Chinese racer Ye Yifei recently rose to fame after his marvelous run to surpass four racers in 14 minutes during the Four Hours of Monza, an event in the European Le Mans Series (LMS).

"A last gasp pass from another penalized car, the #37 Cool Racing car of Ye Yifei salvaged eighth from one of the most impressive runs in the race…Into the final hour, Ye pulled off a string of fearless passes to bring the car back into contention," reported the dailysports.car.com on July 3.

"Our team's efforts were not rewarded with good results. My teammates received two penalties in the first half of the race, which made me stop in the pit lane for a total of 30 seconds after getting in the car. In the end, we finished the race 31 seconds behind the champion," Ye wrote on his Weibo post on July 4. 

"However, I still enjoy the feeling of racing and completing the overtaking. The car camera records lots of amazing moments during the race. Now I can enjoy summer break," he added.

Prior to the Monza race was this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was the 90th edition of the endurance race that took place between June 11 and 12.

The Chinese racer representing Team Cool Racing ranked eleventh in the LMP2 class, which stands for Le Mans Prototype 2 race car.

Ye raced to 3:33:023 and 3:32.634, the quickest in laps 110 and 111 respectively, showing his strong and stable strength in the competition with a number of world class drivers.

Last year, Ye, along with teammates Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz or Team WRT, won the four-hour race at the Spa circuit in Belgium, leading the standings and winning 2021 Spa European LMS.

Ye, who turned 22 years old on June 16, is a racer from Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. He has a long history with both the International Automobile Federation (FIA) races and endurance series.

After clinching the French F4 Championship title in 2016, Ye continued his motorsport races in both Europe and Asia. He finished third with Team Josef Kaufmann Racing in the Formula Renault Euro Cup in 2018 and took the second prize in the FIA F3 Asian Championship with Team Absolute Racing in 2019.

With Team CryptoTower Racing, Ye dominated the 2020 Euroformula Open Championship as the winning driver.

In 2021, Ye doubled his victories in the LMS in Asia and Europe in the category of LMP2.

In February, 2022, Porche promoted Ye as the Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver in the category of grand tourer or GT in short.

"The level of competition in the GT category is set to be very high, so it will be a challenge but I'm relishing the chance to push myself in the car," Ye said.

"I know the championship and the venues quite well, so hopefully I can use that to my advantage. I raced in Asian LMS last year in LMP2 and won on my endurance racing debut, so I'm hoping to repeat that success."

From Karting to motorsport, international pro racer career takes shape

A majority of racers develop their love in motorsport from kart racing, and Ye is not an exception.

"When I was eight, I went to a karting session along with my dad. The moment I felt the speed, I fell in love with the sport," Ye said in an interview with a Chinese motorsport channel in 2020.

"Even though I was afraid of the speed at that moment, I enjoyed the race. Since then, I asked my dad to take me to the karting ground. We often flew to Beijing or Guangzhou from Xi'an for practices," he recalled.

In 2010, then 10-year-old Ye was determined to becoming a professional motorsport racer. His childhood dream was supported by his parents.

Ye showed his talent in the sport with two titles in a row in the Chinese Karting Championships in 2011 and 2012.

"My dad asked me if I wanted to go racing in Japan. At that time, Japanese karting was the highest level in Asia. I said yes and then started my two-year racing in Japan," said Ye.

"It took me a long period to get used to the life and race practices in Japan. After hard work, I was able to run at the same speed as the locals, and then beat other drivers of the Japanese team at that time," he added.

"In 2014, my dad asked me again, 'will you go racing in Japan or Europe?'" Ye recalled.

"I said Europe because there was an exchange program between the Federation of Automobile Sports of China and the Automobile Club of France."

At the age of 14, Ye, who barely knew French and was not fluent in English, flew to Le Mans to start his journey in Europe.

Gel with car

"F1 is the ultimate fantasy for every career driver," said Ye. "Result is the most important thing to me, as a Chinese racer."

In Ye's perspective, the joy of motorsport, as a professional racer, is to make the fastest lap on the track.

"Racing pushes the limit, especially when a racer enjoys his smooth driving with the car and makes sure every corner is clear without mistakes," Ye said.

"I believe it is a kind of achievement when I have tried different driving ways, along with varied braking attempts and steering, followed by a satisfying lap speed," he added.

"You don't win Le Mans. Le Mans lets you win," he concluded.

"It is possible a racer cannot win the race, even if he did everything well," Ye explained.

A sudden power shortage hit his car during the Le Mans Series, leaving a heart-broken Ye, who was already leading in the final lap in the series in 2021.

LMP2 vs GT

Generally speaking, LMP2 cars are designed purely to hit the fastest lap on the track while the GT cars are based on the brand car models. Therefore, LMP2 cars have smaller space in the cockpit. In comparison, LMP1 cars cost more than LMP2 cars.

BOP in endurance races

The Balance of Performance (BOP) among racers weighs much more than individual's performance in endurance races. The team needs to ensure that three or four drives in a rally adjust well enough to the busy and packed schedule. BOP gives everyone a chance to win, which is attractive to racers.

"I need full confidence in my teammates, get enough rest, supplement the nutrition that we need, and win the championship together," Ye said.

Virtual racing vs real racing

For Ye, virtual racing is a tool to adapt to the track. Ye prefers to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) player mode in virtual endurance racing that can set the AI Player's aggressiveness index.

"In virtual racing, some people may feel like driving a super car that they cannot have in real life, which is pretty chill. People also like to try drifting in the simulator," he said.