Race #8 Zhuhai International Circuit 60 laps
Results
____________________________________________________________________________
1. Michael Watts, BMW Z4 #82
2. Joe White, BMW Z4 #99
3. Tom Senchak, BMW M3 #14
4. Ben Wells, Aston Martin V12 #13
5. Nic Hurtado, BMW Z4 #13
6. Railer Cantrell, Mercedes SLS #47
7. Nic Worsfold, Aston Martin GTE #37
8. Reuben Watson, BMW Z4 #27
9. Brian Batiato, Aston Martin V12 #47
10. Lucas Gortman, BMW Z4 #84
11. Bob West, Aston Martin V12 #55
12. Robert Waddell, Mercedes SLS #16
As the points race tightens up the Series moves from the rolling hills and technical track of Sakitto to the Flat and fast Zhuhai in China's Guangdong Province. Zhuhai,a sprawling and modern city, plays host to the second to last round of the championship. A few new faces were on the grid for this weekends events. Newcomer, Ben Wells,surprised more than few with his top 3 times in practice. As usual Tom Senchak was fast as he, Wells, Michael Watts along with Railer Cantrell traded places for top times.
In Qualifying, track conditions proved a little tougher to gain grip and Watts was able grab the pole for the race, with a 1:31.958 edging Senchak who still put down a respectable 1:32.078. The only other car that could have gotten into the 31's was the Mercedes of Cantrell who had technical issues and wasn't able to qualify forcing him to a provisional. Joe White continue to show his improvement as the season moves on by grabbing 3rd followed by Wells for 4th, and Robert Waddell rounding out the top 5. Reuben Watson led the rest of the field in 6th with Nic Worsfold 7th, Nic Hurtado 8th, Bob West 9th, Brian Batiato 10th, and Lucas Gortman 11th.
After seeing some very close times in practice many of the drivers running with in a couple of tenths of one another it was expected to be a very competitive race. With a smooth start Watts jumped out front and tried to protect his new found points lead from Senchak's speedy M3. Senchak was attacking early but brake troubles would force him to fade back into the clutches of the rest of the field, allowing Watts to pull away. Waddell's day would end early with an accident forcing him to be the first retiree after such a promising qualifying. Joe White capitalizing on his new found success in the BMW found him racing hard with Wells and other new comer Nic Hurtado. As they fought back and forth battling hard, and rubbing fenders. Brake troubles still effecting Senchak created a four car battle until a mistake by Wells would place him into the sights of a speedy Cantrell and his Mercedes that would lend itself to a great battle as well. Worsfold had a bit of a struggle early catching a piece of Bob West's spin before settling in and finding a good pace, but ultimately finishing disappointing by his standards. West's day wasn't much better retiring early due to poor handling of his Aston Martin. Reuben Watson suffered from poor handling as well despite a good qualifying, but stuck with it to finish behind Worsfold. As the race wore on strategy began to play into the mix as pit stops began and darkness set in. Watts was the first one to pit for a scheduled stop, giving up his 20 second delta. As the other leaders pitted Watts regained the lead with a 15 second lead over Hurtado.
Hurtado's engineer tried a strategy move by just fuel only, but lack of grip ultimately cost him 2nd place and he would return to the pits for tires. White and Senchak would continue to battle as they overtook Hurtado's fuel only advantage. Watts, still enjoying a 14 second lead started to conserve fuel allowing White and Senchak to close in the final laps of the race. Seeing the delta growing smaller, hungry for his first win in the series, White dropped the hammer and closed the gap of nearly 10 seconds. White's pursuit of the leader was anything but epic.On the final lap White made it to Watts' rear bumper. Trying to dive inside at turn 7, White locked up his brakes and gave the leader a shunt putting the two cars wheel to wheel. White yielded into the next corner after the inadvertent contact but continued to search for a way around. Watts was able to maintain his position to the line and hold on for the win, his third in a row. If there had been a few more laps White would have probably been celebrating his first victory of the series.
Senchak's brake issues would relegate him to third, while Ben Wells made a great first impression finishing 4th. Hurtado rallied back to finish 5th after pitting twice in the race, while Cantrell managed a 6th place finish after spinning twice and starting shotgun on the field. Batiato managed a competitive 9th place with a broken wrist from an earlier testing accident, and solidified his GT-AM championship points lead over Lucas Gortman.
![Luca [OT]](/data/avatars/s/3235/3235113.jpg?1697196734){kind=avatar}