My latest guest is yet another Dutch up and comer in the shape of 17 year old Laurens van Hoepen!
The teenager spent last year racing in Formula Regional European(FRECA), ending the 2022 season 21st overall for ART Grand Prix as he raced alongside Mari Boya and Gabriele Mini who have moved up to FIA F3 for this year as well as Esteban Masson who joined for a few rounds, replacing Boya.
During the winter, Laurens had a partial campaign in New Zealand competing in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship(FROC), where he managed to win once on his opening round, and took a further 4 podiums to take his total to 5 podiums in 6 races.
📸 Winner in the New Zealand Grand Prix.
One to watch this year? Absolutely. Laurens will line up with ART in FRECA once again, maintaining the familiarity that helped him grow as a driver last year. He'll line up alongside French driver Marcus Amand, who is backed by Sauber's academy and Austrian Charlie Wurz, son of F1 cult hero Alex Wurz, who he challenged for wins in the FROC series.
📸 Laurens challenged Charlie Wurz(above) for wins in FROC, but will now line up as teammates with the Austrian in FRECA this year.
Onto the questions!
1. Hairpins or chicanes? Chicanes.
2. Long straights or slow corners? Slow corners.
3. Understeer or oversteer? Definitely oversteer.
4. Fast circuits or technical circuits? A bit of both.
5. Wet races or wet/dry races? Wet/dry races, I like a drying track.
6. What's your favourite circuit you've raced on? My favorites are Monaco and Budapest so far.
📸 The tricky Hungaroring.
7. Favourite you've NOT raced? Probably Silverstone and Singapore.
📸 F1 has been visiting Singapore since 2008, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 missing out due to the pandemic.
8. Your favourite F1 livery ever? I love the Vodafone McLaren livery.
📸 Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button with the MP4-27.
9. Your favourite helmet design ever? My new helmet! 😉
📣 Laurens couldn't share an image of his design yet because it's not ready!
10. Who is the best driver you've raced against? I’ve raced against too many good drivers to name! 😜
Big thanks to Laurens for doing this interview! Hopefully I can catch up with him again sometime! Watch out for him this year!
📸 Image credits: Laurens van Hoepen, Formula Regional Oceania Championship, Formula Regional European Championship, ART Grand Prix, Formula Motorsport Limited, Sky Sports,
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