25 May 2016 Porsche 997 joins the fray but Guo Guo-Xin advantage is hard to shake
On Saturday 19 March 2016, the 2016 Pan Delta Super Racing Festival Spring Race draws back its curtains at Zhuhai International Circuit. In recent days most of Guangdong province is foggy due to the spring weather, coastal city Zhuhai is no exception. The fog has stayed and is not moving, bringing more challenges to the drivers. Especially the Circuit Hero One qualifying session at 9:30. With Formula Renault holding its practice session just before, the water vapour on the track is still hanging in the air. The track is clearly divided into the dry racing line and wet off line sectors, drivers must be very careful.
As the first race of the new year, Circuit Hero One has not gone through much change from the year before. Holding on to its format of two races over the weekend. In terms of participation, Guo Guo-Xin, who dominated last year's races, still looks strong. Newcomer Liu Peng in his Audi R8 LMS does not look able to challenge him, while John Shen brings his Porsche 997 GT3, a very powerful car but is an unknown against the Mercedes SLS. In the end Guo Guo-Xin secures pole position with 1:38.471. John Shen is second in class with a 1:41.057 and 4th overall.
In GT class, Huang Xi-Zhan is facing challenges from Enzo Lok s Lamborghini Huracan. Enzo Lok beats Huang in qualifying and is second overall, with a time of 1:40.651. Huang lines up third overall, ahead of two other GT3 class contenders with a time of 1:40.912.
Last year Guo Guo-Xin suffered at the start many times. This year with Porsche and Lamborghini in the fray and performances getting closer and closer, can the challengers break the Mercedes SLS s stronghold in the race? We will find out in the 15 laps race at 13:45 in the afternoon!
Class
|
Pos
|
No.
|
Driver
|
Best time
|
GT3
|
1
|
26
|
Guo Guo-Xin
|
1:38.471
|
2
|
68
|
John Shen
|
1:41.057
|
|
3
|
88
|
Liu Peng
|
1:44.338
|
|
GT
|
1
|
36
|
Enzo Lok
|
1:40.651
|
2
|
28
|
Huang Xi-Zhan
|
1:40.912
|
|
3
|
27
|
Liu She-Hui
|
1:48.076
|
|
Open
|
1
|
13
|
Jon Flinn
|
1:44.161
|
A
|
1
|
2
|
Xie Rui-Lun
|
1:44.630
|
2
|
22
|
Tommy Chen
|
1:52.077
|
|
3
|
18
|
Cheng Chun-Hua
|
1:54.734
|
|
B
|
1
|
66
|
Cheng Zhong
|
1:49.382
|
2
|
3
|
Roa
|
1:49.726
|
|
3
|
77
|
Ulrich Sanne
|
1:53.411
|
|
C
|
1
|
50
|
Fang Rui-Qi
|
1:56.172
|
2
|
8
|
Li Ye-Long
|
2:03.772
|
|
3
|
17
|
Zhang De-Xiang
|
2:04.031
|
Time
|
Details
|
9:34
|
#96 stops at T1.
|
9:34
|
#7 runs into T13 sand trap.
|
9:35
|
#16 runs into T1 sand trap.
|
9:36
|
#80 stops at T5A. Towed away and driver injured.
|
9:41
|
#11 runs into T11 sand trap. Towed away.
|