The China Touring Car Championship R1 qualifying finished under mixed weather in Zhuhai International Circuit Today. Martin Xie, new member of the Chang’an Ford Racing Team claimed the pole position for tomorrow’s race.

The first official practice began with sunny morning. Thanks to the hard work of the technical Team, the cars were all finished in time and ready for action. Martin Xie made his best time of 1.48.320, followed by Tengyi Jiang and Rainey He. Three of them secured the same place in second practice, except Andy Yan, who was unable to participate in the second session due to gearbox issues.

The qualifying began in a cloudy afternoon. Without having sufficient data about the new tires, the team wanted the drivers to push right from the beginning. Martin Xie made a stunning start and set a fastest time of 1.47.322 immediately on his first lap and Tengyi Jiang was just 1 second slower than Martin, followed by Rainey He with little gap of 0.463 second. Although Andy Yan ran better than the morning sessions but only managed to get a best time of 1.51.370. He then retired due to gear box issues again.

With only 6 minutes to go, two Polo drivers came in, changed to new tires, and set their lap time of 1.48.386 in lap 9, demoted Tengyi Jiang and Rainey He to fourth and fifth respectively. The time split between the second to fifth place is less than 0.1 second.

In the press conference, Martin Xie indicated, “I’m happy to be the member in such strong team and I want to thank our team’s strong support for giving me such a strong car to start the season. Because of volatile weather, our plan is to make best time at the beginning before it rained. I’m satisfied with the result today and I wish I can also make a good performance tomorrow.