On 12th and 13th May, the Beijing Audi Goldenport Motor Park played host to the opening races of the 2017 China GT Championship. Notable for their performance in last year’s GT3 class, Spirit Z Racing will be taking on the GTC class this year. Renowned Am driver Qin Tianqi will be taking to the tracks behind the wheel of the #99 Audi R8 LMS.

In the first round of races at the Beijing tracks, Qin Tianqi qualified with a time of 01:06.091, putting him third in the group. During the main race, after starting in the second row, Qin Tianqi quickly gained a place, immediately putting him in the race for pole position. However, after facing technical problems, his car was unable to advance further.

In round two, Qin Tianqi raced into pole position in the qualifiers, with a time of 1:05.033. During the main race, set off with every intention of keeping hold of first place, starting to gradually open up his lead over the car behind until he was leading by a wide margin. Despite the fact that there were many situations which would have presented opportunities for opponents to overtake throughout the race, Qin Tianqi calmly held onto his lead. He maintained his advantage all the way to the end of the race by capitalising on Pole to Win, eventually becoming the champion of the round two GTC class race and also earning the title of Audi Challenge Cup champion for this round. Because of this, Spirit Z Racing was also able to lift the team champion’s cup for the second round GTC class race.

At the end of the Beijing race weekend, Spirit Z Racing is sitting pretty in third place in the GTC overall rankings. In the 2016 season, Spirit Z Racing relied on their championship success in the GT3 class to captivate fans. However, with one champion already under their belt so soon after the start of the season, it seems as though they will also be a strong presence in the GTC class. What surprises can we expect from Spirit Z next time?