TCR World and life

3 SPOTLIGHT The TCR China championship kicked off at the start of August, with 2018 champions Teamwork Motorsport making the most of their new partnership with Chinese manufacturer Lynk & Co, scoring four victories with their new 03 TCR challenger – the first customer team outside of the WTCR to run the car. The team, which is headquartered at the Guangdong International Circuit, launched a two-car programme for 2020 with WTCR race winner Ma Qing Hua, and sports car racer Lu Wei. Working with the upcoming Chinese automotive brand Lynk & Co is a perfect fit for the team, which has set itself the target of becoming a tour de force in Asian motorsport. Ma Qing Hua rocketed to pole position for the first race at the Zhuzhou International Circuit and cruised to an easy victory, while in Races 2 & 3, the 32-year-old battled from the mid-field to complete a hat-trick of wins, with team- mate Lu Wei making the most of his Race 4 pole position to lead a Teamwork Lynk & Co 1-2 in the fourth and final race. “Winning four out of four races with our two drivers on our debut as Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Motorsport was a very encouraging result,” said team manager Ken Lu. “Throughout the race week the team put Teamwork Motorsport: Chinese team racing Chinese cars in a lot of hard work, but equally important was all the preparation because the Lynk & Co 03 TCR was a model we’ve never raced before. We had conducted a few days of testing with both of our drivers before the season kicked off to try and understand the different aspects of the car, and to simulate different situations. We’ve also been working with Geely Group Motorsport’s customer department closely during testing and over the race week to collect and share data. We’re very proud to run a Chinese- brand car, and with a Chinese driver line- up as a Chinese-Hong Kong team. The Lynk & Co 03 TCR has proven itself in WTCR, and it’s also our mission to demonstrate its capability in the TCR China championship.” Ruled out of competition in Europe during to travel restrictions in the current climate, Ma Qing Hua was delighted with the results on his return to the region, and also to reunite with Teamwork Motorsport, which gave him his TCR China championship debut in 2017 when he paired up with TCR International Series champion Jean-Karl Vernay. “After being away from racing for months, I was quite happy with my performance in the opening weekend at Zhuzhou, especially converting pole to victory in Race 1,” said Ma. “The remaining three races were all about catching up and racing, which is what the audience want to see from touring cars. My experience with Teamwork started in 2014, since then they’ve had many great achievements with many world-class drivers and engineers. I can see their expertise in touring cars from their preparation, testing, and during races, which helped me a lot on the double- header weekend. Making it slightly easier is the Lynk & Co 03 TCR. I know what the car is capable of from what I saw in WTCR last year. Thanks to Geely Group Motorsport, we had a great season kick-off. It’s an honour to work with a Chinese brand, and to show how competitive we can be in front of a Chinese audience.”