Photo: TCR Asia/China

Jason Zhang and Martin Cao claims first Zhuzhou victories

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Jason Zhang and Martin Cao claimed one win each in the first two joint TCR Asia and China races at Zhuzhou International Circuit.

The TCR China/Asia field has seen the introduction of the Super Cup class, featuring the CTCC specification Volkswagens of Shanghai VW 333 Racing.

The first race saw Zhang starting from pole position, heading into the lead at Turn 1 with Teamwork Motorsport team-mate Ma Qing Hua behind him.

The safety car was issued on the first lap as Mai Yi Bo was spun by fellow Volkswagen driver Qiu Wen Tao.

Lynk & Co driver Ma Qing Hua was tapped into a spin by MG XPower driver Cao as the race restarted while fighting for third.

Ma was able to rejoin the field to finish fifth while Cao retired with a damaged MG, bringing the safety car on track for a second time.

There was drama right at the end of the race as Teamwork Motorsport driver Sunny Wong was tapped into a spin by MG drivers Wang Tao and Zhang Zhen Dong in the fight for the final podium position.

Wong dropped down the order to finish class ninth while Zhang finished third and Wang fourth.

Zhang won the first race ten second ahead of MG driver Rodolfo Ávila.

The second race saw Lynk & Co driver Wong taking the lead ahead of Ávia and Ma, starting a close fight for the lead during the first couple of laps that also involved the Super Cup Volkswagen drivers.

Lynk & Co driver Ma managed to pass both Wong and Ávila to take the lead on lap three while Wong started to fall down the order.

The safety car was called into action on lap four as 326 Racing Team team-mates Liu Zi Chen and Wu Yi Fan collided.

The same lap also saw Ávila stopping by the side of the track as a fire had boken out in his MG.

MG driver Cao managed to pass Ma for the lead as the race resumed on lap six.

The MG XPower driver won the race by 2.4 seconds over Ma while Zhang finished third.

Ma heads the TCR Asia standings on 140 points, 19 more than Zhang. Yang heads the TCR China standings on 77 points, just one more than Wang.

The TCR Asia/China field returns to the track tomorrow for another two races, with the first race starting at 08:45 local time/02:45 CEST.