2009 Zhuhai Pan Delta Championship - Round 1

Zhuhai's Pan Delta Championship was greeted with a packed grandstand as the series kicked off the year with their first race weekend of 2009.

For the Zhuhai Superbike Championship, which is run during the Pan Delta Championship, there were 33 Supersport and Superbikes entered for the race. The grid was made up of many expat riders who live in China, riders from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and Mainland China. A few expert riders from the Chinese Superbike Championship were also in attendance, perhaps using this race as a warm up for the first round of the CSBK which kicks off next month.

In qualifying, the CSBK riders from the Yes Yamaha team were at the top of the charts, but not letting them get away was John Edwards, last year's Class One Champion.

BG Performance members who entered in the race were #25 Paul McConnell (Aus), #48 Jonathan Dickinson (UK), #43 Ramon Gascon (Esp), #44 Steve LaPlume (USA), #18 Ke Jun Yao (TW) and #52 Li Bo Xun (TW). Paul and Jonathan had raced before at the Pad Delta races but the remaining riders were entering their first ever race at the Zhuhai Circuit. Jonathan put in a great race and put in his fastest lap of the weekend on the final lap of the second race. Ramon ran off into the gravel trap towards the last lap of the first race, but was very happy to finish well in the second race. Steve LaPlume was riding steady all weekend but in a battle in the second race, he tucked the front in turn 9 fighting with another Shanghai rider, Paul Martin, on the last lap. Our Taiwan riders made great lap times, much faster than they had ever gone before, and were really happy with their first ever race finishes!

More Than 90% Riders Wears The Arlen Ness / Berik / Madif  Leather.

For the start of Race 1 held on Saturday, the skies were cloudy and light mist was in the air. Everyone was keeping a good look at their rain tires stacked up in the corner but luckily they didn't need to come out this time! 
Yes Yamaha's Zhou Hao Yun, last year's CSBK Champion, took off to an early lead, followed by Xiao Jin, another Yes Yamaha CSBK rider. Zhou started to steadily pull away from the pack and looked like he was in firm control of the race. Xiao Jin took up second position and John Edwards, also a front row starter, was back in mid pack after getting a horrible start. Edwards slowly started working his way back to the front and placed himself solidly in third, which suddenly became second as Zhou Hao Yun made a mistake a crashed in turn 7 by himself while way out in the lead! The battle for the last spot on the podium was fierce as five bikes were battling in one pack all the way to the end. The pack for 3rd position dropped to four bikes after Karl Roe got pushed wide into the pebbles outside turn 11.

Final results for the first race were as follows:
Overall
1. Xiao Jin
2. John Edwards
3. Yu Chun Ho
4. Jason Broome
5. Joao Fernandes

Race 2 on Sunday also started off in questionable weather. Light drops of rain were falling as the riders lined up on the starting grid. Again, luckily it stopped before the starting lights went off and the race was run in full dry conditions. The race was gridded from Saturday's race results so Zhou Hao Yun was starting from the back row after crashing out of Saturday's event. Xiao Jin took off to the early lead as Zhou had a lot of work ahead of him. John Edwards made a much better start this time and slotted himself behind the leader. Slowly but surely, Zhou Hao Yun worked his way up to the front, but the lead by Xiao Jin was a bit too much for him to make up after starting from the back of the grid. John Edwards crossed the line in third, but first in the Class One Open category. Again, there was a huge battle with the riders from 4th to 8th positions.

Final results were as follows:
1. Xiao Jin
2. Zhou Hao Yun
3. John Edwards
4. Joao Fernandes
5. Chu Man Tat

The second round of the Pan Delta Championship is set for June 19th to 21st and we hope more of our members will be able to join the races! For more information on how to enter the Zhuhai Pan Delta Championship races, please contact at race@bg-performance.com