JRM’s Li Chao and Chris van der Drift cruised to victory in the GT3 championship fight. Martin Rump of Kings overtook FAW T2M’s Martin Ragginger/Bao Jinlong in the closing moments of the race to take second together with teammate Wang Liang. D2’s Huang Hsi Chan’s turned his maiden drive at the Shanghai International Circuit into a win for GTC class, further extending his championship lead against Xtreme Motorsports’’ Xu Wei and Ling Kang, who came in P2. TSRT Tianshi Racing’s Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu claimed third and their first podium at China GT. The Winning Team’s Roelof Bruins and Dong Liang bounced back strongly to claim their fifth win of 2017 season after a slightly off-form Zhuhai weekend. China GT rookies He Xiaole and Zhou Yong of ChinaEquity AMR took P2 while Xtreme Motorsports’ Naomi Schiff and Shi Liang completed the podium.
GT4
GT4 race started on a cloudy Saturday morning. The #570 McLaren fielded by The Winning Team’s Roelof Bruins quickly came ahead of the pack after starting P4, while title challenger Chen Yinian’s KTM X-Bow suffered an early spin and drifted to the back of the field. ZIA FEA’s new recruit Rodolfo Avila’s amazing first stint saw him passing one car after another before finally taking the lead against front-runner Bruins on lap 5.
Shortly before the pit window opened it started to drizzle. Dong Liang took over from Bruins and took the fight to the #721 of Yang Zhiyi, who swapped out Avila, and started to pull away. He Xiaole in the #77 Aston Martin was fairly anonymous throughout his stint but his co-driver Zhou Yong put the car back into contention after taking over, passing teammate Ross Gunn and ZIA FEA to take P2. China GT’s second female driver Belgian-born Naomi Schiff snatched P3 from Gunn towards the closing laps of the race.
Finishing on points from fourth to eighth: Ross Gunn and Yang Mengqiao of ChinaEquity AMR, Robert Webb and Bill O’Brien of Team Lotus, Rodolfo Avila and Yang Zhiyi of ZIA FEA Racing, Sam Lok and Sky Chen of Team Lotus, and Zhang Dongqi and Yin Jinge of ZIA FEA Racing.
Aston Martin China Challenge
1st: He Xiaole and Zhou Yong, ChinaEquity AMR
2nd: Ross Gunn and Yang Mengqiao, ChinaEquity AMR
3rd: Rodolfo Avila and Yang Zhiyi, ZIA FEA Racing
China GT Lotus Challenge
1st: Robert Webb and Bill O’Brien
2nd: Sam Lok and Sky Chen
GT3
Single-event entries Franky Cheng and Anthony Liu of BBT and Max Wiser and Jiang Xin of Spirit of the Race started in the front row and have engaged in a race-long battle. Things got intense just after the driver change as Cheng and Wiser came out wheel to wheel and made contact out of Turn 1 into Turn 2. Wiser came out ahead and maintained the lead towards the end. Alexandre Imperatori in the #9 Bentley Continental GT3 more than made up for a disappointing qualifying, recovering 24 positions after starting at the very back in P26.
Chris van der Drift came out of the pit stop just ahead of PCCA rival Martin Ragginger, who had the longest stoppage time in the category due to driver ratings. Van der Drift then went on to lap the slower cars on the grid but did not quite have the pace to attack the leaders Wiser and Cheng. Ragginger had a solid stint but was unlucky in the end. He was passed by a charging Martin Rump in the #8 Audi of Kings towards the closing moment of the race, who was battling back lost positions from P8.
In the end, BBT’s Franky Cheng and Anthony Liu and Spirit of the Race’s Max Wiser and Jiang Xin took P1 and P2 in the overall GT3/GTC classification. JRM’s van der Drift and Li were the first to take the chequered flag for GT3 Class. Kings’ Rump and Wang and FAW T2M’s Bao and Ragginger completed the podium for GT3.
From fourth to tenth are: Alex Yoong and Xu Jia of Kings, Marchy Lee and Alex Au of Audi Hong Kong, Lim Keong Wee and Melvin Moh of Audi Hong Kong, Maxx Ebenal and Kuo Kuo Hsin of D2, Hiroki Yoshimoto and Morris Chen of FAW T2M, Li Jiaqi and Maxime Jousse of JRM, Han Geng and Alexandre Imperatori of Bentley Team Absolute.
GTC
Huang Hsi Chan further extended his championship lead after Round 7. Despite being a rookie at the Shanghai International Circuit, Huang quickly found his pace on this winding track. Xu Wei and Ling Kang of Xtreme Motorsports started on pole but unfortunately an accident sent them off the track during the early laps. The duo fought hard back into position and eventually finished second ahead of Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu of TSRT Tianshi Racing.
From fourth to fourteenth are: Bian Hao and Will Bamber of JRM JiaRui – TengDa, Han Huilin and Yang Yuan of Kings Racing, Xiao Min and Zhang Dasheng of JRM Force China, Dominic Ang and Song Bo of Xtreme Motorsports, Zhang Jian and Li Huiwei of Yashe 300+*, Yuan Bo and Yan Kai of Hanwe DMS, Zheng Hui and Long Lingyun of JRM Elite, Min Heng and Shang Lei of JRM Force China, Huang Yiqing and Chang Jiong of TSRT Tianshi Racing, and Yuan Tingting of 300+*.
*indicates single-event entries
Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy China Presented by China GT
1st: Andrew Tang and Pan Chao, JRM JiaRui – TengDa
2nd: Xiao Min and Zhang Dasheng, JRM Force China
3rd: Yuan Bo and Yan Kai, Hanwe DMS
Best Performing Team: JRM JiaRui – TengDa
China GT Audi Challenge
1st: Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu, TSRT Tianshi Racing
2nd: Zhang Jian and Li Huiwei, Yashe 300+
3rd:Huang Yiqing and Chang Jiong, TSRT Tianshi Racing
