Jack Mitchell and Ryan Liu were crowned GT4 Champion with a podium finish at the concluding round that brought the curtain down on an action-packed 2018 China GT season. KINGS Racing and Xtreme Motorsports took 1-2 finish in GT3 & GTC races respectively.
GT3 Class
The #63 Kings Racing Mercedes-AMG of Eric Zang and Adam Christodoulou took a thrilling victory here in Sunday’s GT3 race, coming through the field from 13th on the grid after problems on Saturday to win ahead of teammates Xu Jia and Alessio Picariello.
Having won round 11 on Saturday, the #2 KINGS Racing Audi started from pole position, and though Li Chao took the lead at the start in the 911 Porsche, Xu Jia was able to retake first place before the first lap was out and soon set about building a healthy lead at the front.
Kuo Kuo Hsin in the #2 D2 Mercedes-AMG was also looking racy and soon overtook the 911 Porsche to sit in second place. But of greater significance was the fact that Eric Zang in the 63 KINGS Racing Mercedes had made it up to third place by the time the mandatory pit stop window had opened, ensuring that the #63 car would be well-placed to challenge for honours later in the race.
After all the front runners had made their stops, Alessio Picariello was leading the race in the #1 Audi, with China GT debutant Adam Christodoulou in second place in the #63 entry, followed by Kuo Kuo Hsin in third and the #911 Porsche now being driven by New Zealand’s Chris van der Drift in fourth place.
However, any hopes of a grandstand battle for the lead between the two Kings Racing cars were dashed when Picariello, who was pushing hard to maintain the gap to Christodoulou, was given a drive-through penalty for exceeding track limits at the final corner, a misfortune that also befell van der Drift.
This left the #63 car with a healthy lead ahead of Picariello, Kuo and van der Drift and it appeared as if that was how it would finish, but a spin at the final corner from the #69 GTC entry necessitated a late safety car that bunched the pack up and neutralised Christodoulou’s lead. However, the Briton had two backmarkers between himself and Picariello as the lights went green again, meaning the Belgian had no chance to attack the AMG for the lead before the chequered flag was thrown, handing victory to Zang and Christodoulou.
The #1 car had to settle for second place, though Xu and Picariello could at least console themselves with the bigger prize of being crowned 2018 GT3 drivers’ champions, having assumed an unassailable points lead after winning round 11 on Saturday. The #911 Porsche finished third, while #Kuo Kuo Hsin took fourth place in his D2 Mercedes-AMG.
Further down the field, the #991 “Pink Pig” Porsche of Lin Nan and Min Heng finished fifth in class and eighth overall, while the #5 R+ Racing Mercedes-AMG of Rick Meng and Xiao Min ended the race sixth in class and 11th in the overall standings. The #777 Porsche due to be driven by Zhang Dasheng and Pan Chao failed to take the start owing to technical problems.
GTC Class
The #68 Xtreme Motorsports entry of Thomas Ashton and Liu Kai took the spoils in the GTC category, leading home teammates Dominic Ang and Song Bo in a reversal of yesterday’s one-two finish.
The early stages of the race saw a three-way battle for the lead between CJ Huang’s #22 D2 Lamborghini, the #9 Porsche of Daniel Lu, and the #68 Xtreme Motorsports entry of Liu Kai, with all three cars swapping places at various intervals. And while Huang led the early stages of the race, the Lamborghini suffered brake issues later in the race and faded to finish a distant third. However, having already clinched the 2018 GTC driver’s championship before the China GT series arrived in Shanghai, the Taiwan driver is unlikely to be too downhearted at his failure to add to his considerable collection of race wins so far this year.
Further down the GTC field, the #307 R+ Racing Porsche of Wang Tao finished fourth in class, closely followed by the #9 Porsche, which faded after a bright start. The #82 Lamborghini driven by Shang Lei and Zheng Hui finished sixth in class and last on the road.
The #69 Audi of Jacky Wu and Jeffrey Zee spun into retirement at the final corner on lap 22, bringing out the safety car, while the #10 Porsche of Steve Yin retired early in the race.
GT4 Class
Xtreme Motorsports continued their Saturday dominance to take a convincing 1-2 finish ahead of China Equity AMR’s Jack Mitchell and Stanley Yang.
At green light, pole sitter Lo Sze Ho was immediately under pressure from a fast-starting #618 Stanley Yang, but he held his nerve and onto his lead.
Dong Liang also made a good getaway, coming around the outside and jumping Bo Lemastus’ #86 KTM to take third. Unfortunately for the Chinese driver, it all ended before he had a chance to chase down the front-runners, as he made a move up the inside of Yang into the tightening right-hander at T2 and the two touched. Dong came off worse from this tussle, which the stewards determined was a racing incident. The #540 McLaren suffered a puncture and in the end had to park up on the outside of T11, prompting the introduction of the Safety Car.
Fastest lap in the first stint was set by #86 Lo as he tried to rebuild his lead. He and the #999 of Shang Zongyi, who had made up six positions to run second at this point, decided to stay out when the rest of the pack dived back in for the mandatory pit stops.
Austria’s Laura Kraihamer took over from Lemastus and just managed to squeeze past the #618 of Jack Mitchell at the pit exit due to a shorter pit stop time. She now lay third behind the #999 Aston Martin and the #86 KTM, whose positions also swapped after the stops.
David Pun in the #999 inherited the lead but was unable to defend against the much faster pro drivers chasing him. He was passed by Ashton on lap 13, and was soon overhauled by Kraihamer and Mitchell several laps later.
It briefly looked as if Kraihamer could challenge Ashton for the lead, but the Briton managed the gap perfectly and crossed the finish line 2.5s ahead of his teammate. Jack Mitchell took the last spot on the podium but it was enough to seal the GT4 driver’s championship for him and his erstwhile teammate Ryan Liu.
The #619 entry of Yves Volte and Rodney Tu was next to take the flag, ahead of Fist Team AAI’s Kevin Chen and Ivan Lee, who were P1 among the Am/Am rated drivers.
Despite an impressive first stint, the #999 of Shang Zongyi and David Pun could only finish sixth, ahead of the #28 Team Lotus of Dominic Ang and Anthony Chan, and the #55 K2C Ginetta of Sennan Fielding and Kenny Chung.
The remaining Winning Team #570 of David McIntyre and Charlie Fagg had early contact with an AMR entry, causing the McLaren to fall to the back of the field. With a damaged car, neither McIntyre nor Fagg could make up positions, leaving the #570 in ninth place with their championship hopes well and truly over.
#721 of Yu Zhao and Yang Zhiyi rounded out the top 10, ahead of the #98 Team Lotus of Eric Wong.
