The fight between Shi and Choi decided by Race 2 incident
The title fight for the TCR Chinese Taipei championship between Shi Shiwei and Choi Jeong Weon has culminated in an incident during the series’ sixth round at Lihpao Racing Park.
Choi had claimed pole position and taken a lights-to-flag win in Saturday’s Race 1, but an engine-stall at the start of Race 2 put the Korean driver in the position to recover, and while trying to steal the lead from Shi, he got the worst of a collision and retired.
This helped Shi to even the score at three victories apiece and jump on top of the standings, three points ahead of Choi.
Their ultimate battle will take place in the season finale at Lihpao on November 1/2.
Class B’s points leader Wei Shibin who was due to make his first appearance in a new Honda Civic FL5 was sidelined by technical issues, while Yang Mengqiao withdrew after his Civic FK7 broke down in practice.
Race 1 – Choi had won the pole by 0.174 seconds ahead of Shi; the Korean driver took the lead at the start and pulled away lap after lap, increasing his margin over Shi up to 11.6 seconds under the chequered flag. Joe Chen Junqiao completed the podium and won the C Class, with the B Class winner Wang Jianmin in fourth overall.
Race 2 – Choi and Shi shared the front row of the grid once again, but this time Choi stalled the engine at the start while Shi led from Wang who passed Chen into T1. During the first lap Choi overtook Chen and Wang, moving up to second and in the following lap he halved the 1.3 second gap to the leader. For the next four laps, Choi shadowed Shi, then in lap 7 he attempted an overtaking move. Shi resisted, their cars clashed and buckled for a couple of corners until Choi went off with a broken front left suspension, crashing into the barrier. The safety car was deployed and when racing resumed in lap 11, Shi pulled away easily, winning ahead of Wang who was victorious in Class B. Between the leading pair, Chen kept the charging Edison Huang Xinxiang at bay, beating him by three tenths and thus securing the Class C title.
Race 1
- Choi Jeong Weon (KMSA Motorsport, Hyundai Elantra N), 13 laps
- Shi Shiwei (Fist Team AAI, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 11.609
- Joe Chen Junqiao (Team Pit58, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 50.545
Race 2
- Shi Shiwei (Fist Team AAI, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 13 laps
- Wang Jianmin (Yishun Racing Team, Audi RS 3 LMS SEQ), 4.971
- Joe Chen Junqiao (Team Pit58, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 10.393
Championship points
- Shi S., 68 pts.; 2. Choi J.W., 65; 3. Yang M., 11
Picture: STS Taiwan
