Ye Yifei

Ye Yifei (Chinese: 叶一飞; pinyin: Yè Yīfēi; born 16 June 2000) is a Chinese racing driver, 2016 French F4 champion, 2020 Euroformula Open champion, 2021 Asian Le Mans Series champion, 2021 European Le Mans Series champion, and former member of the Renault Sport Academy.[2][3] In October 2021, Ye signed with Porsche and has been named as a Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific selected driver.

Ye Yifei
Ye in 2022
NationalityChina Chinese
Born (2000-06-16) 16 June 2000
Xi'an, China
European Le Mans Series career
Debut season2021
Current teamCool Racing
Car number37
Former teamsTeam WRT
Starts12
Wins3
Poles1
Fastest laps1
Best finish1st in 2021
Previous series
2021
2020

2019

2017-18
2015-16
2015-16
Asian Le Mans Series
Euroformula Open Championship
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Formula Renault Eurocup
Italian F4 Championship
French F4 Championship
Championship titles
2021
2021
2020
2016
ELMS - LMP2
ALMS - LMP2
EF Open Championship
French F4 Championship
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese葉一飛
Simplified Chinese叶一飞[1]
Hanyu PinyinYè Yīfēi

Early career

Ye was born in Xi'an, the capital city of Shannxi Province. He began his karting in 2010 at the age of ten, winning the 2011 and 2012 All Chinese karting championships. In 2013, Ye made his European debut through ROK Cup International Final and finished 4th a year later.

Open wheel racing career

Formula 4

In 2015, Ye graduated to single-seaters in the French F4 Championship, where two wins near the end of the campaign brought him to twelfth in the standings.

Ye returned to French F4 the following year.[4] He experienced a dominant season, winning 14 races and taking the title.

Formula Renault 2.0

In December 2016, it was announced Ye would graduate to Formula Renault 2.0 with team champions Josef Kaufmann Racing.[5] He had three podium finishes on his way to the eighth place in the drivers' standings. Ye reunited with JKR the following season, claiming two wins at Monza and the Hungaroring to finish the championship third overall.[6]

FIA Formula 3 Championship

In October 2018, Ye joined the final round of the F3 Asian Championship with Absolute Racing and rejoined the outfit for the following year's Winter Series, where he claimed three wins and finished as the runner-up.[7]

2019 saw Ye progressing to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, having joined the Renault Sport Academy over the off-season.[8]

Euroformula Open Championship

In May 2020, Ye joined CryptoTower Racing Team and had 11 wins, 13 poles and 12 fastest laps.[9] With his dominant performance, Ye claimed the 2020 Euroformula Open Championship title.[10]

Sportscar Racing career

2021: Impressive rookie season

At the start of 2021, Ye made his sportscar racing debut with G-Drive Racing, partnering René Binder and Ferdinand Habsburg in the LMP2 category of the Asian Le Mans Series. Having taken a pair of victories at the opening round and consolidated their championship gap during the final two races, the trio claimed the ALMS title.

For his main campaign, Ye would drive for Team WRT alongside Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica in the European Le Mans Series.[11] The team started off in controlling fashion, winning the opening pair of races at Barcelona and Spielberg and gaining an early lead in the standings. After two finishes inside the top five, the Chinese driver and his teammates took victory at Spa-Francorchamps, thus clinching the ELMS championship with a round to go.

Team WRT (24 Hours of Le Mans)

In August 2021, Ye shares Team WRT's Oreca 07 LMP2 car with Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica to compete in 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ye completed the most overtakes in LMP2 class during the 24 Hours of Le Mans with 315 passes. However, due to an electrical short, was stopped after the Dunlop bridge at the last lap of the race. Car No. 41, which led the LMP2 class at the time with Ye at the wheel, was unable to finish the race, and was therefore unclassified in the final results.[12]

Herberth Motorsport (Asian Le Mans Series)

In January 2022, it was announced that the 21 years old Chinese driver Porsche Motorsport Asian Pacific Selected Driver Ye among Herberth Motorsport crew sharing the Porsche 911 GT3 R with Antares Au and Klaus Bachler.[13]

Cool Racing (European Le Mans Series)

The Oreca 07 entered by Cool Racing driven by Ye, Ricky Taylor and Niklas Krütten

In February 2022, Cool Racing announced its driver line-up for 2022. Reigning European Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion Ye along with the four-time winner in Le Mans Nicolas Lapierre and 2021 European Le Mans Series LMP3 runner up Niklas Krütten. The team also entered the car in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans with a revised line-up due to Lapierre's commitments with Alpine in the FIA WEC. He was replaced by double IMSA champion Ricky Taylor.

Hertz Team Jota (World Endurance Championship)

Ye will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023, becoming part of the Hertz Team Jota Hypercar programme alongside António Félix da Costa and Will Stevens.[14] He made his Hypercar debut for Hertz Team Jota at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and on the teams 2nd race, Ye crashed while leading the 100th running of the 24 hours of Le Mans

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season Series Team Position
2013 ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROK 28th
2014 South Garda Winter Cup — KF3 17th
WSK Champions CupKFJ ART Grand Prix 19th
CIK-FIA European ChampionshipKFJ 48th
ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROK International Kartronix 4th
2015 WSK Champions CupKFJ Kartonix International 25th
South Garda Winter Cup — KFJ NC
Vega International Winter Trophy — KFJ 2nd
WSK Super Master SeriesKFJ RB Racing 12th
CIK-FIA European ChampionshipKFJ 46th

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F. Laps Podiums Points Position
2015 French F4 Championship Auto Sport Academy 21 2 0 0 2 73 12th
Italian F4 Championship RB Racing 15 0 0 0 0 10 21st
2016 French F4 Championship FFSA Academy 23 14 10 17 15 420 1st
Italian F4 Championship Kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport 18 0 0 2 2 79 10th
2017 Formula Renault Eurocup Josef Kaufmann Racing 23 0 0 1 3 106.5 8th
Formula Renault NEC 7 2 2 2 4 104 8th
2018 Formula Renault Eurocup 20 2 1 3 10 239 3rd
Formula Renault NEC 8 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
F3 Asian Championship Absolute Racing 3 0 0 0 2 37 11th
2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Hitech Grand Prix 16 0 0 0 0 4 21st
F3 Asian Winter Series Absolute Racing 9 4 2 5 7 154 2nd
2020 Euroformula Open Championship CryptoTower Racing 18 11 12 12 16 369 1st
2021 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Team WRT 6 3 0 1 4 118 1st
Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 4 2 1 1 3 81 1st
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Team WRT 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
2022 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Cool Racing 6 0 1 0 3 70 5th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
Asian Le Mans Series - GT Herberth Motorsport 4 0 1 1 1 21.5 8th
2023 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Hertz Team Jota 4 0 0 0 0 20 12th*

As Ye was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pos Points
2015 LÉD
1

18
LÉD
2

11
LÉD
3

11
LMS
1

13
LMS
2

10
LMS
3

7
PAU
1

10
PAU
2

5
PAU
3

Ret
HUN
1

14
HUN
2

14
HUN
3

11
MAG
1

13
MAG
2

Ret
MAG
3

11
NAV
1

9
NAV
2

1
NAV
3

12
LEC
1

9
LEC
2

1
LEC
3

12
12th 73
2016 LEC
1

1
LEC
2

1
LEC
3

1
LEC
4

1
PAU
1

3
PAU
2

4
PAU
3

1
PAU
4

1
LÉD
1

1
LÉD
2

1
LÉD
3

1
LÉD
4

1
MAG
1

1
MAG
2

7
MAG
3

1
MAG
4

1
LMS
1

1
LMS
2

15
LMS
3

Ret
LMS
4

11
CAT
1

4
CAT
2

12
CAT
3

15
1st 420

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Pos Points
2017 Josef Kaufmann Racing MNZ
1

9
MNZ
2

6
SIL
1

9
SIL
2

14
PAU
1

8
PAU
2

10
MON
1

11
MON
2

19
HUN
1

24
HUN
2

7
HUN
3

5
NÜR
1

7
NÜR
2

3
RBR
1

8
RBR
2

7
LEC
1

2
LEC
2

8
SPA
1

3
SPA
2

7
SPA
3

8
CAT
1

12
CAT
2

10
CAT
3

11
8th 106.5
2018 Josef Kaufmann Racing LEC
1

3
LEC
2

2
MNZ
1

1
MNZ
2

15
SIL
1

3
SIL
2

3
MON
1

4
MON
2

4
RBR
1

8
RBR
2

5
SPA
1

2
SPA
2

3
HUN
1

1
HUN
2

11
NÜR
1

6
NÜR
2

6
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

3
CAT
1

8
CAT
2

8
3rd 239

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2019 Hitech Grand Prix CAT
FEA

22
CAT
SPR

Ret
LEC
FEA

13
LEC
SPR

22
RBR
FEA

20
RBR
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

12
SIL
SPR

11
HUN
FEA

18
HUN
SPR

22
SPA
FEA

15
SPA
SPR

10
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

19
SOC
FEA

13
SOC
SPR

6
21st 4

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2020 CryptoTower Racing HUN
1

1
HUN
2

1
LEC
1

2
LEC
2

1
RBR
1

1
RBR
2

1
MNZ
1

1
MNZ
2

2
MNZ
3

2
MUG
1

(5)
MUG
2

(3)
SPA
1

1
SPA
2

11
SPA
3

3
CAT
1

1
CAT
2

1
CAT
3

1
CAT
4

1
1st 369

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2021 Team WRT LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT
1
RBR
1
LEC
5
MNZ
4
SPA
1
ALG
2
1st 118
2022 Cool Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC
5
IMO
3
MNZ
8
CAT
3
SPA
5
ALG
3
5th 70

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2021 Belgium Team WRT Switzerland Louis Delétraz
Poland Robert Kubica
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 362 NC NC
2022 Switzerland Cool Racing Germany Niklas Krütten
United States Ricky Taylor
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 367 11th 7th
2023 United Kingdom Hertz Team Jota Portugal António Félix da Costa
United Kingdom Will Stevens
Porsche 963 Hypercar 244 40th 13th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(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 Rank Points
2021 Team WRT LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SPA ALG MNZ LMS
NC
BHR BHR NC 0
2022 Cool Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SEB SPA LMS
7
MNZ FUJ BHR NC 0
2023 Hertz Team Jota Hypercar Porsche 963 Porsche 4.6 L Turbo V8 SEB ALG SPA
6
LMS
10
MNZ
9
FUJ
6
BHR
12th* 20*

* Season still in progress.

References

  1. 法国F4:中国车手叶一飞获得年度总冠军. Motorsport.com. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  2. "Ye Yifei Continues Championship March at Magny-Cours". 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  3. Allen, Peter (11 April 2019). "Yifei Ye joins Renault Sport Academy ahead of FIA F3". FormulaScout. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. "16 pilotes à l'assaut du Castellet" [16 drivers on the attack of Le Castellet] (in French). Fédération Française du Sport Automobile. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  5. "Yifei Ye joins Josef Kaufmann Racing for Formula Renault step". 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  6. "27 drivers with many contenders for victory!". renaultsport.com. Renault Sport. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. "Absolute Racing signs Chinese hot prospect Ye Yifei for Asian F3". 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. "Ye Yifei joins Hitech Grand Prix for 2019 season". 27 February 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  9. "CryptoTower Racing Team, first Japanese team to enter the Euroformula". www.euroformulaopen.net. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  10. "Yifei Ye (CryptoTower) wins the 2020 Euroformula title in style at Barcelona". www.euroformulaopen.net. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  11. Lloyd, Daniel (2 March 2021). "Deletraz, Ye Join Kubica in WRT's Completed LMP2 Lineup – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  12. "WRT identifies cause of Le Mans retirement". racer. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  13. "Porsche Selected Driver Ye Among Herberth Crew". racer. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  14. "Yifei Ye in a Porsche 963 LMDh in 2023". Endurance Info. Retrieved 12 November 2022.


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