Yifei Ye: “Some pressure as champion”

Yifei Ye was one of the revelations of the 2021 season in Endurance. Moved to a victory lap 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM P2 category, the young Chinese also won theELMS with Team WRT alongside Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica. As the Belgian team is not present to defend its title this season, the one who IS now driver Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific is putting its own back on the line with COOL Racing. The Swiss team showed its ambitions with this recruitment, associating Yifei with the boss-driver Nicolas lapierre and another young talent, the German Niklas Kruetten. An association already in good shape during the Prologue, on the track of the Paul-Ricard circuit, where the first round of the season takes place this Sunday.

“We showed a lot of pace in the Prologue, finishing three of the four sessions in the lead, so we feel good going into the weekend, confides Yifei Ye. We have done qualifying and race simulations to make sure we are well prepared, and we will analyze this data in the coming days. I'm looking forward to the first race of the season, I've always loved the Paul-Ricard circuit, so we'll keep pushing for this weekend. There is some pressure as champion and eyes will be on me, but I can use that in a positive way. Testing suggests we are fast, so we will continue and do our best on race day. »

COOL Racing will notably have to face the Italian team Prema, which will be able to count on another champion from last season: Louis Delétraz. The Swiss will for his part be accompanied by Ferdinand Habsburg and Juan Manuel Correa for this new exercise. Withdrawn due to an injury to his left foot, the American is replaced by Lorenzo Colombo for the French event.

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