Menezes, Tung Dominate 4H Zhuhai

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Jackie Chan DC Racing has claimed a double victory in Sunday’s Four Hours of Zhuhai, with the team’s LMP2 and LMP3 entries taking top class honors in the Asian Le Mans Series season-opening round.

The No. 35 Oreca 03R Nissan of Gustavo Menezes and Ho-Pin Tung took a 43.972-second victory over the No. 24 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd of Tacksung Kim, Andrea Roda and Matt McMurry in second.

It came following a drive-through penalty for the sister No. 25 entry of Nicky Catsburg, who made contact with No. 8 Race Performance Oreca 03R Judd of Struan Moore, who ended the race in the barriers on the final lap in a seperate incident.

Catsburg’s Ligier-Nissan was the only car to challenge the DC Racing entry in the early stages of the race.

Well-timed pit stops during the five safety car periods in the race put the Eurasia Motorsport-run DC squad with a significant advantage over the competition to take its first LMP2 victory.

DC’s David Cheng, James Winslow and Pu Jun Jin, meanwhile, took top honors in LMP3 in their Ligier JS P3, although having faced a strong challenge from the No. 26 Tockwith Motorsports Ligier of Nigel Moore, who led early.

The DC LMP3 entry placed fourth overall, two laps ahead of the Tockwith Ligier, with the G-Print by Triple 1 Racing car making it a Ligier sweep of the class podium in third.

Spirit of Race claimed GT class honors, with its Ferrari 488 GT3 of Marco Cioci, Nasrat Muzayyin and Rui Aguas, in the closest battle out of the three categories.

The AF Corse-run Ferrari edged out the No. 61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari of Matt Griffin, Kieta Sawa and Mok Weng Sun by 1.191 seconds at the line.

The No. 6 VS Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Kei Cozzolino, Adrian Zaugg and American Corey Lewis completed the class podium in third.

A total of 17 of the 28 starters finished the race, with a number of cars sucummbing to issues over the course of the first-ever four-hour Asian Le Mans Series race.

RESULTS: 4H Zhuhai

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John