"Costa is from the long-standing team Manor and has won the British Karting Championship; his familiarity with this track far exceeds that of the Chinese driver Xiangbei."

"Costa couldn't block Xiangbei; with ten laps remaining and Magnussen holding an absolute advantage, can he secure his championship position?"

No one knows the answer, but as Magnussen received a notice from the team TR, he began to have an ominous feeling within!

He doesn't even know why he feels this way, leading by over two seconds with an absolute advantage. Chen Xiangbei can't even pose a threat, it's doubtful he can even catch up to see the taillights.

What is there to be ominous about?

Theoretically, Chen Xiangbei's hope of catching up and winning the championship is very slim, but his performance has already gained recognition from the Chinese spectators on site.

Being penalized with a five-place drop from P6 to P2, and clearly receiving special attention due to his "track enemy" status, yet still stubbornly overtaking one rival after another, Chen Xiangbei has done more than enough.

"Chen Xiangbei, go for it! You haven't let Chinese drivers lose face!"

"Xiangbei, race freely; you've already reached the pinnacle."

"Whether or not you become the champion, I am proud of you!"

Countless cheers and chants rang out, compared to the usual calls for drivers to win, even though Chen Xiangbei is currently only ranked P2, the Chinese spectators present are already extremely satisfied.

Chen Xiangbei has created too many unexpected miracles; he is like a wild weed sprouting in the barren desert of Chinese Formula racing, growing wildly by his own efforts.

Wild weeds, you can't expect them to instantly become towering trees.

He's already performed more than well enough!

The satisfaction of the Chinese spectators on the track, Chen Xiangbei doesn't know.

Even if he did know, he wouldn't stop there!

With Costa no longer blocking, Chen Xiangbei increased his lap time to an astonishing level; with five laps left in the race, he clocked a purple lap of 1 minute 09 seconds 155, approaching the race record of Donington Park Circuit.

It's important to know this fastest lap was not achieved in the later stage of the race by deliberately pitting for new tires.

With the current tire wear situation, being able to run close to the track record lap is really surprising!

"Sawano, how far am I from Magnussen?"

"1.09 seconds."

When answering this number, Sawano Hiroyuki felt his voice was slightly trembling.

He truly never thought Chen Xiangbei had a chance to catch up to Magnussen.

Even more, he didn't think this Chinese kid intended to fight for the championship!

The racing cars flew around lap after lap; looking at the large screen displaying the narrowing gap, the spectators on site instead fell silent.

Everyone stared fixedly at the two race cars at the very front, wanting to see whether Chen Xiangbei could ultimately catch up to Magnussen and launch an attack on the championship position.

Meanwhile, at the very front, Magnussen, hearing the constant reports from the team about the gap, truly couldn't believe his ears.

Even though in the last few laps he was also pushing forward, why was the gap between the two cars closing so quickly; did Xiangbei's tires have better endurance?

In fact, it's not that Chen Xiangbei's tires are more durable; it's that while staying behind Costa's car for so long, besides observing opponent's line mistakes, he was utilizing slipstream to conserve the tires.

Conversely, in the leading position, Magnussen to ensure absolute advantage kept pushing forward, not wanting Costa to slipstream him, forming the "train effect" commonly seen in F1.

Pushing with full fuel load damages the tires far more compared to Chen Xiangbei's light fuel load pushing now; naturally, when comparing the two, the lap time differences are huge.

With two laps left in the race, Chen Xiangbei finally reached behind Magnussen's car and smoothly caught the slipstream. The car speed once again increased, the gap between the two cars instantly narrowed to less than 5 meters!

Ready to attack me?

Staring at the rearview mirror and the number 13 racing car, Magnussen wore an indifferent face. Leading the entire race, being chased at the last moment would make anyone feel frustrated.

Chen Xiangbei also showed no expression, but within him brewed a fighting spirit.

Up next is a direct offensive and defensive duel against a future real F1 driver, making it hard not to feel excited.

The speed boost from the slipstream effect destined Chen Xiangbei to be faster than the car ahead, Magnussen. He didn't hesitate at all, immediately changing lanes and using the "slingshot" effect to launch an attack.

Magnussen reacted quickly, almost instantly creating a defensive line to block Chen Xiangbei behind his car.

Chen Xiangbei had already predicted this; if Magnussen were easy to overtake, he wouldn't be a future F1 driver.

But with only two laps remaining, Chen Xiangbei didn't have enough time to engage in an attack and defense entanglement with Magnussen; he had to demonstrate his absolute fierce attack, thoroughly shattering any defense from his opponent!

A spectacular scene unfolded on the track, as Chen Xiangbei continuously launched attacks in the final two laps, Magnussen made equally decisive and swift defensive maneuvers, the two of them showcasing a brilliant offensive and defensive duel.

However, as time progressed, Magnussen felt the pressure increasing, especially during turns when Chen Xiangbei several times made crossing lines attempts to overtake; if it weren't for his rich karting track experience practiced from a young age, he might have already been successfully overtaken.

To prevent the possibility of crossing lines in turns happening again, Magnussen directly showcased a second maneuver in the braking zone, using a "drawing a dragon" method to prevent Chen Xiangbei from having overtaking opportunities!

The FIA's refinement of the second maneuver rule will need to wait until it's revised in 2011; Magnussen's track "dragon drawing" maneuver was truly annoying but can only be considered borderline and not a violation!

With just one lap remaining, looking at Chen Xiangbei who hadn't overtaken yet, many had their hearts in their throats, wondering if he truly couldn't pull off a miraculous comeback.

But just then, Chen Xiangbei once again accelerated using the slingshot effect, although positioned more to the left than a normal overtake would. Upon seeing this, Magnussen similarly turned left to defend, but Chen Xiangbei immediately turned right, quickly changing lanes causing tire burning signs.

Facing Chen Xiangbei's deceptive overtaking maneuver, Magnussen was no novice; fooling him would be impossible.

He promptly turned the right steering wheel creating no space for Chen Xiangbei to overtake!

Except this time, Chen Xiangbei wasn't aiming to overtake; he planned to take the corner faster.

Chen Xiangbei turned right, directly riding on the kerb, the right tires even went to the outer gravel buffer zone using a "shortcut" method to cut the corner.

Dust and gravel flew in all directions; realizing something was wrong and trying to stop it, Magnussen found it was too late.

Chen Xiangbei's car nose went past his rear wheel, then the car body, followed by the front wheel and wing. All Magnussen could do was watch in disbelief as Chen Xiangbei completed the overtake appearing in front?

Does this count as a successful overtake?

Everyone's mind was buzzing with this question, wondering if Chen Xiangbei's "watermelon cutting" counted as a violation, would it be like the previous improper penalty and gain, requiring a tire crossing white line position exchange.

Among them only Odetto had a knowing smile on his face.

This kid truly learned the essence from the Circle of God footage by Senna, even knowing this line method despite the changed track layout.

Back then this was the conventional line, with the road paved with asphalt. But as the track layout changed, this part became a gravel buffer zone. Chen Xiangbei's tires indeed crossed the white line, but not all four wheels went out, meaning it's not a violation.

No one before him attempted the "shortcut" move because gravel significantly damages tires. With the last lap ahead, Chen Xiangbei no longer needed to worry about tire wear, allowing him to take extreme lines!

Mapping out this cutting corner line not only shows driving skill but signifies Chen Xiangbei thoroughly studied Donington Circuit.

Apart from the strategy group with decades of paddock experience like Odetto who witnessed the 94 F1 Grand Prix, many of the strategy group members present might not even knew this extremely niche corner cutting line.

Accomplishing this, even one like Odetto who doesn't care much for lower-tier Formula results, had to admit Chen Xiangbei's championship is indisputable.

Well-deserved!

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