At 3.15pm at a typically scorching Sepang International Circuit, the 2015 Malaysian MotoGP race, a pivotal encounter in the destiny of that year's world championship, is in its seventh lap.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa leads title protagonist Jorge Lorenzo on his Yamaha, but all eyes are firmly on the battle raging behind.
Points leader and Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi and the second Honda rider, Marc Marquez, are embroiled in a tussle tinged with venom - and it's about to take a dark turn that would come to sour the year.