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Rob Huff romps to pole position in Shanghai

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Rob Huff secured pole position for the fifth round of the 2017 China Touring Car Championship at the Shanghai International Circuit, setting his fastest time on his first flying lap in the Shanghai VW 333 Racing Lamando GTS.

Huff, taking part in his first of four races in the CTCC, has dominated the weekend so far, leading both free practice sessions on Friday. The World Touring Car Championship driver quickly produced a time of 1:55.192 right at the start of the 30-minute qualifying session, which was never challenged – with his two closest contenders coming from the Dongfeng Yueda Kia Racing Team.

Swiss driver Alex Fontana looked set to qualifying second in his Kia K3 2.0T, but was pipped in the final minutes by team-mate Jason Zhang, who was just over three-tenths behind Huff’s pole time.

In fourth was David Zhu in the BAIC Senova D70, with Macanese driver Rodolfo Avila the second fastest of the Volkswagens in fifth, seven-tenths of a second from pole, leading reigning champion and team-mate Zheng Zhen Dong in the #1 Volkswagen Lamando GTS.

The Kia of Jim Ka To qualified eighth, ahead of Juan Carlos Zhu in the second-best of the BAIC Senovas, with Rainey He the fastest of the struggling Changan Ford FRD Focuses in ninth, 1.2 seconds off the pace, with the Kia of Leo Hong Li completing the top ten.

The fastest of the Haima M6s was Andy Zheng in 11th, with Darryl O’Young down in 12th in the third of the BAIC Senovas.

Changan Ford had a qualifying to forget. After being off the pace all weekend, Rainey’s ninth place was effectively a highlight, as championship leader Martin Cao qualified down in 13th, with Andy Yan 14th and James Nash 16th.

The first race is scheduled for 8:43am CST on Sunday.