Less than ten seconds into the race, a four-car collision occurred at the Water Puddle Bend, prompting the organizers to deploy the safety car immediately.

"East Ocean certainly lives up to being Asia's most dangerous race. A four-car collision right at the start, but from the broadcast footage, it looked like a minor rear-end collision, so it should be cleared up quickly and the race resumed."

"There was also an incredibly exciting overtaking scene just now. P2 driver Motana and P3 driver Kokumoto Keiyo both overtook pole sitter Chen Xiangbei to take the top two positions."

"It seems my previous concerns have come true; Chen Xiangbei's strategy of starting with medium tires can't compete with the opponents' grip advantage with soft tires. He'll face continuous attacks from rear drivers in the first few laps and might even lose some positions."

Commentator Li Bing already guessed from the broadcast directed at the stands that many live audiences can't accept Chen Xiangbei being overtaken repeatedly.

He can only use his professional knowledge to explain that medium tire grip is not as good as soft tires, which puts him at a significant disadvantage at the start. He also gives the audience a heads-up: Before the peak grip between the soft and medium tires shifts, Chen Xiangbei will remain in a defensive position and might not even maintain third place!

Accidents at the East Bay Circuit are normal for drivers; their attention is mostly focused on their rivals.

Especially for Motana and Kokumoto Keiyo at the top row, they are the last drivers wishing for the safety car to be deployed.

Because once the safety car is deployed to slow down the cars, it means Chen Xiangbei gets an extra lap of "warming up tires," ensuring that his tire temperature will reach optimal working conditions for the dynamic start.

This is the nature of the race strategy; teams stopping for a pit gamble that a safety car will be deployed midway, shortening their pit window time, and perhaps even conveniently getting a free tire change.

But for Chen Xiangbei, the accident at the start benefited him greatly, as it means more time to raise tire temperature and not have the front car pull away!

After one lap, the damaged cars and debris have been swiftly cleared by the race organizers' staff. The eyes of the front-row drivers are locked on the safety car, awaiting its withdrawal to end the slow pace.

As the safety car turns into the pit lane, Motana hits the accelerator to speed up, trying to use the time difference in reaction speed to shake off Kokumoto Keiyo and Chen Xiangbei behind him!

It's important to know that for Motana, the threat posed by reigning champion Kokumoto Keiyo is not much less than that of the Chinese Kid, Chen Xiangbei.

The best outcome is to have Kokumoto Keiyo and Chen Xiangbei fight each other, allowing him to reap the benefits!

Compared to Renault's junior race cars, F3 racing has more powerful torque aside from the differences in performance and aero packages, and the gearbox response time is improved.

This change allows the race car to respond faster at the start and during low-speed phases.

The subtle differences in reaction speed and control maneuvers result in vastly different acceleration outcomes.

Motana's idea was good; Kokumoto Keiyo's control had no issues either.

But this lap's dynamic start by Chen Xiangbei is no longer like the static start of the previous stage, where team instructions forced him to lower RPM and torque, preventing him from performing at full power.

This moment, he wants Motana and Kokumoto Keiyo to understand how fast and terrifying he is when starting at full speed!

The roar of the engine echoed across the sky, and Chen Xiangbei stepped on the gas crazily to shift gears, keeping the engine's RPM at its maximum power output value. Car No. 13 looked like a rocket launching straight to the inside of Kokumoto Keiyo's car.

[Speeding up this fast?]

Looking at his car's left side, where Chen Xiangbei's No. 13 car's front wing appeared, Kokumoto Keiyo's face displayed sheer shock.

Being the second youngest champion driver in the history of the East Bay Circuit, his skill and talent are beyond question, and his familiarity with the track and cars far exceeds newbies like Chen Xiangbei.

To be truthful, Kokumoto Keiyo thought his dynamic start control had no problems, his focus was high, and reactions were quick. This was evident in the consistent distance with Motana; the two cars didn't create a gap.

But how did Chen Xiangbei manage for medium tires to be faster than red tires, with him having no errors?

The only possibility Kokumoto Keiyo thought of was that Chen Xiangbei accelerated early before the safety car withdrew!

But now, facing the urgent situation of being overtaken, Kokumoto Keiyo had no time to report to the team, so he could only crazily shift up and speed up, trying to use the peak grip advantage of his red tires to brake late and shoot into the corner to hold his position.

But this time, Chen Xiangbei wouldn't give him the opportunity to overtake from the outside.

He directly ignored Odetto's advice on tire preservation strategies, firmly defended the inside and entered the corner alongside Kokumoto Keiyo, braking only when approaching the corner apex to speed through.

Though neither car reached an exaggerated speed of two or three hundred km/h, the entry speed still exceeded 150 km/h, and braking only at the corner apex meant the braking distance was clearly insufficient.

The two cars inevitably exhibited a sliding phenomenon, but compared to Kokumoto Keiyo on the outside, Chen Xiangbei on the inside had more tangential buffer space.

A dull "bang" sounded, and Kokumoto Keiyo's car's side slammed into the barrier, while Chen Xiangbei had already overtaken Kokumoto Keiyo's car No. 1, yet under inertia and lateral G-force effects, his car also slid toward the barrier.

But when only three centimeters remained to the track's edge, Chen Xiangbei's car No. 13 stopped sliding, completing a tangent maneuver through the corner by edge passing.

Looking at Kokumoto Keiyo's car, which had side box damage and was being left farther behind, Chen Xiangbei's face showed a mocking smile.

[Overtake on the outside?]

The same trick, you'd better not use it twice on me!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.