14 Oct 2011 CSBK Final Round full of suspense, 1st qualifying is over but no sign of dominance-1st Qualifying Report

On 14 October, 2011 China Superbike Championship's final round is held at Audi Zhuhai International Circuit. In the championship battle, 150cc Open class and SS600cc class are still suspenseful, SYM Jiguang Racing's Qiu Ming-Xian has 20 points more than Chen Xiao-Lei of YSW-Racing. Although the gap looks big, it has not taken into account the recent new found speed of YSW-Racing. It is hard to tell who will emerge victorious. In order to gain top honours, SYM Jiguang Racing and YSW-Racing both went through a lot of upgrade work to improve their machines. This 150cc title is going to be the focus of the weekend.

In the SS600cc class, although Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing has sewn up the teams' title, Xiao Jin and Hunag Shi-Zhao will still have to battle for the riders' honours. This battle between master and pupil is going to be interesting.

YSW-Racing's mixed feeling

In the morning of 14 Oct, showers appeared in Zhuhai and some puddles appeared on the track. With pressure mounting on the team for results, riders from both classes could not afford to miss the practice sessions.

At 12:40pm, the first qualifying session begins with 150cc Open class riders taking to the track. Right at the start, both SYM Jiguang Racing and YSW-Racing riders begin to lap quickly, their times intertwinned with each other. On a slippery and wet track, SYM Jiguang Racing's Qiu Shi-Yi sets a 2:23.605 to take the lead, while Wang Xiao-Yuan, Qiu Ming-Xian and Chen Yuan-Hang follow. Privateer Wang Wen-Guang and Huang Jian-Feng, who replaces young rider Chen Peng-Yuan, also perform well. In the middle of the session, the sky turns blue and the track begins to dry. The teams then order their riders into the pits for setup changes before sending them back on track once again.

At the final stages, the YSW-Racing riders begin an assault on Qiu Shi-Yi's lap time. Chen Yuan-Hang and Wang Xiao-Yuan both set personal bests and at the same time, their teammate Chen Xiao-Lei and Zhou Sheng Jun-Jie seem to be off their usual form, causing no threats to the leading positions. In the end, when the session finish, Wang Xiao-Yuan is fastest with a 2:23.256 lap, 0.349 second faster than Qiu Shi-Yi. Qiu Ming-Xian is third.

Although YSW-Racing has earned the top spot, their main title challenger Chen Xiao-Lei is only third from last due to mechanical issues with his bike. This is a signal of problems. With the second session coming up in the afternoon, he needs all the support that he can get.

Xiao Jin: My rivals is not just one rider

At 13:20, SS600cc's 1st qualifying session begins. Kawasaki ZX-6R rider Xu Wei-Lang performs well and appears to improve over his previous lap time every lap. At the halfway stage, he leads the time sheets with a 1:51.018 seconds lap. But with Yes! Yamaha Tianjian rider Huang Shi-Zhao coming out of the pits now, Xu Wei-Lang can do nothing but handover the no. 1 spot. Despite a fall in the morning, Huang's form is still as good as ever, his 1:44.751 seconds lap blitzed the field. His teammate, title challenger Xiao Jin follows while Tianyu DTU rider Huang Zhi-Yu lies third.

In the final stages with the track conditions continuing to improve, the riders improve their lap times. Huang Zhi-Yu;s 1:45.206 bumped Xiao Jin down to third place. But Xiao Jin does not take it lying down and sets a 1:44.685 seconds lap before the session is over to topple the whole field.

As Xiao Jin grin about his lap, Huang Shi-Zhao retaliates with a 1:43.027 and haul himself back on top of the time sheets. Although Xiao Jin improves to 1:43.717, it is not good enough. To make matters worse, Huang Zhi-Yu's 1:43.600 knocks Xiao Jin off his second place and down to third again.