Teamwork Motorsport secured pole position for Round 4 of the SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) at the Korea International Circuit, before mechanical issues prevented Alex Hui from claiming a race victory (18-19 July).
With one car back at the team’s headquarters in Guangdong undergoing mid-season upgrades, Teamwork Motorsport fielded just one Citroën C-Elysée for experienced touring car racer, Hui, in the fourth instalment of the CTCC at the Korea International Circuit.
With no data or setup reference for the Korean venue, Hui took to the track for qualifying on Saturday (18 July), where he was able to progressively improve on his lap times throughout the session, before topping the timesheets with a best time of 2m24.161s to take pole for the weekend’s headlining race the following day (19 July).
Due to the smaller grid sizes, the race organisers decided to combine both the 1.6T and 2.0T categories, with the former starting ahead of the latter.
Although Hui wasn’t starting from the front row, he was starting from class pole position down in ninth overall, and he was quick to negotiate his way through the slower 1.6T category while pulling away from his own class rivals.
A strong result was on the cards for Teamwork Motorsport’s only representative. He moved himself up to fourth position before the close of the opening tour and was looking to convert his pole position into a race win, only for mechanical gremlins to strike on lap three.
Hui peeled into the pits with an unknown problem displayed on his dashboard, before rejoining the race, albeit down towards the rear of the field.
Nevertheless, he continued to fight on with great determination in a bid to secure as many points as possible, but the debilitating problems would later see him park the car by the side of the track, bringing his weekend to a premature end.
“This was my first pole position in the China Touring Car Championhip (CTCC) and it was a great effort from the Teamwork Motorsport guys,” said Hui. “Samuel (Hsieh) and Sunny (Wong) have done a great job in developing the car in the three previous rounds and it is certainly getting better with each passing round.
“We had a travel visa problem this weekend so we were short on manpower. We even asked for help from our rivals teams, so big thanks to them. It was another unlucky weekend for us, but we hope we can improve our cars with the new mid-season upgrades.”
Opting to compete in the CTCC’s 2.0T category ahead of many other teams – the category is set to replace the current outgoing 1.6T category – the 2016 season is set to be a big transition for the Guangdong-based Teamwork Motorsport outfit, with multiple aero upgrades expected to its pair of C-Elysées, ahead of its charge for the title next season.
With the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship (HTCC) season coming to a close last month, the Suncity Group Peugeot RCZ Teamwork Motorsport drivers, Samson Fung, Paul Poon and Andrew Lo, all finished in the top five on the overall scoreboard. Although the Macau GP committee has yet to announce its decision of how many drivers will be invited to the event, being in the top five suggests a very strong chance.
For more information on Teamwork Motorsport, please visit the www.teamworkms.com website, or ‘like’ the team’s Facebook page.