31 Mar 2015 Pan Delta Circuit Hero Three: Pure skills test on a slippery track

At 9:45 on 22 March, the weather is still gloomy after a little morning rain. The track is slippery as Circuit Hero Three entries line up on the grid. With the track conditions being a great leveller, this race will most likely be determined by driver skill.

According to yesterday afternoon's qualifying session, one of Pan Delta's most successful drivers, Li Jia-Cheng, puts his #117 Honda on pole position. Second on the grid is Yang Meng-Qiao, in a Honda EG. Third is Zeng Wei-Peng in another Honda EK. There are 20 Honda EK cars out of the total 22 entries, the remaining two are Honda CRXs. Circuit Hero Three allows these aging machines to continue racing, providing an economical route into motorsport for newcomers and old hands alike. These drivers using similar machinery will have a fairer chance of winning, at the same time getting more race experience.

At the start of the race, #117 Li Jia-Cheng seems to have a problem and does not get away well. The cars behind rush through and fifth position starter #17 Zhong De-Hao takes to the lead, while the cars behind him funnel through turn 1. But one of the cars spin at turn 3 and causes a three car accident. The accident causes lots of debris to fall all over that session on the track. All three cars have to retire from the race, allowing #17 Zhong De-Hao to get away from the rest. Pole position starter #117 Li Jia-Cheng is now in 7th position after his bad start. The order now is #17, #81 and #419.

On lap 4, the debris on the track is still not cleared. This means the drivers will have to watch out for it as well as the slippery surface. #17 Zhong De-Hao continues to lead by 6 seconds over #81. #419 and #81 are closer together, just a second apart. #11 Yang Men-Qiao slowly gets itself up the field and by lap 5 he is up to second place. On lap 5, #11 Yang Men-Qiao puts more pressure on the leader #17 Zhong De-Hao and Zhong spins in a corner, thus surrendering his lead. He re-joins the race but is already left behind by #11. The current order is #11, #17, #81, #33.

3 laps from the end and #11 goes straight on at the end of the main straight and into the sand trap. He goes through the sand trap and onto the grass and drives slowly back to the track, losing him a huge chunk of time but still ahead of the rest.

On the last lap, #11 continues to lead by 25 seconds. At the flag, #11 Yang Men-Qiao wins the race ahead of #81 Huang Man-He who gets past #17 Zhong De-Hao, who finishes third.