Sugimoto and Alice got out of the pit and back on the track. Many cars began pitting back into their respective pit lanes for the mandatory pit stop, Kara Fujiwara also pitted after her 8th lap. But it seems Richard Riverson decided to continue his lap, unlike the rest.

  "It looks like the Nissan team has pitted for this lap. Here's your opportunity to take back the lead. Go get her." Ghazali told them.

  Sugimoto's Porshe 911 GT3 R and Alice's BMW M6 GT3 encountered a few slower cars that were a bit behind the grid and hadn't pitted yet. They exited the triple hairpins and began using their drafting strategy on the straights of sector 3.

  "Alright Alice, just remember the plan. Stick to his slipstream and keep up with him. Ghazali told her.

  "Copy that Gaz." Alice told over the radio.

  Alice entered Sugimoto's slipstream and kept pace with him. With the help of the slipstream, Alice and Sugimoto passed by the slower drivers and passed them easily. After a few straights and corners, they finally began approaching the finish line to finish their 8th lap. Suddenly they received a radio transmission from Ghazali.

  "The Gazoo Racing team is about to leave, hurry up and reach the hairpins before she does!" Ghazali told both of them over the radio.

  In the distance, they saw the GTR begin moving out of the pit. Sugimoto and Alice pushed on the gas to get ahead of her. Kara was getting closer to exiting the pit lane while Sugimoto and Alice crossed the finish line into their 9th lap. The cars roared through the straights and the crowds cheered from their stands.

  "Come on, a bit more faster!" Alice muttered to herself.

  As the GTR approaches the straights, Alice and Sugimoto manage to overtake her just in time. Now, Sugimoto is in second place, and Alice is in third. The crew starts celebrating as they pass the Nissan Motorsport team.

  "Gaz we did it!" Alice told Ghazali over the radio.

  "Great work, keep her on track, and don't let her pass you guys." Ghazali told both of them.

  Alice maintained her absolute focus but could feel the pressure on her back as she looked at Kara's GTR in her mirrors. While at the pit stop, the Ferarri finally pitted on its 10th lap and waited for their mandatory 4-minute pit stop.

  "The Ferarri has pitted. Hurry up and catch him as well!" Ghazali told both of them.

  "Copy that, Gaz." Alice told Ghazali.

  As the race continues, a particular trio can be seen in the stands shuffling their way into the spectator stands and taking their seat. They were wearing orange-themed clothing to show their support for Alice.

  "Hey hey, where's Alice's car?" Airi asked them.

  "I don't know, I can't find her car anywhere." Raani told Airi while zooming in with her binoculars.

  "I heard she drove a blue car or something, I don't really know much about cars tho." Aini told them.

  They watched the big screen and saw it switch to different racers until they caught a glimpse of a certain blue car.

  "I think that's Alice's car." Aini told them.

  "How are you sure? There are other blue cars out there." Airi asked her.

  "I think I understand what Aini means." Raani confirms her while zooming her binoculars on the big screen.

  The camera zooms into the driver of the blue car. As they look closer, they see the driver's head is positioned lower than the other drivers.

  "That's our girl." They all muttered awkwardly.

  "Hold on, she's in third place!" Airi told them.

  "Wait is that for real!?" Aini asked her in a surprised tone.

  "Our girl is doing it!" Raani said and began cheering for her.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  They all got up and began cheering for Alice while waving some sign boards.

  Back to the race. Kara is doing her best to overtake Alice, but Alice is defending well against her. Kara managed to get alongside Alice once, but Alice was able to fend her off. Just as they were about to finish their ninth lap, Alice and Sugimoto received another transmission from Ghazali.

  "The Ferrari is leaving the pit, hurry up before he gets passed, you guys!" Ghazali told them over the radio.

  Alice, Sugimoto, and Kara began pushing their pedals to the floor as they reached the finish line. The Ferrari is getting closer to the exit and the car's engine roars while the crowds cheered for them.

  "The Ferrari is out!" Ghazali told them.

  The Ferrari began speeding out of the pit and onto the track. The cars eventually meet up with the Ferrari who is trying to get back on the track. As the Ferrari got beside them, something happened.

  "Alice watch out!" Ghazali screamed at her.

  The Ferrari suddenly turned onto their path trying to enter a gap between Sugimoto and Alice. Alice was behind Sugimoto and had to turn her car to the left and onto the dirt to avoid him. Kara seeing the threat in front swerved to the right and passed them easily.

  "Alice!" The girls from the stand screamed.

  "What the hell man? He just turned into me!" She screamed in frustration.

  Sugimoto maintained his lead, Kara sneaked into 2nd position after overtaking Alice and Richard. Richard after a near collision is now in 3rd position while Alice who managed to recover went down 2 positions and back to 4th. Some of the crew went over to the

  "Ghazali do something about this!" Alice screamed into the microphone.

  "We're on to it Ally" Ghazali said calmly.

  The race continued as the leaders entered the hairpins. Alice is filled with rage and has dangerous thoughts of ramming Richard off the track but remains composed. They exit the hairpins and onto the next sector.

  "Any news Gaz?" Alice asked Ghazali.

  "Still investigating Alice, hold on alright?" Ghazali told her.

  Sugimoto holds his lead as Kara battles him on the straights and Richard follows them closely. Alice slightly behind tries catching up to them. The crowd watches as they see all the cars battle it out with each other on the straights. After exiting the straights, Alice got some news from Ghazali.

  "Bad news, no penalty for Richard again. Keep racing." Ghazali told her hesitantly.

  "What?! How was that not a penalty!" She said in the mic angrily.

  "Doesn't matter now Alice, you gotta keep racing alright?"

  "Unbelievable, just unbelievable." Alice muttered angrily on the radio.

  "I know, just continue racing Alice." Ghazali told her.

  Alice still in disbelief tries to catch up with the pack, but she can feel herself fading from the pact and slowly being left behind. Alice feels lost as she loses time on each corner. She couldn't even focus on the race.

  "Alice you ok? you're losing time!" Ghazali informs her.

  "Ah, sorry." Alice said trying to snap out of it.

  They completed lap 10 and are now onto the last 10 laps in the race. Sugimoto notices she's falling behind and suddenly gives up his position on the straight and drops back letting Kara and Richard pass him. Alice notices it and radios Ghazali.

  "Gaz why is Senpai slowing down? Did his engine fail?" Alice asked worryingly.

  "I don't know... Wait I'm getting a transmission from Sugimoto, hold up." Ghazali hangs up on Alice.

  They entered the double hairpins and there was silence on the radio until they exited the corner.

  "Kid, can you hear me?" Sugimoto asked her on the radio.

  "Senpai you're on the radio? What about Gaz?" Alice asked.

  "Don't worry, he can still hear us, I need you to stick with me alright?" Sugimoto told her.

  Alice looked ahead and saw the 911 waiting for her to follow him.

  "A-Alright Senpai, I'll be stick by you." Alice told him.

  The Porsche accelerates and the BMW follows suit. Alice and Sugimoto apply the drafting technique and enter his slipstream to help her chase the leaders.

  They're a bit behind but with the slipstream effect working as they went on the straights, Alice and Sugimoto shave some time and close the gap between them and the leaders. They continue for a couple of laps until lap 14th where Kara is defending hard against Richard who plays aggressively on the attack.

  "5 seconds behind the leaders, you're gaining on them in each sector. Keep going and chase them down!" Ghazali told them.

  "You're doing good kid, we're almost there." Sugimoto told her.

  "Alright, let's get them Senpai!" Alice told Sugimoto.

  Kara was trying to defend hard until she suddenly made the grave mistake of leaving space on the inside of the chicane and Richard managed to squeeze through the gap making Kara go wide. Alice and Sugimoto got on the chicane a few seconds later where they saw the events happening.

  "Richard is now in the lead!" Ghazali told on the radio.

  As the events unfolded, a live commentary was on the big screen as they zoomed in on Richard's white Ferrari 488 GT3.

  "Richard Riverson has taken the lead in the final 5 laps of the race, looks like it's another victory for the Riversons tho it will be a controversial one at best. But you cannot deny his skills!" The commentator said on a live broadcast.

  A loud cheer can be heard from the stands, the crowd looks in the direction of the loud cheering and it is from the trios who began cheering for Alice.

  "Come on Alice, show that punk what you got!" Raani shouted as loud as she could.

  Airi began pulling something out from her backpack.

  "Airi, what are you doing?" Aini asked her.

  Airi pulls out some orange glowsticks out of her bag.

  "Do you know Wotagei?" Airi asked them while smirking.

  "Yeah!" They both told Airi excitedly.

  As Alice followed closely behind Sugimoto, everything moved in slow motion and she looked towards the big screen and saw a live broadcast of her friends doing the Wotagei dance with orange glowsticks.

  "T-They came?" Alice muttered to herself.

  Alice looks at them in awe but then focuses back on the race. She is feeling a bit more determined and continues racing. Alice began feeling hopeful again.