Photo: CTCC Media

Ford, Kia and VW to fight again for 2013 CTCC

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Coming up this weekend is the first round of the 2013 China Touring Car Championship at the Zhuhai International Circuit, where Ford, Kia and Volkswagen will again battle for the title.

The normally aspirated class is now gone, with every car either powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine or the new ‘series engine’ from UK-based Swindon Engines, in a similar arrangement as the TOCA control engine in the British Touring Car Championship.

For the opening race there will be 15 drivers spread across five teams in the Championship.

Shanghai VW 333 Racing returns with the same field of four Polo GTI 1.6Ts, which were introduced during the latter part of the 2012 season. The drivers will be reigning champion Han Han, Wang Rue, Gao Hua Yang and Zhang Zhen Dong.

2011 champions Chang’an Ford FRD team return with two key changes since last season. Again entering four Ford Focus 1.6Ts with the Global Racing Engine (GRE) produced by Mountune Racing, but this time with the four door saloon model instead of the five door hatchback as last season.

Another change is the signing of China Production Class champion Xie Xin Zhe, replacing Fan Gao Xian as the team’s fourth driver.

Kia 778 Racing will use the Kia K2 1.6T, which appeared in the final round of the 2012 season. They will be driven by Huang Chu Han, Lin Li Feng, Guo Hai Sheng from Mainland China and Michael Soong from Hong Kong.

Dong Feng Honda Racing, which also entered the final round of the 2012 Season, may possibly enter this year’s race as wild card entries.

The two privateer entries are again G Racing and Team de Marco. G Racing will enter 2 Chevrolet Cruzes for Kenneth Look and Ziang Zhi Qiang, whilst Team de Marco has only confirmed Taiwanese driver Zhang Sheng Jun to drive its Chevrolet Cruze at present, even though there are rumours that it may enter a Fiat Viaggo 1.4T later in the season.

2013 CTCC Super Production class’ entry list:

Driver – Team – Car
Han Han – Shanghai VW 333 Racing – Volkswagen Polo 1.6T
Wang Rue – Shanghai VW 333 Racing – Volkswagen Polo 1.6T
Gao Hua Yang – Shanghai VW 333 Racing – Volkswagen Polo 1.6T
Zhang Zhen Dong – Shanghai VW 333 Racing – Volkswagen Polo 1.6T
Rainey He – Chang’an Ford FRD – Ford Focus 1.6T
Jiang Tengyi – Chang’an Ford FRD – Ford Focus 1.6T
Andy Yan – Chang’an Ford FRD – Ford Focus 1.6T
Xie Xin Zhe – Chang’an Ford FRD – Ford Focus 1.6T
Huang Chu Han – Kia 778 Racing – Kia K2 1.6T
Lin Li Feng – Kia 778 Racing – Kia K2 1.6T
Michael Soong – Kia 778 Racing – Kia K2 1.6T
Guo Hai Sheng – Kia 778 Racing – Kia K2 1.6T
Kenneth Look – G Racing – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
Ziang Zhi Qiang – G Racing – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
Zhang Sheng Jun – Team da Marco – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
(To be confirmed) – Team da Marco – Fiat Viaggio 1.4T