10 / 24
10
WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2017
NEWS
HOME
DRIVERS TEAM
Thong and Sritrai
shares wins in Zhuhai
After Volkswagen Golf cars dominated
the TCR Asia series opener in Sepang,
Audi and Honda struck back at
Zhuhai with Jasper Thong and Tin
Sritrai sharing victories.
The 17-year old Thong in the Audi
RS3 LMS run by Phoenix Racing Asia
under the banner of Audi Hong Kong
sprinted to the lead at the start,
followed by Lai Wee Sing (R
Engineering Honda Civic Type-R),
Kanthadee Kusiri (Liqui Moly Team
Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTi) and
Sritrai (Team Thailand Honda).
During the first lap Lai was passed by
Kusiri and Sritrai, then made a
mistake and dropped down the order.
On lap 2, Sritrai spun at T1 and
dropped down too, while Chen Wei
An (Tianshi Racing Team Audi) joined
the leading duo of Thong and Kusiri.
The fight for the lead was exciting,
with Thong and Kusiri driving side-
by-side and Chen trying to find a
gap. On lap 6, Chen made his move
at T1, but went off and retired.
For the remaining 8 laps, Thong
managed to keep Kusiri at bay and
won by a one-tenth margin; Huang
Chu Han (Tianshi Racing Team Audi)
took third place ahead of point
leader Diego Moran (Liqui Moly Team
Engstler Volkswagen); Sritrai
recovered to fifth after his spin.
On the wet track Sritrai made the
best start and took the lead of Race
2, chased by Huang and Lai. On lap
3, Chen overtook Lai for third, but a
couple of laps later went off and lost
several positions.
Filipe de Souza (Macau Racing Team
Volkswagen) was the fastest driver on
the track and joined Huang, Lai and
Kusiri in a close fight for second; the
Macanese managed to overtake his
three rivals and closed the gap from
the leader Sritrai.
On the last-but-one lap, de Souza