2018 China GT Half-season digest
China GT’s summer break is here. After 6 rounds of races, the drivers and team personnel will take a break from a flurry of actions while we take stock of what has happened in the first half of the 2018 season.
GTC – Xtreme Motorsports duo snatches lead by a single point
GTC has seen an incredibly tight battle between 2017 champion CJ Huang and Xtreme Motorsports challengers Song Bo and Dominic Ang. The momentum has ebbed and flowed between D2 Racing and Xtreme Motorsports to the halfway point of the season, with each team taking 3 wins apiece and Xtreme Motorsports’ #25 entry came out on top with a one-point margin.
Song Bo and Dominic Ang had benefited from being the most consistent driver pairing on the grid, finishing each race on the podium and taking home valuable championship points throughout the first half of the season. When their number one title rival CJ Huang suffered DNF in Beijing, Song and Ang were there to pick up the pieces and dethroned Huang for the GTC lead with 109 points.
CJ Huang had been leading the championship for five rounds but sadly a gearbox issue in the last round has forced the Taiwanese star to retirement. This should not take anything away from the D2 Racing driver, who has recorded three victories and 2 podiums so far this season. The Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo campaigner is comfortably leading the GTC AM/AM standings with a 50-point buffer.
Media personality Wang Tao joined the GTC fray alongside Daniel Lu and then Zhang Dasheng in the sole R+ Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Despite unfavourable circumstances, Wang has shown incredible grit and steady upward learning curve to take third spot in the drivers’ standings.
There is no question that GT rookie Liu Kai and Briton Thomas Ashton have the pace to challenge the title fight, as the Xtreme Motorsports #68 Radical qualified on pole twice and scorched two victories. However, their season has been marred by mechanical failures and at halfway point they are 44 points behind Xtreme teammates.
Shang Lei in the R+ Racing Lamborghini has 58 points and co-driver Pan Chao is on 34, having made the late switch to the GT3 Porsche in Beijing. Xiao Min stepped in for Pan and currently has 14 points after two latest races.
In GTC Teams’ Championship, Xtreme Motorsports is in the lead with 176 points. R+ Racing trails behind with 148 points followed by D2’s 109, who is running a sole Lamborghini in championship contention.
