Ma Qing Hua and Norbert Michelisz were handed post-race penalties in the second World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race at Ningbo, with Ma penalised for hitting Yann Ehrlacher whilst Michelisz was punished for not respecting track limits.
Boutsen Ginion Racing’s Ma made contact with fellow Honda driver Ehrlacher on the last lap of the race, eliminating the Münnich Motorsport driver from what was tenth position.
The Chinese driver was handed a post-race drive through penalty, adding 30 seconds to his finishing time and dropping him from 14th position to 17th in the revised result.
“I don’t know what happened with the Chinese guy – if he just forgot to brake or had an issue or whatever,” said Ehrlacher of the incident. “But he fucked my race – the left-rear left was completely fucked. It’s like this – a lot of points gone for nothing, but that’s racing.”
BRC Racing’s Michelisz, meanwhile, was hit with a smaller five-second time penalty for not respecting track limits, dropping the Hyundai racer from ninth to 11th and losing him the two points he would have added to his tally.
That means Michelisz loses a small amount of ground in the title race, leaving him 46 points adrift of team-mate Gabriele Tarquini.
Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch had initially been given a post-race 10-second penalty for contact with Ehrlacher which had initially dropped the Frenchman out of a podium position, but the penalty was revoked when “new significant and relevant elements not previously available” were considered, along with additional video evidence.
Revised race result
POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
1 | 48 | Yvan MULLER | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 24:32.355 | 1:52.356 | 2 |
2 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI | ![]() ![]() |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 2.620 | 1:52.757 | 1 |
3 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI | ![]() ![]() |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 8.569 | 1:52.537 | 8 |
4 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 9.965 | 1:52.844 | 5 |
5 | 12 | Rob HUFF | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 12.526 | 1:52.933 | 6 |
6 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 12.629 | 1:52.703 | 4 |
7 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | ![]() ![]() |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 12.796 | 1:52.682 | 10 |
8 | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 12.961 | 1:53.042 | 11 |
9 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA | ![]() ![]() |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 15.337 | 1:53.102 | 15 |
10 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 18.019 | 1:53.391 | 16 |
11 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 18.257 | 1:52.923 | 9 |
12 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 13 | 22.473 | 1:53.588 | 19 |
13 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 13 | 27.413 | 1:54.122 | 25 |
14 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 31.601 | 1:54.100 | 22 |
15 | 9 | Tom CORONEL | ![]() ![]() |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 32.475 | 1:54.111 | 23 |
16 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA | ![]() ![]() |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 33.618 | 1:54.286 | 24 |
17 | 55 | MA Qing Hua | ![]() ![]() |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 1:01.012 | 1:53.113 | 12 |
18 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 12 | + 1 LAP | 1:52.713 | 3 |
19 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER | ![]() ![]() |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 12 | + 1 LAP | 1:52.574 | 18 |
20 | 8 | Norbert NAGY | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 10 | + 3 LAPS | 1:54.053 | 20 |
R | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 9 | DNF | 1:53.543 | 14 |
R | 27 | John FILIPPI | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 8 | DNF | 1:54.352 | 21 |
R | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 3 | DNF | 10:11.723 | 13 |
R | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | DNF | 14:18.762 | 7 |
R | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 3 | DNF | 14:16.976 | 17 |