08 Dec 2019 Zun Motorsport Crew successfully defends its crown and takes final win of the year-Circuit Hero 700km Endurance Race
On 8 December 2019, under fine weather and track conditions, the last race of the year at Zhuhai International Circuit is held in the morning. At the end of the 5 hours race, Zun Motorsport Crew #77 Lin Yi-Ming/Adderly Fong/Ma Ka-Chun/Julio Acosta takes overall victory with a comfortable margin.
The race begins at 11:00 a.m. and utilizes a rolling start. 19 teams and 32 cars are taking part. The race begins, all the race cars go through T1 safely. After 3 laps, #77 has already pulled out a big gap over #2 in second place. On lap 5, #77 passes many backmarkers who are a lap down. On lap 6, #81 passes #48 in the corner and moves up to 4th place and in the lead of class A. At this time #26 enters the pit lane for the second time since the start and drops down to the last place, basically out of contention for a podium finish.
On lap 10, #81 makes another overtaking move and passes #59 to claim third place overall. On lap 12, #61 and #7 begins a great battle. Lap 16, #48 of class A overtakes #59 ahead of T7 and moves up to fourth place overall. Lap 21, #23 of class C is penalized a 10 seconds stop-go for overtaking under yellow flags and thus loses the lead to #28. By lap 27, race leader #77 has established a one lap lead.
On lap 33, the race enters its first driver change window as the first hour approaches, all the race cars enter the pit lane for refueling and driver changes. #28 loses control at T3, hits the inside wall and bounce back to the middle of the track and has to retire from the race. The safety car is deployed, the order is now #77, #81 and #48. After 5 laps, the safety car returns to the pit lane and the race resumes. #2 stops at its pit for more than 12 minutes and it is now back on track, giving chase. On lap 41, a big accident happens at T9, when #8 spins at the corner and is collected by #23 and #48. Afterwards #23 enters the pit lane for repairs and drops down the order. #37 rises to the top of class C.
On lap 62, the race approaches its second hour, #77 still maintains a big lead while #2 overtakes slower cars. It is up to second place and has a good gap to the third placed car. The various entries once again make driver changes and refuel. #23 is back on track after repair work. On lap 71, #61 stops at T4 exit, double yellow flags are shown and safety car is once again in action. At the same time #2 is penalized 10 seconds stop-go for overtaking under yellow flags. 6 laps later the safety car returns to the pit lane and the race continues.
In the second half of the race on lap 90, there is an order change among the top 5. Apart from #77 leading comfortably, #59 and #36 have moved into the top 5. On lap 93, #36 slides off into T1 gravel trap and drops out of the top 5 and 3rd in class when it returns. On lap 97, #7 of class C stops at T5 and #48 of class A stops at T14. The race officials waves the yellow flags and deploys the safety car. 5 laps later the safety car returns to the pit lane and the race continues.
Lap 105, #99 goes off into the gravel trap and is overtaken by #72 and #95. It is now down in fourth place in class C. Approaching 14:40, the race cars enter the pits for refuel and driver change. Lap 133, #32 stops at T11 grass. Safety car once again emerges from the pit lane. 4 laps later the safety car retreats and all the cars make their final dash to the finish. On lap 159, #99, third in class C, stops at T4 and misses out on a class podium. Afterwards there is no more changes in the order and the race finishes.
Zun Motorsport Crew #77 Lin Yi-Ming/Adderly Fong/Ma Ka-Chun/Julio Acosta takes overall as well as GT class victory and the fastest lap of the race: 1:31.329. D2 Racing Team #2 Peter Liao/Kuo Kuo Hsin and Liqui Moly Ghiasports #81 Xie Jia-Xing/Deng Yong-Lai finish second and third places.
In the various classes, GT class top 2 are Zun Motorsport Crew #77 Lin Yi-Ming/Adderly Fong/Ma Ka-Chun/Julio Acosta and D2 Racing Team #2 Peter Liao/Kuo Kuo Hsin. Class A top 3 are Liqui Moly Ghiasports #81 Xie Jia-Xing/Deng Yong-Lai, Liqui Moly Ghiasports #29 Mai Qing-Long/Mai Xiao-Gang/Roelof Choe Albert Bruins and Tianshi Racing #36 Liu Peng/David Chen/Lin Xin-Ying; class B top 3 are Sporsky Racing Team #38 Yiu Lung/Hu Jia-Xin/Ouyang Zhen-Wei/Wang Wen-Bin, Hansa Falcon Racing #20 Mai Yi-Bo/Li Ke-Ning/Jiang Wei-Lun and Jack’s Racing #17 Chung Tak-Ho/Lu Tian-Yi/Zhang Qing-Hua; Class C top 3 are Guangzhou BoomGear Racing #37 Ryan Kuang/Lu Jia-Le/Kelvin Leong, Go Racing #72 Li Yong-Hao/Wu Hao/Lin Shao-Bin and Tianshi Racing #95 Lin Shu-Ming/Wang Dan/Liang Chuo-Qian; Class D top 3 are Song Veng Racing #59 Chen Xi/Anson Wong/Gary Sham/He Hong-Jin, D2 Racing Team #22 Mai Zhi-Han/Xu Ting-Hao and Tianshi Racing #19 Zhu Yue/Wei Jia.
Overall winner Zun Motorsport Crew #77 says, “This year we have enhanced every aspect of our performance, although we were affected by some slower cars, we made no mistakes and the teammates worked well together, allowing us to take the win.”
Second overall D2 Racing Team #2 says, “This was our first endurance race, we showed some good performance. Although there was a few accidents in the race, we are still very happy to take second place overall.”
Third overall and class A winner Liqui Moly Ghiasports Racing #81 says, “This was an endurance race with a very high competition level. Although we made a few minor mistakes in the race, we had a smooth run. We are really happy to finish third overall and win our class.”
All races for 2019 at Zhuhai International Circuit are now completed. In March 2020, Circuit Hero races will return at the Pan Delta Super Racing Festival!