenly quieted down.
All the drivers began to adjust the front and rear suspension of their cars. Lin Yan also lowered the front and rear suspension of his GP22 and activated the launch control system.
The drivers were ready, and the safety car swept around once before moving behind the drivers.
The red lights illuminated.
The five rows of red lights in front of the starting grid lit up in sequence. The drivers crouched low on the fuel tank, their eyes fixed ahead.
Lights out, start.
As the red lights went out, the deafening roar of engines erupted from the starting grid of the Ost International Circuit.
Twenty-nine factory MotoGP bikes roared off the starting line simultaneously.
The fierce engine roar reached the audience's ears.
Many people believe that the most shocking part of MotoGP is the start, and indeed it is.
The immense sound waves caused the spectators sitting next to the starting grid to cover their ears.
Lin Yan's start was as perfect as ever, his front wheel lifting slightly as the bike shot out from the fifth row.
The GP22's horsepower had a significant advantage on this starting straight.
With a fierce start and sufficient horsepower, Lin Yan, who had just started, immediately overtook one rider to reach twelfth place.
After overtaking a satellite team rider, Lin Yan straightened his body abruptly and applied the brakes with his right hand.
He smoothly entered turn one, extending his leg and grinding his knee, his movements fluid. The wear pads on his leather suit scraped against the ground with a rustling sound.
As the bike entered the corner, Lin Yan was now caught in the pack.
All twenty-nine racing cars were very close to each other, making turn one extremely crowded.
Lin Yan was surrounded by cars in front, behind, left, and right. This was where the driver's own awareness was tested. The helmet's field of vision was limited, and the positions of some unseen riders could only be predicted.
For example, the rider next to Lin Yan, although Lin Yan couldn't see his bike, Lin Yan could predict which line he would take next, avoiding a collision between them.
This was why the barrier to entry in MotoGP was so high; every driver had to possess this awareness, otherwise, one crash would bring down a whole group of people.
Turn one was passed without incident. Then, the twenty-nine racing cars exited the corner one after another, accelerated, braked, and entered turn two.
Lin Yan was still in twelfth place. There were no suitable overtaking corners at the moment, and the riders ahead were defending very closely, so even Lin Yan couldn't overtake for now.
In the Honda pit box, Ma Wang and the Honda chief technician watched the scene on the screen.
Ma Wang took a sip of tea and turned to ask his old friend.
"What do you think he should do now?"
At this moment, the camera on the field was focused on Lin Yan.
"What he needs to do now is to overtake these riders in front as quickly as possible and catch up to Ruisna."
Hearing Ma Wang's words, the Honda chief technician sitting in his chair pondered for a moment before responding. His complexion had already improved slightly, it was unclear if it was due to Ruisna leading or for some other reason.
"Are you so sure he can overtake these riders?"
"He has the strength, it's just a matter of time. This track suits Ducati, and these people won't be able to stop him. It all depends on how big an advantage Ruisna can build up. Besides, don't you also think highly of him?"
The Honda chief technician analyzed, and in the end, he couldn't resist mentioning Ma Wang.
Unexpectedly, the Honda pit box was discussing Lin Yan, not their own rider Ruisna.
Ruisna had already taken the lead when he exited turn one.
On this track with many straights, Yamaha's crossplane crankshaft engine was at a disadvantage. Ruisna and Qionghai already had a slight gap in strength, and now it seemed almost impossible for Qionghai, in second place, to catch up to Ruisna.