07 Dec 2019 Non-stop incidents as Zun Motorsport Crew #77 takes pole position with big advantage – Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race qualifying

On 7 December 2019, a sunny day but overall temperature is low. Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race holds its qualifying session in the morning. In the end, Zun Motorsport Crew #77 Lin Yi-Ming/Adderly Fong/Ma Ka-Chun/Julio Acosta takes the pole position for the main race tomorrow.

Qualifying session begins at 10 a.m.. GT, A and D classes are first on the track. The session is 30 minutes long with 13 cars taking part. After 3 warm up laps, Tianshi Racing #19 stops by the side of the track with a mechanical problem. The red flag is shown and the session is stopped. At the same time #2, #22, #77 and #81 have their 4th laps times cancelled for exceeding track limits.

At 10:10, the session restarts. D2 Racing Team #2 sets a 1:36.885 to take first place overall. Liqui Moly Ghiasports #81 slides off into the buffer area at T9, the race organizers show the red flag again. 10 minutes later the session resumes. Zun Motorsport Crew #77 makes a fastest lap of 1:29.507, becoming the only car to break into 1:30s, locking up the pole position. After this there is no more changes to the order, the top 3 of this qualifying session are the reigning endurance race champion Zun Motorsport Crew #77 (1:29.507), D2 Racing Team #2 (1:35.671) and Song Veng Racing #59 (1:43.117).

Afterwards classes B and C qualifying session begins. It is also 30 minutes long and 19 cars are entered. The session begins at 10:50, after one lap Liqui Moly Ghiasports #28 stops at T1 gravel trap, not long afterwards teammate #27 spins at T10 and hits the tyre wall. The race officials show the red flag to stop the session.

At 11:05, the session resumes. Jack’s Racing #17 sets a 1:51.930 to take first place. Sporsky Racing Team #38 sets a 1:52.410 to go second. Then Jack’s Racing #83 stops on the grass at T4 and is unable to return to the track, prompting the race officials to show the red flag once again after just one lap. 3 minutes later the session continues but soon #55 spins, hit the wall and stops on the grass at T9. The red flag is shown for the third time.

At 11:28 the session resumes. Penrite TPR Racing #23 manages a 1:58.625 and pulls out a 1 second gap to the fourth placed car. Then on lap 8 Team Master Champ #7 gets around in 1:59.836 and moves up to fourth place. At the same time Gao Ge Racing #99 stops at T1 gravel trap. Yellow flags are shown but the session continues. After this the order sees no changes and the session is over. The top 3 are Jack’s Racing #17 (1:51.541), Sporsky Racing Team #38 (1:51.991) and Penrite TPR Racing #23 (1:58.590).

After combining the results of the two qualifying sessions, the top 5 cars on the grid for the race tomorrow are Zun Motorsport Crew #77 Lin Yi-Ming/Adderly Fong/Ma Ka-Chun/Julio Acosta, D2 Racing Team #2 Peter Liao/Kuo Kuo Hsin, Song Veng Racing #59 Chen Xi/Anson Wong/Gary Sham/He Hong-Jin, Tianshi Racing #36 Liu Peng/David Chen/Lin Xin-Ying and T. A. Motorsport #26 Filipe Souza/Li Ka-Hei/Cherry Cheung.

The 2019 Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race will begin at 11:00 tomorrow morning. Let’s see who will become the King of endurance racing!