2025 China GT Shanghai Second Race ended passionately

• 0.036-second reversal, FIST Team AAI opens a perfect start for four consecutive championships

• Moritz Berrenberg maintains a perfect record of victory in the GTS category

• Pang Changyuan/Li Sicheng win the GTC category again

Shanghai, China (May 18, 2025)- The second round of the China GT China Supercar Championship on Sunday ushered in another ups and downs. The victory of the second round of the race was once again decided by a millimeter. The seemingly insignificant 0.2-second penalty became the key to the overall championship. FIST Team AAI maintained its unbeaten record since the start of the season. Huang Ruohan/Erik Johansson reversed the situation with a strong pursuit and swept the victory of this station. Deng Yi/Luo Kailuo of the Winhere Harmony Racing team crossed the finish line in first place, but was penalized for a stop violation, and ended up second with a difference of 0.036 seconds. Lv Wei/Xie Xinzhe of the Origine Motorsport team withstood the heavy pressure in the final stage and stood in third place for two consecutive rounds.

In terms of group results, Huang Ruohan/Erik Johansson of FIST Team AAI won the GT3 PA category again, while Lv Wei/Xie Xinzhe of Origine Motorsport and Chen Fangping/Elias Seppanen of Climax Racing won the second and third place in the category respectively. Liu Hangcheng/Hu Haoheng of 33R Harmony Racing, Li Hanyu/Ou Ziyang of Team DIXCEL/GAHA with KRC, and Min Heng/Gu Meng of Origine Motorsport won the first, second, and third place in the GT3 AM category. Shen Jian/Cao Qikuan of Youpeng Racing won the GT3 MASTERS category in this round. Moritz Berrenberg of Maxmore W&S Motorsport, Tian Weiyuan/Han Liqun of RSR GT Racing, and Wu Zhenlong/Che Shaoyi of Incipient Racing won the first, second, and third place in the GTS category. Pang Changyuan/Li Sicheng of Yinqiao ACM by Blackjack and Bao Tian of 610Racing won the first and second place in the GTC category.

The second round of this weekend officially kicked off on a sunny afternoon. The top four drivers on the grid were Luo Kailuo, Huang Ruohan, Lv Wei and Hu Haoheng. As soon as the starting signal was given, Luo Kailuo and Huang Ruohan, who started from the front row, moved forward together and led the car group to the first corner. Huang Ruohan tried to attack from the outside, but Luo Kailuo on the inside did not give up and successfully defended his position. Lv Wei maintained his position, while Cao Qikuan had already surpassed two cars to reach fourth place. The subsequent rankings were Hu Haoheng, Gu Meng, LEVEL Motorsports driver Zhuang Jishun, Ou Ziyang, Chen Fangping and Chen Yechong of UNO Racing Team.

At the beginning, the situation of the top four remained stable. Luo Kailuo quickly widened the gap with his opponents behind him and entered the "solo" state. Huang Ruohan, Lv Wei and Cao Qikuan were in the second to fourth positions, and they did not enter the offensive and defensive state. The competition in the middle group was more intense. Chen Fangping, who started from the 9th place, began to move forward and overtake his opponents, gradually approaching Gu Meng, who ranked fifth.

With the race almost halfway through, a rear-end collision occurred in the rear group. Yang Baijie of the 610 Racing team and Jiang Jiawei of the LEVEL Motorsports team were both damaged. As Yang Baijie's car could not continue to drive, the race committee immediately issued a full-course yellow flag. At this time, the forced pit stop window had been opened, and all cars completed the pit stop operation under the full-course yellow flag state. Although the GT3 PRO driver team had to take longer pit stops, thanks to Luo Kailuo's 11-second advantage, Deng Yi was still able to lead the field after taking over. Huang Ruohan, Lv Wei, Cao Qikuan, Gu Meng, Chen Fangping, and Hu Haoheng's cars were also taken over by their teammates Erik Johansson, Xie Xinzhe, Shen Jian, Min Heng, Elias Seppanen, and Liu Hangcheng, and they returned to the track in second to seventh place.

Then the safety car came on to lead the team. During this period, Chen Sitong/Yu Tong of Incipient Racing, a strong contender for the GTS group podium, retired from the race due to a car stop on the back straight. The safety car time was further extended, and when the green flag was waved again, the race was left with the last 14 minutes of fighting. Deng Yi took advantage of the slow car to accelerate and opened up a gap of several seconds. Erik Johansson and Xie Xinzhe did not waste any time, overtaking the slow car and began to catch up. Elias Seppanen also immediately picked up the rhythm, surpassing Min Heng and Shen Jian to fourth place.

Abandoning the interference, Erik Johansson launched a crazy pursuit of Deng Yi and arrived at the rear of Deng Yi's car in the last five minutes. At the same time, Deng Yi also had to face the dilemma of punishment. Because the mandatory pit stop time did not meet the minimum standard, he had to accept a 0.2 second penalty after the race. This seemingly "insignificant" 0.2 seconds was infinitely magnified under the close pursuit of a strong enemy.

Erik Johansson's BMW M4 GT3 EVO has a greater advantage in straight-line speed, while Deng Yi's Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II seems to have an advantage in cornering and handling performance. With the strengths of their respective cars, the two drivers launched a fierce attack and defense in the final stage. Erik Johansson's tide-like successive offensives were all resolved by Deng Yi's watertight defense. A similar scene of crossing the finish line as in the previous round was staged before the finish line. Deng Yi held his position and drove through the waving checkered flag first, but Erik Johansson, who was chasing him closely, did not let him pull away by more than 0.2 seconds. Deng Yi's 0.164-second advantage when crossing the line eventually turned into a disadvantage of only 0.036 seconds. This dramatic moment allowed Huang Ruohan and Erik Johansson to reach the top again. The two drivers helped FIST Team AAI continue its undefeated record this season, while Deng Yi/Luo Cailuo missed the championship trophy for two consecutive games and ranked second in the whole field.

The chase battle also took place in the competition for the third place. Xie Xinzhe was not afraid of Elias Seppanen's fierce attack at all, defending his position with a half-second advantage, and successfully stepped onto the podium with Lv Wei. Chen Fangping/Elias Seppanen swept away the shadow of yesterday's retirement and finished fourth. UNO Racing Team Chen Yechong/RIO rebounded strongly from the unexpected loss of control in the early stage of the race and recovered to fifth place. Liu Hangcheng/Hu Haoheng won sixth place steadily. Li Hanyu/Ou Ziyang, Ugo de Wilde/Chen Yinyu of FIST Team AAI, Min Heng/Gu Meng, and Yang Xiaowei/Pan Deng of 610Racing Team finished seventh to tenth respectively.

Moritz Berrenberg once again dominated the GTS class, winning straight from pole position. The Maxmore W&S Motorsport driver has already won four races this season. The battle for the remaining seats on the podium continued until the finish line. Tian Weiyuan/Han Liqun took the opportunity to overtake Wu Zhenlong/Che Shaoyi after the safety car was withdrawn and won the second place in the group. Wu Zhenlong/Che Shaoyi fought back with all their strength. The two cars crossed the finish line almost at the same time. Tian Weiyuan/Han Liqun won the second place in the group by 0.032 seconds, while Wu Zhenlong/Che Shaoyi finished third in the group. Wang Yongjie/Wu Shiyao of GAHA Racing with KRC, Yin Jinchao/Yu Yuanlin of Climax Racing, and Huo Weiming of TEAM TRC finished fourth to sixth in the group respectively.

In the GTC group, Pang Changyuan/Li Sicheng and Bao Tian continued to have a direct dialogue. Bao Tian maintained the lead in the first half of the race, but Pang Changyuan/Li Sicheng overtook Bao Tian through a pit stop. In the second half of the competition, Pang Changyuan/Li Sicheng successfully maintained their advantage and won the group championship. Bao Tian followed closely and finished second in the group.

Thus, the wonderful China GT Shanghai Second Battle came to a successful conclusion. The two milliseconds of victory and defeat showdowns fully demonstrated the ultimate charm of racing. The next stop, China GT will race at the legendary Chinese racing landmark --- Zhuhai International Circuit from June 20 to 22. Please look forward to the drivers' dedication to the exciting racing chapter again.