17 Jun 2018 Flipping, red flag, restart, leader penalized! All the action is here! | Circuit Hero-Two Race 2

At 1:50 p.m. on 17 June, nicknamed “The strongest collection of tuned street cars”, the 34 cars of Circuit Hero-Two appear on track. According to the qualifying result yesterday, 13Racing-Gaoge Racing Shi Wu-Zhen and Gao Ying-Zhe are on the front row of the grid. GoKart Racing Wang Yuen is third while Zhong Yong-Qiang is fourth.

The forecasted occasional shower has not materialized above the Zhuhai International Circuit. There is plenty of sunshine and the temperature is high. The conditions are tough for the drivers. #30 Wang Yuen tells the public through the in-car radio: “It is very, very hot inside the car, I am sweating all the time.”

The race begins, #15 Shi Wu-Zhen sticks to the outside line at the start and enters T1 in the lead. Gao Ying-Zhe takes over the inside line and maintains second place. Zhong Yong-Qiang overtakes Wang Yuen for third place.

After a lap, the cars form a long line and Shi Wu-Zhen begins to move away from Gao Ying-Zhe, Zhong Yong-Qiang and Wang Yuen. On lap 3, #83 stops at the pit exit while #87 also stops at turn 8. Both cars are in dangerous positions and the race organizers send out the safety car. On lap 5, the race resumes. But at turn 4, #68 and #16 clash with each other in the corner, #16 loses control and is parked across the track. #36 and #13 cannot avoid it, #36 runs on to the grass and is hit by #13. #36 is hit and it somersaults sideways for 2 and a half times. The car landed on its roof. The race organizers show the red flag to stop the race. Fortunately the driver is okay and is able to walk away from the race car.

Afterwards the race is restarted under the safety car. One lap later the safety car leaves the track. Shi Wu-Zhen leads, Gao Ying-Zhe, Zhong Yong-Qiang and Wang Yuen follows. Then the race organizers give the signal to #15 and #30 as both cars parked beyond their grid slot and are penalized with pit lane drive throughs. After they have taken their penalties, they are in the middle of the field. Gao Ying-Zhe and Zhong Yong-Qiang now form the lead group.

On the last two laps, Gao Ying-Zhe continues to lead and no one is close enough to give him any pressure. Gao Ying-Zhe’s race car has also developed a problem and is running at a canter. Zhong Yong-Qiang and the cars behind him soon find a way pass Gao. At the chequered flag, Zhong Yong-Qiang crosses the line and wins the race. 13Racing-Gaoge Racing Wang Guo-Yu passes teammate Xie Zheng-Ge for second place at the penultimate corner. Xie Zheng-Ge finishes third.

After the race, Zhong Yong-Qiang said, “Actually winning the race today is really lucky. On the last few laps my gearbox was broken, my team manager kept telling me to keep going. Fortunately I did persist. Now I am very relieved.”

Xie Zheng-Ge said, “Actually the result today was quite good. Sadly for my two teammates, one of them was penalized a drive-through penalty, the other suffered a mechanical problem. But we still have two drivers on the podium. Overall, I am quite happy.”