David Cheng (Chinese: 程飞; pinyin: Chéng Fēi, born 21 July 1989) is a Chinese-American sports car racing driver who last competed in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy. He previously competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jackie Chan DC Racing, and finished on the overall and class podium at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, becoming the first Chinese driver to do so. He is a three-time champion of the Asian Le Mans Series, having won the championship twice in the LMP2 class in 2013 and 2014, and in the LMP3 class in 2016.
| David Cheng | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Chinese American[a] |
| Born | July 21, 1989 Haidian District, Beijing, China |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2016 |
| Current team | Jackie Chan DC Racing |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Car number | 37 |
| Starts | 26 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 9th in 2016 |
| Finished last season | 9th |
| Championship titles | |
| 2015–16 2013, 2014 | Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2014–present |
| Teams | OAK Racing, Pegasus Racing, Jackie Chan DC Racing |
| Best finish | 3rd (2017) |
| Class wins | 0 |
Racing career
editBorn in Beijing, Cheng moved to Seattle in the United States at the age of six and was introduced to kart racing by a friend of his father; he had to do so in secret as his mother believed auto racing was too dangerous.[1] In 2011, he moved up to sports cars, racing in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the 24 Hours of Daytona.[2] In the race, Cheng's team competed in the GT class, but the car suffered major damage before Cheng could drive; the team was able to overcome the damage to finish 21st. During the year, he also raced in China's Scirocco R Cup China, finishing seventh in points with a best finish of second at Sepang International Circuit's Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race.[3] A year later, he split time between the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and Scirocco R Cup.[2] In 2013, Cheng joined OAK Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series, driving for an all-Chinese stable alongside Ho-Pin Tung.[4] At Sepang, he won the Sepang 12 Hours and was named one of ten Outstanding Youth by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. He also ran the ALMS' 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans races, winning the former and claiming the Drivers' Championship for his co-driver in the latter by one point.[1] Cheng and OAK ended the year by winning the LMP2 Asian Le Mans Team and Driver Championships.[4] Cheng repeated the feat a season later.[5]
For the 2015–16 Asian Le Mans Series season, Cheng formed DC Racing, racing a Ligier JS P3 with former OAK teammate Tung[5] and Thomas Laurent. The team ended the season with the Team Championship and a guaranteed spot in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.[6]
In March 2015, Cheng met actor and martial artist Jackie Chan, who discussed his enjoyment of Steve McQueen's movie Le Mans as well as his interest in racing. After Cheng finished ninth in the LMP2 class at Le Mans that year, Chan raised the possibility of owning a team together for 2016, to which Cheng agreed.[7] Together, the two entered DC Racing into the FIA World Endurance Championship under the Baxi DC Racing Alpine banner, partnering with Signatech Alpine and fielding Alpine A460s in the LMP2 class.[8] In October, the team was rebranded as Jackie Chan DC Racing.[9]
In 2017, Jackie Chan DC Racing allied with Jota Sport. At Le Mans, the team's No. 38 LMP2 took advantage of problems striking the LMP1 field to lead overall laps, becoming the first lower-class team to do so at Le Mans.[10] The car went on to finish second overall and win the LMP2 class, while DC's No. 37 car, driven by Cheng, finished fourth overall,[11] but Rebellion Racing's No. 13 was disqualified after failing post-race inspection and Cheng's No. 37 was promoted onto the podium.[12] The No. 38's effort marked the first time a Chinese team won its class at Le Mans.[10]
Racing record
editRacing career summary
editComplete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
edit| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 |  OAK Racing
|
Ho-Pin Tung Adderly Fong
|
Ligier JS P2-Honda | LMP2 | 347 | 12th | 7th |
| 2015 |  Pegasus Racing
|
Ho-Pin Tung Léo Roussel
|
Morgan LMP2-Nissan | LMP2 | 334 | 19th | 9th |
| 2016 | Baxi DC Racing Alpine
|
Ho-Pin Tung Nelson Panciatici
|
Alpine A460-Nissan | LMP2 | 234 | DNF | DNF |
| 2017 | Jackie Chan DC Racing
|
Tristan Gommendy Alex Brundle
|
Oreca 07-Gibson | LMP2 | 363 | 3rd | 2nd |
| 2018 | Jackie Chan DC Racing
|
Nick Boulle Pierre Nicolet
|
Ligier JS P217-Gibson | LMP2 | 355 | 12th | 8th |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | OAK Racing | LMP2 | Morgan LMP2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | SHA 6 |
BHR 5 |
20th | 18 | |
| 2014 | OAK Racing | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | SIL | SPA | LMS 7 |
COA | FUJ | NC† | 0 | ||||
| Morgan LMP2 | Judd HK 3.6 L V8 | SHA 6 |
BHR 3 |
SÃO | |||||||||||
| 2015 | Pegasus Racing | LMP2 | Morgan LMP2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL | SPA | LMS 9 |
NÜR | COA | FUJ | SHA 5 |
BHR | NC† | 0 | |
| 2016 | Baxi DC Racing Alpine | LMP2 | Alpine A460 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 7 |
SPA Ret |
LMS Ret |
NÜR 7 |
MEX 5 |
COA 8 |
FUJ 9 |
SHA 8 |
BHR 6 |
9th | 42 |
| 2017 | Jackie Chan DC Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | SIL 8 |
SPA 10 |
LMS 2 |
NÜR 5 |
MEX 6 |
COA 5 |
FUJ Ret |
SHA 8 |
BHR 8 |
11th | 77 |
| 2018–19 | Jackie Chan DC Racing | LMP2 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | SPA | LMS 8 |
SIL | FUJ | SHA | SEB | SPA | LMS | NC† | 0 |
† As Cheng was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
edit(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | RG Racing | P | Riley Mk XXVI DP | Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8 | DAY 6 |
SIR |
LBH |
LGA |
DET |
WGL |
MSP |
ELK |
COA |
PET |
27th | 26 |
References
edit- ^ a b "DAVID CHENG IN 2013". Asian Le Mans Series. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Mitani, Sam (February 29, 2012). "China: The Next Big Stage for Auto Racing?". Road & Track. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ "All Eyes on David Cheng". MotoIQ. January 23, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "DAVID CHENG IN 2014". Asian Le Mans Series. December 19, 2013. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Dagys, John (August 20, 2015). "DC Racing Launched; Confirms Ligier JS P3 Effort in Asian LMS". SportsCar365. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Ho-Pin Tung champion Asian Le Mans Series in penultimate race". Motorsport.com. January 11, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ Barre, Geoffroy (February 25, 2016). "David Cheng tells us how he joined forces with Jackie Chan". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
- ^ Dagys, John (February 5, 2016). "DC Racing Enters WEC with Alpine-Nissan LMP2 Effort". SportsCar365. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Jackie Chan DC Racing announces new partners and new additions to all star driver line up". Motorsport.com. October 27, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ a b Smith, Luke (June 18, 2016). "DC Racing Takes Historic LMP2 Win, Overall Podium". SportsCar365. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Jackie Chan cheered us on to a historic Le Mans result – Cheng". Crash.net. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ^ "Jackie Chan goes 2-3 at Le Mans after DQ". GMA Network. June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
External links
edit- Official website
- David Cheng driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- ^ Cheng competed under an American racing license prior to 2013. He currently represents China.