Martin Xie wins rain abandonded CTCC race in Zhuhai
Martin Xie led a Changan Ford FRD Team 1-2-3 at Zhuhai for the second round of the China Touring Car Championship, finishing ahead of team-mates Darryl O’Young and Andy Yan, with Wang Rue the best placed of the Volkswagen drivers in fourth.
The CTCC commitee allowed three cars from the Nissan Tiida 1.6T Cup class to bolster the field before the race, adding Masahiko Ida from Japan, Thomas Chan from Hong Kong and Wu Zhou from China, which brought the field up to 12 cars after Shanghai VW 333 Racing’s Gao Hua Yang was forced to withdraw from the race with mechanical problems.
The safety car led the field around for the first two laps due to the wet conditions. When the race began, Wu Zhou moved ahead of Chan and Ida to move into tenth position, while Alex Hui, in the Team Work Citroën C-Elysée, dropped behind the Ford of Rainey He and the Volkswagen of Jiang Tengyi, and found himself in eighth, one spot ahead of team-mate Sunny Wong.
On lap five, the circuit was hit by a severe rainstorm, with the visibility reduced dramatically, forcing the officials to stop the race on lap six, handing the victory to Martin Xie, who led an all Ford podium.
The next round of the CTCC will be held on May 25th at the Shanghai International Circuit.
