TCR World and life

21 The TCR China championship began with a double-header event at Zhuzhou International Circuit that saw the Lynk & Co cars run by Teamwork Motorsport complete a clean sweep. Ma Qing Hua and Lu Wei won all of the weekend’s four races, comfortably dominating the field. Macau’s Rodolfo Ávila was the best of the rest in his MG 6, finishing four times on the podium, while Yang Xi drove his Audi to claim pole position for Race 3 in which he finished second behind Ma. RACES 1 & 2 – BACK-TO-BACK WINS FOR MA QING HUA Ma led the way from pole position in Race 1, while his team-mate Lu Wei leapt up into P2, passing Ávila at the start. The race was very much a procession, with the two Lynk & Co cars pulling out a seven-second lead over the field, while the only action was further back as Wu Yifan slowly dropped down the order. The top seven from qualifying were reversed for Race 2, with Wu’s Audi starting on pole, but a rocket start from Lu Wei from fifth on the grid saw him lead the way into Turn 1. A stall for Yang Xi’s Audi blocked Ma’s way, and the Race 1 winner was seventh by the end of the first lap, but quickly started to fight his way forward, and was up to third by the end of lap four. The race came to an end for Lu Wei on the same lap, promoting Cui Yue’s MG into the lead ahead of Ma, and Ávila. The safety car was deployed to recover Lu’s car and at the restart on lap eight, Ma drove straight into the lead and Ávila passed his teammate Cui for second. RACES 3 & 4 – LU WEI IS VICTORIOUS IN THE FINAL RACE Yang Xi started from pole for Race 3 and led the way ahead of the MG 6 cars of Cui Yue, Ávila and Rainey He. Lu Wei overtook teammate Ma for P4, but then collided with He who retired, while Lu pitted for repairs and rejoined four laps behind. On lap 5, Ávila overtook Cui for second, while Ma passed He for P3; Ma then dispatched Ávila and eventually overtook Yang for the lead with four laps to go, claiming the win ahead of Yang and Ávila. In Race 4, Lu Wei started from the reversed grid pole and led the way ahead of Ma, who jumped ahead of Zhang Ziyi. The latter spun at Turn 2 and was collected by the Audi cars of Yang Xi and Wu Yifan, with Yang taking significant damage that forced him to lose two laps in the pits for repairs. Ma was briefly threatened by Ávila, with the Macanese driver moving ahead at the start of lap two, but Ma retook P2 before the end of the lap. Ma then closed on teammate Lu and the two battled for the victory throughout the last third of the race, with Lu withstanding Ma’s attacks to claim his maiden win. The next round of TCR China is at Shanghai International Circuit on 12/13 September. Round 1 – Saturday 8 August, Zhuzhou Intern. Circuit 1. Ma Qing Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03); 2. Lu Wei (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03); 3. R. Ávila (MG XPower, MG 6) Round 2 – Saturday 8 August, Zhuzhou Intern. Circuit 1. Ma Qing Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03); 2. R. Ávila (MG XPower, MG 6); 3. Cui Yue (MG XPower, MG 6), 8.841 Round 3 – Sunday 9 August, Zhuzhou Intern. Circuit 1. Ma Qing Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03); 2. Yang Xi (Champ Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS); 3. R. Ávila (MG XPower, MG 6) Round 4 – Sunday 9 August, Zhuzhou Intern. Circuit 1. Lu Wei (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03); 2. Ma Qing Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03); 3. R. Ávila (MG XPower, MG 6)