Ma Qing Hua: It’s very special to be racing at home

The Citroën Total WTCC team’s Chinese charge is firmly established as a frontrunner in the FIA World Touring Car Championship and will be a strong contender for top honours when his home city of Shanghai hosts ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China next week. The 27-year-old discusses his hopes, aspirations and go-karts of all things.

The WTCC is returning to your home city of Shanghai. How special is this for you?

“It’s very special to be racing at home and at a circuit I quite like. Last year I did some good results at Shanghai – I was second in the first race and fifth in the second – and there were a lot of spectators watching. Hopefully we’ll have full grandstands again and high broadcasting figures on TV. I’m expecting a fun weekend.”

What’s the Shanghai International Circuit like from a driving point of view?

“There are lots of chances to overtake and that’s really good. There’s a long straight but some very technical corners with some high-speed and some low-speed corners. It takes a lot from the engineering side to judge how to set up the car right.”

How easy is it to learn the track?

“It’s not easy to learn especially Turns 1-3. Normally every driver has a different line and on a different lap you can see the different lines. Turn 13 as well is quite difficult to see where is the best way to go – it depends a lot on the weather and track conditions.”

What’s good about Shanghai as a city?

“It’s a great city and it’s always good to be there but even better when the WTCC comes. We did some good events last year like cooking the Shanghai dumpling and the karting with the other drivers. It was the first time I entered this one restaurant for cooking and not eating so it was a good experience! The karting attracted a lot of fans and while it’s sometimes nice to relax it’s also good to be on the track with the other WTCC guys. I have several karting circuits in Shanghai but this one was in a very nice location in the centre of the city with lots of nice views.”

Earlier this season you claimed your second WTCC-career win in Portugal. What did that feel like?

“The target was to be in the front of the grid for race two and we did a good job to make it happen. I did a good start and had good pace in the race to the end. It was a really good feeling to be on top of the podium again. I was thinking not to do anything crazy and really focus on the track. It was a street race and a lot of things can happen. I saw some dust on the track and tried to avoid anything strange happening to the end. In the last lap when my engineer told me the race was finished that was fantastic, I was really happy about that.”

How important was that victory for Chinese motorsport?

“It was another good moment to hear the Chinese national song again at an international top-level championship. I was really happy for all of my country. It was good news for Chinese motorsport.”

And for you personally because, up until Portugal, you were the only factory Citroën driver not to have won in the WTCC this year…

“Everyone in the team is trying to win. This season especially the gap is very, very close and we are all pushing really hard to chase the last tenths. It’s not easy, especially for me without the experience they have. I have to look to every detail around the circuit, the car, the driving to catch the gap.”

What are your team-mates – José María López, Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller – like?

“They are good teachers. I’ve learned a lot from them but now there is more competition between us. Last year I was not fighting but this year we are team-mates but fighting as well.”

How happy are you to be racing in the WTCC as part of the factory Citroën team?

“I’m very happy to be with the Citroën Total WTCC team for a full season because it’s important for me in my career to get a full season in an FIA championship. It’s a good chance for me to show what I can do. I learned something from my five races last year so I had some ideas about the cars, the teams and this year we have been trying to put everything together to get the good result as much as we can.”

Was it difficult switching to touring cars from single-seaters?

“When I came in the middle of last season it was with a new car, new team, everything was new and I was quite struggling. This year I was able to prepare well, I have been more relaxed and have been able to think more about my strategy and have time to change things when last year everybody was 10 steps ahead of me and I was trying to catch everything in a short time and it was quite difficult. Now I also feel very comfortable in the car and this helps.”

What can you achieve in the remaining races of this season?

“Because of the experience I have everything is easier than it was last season. Everything is always possible but of course it’s going to be difficult to win. This championship is getting stronger and stronger and everything is getting more and more close. With three champion team-mates it’s hard to beat the people in my team. I also have much less mileage in the car and have to work much harder to fight much harder than everyone else to get the victory. But of course I will do my best to make it happen.”