Ambushed. Attacked.
The strikes came one after another, like daggers from the dark.
Though Kai couldn't predict where the next blow would come from, he was 100% certain he was surrounded. His nerves were stretched taut.
He kept one eye on Lorandi ahead and another on the Campos "assassin" starting P10 behind him. It felt like balancing on a tightrope.
Launch. Accelerate. Push.
In the chaos of the start, Kai caught a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision. Without hesitation, he yanked the wheel left, committing to the outside line. Ignoring the lack of grip on the dirty side of the track, he floored the throttle, shaking off the threat behind him and using his straight-line speed to make up for his slower reaction time.
Vroooom!
The engine roared as he sprinted down the straight.
Lorandi was delighted. Everything was going according to plan. Kai had been forced to the outside, his tires scrabbling for grip in the dust and marbles. The race had barely begun, and Kai was already on the back foot.
But then, the situation changed. In his rearview mirror, the red and black car was accelerating, closing in with terrifying speed and aggression.
Lorandi's heart tightened. He suddenly realized that his "flawless" plan had trapped him in the middle of the pack. He was surrounded by cars on all sides, with nowhere to run. And Pulcini and the others weren't the ones facing Kai head-on—he was the exposed target.
Worse, he couldn't predict Kai's next move.
Lorandi realized he was stuck—he couldn't attack, and he couldn't defend. In the blink of an eye, his options had vanished.
Was this what it meant to dig your own grave?
"Damn it!"
Lorandi tried to speed up, but Hubert (P4) and Russell (P5) were blocking the middle of the track ahead. He finally realized that the two cars in front were both ART cars, but it was too late.
Lorandi could only stick to his line, trying to comfort himself with the thought that the ART blockade was stopping Kai just as much as it was stopping him.
Turn 1 rushed into view. Lorandi obediently followed the racing line into the corner, forced to follow the car ahead, with zero room to improvise.
But then, he saw a flash of red and black light seize a tiny gap, breaking free from his mirrors and forcing its way into his forward vision.
It was Kai.
Before Lorandi could even curse, he watched Kai use every inch of space on the outside. He found a braking point at the absolute limit of the corner entry—later than Lorandi, later than Hubert, later than Russell. He ran all the way out to the kerb.
His left-front wheel even lifted slightly off the ground. With five, six, seven cars all cramming into Turn 1, Kai had somehow expanded the track limits even further.
Incredibly, Kai didn't jerk the wheel. He kissed the outside apex of Turn 1, turned slightly, and aimed the car like a spear, not in a curve, but in a jagged straight line toward Turn 2.
Literally, a stab into the corner.
Amidst the bumps and shakes of the car, his perfect coordination of trail-braking and throttle control allowed him to maximize the inside line of Turn 2. It looked like he was going to T-bone the car in front... which was Russell. It was the exact same scenario as yesterday.
The difference was that their positions were reversed.
Yesterday, Russell had nearly hit Kai. Today, Kai was nearly hitting Russell.
But just then, Kai once again demonstrated his extreme control. With a beautiful sequence of trail-braking and steering inputs, he managed to stabilize the car, which was teetering on the edge of control. He pulled up alongside Russell, instantly squeezing Lorandi out of his line, and exited Turn 2 side-by-side with his teammate.
Bang. Bang-bang.
Lorandi hit Kai.
Though he didn't know exactly where the impact was, the jolt shook his entire body. He had no time to react or curse. His mind had only one thought:
Control. Control!
Then, Lorandi watched as Kai and Russell, wheel-to-wheel, exited the corner together, neither giving an inch as they flew toward Turn 3.
With no time to check for damage, Lorandi got back on the throttle, chasing the two cars into the high-speed Turn 3.
Turn 3. Kai vs. Russell.
Russell held his breath, glancing at Kai from the corner of his eye. He was completely focused, giving it everything he had, gritting his teeth. He needed to prove himself.
No retreat. No surrender. He absolutely could not lose.
Kai's adrenaline was skyrocketing. He had made a thrilling series of overtakes around the outside, taken a hit, and had his balance disrupted. Borreipaire's voice was in his ear asking about damage, but Kai had no energy to spare for a reply. His entire focus was on Russell.
Kai didn't know Russell well, but from qualifying and the Feature Race, he could tell Russell was a driver who believed in data. He strictly followed the playbook.
Racing line. Braking point. Throttle application.
He was a textbook driver. These drivers often lacked explosive inspiration, but their consistency was incredible, and their "floor" (worst performance) was much higher than most.
Of course, this was just a rough observation.
But Kai knew Russell wouldn't easily make a mistake. Moreover, entering the high-speed Turn 3, Russell had the racing line advantage, while Kai was still on the dirty outside line, burning up his tires. He needed to be calm and decisive, to analyze and act fast.
In this tense, rapidly changing moment, Kai's mind was crystal clear.
This is a Sprint Race. Fewer laps, less time. I can't afford to play the long game. With Russell's style, if I miss this chance, I'll have to spend laps setting up another one. I'll be stuck in dirty air, killing my tires, and running out of time to catch the leaders.
No time to hesitate.
Decisively, Kai forced himself to accelerate on the dirty line, posturing as if he were going to force a pass around the outside of the high-speed Turn 3.
Sure enough, Russell saw it. The chaos of Turn 2 was still fresh in his mind. Seeing Kai's aggressive nose, he reacted instantly, using his inside line advantage to accelerate as well. He let his car drift slightly wide, opening up the arc of the corner to squeeze Kai's line.
It was a defensive move that also forced Kai to take a longer, tire-shredding route.
Russell lived up to his "academy data" reputation—his reaction was timely and accurate.
But!
Kai wasn't from the academy. He didn't play by the rules.
One second, he was sprinting full speed. The next, seeing Russell accelerate, he didn't fight it. He seemed to hesitate for a split second. The two cars, which had been side-by-side, suddenly separated. Russell claimed the exit advantage, and in the span of a breath, Kai fell back into Russell's mirrors.
Before Russell could even take a breath of relief, Kai ducked his nose to the inside. He cut from the outside to the inside, aggressively claiming the new line, impossibly swapping positions with Russell.
Ideally, this was the "switchback" or "cutback" maneuver.
But Russell realized he was now in the middle of the track, while Kai had seized the inside for the next corner. However, Russell was still a car length ahead. He could still claim the exit first. Turn 4 was approaching fast. Russell fought to hold his line, forcing his nose into the corner first!
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