Shanghai, FP1: Hometown hero Ma sets WTCC pace
Tiago Monteiro in second place
Citroën driver Ma Qing Hua raised hopes of a home victory in ROSNEFT WTCC Race of China with the fastest time in Free Practice 1 for rounds 19 and 20 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at the Shanghai International Circuit this weekend.
The Shanghai resident lapped his local track in 1m51.706s to head Honda’s Tiago Monteiro with José María López third for Citroën and Gabriele Tarquini (Honda) fourth as the two makes fought out a close battle for early supremacy.
Mehdi Bennani, a winner in Shanghai last season, topped the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy runners in fifth with class rival Tom Chilton sixth in his Chevrolet RML Cruze. Norbert Michelisz was seventh, LADA Sport Rosneft’s Rob Huff eighth and Yvan Muller next up as less than one second covered the top nine drivers. LADA’s Nicky Catsburg rounded out the top 10.
Free Practice 2 is next up at 11h10 local time.
WTCR
- The race of Marrakech is cancelled, replaced by Salzburg
- Malaysia, Race 3: Kristoffersson takes victory as Michelisz claims title
- Malaysia, Race 2: Guerrieri wins to set-up final-round title decider with Michelisz
- Malaysia, Race 1: Michelisz triumph to extend points lead
- New tracks plus weight rule tweak as WTCR revs up for next three seasons