Photo: CTCC Media

Jason Zhang leads G Racing Chevrolet 1-2 in a wet South Korea

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Jason Zheng Zhi Qiang and Kenneth Look took a 1-2 finish for the privateer G Racing team during the fifth round of 2014 China Touring Car Championship at the Korean International Circuit, with Martin Zie completing the podium in his Changan Ford FRD Focus.

The CTCC Committee allowed three cars from the Shanghai VW Polo Cup class to bolster the field before the race, adding Zheng Sheng Quan, Sam Lau and Lu Jiong from China, bringing the field up to 15 cars, but all of them retired soon after half race distance.

The safety car led the field around for the first two laps due to the wet conditions. When the race began, Jason Zheng led the race and pulled away from Martin Xie. Ford’s Darryl O’Young, who’d qualified fourth, and Shanghai VW 333 Racing’s Jiang Tengyi, came together on the opening lap and were both forced to head into the pits, with Jiang retiring from the race afterwards and O’Young rejoining and going on to finish in 11th place, four laps down.

Second placed Martin Xie was passed by Kenneth Look on lap four after Xie spun the same lap, handing G Racing a significant 1-2 finish at the South Korean circuit.

Reigning champion Andy Yan of Changan Ford FRD progressed hard in the latter stages of the race. Yan was fighting hard with with Volkswagen’s Wang Rue, eventually managing to pass the Polo 1.6T on the final lap and secure fifth position, with Zhang Zhen Dong securing the best result for Volkswagen on the day with fourth.

Kia Racing showed signs of improvement on their championship return during the race. The stable performance of Larry Lin Le Feng and Michael Soong helped the Korean team to finish in eighth and tenth positions respectively.

Xie’s third place has helped him extend his lead in the standings to 21 points over Ford team-mate Rainey He, with just 45 points remaining in the final three meetings.

The sixth round of CTCC will be held on October 5th at the Beijing Goldenport Circuit, the first of two events where the championship will support the FIA World Touring Car Championship this season.