November 8th, Shanghai F1 Circuit
The fifth round of the China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) opened at the Shanghai F1 Circuit in Shanghai, China on Sunday. The two Tiidas entered in the 1600cc class by the Dongfeng Nissan Ghiasports team retired from the race.
The weekend of the event was a warm 28 degrees Celsius for November, humid from the morning rain, with the CTCC race getting underway on schedule.
The final race started off cleanly without any trouble. On the first lap, the driver of the #2 Tiida, Lin Lifeng, who started from sixth on the grid, passed the control line in fourth place, behind the #3 Kia Cerato, the #4 Kia Cerato and the #9 Haima 3. Guo Hai Sheng's #1 Tiida car followed in eighth place. However, on the second lap Guo's race was over. In the last corner a car in front of him spun out when Guo was about to overtake. Unable to avoid the spinning car, he hit the front left of his car and was forced into retirement.
Meanwhile, the #2 Tiida's Lin, steadily increasing his pace from the opening stages of the race, found himself in a fight for third place with the #9 Haima 3. The cars touched however, and a change in the car's handling caused Lin to drop back to fifth place. Lin managed to keep his machine in the race as he completed one lap after another, but took a regretful spin rounding the final corner on lap 8. After hitting the tyre barrier with the front left of his car, he returned to the pits. However, the damage turned out to be much more serious than anticipated, and having determined that making repairs in time would not be possible the team had to retire the car.
The red flag was raised and the race suspended on the twenty-eighth lap after a crash occurred, the race finishing soon afterward in that order. The #3 Kia Cerato won the race.
* China Touring Car Championship (CTCC)
The touring car series held in China was known as the CCC (China Circuit Championship) series until 2008. The Dongfeng Nissan Ghiasports team is represented in the 1600cc class with a pair of NISSAN Tiidas, with Nissan/Nismo providing engineering support. This year's championship takes place over 6 races at the following circuits: Shanghai F1, Shanghai Tienma, Beijing and Guangdong.
Related URL: NISSAN MOTORSPORTS
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