You could probably create something like checkpoints you have to fly through. Maybe even some smaller buoys left and right of the "track", so going "off track" would earn you a penalty and you could create some sharp corners so the race wouldn't simply be "Hold down w" and the ship with the highest top speed would win by default.
I honestly haven't read up on the lore and story behind the sector, but maybe some racing-class ships would make sense, too? You know, expensive, smaller ships that are fast af, used by the sectors elite for leisure runs between systems but don't have any combat abilities to speak of, purely relying on their speed to avoid enemies.
Kinda like the ... was it a "Pegasus"? from X2: Terran Conflict, that could go a kilometer per second but got destroyed by a single hit from a destroyer.
