Teamwork Motorsport suffered a difficult weekend in the penultimate round of the 2016 SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) at the Guizhou Junchi International Circuit near Guiyang, China (29-30 October).
Both of Teamwork’s “Red Devils” went to the Guiyang Province with a power deficit – a consequence of a shift in the CTCC’s Balance of Performance (BoP) – and this made free practice and qualifying somewhat frustrating for Alex Hui and Sunny Wong, who languished in the mid-field, unable to match the pace of the works teams.
Qualifying was conducted in cold and wet conditions and the field was split in two to prevent congestion. Both Teamwork Citroens were among the first to take to the Guizhou Junchi International Circuit, but a mechanical issue prevented Hui from completing any meaningful running and Wong set a time that would be sufficient for ninth in the final qualifying classification.
Conditions remained cold and damp for the first of two races, but the entire field opted to start on slick tyres.
Unfortunately, Hui’s mechanical troubles persisted and he was unable to compete and, although Wong got away and initially stood firm in ninth position, the Hong Kong driver eventually succumbed to electronics issues and a second early retirement capped off a hugely disappointing race for Teamwork Motorsport.
Track and ambient temperatures steadily rose as the weather improved into the afternoon, but Hui and Wong would face an uphill battle from the back of the grid in race two.
Positions were gained during the first few laps, but the Citroens’ lack of pace showed and both were unable to break through the midfield, Wong making an uncharacteristic error and ending his race in the gravel on lap 12 and Hui racing to an underwhelming 14th place result.
The Guangdong-based Teamwork Motorsport squad heads immediately to the Shanghai Tianma Circuit for the final round of the 2016 SINOPEC LUBRICANTS China Touring Car Championship (5-6 November).
