Absolute Racing-run FAW Audi Racing Team opens the season with a win at Ningbo

Beating five other marques in the first hour-long race of the season, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II set a blistering pace to give a margin of victory of more than five seconds at the flag, while race two saw Cheng cross the line just over half a second behind the leader after an eye-catching stint. The Chinese star was later given a 10 second penalty after the race for exceeding track limits, but remained second overall by a margin of over 24 seconds.

The successful weekend sees Am driver Chia elevated to fourth in the Audi Sport Asia Trophy standings on 990 points, just 90 behind Vincent Lin (ndr: Absolute Racing driver in the GT Super Sprint Challenge) in third place.

The China GT Championship returns to the Ningbo International Speedpark next month for rounds 2 and 3, held together as a quadruple-header at the 4.101km circuit.

Race 1

Under clear skies and in searing heat, Cheng Congfu faultlessly controlled the rolling start from pole for the first hour-long race of the five-round season, quickly pulling clear of the field. After just ten minutes of racing, Cheng had pulled a gap of more than four seconds, pounding out consistently quick laps on the 4.010km track to extend his advantage.

At the mandatory pitstop, Cheng handed the wheel to Chris Chia with a lead of more than 11 seconds. That meant Chia retained the lead as he joined the race, and the quick Am driver put in an equally impressive stint to take the first victory of the season in emphatic style. Neither driver was challenged throughout the 34-lap race, winning by a margin of more than ten seconds.

Race 2

Starting from P2, Chris Chia got away well at the rolling start, deftly shutting off any attempts to snatch position as the field hurtled into the first series of turns. Finding his pace, Chia pulled a gap from his rivals and pushed hard to keep the leader in his sights.

At the driver changeover, Cheng Congfu joined the race in second place and began his charge to catch the leader, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. In less than ten minutes, Cheng had slashed the gap to a little over two seconds, consistently outpacing his rival lap after lap.

With eight minutes left on the clock, Cheng had closed up to within two seconds of the leader, further reducing that gap to less than a second with three minutes on the clock. In a thrilling end to the hour-long race, Cheng put in a sensational performance and, although ultimately not able to find a way past his rival before the flag, ably demonstrated the stunning race pace, consistency and handling of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II on the way to second place. At the line, the team were just 0.544 of a second behind their rival, but were later hit with a 10 second post-race penalty which did not affect their finishing position. 

TEAM QUOTES 

Alexander Blackie (Manager of Audi Sport customer racing Asia): “It’s been a great start to the China GT season for FAW Audi Racing Team. Cheng Congfu, Chris Chia and Absolute Racing showed what the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II is capable of, with strong performances across all sessions. They deservedly lead the overall standings after the first round of action.”

Cheng Congfu (FAW Audi Racing Team Driver): “We raced well throughout the weekend, qualifying for pole position in the race one, a the front row start for race two, and we also managed to achieve a pole to win in the race one. We had the most success penalty time in the race two, and we ended up in second place with the fastest lap on the field. The performance of the whole weekend was pretty good, and I also want to thank the team and FAW Audi for their support. My teammate Chris Chia's driving has also improved a lot, and the entire team has become more competitive. I am looking forward to the next races when I am sure we can do even better.”

Chris Chia (FAW Audi Racing Team Driver): Saturday’s race went very well. We achieved a pole-to-win easily and got our first win of the season. In the race 2, our pit stop time was 15 seconds longer because of our race one win, so we knew the race was going to be intense. Cheng and I both needed to run at our own pace. Because of the strategy, the team chose old tires for me to start, so I could only maintain my own race rhythm, but I could not attack the Ferrari. I tried to keep a controllable distance with the car in front of me, and handed the car to my teammate safely. He used new tires, showing a very strong pace. We finished runner-up with less than a second difference and scored a lot of points. It is good for the championship, and we will continue to work hard. Thank you to the FAW Audi and Absolute Racing for their support.”

Martin Young (Team Manager of Absolute Racing): “The weekend was good. Second pole-position this season for Cheng was obviously a good result, and being second in Q2 with Chris was also very good because it was the fastest time he has driven in Ningbo. The pace of our car the whole weekend was very strong. With Cheng in the first stint, and Chris on second stint, the first race went perfectly. Cheng handed over the car with a 10 secs lead, it shows how competitive he is.  On Sunday, Chris on used tyres was always going to be difficult to stay ahead of the pack. Cheng made up from the extra time in the pit-stops which was really good. It's a good feeling to be heading home with the silverware and plenty of useful learning to be applied to the upcoming races.”