Mandai Road, the race continuesÂ…
“I’ve got to go faster!” mumbled Justin to himself as the FireBlade tore down the stretch of straight road. Approaching a left corner, Donny downshifted to 3rd, applied the brakes, and took a wide corner.
Diving into the corner, Justin took a narrower than before line and exited at a high speed.
“Damn!” cursed Donny as he nearly under- steered at the following right curve. He had missed the guardrails by mere inches!
Soon, another straightaway appeared.
“Good! I’m sick of these corners!” Donny said and twisted the throttle hard.
“Blaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!VROOM!” The FireBlade unleashed its raw power and pulled away from the pursuing SP.
“I can’t beat him on the straights!” thought Justin anxiously as he engaged his higher gear. “What is Donny’s weakness?”
Suddenly, an old advice by Johnson came to his mindÂ…..
May 15 2000, Kallang stadium, SMSA Cub Prix
“Vroom!!!!” the Honda wave rider dived into the corner and exited at amazing speed!
“Rider number 7, Alan “Advante ”Lim had just set a new time attack record!” yelled the commentator enthusiastically.
“bravo! Bravo!!!” cheered the spectators wildly.
“wow! I don’t believe this! How could such a weak bike go so fast?” questioned Justin as he witnessed Alan collecting his trophy at the podium.
“It’s all in the rider’s techinique, Justin!” smiled Johnson as he pointed to a corner at the carpark’s race track. “Only an amateur goes fast on the straightaways! A rider with a more powerful bike will sure win at a straight road. However, a true racer defeats his opponents in the corners, in spite of having an inferior bike! The rider, who is faster in the corners, decides the outcome of the race! “
“Ergmmm!”
The sound of Donny engine braking interrupted JustinÂ’s train of thought.
Looking in front, he saw Donny slowing down to take the sharp corner.
“That’s it!” realized Justin “the way to beat the FireBlade is to take the corners much faster than Donny!”
Picking up speed, Justin charged towards the hairpin at 100km/h!
“Is he crazy? He is not going to make it at that speed!” commented a spectator as he stared at the daredevil.
At the very last moment, Justin downshifted rapidly to 2nd and pulled the brakes. A loud roar is heard from the SP as the bike was forced into a sudden deceleration. Banking low, Justin took a narrow line across the corner! He had exited the corner faster than Donny!
“What the….” Donny glanced into his side mirror and saw the SP closing the gap! Picking up speed, Donny charged towards the next corner, brake 3 meters before the entrance and carved through the corner.
Using the same technique as before, Justin took the corner recklessly and in the flash of an eye, was right behind Donny!
“This can’t be happening!” fumed Donny “How could a piece of trash like the SP keep up with my FireBlade? “
Spotting the straightaway ahead, Donny shifted to a higher gear and pulled away from the SP! Keeping his hand on the throttle, Justin maintained 120km/h and pursued the FireBlade!
The 2 riders are approaching the deadly S-Curve of Mandai Road!
Kicking down to 2nd, Donny braked hard, banked the bike to the right and seconds later shifted his weight to the left, clearing the S-Curve dangerously.
“Ha! The SP probably is lagging behind now!” thought Donny smugly.
ThereÂ’s no way that a small CC bike like the SP could out-run a FireBlade after such a severe deceleration.
Donny smiled and took a peek at his side mirror.
The SP is no where in sight! Donny was stunnedÂ…he could still hear the engine of the SP! Could it beÂ…
Donny turned his head to the leftÂ…
“What?!!! No F*cking way!!!!!!” screamed Donny.
The SP was right next to him!
Unknown to Donny, Justin had taken a gamble at the S-curve.
Instead of using his “late braking technique”, Justin did not slow down for the S-Curve at all!
Using the SPÂ’s advantage of lightweight, Justin charged into the corner at full speed, leaning the bike till his knees nearly scraped the road!
Within seconds, Justin had overtaken the FireBlade and is nearing the Shell Station!
One final corner to go, before the last straightaway!
“You may have beaten me in the corners, but don’t forget that I’m riding a FireBlade! If we were to accelerate side by side, I am sure to smoke you! Feel the power of my 1000 cc engine! “
Donny twisted the throttle and is fast decreasing the gap between him and the SP!
Meanwhile at the Shell Petrol KioskÂ….
“Thank you, please come again!” smiled the pump attendant as an Airtrek Turbo rolled out of the station.
“Yawn…what a tiring day at work,” yawned the sleepy driver, Heng. “ I can’t wait to go home and have a good rest!”
“Vrrooooooooooom!!! Vroooooooooooooooooom!!! EEEEEEEEEEK!!!”
Out of nowhere, 2 speeding motorcycles shot past Heng, causing her to perform an emergency brake! Heng wound down the AirtrekÂ’s driver side window and shook her fist furiously.
Heng: “You are lucky I’ve learnt defensive driving, you young hooligans!”
This is it! The final corner!!
“I mustn’t let him get the inside line!” thought Donny as he overtook Justin and blocked his path. To his surprise, Justin did not attempt to take the inside but instead, took the outside line!
Donny: “Ha! There’s no way you can overtake me now!”
“Errrgggg….VROOM!!!!” both riders braked hard and leaned into the nearly 90 degrees left turn!
“Holy shi….” Donny swore. There’s a puddle of petrol on the road in front of him!
Unable to avoid it, DonnyÂ’s tires lost traction upon contact with the liquid and began to slide sideways!
Calmly, Justin swerved the bike to the right and avoided the out-of-control Fireblade by inches!
A loud “thud!” could be heard behind Justin as Donny fell to the ground along with the FireBlade.
“My arm...my armmmmmmm!!!!” howled Donny in agony as he clutched his arm tightly.
Twisting the throttle to the maximum, JustinÂ’s SP shot forward in a sudden burst of speed and crossed the finish line victorious!
“Yay!” cheered Henry as he rushed forward to congratulate his friend.
2 Kuntong Riders rode towards Donny to check on him while the others stormed towards Justin angrily.
Before they could reach him, Ralf and the rest of the SLK Bikers appeared and stood in between them and Justin.
“Well, I’m sure we all know who’s the better racer now!” smirked Ralf as he folded his arms.
A Kuntong biker was about to hit Ralf when Kelvin stopped him.
Kelvin: “Forget it, let’s go!”
Kuntong Biker: “But Kelvin….”
Kelvin: “Shut up! I said let’s go!”
Kelvin wasn’t afraid of the SLK Bikers; in fact, he wanted to leave as he did not wished to lose face by starting a fight with a rival gang upon losing a race…right in front of the SLK Bikers who might think that they are “sore losers” !
At once, all the Kuntong bikers got to their bikes and left the scene promptly. Donny was riding pillion with Kelvin.
“Well, show’s over boys! Let’s go home!” announced Ralf as he started the engine of his SuperFour. 3 minutes later, a stream of motorcycles is seen leaving Mandai Road.
“I’ll get you one day, Justin!” smiled Ralf as he rode off into the night. “Just you wait… “
The roar of the SuperFour faded off into the distanceÂ….
(to be continuedÂ…..)
mi 24slk inside ur story then me no cameo. lol.
, take me as an onlooker. 
