Carlo van Dam (born 27 February 1986 in

Vlaardingen Vlaardingen () is a city in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas river at the confluence with the Oude Maas. The municipality administers an area of , of which is land, with residents in . Geogr ...

) is a Dutch racing driver. He is currently a factory driver for

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

and he is the reserve and tear driver for R&D Sport in the

Super GT Series Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

while driving for

Subaru Tecnica International Subaru Tecnica International (in ja, スバルテクニカインターナショナル株式会社, Subaru Tekunika Intānashonaru Kabushiki-gaisha), or STI (prior to 2006, STi), is Subaru Corporation's motorsports division. STI, along with Prodri ...

in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and the

Nürburgring Endurance Series The Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS, German: ''Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie'') is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a nine-race series held on the Nürburgring, Nürburgring Nordschleife. Participants ...

Career

Formula Renault

A veteran of karting, and a former member of the

Renault Driver Development The Alpine Academy – formerly known as the RF1 Driver Programme, Renault Driver Development and Renault Sport Academy – is a program to support young racing drivers through their careers. The programme was created by Renault in Formula One#R ...

programme, van Dam stepped up into single-seaters in 2004, competing mainly in the Dutch Formula Renault series. In his debut season, he achieved three pole positions and three fastest laps, on his way to fifth in the championship. He also competed in four

German Formula Renault The Formula Renault Northern European Cup (formerly Formula Renault 2.0 NEC) was a Formula Renault 2.0 championship originally held in Northern Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), but has expanded over the years to the whole of Europe. The ...

races, amassing eighteen points in total. He continued in the Dutch series in 2005, and also moved up to the pan-European championship with

SG Formula SG Formula is a French auto racing team which participated in the junior categories of open wheel racing: Formula Renault and Formula Three. The team was founded in 2004 by Frenchman Stephane Guerin. History After its foundation in 2004, SG Form ...

. With most of his focus on the European series, van Dam finished on the podium four times on his way to fourth in the championship. He ended up seventh in the Dutch series, despite only competing in six races. 2006 saw a second season of European Formula Renault for van Dam, and he added a campaign in the French series, again with SG Formula. Despite only winning one of the first twelve races, van Dam trailed

Chris van der Drift Christopher Jason van der Drift (born 8 March 1986) is a New Zealand racing driver of Dutch descent. Career Van der Drift started karting at the age of 7 and in 1994 he raced his first year in cadets. From there he went on to win 6 New Zealand ...

by just two points in the Eurocup standings, going into the final round in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. However, both drivers were overtaken by

Filipe Albuquerque Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born 13 June 1985) is a Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving a Acura ARX-05 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, and an Oreca 07 in the FIA World Endurance Cham ...

as the Portuguese driver won both races to clinch the title. Van Dam was fourteenth overall in the French series, competing in just six of the races due to his Eurocup campaign.

Formula Three

Van Dam moved up to

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

for 2007, competing for Van Amersfoort Racing in the ATS Formel 3 Cup. He was a runaway winner of the championship, clinching the title with a round to spare at the

Sachsenring The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship ...

, amassing sixteen podiums from the eighteen races. He also became the youngest championship winner in its history, however this has since been surpassed by Laurens Vanthoor, who won the 2009 championship. Van Dam also tested a

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...

car at the end of the season, as a result of winning the title. He also made appearances in the

Formula Three Euroseries The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

for RC Motorsport, at the final round at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

, and the

Renault Eurocup Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

for Racing for Belgium. He made his first trip to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

for the world-famous

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

, but failed to finish the race for HBR Motorsport.

Move to Japan

After failing to find a suitable drive in Europe, van Dam followed the lead of

James Courtney James Anthony Courtney (born 29 June 1980) is an Australian racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 5 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. ...

Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013–2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also t ...

and

Oliver Jarvis Oliver Jarvis (born 9 January 1984) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. Jarvis won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona with Meyer Shank Racing. Early life Bo ...

and moved to Japan to compete in the

All-Japan Formula Three was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series pro ...

series, with the

TOM'S is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT, Super Formula and Super Formu ...

team. He dominated the series, winning nine of the eighteen races, finishing every race on the podium en route to a 103-point winning margin over teammate

Keisuke Kunimoto is a Japanese/Zainichi Korean race car driver who races with Japanese racing license. His mother is Japanese. His father, Yoshihiro Ri, also known as Yoshihiro Kunimoto, is the 1983 All Japan Karting Champion and his uncle, Yoshihiko Ri, won same ...

. TOM's also won the teams title, winning the championship by 187 points. Van Dam also made three appearances in the

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

series, competing in the GT500 class at the Suzuka 1000km, and in the GT300 class at

Autopolis is a international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan on the Northeast of Kumamoto. Nippon Autopolis">F1 News - Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Circuits > Nippon Autopolis/ref> Tsurumaki ordered 30 Buic ...

and

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...

. At Suzuka, he ended up third overall, teaming up with TOM'S regular Super GT drivers

Juichi Wakisaka is a former Japanese racing driver who was a 2002, 2006 and 2009 champion in Japan's Super GT series in the Super GT#GT500, GT500 category. Prior to the 1998 Formula One World Championship , 1998 Formula One season he tested for the Jordan Grand ...

and

André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver currently racing for Avalanche Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, ...

. In GT300, van Dam replaced Cusco Racing's Kota Sasaki, and ended up with results of sixth at Autopolis, and third at Fuji. At the conclusion of the season, van Dam headed to the

with TOM's, and took a surprise pole for the team for the qualification race, heading Kunimoto in a TOM's 1-2. A disappointing qualification race saw van Dam retire on the first lap, having suffered a puncture at Mandarin Bend and then collided with fellow Dutchman

Renger van der Zande Renger van der Zande (born 16 February 1986) is a Dutch racing driver who currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Chip Ganassi Racing. He is the son of the 1978 National Dutch Rallycross Champion Ronald van der Zan ...

at San Francisco. He retired on lap seven of the Grand Prix, that was eventually won by teammate Kunimoto.

Return to Europe

A return to the

beckoned for van Dam, with a 2009 campaign for Kolles & Heinz Union, the new team set up by

Colin Kolles Colin Kolles (born Călin Colesnic 13 December 1967 in Timișoara) is a Romanian-German former team principal and managing director of the Hispania Racing F1 Team, previously holding a similar position at the team known under the names Jordan, ...

and Werner Heinz. However, the partnership was not to last, as after the rounds at

Lausitz Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, van Dam parted company with the team. In four races, his best finish was eighteenth during the season-opening race at

. Van Dam drove in the 24-hour endurance races at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

, before agreeing to drive the car of

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in the Superleague Formula series. He replaced

Dominick Muermans Dominick Muermans (born 17 July 1984 in Geleen, Netherlands) is a Dutch racing driver. Dominick raced full-time in the Atlantic Championship in the 2008 season. Since 2008, he has raced in the Superleague Formula, in the 2008 season he race ...

in the car, with the team lying eighteenth in the overall standings. However, he returned to the Euroseries, for the

rounds, rejoining his former team SG Formula.

Racing record

Career summary

† - Team standings.

Superleague Formula record

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

2009

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

2009 Super Final Results

*Super Final results in 2009 did not count for points towards the main championship.

Complete Super GT results

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results

References

External links

Official website

Career statistics from Driver Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dam, Carlo van 1986 births Living people Dutch racing drivers People from Vlaardingen Superleague Formula drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Dutch Formula Renault 2.0 drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Super GT drivers Karting World Championship drivers Eurocup Mégane Trophy drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Sportspeople from South Holland Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers TOM'S drivers RC Motorsport drivers Van Amersfoort Racing drivers SG Formula drivers Kolles Racing drivers Larbre Compétition drivers