Teamwork Motorsport will venture onto the Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) in China’s Guangdong province with its brace of Citroen C Elysees for the second round of the SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) this weekend (10-11 May).
The fledgling outfit, born out of the successful and respected China Dragon Racing team, endured a tough weekend in the season-opening CTCC round at the Guangdong International Circuit (GIC).
While it showed a degree of promise in respect of the all-new Citroen’s pace, neither car took the start of the races due to technical and supply problems.
However, Teamwork Motorsport has used the two weeks between rounds to great effect, putting the supply issues behind it while preparing to field Alex Hui and Sunny Wong – both graduates from the Touring Car Series in Asia by IMSP – in a two-car attack on the flourishing CTCC for the first time.
Following the first round at the GIC, the team and its driver, Wong, stayed on to conduct a day of testing and chassis development, iron out the technical gremlins that sidelined the car and hone setups.
Incredibly, a methodical approach resulted in the team recording consistently quick lap times good enough for pole position for the previous weekend’s races.
Speaking from the ZIC, Hui said: “Last time out at the GIC was really more of a test for Teamwork Motorsport, so we are treating Zhuhai as our real race debut with our two Citroen C Elysees. I am optimistic following the work we have done that the car will be competitive, although I will still need to adapt my driving and gain experience to get the maximum from the car.”
Wong, who clocked up a good number of laps behind the wheel of Teamwork’s Citroen C Elysee before delivering a credible fifth place in qualifying, said: “Learning the car is still the biggest challenge for us. We know the Zhuhai track, having raced here before, but everything is on a larger scale with the Citroen C Elysee CTCC car; the speed, grip, downforce and braking are all much better than a group N2000 touring car, but we are up for the challenge and will do the best we possibly can.”
Round 2 of the SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) takes place at the Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) on Sunday (11 May) and can be viewed via a live stream at http://leader.pptv.com/ctcc/live