Van Amersfoort Racing opens doors: This is where Verstappen and Co are trained
On Saturday August 23, Van Amersfoort Racing opened its doors to the public. During the open day in honour of their 50th anniversary, the Dutch racing team gave a peek into their exclusive kitchen.
Van Amersfoort Racing is a Dutch racing team founded by Frits van Amersfoort. This season, the team competes in the FIA Formula 2, the FIA Formula 3, the Formula Regional Championship by Alpine (FRECA) and various Formula 4 championships. Several F1 drivers, including Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, have raced for the Dutch team.
The workshop in Zeewolde isn't where Verstappen walked around. He was competing for the team when that was in Laren, but some of the facilities have remained the same.
This year, the racing stable is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, and specifically for this occasion, an open day was organized in the workshop on Saturday, August 23. Fans could buy tickets for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look in Zeewolde. The price of a ticket was €31.50, including service fees. Fans could register for a time slot of one and a half hours, during which they were allowed to walk around in the workshop.
Van Amersfoort Racing opens the doors in Zeewolde for racing fans
Upon arrival at the location in Zeewolde, there is already a lot of entertainment. Tricorp Workwear, the team clothing partner of the team, brought a merchandise trailer with exclusive Van Amersfoort Racing merchandise and a fries stall. Other partners of the racing team also have stalls in front of the workshop building.
Groups were formed based on 'F2', 'F3' and 'F4', after which the groups were guided to the first parts. The open day was divided into three sections, where fans got a look and explanation of the racing cars, a tour of the driver development facilities, and could participate in several activities in the VAR fan zone.
In the general space in the workshop, all Formula 2, Formula 3, and FRECA cars were on display. A team member talked about the team and the maximum speeds of the different vehicles. In an interactive way, the knowledge of the fans present was also tested. For instance, they were asked how much people thought a season at VAR would cost a driver. Turns out: For a season of Formula 2, a driver pays about 2.5 million euros to the team. What was striking was that the cars were quite open, allowing all parts to be easily visible to the public.
The driver development facilities showed the simulators for the Formula 3, FRECA, and Formula 4 drivers. For the Formula 2 drivers, the team has a separate simulator, which was not shown to the public.
A simulator engineer talked about his work and responsibilities in training mainly young drivers. What was interesting here was that VAR developed the simulators and the software essentially by themselves in collaboration with an external party. A mechanic was also present, who is part of a separate branch of the team, specially founded for testing.
In the VAR fan zone, fans could do various activities, such as two racing simulators, a reaction game that the VAR drivers also use to warm up, and a show model of an old Formula 3 car was also present, where guests could see what it's like to sit in such a car. For the fastest three laps of the day on the racing simulators, the team also handed out a clinic in the real simulators.
After the hour and a half inside, the attendees were invited to have a bite and a drink outside. One meal and two drinks were included in the ticket. Team founder Frits van Amersfoort was also present and open to a chat with the fans. All in all, the open day of Van Amersfoort Racing offered an exclusive peek behind the scenes at a racing team in the Netherlands, and there were a lot of positive responses from the attending racing fans on social media. A wonderful and unique way to celebrate the fifty-year anniversary.
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