Yifei Ye: "Hertz Team Jota will do a great job with the Porsche 963"

How are you doing?

I couldn't be better. But it wasn't easy. We had to work hard to win. And Sebring is really a terrible circuit. You have to hold on tight to the steering wheel (Laughs). I went through a learning period and, even in the race, I learnt things in certain corners.

It is true that you were discovering this circuit...

Exactly. New circuit, new team... I had to discover a lot of things, but I loved the experience.

On paper, with two drivers who did not the track, including a LMP2 rookie (David Beckmann), it was not an easy mission, was it?

It was quite a challenge, but we managed it well. We also wanted to do well because many of our partners are American, such as Hertz, BRADY and Singer. My two team-mates (Beckmann and Will Stevens) did a great job, we made constant progress with the set up and we didn't make a single mistake. And at the end of the day we won. It's up to us to keep the same momentum for the next round in Portimao.

Your rivals will not be unhappy to see you leave the LMP2 category after Portimao...

It's a shame not to have scored any points (the #48 Oreca is not registered in WEC), but the target is the Hypercar.

You have worked with some really good teams, such as WRT and Cool Racing. How is it different with Hertz Team Jota?

The funny thing is that I've gone from a Belgian team to a Swiss one and now to a British one, and each time there are a good number of French people. As far as Hertz Team Jota is concerned, I think their record speaks for itself: 10 LMP2 podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in nine years, one LMP2 world title last year... It's an amazing team. I know I'm going to learn a lot from them, as well as from my team-mates (who will be Will Stevens and Antonio Félix da Costa in the 963).

We know you're looking forward to driving the Porsche 963, but hasn't not having it here taken some of the pressure off?

It did give us a bit more comfort to learn to work together. It was a very good week of preparation. But it goes without saying that we would have preferred to have the 963. When I see how well we worked, I am sure that Hertz Team Jota will also do a great job with the Porsche 963.  Even though I'm well aware that it will be more complicated to set up and even to drive.

Why is that?

When I was overtaken by a Hypercar, I had to make sure that I didn't hit it on the exit of the corner, as these cars are so slow in some corners. The exit laps on cold tyres also promise to be complex to manage. Here it was 30°C, but in Europe it will not be the same...

Hertz Team Jota should receive its Porsche 963 shortly before the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It's going to be tight, isn't it?

Yes, but I believe in the team and I could see this weekend that we have everything we need to help them move forward. I hope we get the car before Spa and have time to do a shakedown beforehand. It will to be a difficult and busy weekend but we will learn a lot for Le Mans, wich is the main target.

Should you do a test session between the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

Yes, we should have the opportunity to do one. We will do our best with the time available. And we will also try to help Penske to optimise the car because it was not the quickest car here. And, in the end, the main target is that Porsche wins. I hope we can work well together. And after Sebring, we are heading to Detroit, to start working with Multimatic.

Do you realise what is going to happen?

What I do know is that it was a great decision to move from F3 to Endurance racing  (in the 2020-2021 off-season). We saw that Endurance racing was entering a new golden age. We made the transition at the right time and I am delighted with it today. At the same time I was able to develop with Porsche Asia Motorsport Pacific. Being part of a programme like this one this year will help me to become an even more complete driver.

Since you made your move to Hertz Team Jota official, have you had a lot of media attention?

I did a media tour in China after the announcement. It was an intense and positive week. I was approached by the motor sport media but also by the general motoring media. And I think that a delegation of Chinese media will come to Le Mans in June.