Kara and Richard enter the hairpins and they battle it out there. Kara tries to figure out a way to get through and tries to fight Richard on the apex of the hairpins, she tries to squeeze through the inside but fails. Kara then tried to late brakes on the next apex of the hairpin but Richard defended it well again. Alice and Sugimoto pushed through the hairpins together and began catching up to them. After exiting the hairpins, they got through the chicane and now they're on the first straights of Sector 3 and soon caught up with the leaders.

"Looks like we've caught up with them, I'm going to try overtaking them. Try and follow me if you can." Sugimoto told her.

"Alright Senpai, I'll try." Alice responds to him.

They're now in a 4 car draft, Sugimoto began his plan to divide and conquer the leaders. He plans to retake the second position from Kara on the chicane that leads to the second straight of sector 3. Kara tried to overtake Richard by late braking on the chicane but her car was blocked. As Kara slowed down trying to avoid a collision, Sugimoto saw the opportunity to overtake her.

"There's the gap, time to commit!" Sugimoto thought to himself.

Sugimoto without wasting any time overtook Kara on the outside as they exited the chicane. Alice tries to take advantage of it as well but Kara regains her composure and defends against Alice. Kara felt frustrated after letting Sugimoto pass her easily.

"What was I thinking? That was such a rookie move!" Kara muttered to herself.

The race continues into the final 4 laps of the race. The leaders crossed the finish line and there were overtaking opportunities for Sugimoto to overtake Richard on the long straights but he remained close behind him. Meanwhile, at the spectator stands, the trio were cheering them on.

"They're here, more effort guys!" Raani told her friend group

They began the wotagei dance after seeing Alice's car. They managed to gather the attention of the crowd. Suddenly another person beside them followed dancing with the orange and white glow stick.

"Let's go, Alice and Sugimoto!" The man beside them screamed.

The girls looked towards the man with glasses and a mustache, it was the manager. He began following their moves and they got into sync. Other spectators saw and had a blast watching them dance. They even caught the attention of the commentators again.

"Seems like the fans on the spectator stands are having the time of their life! Look at their moves as they swing their glowsticks." The commentator said.

Back to the race. The leaders begin approaching the hairpins and Alice notices that Kara doesn't use the traditional line and instead enters the apex by seemingly hooking her wheel on the apex before entering the hairpin.

"Kara tends to use this line to enter sector 2, maybe I should follow her and see how optimal it is." Alice muttered to herself.

Alice decides to follow her lines into the hairpin. As the next hairpin turn was coming, Kara tried to enter the corner with the same technique but Sugimoto saw this and went on the inside and denied her entry.

"Damn it Asashi, you saw it a mile away." Kara muttered to herself.

"Better luck next time Fujiwara." Sugimoto muttered smirkingly.

Upon exiting the hairpins, Kara suddenly goes aggressive and tries to catch Sugimoto off guard and attempts to overtake him on the upcoming chicane but defends well against her. Kara is currently in aggressive mode and has begun taking fights whenever she can. Alice sees the few mistakes she's making and proceeds to study her for a future overtake.

"Still holding up kid?" Sugimoto asked her.

"Yup, don't worry about me senpai." Alive reassures him.

"Alright, I'm gonna go for it!" Sugimoto told her.

Sugimoto attacks Richard on the straights and gets beside him. Upon arriving at the chicane, Richard and Sugimoto braked late, their cars made a slight contact but Sugimoto got through. Alice seeing this immediately cheered him on.

"Great work senpai!" Alice told him.

"Come on kid, find the opportunity and overtake her already." Sugimoto gave her some advice.

Alice began scanning for any possible overtakes. Alice seized her chance using the slipstream and battled Kara on the second straight. Kara noticed her being very close to her. Kara began pushing her pedal to the floor and battled her.

"Come on Alice, show me what you got!" Kara muttered in confidence.

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When Kara was braking on the corner into sector 4, she noticed Alice's car disappear from her mirror and heard a loud braking sound on her inside. She notices the BMW 235i on the inside line and brakes hard. Kara looks at her car in shock not expecting Alice to overtake her on the outside. Alice immediately takes the inside of the exit and gets ahead of Kara.

"I did it, I actually passed Kara!" Alice said to herself.

"Great work Alice, P3!" Ghazali told her.

Alice couldn't believe what she had just done, she managed to overtake Kara Fujiwara, the driver she admired and also her rival. She smiles widely as she enters the next sector without a problem.

"Damn even Alice, can pass me. I need to push myself or I'll not get on the podium!" Kara muttered to herself worryingly.

Kara seemed disoriented by the overtake and began to overdrive herself, seemingly not wanting to be defeated by Alice, she took some risks and on the final sector of the race, began pushing her car to the limits and passed Alice's car on the outside. But because of that, Kara missed the braking zone and winded up on the grass before the final chicane. Alice saw her car fly on the grass and was shocked to see her end up like that.

"K-Kara?" Alice muttered silently.

"Gosh damn it! I was caught up in the moment and made a mistake." Kara told her team.

Spectators and the commentators were shocked to see Kara Fujiwara winding up on the grass. After the initial shock, Kara slowly got her car back on the road but she had to cut the chicane and she'll get a penalty for it. Kara's podium finish in this race is now over.

"Don't worry Kara, just finish the race in one piece, we've got a 5-second penalty but the other drivers are too far behind to catch up. Great effort." The Toyota team principal told her.

"Thanks, man, it was a great race." Kara said feeling relieved.

Sugimoto, Richard, and Alice are now in the lead and it's clear that they all wanted something more than the podium. They crossed the finish line and now there are 3 laps left of racing.

"Three more laps guys, drive consistently and we will surely get the podium!" Ghazali told over the mic.

"Got it Gaz." They both told Ghazali at the same time.

The driver enters the triple hairpins and now the battle is on. Richard is seemingly sandwiched between them as they exit the hairpins. Richard tries to overtake Sugimoto multiple times but is denied constantly, Alice too tries to overtake Richard but also gets shut down by him.

The race continues until on the S-shape section of Sector 4, Alice goes for the gap beside Richard and tries to overtake him but on the last turn, Alice is almost pushed off onto the grass because there is no space for an overtake.

"Damn it, I can't find any space, man!" She complained to the team.

They entered the final sector and emerged in the straights towards the finish line. Now only 2 laps. In the straights, Richard made his move and overtook Sugimoto but when they reached the hairpins, Sugimoto immediately retook his position back in a switch back. Alice seeing it all unfolded began to see some of Richard's weaknesses.

"He's usually aggressive during overtaking opportunities and would try forcing himself to overtake. Maybe I could capitalize on this." Alice thought to herself.

They raced hard for the entire lap with a few attempts at overtaking but they all failed. The leaders began approaching the final lap while the cars roared and the crowds cheered them on. Sugimoto, Richard, and Alice battle it out for first place as they cross the finish line into the final lap.

"Come on guys final lap, push yourself to the limits!" Ghazali told them.

As they enter the hairpins, Sugimoto defends against Richard in the corners while Alice follows suit. Richard tried multiple ways to push himself in and create space on each corner of the hairpins but Sugimoto defends hard. Sugimoto Is now in defensive mode and tries blocking Richard from passing him.

"Senpai is defending hard right now, he's not letting Richard pass at all cost." Alice muttered to herself.

Upon exiting the hairpins, Alice tries her luck and takes on Richard on the straights but Richard outpaces her. Alice is now in a state of frustration as she can't find a way to overtake him. She is now focusing on finding any mistakes that she could capitalize on.

"Richard's car is too fast on the straights, it wasn't like this when I passed him before!" Alice thought to herself.

"It seems that his car is faster on the straights now, stay with him as long as you can!" Ghazali told Alice.

On the second straight of sector 3, Richard tries to overtake again but can't seem to push through. As they enter sector 4, Richard tries to barge into Sugimoto's defense while Alice tries to barge into Richard's defense on the twisty corners. It seems like the race is truly over with Sugimoto winning the race. They reached the last few turns of the race and Sugimoto led the pack, Alice seemed desperate to overtake Richard and began to hyper-focus to find anything to pass him.

"Come on Alice, find a gap, a mistake, just anything to pass him." Alice muttered to herself.

On the final turn before the chicane, everything seemingly slowed down for Alice, as if time slowed so down that everything froze. Alice saw that Sugimoto's brake lights were on indicating he was braking. He was braking a bit earlier than she expected.

"There it is..." Alice muttered to herself.

Alice sensing the opportunity, took a deep breath and went for it. Richard also saw Sugimoto braking early and wanted to maneuver his car out and capitalized on the mistake but as soon as he was about to do that, the BMW braked hard on his inside, making him unable to pass and also shocking him to his core. Sugimoto was about to turn in when he saw the BMW go beside him and enter the chicane. Sugimoto caught off guard by Alice's sudden move yields his position as he almost hits Alice's car on her side.

"K-kid...?" Sugimoto muttered slowly.

"I-I did it?" Alice muttered to herself in disbelief.

The crowds cheered for the racers, the pit crew ran out to witness the final lap of the race. Alice began speeding up as the other drivers chased her. Her eyes looked at the checkered flag being waved, Sugimoto tried to catch up but it was too late. Alice crossed the finish line first, then Sugimoto, then Richard. The crew could be heard cheering for her in the distance.

"Holy moly Alice! You did it!" Ghazali screamed into the mic.

"Alice won!" Airi shouts at her friends.

"Our girl did it!" Aini said as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

"We need to tell everyone at school!" Raani said to them.

"Already on it!" Airi said as she began posting it on her socials.

"Sniff... Sniff..." The manager is in tears.

The girls look at the manager who is in tears seeing his team winning the first round of the ROA Cup.

"Looks like someone else is happier than us." The girls chuckled slightly and smiled awkwardly at the manager.