Half an hour passed quickly. Jiang Qiyan had rested enough and got up from the pit room.
During this half hour, the race staff had confirmed the top ten spots, but they hadn't revealed the rewards, asking them to stay put for now.
Li Xiao saw this and his resolve grew even stronger.
It seemed he had to win this race today.
The two quickly got ready at the starting line.
"Little girl, remember to honor your bets!"
"Don't worry, I hope you do too."
Li Xiao sneered, not paying attention to Jiang Qiyan's words, as in his eyes, he had already won.
"Alright, both are ready, prepare for the start."
Whatever happened to the two had nothing to do with Hao Dong; he just needed to commentate the race well.
Soon, the red light turned on.
The light went out, and they started.
The two race cars shot out from the starting line.
Jiang Qiyan still had that near-professional launch, her car's front slightly lifting, the roar of the aggressive engine filling the air.
Compared to Jiang Qiyan's start, Li Xiao's was clearly inferior.
However, in terms of initial speed, he didn't lose to Jiang Qiyan at all, and in the first half of the race, he was even a bit faster.
"This car has had its engine modified."
Watching Li Xiao catch up on the straight before the first corner, Zhang Mingzhi thought that simply modifying the carbon fiber body kit and other parts wouldn't result in such a significant speed advantage on the straight. It was highly likely the car's engine had been bored out.
Boring out the engine meant the car's actual horsepower could very well exceed 700cc.
As the main straight ended, Li Xiao directly overtook Jiang Qiyan, moving into first place.
This wasn't a skill-based overtake, but a performance-based one.
Jiang Qiyan was blown away by the straight-line speed.
"Did our Goddess Jiang make a mistake at the start? Why was she overtaken by so much?"
A fan who didn't understand cars very well said.
Jiang Qiyan's performance in the previous race had attracted a small following.
"That wasn't a starting mistake; that kid named Li Xiao was cheating."
"He was so badly beaten before, and now he's instantly killed him on a straight. He must be riding a cheat car, more of a horsepower hog than a horsepower hog."
A chubby guy next to him angrily explained to him.
Li Xiao didn't even need to overtake on the inside; he was in front of Jiang Qiyan before the corner.
The cars started to lean into the corner, and to everyone's surprise, not only was Li Xiao's car fast on the straight, but it was also significantly faster than Jiang Qiyan's car in the corners.
This wasn't just a horsepower hog anymore. While Ducati factory bikes were called horsepower hogs, they were often jokingly referred to by fans as "straight-line maniacs" and "cornering fools." Li Xiao's car, however, was completely all-around.
An all-around horsepower hog!!!
Facing Li Xiao's race car, Jiang Qiyan was completely defenseless at the first corner.
Her gaze under the helmet became more serious. She expected Li Xiao's car to be strong, but she didn't expect it to be this strong.
Entering and exiting the corner, both cars were smooth, with no technical errors, hugging the apex.
As they exited the corner, Li Xiao deliberately turned his head to look at Jiang Qiyan. Although Jiang Qiyan couldn't see Li Xiao's expression under his helmet, she could guess that he must be very smug at that moment.
"Is she going to lose? This..."
Su Mo Jin said.
"It's still early."
Lin Yan shook his head. Jiang Qiyan's lean angle in this corner was only fifty degrees, which was similar to her qualifying lean angle. She likely wasn't using her full strength yet.
The lean angle in a corner is related to the car's power, and of course, it's also related to the corner's angle itself.
Excluding the corner's angle, cars with greater power and better performance can usually achieve larger lean angles more easily.
This first corner had a significant angle and was quite sharp, so the lean angle entering the corner would also be large.
A simple standard: if Lin Yan rode a 660, or any top-tier MotoGP rider rode a 660, the lean angle in this corner could reach 60 degrees.
Lin Yan and top riders like Rinsler could even achieve 61 or 62 degrees. For a 1000cc liter-class bike, it would be around 63 to 64 degrees, and for factory bikes, 65 degrees or more.
The difference at the top level of racing could be immense.
A fifty-degree lean angle wasn't very strong; any current Moto3 rider could easily achieve it.
By Lin Yan's standards, this corner would require at least 54 degrees to be considered passing, which was the standard for Moto3 riders.
Seeing Li Xiao look back, Jiang Qiyan gritted her teeth.
The two cars exited the corner one after another. Li Xiao's car was also significantly faster than Jiang Qiyan's car on the exit. However, Jiang Qiyan had pushed her corner exit technique to the limit, trying her best to compensate for the gap in the cars with her skill.
The second corner wasn't very sharp, so Jiang Qiyan's car's lean angle wasn't too low. She applied heavy braking and lifted the front to try and gain some speed in the corner.