Photo: 333 Racing

Rob Huff leads SAIC Volkswagen 1-2-3 in Shanghai qualifying

Rob Huff has claimed pole position in qualifying for the second round of the 2019 China Touring Car Championship at Shanghai International Circuit, leading his 333 Racing team-mates Rodolfo Avila and Zhang Zhen Dong.

Huff, making his first appearance in the 2019 season this weekend, and the only international wild card driver, with teams allowed to run international drivers up to four times during a season, topped the time sheets with a time of 2:13.725 in the Lamando GTS.

Macanese driver Rodolfo Avila was just 0.071 seconds behind in a close qualifying session, with 2016 champion Zhang Zhen Dong also within a tenth.

Cai Yue was the closest challenger in fourth in his Dongfeng Kia K3 2.0T, followed by 2018 champion David Zhu’s BAIC Senova D50.

Leo Yi, last year’s champion, is making his CTCC return this weekend in car #1, and qualified in sixth, just under half a second back from Huff in his Kia K3 2.0T.

Rainey He was the best of the Changan Ford drivers in seventh, followed by the two BAIC Senovas of Darryl O’Young and Juan Carlos Zhu, with Martin Cao completing the top ten for Kia.

The first race, which features the random draw reversed grid, takes place at 14:18 CST (08:18 CEST).