High-octane weekend of motorsport

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.

Bao Jinlong, the first Chinese dirver to win the season championship in the Scirocco-R Cup. [Photos Provided to China Daily]

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.