Dutchmen with different colours and future plans

Racing Team Nederland #29 will go to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a slightly altered colour scheme, and with new plans for the upcoming season.

The team has always run yellow and black in the basic colours of the car, but team owner Frits van Eerd has chosen to mix it up a bit.

He is a huge Formula 1 fan, and has several old Formula 1 cars in his private collection, which he occasionally races too. The passion has led to some sponsoring of teams, where the has been a Dutch driver in the car, with the notable Jumbo stickers.

But the inspiration this time out is from the Minardi M192 Formula 1 car. Gian Carlo Minardi is a good friend of van Eerd, and has allowed him to paint the Dallara P217 in the same design.

Racing Team Nederland #29
Photo: Racing Team Nederland

The 2019 edition of the Le Mans race will be the last for that specific car, since the team has made a deal with TDS Racing about running an ORECA 07 Gibson LMP2 car in the FIA WEC 2019/20 season, which starts in September at Silverstone, and finishes at Le Mans in June 2020. That leaves the Dallara model only active with Cetilar Racing in the FIA WEC, Carlin in the European Le Mans Series plus High Class Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series, unless other teams decide to buy a car. The car model though has had issues with the aero ever since it was introduced in 2017 – and even though they were allowed to upgrade it ahead of the 2018 season, the car model still can’t quite keep up the pace, no matter what team runs them.

TDS Racing has had great success and experience with the ORECA 07, which they run under their own name in the FIA WEC, but also under the G-Drive Racing banner in the ELMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. G-Drive Racing has been on the podium in all three races that they have contested in 2019, including a victory last weekend at Monza in the ELMS.

Racing Team Nederland sticks to the same three drivers for both Le Mans, but also the 2019/20 season – Frits van Eerd, Nyck de Vries and Giedo van der Garde. They currently sits fifth in the Teams Championship, while van Eerd and van der Garde are in sixth in the Drivers Championship. The reason for de Vries not being on the same points, is down to Jan Lammers running in the car at Spa and Le Mans 2018, before he handed over the seat to de Vries.

Lammers will also be at Le Mans 2019, where he races in the Road to Le Mans support race – plus he has a new role at the recently announced 2020 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

The Le Mans test day will run on 2 June, before the race is on 15-16 June 2019.

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