Kevin Tse took Teamwork Motorsport to second position in the 2016 TCR Asia Series’ visit to Thailand’s state-of-the-art Chang International Circuit (11-12 June).
Tse demonstrated speed and consistency throughout free practice and, despite a lack of experience on the Chang International Circuit and in Thailand’s energy-sapping heat, he still put himself inside the top six before setting the third fastest time in qualifying.
However, there were numerous changes to the result, as the pole time was later deleted because of a track limits infringement and four drivers, including Teamwork Motorsport’s Tse and Bill O’Brien, were each demoted three places for lining up in the fast lane of the pits before the green light was shown.
Consequently, Tse started race one in fifth position and O’Brien in 11th. It was an intense affair from start-to-finish, as Hong Kong driver Andy Yan tried desperately to defend against Thai drivers Lemvard and Ittiritpong as Tse immediately jumped to fourth.
The Macanese driver closed in on the three-way squabble for first position, moving into P3 but later receiving a drive-through penalty for a small touch that occurred during the overtake and allegedly gaining an advantage.
From the back of the field, a resurgent Tse recovered a lot of lost ground to pick up some important points for a seventh place finish, ahead of teammate O’Brien, who finished where he started in P11.
The top ten qualifiers were reversed for the start of race two, therefore Tse started from P9. After an intense, yet incident-free first lap, the top runners from race one were back where they belong at the head of the field, Yan leading Tse and Thai driver Tin Sritrai.
Tse played some offence and defence in the early stages, but was eventually unchallenged in an assured second place when Sritrai dropped away with technical issues, while O’Brien gained one place to breach the top ten.
Two rounds in to the 2016 TCR Asia Series, Tse is tied for second in the championship with fellow Macanese driver Henry Ho, having earned eight extra points from a pair of exceptional qualifying sessions and taken his total to 52 points.
The next instalment of the championship will be held in two months’ time at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.