03 Sep 2022 The OFC Formula Open Challenge starts in Zhuhai, Gao Yujia achieves Pole to Win!

 

On Saturday, September 3, the brand-new Open Formula Challenge (OFC) started the first qualifying session and the first round of the race at the Zhuhai International Circuit. TRT Racing Team Gao Yu-Jia took pole position in the morning qualifying session, and then performed a Pole to Win in the afternoon’s first-round race, winning the first OFC race in history, at the same time winning the FRAC class!

Qualifying: Gao Yu-Jia takes the pole position

In the qualifying session, Gao Yu-Jia of TRT Racing team set the fastest lap in the final run and won the pole position with a 1:35.570 lap. He was also the only driver in this session to break the lap time within the 1:36 bracket. Team KRC's Lu Wei-Lin was 1.030 seconds behind, gaining the other starting spot on the front row. The third and fourth grid places went to R&B Racing's Wang Zhong-Wei and TRT Racing's Li Qiang. Another R&B Racing driver Lin Nan ranked fifth, followed by Li Zhi-Cong of Asia Racing Team and Lu Lei of TRT Racing Team, of which Li Zhi-Cong was also the first in the Formula Renault category (hereinafter referred to as the FR category).

First round race: Gao Yu-Jia Pole to Win!

At 1:00 p.m., the drivers participating in the OFC ushered in the first round race of 23 minutes + 1 lap. On the first lap after the start, Gao Yu-Jia held the leading position, Wang Zhong-Wei came second and followed behind Gao Yu-Jia. Li Zhi-Cong, who was driving a Formula Renault car, was third. Lu Wei-Lin dropped from second to fifth in the first lap. After the second lap of the race, Gao Yu-Jia gradually opened a gap of about 1.6 seconds with Wang Zhong-Wei behind him. Lu Lei and Lu Wei-Lin tried to attack Li Zhi-Cong, who was in third place.

On the third lap of the race, Gao Yu-Jia further extended his lead by claiming the fastest lap in the race. There was a fierce battle between Lu Wei-Lin and Lu Lei, and the difference between the two drivers when they crossed the line was less than 0.4 seconds. Lin Nan and Li Qiang were running fifth and sixth respectively in the group.

Ten minutes into the race, Gao Yu-Jia completed six laps of the race. At this time, Li Qiang's car spun out of the track at turn 10, and the safety car was dispatched. With less than six minutes to go before the end of the race, the safety car returned to the pits and the race resumed. The whole field were bunched up by the safety car, and the last few laps were crucial.

Gao Yu-Jia took the lead and sped up at the green flag, followed by the rest of the field. After one lap, there was a gap of about 1.5 seconds between Gao Yu-Jia and Wang Zhong-Wei, followed by Li Zhi-Cong, Lu Lei, Lu Wei-Lin and Lin Nan.

On the second lap after the race resumed, Lu Wei-Lin overtook Lu Lei on the track to rise to fourth place. At this point, there are less than 2 minutes left on the clock. Gao Yu-Jia continued to lead the field and opened the gap with Wang Zhong-Wei again. On the last lap, Gao Yu-Jia sprinted towards the chequered flag with a 2.6-second advantage, while Li Zhi-Cong was still temporarily in third place overall.

In the end, after 23 minutes and one lap of fierce competition, Gao Yu-Jia won the first OFC championship race in history, Wang Zhong-Wei crossed the line in second place, and Li Zhi-Cong crossed the line in third place. Lu Wei-lin, Lu Lei and Lin Nan crossed the line in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively.

In the FRAC Master class the first, second, and third placed drivers were Wang Zhong-Wei of R&B Racing Team, Lu Lei of TRT Racing Team and Lin Nan of R&B Racing Team.

Tomorrow, the Formula Open Challenge will held the second round of the season at Zhuhai International Circuit, so stay tuned!

Overall champion driver Gao Yu-Jia's comments after the race

"The first win of the year, I am very happy. During the race, a car ran off the track at turn 10, so the safety car was dispatched. When the race resumed, my opponent was chasing me closer and my tires were a little too hot. Fortunately, the remaining race was not long, and I successfully won. In the second round tomorrow, I am very confident to win!"