Zhang Zhen Dong wins chaotic season finale and secures the 2016 CTCC title

Shanghai VW 333 Racing driver Zhang Zhen Dong successfully defended his 2.0T class drivers’ title with victory in the second race at the Shanghai Tianma circuit, in a race which finished behind the safety car after a number of incidents.

Zhang won the race from the reverse grid pole ahead of BAIC Senova driver David Zhu, with Haima’s Tomas Engström completing the podium, which gave the Volkswagen driver enough points to overhaul Ford’s Rainey He, who finished the race in fourth position.

The safety car was out at the start of the race after the Linky Racing Audi pair of Dennis Zhang and Xu Jia were involved in an incident with Changan Ford’s Dan Wells, with Zhang immediately out of the race and Wells retiring on lap five.

The safety car was out again on lap six after an incident involving Martin Cao’s Ford and Alex Hui’s privateer Citroën, with both cars requiring recovery from the track.

With the cars taking time to recover, the race was run to time, with Zhang winning the race, as well as the title, behind the safety car.

Changan Ford however had done enough to secure the manufacturers’ title before the start of the race, while Teamwork Motorsport secured the independent teams’ title.

Zhang won the championship by five points ahead of Rainey He, with Andy Yan a further 18 behind. Martin Cao finished fourth for Ford, while a strong weekend for BAIC Senova’s David Zhu saw him move to fifth ahead of Teamwork’s Alex Hui in the standings, who still finished as the best of the independent drivers.