01 Apr 2015 Circuit Hero One R2: Big accident ends race

With Saturday's Circuit Hero One R1 still fresh in people's minds, the  Pan Delta Circuit Hero One second race is already upon us on Sunday monring at 10:30. The big difference is that today the track is more slippery after the morning rain.

#31 Guo Guo-xin is on pole position in his Mercedes Benz SLS. Jon Flinn is second in his class A Radical SR1. Bill O Brien is third in the Caterham. Huang Xi-Zhan is fourth in his Audi R8. The GT cars were much faster in yesterday's race one and even though they are separated by the two light weight sportscars, they look set to dominate race two as well.

Because of the accident near turns 1 and 2, a lot of oil was on track and the marshals used a lot of saw dust to cover that area. This is going to affect the drivers lines through the corners, probably influence their braking and overtaking considerations.

Due to the oil and saw dust, the race begins under a safety car, this is done to make sure everybody gains some track experience before race gets properly underway.

On lap 2, the safety car turns off its roof top warning lights, indicating its intention to leave the track. On lap 3, it leaves the track allowing the field to start racing. The Mercedes SLS takes the lead and by the end of the straight the Audi R8 has sped past Jon Flinn and Bill O Brien for second place. Half a lap later, #38 has risen to fourth place. In the lead, the Mercedes SLS has a commanding 8 seconds advantage over the Audi R8 and seems untroubled by the tricky track conditions.

The Lamborghini Gallardo that crashed yesterday was repaired overnight and started three places from last, but it is now up to third place. The three GT cars are back in formation but will there be a fierce battle among them like yesterday?

On lap 5, #6 suffers a mechanical problem and stops on track. Next lap, #91 tries an overtaking move at turn 1 but fails to stop in time and runs onto the sandtrap, then onto the grass and he drives a long way round and back onto the track.

At about the same time, the Lamborghini Gallardo makes a move on the Audi R8 and passes it in the corner. He is now 12 seconds behind the race leading Mercedes SLS and there are backmarkers between them. With just 4 laps to go it is a huge task for him to hunt the leader down.

On lap 8, #16 BMW M3 spins onto the grass after turn 5. It bounces across the grass and then hits the retaining fence before turning upside down. There appears to be smoke coming from the bonnet. The driver has not exited the car immediately and the marshals rush towards the car to help. The accident causes the race officials to show the red flag and stop the race.

As the race has completed 80% of its total distance, it will not re-start. The results show that #31 Guo Guo-xin wins in his Mercedes SLS, #25 Mark Chung is second in his Lamborghini Gallardo and #75 Huang Xi-Zhan takes third place in his Audi R8.

Race results: http://www.zic.com.cn/en/event_list.php?kind=Race%20results