Photo: Procar.cc

Zhang Zhen Dong wins in Yancheng, Martin Xie takes drivers’ title

Zhang Zhen Dong lead a Shanghai VW 333 Racing 1-2-3 in the final race of the 2014 China Touring Car Championship, leading home team-mates Jiang Tengyi and Wang Rue, but sixth for Changan Ford FRD Team’s Martin Xie is enough to secure him his first drivers’ title.

Henry Ho led the race at the start after having secured pole position for Honda effectively in the first half of qualifying which was held on Saturday, as in the postponed Sunday session, Volkswagen’s Han Han was the fastest, who could only manage the ninth quickest time.

The second Honda of Peter Li suffered a mechanical problem on the first lap and retired from second place, while former champion Han Han came together with the Team Work Motorsport Citroën C-Elysée of Alex Hui on the first lap and both were forced to retire, while Ford’s Huang Chu Han was able to continue despite also being caught up in the incident.

The race was suspended for five laps behind the safety car, restarting on lap seven, with Jiang Tengyi in the Volkswagen Polo quick to pass championship rival Martin Xie for fourth, then moving ahead of Wang Rue for third. This became second when race leader Henry Ho lost ground late in the race, suffering with a technical issue with his new Honda Civic, elevating Zhang to the lead.

Martin Xie was running fourth, but was surprisingly hit by his Ford team-mate Rainey He on the final lap, which saw Rainey and Andy Yan move ahead of Xie, but sixth for Xie was still enough for him to win the drivers’ title ahead of Jiang Tengyi by a margin of just 2.5 points.

Volkswagen still had something to celebrate, with their 1-2-3 helping them secure the manufacturers’ title in Yancheng, while Martin Xie wins his first CTCC drivers’ title for Changan Ford, succeeding team-mate Andy Yan to take the drivers’ title.