Audi Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee and Alex Au starred in China GT’s second Zhuhai race weekend earlier today to claim the pair’s third consecutive podium and the first victory over rivals Kings’ Wang Liang and Martin Rump, and FAW T2M’s Bao Jinlong and Martin Ragginger. Meanwhile, D2 Racing driver Huang Hsi Chan’s consistent performance lifted himself to his third GTC victory of the season, whereas Spirit Z’s Sun Zheng and Sunny Wong and JRM’s Bian Hao and Will Bamber narrowly missing the top spot in second and third. China GT’s latest addition, Anthony Chan and Ray Mak of Team Lotus edged out four-time winner The Winning Team’s Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre to take GT4 victory, with Xtreme Motorsports’ Billy Lo and Chen Yinian completing the podium.

Another battle for the GT3 Championship in the scorching Zhuhai heat and saw plenty of exciting wheel-to-wheel actions. JRM’s Maxime Jousse and Li Jiaqi in a #991 Porsche made an impressive start, shooting into P3 from P5. Lee/Au’s #6 Audi R8 LMS challenged Bentley Team Absolute’s Adderly Fong and Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak for the lead.

Jousse soon took the lead five laps in, and started to build the gap with the rest of the field. Pole-sitters Andrew Kim and Weiron Tan of Bentley Team Absolute were stuck in the middle of the pack after a rough start but soon made up lost grounds claiming a convincing fifth.

After the pit stop, Alex Au took over from Marchy Lee and launched an aggressive campaign for P1 against Li Jiaqi, who went in for Jousse for the second stint. Kings Racing’s Estonian star Martin Rump displayed some outstanding overtaking manoeuvers after replacing Wang Liang, coming behind FAW T2M’s #99 Bao Jinlong/Martin Ragginger just before the Safety Car was called out on lap 31. After the SC went in, Alex Au soon pulled away securing victory whereas Rump managed to pass Ragginger in the closing laps of the GT3 fight.

Marchy Lee and Alex Au emerged victorious in GT3 and helped Audi Hong Kong to its second team win. Wang Liang and Martin Rump of Kings were a mere 0.451s off the pace and Bao Jinlong and Martin Ragginger of FAW T2M brought the car home in third. From fourth to tenth: Li Chao and Chris van der Drift of JRM JiaRui – TengDa, Andrew Kim and Weiron Tan of Bentley Team Absolute, Kuo Kuo Hsin and Maxx Ebenal of D2, Melvin Moh and Lim Keong Wee of Audi Hong Kong, Li Jiaqi and Maxime Jousee of JRM JiaRui – TengDa, Terry Huang and Max Wiser of TSRT Tianshi Racing, and Morris Chen and Hiroki Yoshimoto of FAW T2M.

GT Asia Presented by China GT

1^st: Marchy Lee and Alex Au, Audi Hong Kong

2^nd: Li Chao and Chris van der Drift, JRM JiaRui – TengDa

3^rd: Andrew Kim and Weiron Tan, Bentley Team Absolute

The GTC cars took to the tracks for a 1pm start under Zhuhai’s punishing sun. Spirit Z-Racing’s Sun Zheng and Sunny Wong made the most of their pole position to quickly pull away from their rivals. Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu of TSRT Tianshi Racing passed D2 Racing’s Huang Hsi Chan to claim P2. Xie Xinzhe and Lu Zhiwei also got off to an excellent start for DMS Racing, instantly moving up the field into fourth.

The race became processional before the pit window opens, which saw the four leading cars entering the pits. Solo driver Huang Hsi Chan made the most of his shorter pit stop, reemerging in first place. Sun Zheng, having taken over from teammate Sunny Wong, lost the lead when he came back onto the track, trailing behind Huang’s yellow and green Lamborghini by more than 10 seconds. However, Sun wasn’t prepared to let the top spot go without a fight, and kept pushing until the #87 Audi R8 LMS was right behind Huang’s Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo.

It all became too much when TSRT Shanxi Tianshi Racing’s Chen Wei’an and Jiao Peng started to apply pressure from behind, forcing Sun Zheng to slow his pace to go on the defensive. After several exchanges, JRM JiaRui-Tengda’s Bian Hao and Will Bamber surged forwards to take third place from Chen Wei’an and Jiao Peng, who were left languishing in fourth. Huang Hsi Chan eventually came out on top, securing his third China GT win. However, GTC newcomers Sun Zheng and Sunny Wong also made an impact, finishing in second place.

All the other cars in the GTC class successfully completed the race, with fifth to fifteenth places being awarded as follows: Suttiluck Buncharoen of True Visions, Shang Lei and Chris van der Drift of JRM Force China, Xu Wei and Ling Kang of Xtreme Motorsports, Zheng Hui and Maxime Jousse of JRM Elite, Li Zhicong and Li Xuefeng of JRM Elite, Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu of TSRT Shanxi Tianshi Racing, Xie Xinzhe and Lu Zhiwei of DMS Racing, Pan Chao and Andrew Tang of JRM JiaRui-Tengda, Yuan Bo and Yan Kai of DMS Racing, and Chen Junhua and Li Yueqin of Top Speed Racing. D2 Racing took home its third team win following Huang’s victory.

In the GT4 race, the two Lotus Evoras stormed ahead, quickly seizing the top two spots shortly after the start of the race, with Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre in third for The Winning Team.

As the race progressed there were many incidents. However, it seemed clear that Anthony Chan and Ray Mak were destined to win for Team Lotus, and it was only Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre standing between them and victory.

In the end, Anthony Chan and Ray Mak managed to bring home the first China GT win for Team Lotus. Previously unbeaten Roelof Bruins and David McIntyre were pushed into second, with Xtreme Motorsport’s up-and-coming crew Billy Lo and Chen Yinian taking the last spot on the podium. Sam Lok and Clement Li finished fourth for Team Lotus. Team Lotus was also the Round 5 team winner for GT4 Class.

Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy China presented by China GT

1^st: Xiao Min and Zhang Dasheng, JRM Force China

2^nd: Zheng Hui and Maxime Jousse, JRM Elite

3^rd: Li Zhicong and Li Xuefeng, JRM Force China

China GT Audi Challenge

1^st: Sun Zheng and Sunny Wong, Spirit Z-Racing

2^nd: Chen Wei’an and Jiao Peng, TSRT Tianshi Racing

3^rd: Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu, TSRT Tianshi Racing

China GT Lotus Challenge

1^st: Anthony Chan and Ray Mak, Team Lotus

2^nd: Sam Lok and Clement Li, Team Lotus

3^rd: Eric Wong, Team Lotus

Formula Masters China Series also took place at ZIC this weekend, putting both formula cars and GT cars on the same grid.

The Zhuhai race weekend will come to a close tomorrow with the sixth of the twelve rounds of the China GT Championship. The second season of the China GT Championship is coming to its mid-point and who will come out on top? Stay tuned to find out.