Al sat around all day Saturday and most of Sunday morning. He was mentally preparing. Yahiko was nuts on the road, so if he drove like that on the downhill, Al might have a problem. Al decided to ask Mei for some advice safely. He couldn't tell him how he knew how Yahiko drove…
Al walked up to Mei as he sat in the kitchen eating some of his homemade noodles. He considered them homemade because he made them in his own microwave. Al looked at his cousin, "Can I ask you for some advice?"
Mei looked up and finished slurping his noodles, "About your race tonight?"
"Yeah, I saw Yahiko driving the other day and he didn't have any trouble over steering."
Mei smiled, "Figures…"
"What figures?"
"He probably was taught the opposite of what his older brother does, that way he could over steer."
"What…?"
"God, let me explain. Mitsubishi's have very similar problems for the most part. For example, the Eclipse has trouble over steering. The 3000GT has trouble under steering. Are we getting somewhere?"
"Yeah, but what about the LanEvo?"
"The LanEvo has rapid acceleration and uses understeer to its advantage, but that's not the point."
"So what's the point?"
"In simple terms, how do you drift?"
"You make the back end slide out and maintain control."
"Exactly, if you can kick the back end out, then all you have to do is keep control. Now, how do you understeer?"
"Front tires take you through the corner instead of the back."
"Good boy. So, if he can keep control with his front because of the understeer and still kick his back end out, then…"
"He has a high level of control because of the front tire grip and he can still let his back end slide, but, that still doesn't explain how he lost front tire traction when entering the corner."
Mei nodded, "You have a point. It could be a result of the force in making the back end slide."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Well, there is one problem I see with that."
"What?"
"His tires would probably wear down pretty fast if he did that…"
"So would that give me the advantage?"
"It depends."
"On what?"
"On whether or not you can pressure him into taking the corners hard, and I mean very hard."
"So how would I do that?"
"Like I said before, trust your instincts."
"Mei!"
"Chill out, I'm saying that you need to figure some of this stuff out on your own."
"But how will I win?"
"It's not about winning and losing, it's about learning."
"Learning?"
Mei stood up and threw his cup of noodles into the trash, "Yup." He grabbed his car keys and then looked back at Al, "I'm going to check up on something, I'll meet you on top of the mountain at 9."
Al nodded and heard the sound of the 32 get farther away. He sat down on the couch and stared at the blank TV screen. What did Mei mean? Al kept thinking about his match until 8:00 came around. Al got dressed and stepped into his Hachiroku. He revved up the engine and made his way up to the top of the mountain. He stopped over next to Nik's FC and Mei's 32. He got out and looked over at the Eclipse which sat next to the 3000GT.
Nik and Al walked over and met them in the middle. Kanryu kept his eyes on Nik the entire time. Nik watched Al as he talked to Yahiko, "So are you ready to race now?"
Yahiko nodded, "You ready to lose like you almost did on Friday?"
Nik looked over at Al with a quizzical eye as Al spoke, "Didn't we already have a discussion about your attitude?"
"Shut up and get in your car so I can beat you and go home."
Al walked away and Nik looked up at Kanryu with a smile, "Kids these days, right?"
Kanryu smiled, "I was just that cocky when I first started out."
"Me too pretty much. That first loss always stuck."
"Yeah, you never feel the same."
"Nope."
Kanryu turned away and walked back over towards his car. Nik walked back over towards the Blak Nite's cars. Al had stepped into his Hachiroku and was waiting for Nik. Al bent down slightly and looked in the unrolled window, "Good luck shorty."
"Don't call me shorty…."
Nik smiled and backed away as Al rolled up his window. He looked over at Mei, "You think he'll win?"
Mei smiled, "You think he's half as crazy as you?"
Nik looked at his taillights as he pulled up to the line, "At least."
"Then yes."
Al pulled up to the line and looked over at Yahiko's car. Yahiko revved up his car as Al did. The power difference could easily be heard. Al centered himself down on the line. He looked up at the first corner. An uphill turn. This is the only corner where Al would be willing to hold back. He would allow him to take the advantage. The driver in front was always under more pressure. That was an easily known fact.
Al watched as a member from the White Lightning team came up to the line. He put his hand up in the air and began counting backwards from 5. Al accelerated once more and then shifted into gear. At one, he laid his foot down on the accelerator and felt his car being pushed forward. He accelerated hard but had little advantage on the uphill climb.
Al held back and let Yahiko take advantage in the corner. Yahiko got the better downhill start. Now it was Al's job to keep with him. Al accelerated through the next corner and shifted up to fourth gear. He was on Yahiko's tail now.
Keep up with him, that's all you have to do…
Al continued to follow him and then they came up on the first hairpin. Al watched him begin his drift at the end of the middle of the turn. Al waited till the end and used the curb weight to send the back end outwards. He was able to keep his speed up by doing this. He ended on Yahiko's tail again. Hopefully these maneuvers would get under his skin….
Maka pulled up in between an 180SX and an S-14. Miki got out and ran over to the rail. Maka smiled and followed her. Miki looked over at her boss as she stood next to her.
"See? This is just what you need, a comfortable drive."
"I'm watching other people drive tonight, remember?"
"Yeah, I know you don't like touge, but thank you for driving me up here!"
"Don't worry; I know what it's like to be in love…"
"Oh, yeah, that Nik guy…"
"How do you know it's Nik?"
"I saw you kiss him the other day."
"So?"
"I have seen you kiss two guys since I started working with you almost two years ago and neither of them like that."
"I was just proving a point…"
"Than why are you blushing?"
"Keep your eyes on the road."
Miki smiled and looked at the road again. Maka covered her red cheeks. Did she love Nik? Well, if she did, she wouldn't mind…
Mei looked over at Nik as they sat against the GT-R's hood, "He made it around the first few good. How do you think he's doing now?"
"It's all about Al's ability to get into Yahiko's head."
Mei picked up the radio that had been loaned to him by some of the members of White Lightning. It was a fuzzy signal but it came through ok, "Third hairpin here, I see the headlights coming down. It looks like the Eclipse is in front but the 86 is on his tail tight. There coming in. Eclipse just whipped out its back end and the Hachiroku held back. Wait, it let it go. The Trueno is no more then a few inches from the Eclipse. They just exited but the Eclipse looked hesitant. The next radio point is at the 15th corner." The transmission cut off.
Mei looked up at Nik with a smile, "Well?"
Nik's look remained serious, "It's still early in the race. Let's wait until the 15th corner…"
Mei sighed and looked over at White Lightning. Kanryu and his other teammates remained calm for the most part. A few of them looked worried. Kanryu's face remained stone cold. He didn't seem phased by any of their actions. He seemed to know as well as Nik, it was early in the race…
Al pushed the car through threw continuous 12th 13th corners. He comfortably made his way around the 14th and headed towards the fifteenth. It was a hard left. Al waited until Yahiko broke before he applied pressure to his own brakes. Al watched Yahiko move around the corner. The tires were forced into alignment by the back end sliding. Yahiko really had to put a lot of force into making the car corner.
Al finished and accelerated after him. Al pushed into fourth gear and continued on his way. The only reason Al was really able to keep with him after the corners was because of the amount of braking he used. He was really trying to drive like his brother, Al could tell. Yahiko was so intent on driving as could as his brother that he mimicked his technique and unfortunately used his brakes too much when he enters the corner.
Al realized something as he took the 18th corner. Because Al taught himself how to drift, he didn't have to mimic his brother's technique. Although his brother's technique was very good, Al still had his own method of driving and that showed him how to handle car's in ways that he understood, not that someone else understood. His technique was his own and not someone else's.
Al followed him through the 5th hairpin and continued down the mountain. The car was reacting comfortably. He passed by the 6th hairpin and he knew how far he was down the mountain. Half way point…
Ok Al, now this is where you kick it up a notch…
Al accelerated harder and pushed hard through the next wide medium corner. This would be one of the few wide corners that were left. When he found a good one, he would pass and remain in the lead. Mei was right. This race was about him learning. He learned enough to win. That was what he had to do in order to win.
"Danm I'm good…"
Al followed him tightly on the corners and noticed how much pressure Yahiko was putting on his front tires. It was limiting his grip on the road. His car slid more easily through the corners but he wasn't ready for it. He ended up having to readjust himself in order to keep on the road. Al pulled along side him when they exited the 7th hairpin.
They passed by the 8th hairpin and they could see the lights at the bottom of the mountain. Al went through another medium corner. The next hard turn was a right where he had a lot of room to pass. Al entered the corner at top speed. He smoothly downshifted from fourth to second and braked into the corner. He felt his back slide and he watched Yahiko go to the outside. Al stayed tight on the inside and accelerated along side of him.
Yahiko braked when he went into the next medium corner while Al fully used the 86's handling ability in third gear. He was able to pull ahead and get in front of him. Yahiko let up off the gas when he saw Al in front of him. Al accelerated around the next corner while Yahiko tried to regain a grip on reality.
Maka and Miki looked up as they saw the head lights come around the corner. Miki could tell they were pop-up lights like on Al's Trueno. She smiled and screamed out, "Go! Go!"
Maka smiled at him as he got closer and closer to the line. They watched as Al passed the line and pulled into the parking lot. Miki ran over to him as he got out of his car. She wrapped her arms around him with a big smile. Maka watched with a smile.
Alex loved the feeling that was his win. It made it even better when Miki wrapped her arms around him. He placed his arms around her too. Al looked into the beautiful blue eyes of the girl he was so affectionate for and asked, "Do you have a cell phone?"
She nodded with a smile on her face and handed him her cell phone. He opened it and dialed up Nik's number. He heard the cell phone click as Nik picked it up. He spoke loudly, "I WON! I WON! I WON!"