Ma Qing Hua will return to the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) grid this weekend as the 2018 season reaches its climax on the streets of Macau. The move comes after Tiago Monteiro decided not to put his recovery from injury at unnecessary risk, with the Macau circuit being notoriously unforgiving in nature.
Ma already has experience of the Honda Civic FK8 TCR after making two appearances earlier in the season, at Ningbo and Wuhan in his native China. During his previous outings in the WTCR, Ma made steady progress. After a turbulent time at Ningbo, which involved an accident with Yann Ehrlacher, the Chinese ace managed to score points at Wuhan.
Heading into Macau, Ma hopes that the positive trajectory continues for him: “I am very happy to return to the WTCR and to race the Honda Civic Type R TCR again. Boutsen Ginion Racing are a strong team and made me feel very welcome in the events I did in China.”
“Having been through that familiarisation period will help me get up to speed much more quickly at Macau, as will the fact that this is the first track I’ll have raced the car at this year at which I have prior experience. Together we’ve already finished in the top 10 so the aim is to have a strong weekend and continue the progress shown in Ningbo and Wuhan.”
Team Manager, Olivia Boutsen, believes that in Ma Qing Hua they have the right driver to cover for the absent Monteiro: “We’re very happy to welcome Ma Qing Hua back into the team for Macau. Despite being unfamiliar with us, the car and the circuits in China, he settled in extremely well and did a very good job to show top-10 pace everywhere and take a well-deserved seventh place in Wuhan. This is our first time racing on the streets of Macau, so having two drivers in Ma and Tom [Coronel] who know the circuit, will be a big help to us. Our aim is to use this to finish the season on a high.”
