Dilano Van 't Hoff

Dilano van 't Hoff (; 26 July 2004 – 1 July 2023) was a Dutch racing driver who competed in the Formula Regional European Championship from 2021 to 2023.

Van 't Hoff won the F4 Spanish Championship in 2021 with MP Motorsport. He died in a multi-car collision in the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps.

Racing career

Karting (2015–2020)

Van 't Hoff started his international karting career at the age of eleven, competing in the SKUSA SuperNationals. Van 't Hoff finished third in both the IAME Euro Series and IAME International Final in 2018, the same year in which he finished sixth in his first season of the European Championship. He ended the following year fifth in the same series, this time in the OK class, and won the Trofeo delle Industrie with Forza Racing.

Formula 4 (2021)

In 2021 Van 't Hoff made his single-seater debut with Xcel Motorsport in the Formula 4 UAE Championship. His season started successfully, as, despite stalling at the start of the first race, Van 't Hoff was able to come back to second in that race and would go on to win the following two races, having started both from pole position. Van 't Hoff was then able to extend his gap to his nearest rival Enzo Trulli by winning two more races at the next round at Yas Marina. After another win at round three in Dubai Van 't Hoff would lose his gap to Trulli thanks to a disqualification in the final race of the penultimate event, stripping him off another podium and more crucial points for the championship. He would go on to eventually lose out to Trulli by just one point in the final round.

For his main campaign, Van 't Hoff joined MP Motorsport in the F4 Spanish Championship. His first two wins came at the first round of the series at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and Van 't Hoff then went on a run of six podiums in a row, including three wins and a triple podium at Algarve. He scored his next victory in the sprint race at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo after original winner Daniel Maciá had been given a penalty for extending track limits, and followed this up with another podium in the third race. At the penultimate round of the season, Van 't Hoff completed a hattrick of poles and race wins, thus winning the championship.

Formula Regional European (2021–2023)

2021

In September 2021, Van 't Hoff made his debut in the Formula Regional European Championship, racing for MP Motorsport on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo as a guest driver.

2022

For 2022, Van 't Hoff competed in the Formula Regional European Championship for the full season with MP Motorsport. A shoulder injury forced him to undergo an operation during the season, causing Van 't Hoff to miss several weekends. When he returned, the Dutch driver managed to score a podium at Barcelona, which helped him to 19th in the standings. Later it would be revealed that Van 't Hoff had been driving the car effectively one-handed, as the original surgery had caused complications, with a loose plate and broken screws forcing him to undergo a second surgery during the winter.

2023

Van 't Hoff returned to FRECA with MP Motorsport for the 2023 season. Before the Spa weekend, Van 't Hoff had scored two points finishes, taking a best result of seventh at Imola.

Death

On 1 July 2023, Van 't Hoff died in a multi-car crash in a Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) race at Spa-Francorchamps in heavy rain. The multi-car crash, which occurred at the exit of Raidillon, just before the Kemmel straight, also involved Joshua Dufek, Adam Fitzgerald, Enzo Scionti, and Tim Tramnitz.

Van 't Hoff lost control entering the Kemmel straight, before being struck on the side by Fitzgerald's car. A minute of silence was observed at the 24 Hours of Spa race that weekend, along with the coinciding Austrian Grand Prix. Many people in the motorsport community paid respect to Van 't Hoff.

Lance Stroll said that the accident was unnecessary and called for changes to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, referencing the fatal accident of Anthoine Hubert at the same corner in 2019. Max Verstappen joined him in calling the accident "sad and unnecessary" but stopped short of blaming the circuit's design, saying "it is easy to blame the track but looking at how wet it was and these kind of things we have to look at it for the future to look at what we can do better to protect drivers".

Karting record

Karting career summary

Complete CIK-FIA results

Complete CIK-FIA Karting World Championship results

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results

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

Racing record

Racing career summary

As Van 't Hoff was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results

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

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

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

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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

^† As Van 't Hoff was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

^‡ Did not finish, but classified.

Complete Formula Regional Asian Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

^† Did not finish, but classified.

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:van t Hoff, Dilano
2004 births
2023 deaths
Dutch racing drivers
Spanish F4 Championship drivers
Formula Regional Asian Championship drivers
Formula Regional European Championship drivers
MP Motorsport drivers
Pinnacle Motorsport drivers
Karting World Championship drivers
UAE F4 Championship drivers
Sportspeople from Dordrecht
Racing drivers from South Holland
Sport deaths in Belgium
Racing drivers who died while racing
21st-century Dutch sportsmen