The first round of the 2008 Zhuhai International Circuit

FCACA-BG riders Dominated the 1st Round of the 2008 China ZIC SBK Championships

The first round of the 2008 Zhuhai International Circuit’s Pan Delta Championship ended this weekend with a dominant showing from FCACA-BG Performance riders. Weather was perfect for the weekend’s races.

Due to Zhuhai Circuit has secured a Title Sponsor of Freshtec, big promotions were done way before the event. So during Sunday’s race, the grandstands and paddock area were packed with thousands of racing fans.

FCACA-BG’s SBK team for the weekend consisted of six riders. Five of our riders were competing in Class 1 with one of the most impressive collection of high performance machinery. John Edwards (ex- Stobart BSB CBR1000), Karl Roe (ex-Ben Bostrom CBR1000), Mike Murphy (GSXR1000 K7) , Paul McConnell (CBR1000), and Stephane Houriez (ZX10R). In Class 2 (600cc Superbike), our newly signed Taiwan rider Lin Jia Hao was on FCACA-BG’s Kawasaki ZX6R.

First Qualifying for both classes were led by FCACA-BG riders with John Edwards taking the pole position in Class 1 with an impressive time in the 1minute 41 despite having a minor slip on the closing stages of the 1st qualifying session,. Class 2 pole belonged to FCACA-BG’s Lin Jia Hao who has been improving his lap times every session.

For the second qualifying, Other FCACA-BG riders all improved their time, but unable to knock Edwards off to top of the time charts. For Class 2, Lin Jia Hao improved his times again to maintain his place as the fastest in the Class 2 group.

Race one on Saturday afternoon went off smoothly with no accidents going into the first corner. In Class 1, John Edwards was off in the front, followed by Mike Murphy on his GSXR1000. Lin Jia Hao was overtaken in the start with the 1000cc bikes’ extra horse power advantage, but later in the race, Hao started to make up places and was scrapping places with 3rd place Mike Murphy which provide all the spectators a most exciting battle.  By the end of the race, Mike got the better of Lin Jia Hao, but Hao was still the clear winner of the Class 2 category. John Edwards was never really threatened for the Class 1 lead and took a dominant victory. Karl Roe, competing on his first race on the ex-Bostrom bike turned his fastest ever lap time around the Zhuhai Circuit, and we expect much better to come as he still adapts to the new 200+ hp HRC machine.
Class 1 SBK was won by FCACA-BG riders with John Edwards, Mike Murphy and Karl Roe,
Class 2 was won by Lin Jia Hao in dominating style.

Race two was very similar to race one, with John Edwards again leading the field in Class 1. Again, FCACA-BG’s Lin Jia Hao was mixed up with the 1000cc bikes and was again scrapping places with Mike Murphy on the GSXR1000. Class 1 was won by John Edwards with Mike Murphy 2nd, and Hao topped the Class 2 podium for a perfect weekend for the FCACA-BG racing team.