With the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix just over, people around Miss Loi are apparently still in a “Fast ‘n’ Furious” mood.
So it didn’t seem coincidental at all when Miss Loi got a call from her tiong chia (ala car modification) cousin from KL (Kuala Lumpur).
Oi Leng Lui! 这个礼拜雪邦那里有的去赛车。一起去要不要？几够力一下喔！
translated: “Hey Miss Loi! There’s an auto racing track day at Sepang this week. Shall we go together? Should be fun!”
Not passing up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to test out her car’s new intake, exhaust, rims and brake pads, and recognizing there’s NO WAY test them (legally) on Singapore’s roads (nope not even on Singapore’s F1 ‘track’), she quickly agreed and headed to meet her cousin 280 km away at the next-nearest official F1 track – the world-famous Sepang International Circuit!
Where several kilometres of 15 scintillating turns lie in wait to challenge the boldest of all Ah Beng tiong chia kias and racer wannabes.
Sepang Internation Circuit (Ooh yeah!)
She soon found herself wandering along the pit area, where her senses were quickly overloaded as she came face-to-face with rare exotic sports cars of all shapes and sizes (and engine loudness).
Cars like these Sleek Lotuses …
The ubiquitous Honda Type Rs with their special R-Formula…
Porsches …
And even a flamin’ Lamborghini!
But when she got to these two fierce-looking WRXs however, a familiar voice boomed out across the pits, to her horror …
Twin Mean WRXs
Miss Loi! What are you doing here?!!!
It was her Japanese Project A bosses – the Takahashi Brothers!
How … how come the both of you are here? Where are your RX-7s???
Speaking through a translator who was present with them,
pleaded a desperate Miss Loi, upon which younger brother Keisuke whispered something in Ryôsuke’s ear.
Miss Loi had no choice. And thus without further ado, they hopped into their respective cars, donned their helmets …
Filled the afternoon air with eager roars of their engines as they lined up and revved in anticipation …
Gentle(wo)men, Start Your Engines!
… of a race where no Sexy Maths Tutor had raced before.
BATTLE STAGE!
Predictably, the Takahashi Brothers pulled ahead right from the start, leaving Miss Loi trailing in their smoke as the monster WRXs disappeared swiftly into the distance.
To make matters worse, other cars were also zooming past her left, right and centre throughout the next couple of laps – as if she wasn’t there:
It was over before it even began, and a disconsolate Miss Loi limped her car around the track – resigned to whatever inhumane punishment that awaits her when she gets back to Singapore.
不是吧？Leng Lui 这么快就放弃了？你经常跟我说你怎么教你学生在考试里就算题目多么难也不得放弃！一定要尽力做下去。拿几分也好过交白卷！
translated: “Miss Loi are you giving up?! I thought you always teach your students NEVER GIVE UP no matter how difficult the questions in the exam appear to be? It’s better to score a few marks than hand up a blank piece of paper!”
It was her KL cousin speaking to her from the walkie talkie, having driven alongside her car on the track.
跟我来！让我这个大马车神教教你！
translated: “Follow me! And learn from the Car God of Malaysia!”
And so in what was an intensive Last-Minute Buddha Foot Hugging Jφss Sticks Session on track driving, Miss Loi followed her cousin’s car around the track, listening carefully and trying her utmost to follow his instructions that was bellowed through the walkie-talkie set.
After several hair-raising incidents when she doubted if she’ll ever make it back to Singapore to conduct her own Jφss Sticks Sessions, Miss Loi slowly but surely gained a measure of control of her car – like a rider taming a wild horse.
Soon she was feeling at one with the machine, flying through the track at speeds unheard of on Singapore’s roads (at least to her), emboldened by the comforting fact that there WON’T be a traffic police car lurking around the next bend, or a sneaky traffic warden snapping away behind some bushes.
Meanwhile the Takahashi Brothers, being many miles and laps ahead of her and confident that victory was in the bag, began to ease off and turned part of their attention to discuss (through their walkie-talkies) what punishment Miss Loi should receive when they get back to Singapore …
At this juncture, the Takahashi Brothers are lapping at a leisurely pace of 4 minutes per lap. They are 10 laps ahead of Miss Loi and are side by side with Miss Loi at the start of a new lap.
The following is Miss Loi’s speed-time graph for a single lap (Note: all acceleration and deceleration are linear, and readings are to be read off to the nearest half graphical unit):
Miss Loi's Sepang Speed-Time Graph (click to enlarge)
Assuming that the Takahashi Brothers’ and Miss Loi’s respective lap times remain unchanged for all laps henceforth, use the appropriate information from the graph to determine if Miss Loi is able to overtake the brothers if there are 90 minutes left before the track closes.
* Readers should be aware that some parts of this story are entirely fictitious, especially that speed-time graph! 😀
