Niels Koolen (born 25 May 2001) is a Dutch racing driver. He currently competes in
Indy NXT
Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American Minor league, developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to In ...
driving the No. 33 for
HMD Motorsports. He is the son of rally raid driver and businessman
Kees Koolen
Kees Koolen (born 19 August 1965 in Bergeijk, North Brabant) is a Dutch rally raid racer and businessman. Koolen participated in various rally raid competitions in a variety of vehicles. Koolen also was the CEO of Booking.com. Currently he is the ...
.
Career
Formula 4
After competing in karting prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Koolen, a relatively latecomer to single-seater racing aged 21, made his car racing debut in Round 6 of the
2022 F4 Spanish Championship
The 2022 F4 Spanish Championship is the seventh season of the Spanish F4 Championship. It is a multi-event motor racing championship for open wheel, formula racing cars regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations, based in Spain. It is the ...
, driving for
Monlau Motorsport. He also contested the final two rounds of the
2022 Italian F4 Championship
The 2022 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth is the ninth season of the Italian F4 Championship. The series moved onto new generation of the Formula 4 cars, continuing its collaboration with Tatuus and Abarth.
Teams and drivers
Race c ...
, also with
Monlau Motorsport, competing under a Belgian license.
Formula Regional
Formula Regional European Championship
Following the 2022 season, Koolen partook in several
Formula Regional European Championship tests, driving for
Van Amersfoort Racing
Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. In 2022 the team competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, Euroformula Open Championship, Italian F4 Cha ...
.
Formula Regional Middle East Championship
On 5 January 2023, it was announced that Koolen would be driving for
VAR
Var or VAR may refer to:
Places
* Var (department), a department of France
* Var (river), France
* Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran
* Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...
-
Pinnacle Motorsport in the
2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship
The 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in Formula Regional cars. I ...
.
Racing record
Karting career summary
Racing career summary
† As Koolen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete F4 Spanish Championship results
(
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results
(
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results
(
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Eurocup-3 results
(
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
American open–wheel racing results
Indy NXT
(
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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with
L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)
* Season still in progress.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koolen, Niels
2001 births
Living people
Dutch racing drivers
Indy Lights drivers
HMD Motorsports drivers
Sportspeople from Gelderland
Spanish F4 Championship drivers
Italian F4 Championship drivers
Formula Regional European Championship drivers
Formula Regional Middle East Championship drivers
Pinnacle Motorsport drivers
Van Amersfoort Racing drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Duqueine Team drivers