Xu Jia, KINGS Racing: We have a very strong lineup this weekend. I had an incident on the track and hit the wall. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to fix the car tonight, but if we do, I’d feel good about the qualifying and races this weekend. The circuit is really fun, and so is the city. It a weekend I definitely look forward to.
Zhang Ran, KINGS Racing:This is my first Audi R8 GT4 experience, and the car’s debut performance in China. I’ve seen some onboard videos of the track, and it looks very interesting and quite different from most of the previous circuits I’ve been to.
David Chen, TSRT Tianshi Racing: We got in to Zhejiang early to learn the track. Max and I have raced here last year, but like most other drivers, there is still plenty to learn. This definitely presents more of a challenge than Zhuhai. We scored some podiums last weekend but hopefully we’ll get to the top step this time.
Billy Lo, TSRT Tianshi Racing: It was really hot in Zhuhai and our car had some brake problem and the ABS failed during the race. We have a bit more time to prepare for Zhejiang, and we should preform better here too because it’s less power hungry and with slower corners. This should produce some close racing with the faster cars on the grid.
Li Chao, JRM: I really enjoyed this track, and it is one that our Porsche might perform rather well on. The 911 GT3 typically does well on tracks with much undulation and 2ndand 3rdgear turns, and fewer long straights. We don’t have much experience in the dry here, but the car felt really good in the rain today.
Chris van der Drift, JRM: We got pretty good drive here last year in the rain. We had a few runs on the Michelin wets in practice earlier, so it would be interesting to see how the car performs. Zhuhai wasn’t great for the Porsche but we’re hoping Zhejiang can produce a win for us. We now have shorter stoppage time and so that evens out the playing field for GT3 grid.
Li Jiaqi, JRM: I missed the event here last year, so this track is completely new to me. Today’s rain has made the conditions even trickier. This track has very limited runoff area, so we need to be careful around here and cannot push too hard. Even so, the car was sliding around a lot today. Me and my teammate has built good rapport together, and if we both have decent runs tomorrow we should do just fine.
Min Heng, JRM: I still need some time to get to know this track. It seems pretty slippery and there are a few bumps that might catch you out. The only overtaking opportunity is on the straight as far as I am concerned, so it’s important to qualify well here.
CJ Huang, D2 Racing: We didn’t get much data from 2017 because it was wet that weekend. We will know more after tomorrow’s practice and find the right setting for the car. This track is very demanding, both physically and mentally. I will need to push hard and score a win this weekend.
Kuo Kuo Hsin, D2 Racing: We made some changes to the suspension and anti-roll bar. We also had a new spring installed since Zhuhai which fixed the understeering problem. It’s a hilly track and very slippery, with 22 meters in elevation change. I hope to get into the overall top 3 and take the fight to the PRO/AM guys. It’s very challenging to do the race on your own, like CJ. When the team decided to put me on solo this year, I did a lot more training. It is still very demanding.
Pan Chao, R+ Racing: We managed to find the right setup pretty quickly and performed quite well in practice today. I am driving a different car from last year [Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo in 2018], and it doesn’t feel the same. With the addition of TC and ABS I feel a lot more confident on the track.
Liu Kai, Xtreme Motorsports: I have only seen videos of this track before coming here, and the track seems steeper than I thought! This will prove very challenging in the wet. I want to try and limit my mistakes and give the car back safely to my teammate. A win is definitely possible.
Dong Liang, Winning Team: This should be exciting! This is the first time I am driving solo but pretty confident I will make it through, and maybe even score a podium.
Charlie Fagg, Winning Team: This is my first time travelling to China. I just had some running during the afternoon practice and really enjoyed myself. The McLaren GT4 comes quite natural to me. The track has many undulations; it’s tight and twisty, and opens up in the last sector, which works out well for the McLaren. Not sure what to expect this weekend but hopefully I can score a couple of wins with my teammate David.
Raph Lai and Benjamin Rouget, Winning Team: Raph did some good laps in Zhuhai; P2 in AM/AM class and P4 overall was very decent. Raph is progressing well, and already has some track experience in Zhejiang in the road-going McLaren in the last few weeks. The GT4 field is now pretty competitive with the addition of Audi and BMW, and they will prove to be some strong opponents. It’s Raph’s rookie season and second race weekend, so we want to be patient; but a podium is still within reach.
Ryan Liu, China Equity AMR: Until now I can only rely on some onboard footage to familiarise myself with the track. It is rather hilly and twisty, so should be good fun to drive. We are carrying a 50kg ballast, so trying to find the best set up to mitigate that effect.
Jack Mitchell, China Equity AMR: I think the weekend is looking good for us. We are carrying extra success weight but that shouldn’t affect us too much. We are obviously going for the win here, or at least scoring the strongest points finish to stay ahead in the championship. I am happy to see all the manufactures coming in for GT4. We always love a challenge.
Kevin Chen, Fist Team AAI:We were running on dry settings today because that’s the condition predicted for the weekend. We didn’t push too hard during the afternoon practice, mainly because we’re new to the track. This is a predominantly low speed track with lots of twists and turns, and not very flexible on lines. Maybe we can attempt some overtaking on the straights in the final sector.
Eric Wong, Team Lotus: We have some experience here in Zhejiang, so we are pretty confident about this weekend. This is a fun but still tricky circuit. Our target is to bring the car back safely.
Kenny Chung, K2C Motorsports: We missed the Zhuhai round due to logistics issues. Our car was in Malaysia beforehand and the guys there did a bit work on it, so it should be good to go this weekend. We have different BOP this year, and on short notice, so we don’t have too much time to set up the car properly. Hopefully this won’t affect the performance too much. The track has plenty of undulation and consecutive corners, which should be quite good for the Ginetta.
