The battle for the TCR China title goes down to the wire
The battle for the TCR China title goes down to the wire in the season finale at Macau, where Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang and his Teamwork Motorsport Lynk & Co will be defending a slim one-point lead over the reigning champion Martin Cao Hong Wei at the wheel of the Hyundai N Elantra.
Zhang won the first race in Zhuzhou extending his lead to 12 points over Cao who was second. Then, Zhang stalled at the start of Race 2 and had to work his way through the field to finish fifth, while Cao was second once again after losing the lead to Zhang’s teammate David Zhu Dai Wei. The third contender, Martin Xie Xin Zhe retired in both races and dropped 71 points behind the leader.
Race 1 – Xie started from P7 on the grid and led the TCR China field although he dropped three places behind TCR World Tour competitors. However, in lap 3 he clashed with another car and dropped further to 13th, while Zhang inherited the lead in 11th position overall. Cao, Zhu, Andy Yan Cheuk Wai and David Deng Bao Wei followed behind Xie.
The safety car was deployed in lap 4 to recover Lo Sze Ho’s Hyundai who had stalled after being spun by Lai; racing resumed in lap 7 with Zhang passing Marco Butti for P9, while Xie was first hit by John Filippi and then spun off after colliding with Zhu and being collected by Deng. This resulted in a second intervention of the safety car that lasted until lap 13, while rain intensified. Zhang overtook Ma Qing Hua for ninth and kept on leading, winning from Cao and Yan.
Race 2 – Just like in the first race, Xie was the leader of TCR China after the start, as he was fighting for the fourth position overall. However, during the first lap he made contact with Yann Ehrlacher and then limped to the pits.
His retirement left Cao in the lead for much of the race, but Zhu was able to pass him in lap 15, after he had lost ground following contact at the start.
Zhang, who had stalled the engine at the start rejoining at the back of the field, completed an outstanding recovery and overtook Lo Sze Ho, Rainey He Xiao Le and his own teammate Sunny Wong Yat Shing to claim an important fifth position.
Up front, Zhu took his second win of the season, beating Cao by 1.8 seconds, with Yan third ahead of Wu Yi Fan.
TCR China Challenge – Richard Li Guang Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co) clinched the title in the last race of the season, beating Pany Yi Ming (NKODA HW Racing, Audi) by only one point.
Both races were won by Liu Zhi Chen (326 Racing Team, Audi) who scored the highest number of victories in the season – six – but finished only third in the standings, nine points behind Li whose who had started the first race from the pole but dropped behind Liu on the opening lap. Liu began to pull away from Li, whose teammate Paul Poon Tak Chun was running third. The focus soon became the charge through from Hong Kong movie star Aaron Kwok, who made fast progress after a mid-race safety car climbing from 12th all the way up to third. In Race 2, the front row starters Yang Hao Jie and Pan Yi Ming came together at T1, which allowed Kwok through into the lead. On lap 3, Kwok fell behind the charging Liu, with Poon also passing him for second.
Pan managed to recover from his first corner incident to finish the race in third, but a charge through from Li up to fifth helped him secure the title.
Zhuzhou – Race 1
- Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk&Co 03), 18 laps
- Martin Cao Hong Wei (Hyundai N, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.192
- David Zhu Dai Wei (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk&Co 03N), 9.295
Zhuzhou – Race 2
- David Zhu Dai Wei (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk&Co 03), 18 laps
- Martin Cao Hong Wei (Hyundai N, Hyundai Elantra N), 1.802
- Andy Yan Cheuk Wai (Hyundai N, Hyundai Elantra N), 3.622
Championship points
- J. Zhang Z.Q., 346 pts; 2. M. Cao H.W., 345; 3. M. Xie X.Z., 275
Challenge points
- R. Li G.H., 350 pts; Pan Y.M., 349; 3. Liu Z.C., 241
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
