Hiroshibashi and Arai continue to fight for the lead, but Arai gets the upper hand. He says that he's going to keep the lead as long as he can, and he doesn't want to let Hiroshi pass him just yet. He knows that Hiroshi is going to catch up to him, so he'll just use the slower riders as a buffer. Hiroshi says that the other riders are still racing, and that's why they're catching him. He's not going anywhere, though, because he has the lead. As Hiroshi gets ready to go, he realizes that his tires are starting to wear out faster than he expected. He thinks that this is part of Arai's plan to wear them out, but he still has two hours before the scheduled pit stop. He apologizes for not being able to catch Hiroshi on the same lap, but Hiroshi points out that the timing of the pit stop is up to Hiroshi, and it's possible that it might rain.