From farm to pole position

I come from a farm in the heart of the Netherlands. No motorsport family, no karting academy, no plan. Just a moped, a farmyard, and the first time I understood that speed is something you can learn.

Between that moped and my first international factory drive lies more than twenty years of work. That's what this story is about.

It started somewhere

First came motocross. Then indoor karting. That's when it clicked: I wanted to race on four wheels, not two. In 1999 I drove my first professional season in the Citroën Saxo Cup, organised by Radio 538. I finished runner-up. That was the first time anyone paid me to drive fast.

What followed happened quickly. Two titles in Formula Ford Benelux (2001, 2002). Champion of Formula Volkswagen Germany in 2003. Champion of the Eurocup Mégane Trophy in 2006. Four titles in five seasons. Then two seasons in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, at the time one of the highest stepping stones to Formula 1.

The breakthrough

In 2007 I switched to touring cars and GTs. My debut in the Porsche Supercup. The first time I got into a 911 GT3, it felt right straight away. I haven't left since — today that's almost twenty years of Porsche cup racing.

In 2008 I won in Istanbul and finished 7th in the Supercup championship. That same year I drove my first WTCC season for Russian Bears Motorsport in a Lada. In 2009 I returned, this time with full factory support from Lada, the first Western European driver in that programme. In 2015 I drove a third WTCC season for Lada Sport Rosneft, including a sixth place at Slovakia Ring.

In 2010 I finished fourth in the Porsche Supercup. In 2011 I drove my first 24 Hours of Le Mans for Prospeed Competition, alongside Marc Goossens and Marco Holzer in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. We finished 23rd overall, 8th in GTE Pro.

Monaco

The call came on a Tuesday in May 2015. Do you have time to step in for a driver at Fach Auto Tech in Monaco? I booked my flight, flew out Wednesday, qualified on pole Friday, won the race Sunday. Lights to flag.

I had raced Monaco seven times before that Sunday. Stood on the podium three times, first third, then second, then that. It's the race every Supercup driver dreams of winning once. I got to win it.

"Do you have time to fill in for someone in Monaco?"

It was Tuesday. I won it on Sunday.

The breakthrough

Today I'm still racing. In 2025 I won the drivers' championship of the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux with Team RaceArt, and as a team we also took the team and rookie titles that same season. In 2026 I'm defending that title, the first driver in the cup's history to do so, and I'm back in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup with Martinet by Alméras.

I also coach other drivers: from gentleman drivers looking to improve their track-day times to pros preparing for a 24-hour race.

What I understood on that farm thirty years ago is still the most important part: the second you lose today lies in something you did two corners earlier. In racing, and in everything that comes with it.

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