Teamwork Motorsport’s Jason Zhang was a double TCR Asia winner in Sunday’s combined TCR Asia / China races at Zhouzhou in China, winning his class in race one and then coming through to win the reverse-grid race as well.
Although Zhang did not finish first on the road in the opening race, the victory went the way of Tengyi Jiang in a CTCC-spec Volkswagen, which was effectively ‘invisible’ in terms of the TCR Asia championship.
Race one
In the opening race of the day, SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team’s Tengyi Jiang claimed a lights-to-flag victory in the overall class, having started from pole position in his CTCC-spec Volkswagen Lamando.
Teamwork Motorsport’s Jason Zhang was the class winner in TCR Asia, and the Lynk & co driver had run in first after the start when he got away from the line better than Jiang, although Jiang would retake the lead further around the lap.
Thereafter Jason Zhang ran in second, unable to challenge the leader but with a relatively comfortable class win in TCR.
MG’s Rodolfo Avila moved up from fifth on the grid to third on the opening lap, having passed Teamwork’s Ma Qing Hua and Martin Cao.
Ma and Cao continued to battle for fourth on lap two, going side-by-side on several occasions, until MG’s Cao picked up broken front-left suspension after running wide onto the kerbs whilst battling with Ma, forcing him out of the race.
A lap later, Ziyi Zhang brought his AHRT Autohome-run MG into the pits with engine troubles, having also appeared to have dropped oil on the track, requiring a safety car intervention.
Racing resumed with eight laps to go, with Jiang leading Zhang and Rainey He Xiaole’s Lamando, who had moved into third in the opening laps of the race, with Ma running in fourth.
Rainey He immediately became a bottleneck and as he tried to defend from Ma and then Cao, Ma slipped past at Turns 5 and 6, although He muscled into Ma and immediately retook the position, all three drivers losing ground to the leading duo.
With Ma held up behind He, Cao moved into fourth at the penultimate corner, and team-mate Zhendong Zhang then also got by at the final corner, followed by Ma’s team-mate Sunny Wong at Turn 1 on lap seven, although the Hong Kong driver would let Ma back past a couple of laps later.
Ma then caught back up to Zhang and after applying some pressure took fifth when the MG went off at the final corner on lap 12, apparently with a mechanical issue which dropped him down the order.
The battle for third intensified in the final laps. Avila caught and put pressure on He, forcing him into a mistake at the Turn 8 hairpin, allowing him to take third. He appeared to be struggling, and Ma took fourth a couple of corners later. The answer then came at the start of lap 12, when He suffered from a full front-right puncture.
Little changed thereafter, with Jiang winning ahead of Jason Zhang, Avila, Ma and Wong.
Race one result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 71 |  |
Tengyi JIANG | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 14 | 28:35.249 | 1:44.053 | 1 | |
| 2 | 36 | As | |
ZHANG Zhi Qiang | Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 1.924 | 1:44.216 | 2 |
| 3 | 20 | As |  |
Rodolfo AVILA | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 14 | 13.497 | 1:45.073 | 5 |
| 4 | 55 | As | |
MA Qing Hua | Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 13.563 | 1:44.810 | 4 |
| 5 | 12 | As |  |
Sunny WONG Yat Shing | Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 14 | 16.314 | 1:45.360 | 10 |
| 6 | 601 | |
Tao WANG | AHRT Autohome Racing Team | MG6 TCR | 14 | 21.119 | 1:46.093 | 7 | |
| 7 | 17 | As | |
YANG Xiao Wei | Z.Speed | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 24.790 | 1:46.295 | 8 |
| 8 | 16 | As | |
RUAN Cun Fan | ZZRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 25.296 | 1:46.058 | 14 |
| 9 | 7 | As | |
YAN Chuang | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 14 | 26.634 | 1:46.471 | 16 |
| 10 | 3 | As | |
Yang XI | Huffsport TM | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 27.273 | 1:45.432 | 17 |
| 11 | 77 | As | |
Samuel QIU | Z. Speed | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 33.463 | 1:46.512 | 15 |
| 12 | 51 | As | |
Yifan WU | 326 MMK Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 34.140 | 1:46.251 | 20 |
| 13 | 4 | |
GAO Hua Yang | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 14 | 35.570 | 1:45.185 | 13 | |
| 14 | 18 | As | |
Zhendong ZHANG | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 14 | 49.891 | 1:46.047 | 9 |
| 15 | 11 | As | |
LIU Zi Chen | 326 MMK Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 52.377 | 1:46.531 | 19 |
| 16 | 10 | As | |
MAI Yi Bo | Elegant Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 1:04.100 | 1:49.010 | 18 |
| R | 22 | |
Xiaole HE | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 12 | DNF | 1:45.634 | 6 | |
| R | 92 | |
ZHU Yuan Jie | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 9 | DNF | 1:48.669 | 12 | |
| R | 61 | |
Ziyi ZHANG | AHRT Autohome Racing Team | MG6 TCR | 2 | DNF | N/A | 11 | |
| R | 88 | As | |
Martin CAO Hongwei | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 3 |
Race two
Sunny Wong and Zhendong Zhang lined up on the front row of the grid for the reversed-grid second race.
At the start, Wong held off Zhang for the lead, whilst further back Tao Wang stalled his independent MG from fourth on the grid.
Ma, meanwhile, leapt up to third from seventh on the grid before even the first corner.
At Turn 3, Zhang passed the leading Lynk & Co of Wong for the lead, and started to pull clear of the chasing pack, which was soon headed by Ma as Wong began to drop back on the opening lap.
By the end of the third lap, Ma clearly didn’t have the pace to fight for the lead and was almost three seconds behind the leading MG of Zhendong Zhang, and he allowed Teamwork team-mate Jason Zhang into second at the final corner.
Jason Zhang did have the pace to catch Zhendong Zhang in the lead, and over the next three laps he cut his lead to nothing and began to apply pressure for the win.
However, on lap seven the safety car would be required following a bizarre accident between Samuel Qiu and Ruan Cun Fan, who both collided in the Turn 3 runoff area, pitching Ruan into the barriers.
The safety car came out for three laps, and racing resumed on lap 11. Jason Zhang made his move on Zhendong Zhang on the exit of Turn 3, and thereafter began to pull clear of the MG.
In the end, Jason Zhang won the race by almost two seconds in his Lynk & Co, claiming his third win of the season.
Three laps from the finish Tengyi Jiang, in the leading CTCC-spec Volkswagen Lamando, got by Zhendong Zhang for second, whilst the erstwhile race leader finished third in his MG.
Martin Cao took fourth in his MG, having put Ma under heavy pressure late in the race. On lap 12 he got by the points leader with slight contact, which had at the time also allowed team-mate Rodolfo Avila into fifth.
However, Ma got back past Avila at the end of the race to claim fifth, ahead of the Macanese racer in sixth.
Rainey He Xiaole was seventh in his CTCC Volkswagen, ahead of Wong in eighth, who had dropped down to the position by the end of the second lap.
Victory for Jason zhang has now moved him ahead of Teamwork Motorsport team-mate Ma in the TCR Asia championship standings with 171 points, with Ma four points behind. Avila is third, a distant 93 points adrift.
In TCR China, Avila leads the standings with 113 points, ahead of Yang Xiao Wei on 105 points and Tao Wang on 103 points.
The next event takes place at Shanghai Tainma circuit on 6 – 7 November.
Race two result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 36 | As | |
ZHANG Zhi Qiang | Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 29:04.135 | 1:44.398 | 9 |
| 2 | 71 | |
Tengyi JIANG | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 15 | 1.792 | 1:43.914 | 10 | |
| 3 | 18 | As | |
Zhendong ZHANG | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 15 | 4.880 | 1:44.890 | 2 |
| 4 | 88 | As | |
Martin CAO Hongwei | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 15 | 5.660 | 1:44.542 | 8 |
| 5 | 55 | As | |
MA Qing Hua | Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 7.318 | 1:44.651 | 7 |
| 6 | 20 | As | |
Rodolfo AVILA | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 15 | 9.056 | 1:44.963 | 6 |
| 7 | 22 | |
Xiaole HE | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 15 | 10.516 | 1:45.516 | 5 | |
| 8 | 12 | As | |
Sunny WONG Yat Shing | Shell Teamwork Lynk & Co Racing | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 15 | 11.370 | 1:45.481 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 | |
GAO Hua Yang | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 15 | 11.908 | 1:45.543 | 13 | |
| 10 | 601 | |
Tao WANG | AHRT Autohome Racing Team | MG6 TCR | 15 | 21.003 | 1:45.903 | 4 | |
| 11 | 17 | As | |
YANG Xiao Wei | Z.Speed | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 22.622 | 1:45.878 | 3 |
| 12 | 7 | As | |
YAN Chuang | MG XPOWER | MG6 TCR | 15 | 26.111 | 1:46.536 | 15 |
| 13 | 11 | As | |
LIU Zi Chen | 326 MMK Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 27.391 | 1:47.118 | 18 |
| 14 | 51 | As | |
Yifan WU | 326 MMK Racing Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 28.846 | 1:46.327 | 20 |
| 15 | 61 | |
Ziyi ZHANG | AHRT Autohome Racing Team | MG6 TCR | 15 | 30.704 | 1:47.740 | 16 | |
| 16 | 3 | As | |
Yang XI | Huffsport TM | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 15 | 39.452 | 1:46.220 | 17 |
| 17 | 10 | As | |
MAI Yi Bo | Elegant Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 15 | 44.391 | 1:50.237 | 19 |
| R | 92 | |
ZHU Yuan Jie | SAIC Volkswagen 333 Team | Volkswagen Lamando CTCC | 6 | DNF | 1:45.738 | 12 | |
| R | 16 | As | |
RUAN Cun Fan | ZZRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 6 | DNF | 1:46.013 | 14 |
| R | 77 | As | |
Samuel QIU | Z. Speed | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 6 | DNF | 1:46.314 | 11 |