The rainy and capricious Zhuhai summer has created excitement and challenges for Race 3 of the Zhuhai race weekend. The races in all classes were full of surprises: incredible overtakes, spins and crashes, and disappointment and joy. In the end, the pair of Wang Liang and Martin Rump of Kings Racing snatched top spot for the GT3 Class while Martin Ragginger and Bao Jinlong of FAW T2M and Marchy Lee and Alex Au of Audi Hong Kong took second and third. In GTC, the top three finishers are Huang Hsi Chan of D2 Racing, Xu Wei and Ling Kang of Xtreme Motorsport and Yang Yuan of Kings Racing. The Winning Team’s winning combo Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre continued their incredible winning streak and scored victory in GT4, and ZIA FEA’s Zhang Dongqi/Yin Jinge, and Yang Zhiyi/Ma QInghua finished 2-3.
The changing track condition as a result of the weather has put the teams to test. These two Saturday races have witnessed many accidents, which brought out the Safety Car and eventually, the red flag.
GT3
Zhuhai’s changing weather has sparked excitement and a close fight throughout the race. Adderly Fong oVutthikorn Inthraphuvasak in the #88 Bentley Continental GT3 set the fastest lap time of 01:35.490 under dry conditions, whereas the Max Wiser and Huang Chuhan of TSRT Racing also completely an impressive lap with a time of 01:38.313 in the wet. Marchy Lee and Alex Au’s Audi R8 LMS had a good start while the Wiser/Huang pairing overtook two cars to third after the restart.
Just a few laps in, TSRT’s Wiser/Huang quickly climbed to the top with steady pace.
The Safety Car came out in lap 5, and saw King’s Xu Jia going up to P2 despite carrying a 50kg success ballast.
The rain really started to pour as pit window opens, creating an opportunity for the cars that pitted late to change to a full set of wets. This saw Kings Racing’s Wang Liang and China GT rookie Martin Rump taking the lead.
The race came to an abrupt end when the red flag was shown after an accident on the track at the 48th minute mark. The #8 Audi R8 LMS of Wang Liang and Martin Rump of Kings Racing took their first China GT victory while FAW T2M’s Martin Ragginger and Bao Jinlong and Audi Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee and Alex Au finished on the podium.
Finishing on points from fourth to tenth are: Xu Jia for Kings Racing, Max Wiser and Huang Chuhan for TSRT Tianshi Racing, Chris van der Drift and Li Chao for JRM JiaRui – Teng Da, Eric Lo and Melvin Moh for Audi Hong Kong, Adderly Fong and Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak for Bentley Team Absolute, H.G. and Alexandre Imperatori for Hard Memory Bentley Team Absolute, and Morris Chen and Marco Seefried for FAW T2M. Race 3’s team winner is Kings Racing.
Macau F3 Grand Prix winner and Spirit Z Racing’s André Couto spun and crashed out of Turn 6, resulting in a hairline fracture in the L1 vertebra in the spine. Couto has been transported to Hong Kong immediately for surgery and is expecting a long recovery.
GT Asia Presented by China GT
1st: Marchy Lee and Alex Au, Audi Hong Kong
2nd: Chris van der Drift and Li Chao, JRM JiaRui – Teng Da
3rd: Eric Lo and Melvin Moh, Audi Hong Kong
GTC
Despite heavy downpour in the morning, the tracks already started to dry up so all teams put on their Pirelli slicks for the formation lap. Pole sitter Chen Wei’an and Jiao Peng in #888 for TSRT Racing maintained the lead into Turn 1, while D2 Racing’s Huang His Chan, driving solo, quickly leapt into P2 after starting in fourth. However, the most exciting moment came when Kimi Qin of Spirit Z Racing eventually overtook all the front-runners into P1 after starting on the fourth row.
An incident in lap 7 brought out the red flag. The race was stopped.
The unexpected yet inevitable downpour came just after the race restarted, catching most teams by surprise as they were still fitted with the earlier slick tyres. Then came the spins and accidents, and the race prematurely ended with just over 50% of the race completed.
In the end, Huang Hsi Chan of D2 Racing took home his second 2017 China GT victory in GTC Class. Xu Wei and Ling Kang of Xtreme Motorsports, and Yang Yuan of Kings Racing took second and third.
From fourth to thirteenth are: Suttiluck Buncharoen for True Visions, Lu Zhiwei for DMS, Andrew Tang and Pan Chao for JRM JiaRui – TengDa, Li Xuefeng for JRM Elite, Wang Tao and Shang Lei for JRM Force China, Deng Hui and Zhang Dasheng for JRM Elite, Bian Hao and Will Bamber for JRM Force China, Yuan Tingting for LEO 109, Kimi Qin for Spirit Z Racing, and Chen Wei’an and Jiao Peng for TSRT Racing.
Huang His Chan’s victory also gave D2 Racing a team win for GTC Class.
Porsche GT3 Cup China Trophy presented by China GT
1st: Lu Zhiwei, DMS
2nd: Pan Chao and Andrew Tang, JRM JiaRui – TengDa
3rd: Li Xuefeng, JRM Elite
China GT Audi Challenge
1st: Yuan Tingting, LEO 109
2nd: Kimi Qin, Spirit Z Racing
3rd: Chen Wei’an and Jiao Peng, TSRT Tianshi Racing
China GT’s first female contender Yuan Tingting put on a solid performance and was awarded the Outstanding Female Driver’s trophy.
GT4
In the GT4 class, it didn’t take long for The Winning Team’s partnership of Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre to race ahead and snatch first place. Despite qualifying in first place, Yang Zhiyi and Ma Qinghua representing Zhengzhou International Car Park’s ZIA FEA Racing were pushed into second, while Lo Sze Ho and Chen Yinian held third for Xtreme Motorsports.
During the third lap, Yang Zhiyi and Ma Qinghua’s Aston Martin suffered a mechanical fault, leaving them at the back of the pack. An accident also led to a red flag in the seventh lap.
After the race resumed, Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre continued to set the pace, and held onto their lead until the second red flag to eventually finish in the top spot. Zhang Dongqi and Yin Jinge of ZIA FEA Racing finally finished in second place, with teammates Yang Zhiyi and Ma Qinghua also ending up in on the podium.
ZIA FEA Racing scored their first victory in the Teams’ Championship in theGT4 class during the first round of battle of the Zhuhai weekend.
On 8th July, all races in the GT3, GTC and GT4 classes were impeded by the Zhuhai sudden shower. Spectators were treated to shock after shock as the wet weather continued to cause accidents on the track.
In an unexpected turn of events, the GT3 race was cut short by a red flag, with full marks being awarded to drivers as the race was over 75% finished. However, only 50% points were awarded to drivers in the GTC /GT4 Class after the race was stopped before the 75% mark was reached according to the regulations.
Tomorrow, all the teams and drivers will gather their strength for the next round, but what surprises will the next races bring? We can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
