Shanghai Daily news

The Chinese Grand Prix has added new splashes and dashes to the already heated Formula One tire war as the Shanghai International Circuit, largely unknown, presents new challenges.
"It is always challenging to travel to a race with a limited databank," said Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier.
The French tire maker supplies rubber to six Formula One teams and the rest are equipped with Bridgestone.
Michelin F1 program manager Pacal Vasselon said certain corners at Shanghai have a unique configuration and two of them - which have an almost snail-like profile when viewed from above - are likely to put a greater load on tires than anywhere else on the calendar.
"The surface looks smooth and non-abrasive, another little difficulty we had to factor in when finalizing the best tyre compromise," he said.
And sometimes the headache goes to more than finding the right compound and set-up.
Bridgestone will airfreight 1,400 Formula One tires from the company's F1 production facility in Tokyo , Japan, to Shanghai - five different specifications of dry-weather tires, one wet-weather and one extreme-weather tire.
"Procurement does provide a different type of test," said Hirohide Hamashima, the Bridgestone Formula One program supervisor. "You have to be accurate in any of the links involved."
Like his Michelin counterpart, Hamashima also expects a challenging racing weekend.
"We have been busy studying the track layout, which seems to be similar in style to aspects of the Indianapolis and Sepang circuits," Hamashima said.
"Turn 13, for example, of the Shanghai circuit is a long sweeping corner followed by a long fast straight. This is similar in style to Indianapolis, albeit without the banking.
"Turns 7 and 8, the S bend section, are similar to the Sepang circuit layout."
Bridgestone have claimed 13 victories in 15 races this season, thanks to the dream performance of the Scuderia Ferrari team, the only prominent Bridgestone client. But Hamashima admitted that sometimes it's difficult to satisfy the demanding world champion team.
"They asked to make changes in the compound of the tire after the Canadian Grand Prix and demanded we finish it before the American Grand Prix, which was only one week later," Hamashima said. "We managed to do it finally but it was really a crazy task."