Teamwork Motorsport emerged from Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2016 SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship at the Zhuhai International Circuit with a race win for Alex Hui and a fourth place for Sunny Wong (Sunday 5 June).
The CTCC field took to a wet track in qualifying, although conditions improved during a narrow four-minute window before the heavens opened again at the end of the session.
Alex Hui timed his run to perfection and completed a flying lap that was good enough for third on the grid and just half a second adrift of the eventual polesitter, but Wong missed the window and had to settle for eighth.
Conditions remained changeable on Sunday (5 June), but a gap in the weather prior to the start of the CTCC’s 2.0T race prompted Teamwork Motorsport to fit its Citroen C-Elysees with slick tyres.
Alex Hui lost a position at the start, but Teamwork’s tyre gamble started to pay dividends on lap three and the Chinese racer passed two of the factory Fords for second position, before chasing down and disposing of the Volkswagen of Rodolfo Avila in the lead.
Alex Hui crossed the line to take Teamwork Motorsport’s first win of the 2016 CTCC season and Wong, who had been engaged in a few fraught fights, brought the #12 Citroen home in fourth position, proving that they can match the works teams on pace.
Teamwork Motorsport Team Manager, Ken Lui, said: “We won with a good tyre strategy, because, while the track was wet at the start and many of our rivals stayed with the grooved rubber, both Alex Hui and Sunny Wong concurred that slicks were the better option for the race.”
Alex Hui added: “Yesterday after qualifying, I hoped to get on the podium and I did that with a win! During the race, I noticed I was surrounded by rivals on wet tyres and the track conditions were changing in my favour. I took my time to overtake them one-by-one, and I felt some pressure towards the end of the race as Dan Wells closing in on me pretty quickly, but I was able to speed up and bring the car home safely to victory. This is a very special one for me and Teamwork Motorsport.”
Unlike race one, the second CTCC encounter started in dry conditions with the top eight finishers reversed on the grid. Wong started fifth but was forced in to the pits for repairs to his Citroen, and race winner Alex Hui was involved in a collision after starting from eighth, resuming and surging back up to tenth position before the race was suspended due to another sudden downpour.
However, Teamwork Motorsport will carry a winning spirit and momentum into Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2016 SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) will be staged in Shanghai two weeks from now (18-19 June).