The steering wheel felt like it weighed fifty kilograms. Every bump felt like a punch to the ribs.
He crossed the line.
P8. 1:29.8.
[BROADCAST: "Wait, look at the screens! The Arcadia rookie, Leo Kaito, has just jumped into the top ten! A 1:29.8! He was on for a pole-setting lap until he went wide in the final sector. Where has this pace come from? One minute he's locking up and looking lost, the next he's setting purple sectors!"]
"P8, Leo! P8!" Elias was laughing now. "That's a massive improvement. You're only seven-tenths off Rossi now."
Leo slowed down, the wind cooling his gloved hands as he opened his fingers on the straights. He looked at the timing screen on his steering wheel. He wasn't happy.
'Sector 3 is still the weak point,' he thought. 'The setup is a compromise. I'm fast in the air, but slow on the ground.'
