Race 2 of the 2010 AFR Series takes place at the Chengdu International Circuit on July 17 th . Since this is the first time for most of the drivers to compete in this circuit. it creates another interesting race to watch with respect to the adaptability of the young drivers.
The current second place driver in the Series points table, Suriya Bala, is not able to participate in this race event due to his busy schedule. Therefore, the current Series points leader, Sandy Stuvik from Thailand is not going to let go on this perfect opportunity to extend his Series points lead. On the other hand, the same situation is going with the Venezuelan lady driver Samin Briceno, in which she is trying her best to gain some more valuable Series points. Both drivers will face some tough challengers in order to reach their goals. Rainey He and Martin Cao, both CTCC Ford drivers who are trying to accomodate both CTCC and AFR schedules, are driving for the FRD Racing Team again in this race and the next two races. They both raced here in Chengdu international Circuit for the CTCC Round 3 two weeks ago, so they do have an advantage over the other competitors. If everything goes as planned, great result is expected from them.
During the qualifying session, as expected, Rainey He and Martin Cao were in excellent form. Rainey He took the third place in the beginning of the qualify session, and was just behind Sandy Stuvik. Martin Cao continued his recently great success and snatched another pole position. Beijing lady driver, Zhang Ran, after her participation in the Clio and AGT races, she finally joins the formula family and is having her first AFR race here in Chengdu Circuit. Although she qualified last on the grid, with the observation on her racing line we could tell that she is pushing hard, using her skills and experiences that she has learned from all her previous races. Another lady driver Samin Briceno qualified fifth on the starting grid.
Round 1 of the race started at 17:40. Martin Cao had an excellent start from the front row and increased his lead from Sandy Stuvik to about 1sec in just 2 laps. He continues his excellent race pace and increased his time advantage over Sandy Stuvik to almost 1sec a lap. Sandy Stuvik on the other hand could not match Martin Cao pace and at the same time, had to fend off the attack by the third place driver Rainey He. Rainey He had an excellent race pace and tried to get pass the Thai driver in the first three laps. But with the strong defense shown by Sandy Stuvik, Rainey He decided to play safe and maintain his third place position. Samin Briceno lost her fourth place to Tin Sritrai, as Tin passes her at the end of the race. In the end, Martin Cao wins the race again in the Chengdu international Circuit with an impressive 11second margin over the second place finisher Sandy Stuvik, and Rainey He finishes the race in third.
Round 2 will starts on the 1 8 th of July in the afternoon, and according to the weather forecast, there is a high chance of shower so a wet race is expected. Therefore, we are looking forward to another exciting AFR races.
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