DW Evans GT and Arrows Racing victorious in Shanghai showdown

Dramatic typhoon-affected race two shakes up leaderboards

DW Evans GT’s Dan Wells and Gavin Huang and Jonathan Cecotto of Arrows Racing shared the spoils in a thrilling Lamborghini Super Trofeo round five at China’s 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit. While race one was held in scorching heat, the second encounter of the weekend was rescheduled to an earlier start time due to the looming threat of an approaching severe typhoon.

The Arrows Racing PRO duo of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Junior Gavin Huang and team mate Jonathan Cecotto took the race one overall victory ahead of PRO-AM title contenders Selim Rafique and Jazeman Jaafar, with series newcomer Smart Tse taking a podium finish for Champion Motorsport. Second in the PRO-AM class were Madness Racing Team’s Chen Fangping and André Couto followed by DW Evans GT’s Nikolas Pirttilahti and Thomas Yu Lee. Race one AM winner was SQDA-GRIT Motorsport’s Brian Lee of Korea, heading home YK Motorsports by Star Performance Thai duo Nattanid ‘Kat’ Leewattanavalagul and Dechathorn ‘Phu’ Phuakkarawut and Madness Racing Team’s Hong Shijie and He Xinyang. Lamborghini Cup honours went to class leaders HZO Fortis Racing Team by Absolute Racing’s Haziq and Hairie Oh, with Siamgas Corse’s Supachai Weeraborwornpong second and Arrows Racing’s Samson Chan joining them on the podium.

Race two proved far more dramatic, no more so than for DW Evans GT PRO ace Dan Wells. Driving solo, Wells suffered heat exhaustion after race one but was cleared by medical staff to contest race two. With the heavens opening shortly after the pit window closed, the race was red flagged. At the restart, with the field now shod with wets, Wells snatched the lead in the closing minutes, leading home Huang and Cecotto and SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing’s Charles Leong and Miki Koyama.

Couto and Chen were victorious in the PRO-AM class in race two, ahead of Pirttilahti and Yu Lee and Rafique and Jaafar, while Lee clinched his second AM win of the weekend ahead of Hong and He, and Vortex Racegraph’s Luo Haowen and Song Jiajun. This time around it was Supachai who claimed the Lamborghini Cup victory, with Chan second and Arrows Racing team mate Dr. Ma in third.

With two races of the season remaining, Wells now has a ten-point lead at the top of the PRO standings from second-placed Leong and Koyama, while Huang, Cecotto and Wells’ absent team mate Emilien Carde all remain in contention for the title. Chen and Couto jump to the top of the PRO-AM standings, with Yu Lee and Pirttilahti equal on points. Rafique and Jazeman lie third with a 25-point deficit. In the race for the AM title, Lee leads ‘Kat’ and ‘Phu’ by 15-points, the Thai pair very much still in with a chance of the crown in their debut season, while Hong and He lie third.

Despite the Malaysian Oh brothers dominating the Lamborghini Cup this season, Supachai has quietly racked up points to stay in contention and trails them but just twenty points. In the Team classification, Absolute Racing leads the way, but DW Evans GT are just seven points behind, while SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing sit third a further five points behind, while Arrows Racing and SQDA-GRIT Motorsport also remain in contention.

After ten thrilling races across five Asia Pacific nations, Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia turns to the West for its season finale at Spain’s Jerez de la Frontera circuit on November 14-15. The teams and drivers will then test their mettle against their Lamborghini Super Trofeo counterparts from the European and American continents in the World Finals from November 16-17.  

Race 1
Arrows Racing PRO Jonathan Cecotto led from pole for the start of the opening race of the Shanghai weekend alongside top PRO-AM qualifier André Couto for Madness Racing Team. While Couto initially kept up with Cecotto, he soon came under attack from a hard-charging Dan Wells, the DW Evans GT driver racing solo in the series for the first time. Wells got by Couto, but the Macau star quickly reclaimed P2 as the field stormed into the opening lap.

Moments later, however, the safety car was called out to recover the stranded car of 610Racing by Absolute’s Xie Wenjun, the race restarting with 44 minutes remaining on the clock.

Cecotto made another scorching getaway at the restart, once again chased by Couto and Wells, now with Black Jack Racing’s Peter Li joining the chase for the lead. Couto’s team mate and AM pole-sitter Stephen Hong once again got away well at the restart to hold his lead of the ultra-competitive class.

The safety car intervention had eaten into the opening stint, and the pit window opened soon after the restart. As the second stint commenced, Super Trofeo Junior Gavin Huang resumed the lead Cecotto had held from pole, but this time it was a solo Wells who gave chase, with Chen Fangping retaining the PRO-AM lead, inherited from team mate Couto, in third overall. Series returnee Smart Tse had also made gains, the Champion Motor Sport PRO driver having started P7 was now up to fourth overall after SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing’s Charles Leong dropped down the order after the team were handed a stop-and-go penalty for a shot pit stop.

Now leading the AM class was SQDA – GRIT Motorsport’s Brian Lee, who bounced back quickly after an early-race spin to climb up the order to fifth overall, passing earlier class leaders Madness Racing Team, now with He Xinyang at the wheel. Behind He, and after a lightning start and rapid stint by fellow Arrows Racing Malaysian Selim Rafique, Jazeman Jaafar was working his way up the order.

With ten minutes remaining, Jaafar had found his way past He and closed on Lee in fifth, forcing the Korean to defend while simultaneously looking for a way past Chen ahead.

Up at the front, meanwhile, Huang had built an unassailable lead from the battling pack, but Tse was now challenging Wells for second. In the scorching heat, the pair raced wheel-to-wheel over several laps before the rapidly-dehydrating Wells made an error, running wide and allowing Tse through.

A determined Jafaar dived past both Lee and, crucially, Chen – claiming the PRO-AM lead in the process - with the Korean snatching the opportunity to also pass the Madness Racing driver to slot into fifth behind the Malaysian. Next Jafaar passed Wells and into overall podium contention, the latter dropping down the order with the effects of the extreme heat. But the Arrows Racing arrow was still not done, producing a final-lap thriller by claiming second from Tse, producing a sensational end to what had been a grueling 22-lap race.

Huang sailed across the line to take a longed-for debut overall victory alongside Arrows Racing team mate Cecotto, their margin more than 16 seconds by the flag. Team mates Jaafar and Rafique took their second PRO-AM win of the season, second overall, with PRO Tse second in class and joining the overall podium celebrations.

Wells was third of the PRO finishers, seventh overall, after a heroic solo effort, picking up valuable championship points in the process. Second in the PRO-AM class were Couto and Chen having also fought hard for the class win, with Nikolas Pirttilahti and Thomas Yu Lee third in class with DW Evens GT.

Second in of the AM finishers behind Lee was the impressive Thai pair of Nattanid ‘Kat’ Leewattanavalagul and Dechathorn Phuakkarawut, the YK Motorsports by Star Performance duo an impressive sixth overall, and joined on the class podium by Madness Racing Team’s Hong and He.

Taking their lucky eighth Lamborghini Cup win in China from class pole, HZO Fortis Racing Team by Absolute Racing brothers Hairie and Haziq Oh extended their lead in the category, leading home Siamgas Corse’s Supachai Weeraborwornpong of Thailand and another series returnee, Samson Chan, driving solo for Arrows Racing.

Race 2
As the storm clouds neared ahead of the approaching typhoon, it was 610Racing by Absolute AM driver Li Xuanyu who lined up on pole for the start of the final Asian race of the season after a standout qualifying session, Li racing for the first time after the team’s unlucky DNF in race one. Alongside him, PRO-AM contender Jazeman Jafaar of Arrows Racing, while DW Evans GT’s Dan Wells and SJM Iron Lynx Theodore Racing’s Charles Leong made up the second row.

As the field roared away, Li courageously defended from experienced professional Jafaar, but Wells was on the move from P3, passing both the Malaysian and Li to snatch the race lead. Next Jafaar challenged Li, the Chinese driver spinning during the encounter, eventually rejoining at the back of the pack before retiring from the race.

Wells now led from Jafaar and Leong, with SQDA-GRIT Motorsport’s Brian Lee in fourth overall and leading the AM class. However, Jafaar wasn’t ready to settle for the PRO-AM lead and passed Wells to take the lead, setting a scorching pace to pull a gap. Next Leong began reeling in PRO class championship leader Wells, while behind Arrows Racing’s Gavin Huang got by Lee and up to fourth. Moments later, however, Blackjack Racing’s Peter Li was challenging Huang, flying past and demoting him to P5 in the order.

Leong continued to hunt down PRO rival Wells, getting by with 30 minutes remaining to take the class lead and second overall behind a flying Jafaar.

The pit window opened for the mandatory stops and driver changes and, as the field embarked on the second stint, the heavens opened. Torrential rain engulfed the Shanghai track causing several cars to spin and triggering a red flag.

After a lengthy delay during which the cars changed to wet weather tyres and officials assessed conditions, the field was released back on track under the safety car. With a little over 14 minutes remaining on the clock, it was Leong’s team mate Miki Koyama who led the pack followed by a solo Wells, Jaafar’s PRO-AM team mate Selim Rafique, and Jonathan Cecotto who had taken over from Huang. Lee continued to lead the AM class, sixth overall in the order.

The safety car released the pack with nine minutes remaining, and Wells was immediately on the attack, Koyama fighting hard to retain the lead until she was eventually overhauled. Next Koyama came under fire from both Cecotto and Li, both diving past and demoting the Japanese talent to fourth.

At the flag, Wells took the overall and PRO victories, extending his lead in the class and beating Huang and Cecotto by 1.933 seconds. Although Li was third on the road for Blackjack Racing, he was later handed a post-race penalty for causing a collision, promoting Leong and Koyama to the overall and PRO class podium. The PRO-AM victory went to Madness Racing Team’s Chen Fangping and André Couto, who drove a storming final stint to climb to fifth overall at the flag. DW Evans GT’s Nikolas Pirttilahti and Thomas Yu Lee were second of the PRO-AM finishers, joined on the podium by Jaafar and Rafique.

Lee took the AM victory from Madness Racing Team’s Hong Shijie and He Xinyang and the Vortex Racegraph duo of Luo Haowen and Song Jiajun. Lamborghini Cup winner this time around was Siam Corse’s Supachai Weeraborwornpong, the Thai leading home Arrows Racing’s Samson Chan and Chan’s team mate, Dr. Ma.