Cheng to be first Chinese at Le Mans

The 23-year-old, who scored the first A1GP podium for China on home soil at Zhuhai in December, joined Saulnier Racing for the Le Mans test day last weekend to share the French team's LMP2 Pescarolo Judd with Matthieu Lahaye and Pierre Ragues.

Cheng says he has always dreamed of racing at Le Mans and hopes his appearance will help the continued growth of the popularity of motorsport in China.

"Motorsport is getting more and more popular there," he said. "Formula One is the most popular, and after that comes Le Mans. I've always wanted to do this race but never thought it would come this early in my career."

Cheng had to travel between Le Mans and Pau last weekend because he was competing in his first weekend of his F3 Euro Series campaign with RC Motorsport and Volkswagen.

He took part in the first F3 race on Saturday morning, caught a train to Le Mans to complete the minimum 10 laps that qualify a rookie to participate in the 24 Hours, and flew back to Pau for the second F3 race on Sunday.