Dennis Retera (born 11 July 1986 in Best,

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

) is a Dutch racing driver currently competing in the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ca ...

. Retera has raced in the

International Formula Master International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007. European television channel Euros ...

, Formula Renault 2.0 and other racing series. In 2008 Retera joined

A1 Team Netherlands A1 Team Netherlands was the Dutch team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management A1 Team Netherlands' owner was former Formula One driver and Le Mans winner Jan Lammers. The team was managed by Lammers's racing team Racing f ...

as a test driver.

Career

After a successful karting career with various

Rotax Max The Rotax Max 125 Engine is a two-stroke engine designed by Rotax, part of Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), to provide cost-effective but high speed kart racing. Built in Austria, the engine is liquid cooled, equipped with a balance shaft ...

championships Retera made his car racing debut in the Dutch and Benelux

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

Zetec Ford Motor Company used the Zetec name on a variety of inline 4-cylinder automobile engines. It was coined to replace "Zeta" on a range of 1.6 L to 2.0 L multi-valve engines introduced in 1991 because Ford was threatened with legal acti ...

championships. Retera won both championships in the First Division, for older Formula Ford cars. The Dutchman finished third in the overall championship for both the Dutch and Benelux series. The following year Retera signed by the well renowned Geva Racing. This time Retera won the overall titles of both the Dutch and Benelux championships. The Dutchman also achieved a podium position at the prestigious

Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...

. After starting from pole position Retera finished third, behind

Duncan Tappy Duncan Tappy (born 26 June 1984 in West Ewell, Surrey) is a professional racing driver from the United Kingdom. Racing career Early career Tappy began his racing career in karting, finishing runner-up in the 2004 UK Formula Ford championshi ...

and Charlie Donnelly. In 2006 Retera raced in a variety of series, most notably the

British Formula Three Championship British Formula Three Championship may refer to: *British Formula 3 International Series The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of ev ...

. Retera competed in the first three raceweekends of the series. At Donington Park the Dutchman scored his best result, finishing fifth. Retera also entered the two races of the

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

TT Circuit Assen The TT Circuit Assen is a motorsport race track built in 1955 and located in Assen, Netherlands. Host of the Dutch TT, it is popularly referred to as "The Cathedral" of motorcycling by the fans of the sport. The venue has the distinction of hol ...

retiring from both races. For 2007 Retera returned to the series to compete full-time entered by AR Motorsport. After a promising start with two top ten finishes Retera did not achieve any more top ten finishes. The driver from Best ended up twelfth in the final standings. For 2008 Retera focussed on GT racing, more specifically the

GT4 European Series The GT4 European Series is a sports car racing, sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which followed a formula similar to the FIA GT3 European Championship, which was itself derived fr ...

. He competed in the Light class in a KTM X-Bow entered by

Reiter Engineering Reiter Engineering GmbH & Co Kg, commonly known simply as Reiter Engineering, is a German racing team and racing car manufacturer established in 2000 by motorsport engineer Hans Reiter. Reiter was a partner of Lamborghini from 2000 to 2014, invo ...

. Retera competed eight races of which he won five. He and his teammate,

Christopher Haase Christopher Haase (born 26 September 1987 in Kulmbach) is a German professional racing driver. He became the FIA GT3 European Champion in 2009, racing for Lamborghini and Reiter Engineering, and raced in GT1 for the first time in 2010. He achi ...

, finished runner-up in the championship. At the end of the 2008 season Retera was signed as the official rookie driver for

. Retera drove the Ferrari A1 08 at the Friday practice sessions. Retera's strongest session was at the season finale at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

. Retera was classified fourth in the rookie session. 2009 saw the Dutchman racing in his native BRL V6 series. Retera won one race in the

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford model declared as a " world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide (the European Sierra, the Telstar in Asia and Aus ...

based stock car racing series. Retera also competed in the

for his old team, AR Motorsport. In his second race, at Pau, Retera finished second behind Alessandro Kouzkin. For 2010 the Dutch driver joined Callaway Competition in the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

and ADAC GT Masters. With technical difficulties plaguing the Chevrolet Corvette Z06.R Retera failed to achieve noticeable results. He turned to his native Dutch GT4 for 2010 with co-driver Jan Joris Verheul in a Rhesus Racing entered

Aston Martin Vantage __NOTOC__ Aston Martin has used the Vantage name on a number of vehicles, normally indicating a high-performance version of another model. In one case, during 1972–1973, the Vantage was a distinct model, being a straight-6 powered version of ...

. The Dutchman achieved eight podium finishes throughout the fourteen-race season. Retera was classified fourth in the championship standings. In 2012 Retera ran part-time schedules in the

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

and ADAC GT Masters. For 2014 the Dutchman returned to full-time racing, in the

in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06. At the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...

and the Nürburgring the Dutch driver finished third. He was classified 21st in the championship.

Motorsports results

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Retera, Dennis 1986 births People from Best, Netherlands Formula Ford drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers International GT Open drivers International Formula Master drivers A1 Grand Prix Rookie drivers Living people T-Sport drivers Sportspeople from North Brabant 24H Series drivers Dutch racing drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers