Photo : Frederic GAUDIN / ACO

 

For the OAK Racing's Chinese driver line-up, there were a lot of new parameters at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ho-Pin Tung had the experience last year with KCMG, David Cheng and Adderly Fong discoverd the Le Mans classic with their machine, the Ligier JS P2 equipped wth a Honda V6 Turbo. At the center of an extremely elevated class in terms of performances, the Chinese trio ran a solid race finishing in a honorable seventh place in the class, 11th overall. 

David Cheng: "This whole month has been a whirlwind. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is like nothing I’ve ever done before. The whole experience has been amazing. This has been my life goal, to complete my first 24 Hours in the top 10, we finished 7th, it’s quite amazing. With a brand new team, a brand new car, the Ligier JS P2, the Honda package, Total lubricants China , Michelin, Orsun, Sculfort...It’s incredible what we’ve put together over the last 6 months. Now, the goal is to win the Asian Le Mans title again, that way I can be here next year in this very spot going for the win. Hopefully, we can be standing on that podium."

Adderly Fong: "I would describe the 24 Hours of Le Mans as confusing. You’ve got to do it by yourself, corner by corner for the 24 hours. You don’t know who’s in front of you, you don’t know who’s behind you. You’ve just got to get around as quick as you can. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve pushed harder in the beginning. I wish I didn’t go in the gravel trap, so we would have had a better result, but that’s what learning is about. That’s the experience of Le Mans. I’m glad to have finished it and made it to the 24 hours, because for the last two hours while I was in the car, I was getting a power cut and we were losing power. I was afraid that something would happen, but I’m glad we finally made it; it’s an amazing feeling!"

Ho-Pin Tung: "First of all, I would like to say that was an amazing job by OAK Racing. I don’t think that many people know that just a few weeks ago, the car was in the workshop; it was just a monocoque, without anything there. So, just in a few weeks, the team managed to build a car, and it was not only fast but also reliable. We had no issues at all during the all 24 hours. So it’s really unbelievable! For me, it’s been great a result. Last year of course it was my debut here, we didn’t manage to finish the race. To make the finish this year, to do a lot of things. I think I did almost half of the race. I really enjoyed every single part of it. This year is my first finish at Le Mans. Next year, the target is going to be different, I’m gonna go for positions."

Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014, RACE. The Ligier JS P2-Honda of the Ho-Pin Tung, David Cheng and Adderly Fong driver line-up.