Martin Xie grabs first pole of the season at Yancheng
Dongfeng Honda Racing’s Martin Xie secured his first pole of the year for the penultimate round of the 2015 China Touring Car Championship, outqualifying Kia driver Leo Yi Hong Li by just under two-tenths of a second, with all four manufacturers represented in the top four positions.
Xie finished the session with a time of 1:17.570, just two-tenths ahead of Lee Yo Hong Li’s Kia, while Rainey He was the best placed of the Changan Ford FRD drivers with a time just under half a second down.
Haima Z1 Racing had their best qualifying result of the season at the 2.8km circuit, with He Zi Xian qualifying in fourth position, just ahead of Ford’s Gao Hua Yang.
The best placed of the championship protagonists was Jason Zhang, qualifying his Kia K3S in sixth, with Changan Ford’s Andy Yan eighth and Honda’s Henry Ho completing the top ten.
The other manufacturer on the grid, the privately run Chevrolet Cruzes of G Racing, struggled at the track, with Kenneth Look and Pi Shu qualifying 11th and 15th.
In the Super Production Cup class for the next generation entrants, Alex Hui secured pole position for Teamwork Motorsport in his Citroën C-Elysée 2.0T, almost half a second faster than Jiang Tengyi’s Shanghai VW 333 Racing Golf. Jiang’s team-mate Zhang Zhen Dong was third, while Hui’s Citroën team-mate Sunny Wong qualified in fourth position, the last driver within a second of Hui’s time.
The Super Production class race takes place at 14:30 CST on Sunday, with the Super Production Cup class race at 15:10 CST.
