12 Dec 2010 GT Challenge: Lamborghini overwhelms Ferrari

In the morning of 12 December, GT Challenge Race 1 officially starts at Zhuhai International Circuit. There are a total of 8 cars in this race, among them six Lamborghinis and two Ferraris.

The race is divided into GT3 and GTA classes. Mechanically both classes satisfy the FIA GT3 regulations, but as the regulation has been introduced for some time, some of the older cars are no longer as quick as the latest machines, therefore the organizers introduced the GTA category for the slightly older cars to take part in.

The first five places on the grid are occupied by Lamborghinis. No. 6 Siu Tit-Lung is on pole position, no. 18 Michael Choi is second, no. 99 Kenneth Lau is third. With the race being 15 laps long, nearly 64.5 km, it will place a strong emphasis on driver fitness and concentration.

On Sunday the weather in Zhuhai is not very good. It is cloudy with a slight drizzle. Temperature about 22 degrees C. The drizzle makes the track wet and after the race all drivers said they had to be extra careful.

Race 1
 

The race uses the rolling start, with 8 supercars charging towards the first corner, it is a spectacular sight. No. 6 Siu Tit-Lung, no. 18 Michael Choi, no. 8 Siu Yuk-Lung and no. 99 Kenneth Lau lead the pack. No. 88 Billy Fung is in fifth place. No. 72 Eddie Yau Junior hits a car in front of him, spins and drops down the order.

At the end of lap 1, the order is no. 6 Siu Tit-Lung, no. 18 Michael Choi and no. 99 Kenneth Lau leading. No. 72 Eddie Yau Jr passes Byron Tong’s Ferrari on the straight for sixth place.

On lap 3, no. 8 Siu Yuk-Lung makes the fastest lap of the race: 1:39.823, closing in slightly on Michael Choi. At the end of lap 5, the 8 cars remain their positions with no change. The six Lamborghinis are dominating the two Ferraris. But no. 60 Byron Tong is not slow at all, lapping in 1:40s and not letting Eddie Yau Jr pull away. On lap 7, the race leading Siu Tit-Lung manages a fastest lap 1:39.307, trying to pull himself away from his chasers.

Six laps later, on lap 13, no. 6 Siu Tit-Lung and no. 18 Michael Choi go into turn 1 together. After that Michael Choi successfully claims the lead. A lap later Michael puts in the fastest lap of the race 1:39.056. No. 6 Siu Tit-Lung drops to fourth but he fights back and manages to claim third as the flag drops.

Race 2

Race 2 starts at 3pm on Sunday. This time no. 18 Michael Choi is on pole position with no. 6 Siu Tit-Lung in second place. But at the start, Siu Tit-Lung once again takes over the lead in front of Michael Choi. Third is once again Siu Yuk-Lung in the no. 8 car. No. 99 Kenneth Lau, no. 30 Frank Yu, no. 88 Billy Fung and no. 60 Byron Tong follow.

The order does not change until lap 4, no. 88 Billy Fung’s Lamborghini passes no. 30 Frank Yu’s Ferrari for fifth place, at the same time helping Lamborghini secure the top 5 positions.

Both Ferrari drivers begin to fight back on lap 5, both setting their own personal best laps. Frank Yu managed 1:42.054 while Byron Tong did a 1:43.251. It seems Ferrari are a little slow to warm-up in this race today.

But late is better than never for Frank Yu’s Ferrari. On lap 7 he successfully re-takes fifth spot from Billy Fung and breaks Lamborghini’s stranglehold on the race.

At the end of lap 7, Siu Yuk-Lung only lead Kenneth Lau by 0.1 second. The brothers Siu Tit-Lung and Siu Yuk-Lung are now under huge pressure. On lap 9, Siu Tit-Lung buckles and Michael Choi takes the lead. With no one in front of him, Michael Choi manages the fastest lap of the race on lap 11: 1:40.343, in the process building a lead of 1.3 seconds over Siu Tit-Lung.

There is no more change of order after that. No. 6 Siu Tit-Lung still wants to make one final charge to take on Michael Choi but in the end loses by 0.309 second. No. 18 Michael Choi thus managed two wins out of two today by finishing the race in 25 min 28 seconds 789. Siu Yuk-Lung is third, 16.516 seconds behind the winner. The three drivers are also the top 3 in GT3 class.

The GTA class is won by no.99 Kenneth Lau. Second place goes to no. 30 Frank Yu will no. 88 Billy Fung taking third place.