Nice guy hoping to finish first

By Matt Hodges (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-21 12:53

Race to build Formula One's first Chinese star heating up as Renault team signs reserve driver Tung Ho-Pin

SHANGHAI - Tung Ho-Pin, the first ethnic Chinese to enter the hallowed ranks of Formula One, is too much of a nice guy to wish disaster on his Renault teammates.

(From left to right) Renault drivers Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio, Polish Robert Kubica, Russian Vitaly Petrov and Chinese Tung Ho-Pin pose next to the new Renault F30 Formula 1 racing car presented at the Ricardo Tormo race track in Cheste, near Valencia on Jan 31. [Photo/Agencies]

But unless this happens, the charming Netherlands-born racer may not have a prayer of shifting up from reserve driver and into the annals of motor-racing history during his debut season at the pinnacle of the sport.

"I doubt we'll ever get to see him race in F1," said Dutch reporter Laura Postma, who writes for Formule1.n1. "I think he only got in because he is part-Chinese. I may be wrong, but he'll need to be very, very lucky."

The 27-year-old, known in China as Dong Hebin, is one of many drivers signed by Gravity, a management group under Genii Capital. Genii purchased a 75-percent stake in Renault F1 last fall, months before Tung was named as the outfit's third driver.

Unlike F1's glamorous image as the reserve of millionaire playboys and blond bombshells - the sort of branding that should make it huge in nouveau-riche China - Tung comes from humble beginnings. He was born in Holland to Chinese parents who emigrated there from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, decades ago.

"My parents ran a Chinese restaurant in Velp (in the Dutch municipality of Rheden)," he told China Daily last week before gearing up for the Chinese Grand Prix.

"I worked in a karting workshop on the weekends so I could borrow spare parts like carburetors to race."

As a teenager who got into karting late at the age of 14 , Tung struggled to keep his dream alive.

"I'd finish school on Friday then jump on a train the next morning with two huge bags on my shoulders," said Tung. "I'd sweat all day in the workshop, get a few hours' sleep then go racing on Sunday. I used to get jealous of the other boys because they had people helping them, fiddling with the engine, that kind of thing. But I had to figure everything out myself."

After a breakthrough at the Formula BMW Asia championship in 2003, which he won, the GP2 driver got to test for two other F1 teams before Renault picked him in January.

He now serves as the backup driver for two men who can only give him inspiration: Robert Kubica, the first Pole ever to race in F1, and Vitaly Petrov, the first Russian to do so.

Tung said he couldn't put a price tag on the value of working beside Kubica, who is rumored to be heading to Ferrari next season.

"When the cars are running, Robert is very technical. He's really able to translate his feeling with the car to the engineers," said Tung.

"On the other hand, I have a lot of respect for Vitaly as well, because he jumped straight from GP2 to F1, and so far he's done a really good job and surprised a lot of people."

Tung said he was hoping for Lady Luck to smile on him before the season-closer in Abu Dhabi in November, but he would happily bide his time and wait for postseason testing when the hot seats should be up for grabs.

"If it gets to that, I hope I can impress Renault even more than I did last year," said Tung, who, like all F1 drivers, is of a slight build. He is also extremely gentle and polite, which begs the question: Does he have the killer instinct to perform at the top-level of such a cutthroat sport?

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