06 Dec 2020 Victory decided over one lap – Wu Wen-Fa takes ZMA Touring Car Class B win
Zhuhai International Circuit
On 6 December, the 2020 ZMA Club Race welcomes the ZMA Touring Car Class B race. The drivers performed to the best of their abilities and there were numerous incidents. In the end, TPR Racing #22 Wu Wen-Fa held on to his advantage on the last lap to take the win in ZMA Touring Car Class B race.
Qualifying
In the qualifying session in the morning, the circuit was in fine condition and good for drivers as they tried to set their best lap times. All the drivers set good times after a couple of warm up laps. The gap among the leaders were small, after combining B1/B2 and B3/B5/B6 qualifying results, TPR Racing #22 Wu Wen-Fa took class B pole position with a 1:47.394 fastest lap time.
Main Race
At 4pm in the afternoon, ZMA Touring Car Class B race commences. The race is 12 laps long with 24 drivers taking part. All cars are equipped with Pirelli tyres. Before the start of the race, #77 is unable to start and is pushed back into the pit lane. Lin Xue-Zhun therefore loses his fourth place starting position.
At 4:05 pm, the race officially begins. #22 Wu Wen-Fa and #38 Chen Bing-Xiong fight for the first corner. The pari exchanged the lead and then Wu Wen-Fa takes control from T3 onwards. Now #88 Xie Zheng-Ge is also up among the leaders and prepares to attack Chen Bing-Xiong. He successfully takes second place at T11.
On lap 2, #22 Wu Wen-Fa pulls out a 2.273 seconds gap. The gap among the 2nd to 4th placed drivers are small and the battle is very competitive. On lap 4, #88 Xie Zheng-Ge’s engine cover suddenly burst open and then hinges on the left front side of his car, then he crashes out at T10 and hits the tyre wall. The race officials show the yellow flag and dispatch the safety car. At the same time #87 goes through the pit lane as punishment for his jump start.
Two laps later the race is resumed. #38 Chen Bing-Xiong soon retires from the race due to mechanical trouble. #37 then hits the tyre wall at T14 and the race officials deploys the safety car once again, with just 4 laps remaining.
On the last lap, the safety car returns to the pit lane and all the drivers make a final one lap dash to the chequered flag. At T3 #44 stops across the track while #12 has an accident at T4. At T5 #33 stops in the gravel trap. Yellow flags are shown in those corners. In the end #22 Wu Wen-Fa successfully protects his lead and takes overall victory. #77 Lin Xue-Jun and #99 Zhuang Xue-Fu are second and third. #10 Zheng Shi-Xian passes #11 Sun Jun-Long for B3 class win.
Top 3 of each class
In the various classes: Class B1 top 3 are TPR Racing #22 Wu Wen-Fa, Apxi-Racing #77 Lin Xue-Jun, #99 Zhuang Xue-Fu; B2 class top 3 are SRC Racing #87 He Zhi-Rong, #85 Wu Jiu-Cheng and #86 Lin Ju-Xiong; B3 class winner and 1st runners’ up are Liqui Moly Ghiasports drivers #10 Zheng Shi-Xian and #11 Sun Jun-Long; B5 class top 3 are #71 Tan Yun, Spark Racing #82 Zhou Yun-Jie, Racing Hayabusa #9 Guo Lei; B6 class winner is Racing Hayabusa #6 Chen Yao-Wen.
Post Race interviews
After the race, overall winner Wu Wen-Fa said, “This is the last race of the year and I did okay. I made a small mistake at the start but overall it was not a difficult race, there was not much pressure. I ran according to my own rhythm. This year I would like to thank ZIC for allowing us to race together and improve ourselves. I also look forward to better performances next year.”
1st runners’ up Lin Xue-Jun said, “The race car had a small problem at the start of the race. It was resolved later. I was lucky to finish second after starting from the pit lane. But on the last lap I was a little too anxious and made a mistake. Overall I have been improving over the last couple of races. Next year I will continue to work hard and try to get better results.”
2nd runners’ up Zhuang Xue-Fu said, “Overall my feelings for the race was not bad. My teammate Xie Zheng-Ge actually did well but unfortunately had a problem on the main straight. But to be on the podium with my teammate is still a happy ending.”