Hwang and Zhang share wins in TCR Asia at Buriram
Z.Speed Motorsport’s drivers remain in control of the TCR Asia championship, as Hwang Doyun and Zhang Zhen Dong and their Hyundai Elantra cars shared race wins at Buriram’s Chang International Circuit.
Actually, Zhang had dominated both races, but he was stripped of his win in Race 1 by a penalty, which promoted his Korean teammate Hwang to his maiden TCR victory. Zhang made up with another dominant performance in Race 2 and stretched his leadership in the standings to 19 points over the team’s third man Max Hart who has finished twice on the podium.
Race 1 – Zhang had been fastest in Q2 beating Hwang and Hart; Zhang and Hwang made contact entering into T1 but retained the first and second places, while Benny Santoso hit the back of Hart’s car and dropped to fifth behind Umar Abdullah. During the first lap Santoso spun and Jiang Nan had to steer wide in avoidance. Zhang pulled away building a gap over Hwang who was followed by Hart the back of whose car sported damage following the contact with Santoso.
Halfway through the race, Zhang was notified a 30-second time penalty for jump start, which forced him to push and try to stretch his lead. Eventually he took the chequered flag 6.5 seconds ahead of Hwang and so was dropped to fourth by the penalty, with Hwang the winner from Hart and Abdullah.
Race 2 – Abdullah and Jiang sat on the front row of the reversed grid; four cars were abreast at the start with Abdullah, Jiang, Hart and Zhang fighting for the lead. Hart overtook Abdullah who was then punted into a spin by Zhang. Behind them, Hwang advanced to third ahead of Jiang, while Abdullah had rejoined at the back of the field. Zhang quickly closed the gap to Hart who defended the lead for a couple of laps, but eventually was passed by both Zhang and Hwang on lap 7. The three of them encored the script from Race 1, with Zhang pulling away from Hwang and Hart losing contact, which is the way they finished. Santoso was fourth ahead of Abdullah who had recovered after his early spin. However, Abdullah was dropped one place behind Dypo Fritramadhan by two 5-second penalties for track limit infringements.
TCR Asia will return to Buriram in three weeks, on September 13/15.
Buriram – Race 1
- Hwang Doyun (Z.Speed Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 15 laps
- Max Hart (Z.Speed Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 9.362
- Umar Abdullah (Delta Garage Racing Team, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 16.222
Buriram – Race 2
- Zhang Zhen Dong (Z.Speed Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 15 laps
- Hwang Doyun (Z.Speed Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.691
- Max Hart (Z.Speed Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 10.720
Championship points
- Zhang ZD., 249 pts; 2. M. Hart, 230; 3. Hwang D., 201
Picture: TCR Asia
