Under everyone's gaze, the Lamborghini Diablo GT, driven by Samuel, and the British Lotus, driven by his opponent, stopped at the starting position.
The rules were simple, they would compete on the set field for ten laps. The winner would effectively kick the other party and their friends off the circuit.
Samuel was ready, with his keen sense of skill and system boost. He already had several skills mastered for driving; he was at least at the level of a professional race driver. If nothing shocking happened, he was sure he would win it.
Sensing an exciting scene, other onlookers gathered around to see the race.
Samuel stared at the indicator light; he had already turned on the racing mode in the interface. With the countdown slowly approaching zero, both parties had their foot on the pedal.
The idle tires were gritting against the road, leaving a strong smell of burnt rubber, the harsh rubbing sound was irritating, but everyone's anticipation was at the maximum.
Samuel's performance could have been more impressive earlier, but seeing him do everything right before the race gave them some newfound hope of winning.
On the other side, the civilian party thought that Samuel was only bluffing. Anyone could start a car. It was not that impressive; they were sure about their victory, even if the other party was a member of the Rothschild family.
It's only winning and losing; they couldn't find fault when everyone agreed to do this.
The indicator turned green, signaling the start of the race.
Both cars shot out with a bang; their start was ideal. The heavily modified Lotus had a lot of horsepowers, which was why it was leading ahead of Samuel's Lamborghini while driving straight.
Seeing their faction's lead, the civilian team cheered loudly, except for the punctured Porsche 911, which they had beaten earlier; no other car was a rival of Lotus when it came to violent acceleration.
But all hope was not lost; the Diablo GT steadily followed behind, almost touching the Lotus. When the first corner came, Lotus made a steady turn using the traditional method, slowing slightly to avoid drifting.
The master driver thought Samuel would follow the same routine, but something unexpected happened; it was a genuinely eye-catching scene. Samuel made a drastic turn while manually locking some tires, which resulted in his car drifting.
What's fantastic about it was that as he pushed the Lamborghini to the inner side of the track, there was little room to maneuver, as most drifters would use the outer side of the road to have a smoother transition.
Fuck, with a simultaneous exclamation, they were shocked to see his prowess. Many rubbed their eyes in disbelief because they never expected to see such beautiful drifting action. Such moves were reserved for amateur competition.
The driver of the British Lotus was also baffled. He did see it most clearly as the Lamborghini whizzed passed him in an instant while his Lotus was left smelling its exhaust fumes!
But he couldn't lose hope so quickly; he had already beaten countless opponents today. While he could argue that Samuel was pretending to be an amateur while being a professional, that had to be the second option.
He did a forced drift of his own; it narrowly avoided the side rails, but that showed he, too, was capable of such moves. He might have underestimated his opponents, but it was only for a second.
When they left the corner, Samuel's Lamborghini had already taken the lead, with British Lotus closely following behind him.
It was a straight road for some time, British Lotus tried to overtake Lamborghini, but Samuel didn't give him any space. The chance within his grasp seemed so fleeting now, looking at the back of Samuel's Lamborghini.
The driver stared at it for a while and knew he was not racing an amateur. They might argue the first turn was a fluke, but this level of awareness needed experience to develop. He knew because he had been driving for most of his life.
Meanwhile, at the stand, everyone was shocked. The wealthy faction and civilian coalition didn't fathom what was going on? With her widened eyes, Paige had it fixed on Samuel's car. If anyone else saw her, they would say she was making a silly face.
It might become a meme, but she was more focused on Samuel hiding it perfectly from her. She knew he tended to do it, maybe because he found some joy in looking at everyone's surprised faces, but how could she not know? She had been with him for years now!
When the second corner came, they expected things to change, but Samuel again did a perfect drift. Then the third, fourth... Diablo did perfect drift in every turn, which meant British Lotus kept getting pushed back farther and farther.
The last hurdle was the infamous hairpin bend. Even with Samuel's impressive skill, it would be over if he somehow falters here. With his car wrecked, he would be automatically disqualified.
But what Samuel showed them was true beauty. Speeding right up to the end, then slowing the car ever more slightly to navigate at the edge of the road. Then the brakes make the car drift just the right amount before hitting the accelerator to the maximum again.
It was awe-inspiring, but then they looked at the time, two minutes and one second, with an average speed of twenty-nine kilometers per hour.
It broke the record of the fastest lap on any open day of the Speedway Circuit. Ironically it was set by none other than his opponent, with an average speed of twenty-five kilometers per hour.
But they didn't know that Samuel was just warming up.
The second lap took 1 minute and 58 with an average speed of 131 kilometers per hour. He broke his own record, which he had just set.
Samuel went on a rampage for the next couple of laps, constantly lessening his lap time. He was like a record-breaker, stomping on everything on his path.
Inside the car, Samuel was utterly cut off from any distractions. His face was calm, and he was hyper-focused on the track and his environment like he was not even worried about his race. The only thing on his mind was having perfect driving without considering his time.
By now, the suspense about winning or losing was gone. British Lotus was half a lap behind Lamborghini Diablo by the ninth lap. It was mainly because the driver panicked at the beginning. Seeing his lead, he tried to calm himself down, but it was already too late.
Samuel needed to give him room to close the gap. It was already so big that it became a one-sided race.
Everyone in the stand was also past the point of their bet; they were more focused on how fast Samuel could go? What would be his final lap time?
The ninth lap that he just completed took him 1 minute and 55 seconds with an average speed of 137 kilometers per hour, which almost reached the professional driver standards.
On the tenth and final lap, he broke into the stats of the professionals with an impressive time of 1 minute and 54 seconds!
The audience cheered loudly; whether one was in a rich or civilian faction or only a curious onlooker, Samuel's outstanding performance won their heart. They were above, and all else were speed enthusiasts; how could they not be impressed by his superb skill display?
After ending the race, Samuel's Diablo Gt glided for a certain distance and slowly stopped in the safe area.
No matter what others thought, it was Samuel's first time driving like this. He pushed the car to the limit as the tires still fumed with burnt smoke.
" Huuh." He let out a sigh of relief. He calmed himself down after experiencing so much adrenaline rush he could see why people love this sport. He, too, was beginning to like it a lot. Pushing you and your car to the maximum was thrilling and rewarding.
" Boy, that was really impressive. I didn't expect you to do so well." Apollo took the time to appreciate his commitment.
" I also didn't thought I could do it beside I also didn't expect to hear from you second time today."
" Seeing my pupil grow is rewarding too. I was worried for a second because you didn't have much driving experience."
" I had my titles though."
" It's not the same thing. Having knowledge and implementing it are two different things. It's fortunate that you are a quick learner."
" Yeah, I can see I gained some new titles." Samuel was about to check them when he was bombarded with loud cheers from the stand.
He wasn't even out for a few seconds when the group of second-generation rushed to him and began showering him with praises.
Some even debated whether they would lift him up and do a victory chant, but Samuel was not a tiny person. Also, they needed to find out if he would take offense to their impedance. But one thing was sure, he became their hero, and they sincerely supported him much more than when they first met.
That's when the crowd separated, and Paige came forward with a big smile.
" Hey, Paige, I told you to believe in me but I am sorry about your car, you might need to change all your tires now." He said sincerely as he had utterly immersed himself while driving. He knew Paige liked this car very much, which might make things awkward.
Paige didn't say anything and just leaped into his arm. She directly kissed him on his lips without caring about their surroundings.
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