12 Dec 2011 2011 Circuit Hero 500 km Race: Sun Zheng/Zhang Zhi-Qang/Chan Zhao takes victory

At 2pm on 10 December 2011, Circuit Hero 500 km Race commences at Audi Zhuhai International Circuit. The temperature in Zhuhai is even cooler than the day before, at only 12 degrees C, but the sky is clear.

This is the second time that Circuit Hero 500 km Endurance race is run. Last year's race only had fewer than 10 entries. But this year, entries gone up to 21 teams. This is solid proof that endurance racing's popularity is improving in the region.

Fastest in qualifying were no. 13 Kenneth Ma and Frank Yu. The duo's Renault Megane Trophy race car managed 1:44.682 and will start on pole position. Although the no. 7 Caterham Super 7 was unable to set a time in qualifying due to mechanical problems, it showed good speed in practice and these two class A machines are hot favourites for victory.

At the start, no. 13 Renault speeds into the lead, while the no. 7 Caterham shows its light weight advantage by passing many cars, one lap later and it is already up to second place from its 21st grid spot. No. 7 starting driver Nigel Farmer even manages to overtake the no. 13 Renault for the race lead after a few laps. Just as the lead battle is getting interesting the Renault has an off and loses it more than a lap's time.
 

The Caterham continues to lead into the second hour of the race, but sadly, on lap 52, the car's drive shaft breaks and it has to retire from the race. At around the same time, no. 13 Renault's rear diffuser begins to come loose and the whole diffuser has to be removed, costing the team a few more laps.

With the two hot favourites out of overall race contention, the no. 112 Honda EP3 driven by Sun Zheng/Zhang Zhi-Qiang/Chen Zhao sweeps into the lead and continues on unabatedly to win the race by completing 87 laps, beating the no. 6 Honda DC5 driven by Jeronimo Badaraco/Chan Kin-Man/Leong Ian Veng by 1 minute and 37 seconds. Sun Zheng said the whole race went smoothly for them with no unexpected problems. Both of his fellow drivers and himself performed very well.
 

Meanwhile in class A, the no. 13 Renault has another off on the track losing it even more time, allowing the no. 29 Mitsubishi Evolution to take the class lead. Kenneth Ma then begins a hot pursuit and just manages to catch the no. 29 car with 2 minutes to spare. Kenneth Ma said after the race that without the problems above there would not have been the exciting finale in the dying minutes of the race.

Class C was won by Mak Ka-Lok/Lui Man-Kit/Lui Man-Fai/Zhu Hiu-Fung's Toyota Vios. Mak Ka-Lok said the four drivers worked very well together and the key to their victory was their successful strategy, requiring just 4 stops, one less stop than their main rivals, to complete the race.

Class D winner was Tang You-Xi/Zhang Han-Biao and Liang Da-Ming's Honda Accord. The trio managed 85 laps.

Official Results: