19 Mar 2012 New AFR driver Shaun Thong on top of International Category podium - Wayne Shen takes IFC

The first two rounds of the 2012 AFR Series took place at the Zhuhai International Circuit today, with exciting battles between both AFR veterans and new Formula pilots. This year, there are two categories in the AFR Series, International and IFC.

At the commencement of the first race, Patrice Bonzom of Modena Motorsports got off to a brilliant start and passed pole-sitter ART’s Li Zhi Cong going into Turn One, with Modena’s Wayne Shen following a close 3rd. However, at the end of the first lap, both Li and Wayne managed to get by Patrice. In Lap 3, FRD PTP student Shaun Thong spun shortly after in Turn 4, with Tse Chiu and John Shen taking advantage to move from behine. Meanwhile Samson Chan made a pass attempt on Patrice and lost his front wing; despite fast driving, with the loss of the front down force Samson struggled to stay on the track while John, Chiu and Shaun took advantage of the mishap to get by.

However, John spun into the grass later on in the lap, allowing Chiu to move up to fourth. Meanwhile Shaun had set into a fast pace for his first-ever AFR race, and closed the gap on the Taiwanese star racer. Just a few laps later, Shaun passed Chiu going into Turn 7, while Samson drove off the track and became stuck after a valiant attempt to continue the race with no front wing.

By the end of the race, in the International Category it was Shaun Thong the win, Tse Chiu 2nd, and Li Zhi Cong in 3rd after a 30 second jump start penalty. In the IFC category, it was Wayne Shen with the win, Patrice Bonzom in 2nd, and Kenneth Ma in 3rd.  In addition, Taiwanese star Tse Chiu set the 3rd fastest race lap in his very first AFR event, to the delight of the large race day crowd.