Chan's team wants more LeMans success

Actor and martial artist Jackie Chan owns a team that is participating in LeMans with two drivers in Ricky Taylor and David Cheng.
Actor and martial artist Jackie Chan owns a team that is participating in LeMans with two drivers in Ricky Taylor and David Cheng.

David Cheng, a race car driver and an owner of Jackie Chan DC Racing, recalls the first time he crossed paths with Jackie Chan, the martial artist and actor. They met through mutual friends in 2015 to talk about other projects, but Chan began telling stories about when he came to Hollywood.

"One of his idols was Steve McQueen, so, obviously, I asked him if he'd watched a movie that Steve made about Le Mans," Cheng said, referring to the 1971 film of the same name. "Jackie said, yeah, then said he's a big fan of the race and had a lot of friends involved.

"He'd personally not gone to the race before," Cheng said of Chan, "but, off the other topics and his interest in the movies, we started talking more about his interest in cars. He's quite a fan of racing in general."

In 2015, Cheng and Chan became partners in the China-based team, which competes in endurance races. Chan, who was not available for an interview, told FOXSports.com in 2016 that he had long had an interest in racing, but could not do it himself.

"I love to drive on the racetrack, but my company, my manager and especially insurance, they don't want me to do it," he said.

Chan said there had been no well-known driver from China, but then "suddenly David showed up."

Cheng, 29, was born in Beijing but grew up in the Seattle suburbs, and Chan, 65, was born in Hong Kong.

"He's a young man who needs my support," said Chan, who had roles in The Cannonball Run road-race movies. "So I got his back and said, 'If you can become a champion, I will go to Le Mans with you."

They became partners in a China-based team for endurance races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans which began Saturday.

What was called Baxi DC Racing Alpine in 2016 was re-christened Jackie Chan DC Racing in 2017. The two three-driver Jackie Chan DC Racing teams topped the LMP2 class at Le Mans and finished second and third overall that year.

The team fielded four LMP2 cars last year at Le Mans and did not do as well, with a high finish of fourth in class and eighth overall. The team returns with two cars this year.

Ricky Taylor, 29, whose regular ride is in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the Roger Penske team, said he had never met Chan, even though this will be Taylor's second Le Mans with the team.

"He's put his name on a really good car," said Taylor, whose three-driver car had engine problems and did not finish the race last season.

Cheng said that Chan brought a lot of extra attention to the team, "which helps us form a bigger fan base, especially in China, where motorsports are growing and evolving."

Jackie Chan DC Racing participates in the FIA World Endurance Championship, of which Le Mans is the season finale, and the Asian Le Mans Series.

Cheng said one reason Chan co-founded the team was to assist Chinese drivers. "Jackie helps with funding a lot, with a lot of the support for the team," he said.

"Jackie comes to all the races he can make," at least one a year, Cheng said. "Jackie's still on quite a busy schedule. Unfortunately, he won't be able to make it to Le Mans this year, but every year he always comes to the race at Shanghai. It just depends on which rounds are easier for him to access and when he's available."

Cheng told Sportscar365.com this month that the team will have only a single car, rather than two, in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year because of the short gap between Le Mans and the 2019-20 WEC season opener in July. The Oreca team led by Tung is only 4 points behind the leader in this season's standings.

Taylor replaced Will Stevens as one of the drivers. Taylor said the Oreca is similar to the one he drives for the Penske team in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but Le Mans presents different challenges than racing on road courses in North America.

"The hard thing about Le Mans is that the straightaways are just so long," Taylor said. Because caution flags are used only in zones where an accident or breakdown has occurred, cars on other parts of the track don't have to slow. "You're just constantly up against the clock," Taylor said. "It's mentally exhausting."

Sports on 06/16/2019

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