High-octane weekend of motorsport

Races and rich variety of sideline action made the Champions Festival the highlight of the year for true enthusiasts, Li Fangfang reports.

For die-hard motorsport fans, there is nothing more exciting than spending the whole weekend watching as many races as possible.

The 2013 Sports Car Champions Festival made it a reality on Oct 26 and 27 in Shanghai, with six iconic brands - Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche and Volkswagen - joining forces for the second year to make the Shanghai Audi International Circuit the premier venue for local motoring aficionados.

More than 12,000 spectators witnessed five racing series and got an up-close look at an array of classic models.

A rich variety of sideline activities added to the allure as spectators of all ages enjoyed the high-octane weekend of motorsport.

"As leaders in the sports car market, the six brands have been contributing to China's motorsport and motoring culture," said Markus Nels, director of the sports car projects at Volkswagen Group China.

"In the past two years, they have jointly held a full range of activities including the Sports Car Champions Festival and the Star Racing Academy to support China's young drivers," Nels added.

With adrenalin-pumping competition on the course and entertaining trackside activities, "the Sports Car Champions Festival is the perfect gathering for motorsport lovers from across the country", he said. "After the festival, the six brands will continue to promote motoring culture in China."

Exciting series

Intense action on the track was the highlight, with the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, Audi R8 LMS Cup, Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Asia Series and Formula Masters China Series all showing spectators the excitement of auto racing.

In a year that marks the 50th anniversary of Porsche's iconic 911, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia celebrated the completion of 10 thrilling seasons. The flagship event at the forefront of motorsport development in Asia staged its grand finale of the year during the festival.

The Scirocco-R Cup China, which has been held for the past five years and has helped develop many young drivers, saw Bao Jinlong win the season championship and become the first-ever Chinese driver to win the title.

The new Formula Masters China Series, which has become a new force in building young Chinese talent, also staged an exciting competition at its annual grand finale in Shanghai.

In addition, the festival presented the Audi R8 LMS Cup and Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Series, both known as ultimate speed experiences.

Sports car culture

Yet despite the enthusiasm from both racers and fans, compared with Western countries motorsport is still a niche attraction for the few true enthusiasts on the Chinese mainland.

"It can even hardly to compare to the popularity in Hong Kong and Macao," said Xu Qun, publisher of the Chinese version of auto magazine Ramp.

"But though sports car culture is not mature here, the Chinese people have the same passion for automobiles and sports cars as any country anywhere."

He and his friends are organizing an event called the Oh My God Race for "everybody" to legally compete with "whatever" cars.

The race will be held at night when rental of circuit is much cheaper.

"It's a race with no barrier to both drivers and cars.

"We want to bring motorsport as close as possible to more people who have the passion," said Xu.

Xia Dong, another magazine chief editor who has observed and been involved in the sports car sector for almost 20 years, agreed.

"Vehicle brands should find more ways to make motorsport reachable for more people, especially the young generation, in a rational and legal way," said Xia.

He said that in early days in Europe, some automakers mass produced sports cars that were affordable to ordinary people, which greatly helped promote the development of motorsport.

"But in China, cars usually mean transportation as automakers focus on local production of transportation tools. The high price of imported sports cars keeps most of young fans away," said Xia.

Slow development

He said that the development of sports car culture in China has been agonizingly slow. "In 2000, when China's automobile market started to boom, I supposed that sports cars would soon be popular among more people. But it is still a niche market for a few rich people after more than a decade, and some of the owners don't even have a deep understanding of the heritage, technologies and passion of sports cars," said Xia.

"On the Chinese mainland, in my view the sports car is a luxury and motorsport is millionaire's plaything," said Di Gangsheng, a professional sports car media reporter from Hong Kong.

"Drivers of sports cars on the mainland are mainly the second generation of the rich or the new rich. Sports cars for them represent prestige and wealth."

"The image of sports cars and owners should be changed," said Di.

Nels of Volkswagen said that the German automobile group is making efforts to help more ordinary people get involved in sports cars through innovative sideline activities.

The varied and compelling trackside activities during the Sports Car Champions Festival are an example.

"Spectators can get close to some of the most iconic cars from the six brands.

"In addition to feasting their eyes on race cars, some children participated in a karting challenge and tapped into their own racing potential," said Nels.

The biggest attraction off the track was the release of the latest version of the hugely popular mobile app Sports Car Challenge.

Already downloaded more than 11 million times, Sports Car Challenge has won many awards for its rich content, crisp graphics and excellent interface.

Volkswagen also launched the Star Racing Academy for talented Chinese talented youth aged 15 to 25 to learn how to become motorsport professionals.

"Aiming to provide all the tools and coaching necessary to understand the fundamentals of the sport, the academy offers selected drivers the opportunity to apply their new knowledge on the track with the Star Racing Team," said Nels.

Yet Nels warned that in the recent years, the number of motorsport events has decreased.

"The lack of enough infrastructure is one problem, while the government's limitations due to safety concerns also blocks the sector," said Nels.

Contact the writer through lifangfang@chinadaily.com.cn