Chronicles of Yifei Ye: “A lot to learn in a very short time”

Hello everyone,

A lot has happened since my Sebring interview post,

but I finally found the time to ask myself to write this first column. A short trip to Multimatic, in Detroit, to get a little familiar with this Porsche 963 through the simulator, the Formula E rookie test in Berlin and finally the 6 Hours of Business-Francorchamps, in front of the youngest driver currently in the Hypercar category.

What to tell you? That I have a banana, that’s all. If someone had told us that we would finish sixth in our first competition in Hypercar, and this time the car had only been on track for the first time two days ago, we would not have believed it. It’s pretty crazy when you think about it. Our car, when it arrived at the circuit, had – in the wheels – a short fire incident with Matt Campbell in Weissach the week before.

This year, the fight is very fierce in the first category, and there were no less than thirteen cars in the race in Belgium. So aiming for the top 10 was a realistic goal. Especially since we didn’t treat this week as a race week, but more like a test period. Will (Stevens note. Editor) and I discovered the car on Thursday during the first two free practice sessions and Antonio (Félix da Costa. Editor note) the following day. And in the end, we fought in the race with the division planners and managed to pass the checkered flag in sixth place. It’s a good sign, isn’t it?

The time was very tight and we all had a lot to learn in a very short time. Two days in fact… Free Practice was also heavily hampered by red flags and Full Course Yellows, so much so that we drove very little before the start (29 for Stevens , 21 for Ye and 19 for Félix da Costa. Editor’s Note ). But that didn’t stop me from walking away with the best race time of all the Porsche 963s. Overall, we got through the race without any major problems, although I had a small problem with the sensor that forced me to steer for a few laps. It was not an easy task, but also a good training.

Six and without a single scratch on the bodywork! I really want to give a big shout out to the team (Hertz Team JOTA. Editor’s note), who discovered and then prepared the car with great care the day before the race. And I would also like to thank Porsche for the support provided by Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific for its unwavering support.

All the information stored and recorded during our two days of testing at Paul-Ricard with Porsche Penske Motorsport last week, we will filter and will be very useful in preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. . Because our main goal is to win Le Mans. We have shown that we are capable and I am sure that we will be able to approach the race with a competitive car.

I can’t wait to get back on track. This Porsche 963 is very nice to drive, with lots of power. We have a little time before Le Mans and we will also have to rest because the technicians have had very short nights recently. So we will all have to recover to arrive in good shape at Le Mans. But I promise you I will take some time to tell you all this in detail…

I’ll see you soon!