2019 China GT Qinhuangdao R8 Race Report
The GT3 and GTC drivers took on an extremely challenging Qinhuangdao Shougang GT circuit on Sunday afternoon. The unrelenting rain has resulted in standing water at several corners on the track, most notably in the high-speed sector 3. This saw plenty of drivers aquaplaning and driving off track at different points in a rain-shortened race.
In the end, Winning Team’s Han Han and Joe Osborne celebrated maiden triumph in the brand new McLaren 720S GT3 after a fraught Sunday race. Liu Kai and Lo Sze Ho celebrated double victories aboard the Xtreme Motorsport Radical in GTC Class.
Phantom Pro Racing’s Rainey He and Lu Wei took victory in the least dramatic fashion behind safety car in a race that was anything but. Kuo Kuo Hsin followed He over the line in the #22 D2 Racing AMG in a race that was twice interrupted by Safety Car.
GT3 CLASS
After five laps behind the Safety Car, pole man Han Han had a perfect start and led the field in the #111 Winning Team McLaren until the much more experienced Jesse Krohn overtook him in the #91 FIST-Team AAI BMW. However the #91 could only claim fourth due to a combination of factors - an unfortunate spin, long pit stop and fierce competition in the second half of the race.
Jeffrey Lee and Alessio Picariello came home second despite a late spin just before the red flag was shown at the 50-minute’s mark, as track condition worsened.
Saturday’s winner the #63 Toro Racing machine was struggling for pace. They returned to the pit for tyre change during the safety car start procedure but their pace did not improve. Thanks to Christodoulou and Zang’s combined experience and skills, they were able to claim a podium position.
FIST-Team AAI’s #91 Jesse Krohn and Betty Chen, and #90 Nick Yelloly and Junsan Chen took fourth and fifth respectively. It has been a difficult weekend for the BMW crew.
D2’s Peter Liao finished sixth after struggling big time in extreme weather condition.
GTC CLASS
#68 of Liu Kai and Lo Sze Ho came home on top despite an early spin. They were not the only one though. The wet track has also caught out experienced campaigner CJ Huang and #186’s Xiao Min, as well as a number of GT3 entries.
In the end, YC Racing’s CJ Huang and Wang Tao, and Li Jiaqi and Xiao Min shared the podium, with fellow teammates Zheng Wancheng and Zhou Bihuang in fourth.
Wu Pei finished on top in the One-make Trophy class.
GT4 CLASS
Round 8 of the GT4 race started with some spectacular racing. Pole sitting Lo Sze Ho in the #86 Xtreme Motorsports KTM defended brilliantly from the professional drivers. He was calm and collected while coming under fire from the fast-running Ross Gunn and a very aggressive Alex Fontana. However, he was eventually overtaken by the Aston Martin and AMG on lap 10. He then suffered a spin at T7 while scrapping for positions with Fontana and lost two further positions to Will Bamber and Lu Wei. He handed the car over to teammate Ling Kang in fifth.
Chris Chia in the #5 Phantom Pro Mercedes took the lead from #618’s David Pun after the pit stop. After a first safety car period, the closed up field smelled a chance for glory and went all.
There was an incident waiting to happen.
Chris Chia and David Pun made contact at the fast kink of turn 9. Chia’s AMG got unsettled after a slight nudge from the Aston and Chia lost control, tipping the Hong Kongese driver into a race-ending spin. The hapless KTM of Ling Kang, who was behind in third at the time, had no time to react and rammed into Chia. This incident spelled a disappointing end to the #86’s weekend. Rainey He and Kuo Kuo Hsin were able to drive around the mayhem and came home with a good haul of points.
#570 of Dong Liang and Michael O’Brien crossed the line in third but was disqualified after a technical infringement. This promoted teammates Kenneth Lim and James Cai to the final podium position.
Liu Kai and Wei Tianyi finished off the podium. #5, #999, and #618 were classified from fifth onwards.
