Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Andy Yan claimed a brace of victories in the TCR Asia Series races in Thailand to move into a clear championship lead, as local hero Tin Sritrai suffered from technical issues at home.
Hong Kong’s Yan was on imperious form throughout the weekend, taking pole position in qualifying by three tenths of a second. He then went on to win both of Sunday’s races, including taking victory in the reverse-grid second race from tenth on the grid.
“For me and the team it’s a fantastic weekend – two victories,” said Yan, who is now 42 points clear at the top of the points table. “My start was quite good in race two, but there was a lot of overtaking.
“For the first two laps I just concentrated on the job at hand, at staying safe, and avoiding contact. From there the car was fantastic, very steady and got me home for the win. I really enjoyed the weekend in Thailand, now it’s time to go forward and fight for the championship.”
Local racer Narasak Ittiritpong, racing a Vattana Motorsport Honda Civic, finished just behind his team-mate Lemvard, claiming a first TCR Asia podium in his first appearance in the series.
In the second race it was Kevin Tse who went on to finish second behind Yan, but being unable to close the gap to the Volkswagen racer in the latter stages of the race.
Disaster struck for local Thai superstar Sritrai though, who was forced to retire from the opening race due to a turbo issue, which was easily fixed for race two.
Unfortunately for Sritrai, the overheating issue which had plagued him in practice and forced an engine change ahead of qualifying then struck, forcing him to retire after seven laps whilst he was charging up the order.
That meant that Henry Ho was able to claim the final podium position in the second race, in turn elevating the Hong Kong racer to third overall in the drivers’ championship after he also took fourth in the opening race of the day.
The TCR Asia Series resumes in Shanghai on the 19th to 21st August.
Round 3 result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 26:47.312 | 1:46.159 | 1 |
| 2 | 44 | Jack LEMVARD |  |
Vattana Motorsport | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 2.705 | 1:46.397 | 3 |
| 3 | 13 | Narasak ITTIRITPONG | |
Vattana Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 15 | 6.088 | 1:46.648 | 4 |
| 4 | 88 | Henry HO Wai Kun |  |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 15 | 11.112 | 1:46.269 | 6 |
| 5 | 26 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 21.721 | 1:47.387 | 5 |
| 6 | 66 | Nattachak HANJITKASEM | |
TBN MK ihere Racing Team | Honda Civic TCR | 15 | 24.997 | 1:47.663 | 7 |
| 7 | 8 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 34.236 | 1:46.923 | 2 |
| 8 | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui |  |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León TCR | 15 | 38.564 | 1:48.240 | 9 |
| 9 | 17 | Terence TSE Kin Leung | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 44.602 | 1:48.720 | 10 |
| 10 | 77 | Paritat BULBON | |
Sloth Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 51.044 | 1:47.424 | 8 |
| 11 | 7 | Bill O’BRIEN | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 1:01.228 | 1:48.955 | 11 |
| R | 78 | Kenneth MA Hon Wah | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 2 | 13 Laps | N/A | 12 |
| R | 9 | Tin SRITRAI | |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 2 | 13 Laps | N/A | 13 |
Round 4 result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 26:41.767 | 1:45.861 | 10 |
| 2 | 8 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 3.632 | 1:45.917 | 9 |
| 3 | 88 | Henry HO Wai Kun | |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 15 | 9.871 | 1:46.272 | 5 |
| 4 | 26 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 21.538 | 1:47.076 | 6 |
| 5 | 44 | Jack LEMVARD | |
Vattana Motorsport | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 23.205 | 1:46.720 | 8 |
| 6 | 66 | Nattachak HANJITKASEM | |
TBN MK ihere Racing Team | Honda Civic TCR | 15 | 26.46 | 1:47.032 | 4 |
| 7 | 77 | Paritat BULBON | |
Sloth Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 40.896 | 1:48.345 | 3 |
| 8 | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui | |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León TCR | 15 | 45.111 | 1:47.991 | 2 |
| 9 | 17 | Terence TSE Kin Leung | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 49.549 | 1:48.143 | 1 |
| 10 | 7 | Bill O’BRIEN | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 15 | 53.957 | 1:48.883 | 11 |
| R | 78 | Kenneth MA Hon Wah | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 15 | 54.276 | 1:47.843 | 12 |
| R | 9 | Tin SRITRAI | |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 7 | 8 Laps | 1:46.124 | 13 |
| 13 | Narasak ITTIRITPONG | |
Vattana Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | 11 Laps | 1:47.388 | 7 |