Citroën’s Ma Qing Hua is targeting victory in his home round of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) in China this weekend, as he races on home soil in Shanghai for the second season.
Ma finished second in the opening race in Shanghai in 2014, when he was competing as a part-time driver in his maiden WTCC season.
Now in his second year, Ma is confident of improving on his results in his first year, with the Chinese driver currently fourth overall in the driver’s championship.
“I am very happy to be here in Shanghai to race in the WTCC,” said Ma ahead of his only home event this year. “This is my second WTCC race in my home town. It’s a very exciting moment but I will be preparing even more to try to fight more this weekend.
“Of course I am more confident from this season from learning many things from my team and my team-mates and I think my pace has been very good, especially in the last race in Japan where I got a big confidence [boost].
“I hope this race in this weekend I can do well and of course my target is to win the race and get the pole position.”
Despite having plenty of experience of racing on the Shanghai International Circuit, Ma insists he is at no advantage compared to his rivals as he has not raced extensively on the track in recent years.
“It’s a very technical track, very difficult with high-speed, low-speed and medium-speed corners all with different shapes,” said Ma of the 5.451 km circuit. “For me I don’t get so much of an advantage because I have been racing for many years in Europe and I have even more experience in some European circuits instead of Shanghai, so in this case it’s quite equal for everybody.”