Ho-Pin Tung

Ho-Pin Tung (Chinese: 董荷斌; pinyin: Dǒng Hébīn; born December 4, 1982) is a Dutch-born racing driver who races with a Chinese license.

Career

Tung was born in Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands, to Chinese parents with ancestry tracing to Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province.^[2] Tung started kart racing in the Netherlands in 1997 before graduating to single-seaters. In 2001, he raced in the Dutch Formula Ford championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. After winning the 2003 Formula BMW Asia series, he was rewarded with a test drive with the Williams F1 team.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Tung joined the ATS Formel 3 Cup. Although he scored race wins and podium finishes, he finished seventh in his rookie year.^{[citation needed]}

Tung stayed in the ATS F3 Cup in 2005, finishing the series in third place, before taking the title in 2006, winning nine races, four pole positions and five fastest laps.^{[citation needed]}

At the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix, Tung was announced as a test driver for the BMW Sauber F1 Team the rest of the year.^{[citation needed]}

On 4 April 2007, BCN Competición announced that it had signed Tung as its second driver alongside Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto for the 2007 GP2 Series.^{[citation needed]}

Tung drove for Trident Racing team in the 2008 GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series, scoring his first podium finish in the latter.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Tung raced in the Superleague Formula series. He raced in the first three rounds for Galatasaray S.K. and the latter three rounds for Atlético Madrid.^[3][4] He had his first win in the series at the Jarama round for Galatasaray.

In December 2009, Tung tested for the Renault F1 Team. In January, he was announced as the team's third driver. As part of the deal, he returned to the GP2 Series with the DAMS team for the 2010 season.^[5]

On 23 June 2010, the FIA granted Tung a four-race probationary super license, allowing him to compete in Formula One.^[6]

At the Hungaroring round of the GP2 season, Tung sustained a minor fracture of one of his lumbar vertebrae as a result of a first-lap collision with Jules Bianchi, who spun in front of him and suffered a more serious break of the same bone.^[7] Tung was replaced by Romain Grosjean while he recovered.^[8] However, Grosjean kept the seat for the remainder of the season, leaving Tung without a drive until he was called up to replace Christian Vietoris at Racing Engineering for the final round, Vietoris suffering from appendicitis.^{[citation needed]}

IndyCar

On 22 November 2010, Tung made sporting history as he officially became the first Chinese licensed driver to take the wheel of an IndyCar by testing with the FAZZT Race Team at Sebring International Raceway.^[9]

Tung attempted to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Dragon Racing, but was unsuccessful due to a crash on Pole Day that resulted in a mild concussion. He made his IndyCar debut later that season in August at Infineon Raceway driving for the same team.^{[citation needed]}

Sportscars

In 2016, Tung joined Baxi DC Racing to partner team owner David Cheng and French driver Nelson Panciatici (replaced mid-year by Paul-Loup Chatin) in the team's Alpine A460 entry for the LMP2 class of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. The team took a string of minor points placings during the year, and Tung finished the season in 13th position in the drivers' championship standings.

Tung remained with DC, now renamed Jackie Chan DC Racing, for the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship. At the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, Tung became the first driver in the event's history to lead the race in an LMP2 car,^{[citation needed]} after all the top class LMP1 entries either retired or faded away in the race. Ultimately, his Oreca 07 car finished second overall, and first in the LMP2 class, after it was overtaken by the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid car. The Jackie Chan DC crew were also the first Chinese-entered car to win a class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.^{[citation needed]} During the remainder of the season, Tung and his co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and Thomas Laurent took further class wins at Silverstone and the Nürburgring, and two other podium finishes, and finished the season in second place in the LMP2 championship.

Tung remained with Jackie Chan DC Racing for a third season in 2018, to contest the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship 'superseason'.

Racing record

Racing career summary

‡ Team standings.

Complete Formula BMW Asia results

(key)

Complete ATS Formel 3 Cup results

(key)

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key)

Complete GP2 Series results

(key)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key)

Superleague Formula

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Super Final Results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key)

IndyCar

Indianapolis 500

Complete GT1 World Championship results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete Formula E results

(key)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

References

1. ^ Goodwin, Graham (2 October 2025). "2026 Provisional FIA Driver Categorisations Released". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
2. ^ "和F1车手董荷斌聊了聊驾驶这件小事儿" [Chatting with F1 driver Dong Hebin about driving's little things] (in Chinese). 界面新闻 Jiemian News. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
3. ^ "Ho-Pin Tung transfers to Galatasaray". v12racing.com. V12 Racing. 2009-08-07. Archived from the original on 2015-06-06. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
4. ^ Smeets, Robin (2009-06-25). "Ho-Pin Tung op valreep naar Superleague Formula" (in Dutch). autosportweb.nl. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
5. ^ English, Steven (2010-02-01). "Renault's d'Ambrosio, Tung join DAMS". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
6. ^ "FIA World Motor Sport Council". 23 June 2010. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010.
7. ^ Beer, Matt (2010-08-01). "Tung diagnosed with minor fracture". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
8. ^ Noble, Jonathan (2010-08-24). "Grosjean replaces Tung for Spa". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
9. ^ INDYCAR: FAZZT Eyes Two Cars For 2011 Archived 2010-11-23 at the Wayback Machine Speedtv.com Media Release November 22, 2010 Indianapolis, IN
10. ^ "Ho-Pin Tung – 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.