Feature: China's Ho-Pin to Make F1 history

Frank Williams, like all Formula One team bosses, has long been aware of China's untapped potential.

As he once observed, there may be 50 would-be champions pedalling about on bicycles in the world's most populous country, but their chances of being discovered by anyone in motor sport has always been remote.

Being in the right place at the right time is fundamental in Formula One and until recently China, despite more than a billion people, has been off the radar. That is changing fast. China is Formula One's new land of opportunity, with Shanghai due to host a Grand Prix for the first time next September.

Just as China sent a man into space for the first time this month, so the announcement that 20-year-old Ho-Pin Tung will soon have a test for Williams could also be the start of something big.

Tung, this year's runaway Asian Formula BMW champion, will become the first Chinese national to drive a modern Formula One car and one of only a handful of Asians outside of Japan to experience its speed.

There is a massive difference between a Formula BMW car, powered by a 140 horsepower motorcycle engine, and a Grand Prix racer producing more than 900bhp. Yet if Tung is good enough, he could find himself on Formula One's fast track.

All the teams, and particularly those struggling for sponsorship, know that a genuine Chinese Grand Prix hope will be worth his weight in gold. Even naming a Chinese as a team's third driver for Friday testing would do the trick.

Serious Dividends

"Whoever cracks it is going to be reaping serious dividends," said Paul Stoddart, boss of paddock paupers Minardi.

Stoddart gave China a first taste of live Formula One last year when he took his two seater cars to Beijing for a demonstration. Despite snow on the ground, Minardi drew considerable interest at their December demonstration.

"It was one of the main stories on the Saturday night news," said Stoddart. "And we were told that went out to an audience of 60 million people. If that's true, then you cannot ignore that kind of a market.

"The Chinese Grand Prix will open up new doors for Formula One and once one or two teams have put a toe in the water you could see a vast new avenue for sponsorship opening up."

Communist China, once an alien world for a western glamour sport wallowing in money and capitalist hedonism, is embracing Formula One with open arms. Shanghai is spending some $240 million on a track designed by German Hermann Tilke, architect of Malaysia's Sepang circuit and Bahrain's state-of-the-art facilities, while Beijing is building a $121 million facility.

"China will not only host its own Formula One race, it will eventually have its own F1 racers and team," said Yu Zhifei, Shanghai circuit's deputy general manager, in July.

Apart from China having an annual market of 1.7 trillion cigarettes, an important consideration for a sport fuelled by tobacco money and facing advertising bans elsewhere, the business opportunities are evident.

Growing Market

Western brands want exposure while the major carmakers who dominate Formula One know a booming market when they see one.

Even Fiat-owned Ferrari expects to sell at least 30 cars in China this year, double the 2002 amount. The champions, who this week celebrated 10 years of sales in China, estimate there are around 90 of their cars in the red republic.

"China is not going to be some sort of gushing financial resource but it is definitely an emerging market and very, very important to some of the European companies that we already have commercial agreements with," said McLaren's Ron Dennis after the race was confirmed.

"It strengthens our ability to at least maintain and sometimes increase investment from existing sponsors."

Eddie Jordan, whose team linked up with China's state broadcaster last season, was the first to visit the new venue in July.

"I'll do my best to help nurture the first Chinese F1 driver," said the Irishman at the time. "I would like to see Chinese faces in my team in the near future."

Since the end of the season, BAR's David Richards and British driver Jenson Button have visited Shanghai as well, making similarly enthusiastic noises.

"When completed next summer I am sure it will be the best Formula One venue in the world," said Richards, whose team have Chinese sponsor SINA.