Alice drove another lap slowly around the circuit for a cooldown lap. She felt a wave of relief and excitement. Alice saw Richard's car passing her, then turned to her side and saw Sugimoto giving her the thumbs up as he drove past her.
"Great job kid, see you at the pits." Sugimoto told Alice on the radio.
She drove back to the pits where the drivers parked their cars into their current positions and Alice parked in the middle between the two. She got out of her car and was immediately swarmed by her pit crew who began tossing her in the air. Ghazali stood by Sugimoto and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Great work Sugi, I can't believe we got first and second, I can't wait to see the manager's reaction right now!" Ghazali told Sugimoto.
"Actually, there's no need to wait, Gaz." Sugimoto told Ghazali.
Sugimoto points to the TV on the wall. A live broadcast shows the manager crying while a group of girls comfort him.
"Looks like a fan in the crowd is crying tears of joy, he must be a huge fan of the team." The commentators said.
The pit crew put her down and began congratulating her. Alice finally got through them and moved towards Sugimoto and Ghazali.
"Congratulations Senpai on second place, thanks Ghazali for the assistance!" Alice told them.
"No problem Alice, I'm happy to help you guys." Ghazali told her.
Suddenly Sugimoto gave her the hardest head pat of her life.
"Ouch, senpai what's wrong with you!" She told while being head patted.
"You really surprised me this time kid. I can't believe you actually overtook me there you little rascal." Sugimoto teased her.
Alice pushed his hands away and gave him a soft punch.
"That hurts you know!" Alice said to him and pouted.
"Haha sorry sorry." Sugimoto said apologetically.
"Accepted, I still can't believe I managed to win!" Alice told them still in disbelief.
As all the other drivers finished the race, the stewards began working together and checking if there were any penalties that the drivers had received throughout the race. Then, they began announcing the results
"After a thorough review, we would like to announce the ROA Cup Round 1 Champion is... Number 430, Alice Shah of Akinabalu Motorsports!" The announcer told them via the speaker.
Alice jumped with joy as she heard the news. Many racers went to Alice and began congratulating her for her achievement. As the others finished congratulating them, Kara went over to them.
"Congratulations Alice on your first win in the ROA Cup." Kara told Alice.
"Thanks, Kara! I'm sad that you had to settle for 4th place. You were so closed!" Alice told her.
"Yeah, I kinda got too into the moment and ended up on the grass. At least 4th position is still good enough for me." Kara told her.
Sugimoto stands there seeing them interact with each other. Sugimoto waited for her to congratulate him but was ignored. He began coughing a bit to get her attention.
"What is it Asashi?" Kara asked him.
"Aren't you forgetting someone else?" Sugimoto asked her.
"Forgetting what?" Kara asked in a confused tone.
"Never mind." Sugimoto told her while looking away.
"Come on Asashi you know I'm kidding, you did great. But you've definitely passed your peak." Kara said teasingly.
