Martin Xie and David Zhu win action-packed races in Shanghai
Martin Xie Xin Zhe in his MacPro Racing Honda Civic and David Zhu Dai Wei in one of the Teamwork Motorsport Lynk & Co 03 cars have won a pair of incident-filled races at the Shanghai International Circuit, with six safety cars deployed over the course of the two 13-lap races.
Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang still leads the standings by two points over Martin Cao Hong Wei; David Zhu and Martin Xie are third and fourth with gaps of three and six points respectively.
Race 1 - Xie had claimed pole position, and led at the start, while Jason Zhang got around the outside of Zhang Hong Yu to claim second. The Audi of Wu Yi Fan was spun and stopped on the opening lap, causing the first safety car. It was just three laps before the safety car was out again when the Lynk & Co of Juan Carlos Zhu Hu An stopped on the circuit with an engine problem.
There was a short restart on lap 7 before the race was halted again when the Honda of Victor Chan Chun Leung stopped at Turn 1. Before the safety car had come out, David Zhu had grabbed third from Zhang Hong Yu, which is how the race would finish, as the restart for a one-lap sprint finished with Xie beating Jason Zhang by less than one second and David Zhu completing the podium.
Race 2 - The two Hyundai cars of Andy Yan Cheuk Wai and Cao started from the front row, ahead of Henry Ho Wai Kun who had a bad launch and was passed by three Lynk & Co cars, while Cao and Yan led the way. Zhang Hong Yu spun at the exit of T2 and caused the first safety car. On the restart on lap 3, Juan Carlos Zhu overtook Yan for second, but the latter retook the position one lap later. The two made side-to-side contact and both spun off into the barriers, causing the second safety car, with Yan out of the race and Zhu returning to the pits. Cao was now leading ahead of David Zhu and Jason Zhang. Lo Sze Ho overtook Zhang at the restart for P3, while Zhu took the lead from Cao at the hairpin. Then Zhang reclaimed third from Lo on lap 8.
The final safety car was deployed when Paul Poon Tak Chun and Victor Chan collided at T14. At the final restart, Lo tried to reclaim third from Zhang, but they clashed, and Lo went off. Up front, Zhu pulled three seconds on Cao and won the race, while Ho was able to pass Zhang for third on the final lap.
TCR China Challenge - Pan Yi Ming (NKODA HW Racing, Audi) won the first race by just under a second ahead of Liu Zi Chen (326 Racing Team, Audi), while Wu Jiu Cheng (SRC Team, Audi) was classed as the winner of Race 2 following a time penalty handed to the initial race winner Huang Ying (Pingtan Racing Team, Hyundai Elantra), who was punished for having spun out the race leader Richard Li Guang Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co) on lap 4.
Both series will resume at Zhejiang International Circuit in August.
Shanghai – Race 1
- Martin Xie Xin Zhe (MacPro Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 13 laps
- Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk&Co 03), 0.970
- David Zhu Dai Wei (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk&Co 03), 1.564
Shanghai – Race 2
- David Zhu Dai Wei (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk&Co 03), 13 laps
- Martin Cao Hong Wei (Hyundai N, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.670
- Henry Ho Wai Kun (MacPro Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 9.562
Championship points
- J. Zhang, 132 pts; 2. M. Cao., 130; 3. D. Zhu, 129
Challenge points
- Liu Zi Chen, 130 pts; 2. R. Li, 123; 3. Pan Yi Ming, 97
Picture: TCR China
