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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 12, 2003

Chinese Tung drives into history books in F1

Ho-Pin Tung made history on Thursday by becoming the first Chinese to drive a Formula One car when the 21-year-old tested with the Williams team in Spain.


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Tung Ho-pin celebrating victory
Ho-Pin Tung made history on Thursday by becoming the first Chinese to drive a Formula One car when the 21-year-old tested with the Williams team in Spain.

Tung, who earned the test-drive chance by winning this season's Formula BMW Asia series, drove 42 laps of the 4.428km Jerez de la Frontera circuit, posting a fastest lap of 1 minute, 22,982 seconds on lap 33.

Tung said that it was "terrifying as well as the fulfillment of a lifetime's ambition" to drive a 900 horse power F1 car after driving a 140 horse power Formula BMW car last season.

"It is of course also a matter of some pride to be the first Chinese driver to get behind the wheel of such a prestigious Formula One car," he said.

Tung's testing would further stir up interest in the sport in China, which will host the Formula One race series for the first time in Shanghai next September.

"The prospect of Formula One awakening the interests of a substantial element of the Chinese TV population is something that I personally find very stimulating," said BMW Williams team principal Frank Williams.

"His engagement with the BMW Williams F1 team in Jerez will only serve to stimulate valuable interest in Formula One in one of the few remaining virgin territories for the sport," he added.

Tung, who dominated the new Asia series with 12 poles and 10 wins in 14 races said he was stunned by the performance of the F1 car.

"It was like a drug and I was also quite surprised that I had no physical problems by the end of the session," he said.

While Tung was impressed by the F1 car, the onlookers were impressed by his performance.

"We have been keeping our eyes on Ho-Pin for some time now and his 12 pole positions and 10 wins from 14 starts this year promises much," said BMW Motor sport director Mario Theissen.

"I am glad to say he handled his Formula One test in a very mature fashion. His approach and his improvements over the course of the day did prove he has serious potential as a racing driver."


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