The Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup riders will be back in action over the 16th-18th September weekend as they head to the Zhuhai International Circuit in China for the seventh and eighth races of their 2016 season.
The young riders return to racing in the Cup following a four-month break since the last two races at the Sepang International Circuit in May.
This is the riders’ only visit to China this season, following races already in Thailand, Qatar and Malaysia. There are races still to come in Japan and Malaysia again after the Zhuhai round.
After six races in the 2016 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra holds the lead in the standings thanks to his second win of the year last time out in Sepang and with 106 points he is six clear of his closest rival. Four podiums in six races mean Ryusei Yamanaka is second with 100 points, whilst Andi Izdihar sits in third place with 93 points to his name.
The 4.319km Zhuhai International Circuit consists of 14 corners (nine right and five left) with a 900m long straight. Built in 1996 the track is located in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.
The weekend’s two races in China will form part of the ‘Pan Delta Super Racing Festival’ event, which combines motorcycle and car racing. The first of the two 17 lap races will commence at 12.00pm local time on Saturday 17th September and the second race begins at 13.10pm on Sunday 18th.
What happened in 2015?
In last year’s races at the Zhuhai International Circuit Ayumu Sasaki won the first of two Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup contests at the Chinese round, with the Japanese rider joined by his compatriots Ai Ogura and Yuta Date on the podium.
Ogura then completed a good weekend by winning the second of the two races held at Zhuhai ahead of his countrymen Kazuki Masaki and Takuma Kunimine on the rostrum.