15 Sep 2012 Circuit Hero I Race 1: Wei Chao-Yin wins

At 3pm on 15 Sep 2012, Circuit Hero I, the category for powerful sportscars is held at ZIC. With Audi R8 LMS Cup and AFR Series, this weekend's Pan Delta Super Racing Festival is very busy. Races for Audi R8, AFR and Circuit Hero I have to be arranged on Saturday as well as Sunday to satisfy the schedule. This in turn also benefits spectators on Sat, giving them more race action.

According to the qualifying results in the morning, Simon Yam starts on pole position in his Nissan GTR R32. His qualifying lap time is almost 3 seconds faster than Li Qing-Xin in second place. Li, driving an Ariel Atom, is the class leader in the 2000 class. Being on the front row, ahead of many class A machines is a testament to his talents. Bill O'Brien, another class A entrant, is third.

At 2:50pm, the race cars gather on the grid for final preparations. The various race cars are quite a sight for the spectators. At 3pm, the race begins punctually with the formation lap. Then the race officially begins!

The red lights are off and the race begins. Simon Yam makes a good start in his Nissan GTR, pulling out a small distance before turn 1 and turn in beautifully. Porsche driver #112 Chen Qi-Ming also makes a clean getaway, maintaining good speed and passing Li Qing-Xin before turn 1. By the end of the lap, Simon Yam leads by 4 seconds, while Chen leads Li by 6 seconds. Already the field is spreading out.

On lap 2, Wei Chao-Yin begins to show what he is capable of. He passes third placed Li Qing-Xin and soon closes in on Chen Qi-Ming. Chen, under pressure, loses control at turn 10 and spins. He runs into the sand trap but is able to re-join the race in 12th place.

On lap 4, Simon Yam leads Wei Chao-Yin by 7 seconds. The duo is now 30 seconds ahead of Li Qing-Xin. Wei begins to put pressure on Yam and the gap between them is 3.4 seconds. #112 Chen Qi-Ming is trying to recover his lost positions and going back up the order. With superior performance, his car is making good progress and back up to fourth place. Li Qing-Xin now stands between him and the overall podium.

At the end of lap 5, Wei Chao-Yin is just 0.1 second behind Simon Yam! The two cars are running parallel to each other. The absolute pace that Wei is capable of makes even the GTR seems weak. At the end of lap 6, Wei successfully passes Simon Yam and takes the lead. His lap time is now down to 1:42, while Simon can only manage 1:44.

On lap 8, one of the race cars loses control and sits astriding the grass and part of the track. As it is not a threat to the safety of other drivers, the race continues as normal. On lap 9, the two leading cars are already 1 minute ahead of Li Qing-Xin. The gap between the leading duo is 5 seconds. Wei's win seems secured.

On the final lap, Wei's Porsche crosses the finish line to win the race. Simon Yam finishes 6 seconds behind to take second, while the third and fourth places drivers are nearly a lap behind. In the end, Li Qing-Xin takes third ahead of Chen Qi-Ming.

The performance of the local drivers show that Circuit Hero has grown massively over the years. The second race will be held at ZIC at 10:50 on Sunday 16 Sep. Can Chen Qi-Ming makes a stronger challenge tomorrow?