The Safety Car shook up Round 8 of the GT3/GTC race, with Kings Racing’s Xu Jia and Alex Yoong taking GT3 victory over FAW T2M’s Bao Jinglong and Martin Ragginger. JRM’s Chris van der Drift stormed through the field after the SC restart, finishing on the podium with teammate Li Chao. JRM’s Will Bamber and Bian Hao also benefited from the Safety Car, with Bamber closing the gap to front-runners Huang Hsi Chan of D2 and TSRT’s Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu, who eventually finished second and third. Single-event entries Franky Cheng and Anthony Liu of BBT, and Spirit of the Race’s Max Wiser and Jiang Xin took first and second for the overall GT3 and GTC class.
GT3
The race started in scorching heat at the Shanghai International Circuit. At the green, the AMG of Maxx Ebenal shot to the front on the outside, with Xu Jia of Kings Racing taking the inside line. Alexandre Imperatori of Bentley Team Absolute also enjoyed a good start, gradually overtaking his rivals in the sole Bentley Continental GT3 to claim second spot despite starting from the back of the grid, only short of passing BBT’s Anthony Liu by the time the pit window opened. Eventual GT3 race winner Li Chao in the #911 orange Porsche made contact with Melvin Moh’s Audi out of Turn 8, spinning and losing several positions in the process.
Most of the entrants started with the gentlemen drivers behind the wheel, who were swapped out for the experienced pros during the pit stops. There was drama just a few laps into the race, with the Safety Car being called out in order to allow marshals to recover GTC driver Yuan Tingting’s beached #11 Audi, bunching up the field and resulting in some very happy drivers. One of them was Chris van der Drift, who shot to the front after the restart, passing three cars down the inside of Turn 1. At the same time, the two Audi Hong Kong entries made contact and spun, with the unfortunate incident seeing the two only taking eighth and ninth places respectively. Alex Yoong was only in eighth spot when he took over the Audi from Xu Jia, but the three-time Audi R8 LMS Cup champion put in a commanding performance to take the chequered flag behind single-event entries Franky Cheng and Anthony Liu of BBT, and Max Wiser and Jiang Xin of Spirit of the Race. Martin Ragginger and Bao Jinglong’s solid stints saw the pair take fourth place overall and second in the GT3 category, putting them on top of the GT3 championship standings ahead of former leader Wang Liang. Van der Drift completed the podium alongside Li Chao for JRM.
Finishing in the points from fourth to eighth: Martin Rump and Wang Liang of Kings Racing, Morris Chen and Hiroki Yoshimoto of FAW T2M, Marchy Lee and Alex Au of Audi Hong Kong, Lim Keong Wee and Melvin Moh of Audi Hong Kong, and Han Geng and Alexandre Imperatori of Bentley Team Absolute.
GTC
Five-time winner D2’s Huang Hsi Chan started third but made a good start to take the lead out of Turn 1, but was soon locked in a tight battle with the #100 TSRT’s Pu Shu and Liang Kaifeng, who made a mistake and spun on lap 9. Pole-sitter Pan Chao in the #777 JRM Porsche lost several positions during his stint, but co-driver PCCA veteran Andrew Tang managed to recover to fourth after the pit stops.
To his dismay, Huang Hsi Chan was caught in the restart chaos and lost his lead after the Safety Car was called in on lap 22. Will Bamber took the opportunity to pass Huang’s green and yellow Lamborghini out of Turn 8, and set off after the #100 Audi of Pu Shu, forcing the Chinese driver into an error just ahead of the start/finish straight. Bamber took the chequered flag eight seconds ahead of Huang, with Pu Shu completing the podium.
From fourth to eighth: Andrew Tang and Pan Chao of JRM JiaRui – TengDa, Xie Xinzhe and Lu Zhiwei of Hanwe DMS, Han Huilin and Yang Yuan of Kings, Li Xuefeng and Yang Xi of JRM Elite, and Min Heng and Shang Lei of JRM Force China.
China GT Audi Challenge
1st: Liang Kaifeng and Pu Shu, TSRT Tianshi Racing
Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy China presented by China GT
1st: Pan Chao and Andrew Tang, JRM JiaRui – TengDa
2nd: Xie Xinzhe and Lu Zhiwei, Hanwe DMS
3rd: Li Xuefeng and Yang Xi, JRM Elite
GT4
The GT4 class began with high drama, with wheels banging and engines going up in flames, but soon turned somewhat processional after four cars retired from the race.
The #570 McLaren driven by Dong Liang of The Winning Team turned in sharply from the outside of the start/finish straight into Turn 1, passing four cars along the way to take the lead. However, his luck did not last, as the McLaren’s engine went up in smoke just four laps into the race. This was the first in a succession of DNFs. Yang Mengqiao of ChinaEquity AMR then took the lead, but made contact with Shi Liang of Xtreme Motorsports, putting both out of the race. The other #77 ChinaEquity AMR also pulled off to the side of the track 13 laps in.
In the end, Ling Kang and Billy Lo of Xtreme Motorsports crossed the finish line nearly a whole lap ahead of ZIA FEA’s Rodolfo Avila and Yang Zhiyi. Team Lotus’ Robert Webb and Bill O’Brien took a close third, with Yin Jinge of ZIA FEA finishing off the podium.
Aston Martin GT4 Challenge
1st: Rodolfo Avila and Yang Zhiyi, ZIA FEA Racing
2nd: Yin Jinge, ZIA FEA Racing
China GT Lotus Challenge
1st: Robert Webb and Bill O’Brien, Team Lotus
