Zhao Yun Qing is a Chinese racing driver competing in Japan’s Kyojo Cup, one of the most competitive all-female single-seater series in the world — and one of the few pathways in motorsport genuinely designed to elevate women into the upper echelons of the sport.

EARLY YEARS

Zhao Yun Qing — also known by her English name Emily — was born on June 4, 2001, in Zhaoqing, a city in Guangdong Province in southern China. [1] Zhaoqing sits on the West River and has long served as a regional hub in the Pearl River Delta area, which has increasingly become a hotbed of motorsport development in China. [2] Her path from that background to the starting grid of a Japanese all-female formula series is the kind of story that doesn’t happen by accident — it takes a particular kind of drive and a willingness to pursue a sport in which Chinese women remain scarce at any meaningful level.

OTHER INTERESTS

Away from the cockpit, Zhao Yun Qing is a serious trail runner with documented participation in UTMB-affiliated ultra-endurance events. Her profile appears in the UTMB World Series database, indicating she has competed in the grueling mountain races that attract some of the world’s most dedicated endurance athletes. [3] That kind of cross-training discipline — the physical and mental fortitude required to cover mountain terrain across enormous distances — speaks to an athlete who approaches performance holistically rather than treating fitness as an afterthought.

EARLY SUCCESS

Before arriving in Japan, Zhao Yun Qing built her single-seater foundation through karting, competing on the international circuit under the KartCom registry as Emily Zhao Yunqing. [4] She entered the Rotax MAX Challenge Asia Trophy in 2024, competing in the Senior MAX category. Results from Round 1 Qualifying Heat 2 place her on the competitive grid during that event, giving her experience against a strong regional field before she made her move to formula machinery. [5]

Her transition into the Kyojo Cup — Japan’s premier all-female formula racing series — came with the 2025 season. The Kyojo Cup uses Formula 4 specification machinery and has established itself as one of the most serious developmental platforms for women in global motorsport. Zhao Yun Qing was confirmed as part of the expanded 2025 grid, which the series unveiled as part of a significant structural overhaul heading into a new era. [6] She was listed among the drivers completing the grid alongside a number of international competitors, signaling that the Kyojo Cup’s ambitions extend well beyond Japan’s borders. [7]

In the 2025 Kyojo Cup season, she competed under the series’ revised format, which introduced new sporting regulations and a broader field of competitors. [8] The grid that year included established Kyojo Cup veterans as well as fresh faces from across Asia and Europe, making it one of the most internationally diverse lineups the series had seen. Her presence represented another step in the gradual internationalization of a series that, when it launched, drew almost exclusively from Japanese domestic talent.

Round results from the 2025 season confirm her participation in competitive events, with official Kyojo Cup result sheets documenting her on-track activity across the calendar. [9] The series races at circuits that demand technical precision and consistency — qualities that separate drivers who can simply turn fast laps from those building a case for advancement up the ladder.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2024: Competed in the Rotax MAX Challenge Asia Trophy, Senior MAX category, Round 1 [5].
• 2025: Selected as a Kyojo Cup driver for the series’ new-era season, joining one of the most competitive all-female formula grids in the world [6].
• 2025: Appeared on the confirmed Kyojo Cup grid as part of the series’ expanded international field [7].

INSPIRATIONS

The research does not provide specific information about Zhao Yun Qing’s personal inspirations or role models.

REPUTATION

Within the Kyojo Cup paddock, Zhao Yun Qing is part of a broader wave of international drivers the series has actively recruited as it seeks to raise its global profile. The 2025 season guide identifies her as one of the key new faces in the field, and analysis of how the grid has adapted to the series’ new era places her among the drivers expected to develop rapidly within the championship structure. [10][11] In a series where the competition has grown measurably tougher — with drivers arriving from increasingly varied backgrounds and with more structured pre-Kyojo experience — simply making the grid carries weight. The Kyojo Cup does not pad its entry list. Everyone there has earned their seat.

Her karting background through the Rotax MAX Asia circuit gave her a foundation in competitive single-seater machinery before she arrived in Japan, which matters in a formula environment where the step up from karts is not always a smooth one. Drivers who have already navigated the physical and technical demands of organized karting competition at an international level tend to adapt more efficiently to the Kyojo Cup’s Formula 4-spec cars, and her prior experience at that level placed her in a better position than a cold entry would have. [4][5]

Her parallel commitment to ultra-endurance trail running adds an unusual dimension to her athlete profile. The physical conditioning required for UTMB-level mountain racing — where competitors can cover vertical kilometers across technical terrain — translates into the kind of cardiovascular base and mental resilience that endurance racing, in particular, rewards. [3] It paints a picture of a competitor who doesn’t do anything halfway.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

With the 2025 Kyojo Cup season underway, Zhao Yun Qing’s immediate focus is on developing within the series and accumulating experience against one of the strongest all-female formula fields currently racing anywhere in the world. The Kyojo Cup has increasingly positioned itself as a genuine stepping stone rather than a terminal destination, with series alumni and observers watching closely to see which drivers demonstrate the consistency and pace needed to move into broader single-seater competition. [10] For a Chinese driver with international karting experience and the physical conditioning of a serious endurance athlete, the trajectory — if results back it up — points toward exactly that kind of progression.

References:

Kyojo Cup Driver Profile – Zhao Yun Qing
Zhaoqing – Wikipedia
UTMB World – Yunqing Zhao Runner Profile
KartCom – Zhao Yunqing Emily Pilot Profile
Rotax MAX Challenge Asia Trophy 2024 Round 1 – Senior MAX Qualifying Heat 2 Results
2025 Kyojo Cup Season – Wikipedia
Pinkowski, Airikkala Complete Kyojo Cup Grid – Racers Behind the Helmet
Kyojo Cup Unveils New Format and Drivers Ahead of New Era – Racers Behind the Helmet
Kyojo Cup 2025 Official Results Document
Kyojo Cup 2025 Season Guide – Feeder Series
How Has the Kyojo Cup Grid Adapted to the Series’ New Era – Racers Behind the Helmet