China Circuit Championship Race 5 (Chengdu)

Ford Formula Campus Championship R5& R6

For Immediate Distribution Dec 03, 2008

November 26 th Qualifying

Chengdu International Circuit (CDIC) welcomes Ford Formula Campus on November 26 th and Martin Cao from Baleno Team won pole position (1:36.392). Juan Carlos Zhu (Kumho Tyre Team) and Diana Rosario (Liangzhuang Channel) finished 2 nd and 3 rd .

The qualifying started 16 minutes behind schedule and since to most of Ford Formula Campus drivers it was their first time driving in CDIC and the pre-race practice was their only chance to get to know the track.

Juan Carlos Zhu started very well, but there was something wrong with his car and he had to head back to pit lane after his second lap (1:39.158) which guarantied him 2 nd in qualifying.

Martin Cao, on the other hand, made an impressive debut (1:37.366) and he kept up the good job and made pole sitter lap in lap 6 (1:36.392). Martin's best lap is 2.756 seconds faster than the second fastest and it is 0.6 second faster than his best test lap in practice.

Starting from her third lap, Diana Rosario (Macau) made three consecutive best lap times and she did her best lap in lap 10 (1:39.185). Sichen Li and Xinzhe Xie finished 4 th and 5 th while two Hong Kong celebrity drivers—Aaron Kwok and Ka Lok Chin captured 8 and 9.

November 27 th Race (2 rounds)

The first round of Ford Formula Campus Chengdu race concluded in the morning and Martin Cao (Belano Racing Team) collected his third race champion trophy this year while Gao Xiang Fan and Diana Rosario won 2 nd and 3 rd respectively.

The race didn't start very smoothly as the race committee didn't put out the red light when all the drivers were ready to go. The race restarted after one lap.

Martin Cao and Juan Carlos Zhu had been leading the race since the beginning. Incident happened in lap 5 as Jason Fung's car (car No. 15) stopped on track and soon after that there was smoke came out of Juan Carlos' car's back and unfortunately, they both were retired from the race. Safety car was sent out for 2 laps and the race restarted in lap 7. Diana Rosario managed to overtake Xin Zhe Xie when entering the first corner. In the end, Martin Cao won first round by a clear lead and Gao Xiang Fan & Xin Zhe Xie captured 2 nd and 3 rd respectively in China Category. Diana Rosario (Macau) finished 3 rd in the race and won the race in International Category while two celebrity drivers from HK—Aaron Kwok and Ka Lok Chin won 2 nd and 3 rd respectively in International Category.

Young drivers from the “Program” had their break between round 1 and 2 well spent—they went to Changan Ford Racing Team's pit room to watch the car setup and communicated with 2000cc experienced drivers. People from FRD indicated that Changan Ford attached great importance to these young drivers and hopefully the “Changan Ford Young Driver Program” will be the stepping stone for them to grow into leading drivers in China;” their good attitude towards learning is definitely a good start.”

The second round of Ford Formula Campus started in the afternoon and Gao Xiang Fan (S&K Racing Team) won his first champion trophy this season. Juan Carlos Zhu, who started from second from bottom, captured 2 nd and Xin Zhe Xie finished 3 rd .

Juan Carlos Zhu gave us quite a show by starting from last but one and made to 2 nd . The best lap time was contributed by Juan Carlos in lap 4 (1:38.054) and HK celebrity driver Aaron Kwok managed to overtake Ka Lok Chin in the same lap. Gao Xian Fan won the race in the end and Juan Carlos Zhu captured 2 nd . Diana Rosario finished 5 th and she was the race in International Category while Aaron Kwok and Ka Lok Chin captured 2 nd and 3 rd in International Category.

The last race of Ford Formula Campus Championship will be held in Shanghai in the second week of December and the season champion will be disclosed. Looking at the points table in China Category—Martin Cao (38 points) is leading the points table by 1 point. Gao Xiang Fan is 2 nd and Xin Zhe Xie (36 points) is 3 rd . The spotlight of final race will be mainly focus on the competition towards season champion among Martin Cao, Gao Xiang Fan and Xin Zhe Xie. Now let's have a look at the International Category, HK driver Ka Lok Chin is leading the points table by 6 points and Diana Rosario (Macau) is following behind very closely (40 points). Rich Pham is 3 rd (31 points). Stay tune for the final performance from Ford Formula Campus drivers!

For more info please go to FRD website: http://www.FRDsports.com