08 Jan 2019 #77 sprints away for easy victory | 2019 Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race
On 6 January 2019, Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race is held at the Zhuhai International Circuit. Ma Ka-Chun/Lin Yi-Ming/Adderly Fong/Shaun Thong share the driving of #77 and take overall victory. Bei Si-Ling/Philip Lawrence Kadoorie took their #2 car to second place overall while #9 car shared by Daisuke Yamawaki/Akira Mizutani/Sou Fujii claimed third place.
Since entering the winter season, Zhuhai has also entered its coldest period. The only place where the temperature is high is at Zhuhai International Circuit. As the first race of 2019, Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race not only is a great gathering before the Chinese New Year, it is also a big warm-up opportunity for the soon to come Pan Delta. The teams are using this opportunity to try out their cars and drivers, hoping to steal a match on their rivals in the Pan Delta event in March.
2019 Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race starts at 12:30 at noon. The race uses a rolling start. According to the qualifying session, #77 and #7 in GT class are on the front row. After successfully completing lap 1, #77 begins to show its rivals a clean pair of heels, they even begin to lap backmarkers on lap 3.
On lap 14, #68 and #86 has an accident and both cars retire from the race, fortunately the drivers are not injured. On lap 16, #7 returns to the pit lane and does not re-join, #3 is promoted to second place and #2 moves up to third place.
On lap 25, #3 stops at turn 4 and is unable to move, the driver walks out of the car. The race officials show a double yellow flag and deploys the safety car. The order now is #77, #2, #81. On lap 33, the safety car retreats and the race is back on. #36 overtook #27 under yellow flag and is penalized a 10 seconds stop-go penalty.
On lap 54, #2 spins off track at turn 1, then it returns to the track and continues, fortunately without losing any positions. At turn 7, #83 is not so lucky, the car runs into the sand trap and by the time it returns to action it is already below 15th place.
In the next 46 laps, many cars are penalized for violating the rules and the order changed. But #77 continues to lead with a comfortable margin. The race enters lap 100, the order of the top 8 is #77, #2, #88, #36, #9, #81, #19 and #22. On lap 126, #77 and #2 enter the pits at the same time. When they return to the track #77 enjoys a massive 10 laps advantage.
In the last 10 laps of the race #36 and #88 pits for the 8th time. #99 right front tyre is punctured and it has to return to the pits for a tyre change.
The chequered flag is waved and the race is over. #77 takes overall and GT class victory as well as fastest lap of 1:33.793, average speed 165.74km/h. #2 finishes second overall and in GT class, #9 takes third place overall and class A victory. #16 wins class B while #22 is the winner of class C.
After the race #77 driver Adderly Fong said, “Today the race was smooth, all 4 drivers manages their 45 minute stints, Zhuhai circuit is hard on the brakes and gearbox so in the middle of the race we have to start saving the car. But it was not a big issue. There was no restriction on tyres in this race and we chose to use Pirelli. As we have already used Pirelli in the Pan Delta races our experience with it gave us a bit of an advantage.”
Class A winner, #9 Daisuke Yamawaki said, “We are used to endurance racing. Although our race car was not the fastest, about 3-4 seconds slower than the others in our class, our lap times were very consistent. We had no problems, no penalties, no mistakes and no accidents. This is the reason for our victory. Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race is a very good and very well organized race.”
Class B winner, #16 said, “We made a good start but everything afterwards was different. The engine hit trouble and we almost this trophy. Thank God we managed to win in the end.”
Class C winner #22 said, “After a year of working together, the race car is now set up very perfectly. We enter Circuit Hero 700km Endurance race to check our car and enhance our team work, in order to prepare for the new Pan Delta season.”
Renowned Guangdong Television Sports Channel host Zhang Hai-Ning is driving in the Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race for the first time. He said,”Today’s race gave me my long missed opportunity to race on Zhuhai International Circuit again. This was really good! Although I have many opportunities to drive cars on this track due to my work, driving a real race car is completely different. In the first half of the race I was learning the car and the track and it was actually quite good, 45 minutes came and went quickly. The only regret is that the car had a problem and it took us a long time to repair it, so we lost the chance to fight for a top 3 finish. I really treasure this kind of racing opportunity. It allows me to understand racing and become a better TV host!”
With the last car crossing the finish line, the opening race of 2019 at Zhuhai International Circuit is over. Winter will be gone soon and Spring will arrive, Pan Delta will be with us in March and we will see you then!