5th Place was right up ahead. Overtaking it would give them a chance to advance to the T3 Main Race.
Again, Lilligant's condition made a top-ten finish in the Main Race unlikely, but they still had to do everything possible to enter it. The experience and growth they could gain there were invaluable.
"Lilligant... Cacturne behind us."
'I... I'll let him through!'
Patterns resembling crosshairs kept appearing on Wind Horse, scattered around the area ahead of the car, marking optimal points for cornering and braking.
This was a skill that increased critical hit rate. Once entered into a Skill Slot, it had a chance of generating prediction markers for optimal maneuvers, telling the driver where to accelerate or brake and how much to steer based on the current car and its performance.
These were the "critical hits" of racing, delivering high "damage output" through one optimized maneuver after another.
Lilligant's mental concentration was still fluctuating, and her handling was not particularly precise. Her fundamentals were already weaker than those of the T2 Class Cacturne. She could block him twice at most; a third deliberate block would count as a foul.
Since she could not stop Cacturne from overtaking on ordinary turns, she might as well avoid wasting her own time. She would let Wind Horse through first, then find a favorable spot to take the position back.
Seeing her make such a clean, decisive call, Shen Qi knew Lilligant was at least no longer as distressed and crushed as she had been just before the first lap ended. She had recovered considerably.
"Careful. The next sharp turn comes with some Crosswind Zone sections."
They would need Magnet Rise for the next turn too. To make the most of their levitation tactic through the corner, they would cut straight into the