SpeedSF Presents: The Heads Inside the Helmets - Featuring Ken Yip

MEET KEN YIP!

We have another Fast Boi, this time a Bimmer-driving, wholesome, hardworking tech kid by the name of Ken Yip. We caught up with Ken during an event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in the middle of tightening his lug bolts and securing his car for his next session.

EAST COAST LEARNING

He began his track career in May 2008 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in his 2004 BMW 325Ci.

Later, he sought more and acquired a 2002 BMW M3. It had the glorious opportunity to visit a handful of tracks including Lime Rock Park and Pocono Raceway.

Ken came to the Bay Area 5 years after finishing college and began a career in the tech world (as many often do). Because he was so busy, he took a hiatus from the car life for a while he worked on his career.

A NEW CHAPTER

However, in March 2017, the car life came calling again. Ken acquired a 2011 BMW M3 on SHIFT.com (more tech!) and planned to just keep the car modifications light. It was back to the track and car life starting with a SpeedSF event at Thunderhill Raceway.

It did not take Ken long to get comfortable behind the wheel of his new-to-him M3 as he joined 7 events between April and December 2017 and 15 events throughout 2018. Talk about dedication!

2019 is when everything changed and Ken needed to up his track game. Little by little, both car and driver kept improving. So much for keeping modifications light! He decided to join the S3 class for the SpeedSF Challenge and was in the running for 2nd place overall in S3 until his engine met its maker and experienced a catastrophic failure. With Ken needing to bring the car to Performance Technic to undergo surgery and take in a new crate motor, Ken had to miss a few events in 2019 and thus ended up in 3rd place overall in S3 class.

2020 Season

With the start of the 2020 season, Ken is currently sitting in 2nd place, and has steadily been improving his lap times while adding bits of go-fast parts to his car.

With some cooling bits, Project Mu 999 brake pads, JRZ 1-way suspension, Apex 18x10.5 ARC-8R wheels wrapped with Nankang AR-1s along with tons of seat time and driver mods, it’s not hard to see why Ken’s doing well in S3 right now. His current lap times are 1:57.16 at Thunderhill East, 1:23.12 at Thunderhill West, and 1:51.59 at Sonoma Raceway. As of now, with a 1:42.09 lap time being his best lap time at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, he’s looking to get faster so he can maintain his 2nd place standing in S3. He expects the new Nankang AR-1 setup to be of great help at Laguna and Sonoma.

For now, Ken has been enjoying SpeedSF and the Challenge as it’s been a fun and supportive crowd for him to be around, especially since the time Patrick helped Ken out when Ken’s wheel bolts failed.

Final Words

Ken couldn’t wait to get back on track but before he left, he wanted to give a shout out for SpeedSF: “Join SpeedSF to be in good company whether you’re a novice or experienced driver!”

We certainly wish Ken the best as he continues to chase down faster lap times for SpeedSF Challenge glory. It’s always great to see people improving themselves while having fun with us!