Photo: CTCC Media

Bumper international entry to christen new Guizhou circuit

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The seventh and penultimate round of the 2016 China Touring Car Championship takes place this weekend, with European stars Rob Huff, Adam Morgan, Alex Fontana and Tomas Engström all competing as wild card entries among the Chinese regulars.

Former WTCC drivers’ champion Huff will be behind the wheel of the BAIC Senova D60 2.0T for the second meeting in a row, while Adam Morgan will be making his third appearance of the season in the factory Shanghai VW 333 Racing Volkswagen Lamando GTS.

Italian driver Alex Fontana will make his CTCC debut this weekend, piloting the brand new Kia K3 2.0T in the championship’s two-litre class, while Engström again drives the Haima Z1 Racing M6.

The brand new 2.198km circuit consists of 14 turns in a layout designed to emulate a “ruyi”, the sceptre of ancient Chinese emperors.

In terms of the championship, with two rounds to go, the Super Cup 2.0T class is led by Volkswagen’s Zhang Zhen Dong after a successful weekend at Shanghai, though he’s only just two points ahead of the Changan Ford FRD driver Rainey He, with Ford team-mates Andy Yan and Martin Cao a further four and five points behind respectively.

Alex Hui is well placed in the privateer Teamwork Citroën C-Elysée, with the Hong Kong driver fifth in the standings, 19.5 behind Zhang.

The smaller 1.6T class field’s championship is still led by Dongfeng Honda Racing Team driver Martin Xie, who’s only five points ahead of Kia’s Jason Zhang. The battle for the championship is turning into a two-way battle between the pair, with Macau’s Henry Ho in third for Honda, over 60 points behind.

Qualifying for the CTCC Super Cup 2.0T race takes place at 14:30 CST and 1.6 Cup at 15:10 on Saturday.