Ma Qing Hua wins in Tianma as MG cars run into each other

Ma Qing Hua has extended his lead in the TCR China drivers’ championship after claiming his fourth win of the season at the Shanghai Tianma circuit, while the leading MG cars collided at the start and put themselves out of contention.
Ma made a stormer of a start in his Teamwork Motorsport Lynk & Co 03 to leap into the lead from third on the grid, while three of the MG 6 cars battled it out for second into Turn 1, with Rainey He clipping the rear of pole-sitter Rodolfo Avila’s car, spinning him around and into the chasing pack, which resulted in Ávila taking terminal damage.
The Fancy Freely Volkswagen of Yan Chuang was also out of the race with damage from the Turn 1 incident and stopped on circuit, which meant the safety car was deployed to recover Ávila and Yan’s cars.
When the race resumed on lap seven, Ma was now leading the way ahead of the MG of Zhang Zhen Dong, and the AutoHome Racing Team Lynk & Co of Wang Tao, with Ma’s teammate Yang Xi having worked his way up to fourth from 11th on the grid, ahead of the two Audi cars of Wu Yifan and Felipe de Souza.
De Souza quickly picked off Wu’s 326 Motorsport Audi for fifth, which soon became fourth when Yang pulled into the pits a lap later with a power steering issue.
Rainey He was on the recovery after falling down to eighth after the incident at the start and worked his way up to fourth for the finish.
Up front, Ma controlled the gap to Zhang’s MG, winning the race by a comfortable six seconds in a race which ran to time due to the safety car, with Wang completing the podium.
The top six will be reversed following the random grid draw for tomorrow’s Race 2, which means the Audi of Wu Yifan will start from pole position. 

Race 1
1. Ma Qing Hua (Teamwork Motorsport, Lynk & Co 03), 25 laps
2. Zhang Zhen Dong (MG XPower, MG 6), 7.148
3. Wang Tao (AutoHome Racing Team, Lynk & Co 03), 12.125
4. Rainey He (MG XPower, MG 6), 23.321
5. Wu Yifan (326 Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 15.742

TCR China – Championship standings
1. Ma Qing Hua 87 pts; 2. Rodolfo Ávila 54; 3. Wu Yifan 43

TCR Asia North – Championship standings
1. Ma Qing Hua 127 pts; 2. Rodolfo Ávila 76; 3. Yang Xi 53
 

Picture: TCR China