The marshalls began instructing the cars to start the formation lap. Nadya went first, and Alice followed behind her. They all slowly moved one by one, warming up their tires as they moved through the track. Some weaved, and some braked lightly to warm their tires to the optimal temperature for maximum grip. Alice looked ahead and saw Nadya weaving in front of her, while Sugimoto was behind the pack and amongst the race's backmarkers. While they were warming their tires, they got a radio transmission from the pits.

"Ghazali to drivers, do you copy?" He asked.

"Loud and clear Gaz." Alice responded.

"Copy that Gaz." Sugimoto responded.

"Good. Be careful out there and drive fast. Over." Ghazali told them.

After they finished the formation lap, they all positioned themselves on the grid. Nadya in P1, Alice in P2, Kara in P3, Richard in P6 and Sugimoto at P25. They were all determined to win the race and bring glory to themselves and their team. The marshalls began waving the green flag, indicating they were ready to start the race. The lights suddenly disappeared and began to light one by one. The race cars roared as they waited for the green light to light up.

"Go go go!" Ghazali told the drivers.

The lights turned green and the cars began moving, the sounds of engines roared through the straights. The crowd cheered as they watched them leave the grid. Alice had a good start and tried to fight Nadya on the corner towards the hairpins. Sugimoto on the other hand had a brilliant start and began passing two drivers ahead of him from the start.

Alice was slightly alongside the Huracan as they approached the corner into the triple hairpins. As they turned the corner, Alice managed to get alongside the Huracan. They began moving fast on the short straight of the hairpins before they turned into the second hairpin. The Huracan tried to lose the M6 on the third hairpin to get a clean exit but couldn't shake it off. Alice managed to take the inside of the third hairpin.

Sugimoto on the other hand battled with the backmarkers. A couple of cars were battling as he approached the hairpins. As they went on the optimal line to turn into the corner, he lunged to the inside of the first hairpin. The drivers were surprised to see 911 dive bombing into the corner. They tried to retake the position but he managed to keep them at bay. Sugimoto moved up two more positions only in the second sector of the race.

Alice emerged from the hairpins with Nadya slightly beside her. Alice is currently in the lead as they got onto the first straights of sector 3.

"I'm currently in the lead, but Nadya will pass me on the straights. I'll let her pass and use the slipstream to take it back on the second straight." Alice muttered to herself.

The Huracan slowly crept beside the M6 and overtook Alice on the straights. She watched as the Huracan took the lead and moved ahead of her. As she strategized to retake the lead, she suddenly noticed that the Nissan had appeared beside her.

"Crap, I was too focused on Nadya that I forgot about Kara!" Alice muttered in a panicked tone.

They began braking before reaching the chicane, Kara was slightly ahead of Alice in the braking. They turned into the chicane and Kara was alongside Alice. Upon exiting the chicane, the Nissan slowly moved onto the ideal line in front of Alice. Alice felt a bit angry at herself for letting it happen.

"Damn it!" She uttered slightly.

Sugimoto is in P21, moving up four places from his starting position. There were other drivers ahead of Sugimoto who were currently in a 4-car slipstream. Sugimoto joins their slipstream and makes a 5-car slipstream. As they were about to approach the chicane, he noticed some of the drivers got out of the slipstream so they could overtake them on the chicane. He lifted off the power and slightly backed off from the pack. They entered the chicane and battled side by side with each other. Once they exited the chicane, they were surprised to see the black Porsche past both of them. Sugimoto climbs up against 2 other cars.

As they were racing, the trio was seen sitting at the stands and waiting for the cars to return back to reappear. They watched the race on the big screen, trying to search for Alice's car. Raani on the other hand was listening to the broadcast on her phone.

"Hey Raani, did you figure out which car Alice is driving? I can't find the same blue car." Airi asked her.

"It says that she's in third place but I can't seem to find the blue car she's in." Raani told her.

"Why are you guys trying to find the blue car? She's driving in an orange livery now." Aini told them.

"Eh? They've changed the livery huh? Why didn't you tell us?" Airi questions her.

"I thought you guys knew." Aini told them.

"We don't know anything about cars, also how did you even know about it?" Raani questioned her.

Aini looked away for a bit before answering.

"Ah, I just researched about them, you know?" Aini told them.

They seemed convinced by her answer and didn't push further. As they watched the race, Raani suddenly heard the commentators talking on the live broadcast she was watching,

"Nadya Popova is currently in the lead of the race with Kara Fujiwara in second. Alice Shah who was in second has dropped to third position. But it seems like she might lose another position." Hasaki told the viewers.

Back to the race. They were on the second straight and were in a draft going through the straight. Alice was determined to retake her position but as she looked at her side mirrors, she saw the red Ferarri 296 GT3 slowly gaining on her.

"This is bad, I need to retake the position from Kara before he makes a move on me." Alice muttered.

As they approached the corner, Alice got out of the slipstream and slowly crept beside the GTR. Kara noticed her move but couldn't do anything but let her pass. They soon entered the corner and Alice took the inside of the apex which caused Kara to be pushed slightly to the edge. Alice got ahead of her and hit every apex of the sector. She soon caught up with Nadya who was ahead and tailgated her through the turns of sector 4. There she noticed that she could squeeze beside her on a C-shaped curve. Alice took her shot and began going beside her.

At the stands, the trio heard the cars coming, they looked on the track and saw two cars emerge from the chicane. They saw a purple Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and an orange BMW M6 GT3 side by side. Their eyes widened as they saw Alice was battling with it. They crossed the line and onwards to lap two of the race. Shortly after, a few more cars passed by at high speeds.

"Look at those speeds!" Raani muttered.

"Imagine being in those cars, it'd be so terrifying." Airi muttered.

"And Alice does this as her job." Aini muttered,

They all shivered just the thought of being in a race car.

"Well, let's get it started. We didn't go here for nothing! Once they come back, we'll start." Raani told her.

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They both nodded and prepared themselves for when they would come back.

Alice and Nadya approach the hairpins and they both braked for the corner. While side by side, they turned their cars into the corner and onto the hairpins. They were side by side and Nadya had the inside for the second hairpin. Alice tried to get ahead of her but Nadya defended well. They soon turned into the third hairpin and Nadya got slightly ahead of her. Alice couldn't pass her and decided to drop back behind her to use the slipstream effect.

Sugimoto on the other hand began climbing the ranks. He passed a few cars on the straights and another upon the hairpins. This caught the attention of the commentators who were just focusing on the top drivers.

"Asashi Sugimoto, driver 431 for the Akinabalu Motorsport team is putting on an impressive drive. He started at P25 and has reached P19 just in 2 laps! He has passed 6 cars so far and it seems like he's going for more. What do you think about this Mick?" Hasaki asked.

"Asashi Sugimoto achieved second place in round one of the ROA Cup. He is one of the fastest drivers out there but was nearly eliminated when he had a horrendous qualifying in this round. But it seems like it's going well for the young Japanese man." Mick told him.

They continue driving for a few laps. Alice didn't manage to gain any position while Sugimoto passed a few more drivers. As they got onto lap 5, Kara and Richard began battling it out with each other. They were on the first straights of sector 3 where Richard makes his move. He began moving out of the slipstream to overtake Kara, but Kara saw this from a mile away and went to the middle to defend. As they got near the chicane, Richard returned to the optimal line whilst Kara stayed. As they got closer and closer, Kara moved into the optimal line to get the perfect entry to the chicane.

As they got into the braking zone, Richard went to her side and late brakes into the chicane. Kara wasn't expecting him to do it so late and had to give up her line. They exited the chicane and Kara attempted to do a switchback maneuver but didn't have the speed to commit to it. Kara looked on as Richard went in front of her. She felt slightly frustrated by it but wasn't ready to give up.

"Man I should've expected that, but I'm not done yet!" Kara said, determined to overtake him.

Nadya was still in the lead and noticed Alice was still on her tail. She wasn't expecting her to keep up with her for so long. They were on the second straight of Sector 3 and were approaching the corner. Alice was tailgating her until she slowly moved beside her. They enter the braking zone and Alice late-brake into the corner. She got ahead of Nadya for a while but was shortly overtaken by Nadya who committed a switchback. Alice grew frustrated as she couldn't overtake her.

"Jeez, I can't even retain the position. Even if I passed her, she would just take it back on the straights!" Alice muttered.

As they entered the straights of Sector 1, Alice got a radio transmission from the pits.

"Be on the lookout, Richard just passed Kara and is slowly gaining on you. He is faster than you on the straights but you're slightly faster on Sectors 2 and 4. Keep your heads low and use every advantage you have." Ghazali told her.

"Thanks for the info Gaz. I'll try my best." Alice told him.

At the stands, the trio saw Alice and began getting ready.

"Alright, here she comes! 3, 2, 1, Go!" Raani said.

While they were on the straights, Alice saw her friends in the stands doing the Wotagei dance. She took a short glance at them while driving at high speeds. She reverted her gaze to the race in front of her, she smiled lightly knowing that her friends fully supported her. They enter lap 6

As Alice was still battling with Nadya, Sugimoto lost most of his momentum and only made it to P16 after passing a few more cars. Sugimoto noticed that he needed to do something to catch up with the rest of the pack. He began pushing his car to his fullest and began communicating with the pits.

"Hey Gaz, how many laps until the pit window opens?" Sugimoto asked.

"The pit window will open at lap 7. Which will be this lap, why do you ask?" Ghazali said.

"I want to pit as soon as possible." He told him.

Ghazali was confused by his request to pit early.

"Why do you want that? You'll end up being stuck behind traffic if you do so." Ghazali told him.

"How long do you think we could change the tires?" Sugimoto asked.

Ghazali thought for a while and analyzed in his head.

"If there's no mistake, we could do it in less than 20 seconds. That is if we don't make a mistake." Ghazali told him.

Sugimoto remained silent for a while before answering him.

"I'll take the risk. Tell everyone to get ready." Sugimoto told him.

"Copy that." He answered.

Ghazali began instructing the pit crew to prepare for a pit stop. They gathered the tires and prepared for Sugimoto's arrival. After a few whiles, the marshalls signaled that the pit window had opened and drivers were allowed to enter the pits. All the drivers at the top didn't pit and continued their race as usual, which included Alice. Sugimoto began moving into the pits and slowed his car before entering the pitlane.

Sugimoto moved into the Akinabalu Motorsport's pit stop and the pit crew ran towards his car and began changing his wheels. While changing the tires, the crew also filled the car with enough fuel to finish the race. After changing everything, they put down the Porsche 922 GT3 R. Sugimoto stepped on the fuel and away he went. Ghazali looked out of the pits and noticed that there were other drivers from the backmarkers who had also decided to pit early. He exited the pit safely and entered the track as normal.

"How many places have we dropped down to Gaz?" Sugimoto asked.

"We've also dropped to 18 places. Most of the drivers behind you pitted earlier than usual." Ghazali told him.

"I guess that really worked." He said on the radio.

"What worked? What did you do?" Ghazali asked in a confused tone.

Ghazali began thinking about what he did. All he did was pitting early and suddenly the rest of the backmarkers followed him. There, Ghazali realized what he had done.

"You influenced the entire backmarkers and made them pit with you?" Ghazali asked in a surprised tone.

"I guess so. I was pretty sure it wouldn't work but here we are." Sugimoto told.

"This is the next level of psychological play. You have clean air in front and there's less traffic. That was genius Sugi!" Ghazali told him.

"Alright, time to show them who I really am." Sugimoto muttered.

On Alice's side. She was still in a head-to-head battle with Nadya and they've completed a few laps. On lap 9, she noticed that she wasn't getting anywhere, and to top that, she was now being pressured by Richard. As they got onto the hairpins, Alice noticed Richard suddenly lunge beside her and it surprised her. She watches as Richard is on the inside towards the second hairpin. She leaves space between him and turns into the corner together. Alice now has the inside into the final hairpin and they both were still side by side.

Alice looked beside her and noticed that he was slightly ahead. Alice tried to take as much room on the ideal line to turn into the hairpin. They turn together once again and Alice is slightly in the lead. They began battling each other on the straights but Richard was on her inside towards the chicane. Alice tried to outpace him but his Ferarri was faster on the straights. They soon turned into the chicane and Richard managed to overtake her and went ahead of her.

She looked on as she saw the back of the Ferarri 296 GT3. She felt a bit demotivated seeing him overtake her. She tried to focus on the race but felt darkness looming around her. She noticed that her opponents were slowly moving away from her. She tried to look around, trying to find a sign of hope like before. But he was not there to support her this time. She felt saddened but suddenly remembered that she must do it without him. She began composing herself as she focused on the race and catching up with the rest of the drivers. While driving, she suddenly got a radio transmission from Ghazali.

"Ghazali to Alice. Do you copy?" He asked.

"Yeah, copy that Gaz." She replied.

"Good. I need to confirm the status of when you will be entering the pits. We don't want to cross the 13th lap without serving the pit stop. We will be disqualified if we've done that." Ghazali told her.

Alice thought for a while before responding.

"I'll go in the pits once Nadya enters it as well." Alice told him.

"Eh? But we need to have a confirmed lap to pit so we can be prepared." Ghazali told her.

"Well be prepared now. I'm not going to pit until she does first!" Alice told Ghazali.

Ghazali is hesitant at first but reluctantly agrees with her,

"Fine, we'll prepare now. Give us a heads up once you enter the pit lane." Ghazali told her.

"Alright. Thanks, She told him.

She continued following Richard from behind. She is determined to stay behind Nadya until she stops at the pits. They race for a few more laps until lap 11th where she sees Richard going into the pitlane. Kara, who was behind her, also decided to go inside the pit for the lap. Alice and Nadya were among the few drivers who hadn't gone to the pits. Alice began questioning whether to undercut Nadya or stick with her.

"When will Nadya pit already? The wheels are feeling sluggish now." Alice muttered.

Alice decides to call it and tells Ghazali on the radio.

"I think I'm going to pit now." Alice told him.

"Alright Alice, we will be there once you arrive." He told her.

Alice followed Nadya closely throughout the circuit for the lap. As she entered the pitlane she noticed that Nadya had also made the call. Alice smiled lightly seeing her coming into the pitlanes together. As she drove into the pits, the pit crew began changing her tires and refueling the car.

The crew worked fast to get her back on the track. As they let her down, Alice pressed on the metal and went onto the tarmac. There she saw Nadya just exiting in front of her. Alice was overjoyed as she managed to undercut Richard and felt more determined to win the race. As they were exiting the pitlane, they saw Richard and Kara fast approaching them. Alice managed to get ahead of them and the race continued with Nadya, Alice, Kara, and Richard in a pack.