GT3 Class
Wang Liang and Will Bamber emerged victorious in an incident filled GT3 race that was cut short by an on-track accident, with TSRT’s David Chen and Michael Choy finishing 13.155s behind. Li Chao and Chris van der Drift finished third for JRM before the red flag was shown.
With the additional 35kg success ballast applied, Saturday’s runner-up Li Chao had trouble making a clean getaway, and relinquished position to the Audi rivals. The trouble didn’t end there for the Chinese star, as he was tagged by D2’s AMG and spun out of turn 11 several laps later, losing six seconds in the aftermath.
D2’s Kuo Kuo Hsin had a brilliant start from the very back of the pack, charging through the field of GTC class and came right on the tail of Sean Fu’s SF Racing Ferrari. However, the incident with Li Chao has earned him a driver-through penalty from the stewards, which eventually cost him track positions and a potential race lead.
The leading group of Wang Liang, Kuo, and Michael Choy all headed for the pit lane for driver change when pit window opened. However, with Kuo’s penalty, TSRT’s David Chen had an easy jump to P2 after taking over from Choy.
JRM’s Chris van der Drift had a titanic scrap with Andrea Caldarelli for the final podium position after mounting a superb comeback in the Porsche 911 GT3R. The New Zealander defended brilliantly for two laps, banging wheels with the Ferrari before he was eventually forced to give up position at turn 8.
While we were eagerly expecting more stunning overtaking maneuvers from the Italian campaigner, who was setting overall fastest laps at that point, the race was cut short when massive incident on the main straight brought out the red flag.
Based on the FIA General Prescription, the results were taken at the penultimate lap before the red flag is given (lap 31), therefore the times on lap 30 apply and the stage was set.
JRM caught a lucky break as the passing move was completed after the times were applied, and the pair bagged another 15 points this weekend and popped them to second in the overall GT3 standings. Caldarelli finished outside the podium ahead of Min Heng and Li Jiaqi (JRM), Max Wiser and Billy Lo (TSRT Tianshi Racing), and Kuo Kuo Hsin (D2).
DNF: #1 KINGS Racing.
GTC
CJ Huang and the Xtreme Motorsports Liu Kai and Thomas Ashton shared the spoils throughout the GTC contention. However with an extra 50kg of success weight on his Lamborghini, CJ struggled to find pace on the long Zhuhai straight and had to relinquish the lead to the #68 Radical.
Daniel Lu lead the pack briefly during the opening stint but his pace steadily dropped after about 15 laps. Him and teammate Wang Tao finished the race in fourth behind a second Radical of Song Bo and Dominic Ang.
TSRT’s Chen Xiao and Guan Fangyuan finished in P5 despite an accident that saw the #20 careening off into the barrier. Pan Chao and Shang Lei of R+ Racing completed the top six.
GT4
Top six cars traded blows and track positions during a chaotic GT4 start, and pole man Lo Sze Ho held on to the lead after sticking to the inside line into turn 1. Lee Yueh Hsun squeezed past Ryan Liu’s Aston Martin to take second, while James Tang and David McIntyre scrapped for positions in the back.
The Briton suffered minor damage to his car and had to spend several laps finding his footing, losing positions to the charging Lotus and Aston Martin. However the 2017 GT4 Am champion did not take long to regain his confidence, re-passing Bill O’Brien and Anthony Chan in quick succession on lap 13.
While all this happening, the leading group of Lo, Lee, Liu and Tang pulled away and battled for positions. Tang launched his assault for P3 against Liu’s Aston Martin, but an overly ambitious move saw him running wide on the final corner, leading to a spin on the straight and an eventual DNF.
Safety Car was called before pit window opened, and a number of cars dived into the pit immediately. The leading #86 of KTM suffered an issue and slowed down significantly after the driver change, and took another trip to the grass on turn 14 not long after.
After the five laps behind Safety Car, the race restarted. Winning Team’s Benjamin Rouget charged down the field in an attempt to unlap himself, and muscled past the Jack Mitchell and Chen Chun Hua who were one lap ahead. Despite valiant attempt by the Frenchman, time ran out before he could catch up to the guys in front and he finished outside the podium.
The BMW of Fist Team AAI looked set to claim a podium position but an expected double puncture saw their entire previous effort going to waste. Jack Mitchell and Ryan Liu took Aston Martin’s first GT4 victory in 2018, and Winning Team’s Dong Liang and David McIntyre, and Team Lotus’ Sam Lok and Eric Wong finished in P2 and P3.
Rounding up the top nine are: Benjamin Rouget and Raph Lai, #540, Winning Team; Zhang Dasheng and Shen Cheng, #118, China Equity AMR; Bill O’Brien and Yu Zhao, #619, China Equity AMR; Thomas Ashton and Lo Sze Ho, #86, Xtreme Motorsports; Dominic Ang and Anthony Chan, #28, Team Lotus; Yuan Tingting, #117, China Equity AMR.
That’s the Zhuhai weekend for you! Join us for again in Zhejiang in 3 weeks’ time on 1-3 June. You can follow all the actions on our official facebook account @ChinaGTChampionship.
