One hour and ten minutes was how close Chackie Chan DC Racing came to turning history on its head and be the first LMP2 team to take outright victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Even so, to lead the race and take the second step was a seismic step for the emerging Jota Sport/CH-DC Racing partnership and one which the team backed-ep with an emphatic LMP2 victory at the 6 Hours of Nurburgring.
“The most positive thing for us is that it is a partnership between DC Racing and Jota Sport” says Jota Sport founder Sam Hignett.
“It’s a great opportunity to have two cars in the WEC for the full season and to work with DC Racing. So you have our expertise and their expertise in the commercial world in Asia, which is something we don’t have. So there’s two different skill sets we’ve brought together and it makes a great partnership.”
Last year was the first time you fielded two cars at Le Mans. When you race under your own banner you have to take care of everything, but does partnering with another group help you focus on your key area?
Sam Hignett: “Exactly. We bring the key engineering and the mechanics. DC Racing bring some engineering skill sets but they mainly bring their commercial knowledge and funding expertise – as well as PR and promotion we do globally but primarily in Asia.
Ho-Pin Tung: “From a DC Racing perspective, the good thing here is that Jota Sport is not just a technical service provider. It’s a real partnership and that’s why the logo on the car is as it is. All the decisions we make, whether commercial or technical, are shared equally no matter
what the area of expertise. That’s a strength and that’s why we’ve had such a good kick-off to the beginning of the season. With the win at Silverstone and the number 38 car leading for quite a while, I think we showed that when you combine two very good strengths, it showed that you can come out stronger as a team”.
Did you expect to be on the podium at the beginning of the season?
Ho-Pin Tung: “From DC Racing point of view – absolutely. Otherwise we wouldn’t have looked to get into a partnership with Jota Sport. They’ve won the Le Mans 24 Hours, they’ve won races in the WEC and the European Le Mans Series, so all the knowledge and facilities are there. I
remember my first visit to their workshop in the South of London. After being in motor sport for many years already, we were very impressed with the structure that Jota had in place for us. It’s crucial because the level in WEC is now extremely high and it’s not without reason”.
With Le Mans being the most challenging race of the year, we all know anything can happen. Outside of a good result, what do you want to learn most out of the new partnership?
Sam Hignett: “I think technically this is the first time that the Oreca 07 has done anything other than a six-hour race, so there’s a lot for us to learn for the future. For the drivers it’s Thomas Laurent’s first 24 Hours, so it’s something big for him to
learn about. But also commercially what we’re doing and what DC Racing are trying to do in China is opening Le Mans up to the wider Chinese market. It must be lovely for Chinese people to have an openly Chinese team for people to get behind and support with such a great brand as Jackie Chan. It’s very exciting.”
Manor are also kind of a Chinese team though. Do you feel the heat from them?
Sam Hignett: “They’re kind of a Chinese team, but this is a real Chinese team [everyone laughs].
Ho-Pin Tung: “I think we’re here to beat anyone in the world. Interestingly I think it’s the 50th year of collaboration between England and China. I think we’ve shown we can bring a Chinese team and Chinese faces to the world stage in motor sport”.
Alex, thanks to your father a lot of people in China have followed your career. How are you settling into a Chinese team?
Alex Brundle: “It’s been quite an interesting one for me, because obviously Jota – as a racing organisation – have known me for a very long time. But then there’s the secondary element which is DC Racing, so I kind of have a split partnership of working with a group of people that I know exceptionally well but then the flavour of something completely new from the Chinese side with the marketing and the drivers in Ho-Ping and David [Chen]. I’ve really enjoyed it so far and I think I can speak for all three drivers when I say the ambience between us is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The results are coming as a group, so as long as they keep coming the driver’s will be happy”
Ho-Pin Tung: “I should add that Jota Sport have a very long history in developing young drivers through their professional career such as Harry Tincknell, Felipe Albuquerque and Oliver Turvey. That’s another reason why the partnership works so well from our side because we have the same objective. We’re trying to pick up Chinese drivers but when we were trying to pick up drivers, we knew Alex from racing with him in 2015 in Shanghai [with Pegasus Racing] so we knew his quality”.
“The same goes for Thomas, who came out of go-karts and we took him to LMP3 in Asia and LMP2. Everyone seems surprised by his immediate pace, but not us given we’ve been working with him for such a long time. There’s also a strong pool of engineering [talent]. Jota took an engineer all the way from Australia so we’re looking everywhere in the world to train upcoming staff. There’s a strong objective to develop engineering talent as well”.
Would Jota and DC Racing consider starting an engineering academy in China?
Sam Hignett: “That would definitely be something we’d like to do to bring Chinese talent to the international stage in everything we do. That’s what the whole project is about”.
Ho-Pin Tung: “It’s a step by step project. We’ve put ourselves in the limelight by winning races and the next step will be to expand our knowledge”.
It’s very important for young drivers to have support from teams at the very beginning of their careers.
Thomas Laurent: “Jota and DC Racing are a lot like my first go-kart team. It was really like a family. I’m finding this atmosphere again with the whole Jota group. They’re very open and like teachers. Gary, Sam, David and all the mechanics and engineers are like family – as with the crew on the number 37 car.
It’s your first weekend here at Le Mans 24 Hours. It must be a crazy week for you?
Thomas Laurent: “At the beginning I thought it would be a really long week, but the week has just gone so fast with the parades and the autograph sessions it’s just amazing to be a part of it”.
You definitely have the speed, but experience is another thing altogether. How do you think you’re developing as a driver?
Thomas Laurent: “I’ve learned a lot from Ho-Pin, because I know him from 2016 and Oliver Jarvis due to his experience at Le Mans. They’re both really good teachers!”
There’s a lot of people outside of the garage just hoping to get a picture of Jackie Chan. Do you think he’s bringing more attention to the team?
Sam Hignett: “He’s a great name to have associated with us as it creates a lot of opportunities, particularly in the Chinese market. But even here people see the name and they’re immediately excited to see that Jackie Chan is involved. The really lovely thing for us is it’s not just a clever marketing thing. Jackie Chan really is involved. He’s very interested in what goes on with the team and very supportive of everything that we do. It really is a unique situation”.
Ho-Pin, you’ve been racing for a long time. You had a Formula One dream but now you’re focussing on sports cars and getting more and more involved in the team operation. What are the challenges you need to approach as a driver?
Ho-Pin Tung: “I think after being in different single seaters all the way up to Formula One, I felt when the opportunity came to join this team I was immediately sold. The atmosphere and the racing is just so pure and the level of driving in LMP2 is just phenomenal – not just at Le Mans but the WEC in general. If you look at the starting grid at Le Mans, the first ten cars are WEC cars so the level of the championship is extremely high. That’s what we’re all striving for. Personally I’m a perfectionist, sometimes a bit too much, but that’s what makes this team work – everyone is very hard but we’re very friendly with each other. We move forward as a team and that’s what makes us such a strong combination. That’s the charm of endurance racing. It’s more of a team sport than anything else.”
Sam Hignett: “Nobody goes racing to be in the second-best category. If that’s your intention, then you end up not racing anymore. If you’re not pushing towards the front, then you’re sinking towards the back. That’s the enjoyment of the World Endurance Championship. You’re at the pinnacle of your class and you’re constantly striving towards the front. That’s available here where it may not be available to single seater drivers without a budget.”
Would the team look at LMP1 in the future?
Sam Hignett: “As a partnership we would definitely look at LMP1 but as Alex mentioned it would be very easy to do LMP1 now, spend a lot of money and achieve nothing. Whereas we can do LMP2 for a relatively sensible budget and achieve a lot. So there would have to be the opportunity to go and really feature in LMP1”.
The regulations have definitely made the LMP2 cars faster and more entertaining.
Sam Hignett: “Definitely. The time that Alex did in the Le Mans test day was three-tenths quicker than Martin Brundle’s outright pole with Toyota! That’s pretty cool”.
Alex Brundle: “Where going faster than the LMP1 cars did as recently as 2011. If you watch [the documentary] Truth in 24, Red Sonja was on pole with Marc Treluyer on board, the LMP2 car that was on pole this year was a couple of tenths faster than that”.
Images: Richard Washbrooke Photography