Juan Carlos Zhu takes first pole for BAIC Senova as Rob Huff makes CTCC debut

Juan Carlos Zhu claimed the first pole position for the BAIC Senova team in the China Touring Car Championship at the Shanghai International Circuit, while 2012 WTCC champion Rob Huff also took part in the session for the Chinese manufacturer.

Zhu lapped the circuit which saw both the Super Cup 2.0T and 1.6T classes combined with a time of 1:56.751, just under two-tenths of a second faster than Changan FRD Ford Focus driver Cai Yue, with David Zhu third fastest, also for BAIC Senova.

Rob Huff was the third fastest of the BAIC Senova drivers, qualifying in 14th position in the Senova D60 CC.

Alex Hui was the best-placed of the Teamwork Citroën C-Elysée drivers in fourth, just ahead of team-mate Sunny Wong, while Adam Morgan was the fastest of the Shanghai VW 333 Racing Volkswagen Lamando GTS drivers in sixth, just under eight tenths of a second down on Zhu’s time.

In the 1.6T class, the Dongfeng Honda Racing Team scored a 1-2-3, with Zou Si Rui 15th fastest overall, closely followed by team-mates Martin Xie and Henry Ho.

The first two CTCC races take place at 12:50 and 13:25 CST on Saturday, with the 2.0T class preceding the reversed grid 1.6T class race.