15 Dec 2020 Closely fought race – Liu Chuang takes ZIC Motorbike Class B win
Zhuhai International Circuit
On 13 December, 2020 Zhuhai Motorsports Association Club Race welcomes the ZIC Motorbike Class B race on track. In the end, after a closely fought race, Beijing Xinxi Hong Qu Racing #24 Liu Chuang wins the ZIC Motorbike Class B race by a small margin.
ZIC Motorbike Class B qualifying
In the qualifying session in the morning, the track condition was fine, the riders take their Kawasaki Ninja 400, Yamaha YZF-R3, Honda CBR250RR etc on track, setting fairly good lap times. 5 of the riders are under the 2 minutes mark. #428 Zhang Zhen-Yi sets a 1:53.865 on his last effort, allowing him to take pole position by 0.570 second. #55 Tian Tian and #24 Liu Chuang will line up in second and third positions.
ZIC Motorbike Class B race
At 15:13, the main race begins. It is a 10 lap race with 16 riders taking part. At the start, Liu Chuang makes a good getaway, moving into the lead position. #9 Yin Zheng is in fifth position overall. On lap 2, the top 3 are running close together. #9 Yin Zheng passes #89 Xu Qing-Lin for fourth place and first in B5 class. Yin Zheng’s biggest B5 class rival in qualifying, #40 Zhang Shun-Cheng is penalized a drive-through for violating the pit lane exit light rule.
At half distance, #24 Liu Chuang sets the fastest lap of the race, 1:54.207. But he is still fighting hard against #428 Zhang Zhen-Yi all the way around the track. After many attacks and counter-attacks he is still ahead. Right now the gap between #89 Xu Qing-Lin and #277 Wang Deng-Feng is very small, the pair fighting over second place in B5 class. As #40 Zhang Shun-Cheng fails to take his drive-through penalty and is shown the black flag for disqualification, losing the chance to fight Yin Zheng for podium places.
On the last lap, Zhang Zhen-Yi tries to overtake at T1, but is affected by a backmarker and is unsuccessful. In the end, #24 Liu Chuang takes the overall win by a small margin, #428 Zhang Zhen-Yi finishes in second place while #55 Tian Tian takes third place.
In the various classes, B1 class top 3 are Haotizhi CR-Max Racing Team #43 Peng Yong, Ordos Circuit Racing Team #77 Yang Bin, FS.D Da Chong Racing #151 Hu Shu-Shen. In B3 class, the top 3 are Beijing Xinxi Hongqu Racing #24 Liu Chuang, Haotizhi CR-Max Racing Team #428 Zhang Zhen-Yi, Beijing T.T Sport #55 Tian Tian. In B5 class, top 3 are Monster Energy Yamaha China #9 Yin Zheng, Shi Zhao Racing #277 Wang Deng-Feng and Yunnan Silian Racing #89 Xu Qing-Lin.
After the race, overall winner Liu Chuang said, “I think this is one of my best races in recent years. This kind of fierce fighting is proper sport or competition. I really enjoyed the whole race and I am very happy.” Overall second placed rider Zhang Zhen-Yi said, “Overall I think I had a fun race, although I could not make a successful pass in the end, the important thing is that everyone can race and improve together. I look forward to achieving better results next year.” Third overall Tian Tian said, “This is the second time I raced at Zhuhai International Circuit, the track is very good, I was very excited racing on it. Although due to problems with my bike, the water temperature was too high, I had to slow down and retreat from the battle for the win. Taking third overall still makes me very happy. Next time I will take the win!”
B5 class winner Yin Zheng said, ”I am attracted to motorsport as always, I am very happy about the whole race. In the practice, the whole team and especially my teacher Li Zheng-Peng gave me a lot of help. Allowing me to achieve this result even though my practice time was short. I would like to thank them. Next year I will definitely continue to take part. I hope I can find more time to come and practice. Practice makes perfect. I will continue what I love!”
ZIC Motorbike Class B Race Highlights