TCR China title fight is a family affair between Zhu and Zhang
The battle for TCR China title has become a family affair between Lynk & Co Teamwork Motorsport fellow drivers David Zhu Dai Wei and Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang. In fact, Z.Speed’s decision not to enter Zhang Zhen Dong and his Hyundai Elantra in the Shanghai event has deprived the championship of the only competitor for the Teamwork duo. In any case, the Lynk & Co cars have showed a clean supremacy filling the Race 2 podium, with Paul Poon Tak Chun in third. It could have been a spotless event for Zhu and Zhang, should a fratricidal collision in Race 1 hadn’t presented David Deng Bao Wei’s MacPro Racing Honda with an unexpected win.
Zhu and Zhang are now split by 24 points while heading for the season finale at Zhuzhou on October 31/November 2.
Liu Zi Chen has secured the TCR China Challenge title. He took a comfortable win in Race 1 at the wheel of his 326 Racing Audi; then he was third in Race 2 and, thanks to the penalty inflicted to Sun Ju Ran, stretched his lead to 101 points over Sun when 90 are still at stake.
Race 1 – Zhu had set the pole beating Richard Li Guang Hua by two tenths; Deng’s Honda was in P3 disrupting a quartet of Lynk & Co cars, with Zhang and Poon in fourth and fifth. Zhu was slow at the start, Li and Deng led the field, while Zhang passed Zhu for P3 in the first lap. Zhang advanced another place, passing Deng for second, then in lap 3, Deng was also passed by Zhu. Immediately afterwards, Li made a mistake, lost the lead and dropped to sixth, while Zhang and Zhu began to pull away. The field was repacked by the safety car in lap 4, to recover Tang Zi Hao’s Hyundai that stopped on track. Racing resumed in lap 7, and disaster struck Lynk & Co, as Zhu tried to pass Zhang for the lead, but they collided. Zhang spun and rejoined at the back, while Zhu dropped to third behind Deng and Poon. In the same lap, Li made another mistake and dropped from fourth to sixth. In lap 9, Zhu overtook Poon to recover the second place, but he wasn’t able to catch Deng who scored his maiden win. Behind the leading trio, Wu Yi Fan made a mistake and lost P4 dropping behind Sunny Wong Yat Shing and Li with the latter passing Wong for fourth. As for Zhang, he recovered to 10th, two places behind Liu Zi Chen who took another victory in the TCR China Challenge.
Race 2 – Huang Ying and Liu shared the front row of the reversed grid. Liu took the lead at the start, but he was passed by Hu Heng in the first lap, while Zhang and Zhu who had started from P8 and P10 were already elbowing their way through the field. They both muscled past Liu who dropped to 11th; in lap 2, Zhang stole the lead from Huang who was passed by Zhu in lap 4. Two laps later, the safety car was deployed to recover Gao Ya Ou’s CUPRA that had stopped on track following a collision with Liu Hong Zhi’s Hyundai. When racing resumed in lap 8, Zhang and Zhu resumed their battle for the lead, while Poon and Deng overtook Huang advancing to P3 and P4. The safety car was called again in lap 11, after Tang’s Hyundai had stopped with a flat front tyre. The green flag was waved for the last lap, and Zhang kept Zhu at bay for his third win of the season, while Poon completed an all-Lynk & Co podium. In TCR China Challenge William Cheung Wang Chi claimed his maiden win at the wheel of his Team TCR Honda Civic, the Spark Racing Honda of Sun Ju Ran finished a close second but was later demoted to fourth by a ten-second penalty for a grid infringement.
Race 1
- Deng Bao Wei (MacPro Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 13 laps
- David Zhu Dai Wei (Lynk & Co Teamwork, Lynk & Co 03), 1.852
- Paul Poon Tak Chun (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 6.336
Race 2
- Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang (Lynk & Co Teamwork, Lynk & Co 03), 13 laps
- David Zhu Dai Wei (Lynk & Co Teamwork, Lynk & Co 03), 0.629
- Paul Poon Tak Chun (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 3.614
Championship points
- D. Zhu D.W., 381; 2. Zhang Z.D., 357; 3. Zhang Z.D., 297.
Challenge points
- Liu Z.C., 368 pts; 2. Sun Y.R., 267; 3. S. Chang C.S., 212
Picture: TCR China
