Daynight Racer (Completed)

Chapter 16

Karting with Ember was quite fruitful for Lyst. She picked up quite a number of tips and tricks for driving quickly. It's always beneficial to learn from the best.

But that aside, Lyst had a Formula 3 race ahead of her.

After gaining two positions during the initial chaos of the race, Lyst found herself in seventh as she crossed the line to start her second lap. It wasn't as high up the order as Lyst wanted herself to be, but it was a decent attempt at damage limitation nonetheless.

R: Your pace is decent. Feel free to push and overtake Logan in front of you.

L: That's gonna be fun.

Lyst used the second and third lap to get close to Logan's gearbox. At the start of the fourth lap, she was in striking distance thanks to a helpful slipstream along the start-finish straight. She initiated an overtake into the first corner, hugging the outside line and subsequently taking the inside line through Estoril.

Down the long straight that followed, the two Powers cars were side by side. But Lyst stayed on the right of the track, which happened to be the inside line for the Adelaide hairpin that was coming up. She knew that she had an upper hand in the battle, and did a spectacular late-braking move into the hairpin. She triumphantly exited the corner before her teammate, leaving him in the dust.

R: Good move, Lyst. Now focus on the next car ahead.

L: Sure thing.

With a fair distance away from the next car she was planning to attack, Lyst had a clear stretch of road ahead of her. This provided her the opportunity to cool down her car a little, and a window of time to strategise her next move. From afar, she analysed the orange car in front of her, checking to see if there's any particular corner or section of the track where the driver was weak at.

But even after a few laps, she came up empty. He's too consistent on this track, thought Lyst. I guess I'll just have to wing it and see what happens.

With that, Lyst pushed again. In another few laps, she closed the gap to the orange car and was ready to pounce.

Navigating through the last chicane, Lyst was careful with her inputs, trying not to mess up her exit along the start-finish straight. Both drivers were now neck and neck with each other, but Lyst stayed on the outside line around the first corner.

The outside line became the inside line as the two drivers drove around Estoril once more. At this point, Lyst found herself inching further and further away from the orange car. By the time they drove along the long straight, Lyst was comfortably in front of her competitor.

"That was easier," she mumbled to herself.

Now that Lyst had the move done, she just had to make it stick. For the sake of defence, Lyst leaned towards the right as she approached the hairpin, hoping to force the orange car onto the left and taking the longer route. She braked early, and turned into the sharp corner...

And that was when she heard something from behind her car.

It all happened very quickly. Lyst felt the grip of her tyres slip through her fingers. Her car was no longer turning into the hairpin like it was supposed to. Instead, she found herself skidding across the track and onto the gravel trap. The sound of carbon fibre cracking and shattering filled her ears.

And an orange colour filled her vision.

Maybe it was shock, or the rapid deceleration as a result of the crash, but Lyst's mind was foggy and her head was dizzy. Despite that, there was one thing she was certain of.