Ten laps were in the books.
The current standings stood at: Bib #12, 11, 9, 10, 8, 2, 6, 3, 7, 5, 1, 4, and 13.
"Oh dear, it seems Marikka really isn't suited for this sort of thing after all. Even though her car's performance looks quite high," Sion murmured regretfully.
Meanwhile, Lordtoss continued to maintain his solo lead. Jin was chasing him, trailing by about three seconds. Rubina had also fought her way back up to fourth place.
"And now, we've entered the eleventh lap! The race has officially reached its middle stages!"
Luckhart's play-by-play commentary grew even more spirited.
"The leader is Lordtoss-sama in Bib #12, currently in a league of his own! Hot on his heels is Jin-sama in Bib #11! And just behind them, Bibs #9, 10, and 8 are all jostling for position!"
Jin had managed to open a two-second gap over the third-place group. He was currently using Lordtoss’s car as a pacemaker.
(This is surprisingly easy...)
Since their cars had similar performance levels, Jin found it much simpler to follow the car ahead. As someone who naturally preferred to lead, this was a new realization for him.
Lordtoss’s driving was exceptional—better than Jin’s. By following him, Jin was beginning to catch on to the subtle tricks and "knacks" of high-speed handling.
Lordtoss had an inkling of what was happening, but even so, pulling away from Jin was easier said than done. At least for the moment.
(I'll be able to go all out once we're under ten laps to go,) Lordtoss thought as he guided his car through the turns.
As one of the Northern People, maintaining this pace was no strain for him. He could have kept this up for a hundred laps, let alone twenty.
Marikka, however, was in a different situation.
"A-awawawa..."
Even in her youth, her athletic coordination had been below average. In exchange for that, she was blessed with an immense talent for magi-craft; as Jin’s First Disciple in the Nord Federation, she stood at the absolute pinnacle of that field among her people.
But while age had brought her wisdom and depth of thought, her physical coordination had only continued to decline.
"Bib #13, Marikka-sama, is putting up a valiant effort, but her rank remains unchanged! Unfortunately, she is still in last place!"
"She's doing quite well for that child," Sion remarked.
To Sion, no matter how old she became, Marikka would always be "that child."
However...
"...Hmm."
Sion let out a knowing chuckle, as if she had just spotted something.
Running in second-to-last place was the car of Bib #4, Greena Kuzuma.
As the race passed the midpoint, a clear trend had emerged: the male participants occupied the upper ranks, while the female participants tended to fall toward the back. It was a simple disparity in driving experience. Since they rarely operated vehicles themselves in daily life, they were at a disadvantage in this kind of competition.
Greena was relieved not to be in dead last, but she felt a twinge of guilt knowing that the person behind her was the woman she idolized, Marikka-sama.
But then...
"Wait, what?"
It seemed that Marikka’s Bib #13 was starting to close the gap.
"Oho!? It looks like Bib #13 has picked up the pace!"
"Just as I thought." Sion smiled, her prediction proving correct.
"Sion-sama, what do you mean by that?" Luckhart asked, noticing her reaction.
"It’s quite simple. Look closely at the line Marikka’s car is taking."
"Pardon?...Ah, I see!"
Marikka wasn't consciously aiming for the ideal racing line. She hadn't even calculated that taking the inside of a corner would shorten the distance. Instead, she was driving almost exactly down the middle of the track.
Hardly any other cars were using that part of the course. This meant the surface wasn't chewed up or rutted, making it much easier to navigate.
Furthermore, Marikka’s car had Mild characteristics. Because it was designed with a heavy emphasis on ease of handling, its tires didn't spin out from excessive torque, meaning she wasn't gouging the track herself.
Consequently, Marikka was able to maintain a steady, comfortable pace. Little by little—almost imperceptibly at first—her lap times were beginning to drop.
Additionally, like Lordtoss, Marikka was a pure-blooded member of the Northern People. She didn't feel physical fatigue from this level of concentration. And while she was inexperienced with the controls, her focus was superhuman. It was that very focus that had made her a premier authority on magi-craft.
"Marikka-sama’s lap times are getting faster with every passing lap! She was in the 41-second range on lap one, but for lap twelve, she clocked a 39.2!"
A stir of excitement went through the spectators.
"Go for it, Marikka-sama!"
Cheers erupted from the stands. Marikka was currently so deeply focused that the noise didn't even register.
By the fifteenth lap, the field had split into several distinct groups.
In the lead, Bibs #12, 11, 10, and 9 were running in a line with gaps of one to three seconds between them.
The second group trailed five seconds behind them, consisting of Bibs #8, 2, 6, and 3.
The third group was another four seconds back: Bibs #7, 5, 1, 4, and 13.
Though, since Bib #13 was running her own race at her own pace, she was hardly part of a "group" at all.
"Guh, I can't get past Jin-sama!"
Lordtoss in Bib #12 held the lead, with Jin in Bib #11 in second. Rubina in Bib #10 was in third, giving chase, followed closely by Elvis Alcott in Bib #9.
Jin and Rubina were now locked in a tail-to-nose battle. The spectators were captivated by the duel for second place.
Jin was driving what he considered the best possible line. Rubina was chasing him, which naturally forced her onto a similar path. However, that was a tactical error.
Rubina’s car had entirely different performance characteristics from Jin’s. By mimicking his line, she wasn't playing to her vehicle's strengths.
Her car featured metal spiked tires and massive torque. To maximize those, she should have dived into corners at sharp angles, braked hard, used a burst of wheelspin to whip the rear end around, then regained grip for a straight-line blast of acceleration. That "point and squirt" style of cornering was far better suited to her build.
(But Rubina is still too inexperienced to realize that,) Jin thought.
He believed this competition would be an invaluable lesson for her. The same was true for everyone else on the track.
Because Jin's car used rubber tires, he focused on a smooth, high-grip driving style. His cornering followed the classic slow-in fast-out theory—knowledge he had picked up from reading manga back on Earth.
And at the very back of the pack, Marikka finally overtook Bib #4, moving up into twelfth place.
"M-Marikka-sama is definitely picking up speed!"
By the eighteenth lap, Marikka had clocked a 37.7—a time that would have ranked third in the entire qualifying session. However, the leaders had already pushed their times into the 35-second range.
"We're finally on the nineteenth lap! Oh, has Jin-sama made his move?! Bib #11 is making a fierce spurt! He's right on the tail of Bib #12!!"
"It looks like Jin is finally getting serious," Sion remarked.
Amidst the roaring crowd, Bibs #12 and #11 were running tail-to-nose. By this stage, Jin seemed to have fully mastered the ideal line.
(Ugh, Jin-sama is not to be underestimated. Time to turn up the heat...!)
Lordtoss felt his own competitive fire flare.
The race was finally entering its closing stages.