The world of motorsport lost one of its most charming and colorful characters on July 16, when team owner Theodore “Teddy” Yip passed away at the age of 96. Born in what is now Indonesia, Yip was a Dutch national who was fluent in a plethora of languages, including six Chinese dialects, English, Dutch, French, German, Malay and Thai. A born businessman, Yip amassed a vast fortune building the island of Macau into a tourist destination. His holdings not only included various hotels and casinos, but also the hydrofoil service that connected Macau with Hong Kong.
Yip first got started in motorsport in the late ’50s when he helped to create the now famous Macau Grand Prix. Yip raced several times himself in the race, but it wasn’t until 1974 that he emerged onto the international scene when he sponsored Brian Redman in F5000. Yip’s association with Redman and the F5000 series eventually led to his support of Australian Vern Schuppan and his F5000 efforts with Dan Gurney. From this point, Yip’s motorsport involvement blossomed, including sponsorship of Indy 500 entries from 1977–1981, as well as sponsorship or ownership of various Formula One efforts from 1977–1984.
While Yip’s decade in international competition had few victories to show for it, the list of future champions who got their start through his generosity or raced in his cars is impressive including: Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Mika Hakkinen, Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Derek Daly, Eddie Cheever, Brian Redman, Bobby Unser, Clay Regazzoni, Rick Mears, Robert Moreno, Patrick Tambay and many more. As Bobby Unser recently commented, “He was a fabulous person, just absolutely a fabulous individual. One of the most dynamic people I’ve known in my life. He was very, very good to all people and loved motor racing as much as anybody you could ever believe.”
