Just two weeks after racing in South Korea, the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour moves to China for a pair of back-to-back events, the first of which takes place this weekend at the Chengdu Tianfu International Circuit.
The Korean event unravelled in favour of Hyundai, with the manufacturer winning two races on its own soil with Mikel Azcona, the new championship leader, having displaced Santiago Urrutia.
Geely Cyan Racing's Uruguayan driver experienced a difficult weekend and slipped down to third in the standings, 49 points behind Azcona and eight behind the other BRC Hyundai driver Norbert Michelisz.
As the Chengdu circuit belongs to Geely, obviously Urrutia and his three teammates will be aiming for great results. After finishing on the podium in South Korea, Thed Björk and local hero Ma Qing Hua will be fighting for race wins, as will reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher who retired after a collision at the start in Inje's Race 2.
The third force in the field, SP Compétition with its CUPRA Leon VZ cars, hits the track riding on the wave of enthusiasm following Viktor Andersson's hard-fought victory in the second race in South Korea, with teammates Aurélien Comte and Jean-Karl Vernay eager to bring more success to the French team.
Geely Cyan Racing holds on to the lead of the Teams' Championship, 17 points ahead of BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse.
Championship points
- M. Azcona, 309 pts.; 2. N. Michelisz, 268; 3. S. Urrutia, 260
Schedule (* live streaming)
Friday, 11:20 (05:20 CEST) - Free Practice 1 (30 min)
Friday, 15:40 (09:40 CEST) - Free Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday, 09:50 (03:50 CEST) - Qualifying Q1 (20 min) *
Saturday, 10:15 (04:15 CEST) - Qualifying Q2 (10 min) *
Saturday, 15:15 (09:15 CEST) - Race 1 (30 min + 1 lap) *
Sunday, 09:30 (03:30 CEST) - Race 2 (30 min + 1 lap) *
Sunday, 14:10 (08:10 CEST) - Race 3 (30 min + 1 lap) *
Picture: WSC/Paddocker
