Car Race

Goal: complete one lap and cross the finish line before your opponent.

• Each car has a horizontal speed vx and a vertical speed vy (integers).
• On your turn you may change each component by at most ±1. You may keep it the same.
• The car moves exactly (vx, vy) cells from its current position.
• If the path goes off the circuit, you crash: lose your turn and speed resets to (0, 0).
• Two cars cannot share the same cell.
• The finish line is the checkered strip at the top-right of the circuit. Cross it from below to win.

Driving tips

• Start slow. Increase speed by 1 per turn. Going too fast makes it hard to brake in time for corners.
• Plan ahead. Reducing vx from 4 to 0 takes at least 4 turns — start braking before the bend.
• Long straights = acceleration. Use them to build speed: change vx or vy by +1 several turns in a row.
• On tight corners, lower speed to the minimum needed to stay on the circuit.
• Blocking. Two cars can't share a cell — position yourself to force your opponent onto a worse line.