Photo: Chinese F4
Shimo Zhang was the dominant force in the first two rounds of Chinese Formula 4’s season.
Racing got underway a month later than planned at Ningbo on April 18-20, and round two was at Shanghai last weekend.
Zhang topped the season’s opening qualifying session by 0.161 seconds over Yuhao Dai, with Yutsai Chan 0.242s behind in third.
In Q2, which set race three’s grid, Zhang was a massive 1.004s clear of Dai. Just 0.151s split himself, Sicong Chen and Chan in fourth.
Meng Cheng had to reverse into their fourth-placed grid spot for race one, and another formation lap was added so they could go to the pits. Zhang set off before everyone else, but it was a non-issue. A slow start on lap one did prove troublesome, with Dai and Chan immediately getting past. Tsang quickly reclaimed second, and was leading within half a lap.
Chen and Chan pursued Dai as Zhang pulled away by a second per lap until the safety car appeared as lap six began. Racing resumed a lap later and Chen broke his front wing by driving into Dai’s rear.
Ryan Liu passed Chan then hit a dog running across the track, which was ripped into pieces on impact, with Chan getting back past on lap 12 for Chan. He then hunted down Chen, but could not get past him as Zhang romped to an 11.423s win.
The top 10 were reversed for race two’s grid, putting Zihuai Wang on pole. Yi Wang led Liu after two corners, and Zhang climbed to sixth on lap one. The safety car appeared on lap three, and the restart was on lap six.
Liu made a diving move at turn 11 for the lead, but Yi Wang went back past at turn 12 and Ethan Ho followed him through at turn 13.
On lap eight, Zhang made a diving turn 11 move on Li but spun Ho too and copped a 10s penalty. He took the lead at the end of lap nine and rapidly pulled away, but on lap 13 the safety car came out. One frantic lap of racing followed, and Liu overtook Yi Wang for victory.
Zhang’s penalty dropped him from first to 11th, and he responded by winning race three. After two early safety car periods, Chan got into second and Dai finished third.
Zihuai Wang had reversed-grid pole for race four, but lost the lead to Liu straight away. He and Ho pulled away, but once Zhang got into third on lap six he rapidly approached their battle.
Ho cannily claimed the lead at turn 13 on lap seven, but Zhang was into second moments later and moved past Ho at turn 12 on lap nine. The top four spread out during the race’s second half, with Zhang winning by 6.443s.
At Shanghai the grid grew to 27 cars and Zhang was fastest by 0.348s in Q1. Chen was second, and Dai was 0.402s off pole in third. Dai topped Q2, beating Zhang by 0.425s and Chen by 0.566s.
Chen took the lead at the start of race one, then a big multi-car crash paused the action. Racing continued on lap five, and in the race’s second half Dai passed the top two to win as Andrey Dubynin held fourth.
Race two’s start was delayed due to drivers striking trouble on the formation lap, and Yingjie Xu lined up on pole after another was completed.
Cheng ended lap one leading Yi Wang and Xu. Zhang passed Xu around the outside of turn one and Wang at turn 14 on lap three, then had four seconds to make up. He was 1.3s behind Cheng when the safety car appeared on lap eight, and on the lap 10 restart drove straight around the outside of him. Cheng then lost out to Dubynin and Dai.
A lap later Dai overtook Dubynin and Chan passed Cheng at turn 14.
Dai defended against Zhang for several laps in race three before getting some breathing room en route to victory. Dubynin quickly rose to third ahead of Chan, and Chen soaked up pressure from Ho for fifth.
There were three formation laps then reversed-grid poleman Xu joined Ho in starting from the pits in race four, so Yi Wang led the pack away before crashes caused the safety car to be summoned. Zhang was already up to second, and when racing resumed on lap four he instantly grabbed the lead and pulled away to win.
Chan took second at turn 14 on lap five, Dai cleared Wang on lap eight, and Chen did so two laps later. Mechanical issues removed Dubynin from podium contention.
Results round-up
Ningbo
Race 1 (17 laps)
1 Shimo Zhang ACM Geeke Racing 32m00.691s
2 Yuhao Dai ONE Motorsports +11.423s
3 Sicong Chen Black Blade Racing +13.964s
4 Yutsai Chan Cham Motorsport +14.303s
5 Andrey Dubynin Blackjack Racing +17.066s
6 Ryan Liu Black Blade Racing +18.177s
7 Yuzhe Wang Venom Motorsport +20.816s
8 Ethan Ho Team KRC +22.398s
9 Yi Wang Champ Motorsport +23.009s
10 Zihuai Wang Venom Motorsport
Pole: Zhang, 1m46.535s
Fastest lap: Zhang, 1m46.609s
Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Liu 33m34.515s
2 Yi Wang +0.706s
3 Chan +1.019s
4 Z Wang +1.955s
5 Yuzhe Wang +2.372s
6 Chen +3.725s
7 Yiming Pan ONE Motorsports +5.156s
8 Jun Fei ACM Geeke Racing +6.204s
9 Viktor Turkin Asia Racing Team +7.168s
10 Peng Yang Venom Motorsport +7.519s
FL: Zhang, 1m47.643s
Race 3 (13 laps)
1 Zhang 29m04.171s
2 Chan +3.595s
3 Dai +6.491s
4 Chen +9.844s
5 Dubynin +12.987s
6 Ho +17.702s
7 Yuzhe Wang +19.552s
8 Liu +21.338s
9 Z Wang +21.702s
10 Meng Cheng Black Blade Racing +22.557s
P: Zhang, 1m45.903s
FL: Zhang, 1m46.891s
Race 4 (18 laps)
1 Zhang 32m22.560s
2 Ho +6.443s
3 Liu +12.951s
4 Yuzhe Wang +17.001s
5 Dai +23.182s
6 Chan +26.003s
7 Z Wang +27.426s
8 Dubynin +28.152s
9 Chen +28.905s
10 Yi Wang +30.406s
FL: Zhang, 1m46.637s
Shanghai
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Dai 33m45.473s
2 Chen +1.160s
3 Zhang +2.719s
4 Dubynin +3.690s
5 Chan +11.835s
6 Yi Wang +13.244s
7 Yan Yu Venom Motorsport +13.907s
8 Yuzhe Wang +15.426s
9 Cheng +20.338s
10 Yingjie Xu Black Blade Racing +21.813s
P: Zhang, 2m05.406s
FL: Dai, 2m05.980s
Race 2 (13 laps)
1 Zhang 29m05.340s
2 Dai +0.635s
3 Dubynin +2.666s
4 Chan +3.510s
5 Cheng +5.353s
6 Yi Wang +7.405s
7 Xu +9.585s
8 Yu +10.566s
9 Ho +10.688s
10 Chen +11.290s
FL: Dai, 2m06.208s
Race 3 (16 laps)
1 Dai 33m35.352s
2 Zhang +1.465s
3 Dubynin +10.995s
4 Chan +12.893s
5 Chen +15.104s
6 Ho +15.796s
7 Cheng +24.648s
8 Yu +31.832s
9 Yi Wang +36.078s
10 Xu +45.288s
P: Dai, 2m05.312s
FL: Zhang, 2m05.224s
Race 4 (12 laps)
1 Zhang 28m08.585s
2 Chan +8.707s
3 Dai +14.436s
4 Chen +16.430s
5 Yi Wang +17.803s
6 Cheng +18.599s
7 Yuzhe Wang +21.725s
8 Jing Zefeng GYT Racing +24.369s
9 Fei +29.767s
10 Turkin +30.202s
FL: Zhang, 2m05.265s
Championship standings
1 Zhang 158 2 Dai 126 3 Chan 105 4 Chen 78 5 Dubynin 66 6 Liu 52 7 Yi Wang 49 8 Yuzhe Wang 44 9 Ho 40 10 Cheng 27