Yahoo Autos Van der Zande celebrating 100 IMSA starts at Laguna Seca
Renger van der Zande will be making his 100th start at the highest level of North American sports car racing at this weekend’s Motul Course de Monterey at Laguna Seca and the Dutchman would happily sign up for another 100.
“I’m super proud of that,” van der Zande said. “It’s become my racing home; I’m racing with my racing family who are all American but I’m from Holland, so it’s been a trip… I made a lot of friends, not only with my teammates and the teams but also with the competition. I think it’s 100 races of joy. Obviously, we don’t always win. We don’t always have the best result, but I would sign up for another 100 races here in IMSA if I can.”
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After a disappointing season in DTM in 2011, and being all but out of racing entirely in the following year, the American Le Mans Series, and later IMSA, became his landing spot in 2013 onwards. He has collected eighteen career IMSA wins including two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories.
A 2016 title in Prototype Challenge vaulted him to a ride with VisitFlorida Racing the next season. He and co-driver Marc Goosens scored the first win for the 2017-spec LMP2 cars at Laguna Seca against a strong field of DPi cars in the class’s first season.
Wayne Taylor added the Dutchman to his roster of drivers in 2018 and van der Zande spent three years within the WTR stable before moving into a full-factory role with Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing.
“I think the United States is someplace where racing and fun is combined, but also the racing is on a very high, professional level. I would say it’s very close to the most pure racing you can get, and I think some other championships have lost that. It’s a tribute to how the Americans keep it simple and go racing,” van der Zande said.
