Rohnstock Completes Macau Sweep With Feature Victory

Blokkmonsta Motorsport driver Michael Rohnstock went lights to flag holding off all comers to complete the sweep of both races to become the 2017 Macau Touring Masters Champion.

Rohnstock would bend but never break in the constant ebb and flow battle with fellow front row starter in Ricardo Llosa. The gap between the two would be four seconds at it’s largest at lap six, and would evaporate over the next few laps which reached it’s peak with the Union Saver driver with a battle at Lisboa at what would have been the final lap in the Qualifying Race. Rohnstock would be the victor and the cap would increase to it’s final value with the Spaniard starting to struggle on worn tires. Llosa would be unopposed  with the battle for the final spot on the podium raging on behind.

Denis van Walwijk and Li Qi would also finish in the same positions as they started even though Qi in particular didn’t remain fourth for the remainder of the race. The RFM driver had do deal with the Macmillian Toyotas early on after a poor start. She would clear seventh place finishing Jasper Lerby, who finished with a damaged car after hitting the outside barrier at Lisboa late in the race, at one-third distance before battling with the surging Darren Cardel for the second half of the race.

The other Plus One driver would gain four positions at the start after starting fourteenth on the grid, and then go on to dispatch six drivers in four laps after Cecep Sugiharto passed the Englishman at the Melco hairpin on the first lap. Cardel would then close the gap to the top four in two laps before passing Li Qi with a late dive at Lisboa Corner on Lap 9. Two laps later it was apparent that his tires had already past their best condition with closing the gap to the leaders and would be forced to surrender fourth place after running wide at R Bend on Lap 11; fifth position being where he would remain for the rest of the race. With Qi finishing fourth, all four manufactures involved in the Macau Touring Masters: Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford respectively, finishing the feature and qualifying races 1-2-3-4.

Originally slated to finish sixth would be Pieter Kickert driving his own Toyota Corolla, if it wasn’t for a crash into the barriers at the Solitude S would rupture the radiator in his car removing him from contention with three laps remaining. The main benefactor of this would be Sentinel driver Cecep Sugiharto who would start to climb through the field in the final third of the race when the rest of the top 10 started to struggle with damaged cars and worn out tires, including a pass on Jasper Lerby at Lisboa Corner with two laps remaining. The only other retirement in the Feature Race would be Shin Ramirez in the second Union Saver Chevy Cruze who clipped the inside barrier at Hotel Mandarin and would spear into the outside barriers, removing him from contention at the first lap of the race.

The double victory for Michael Rohnstock would be the third and fourth victories for the small German team since their return to Auto Racing in 2015, with Rohnstock taking a ARST sprint race victory at Magny-Cours in April earlier this year and Malik Zildan winning on debut in the FRENCH season opener in November last year.

Race Results – After 15 Laps

Fastest Lap – Car 6 (Darren Cardel – Plus One Toyota) – 2:29.160