CTCC-2 Zhuhai - Changan Ford Focus ONE TWO

Date: May28-29th,2011

Location: Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC)

Round：2/8 Rounds

The second race for CTCC was just completed last weekend in Zhuhai. After considering race one as a “wasted” race, the Changan Ford Racing Team is determined to win this “First Race” of the season. All the hard work paid off and the Focus came home 1st, 2nd and 4th and captured the Manufacturer Cup title of the Zhuhai round.

Qualifying - Rainey He got his second pole position of the season

After two very successful morning practice sessions, the Focus hit the track again at 3.40pm to fight for the starting position for Sunday's race. Rainey scored his fastest time of 1:49.825 on lap 2. He came in to the pit immediately and waited for further actions. Andy also scored his best time in lap 2 and Tengyi on lap 3. The three Changan Ford Focus were trying to repeat the 1, 2, 3 Q finish that they did in race 1. Zhang Hanbiao of Team Huayang came for fresh tires, made a very quick lap of 1:50.092 and took over the second position. Andy and Tengyi were bumped down to 3rd and 4th. Young Ford driver Fan Gaoxiang also came in for fresh tires and improved his time good enough to put himself fifth on the grid.

Race - Changan Ford Focus showed its domination

The four Changan Ford Focus started race sitting 1, 3, 4 and 5 on the grid. Rainey had a reasonable start but not good enough and went into T1 side by side with Car 11 Zhang Hanbiao. Both Tengyi and Andy had good start and Andy took over the lead from the outside. Tengyi became the victim of the start when he went into T1 side by side with Rainey and Zhang Hanbiao and was squeezed to the grass losing so many positions in the process. The top three drivers started a fight immediately and by turn 9, Rainey took back the lead and Andy fell back to third...

With a bit faster straight line speed, Zhang overtook Rainey on lap 5. Andy and Rainey were told by the team to stay behind taking turns to push car 11 hard and force him to defend. By lap 10, Zhang's car started to lose traction, most probably as a result of tire problem. With the huge cheering of the Changan Ford supporters in the grandstand, Andy passed Zhang first in lap 11 and Rainey passed Zhang in lap 12. They finished the race in this sequence and captured the Team Championship for Changan Ford. Tengyi finished the race in 4th position after fighting his way from 11th after the bad starting incident.

After this successful weekend, Changan Ford Racing Team stays at the top of the team points table with 76 points, 29 points ahead of the closest opponent. Andy Yan sits on top of the driver points table with 43 points.

Paul Hui, Changan Ford Program Director

"This team demonstrates and shows everyone that it has the spirit and character to fight and bounce back from the disappointment that we suffered in race 1. This victory is a rewarding one for us and we will carry the confidence gained and travel to Chengdu in the beautiful Sichuan province for race 3 next month."

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2011 CTCC Changan Ford Racing Team Race Result