This China Touring Car Championship took the long 1974 km journey to Chengdu after the Zhuhai round one week ago.

After a less than perfect result in Zhuhai, Changan Ford Racing Team is optimistic coming to the Chengdu International Circuit as the circuit’s twisting and uphill/downhill design fits perfectly to the New Focus’s fantastic handling characteristics. The team is eager to extend the point advantage before traveling another 1440 km to Inter-Mongolia for R4 of the season.

The team currently enjoys a 11 point lead for the team Championship. Rainey He and Tengyi Jiang are also occupying first and second position in the driver point table with only one point separates them after two rounds of the race. After the surprise win by the VW Polo in Round 2 using the new 263 SEAT engine and taking full advantage of the lighter car weight, Han Han now had 15 points on third.

According to this season’s new weight compensation rules, the four New Ford Focus are staying with the basic 1220Kg car weight, three of the drivers will also carry additional 15 Kg of driver point ballast for this weekend’s race.

“Carrying the weight is a pain and it dampens the performance of the car greatly. But it means that you are doing well in the points so that in another way, it would be a good thing,” says Rainey He, who is seeking his maiden CTCC crown. “Qualifying is going to be vital for us at CDIC, and lugging that extra weight around is going to make things tough. But the design of the circuit offers more turns and less straight road than ZIC so I believe we can do a better job.”

As the highest rank of circuit in West China, CDIC has the long front straight (830m), the total length of the circuit is 3,331m, and last year the top speed of the NA engine reached 200km/hr and the number certainly will go up as a result of the more powerful turbo engines.

Team manager John Ling indicated: “ There are 14 turns and those are where they are going to help us. We know we have a great car in the New Ford Focus and the chassis is excellent so hopefully that will help us overcome any handicap. The weather in Chengdu is always unpredictable, so preparation is the key to win the race. In the past two years, our team won the winner trophies and the manufacturer trophies in rain; I believe we can continue the winning path with hard works and confidence. ”