Hart and Cao win in Macau GP

Cao Hongwei

Irish racer Max Hart (Hyundai Elantra N TCR) won Race 2 of the Macau Touring Car Cup (MTCC) – China Touring Car Championship (CTCC) as Cao Hongwei (Hyundai Elantra N TCR), the winner of Race 1, clinched the TCR China title Sunday in Macau.

In Sunday’s Race 2, Hart, who finished fourth in Race 1, started in ninth position, due to the partially inverted grid format, but managed to overtake several competitors ahead of him due to their slower race pace and quickly rose to fifth position.

The winner of Race 1, Cao, was involved in a three-car clash with Yang Xiaowei (Hyundai Elantra N TCR) and local racer André Couto (Honda Civic FL5 TCR) as he tried to pass both on lap three.

However, as Cao attempted to take the inside line at Lisboa Bend, his car was launched over the front-right corner of Yang’s Hyundai and into Couto’s path, with whom Cao then collided.

Unable to continue, Couto retired from the race. Cao continued with a damaged car that was also retired moments later.

In the process, Young, who was challenging Cao for the title, lost time and hit the barriers, dropping to 12th position.

After a comeback, Young retired from the race after hitting David Zhu (Lynk & Co 03 TCR) on the final lap, leaving the door open for Cao’s title win even with a DNF (Did Not Finish) added.

With Couto out of the race, the only local competitor on track was Filipe de Souza (Audi RS3 LMS TCR) who failed to achieve better than 14th position in Race 2 after having finished 12th in Race 1 Saturday.