You should be grateful if you're not at the bottom.

Hearing this, Zhang Chengjun pondered for a moment and looked at Huo Shan and Gao Yongchao.

After the three of them confirmed in low voices, Zhang Chengjun spoke up, "The fastest lap time for a production car at our circuit is 4 minutes and 33 seconds. If I remember correctly, it was set early last year by a guy driving a 911 GT3 RS."

"Since then, no one has broken that record. Of course, a big factor is that not many people come here to race."

"Then, the fastest lap time during our earliest professional races was 3 minutes and 22 seconds, set by a racer from the Audi team. The other drivers were generally around 3 minutes and 25 seconds, all driving GT race cars."

Hearing this, the guys preparing to race had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

The current outright lap record was 3 minutes and 22 seconds. That record was definitely out of reach; after all, they were professional drivers in professional race cars.

Moreover, if an F1 driver were to run it in a Formula 1 car, the lap time could probably be drastically slashed to under 2 minutes and 50 seconds.

Of course, lap times also depended on on-the-spot performance, the car's capabilities, the driver's familiarity with the track, and even things like the weather.

However, none of this mattered to ordinary people. Right now, everyone just wanted to break the lap record held by that 911 GT3 RS.

Completing a 10.3-kilometer track in 4 minutes and 33 seconds was actually very fast. Furthermore, the GT3 RS was a top-tier sports car born for the track, making it incredibly fierce on a circuit.

Nevertheless, both Meng Wenzhou and Qin He were confident they could break it.

Su Yang went without saying. He was essentially a professional racer, so breaking this record would be a piece of cake for him.

If given a professional GT race car, he was even confident he could break the 3-minute-22-second record.

Having understood the lap records, the group prepared to get into their cars.

"Should we do a lap first to familiarize ourselves with the track?" Liu Bo asked as he pulled his car door open.

"No need, let's just go straight into it," Qin He smiled with brimming confidence.

"Start without getting familiar first?"

"What are you afraid of?"

"Brother Qin, you are really reckless~"

"Haha, doing a practice lap ruins the feel. Besides, we all looked at the track map earlier, so diving right in is fine."

"Alright then, let's do this. I have to go all out today and let you guys witness my driving skills." Liu Bo patted his chest and laughed loudly.

"You should thank your lucky stars if you don't come in dead last," Meng Wenzhou teased Liu Bo.

"Brother Meng, don't look down on people. With Xiao Ji'er here, I couldn't come in last even if I drove with my eyes closed."

Hearing this, Ji Bo wasn't having it. "Pang Ge, aren't you looking down on people a bit too?"

"Let's let our skills do the talking!"

"Alright, my goal today is to beat you!"

"Hehe, let's test that out."

At this moment, Zhang Chengjun stepped forward and said, "Everyone still needs to pay attention to safety. After all, none of you have raced on this track before and aren't familiar with it. There are a lot of corners here, so safety first."

Meng Wenzhou smiled and looked at Zhang Chengjun. "Don't worry, President Zhang, we're just driving for fun."

"Alright, how many laps are you planning to do?"

Hearing this, the group discussed it briefly before saying, "One lap to determine the winner."

"Okay, then I wish you all the best in breaking the 4-minute-33-second record, provided you stay safe."

"Haha, we'll try our best."

Everyone smiled, got into their respective cars, and drove onto the track.

The straightaway at the starting line of this track was about 1 kilometer long and roughly 9 meters wide.

Parking all seven cars side-by-side was definitely impossible. Ultimately, Ji Bo's Huracan, Liu Bo's new Aventador, and Zhang Ziming's 918 lined up at the very front.

Meng Wenzhou's Chilong, Qin He's LaFerrari, and Pan Ning's W1 took the middle, while Su Yang trailed at the very back in his F80.

Starting this way wouldn't disadvantage anyone, as what counted was each person's final lap time.

The sight of seven supercars parked together on the track ready to set off left Zhang Chengjun, Huo Shan, and Gao Yongchao feeling slightly dazed on the sidelines.

It had been a long time since they had seen so many cars racing simultaneously at the circuit. Suddenly, scenes from the past flashed through their minds.

Although their circuit had never truly seen a glorious golden age, they had hosted a few races during the first couple of years.

At the thought of the circuit soon changing hands, the three of them couldn't help but feel a bit heartbroken.

......

After Su Yang and the others parked their cars, Zhang Chengjun and Huo Shan stepped forward to give everyone one last reminder before exiting the track.

Above the starting line stood a gantry holding a massive timer screen, with signal lights positioned to the right of the screen.

Everyone fastened their seatbelts and waited for the signal lights to activate.

Beep.

Along with the sound, the signal lights turned red, and the timer screen flickered on.

These signal lights were different from regular traffic lights. Aside from red, yellow, and green, there was also a blue light, making four in total. Right now, however, they all turned into flashing red lights.

"Get ready!!" Zhang Chengjun shouted from the side of the track.

The drivers lightly honked their horns in response.

Just then, a countdown appeared on the screen.

10, 9, 8, 7.

Watching the countdown, the people inside the cars took a deep breath.

Vroom, vroom, vroom!!

Everyone stepped on the gas and brake pedals, preparing for a launch control start.

As the number 3 appeared, the two red lights on the right went out simultaneously.

2, the second red light went out.

1, all the red lights extinguished and turned green.

The instant the green lights flashed on, the seven cars erupted with an even more ear-splitting roar as they surged forward.

Car racing wasn't a marathon; there was no need to conserve stamina. You had to sprint right from the start.

Su Yang released the brake and floored the accelerator, sending the F80 rocketing out.

No one yielded an inch, all accelerating fiercely. Due to the limited width of the track, Su Yang couldn't overtake them right away.

But this straightaway was only about a kilometer long, and at the end of it lay Turn 1, a left-hand bend.

Although this corner wasn't as sharp as Turn 1 at the Haicheng International Circuit, those with less stellar skills still had to decelerate, or they could easily fly off the track.

Su Yang wasn't in a rush, because he knew the six cars ahead would inevitably brake as they entered the corner.

That way, he could overtake them at the bend. Once he got past them, everyone else would only be fighting for second place.

Vroom, vroom, vroom!!

At this moment, Liu Bo and Ji Bo were charging at the very front, neck and neck, with Liu Bo maintaining a slight lead of half a car length.

Zhang Ziming was temporarily in third, Meng Wenzhou in fourth, Qin He in fifth, and Pan Ning in sixth.

Su Yang was still trailing dead last.

By now, everyone's speeds had skyrocketed to around 270 or 280 kilometers per hour.

With the corner approaching 400 meters ahead, everyone tapped their brakes to slow down.

The moment they decelerated, Su Yang steered to the right, hit the gas for a secondary acceleration, and instantly blew past all six cars at a blistering speed of 280 km/h.

"Holy shit??" Qin He's eyes widened in shock. "Old Su, do you have a death wish?? The corner is right there!!"

However, he was the only one who could hear his own words.

The others had raced with Su Yang once before at the Haicheng International Circuit and knew his true capabilities.

Seeing him accelerate like that now, they didn't react with much surprise.

But Qin He didn't know this. While he was still in a daze, the F80 ahead took Turn 1 at a breakneck speed, leaving him absolutely dumbfounded.

"What the hell? Is this guy a pro?"

On the other side, Su Yang had effortlessly cleared Turn 1, but right out of the corner, he was immediately met with the sharp hairpin of Turn 2.

There was no way to take this corner without decelerating; even an F1 car would have to brake here.

Su Yang didn't drift through the corner. Instead, he slowed down, hugged the inner kerb, and smoothly traced a wide arc to exit the turn.

With just two simple corners, he had completely shaken off the six cars behind him. The old saying "fast in the corners means truly fast" was proving its worth once again.

Following the exit was a straight stretch of seven to eight hundred meters. Su Yang instantly accelerated to 310 km/h.

However, the straight wasn't long, and it was immediately followed by a right-hand hairpin.

Su Yang lightly tapped the accelerator, steered slightly to the left, and then initiated a drift into the corner.

He was testing the two cornering techniques to see which was actually faster.

Obviously, the conventional grip-driving approach with braking was much faster—after all, this was a proper racing circuit.

It would be a different story if this were a rally race, where the road conditions are highly complex.

With dirt, gravel, and even snow, sliding friction in those conditions can actually provide the car with better traction and stability.

That is exactly why rally drivers almost exclusively choose to drift through corners.

Of course, there are many other factors at play, but it all comes down to the driver's comprehensive judgment.

But here on a paved track, drifting was completely unnecessary.

Su Yang didn't plan to drift anymore; he would take all the subsequent corners conventionally.

Just as he drifted into Turn 3, the other cars had only just exited Turn 2 and entered the straight.

However, after those first two corners, Pan Ning had already pulled ahead of the pack to take second place.

Qin He followed closely behind. He figured that even if he couldn't beat Su Yang, he absolutely couldn't lose to a girl like Pan Ning.

The race had now entirely devolved into a battle for second place.

Su Yang was leading by a mile, and with every corner he passed, he left the others further and further behind.

This circuit indeed featured a lot of corners and a longer track, making it a grueling test of skill that would be pure torture for an average driver.

Simply flooring the gas pedal to drag race down a straight was out of the question here.

...