Qualifying for the 5th race of the China Touring Car Championship 2012 season took place at Ordos International Circuit in Inner Mongolia today under sunny weather and without the ever-present threat of rain storm that hit R4 a few weeks ago.

After winning the last Manufacturer Championship in R4, the CTCC weight compensation system kicked in and once again, the four New Ford Focus of Changan Ford Racing Team are running 100 to 180kg heavier against their opponents and the team had to squeeze in a coupe extra test sessions trying to find a better compromise on the set up to offset the heavy weight.

Qualifying started at 16:00, and as the 30 minute session progressed, many drivers improved their lap times but none could beat the best times set by Rainey He and his New Ford Focus. Young Ford Driver Fan Gaoxiang, spotting the blue white black new Ecoboost livery on his car, also did an outstanding job putting himself into the front group with a quick time of 1:53.188 and he will start 4th on the grid tomorrow. Jiang Tengyi and Andy Yan will share row 3 in tomorrow’s race.

Polo sitter Rainey indicated in the press conference: “This was the second time I gained the polo position in Ordos this season. With the 1240Kg car weight; it was a very hard job but the technical team did a fantastic job on the set up so it was so good that I can make the fastest time in lap 1. I hoped to help my teammates to make faster times, but with the 1260kg for Andy and 1280kg for Tengyi, my team mates could not go faster. And after the Polo cars changed tires, Gaoxiang lost the second position and I am sure tomorrow’s race will be a tough and exciting war.”