BAR-Honda's race with Ferrari is not the only car on the Formula One track in China.

　　A couple of days after Italy's championship team made a brief visit to Shanghai where China's first-ever F1 tournament will be held in September, the England-based squad - seen as the favourite for runner-up this season - launched a whirlwind visit on Wednesday.

　　The stopover in China's financial hub was headed by team principal David Richards and technical director Geoffrey Willis and featured a delicately-choreographed display of the team's new 006 car, which holds hopes of winning over a huge fan base for the fast-improving team in the world's most populous nation.

　　"The reason we come here is to promote not just ourselves but for Formula One," said Richards, the hero behind BAR's recent success. "We came here to talk about it, to educate and to give you the access to learn the inside of F1."

　　Formula One has started to grab some real attention from Chinese people since Shanghai won the right to host an F1 tournament on the 18-stop season this year although it already has been widely followed by sports fans in the nation.

　　With a couple of months to go until the Shanghai tournament, many F1 teams and drivers have launched sundry promotional campaigns to cultivate the potential huge F1 enthusiasm in the nation.

　　Richards believes in that potential, citing the motor rally he used to work with before moving to F1 as an example.

　　"We got an enormous following for the 555 Rally team in China and now we are moving into this new field of Formula One," Richards led 555 team to six world team titles and three driver titles in the past decade.

　　But he knows Ferrari is always the one to beat - on the track, Ferrari and its Michael Schumacher lead the team and driver standings with 142 points and 80 points, respectively, far more than third-placed BAR's 58 and Jenson Button's 44.

　　Ferrari even took an upper hand in dealing with China's market by displaying its championship car during the opening ceremony of Shanghai circuit earlier this month.

　　Richards remains confident.

　　"There is a rising generation of new fans who love a young and dynamic team not afraid of taking a challenge (like us)," he said. "We have a strong following building all the time around the world and I expect the same here in China."

　　A good show on the Shanghai circuit in September is what they need most and team officials are optimistic.

　　"The Shanghai tournament is good and promising for us," said Willis. "The circuit suits our cars and our tyres. We hope to finish it with a car on the podium and both cars in points."