Max followed the same protocol, the plates being taken off the R33, pulled from front and back- a classic street racer move, especially when speed cameras, ANPR and all sorts could track. Same as back home, so long as you were fast enough, you weren't traceable, Max mused to himself as he took both plates and stowed them in the glovebox, reaching through the passenger door before clambering back into the driver's door, on the wrong side. This was an original Japanese import, and while it had sat in someone's garage for a long time, it had seen a lot of work from Max since he had got it. Not enough, but it was a work in progress, the Brit reminded himself. Good enough to roar, as he turned the key, the six-cylinder barking into life, and putting an instant grin on his face.

Pulling out, the Skyline's turbos whined as he planted his foot, stutering on gearshift, the classic STUTU of the Skyline's straight six and turbo in harmony. Max was in heaven, but he knew he had to focus, aware of the race to come. The Evo in his rearview, he knew this was a race, but it was gonna get pretty real quick, and keeping up the pace was gonna be order of the day. A $1000 was on the line here, and seeing the rest of the cars near the El Camino, he had to admit, that number now made a bit more sense.

Pulling up to the lights, the other cars around were dense in the pack, way more than Max was anticipating. Four on the highway, stationary in the night, with another six behind. Shit, this was pandemonium. Stopping at the lights, Max wondered how the hell it was so quiet here, noticing actually that there were some roadworks signs behind now placed, penning in this road. This was 2 Fast 2 Furious now. No way this was real. Max shrugged, as he looked across, seeing a souped up old-school Eclipse, a 350Z, Kaitlyn's Evo, a BMW E92 M3, a customised Foxbody Mustang, and a Porsche 911 Carrera to boot among the group, an impressive set of relatively evenly matched cars. Not perfect, but close enough to keep things interesting, Max thought to himself, as he got a knock on his window.
"Phone?" Max heard, as he saw the girl bring up a number, a link on whatsapp with a QR code. Scanning it, Max's phone bleeped, going straight back to a mapping application, as he hung it in his dash. Classic street race setup. Given nobody was 100% a local here, a point to point didn't work. Instead, the map planned itself out, sprawling across LA to a destination in the south, a long-distance yet high speed route on the freeway, then back into the streets of Long Beach- finishing right on the coast. A nice route, Max thought to himself, as he nodded, giving a thumbs up, the girl moving onto the next. Exhaling, Max looked across to Kaitlyn, with only a look that it was good to be racing her...but he was walking away with that dough tonight.