david-cheng

Born in Beijing, Cheng moved to Seattle, United States, at the age of six. He was introduced to kart racing by a friend of his father, though he initially pursued the sport in secret as his mother believed auto racing was too dangerous.

In 2011, Cheng moved up to sports cars, competing in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the 24 Hours of Daytona. At Daytona, his team competed in the GT class, finishing 21st despite significant damage to the car. He also raced in China’s Scirocco R Cup China, achieving a best finish of second at Sepang International Circuit’s Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race and finishing seventh in points. The following year, Cheng split his time between the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the Scirocco R Cup.

In 2013, Cheng joined OAK Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series, partnering with Ho-Pin Tung in an all-Chinese stable. He won the Sepang 12 Hours at Sepang and was named one of ten Outstanding Youth by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. He also competed in the ALMS’ 12 Hours of Sebring, winning the race, and Petit Le Mans, helping his co-driver secure the Drivers’ Championship by one point. Cheng and OAK ended the year by winning both the LMP2 Asian Le Mans Team and Driver Championships. He repeated this success a season later.

For the 2015–16 Asian Le Mans Series season, Cheng formed DC Racing, racing a Ligier JS P3 with Tung and Thomas Laurent. The team secured the Team Championship and a guaranteed entry into the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In March 2015, Cheng met actor and martial artist Jackie Chan, who discussed his enjoyment of the Steve McQueen film Le Mans and his interest in racing. Following a ninth-place finish in the LMP2 class at Le Mans that year, Chan proposed forming a team together for 2016, which Cheng agreed to. This collaboration led to the creation of DC Racing, initially under the Baxi DC Racing Alpine banner, partnering with Signatech Alpine and fielding Alpine A460s in the LMP2 class. The team was later rebranded as Jackie Chan DC Racing in October.

At the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jackie Chan DC Racing, allied with Jota Sport, saw their No. 38 LMP2 car lead overall laps, becoming the first lower-class team to do so at Le Mans. The car finished second overall and won the LMP2 class. Cheng, driving the No. 37 car, finished fourth overall, but was later promoted to third place after Rebellion Racing’s No. 13 car was disqualified following post-race inspection. This marked the first time a Chinese team had won its class at Le Mans.