Josephus (Sepp) Koster (born 17 September 1974 in

Heemskerk Heemskerk () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region. Local government As of March 2022, the municipal council of Heemskerk consists of 25 seats, which are divide ...

) is a former Dutch racing driver. Koster made appearances in various racing classes throughout Europe and North-America.

Career

Europe

Sepp Koster grew up in

Mol, Belgium Mol () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Mol. In 2021, Mol had a total population of 37,021 inhabitants. The total area is 114.19 km2. Mol is a popular holiday resort, wi ...

and later moved to

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. Koster started

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are als ...

in 1989 at the age of 15. After successes he graduated to the Dutch

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 ...

championship in 1993. The young driver continued racing while studying mechanical engineering at the

Eindhoven University of Technology The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc a ...

. The 18-year-old driver made his debut with the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

supported

GEVA Racing Geva ( he, גֶּבַע, ''lit.'' Hill) is a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley in Israel. Located near the city of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Geva was founded in 1921 by J ...

team. While

Bas Leinders Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a retired professional racing driver from Belgium. He was a Formula One test and reserve driver in for the Minardi F1 team, taking part in the Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends, making 17 appe ...

won the championship, Koster achieved a third place in the standings after his inaugural autoracing season. The next year Koster won the Dutch and Benelux championships. Driving a

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

he participated in the

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 ...

achieving a 17th place in the championship race. After winning his first championship in

formula racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single- ...

Koster graduated to

Formula Opel In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

. The driver scored two podium finishes during his first season and was placed sixth in the standings. At the

EFDA Nations Cup The EFDA Nations Cup was a Formula Opel competition which was held between 1990 and 1998. The competition pitted international drivers against each other in similar cars, with drivers representing their nations. It was founded by Dan Partel withi ...

Koster was coupled with Sandor van Es. With all drivers racing equal

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

Formula Opel/Vauxhall cars the couple achieved a sixth place at the

1996 EFDA Nations Cup The EFDA Nations Cup, was a Country vs Country competition for Formula Opel cars between 1990 and 1998. It had always been Dan Partel's dream to stage a race that pitted drivers in equal cars racing for their country. The Formula Opel/Vauxhall o ...

. The following season Koster doubled the amount of podium finishes he scored in the last season. The good results meant he ended up third in the standings of the Formula Opel Europe championship. At the

1997 EFDA Nations Cup The EFDA Nations Cup, was a Country vs Country competition for Formula Opel cars between 1990 and 1998. It had always been Dan Partel's dream to stage a race that pitted drivers in equal cars racing for their country. The Formula Opel/Vauxhall o ...

, again coupled with Sandor van Es, the duo reached a ninth place.

North-America

To continue his racing career Koster moved to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The young driver got into contact with

Arie Luyendyk Arie Luijendijk (anglicised as Arie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

who trained him to race on oval tracks. Sepp Koster made his debut in the

Barber Dodge Pro Series The Barber Dodge Pro Series was a professional open-wheel auto racing series from 1986 to 2003. It was one of the first professional spec series for open-wheel racecars in North America. The races were primarily on road and street courses in Nor ...

in 1998. He drove the car for the first time during a collective test at

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run i ...

in February. During the first raceweekend of the series Koster qualified on pole-position. But the European driver never had done a rolling start but he managed to retain the lead. After a spin which resulted in contact he had to retire. The Dutch driver finished his first season in the Barber Dodge series in ninth place of the championship. The following year Koster achieved his first podium finish in America. At the

West Michigan Grand Prix The West Michigan Grand Prix was a weekend of professional auto racing held at the Scott Brayton Memorial Street Circuit in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first edition was held in 1998 and the final edition in 1999. The Grand Prix was sanctioned by ...

Koster started from pole position. After Todd Snyder passed him on the tight street circuit Koster settled for second place. After finishing in the top ten and top five he finished fifth in the standings. In 2000 Sepp Koster scored his first Barber Dodge and oval racing win. Being fast all weekend long Koster won the race at Nazareth Motor Speedway. He finished in front of

Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is a professional American racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became th ...

and

Andy Lally Andrew J. Lally (born February 11, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the Audi R8 for Magnus Racing and previously part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, dr ...

. Koster scored another four podium finishes and finished third in the standings. The Dutchman returned for a fourth season in the racingclass in 2001. His second win in the series came at

Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Park is a natural-terrain motorsport road racing venue located in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States, a hamlet in the town of Salisbury, in the state's northwest corner. Built in 1956, it is the nation's third oldest continuously ope ...

. On

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

Koster passed polesitter Davy Cook for the lead. He held off Hunter-Reay for all 37 laps. The Dutchman won by 0.357 seconds. The young driver scored a second win of the season during the

Grand Prix of Cleveland The Grand Prix of Cleveland was an Indy car event in the CART series, held annually at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio. The race celebrated its milestone 25th anniversary in 2006. The race was most recently held in 2007. After the 2008 ...

. At the

Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport is a public airport on the shore of Lake Erie, in the northeast part of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It's classified as a general aviation airport and is an FAA designated reliever to Cleveland Ho ...

circuit Koster started from pole-position, won the race and set the fastest race lap. His final win in the series came at

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

. Koster again won the race from pole-position. Koster finished second in the standings, only four points behind series champion

Nicolas Rondet Nicolas Rondet is a former Barber Dodge Pro Series and Atlantic Championship driver from Melle, Deux-Sèvres, France. Career history After he was born in France he grew up in Brazil and started karting. After a short career in karting and single ...

. After testing with Doricott Racing Koster entered the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

with

Michael Shank Racing Meyer Shank Racing (formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American auto racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship. History Atlantic Championship Michael Shank as an owner of Michael Shank Racing, he ...

for the 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Series season. After scoring his first top ten finish at Long Beach Koster had to withdraw from the Milwaukee race. After a crash during practice on Friday Kosters

014.a was to badly damaged to race on Sunday. Koster qualified third for the Toronto race of the championship. Koster was taken out of the race by Waldemar Coronas who hit the Dutchmans car from behind. The Dutch driver failed to obtain a seat for the 2003 season and retired from racing.

Current activities

Sepp Koster made a brief return to Formula Ford in 2008. Koster drove two races in the Benelux championship achieving one podium finish at

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

. Koster finished third in the first heat of the

. The Dutchman finished eighth in the championship race, behind

Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through McLa ...

. Koster returned the following year finishing seventh.

Racing record

American open–wheel racing 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)

Barber Dodge Pro Series

Atlantic Championship

References

External links

Official website (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Sepp 1974 births Living people People from Heemskerk Dutch racing drivers Formula Ford drivers Atlantic Championship drivers EFDA Nations Cup drivers Barber Pro Series drivers Sportspeople from North Holland Meyer Shank Racing drivers