Jason Zhang completes Teamwork double in Shanghai

Teamwork Motorsport’s Jason Zhang took victory in another rain-affected TCR Asia / China race at Shanghai, with MG’s Rodolfo Avila and Teamwork team-mate Ma Qing Hua completing the podium.

As the lights went out, on a damp circuit under dark grey skies, front-row starter Samuel Qiu stalled his Volkswagen Golf, forcing several drivers to take evasive action, as reverse-grid pole-sitter Jason Zhang Zhi Qiang made a clean getaway.

Liu Zi Chen held second at the start, just ahead of the Teamwork Motorsport Lynk & Co of Sunny Wong, who had moved from seventh on the grid to third by the first corner.

MG’s Zhang Zhendong claimed third from Wong at Turn 7 on the opening lap, as further back Saturday’s race winner Ma Qing Hua was up to seventh by halfway around the opening tour.

Zhang Zhendong then passed Liu for second as the field started the second lap, with the rain beginning to intensify at the Shanghai circuit, with Jason Zhang at this stage holding a lead of several seconds.

Wong took third from Liu at Turn 6 on the second lap, with MG’s Rodolfo Avila following through, but at this stage the rain was becoming torrential in places.

Ma, meanwhile, had worked his way up to fourth at this point and went around the outside of Avila for fourth at Turn 1 on lap three, although Avila reclaimed the place at Turn 9 later in the lap.

In by now torrential conditions, Wong then aquaplaned into Zhang Zhendong at the Turn 14 hairpin on lap three, taking both out of the race and bringing out a lengthy safety car intervention.

Yifan Wu also aquaplaned his Audi off at the end of the third lap.

After four laps behind the safety car, racing resumed on lap eight for a three-lap dash to the finish, with Jason Zhang leading Avila, Ma, Martin Cao’s MG and Yang Xi’s Audi.

Teamwork Huff Motorsport’s Xi was then biffed out of fifth on the penultimate lap at Turn 1 by the CTCC-spec Volkswagen Lamando of Nathan Lu, dropping Xi to 12^th.

Little changed at the front in the final laps, with Jason Zhang going on to claim his first TCR China win since the season finale in Macau last year.

Avila was initially the best MG in second, but he was later given a post-race ten-second penalty for overtaking Ma under the safety car, dropping him to fourth. Championship leader Ma thus inherited second, with Martin Cao completing the podium in his MG.

Avila was ultimately classified in fourth, ahead of Lu in fifth and Z.Speed’s Yang Xiao Wei in sixth.

The next TCR China / Asia event takes place at the ZhouZhou International Circuit on 7 – 10 October for a double-header event with four races.

Amended* race results

POS	NO	CL	NAT	DRIVER	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	36			ZHANG Zhi Qiang	Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	10	30:34.765	2:33.076	1
2	55			MA Qing Hua	Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	10	5.101	2:35.088	10
3	88			Martin CAO Hongwei	MG XPOWER	MG6 TCR	10	6.300	2:36.932	22
4	20			Rodolfo AVILA*	MG XPOWER	MG6 TCR	10	12.770*	2:35.168	9
5	63			Nathan LU Wenhu	SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team	Volkswagen Lamando CTCC	10	14.041	2:37.431	18
6	17			YANG Xiao Wei	Z.Speed	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	10	17.062	2:37.374	5
7	11			LIU Zi Chen	326 MMK Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	10	18.422	2:40.493	3
8	26			SUN Chao	SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team	Volkswagen Lamando CTCC	10	22.407	2:38.164	11
9	15			Ken TIAN	Huffsport TM	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	10	26.126	2:38.369	16
10	601			Tao WANG	AHRT Autohome Racing Team	MG6 TCR	10	26.439	2:37.744	12
11	7			YAN Chuang	MG XPOWER	MG6 TCR	10	27.494	2:38.941	13
12	3			Yang XI	Huffsport TM	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	10	34.291	2:36.206	6
13	66			CHEN Ze Xun	Z. Speed	CUPRA TCR	10	39.190	2:41.489	19
14	100			Liang QI	AHRT Autohome Racing Team	MG6 TCR	10	39.430	2:39.088	20
15	22			Xiaole HE	SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team	Volkswagen Lamando CTCC	10	41.301	2:40.055	17
16	77			Samuel QIU	Z. Speed	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	10	43.497	2:40.815	2
17	10			MAI Yi Bo	Elegant Racing Team	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	10	47.082	2:39.578	21
18	16			RUAN Cun Fan	ZZRT	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	10	48.932	2:40.744	15
R	92			ZHU Yuan Jie	SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team	Volkswagen Lamando CTCC	8	DNF	2:43.276	14
R	18			Zhendong ZHANG	MG XPOWER	MG6 TCR	3	DNF	2:34.257	8
R	12			Sunny WONG Yat Shing	Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing	Lynk & Co 03 TCR	2	DNF	2:36.177	7
R	51			Yifan WU	326 MMK Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	2	DNF	2:37.926	4