17 Jun 2017 Daniel LU had his maiden FMS win in Zhuhai
New Zealander Taylor Cockerton and Daniel Frost from Singapore take a Pole each. Two 15 minute qualifying sessions were held on Saturday morning on a wet track brought by the typhoon which just passed in southern China.
Race 9 was held in on Saturday afternoon and the rain stopped just before the race, but the track was still wet with lots of standing water. The race got under way behind the safety car and the conditions proved difficult for some drivers as 4 cars did not finish the race. Daniel LU from Absolute Racing came out on top in these difficult conditions after some fierce battles with Danial FROST. New Zealander Taylor COCKERTON who started from pole position finished 2nd and Japanese driver Tomoki TAKAHASHI finished in 3rd.
Once the race got under way after the safety car came in on lap 2 Danial FROST who started from third and Daniel LU started from second overtook Taylor COCKERTON from outside; Tomoki TAKAHASHI who started from sixth overtook two cars. Daniel Frost was in the lead and was followed closely by Daniel LU and Taylor COCKERTON. On lap 5, Daniel LU managed to pass Frost with a splendid overtaking move But Daniel Frost kept the pressure on LU for the next 6 laps. And was the faster driver, but Daniel LU did not put a foot wrong and cleverly positioned his car on track making it very difficult for FROST to overtake. On the last lap at T9 Frost made a move on Daniel LU but out-braked himself and ran wide into the gravel. Frost managed to set the fastest lap of the race earning him pole position for race 10.
James YU, who won 3 out of 4 races in the last round in Sepang, kept looking for chances to improve his position, but the wet track proved difficult for the young Chinese driver and ended in the gravel trap on Lap 9.
Unfortunately, Hu Nan from Linky Racing, and Angie KING from Eurasia Motorsport also spun at the first corner after the safety car came in on Lap 2 and they had to retire the race.
In the Masters Cup class, ZHANG Ya Qi finished 1st place, followed by LIU Zexuan who just came back to the Formula Masters Series.
Driver quotes：
#55 Daniel LU (Race 9, Winner)
“The race was really interesting, I took my chance of leading and I kept my position until the end, I am happy with the result.”
#11 Taylor COCKERTON (Race 9, 2nd place)
“The weather condition is tough, although I did not get the 1st place by starting from pole position, I’m lucky be the runner up because Frost retired during the last lap. I still have confidence to win and I will do my best in the next 2 races.”
#6 Tomoki TAKAHASHI (Race 9, 3rd place)
“The weather condition and the process were tough, I still finished in 3rd place, I think I gained confidence by doing this. I will use what I learned from this race in tomorrow’s race.”
#14 ZHANG Ya Qi (Race 9 Masters Cup, winner)
“My car had some problems and was being fixed in the past few days, I couldn’t participate the free practice, which means I don’t have enough time to know the track well, it is good to win, and I hope I can learn something from every race.”
#23 LIU Zexuan (Race 9 Masters Cup, 2nd place)
“This is the first time I have a race in a formula masters car during the rain, I could see lots of things I can improve, I will keep enhancing my skill.”