Laurens van Hoepen is the next driver in line for 2024 to share his vision of his dream race weekend.
It should come as no surprise that the Dutch driver has chosen Zandvoort as the venue for his dream race, but he has a few new ideas on what could be improved to make it better than ever.
Here’s what the ART Grand Prix driver came up with…
WHERE WOULD THE RACE TAKE PLACE?
“I think my dream weekend would be Zandvoort in front of all the Dutch fans. I would be P1 in practice, P1 in qualifying and P1 in the sprint and main race and also the fastest laps in the races.
“I would definitely change the paddock because I think it’s a bit too small. So I would make it bigger so that more people can fit in and it would be easier to spend a weekend there.”
WHAT WOULD THE ROUTE LOOK LIKE?
“The track itself is quite nice, but maybe I would put some new asphalt in the second sector. But that’s probably about it. I think the track is pretty cool the way it is. Maybe I’ll even make it a little longer.”
“It’s hard to find a place where you can extend the track, but maybe after Turn 7. Then you drive further into the dunes and then come back for Turns 9 and 10.”
“So after you’ve driven through the banked curve of T3, you do this little snake section into the right-hand bend, then just keep going straight and into the dunes and then come back to the original sector at Sector 2.”
DAY RACE OR NIGHT RACE?
“Oooh. It’s in the Netherlands, so probably a day race because it’s probably too cold at night.”
WET OR DRY RACE?
“A pleasant 25 degrees with a light breeze.”
WHICH TIRES WOULD YOU BRING?
“Depends on the level of soft tires, but I would take the soft tires with no wear.”
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WHICH CELEBRITIES WOULD YOU INVITE AS GUESTS?
“That’s a good idea, let me think about it. I would probably invite… let me check who I follow on Instagram.
“Probably a big movie star, Leonardo DiCaprio. Then we could also invite Kendall Jenner, maybe someone from racing.
“Who is someone who doesn’t normally come to the races? Ahh, Kimi Raikkonen! I would bring Kimi back and ask him for some tips.”
WHICH MUSIC ARTISTS WOULD YOU INVITE THIS WEEKEND?
“Coldplay. That’s awesome, that would be cool. I wanted to go to one of their concerts this year but didn’t have time. So it would be a lot easier if they came to the track for a race weekend instead.”
WHAT WOULD THE PODIUM LOOK LIKE?
“Maybe you should arrange it so that the podium hangs a little above the track so you are closer to the fans.”
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WHAT WOULD THE TROPHIES LOOK LIKE?
“I would design the trophies a little differently. They would be huge, a bit like the Le Mans ones, but a Zandvoort version. You would need both hands to hold them up.”
ANYTHING ELSE?
“We could do something fun. Have a competition where the winners can race backwards around the track. That’s what they used to do. So fans can come in and race an old car and it doesn’t matter if they crash it, because I think there will be a lot of crashes.”
