Yip, an ethnic Indonesian Chinese of Hakka ancestry from Meixian, Guangdong, China was born as Jap Tek Lie[nb 1] in Medan, on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia in 1907.
He moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s and began to build up his business empire which included travel agencies, hotels, casinos and trading companies.
Eddie Cheever failed to qualify in both Brazil and Argentina but Keke Rosberg took the car to a shock victory at the 1978 BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, a non-championship race that was held in extremely wet conditions that year.
At the end of 1978 and through 1979 Yip also funded a British F1 programme with Walter Wolf Racing WR3, WR4 and WR6 cars for David Kennedy who finished runner up in the series in 1979.
[1] Yip reduced his involvement in motor racing sponsorship in the late 1980s[1] and finally sold his share of his company in Macau to his brother-in-law.
[4] News of his death and the subsequent funeral received extensive coverage in television, radio and print media in Southeast Asia.
In January 2019, Yip's adopted son, Willy, died in a Hong Kong hospital from injuries he had received in a school bus crash in the previous month.