It was ten minutes to one in the afternoon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for—the finals of the Remote-controlled Automobile Race are about to begin!"
The play-by-play commentary had started. Since the finals were scheduled to kick off at exactly one o'clock, the broadcast began a few minutes early to build the anticipation.
"In pole position, we have Bib #12, Lordtoss-sama! Right beside him is Bib #11, Jin-sama!"
Cheers and applause erupted from the stands. Luckhart proceeded to announce the starting positions of the other participants. The operators were not yet in their cockpits; instead, they stood beside their cars, waving to the crowd and bowing politely.
The pole position occupied the innermost lane of the track. The rest of the field lined up in a single horizontal row extending toward the outside edge.
"The competitors will race for 30 laps around this 400-meter track. Since the cars are 1/8 scale, one lap is effectively 3.2 kilometers. That makes the total distance traveled equivalent to 96 kilometers!"
The commentary continued, filling the final minutes with technical details.
"Based on the qualifying rounds, we're seeing lap times of roughly 40 seconds. For 30 laps, that's about 20 minutes of racing. We'll have a winner within the next half hour at the latest!"
The crowd roared again. Amidst the excitement, a female-type Golem raised a placard that read: "2 Minutes to Start."
The operators climbed into their respective cockpits. Finally, the countdown to the start began, the voice echoing through the now-hushed stadium.
"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5..."
At the five-second mark, the signal lamps began to glow red, lighting up one by one from bottom to top.
"...4... 3... 2... 1..."
At the final moment, the display flashed green.
"0!"
At exactly 1:00 PM, the race was on.
"And they're off! Leading the pack right out of the gate is Bib #9! As the smallest and lightest entry, its acceleration is incredibly sharp!"
"Acceleration performance isn't something one can easily judge from qualifying times," Sion noted calmly.
While Luckhart spoke with infectious excitement, Sion remained composed. Jin, focused on his controls, thought briefly that the contrast between the two commentators made for a balanced broadcast.
In second place was Bib #10, Rubina. Her car seemed to possess more power than it could handle, perhaps a reflection of her own personality. Because of this, particularly during acceleration, the tires failed to transfer all that power to the track surface, resulting in significant wheelspin.
Since this was a dirt track rather than a Hardening road, the consequences were immediate.
"W-Whoa!?"
"Eek!?"
A rain of gravel pelted the cars trailing directly behind her.
"Ah! I-I'm so sorry!" Rubina called out, realizing the trouble she was causing, though she didn't ease off the throttle.
Shu and Sireen, piloting Bibs #2 and #5, were forced to slow down to avoid the direct barrage of stones, causing them to drop to the very back of the pack.
"Oh dear, quite an unexpected side effect," Sion remarked with a wry smile.
"The first into the corner is Bib #9! Followed closely by Bib #10! Bib #11 plunges into the turn in third place!"
The reason Jin and Rubina had swapped positions was that Jin, wary of being overtaken during the initial burst, had steered toward the outside of the track specifically to avoid getting caught in her wake.
Rubina's tires are metal, likely to prevent wear... No wonder they're throwing so much gravel, Jin thought.
He had noticed the tire material during qualifying. Since no one had performed full-throttle starts during practice, the issue had gone unnoticed. During qualifying, most people were too preoccupied with their own lap times to pay attention to others; Jin was likely the only one who had put the pieces together. Now, however, the entire field was painfully aware.
"It is a distinct disadvantage to be directly behind Bib #10," Sion observed.
As she spoke, the twelve other cars—excluding Rubina herself—were already adjusting their lines to avoid the spray from her rear tires.
"The course is quite large relative to the scale of the cars, so the actual time difference between the inside and outside lines is minimal."
Luckhart asked for a more detailed explanation of her comment. "Sion-sama, could you elaborate on that?"
"Ah, my apologies. Perhaps I should focus on the ratio rather than the raw distance."
Sion began her explanation, prefacing it with "to put it simply."
"Let's use a circular course as an example. What is the difference between the circumference of a circle with a radius of 10 meters and one with a radius of 11 meters? Let's use 3 as a simplified value for pi."
"I see. Since it's diameter times pi, that would be 60 meters versus 66 meters. The difference is 6 meters."
"Then, what is the difference between a circle with a radius of 100 meters and one with 101 meters?"
"Um... that would be 600 meters and 606 meters. So it's still 6 meters."
"The raw difference is the same, yes. But what about the ratio?"
"...Ah, I see your point."
The ratio for the first example was 60:66 (roughly 0.91), while the second was 600:606 (roughly 0.99). In other words, Sion was pointing out that the larger the corner radius, the less impact the choice of lane had on overall performance.
Put another way, a 1/8 scale car race on a 400-meter track was a bit of a mismatch in terms of scale. While the drivers instinctively tried to hug the inside line, taking the outside wouldn't actually hurt their lap times very much.
Essentially, Sion was suggesting that avoiding the spray from Bib #10 wouldn't put the other drivers at a significant disadvantage. Whether the race would prove her theory right, however, remained to be seen.
While the commentators talked, the race surged forward, and the first lap was nearing its end.
The current standings were: 12, 9, 11, 10, 8, 6, 7, 4, 5, 1, 13, 2, and 5.
Reflecting his qualifying performance, Lordtoss's car held the lead. Lap times were hovering around 40 seconds; everyone was still feeling out the competition. Amidst this, Lordtoss's Bib #12 was already beginning to pull away into a solo lead.
Lordtoss is a front-runner, Jin observed.
There are drivers who excel at chasing, and those who perform best when they have clear air ahead of them. Lordtoss was clearly the latter. Because he disliked the pressure of a close battle, being in the lead allowed him to drive with poise.
Jin was the same way. Precisely because they shared that trait, he understood the strategy perfectly.
Jin fixed his sights on Bib #9, which was still ahead of him.
"Alright, now's the time!"
He delayed his braking into the corner, surging forward. With a sharp, sudden turn of the steering, he performed an aggressive pivot and headed for the corner exit, cutting directly across Rubina's path.
"Eek!"
Jin's car swept past her nose. Although there was plenty of clearance, the suddenness of the move caused Rubina to panic and slam on her brakes.
"Ah, damn it!"
That split second of hesitation allowed Bibs #8, #6, and #7 to blow past her.
"Ugh, he got me!"
In her frustration, she hammered the throttle again, causing another massive wheelspin that kicked up a cloud of gravel. This time, however, there were no cars behind her to suffer for it.
"A-Ah, wait!"
She hurriedly backed off the power, but it was too late—Bib #4 had already slipped by.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"Rubina's main challenge is her composure," Sion murmured, watching the display.
The race had only just begun.