After playing a bit more with it, I think the controls can be worked with and it's fun to drive, however you do need to start decelerating before a turn. That's why some way for the player to know about the upcoming turns would be quite useful, could be a bit of UI or just a more zoomed out camera. The idea of trying to stay close to the yellow car to get the most score is a quite interesting take on the theme, and changes the goal from being the fastest to joining together with another car, I like it!