The brand new TCR China Series kicked off at Shanghai International Circuit last weekend (5-6 August, 2017) and Teamwork Motorsport showed its true pace by bringing home five podium trophies among its three cars and six drivers.
The Grantt-supported fleet consisted of three pairs of drivers, #31 Paul Poon & Alex Hui, #26 Felipe Souza & Samuel Hsieh, #62 Sunny Wong & Alex Fung.
The first round of qualifying saw Hsieh, Wong and Hui at the wheel of the three Teamwork VW Golf TCRs, working together to slip-steam over three qualifying laps. Hui set the pace and claimed pole position with Wong and Hsieh third and fourth respectively. The second qualifying session saw Poon set the fourth fastest time from Fung and Souza.
In typically hot conditions, the first race saw Hui line up on pole, but a less than perfect start saw him lose out and drop back. Wong meanwhile did make a great start to move to the front with Hsieh in third, the duo separated by a rival Audi.
An intense battle for position followed, with Wong losing out to two Audis on the long back-straight. As the race progressed, Wong was able to extract more pace from his car and with two laps remaining was able to re-take second position with Hsieh and Hui finishing fourth and fifth.
From sunshine to rain, the second race saw Poon, Fung and Souza start from positions four to six with Fung gambling on slick tyres and initially falling to the tail of the field.
Souza and Poon were soon in a fight for third position, while Fung started his recovery from the rear of the field. Into the final lap and Souza and Poon both gained a position from an Audi to finish second and third with Poon an impressive fifth.
The third and final race saw Hsieh, Wong and Hui start third to fifth behind two Audi rivals. As ever, the first lap proved to be dramatic with Hsieh and Wong gaining a spot each at the start but for Hsieh. However, it was a case of an early retirement soon-afterwards for Hsieh as he was taken out of the race by an Audi.
Wong and Hui continued to run second and third, putting pressure of Andy Yan in the leading Audi before pitting and handing over to their respective teammates. Fung and Poon ran second and third, the latter getting a great tow on the long straight to take the position and then the duo maintained the gap to the race leader to secure a double podium position in the final race of the weekend.
With a great first weekend complete, Teamwork Motorsport and the TCR China Series return to Shanghai 26-27 August, sharing the grid with TCR Asia.