OCTOBER 21 2024 – RACE REPORT ZHUZHOU INTERNATIONAL
Richard LI secured the 2024 TCR China Challenge drivers’ championship in his first season of TCR competition at the season finale at Zhuzhou, with pole position and a podium finish, while Paul POON rounded off his season on a high with a podium in the final race.
It was a fantastic weekend for Teamwork Motorsport in the teams’ championship, with the team winning the title for the new category this year.
Qualifying
LI qualified on pole position, with all of Teamwork Motorsport’s cars making it through to Q2 in the tense session, including the factory-supported car of Aaron KWOK. POON placed his #668 Lynk & Co 03 TCR fifth on the grid for the 16-lap encounter.
Race 11
LI lost a position at the start, but was comfortably able to hold on to second place to extend his championship lead at this point. POON managed to make fast progress, driving up to third position on lap two, but later in the race, POON fell behind one of the Audis and was down to fourth.
With three laps to go, POON was caught by the charging Lynk & Co Teamwork Motorsport car of Aaron KWOK, and he didn’t defend too hard against his star team-mate, with KWOK proceeding to grab the final podium position.
POON would settle for fifth, a great result for the team, with key points scored from both LI and POON before Sunday’s finale.
Race 12
In the reversed grid race, POON was again making quick progress at the start and was up to fourth place by lap two, making his way past one of the Hyundais at Turn 3 on the third lap to move into the podium positions.
POON then overtook Aaron KWOK for second, with the Hong Kong star not as quick on Sunday as he was on Saturday, which POON would keep until the finish.
All eyes were now on Richard LI, who needed to make up ground to ensure he won the title. His title rival had collided with another car at Turn 1, but was still on track ahead of him. On lap two, LI was in ninth, but began to push hard after the final safety car, following one of the non-points scoring ETCR cars through for eighth on lap nine.
With three laps to go, LI made a move on one of the Audis to grab seventh, and with a car ahead faltering he was now up to sixth and needed just one more position to secure the title.
The car ahead was none other than stablemate Aaron KWOK, who magnanimously pulled aside on lap 16, handing LI sixth place and the drivers’ championship.
At the end of the 2024 season, Teamwork Motorsport’s privateer arm excelled in the brand new TCR China Challenge, securing both the drivers’ title for the exciting new talent Richard LI, and the teams’ title.
What the drivers said
Richard LI #66
I’m very excited to win the TCR China Challenge in my first year in TCR, and the main reason I could win in my first season is Teamwork Motorsport, who have run a great car all year, and the Lynk & Co is also very good. The team has great engineers so I’ve had good setups, and have good access to champion-level racers here.
Also key to my title is my consistency, in completing 100% of the races.I was very happy on Saturday to have Aaron KWOK on the podium with me, and that podium helped me to retake the lead of the championship. Sunday’s race was very tough as my competitors were very aggressive.
Next year, I hope to be in the championship class, and to stay with Teamwork Motorsport and Lynk & Co.
Paul POON #668
Saturday’s race was quite difficult, and I needed to let Richard stay ahead so he could race for the championship and that meant I was under attack through a lot of the race, and then I le Aaron through as he absolutely had the speed to win the race.
On Sunday, the weather for the race was quite changable, and it’s also quite cold, which was a challenge.
My job was to do what I can to help Richard and Teamwork Motorsport the points needed for the championships, and we did it!
