19 Oct 2001 ATCC: Zhuhai International Circuit preview: Countdown to the Zhuhai AFOS event

The countdown has started for Rounds 13 & 14 of both the Asian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), and the Asian Formula 2000 (AF2000) series of the Asian Festival of Speed, to be held at the Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) in China.

The cars have arrived at the circuit, along with the crew of the teams in what will be the penultimate event of this year's championship. The ATCC will have another two rounds in Macau, while the AF2000 will have a non-championship race at Macau as well.

The race in Zhuhai promises to be an exciting one, as the championships are still open even at this stage of the season. No one driver can claim to the championship just as yet, and those in contention for the championship is definitely pulling out all the stops this weekend in Zhuhai.

In the AF2000 series, current championship leader Karun Chandhok needs only two 3rd place finishes in Zhuhai to secure the championship. This puts huge pressure on Asif Nazir, Karun's teammate and the closest competitor in the championship who needs to qualify on pole and win both races in Zhuhai, AND hope that Karun fares worst than 3rd in both races. But still, anything can happen in motor racing, and it would be an interesting race to watch this weekend at Zhuhai.

In the ATCC championship race, C Nattavude currently leads the championship standings in the Div 1 (Super Touring) class. After his closest competitor Chen Jun San's absence in Korea due to an injured back, the Thai is riding high on the championship standings with 185 points against Jun San's 120 points.
However, Jun San could - mathematically - still steal the championship from Nattavude yet. With four more rounds to go, he can still potentially rake in 80 points to finish on 200. And with Jun San scheduled to be back in action this weekend - supposing he gets the green light from his doctor, of course, - Nattavude would be made to work very hard should he even starts thinking about this year's Div 1 championship.

In the ATCC Div 2 race, Japanese Takayuki Fujita looks set to take this year's championship, currently sitting on 220 championship points. However, Danny Stacy Chau could still mathematically steal the race and collect 80 points to take it to 245 points after the Macau events. Fujita will not have anything of this sort of course, and after his total dominance in Korea in the Div 2 class, he is definitely going all out in Zhuhai and stomp his authority there this weekend.

-AFOS-