"Damn it!"
Alesi's heart clenched as the curse burst out of him.
Everything happened too fast. A mistake so small it was almost invisible, and Russell was already latched on, completing the overtake. Alesi was just about to plant his foot and strike back immediately, aiming to reclaim the position at Blanchimont.
And then Kai was there.
Like a shadow glued to his bones, Kai latched on in a flash, pressure arriving before Alesi even finished the thought.
So what now?
Alesi had two choices.
He could defend, hold the racing line, shut the door and crush Kai's hopes in one move.
Or he could attack, ignore Kai completely, commit to Russell, and snatch the lead back before Russell stabilized his advantage.
In the space of a heartbeat, instinct won.
The urge to attack was etched too deeply into Alesi's bones.
He abandoned defense, floored the throttle, and hurled himself into Blanchimont. On corner exit, he snapped left, diving for the inside before Russell, squeezing his rival's line without hesitation.
The door was wide open.
Kai saw it instantly.
Throttle pinned, he rode the slipstream into Blanchimont, speed climbing inch by inch. Dirty air swirled violently, and a single miscalculation could have robbed the front tires of grip.
Alesi pressed Russell.
Kai pressed Alesi.
Three cars stacked together, teeth bared, Blanchimont suddenly overflowing with tension.
Croft held his breath.
Spa was wide enough for three cars in theory, but this was still a two-lane circuit at heart. At GP3 speeds, three cars overlapping like this meant danger. One touch would send someone off. The next would trigger disaster.
Kai shut everything out.
His eyes locked on Russell.
Russell moved first.
A sharp move left, claiming the line, squeezing Alesi's space and cutting off any attempt to slice inside early. The defense was airtight.
Exactly as Kai expected.
Russell would never give Alesi a free attack.
And the moment Russell defended was the moment Kai attacked.
The engine screamed.
Kai surged closer, then snapped right out of the tow, sprinting for the outside at full throttle.
Ahead lay the Bus Stop chicane. Turns eighteen and nineteen. The left side was the dry racing line. The right side, still damp.
In theory, rain meant everyone should be on the right.
But right now, these three young drivers looked like they had swapped roles entirely.
Alesi and Russell fought over the dry line.
Kai aimed straight for the wet line.
Was that insane?
Pierre Borreipaire glanced at the weather radar, then leaned back beyond the pit box canopy.
The rain had stopped.
Not just in sector two. The back half of sector three and even sector one had cleared. The sun peeked through shyly, fresh green and damp earth filling the air. The track was changing again.
The wet line, hammered repeatedly by passing cars, was drying faster.
The dry line still held moisture.
Three drivers. Three tire states. Three decisions.
Borreipaire straightened, eyes glued to the screen.
On the left, Russell and Alesi battled, both delaying braking, hunting the perfect outside-inside-outside sequence through the chicane.
On the right, Kai danced on a knife's edge, braking late, hugging the apex of turn eighteen, gambling everything on exit position.
Wind howled. Spray lingered.
Russell, Kai, and Alesi hit the brakes within inches of each other, dropping from top speed to the slowest point on the lap. The moment stretched, like slow motion pulled apart frame by frame.
Then it happened.
Kai braked later.
Half a beat later than both of them.
The car rotated sharply, not following the curve of the apex but slicing cleanly across the slightly wider entry. The rear stepped just enough to pivot the car through, traction snapping back as he powered out.
Brake. Turn. Throttle.
One fluid motion.
He pierced the first right and shot for the left.
In that instant, Kai was ahead of both of them.
He cleared Alesi.
He cleared Russell.
He entered the second half of the Bus Stop first.
Pure madness.
Russell responded instantly. He locked the inside, brutally strong, sealing every gap with textbook precision.
Alesi had nowhere to go.
He ran wide into the runoff.
Gasps erupted.
No one expected the man who had led for half the race to lose everything like that.
Russell did not relent. At the limit, he carved a smooth, relentless arc through the second left, hugging the apex with surgical control.
Kai was ahead.
Russell was coming back.
Side by side, one carrying speed outside, the other clawing for traction inside.
Kai led through the first half.
Russell surged back in the second.
The exchange was seamless, violent, breathtaking.
Russell almost perfectly replicated Kai's overtake on Norris from the F1 practice session.
They exited together.
Russell's line gave him the better launch.
Full throttle.
By a hair, Russell slipped ahead again.
Engines wailed as the start-finish straight swallowed them, the lead flipping back once more in the blink of an eye.
Adrenaline detonated.
Croft nearly screamed, then caught himself mid-breath, eyes locked on the screen.
It wasn't over.
Not even close.
Kai hadn't lost the position.
He showed no reaction when he passed. No frustration when he was repassed. He knew Russell too well.
Russell had defended Alesi with total awareness. He would never surrender easily. Using line discipline and elite control, Russell crushed the first wave of pressure.
Kai stayed calm.
He tucked in, stayed patient, drank the slipstream.
He knew Russell was hurting.
To break the tow, Russell had to push. But the track was drying fast, and Russell's tires had suffered while chasing Alesi. If he pushed harder now, degradation would come for him.
A dilemma.
Russell chose acceleration.
Kai stayed glued to him.
At the end of Kemmel, Kai attacked again.
Russell's breath caught.
So fast.
And yet, the truth was simpler.
While Russell fought Alesi, Kai had vanished. He erased his presence completely.
This moment was the payoff.
Through Eau Rouge, onto Kemmel, Kai waited again, sitting comfortably in the tow.
Then, without warning, the mask dropped.
Russell expected the attack at Blanchimont, or at least Pouhon.
Instead, it came at Les Combes.
Too sudden to react.
Russell saw the nose dart left in his mirrors.
Alarm screamed.
He moved left to block, just like at the Bus Stop.
Kai snapped right.
A clean feint.
He crossed back, slipped past Russell's rear wing, and dove inside under braking, carving into Les Combes like a dragon returning to the sea.
Wheel to wheel.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Russell versus Kai, again.
Les Combes exploded with tension.
Then Brundle caught it.
Russell's rear was sliding.
Grip was gone.
The track here straddled sectors, half dry, half damp. The traditional dry line still held moisture. The wet line had dried faster.
And Russell's tires were spent.
He had chased too hard.
Everything lined up.
Kai edged ahead, millimeter by millimeter, grip visibly stronger.
The advantage was tiny, no more than a front wing.
But on corner exit, Kai's throttle was perfect.
Traction bit.
The car launched cleanly, no drama, no slide, releasing speed like a coiled spring.
Half a car length.
Then more.
Kai claimed the dry line and disappeared down the straight.
Russell felt it hit him like a wall.
"Incredible!" Brundle roared.
"Total awareness, total control. Reading the track, the opponent, the tires, and executing flawlessly."
"Bold. Decisive. This is top-tier driving."
"Kai Zhizhou is leading the Spa Sprint!"
The paddock erupted.
Spa. Rain. Chaos.
And Kai still stood above it.
But Russell was not finished.
He refused to surrender.
On a drying track, gaps became chasms. If he let Kai go, it was over.
He ignored tire wear and attacked.
Through Pouhon, Russell found an opening, using outside grip to force a move.
The threat slammed into Kai's back.
Warning bells screamed.
Mid-corner, Kai had no space to change lines.
So he braked.
And drifted.
Not showy. Not reckless.
A controlled half-slide.
Using trail braking, weight transfer, and surgical steering, he held the line, blocked Russell, and exited first.
Borreipaire's voice cracked. "Kai, rear temperatures!"
"I know," Kai replied calmly.
He swept through Stavelot, deliberately cutting through standing water.
Cooling the tires.
Control over panic.
Three laps to go.
The track dried fast. Kai needed slick-like behavior. Russell's worn tires briefly came alive.
They fought again. And again.
Final lap.
Russell waited.
Then struck at Blanchimont.
Kai did not defend.
He held the outside. Trusted speed. Trusted line.
He pushed.
The red and black car surged ahead, flowing through the mountains like a streak of light.
Russell chased.
But could not close.
The Bus Stop swallowed them both.
The line was flawless.
No openings.
The finish line rushed forward.
Two ART cars crossed in succession.
"Kai Zhizhou wins!"
Time gap.
Kai 27:50.961
Russell 27:51.794
Eight-tenths.
Spa fell silent, then exploded.
Croft could only chant the name.
"Kai Zhizhou."
Again.
And again.
Borreipaire slammed the table, fists shaking.
"P1, Kai. P1!"
"Perfect drive," he said, voice trembling.
Kai laughed over the radio. "Pierre, are you crying?"
"…Shut up."
Laughter filled the garage.
In parc fermé, Russell waited.
He stepped forward, chin raised, pride intact.
"A real fight," he said, extending his hand.
Kai met his gaze. "Just the beginning."
Russell smiled, fire reignited. "I'll catch you."
Around them, the paddock buzzed.
Leclerc arrived first.
Then Brown. Wolff called. Abiteboul followed.
At the center of the storm stood Kai.
And elsewhere, Christian Horner sat quietly, replaying the race.
For the first time, doubt crept in.
Had he been wrong?
~~----------------------
Special Valentine's Week Discount 50%
Use Code: FEB14
Patreon Advance Chapters:
[email protected] / Dreamer20