30 Jun 2017 Supercars battle in the rain - Circuit Hero-One Race 4

At 11:30 on 18 June, Zhuhai International Circuit is hit by lightning and rain storm yet again. It looks like Circuit Hero-One race 4 will be another battle in the rain.

There are 27 cars entered in Circuit Hero-One, among them are top GT cars such as Mercedes AMG GT3, Lamborghini Huracan, Audi R8 LMS GT3, Porsche 997…etc. The development of the sports car market in China has been vibrant. The teams like D2 Racing, Shaanxi Tianshi Racing and Go Kart Racing are sending out the big guns.

At 11:40, the red lights go off and the race begins. The top 4 starters are Chen Wei-An’s #99 Audi R8 LMS, D2 Racing Guo Guo-Xin’s #2 Mercedes AMG GT3, D2 Racing’s Huang Xi-Zhan in his #20 Lamborghini Huracan and Go Kart Racing Cai Hui-Bang’s Audi R8 LMS. The rain has lessened a little but the track is still very wet. Same as race 3 yesterday, the race organizers decided to send out the safety car to lead the field around at the start.

With 7 laps remaining the safety car goes back into the pits. The race officially begins. The race cars cause a lot of water spray on the track behind them. Drivers running behind someone are more or less blinded by the water spray. #2 Guo Guo-Xin makes a mistake at T14 and spins into the sand trap, ending his race. The top 3 are #99, #20 and #4. On lap 5, race leader Chen Wei-An makes a 1:49.894 fastest lap, the only lap to drop below 1:50. It is a mighty effort in such appalling conditions.

On such a wet track, the drivers are all taking a more conservative approach. After half the race, the order has not changed much. The race is divided into two groups, the leading group and a second group. The gap between them is about 40 seconds. In the end, #99 Chen Wei-An crosses the line to win, #20 Huang Xi-Zhan finishes second while #4 Cai Hui-Bang takes third place.

After the race, Chen Wei-An said the track is very wet and the car is a long way away from its best performance. Fortunately being on pole allows him to quickly establish a lead. Cai Hui-Bang said the track conditions are horrible. Because he is affected by the water spray he must focus fully to control his car.

By now, Circuit Hero-One six race series has completed more than half. Shaanxi Tianshi Racing’s Chen Wei-An is leading class E. Go Kart Racing’s Cai Hui-Bang is second in class E after taking six points today. Second placed finisher #20 Huang Xi-Zhan is third in class E.