01 Jul 2017 FRD LMP3 Opening Race - Incidents aplenty, Eurasia laughing at the end

On Saturday 1 July, the opening race of the FRD LMP3 series set off at 17:10. Zhejiang International Circuit has been enjoying good sunshine today, but just before the start of the race dark clouds begin to gather. The weather forecast said rain may come within the 50 minutes race period, making things more complicated.

The race uses a rolling start, at 17:07 the race cars start their formation lap behind the safety car. According to the qualifying results, S&D Motorsport #33 is on pole position, Craft Bamboo #95 is second whilt PTRS Racing #17 is third.

At the end of the formation lap the safety car retreats. The lights are off and the race officially begins! #95 takes a short cut across T2 and takes the lead ahead of #33. The action has alerted the race stewards. But #33 resolves the issue itself and its attack on #95 results in a slight touch and spin for the Craft Bamboo car. #95 spins and drops to the tail of the field. #33 is also given a drive through penalty.

S&D Motorsport #33 is anyway back in the lead and it begins to push. With Chinese driver Leo Ye at the wheel, the car sets 4 consecutive fastest laps. By lap 5 it is already 6 seconds ahead of the #3 Eurasia. The order now is #33, #3, #17, #1, #7 and #38.

Jackie Chan DC Racing #38 is in sixth place, with Edgar Lau in his first stint. He is putting pressure on PTRS Racing #7 and is looking for a way pass. But #7 driver He Xiao-Le is very experienced and defends his position well.

On lap 11, race leader #33 suddenly loses its lead, overtaken by both #3 and #17. Maybe it is struck by mechanical trouble.

But two laps later, #33 recovers and gets back up to second place by diving down the inside of #17. #95, who went to last place earlier, is mounting a charge back to the lead. It is now up to 7th. Swiss driver Mathias Beche is showing that his prototype driving experience is very important.

On lap 15, the race enters the driver change window. The teams begin their changes. FRD LMP3 series has specific rules for the driver change minimum time requirement based on driver ratings. The stronger the driver pairing, the longer the stop needs to be. This guarantees the competition is fair and increases the spectacle. A race car that is down the order can reverse its fortune by a good pit stop.

A lap later, more race cars enter the pits for driver changes. Those who have not changed are #3, #33 and #17. #33 is still on the tail of #3 and applying a lot of pressure. Finally it manages to overtake at the hairpin corner.

By now the sky is dark and the rain clouds are hovering. Rain is inevitable. Another lap later, #3, #33 and #17 enter the pits for driver changes. As they have different stop times requirements, the order is changed when they re-emerge from the pits. The new order is #3, #17, #18, #33, #1 and #20. #3 now enjoys a 7 seconds lead and it has one hand on the trophy.

With 10 minutes to go, the rain finally comes down. This means trouble for all the drivers on dry tyres. First #25 spins off when he hits a puddle, then #38 also spins into the sand trap. By now the race has completed 75% of the total distance. Out of safety considerations the race officials show the red flag to end the race.

Therefore Eurasia #3 wins from PTRS #17. KCMG #18 finishes third. #95 is penalized 22 seconds for taking a short cut at the start of the race.

After the race, champion Eurasia #3 driver Martin Cao said he felt good during his stint, taking advantage of mistakes by the drivers in front of him to get up the order. Soon he was leading the race. After the driver change, Garnet Patterson also gets in some fast laps and maintains the lead till the end. He would like to thank the whole team for their support.

FRD LMP3 main race will be held at 13:20 tomorrow. The main race will last 1 hour and more excitement is expected.