Laura van den Hengel crowned 2025 GT Cup Europe ProAm Champion in Monza
- RACERS
- Oct 20, 2025
- 10 min read
A triumph built on determination and growth: in just her second full season of GT racing, Laura van den Hengel made history at Monza by clinching the 2025 GT Cup Europe ProAm title with Burgers Motorsport by HWM — becoming the first woman to win a title in GT Sport's championships and the first Iron Dames-associated driver to win a championship in 2025.
Barely two years ago, Laura van den Hengel was taking her first steps in race cars. The move from karting to the Porsche GT3 Cup was anything but small, yet the Dutchwoman immediately established herself as one of the most interesting bronze-rated female prospects in the world.
Fast forward to October 2025: at the end of her second full-time campaign in GT racing, van den Hengel celebrates the GT Cup Europe ProAm title, concluding a remarkable season with Burgers Motorsport by HWM.
Van den Hengel is not a driver who found her way paved for her or could rely on big funding. Rather, she built her own racing programmes from the ground up. Not coming from a motorsport family, her only resources were her passion for the sport and unmatched determination.
After a season in the Am class in Ferrari machinery, van den Hengel had already shown potential, leading the team to its first top-five finishes in class. It was a big learning process over the year that resulted in greatly improved performances, especially in qualifying, where by the end of the season she was consistently among the top bronze drivers.
Laura therefore soon attracted the attention of the groundbreaking all-female squad Iron Dames, which has been rewriting motorsport history with its endurance racing campaigns: Van den Hengel joined the new “Supported by Iron Dames” programme at the start of 2025, attracting global attention.
One year to learn, one year to win: van den Hengel wasted no time and assembled a powerhouse programme for 2025. Her main partner, Burgers Racetrailers, stepped up as title sponsor of the newly founded Burgers Motorsport by HWM — operated by Porsche specialists Hans Weijs Motorsport. Returning behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992 car, Laura teamed up with Paul Meijer, a driver with two decades of experience and proven speed in the 992 GT3 Cup car.
The duo soon proved to be the benchmark in the ProAm class, consistently breaking into the overall podium positions.
The season began with a race win at Portimão, giving van den Hengel her first visit to the top step of the podium after a battle for the overall victory that lasted until the final corner. The second race, however, brought a major accident through no fault of her own, as she was squeezed into the pit wall at the start. The Burgers Motorsport duo bounced back immediately, dominating the next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, once again narrowly missing out on an overall win thanks to superb stints from both drivers.
The first part of the season was an emotional rollercoaster. At Hockenheim, displaying front-running speed once again, a second major crash was a blow to their ambitions. However, they fought back in style in Race 2, charging through the field from last to second.
One of their strongest performances came at Circuit Paul Ricard, where van den Hengel and Meijer swept the weekend with two class wins and a second overall. Laura delivered a stunning first stint, while Meijer executed a series of impressive overtakes to overcome a significant pit handicap.
At Barcelona, the team faced more challenges but again turned the weekend around with a class win in Race 2, extending their championship lead in the ProAm standings by 11 points ahead of the season finale at Monza — the legendary Temple of Speed — aiming to seal the deal after a remarkable season for the Iron Dames-supported driver and her Burgers Motorsport by HWM team.
Monza had been a positive circuit for Laura in the past: she had a strong race there in 2023, one of her first ever in cars, under pouring rain. Her 2024 outing in Ferrari machinery was more unlucky, but she still demonstrated impressive pace among the Am drivers.
The team arrived in Monza following a mixed weekend in Barcelona, but with a healthy margin in the standings over Babini/Scannicchio.
It was a sunny weekend in Monza, with mild temperatures; the team used old tyres during the pre-event test to find their rhythm and fine-tune the setup. In Friday morning’s first official practice, held in cool conditions, Laura van den Hengel started the session, bedding in brakes before a red flag halted proceedings just as she began pushing. Paul Meijer took over for the second part of the session and quickly found pace in the 1:48s, topping the charts with a 1:48.037 — already an impressive benchmark.
Later, in FP2, Meijer began the session before handing the car to van den Hengel, who steadily improved her lap times from 1:51.2 to faster runs. Meijer then returned to the cockpit and set a 1:48.239, again putting the #7 Porsche on top of the timings. Laura managed a final lap at the end of the session, improving her personal best to 1:50.596. The Bronze Test followed, but van den Hengel couldn’t record a representative lap before a major accident brought out a red flag. Another stoppage shortly after effectively ended the 20-minute session prematurely.
On Saturday morning, it was time for qualifying — and for Meijer, a chance to secure his sixth pole position out of six rounds. As soon as he began pushing, the Dutch driver set a 1:47.453 to take provisional pole. On his second attempt, he improved further with a remarkable 1:47.136 — a new Porsche GT3 Cup lap record at Monza, half a second faster than the latest Porsche Supercup pole time. After that outstanding run, Meijer pitted, confident that nobody would come within half a second. Their ProAm title rivals, the #78 Tsunami RT Porsche of Davide Scannicchio, went for an alternate strategy by putting the bronze driver in for the first part of the race, and would be starting P7 in ProAm.
With Meijer starting from pole position, everything looked set for another dominant performance. However, things turned more challenging at the start of Race 1 on Saturday afternoon. As the lights went out, the fast #403 Easyrace Ferrari of Diego Di Fabio launched perfectly, going side by side with Meijer into the Prima Variante, while Meijer also had to defend from the quick #91 FAEMS Porsche of Luca Franca. All the leaders went deep and took to the escape road, with Meijer dropping to fifth place.
It was a hectic opening lap but the race stayed green. Meijer fought to regain ground while defending from guest driver Mike Halder, who passed him on the main straight on lap 2 before making contact with Laurini. Meijer, struggling slightly on the straights, kept Lars Zaenen behind and regained control at the second chicane.
All this battling allowed the race-leading Ferrari of Di Fabio to pull away, showing great straight-line speed, while Meijer closed back in on Halder. The championship leader pulled off a great move at Ascari on lap 3 to re-pass Halder but still had to defend on the straights.
Meijer’s next targets were the #11 Porsche of Longin and the #91 Silver-class entry of Franca — both very quick, making his mission more complex. In a stunning wheel-to-wheel battle between the three, Meijer made another move stick for third with 35 minutes to go, passing Longin. Shortly after, he cleared Franca into Lesmo 1, reclaiming second overall, though the fast Easyrace Ferrari had already built a six-second gap. In clear air, Meijer improved to 1:48.7, then 1:48.276 on lap 12, reducing the gap to five seconds as the pit window approached.
Meijer pitted on lap 15 and, after serving a 20-second handicap for the previous class win in Barcelona, handed over to van den Hengel, who rejoined fourth after the stops.
Laura rejoined in a tight group of cars and focused on keeping it clean to maximise ProAm points. She wisely avoided over-defending from Pietro Armanni’s Silver-class entry, running consistent 1:50.5 laps despite pressure from a pack of five cars behind. She smartly avoided incidents when De Mello attempted moves at the first chicane, maintaining composure and leaving space to avoid costly contacts.
Meanwhile, gold-rated Fabio Babini — who took over from Scannicchio — was closing in.
Van den Hengel recorded a 1:50.3 and maintained consistency, though Babini gained roughly a second per lap and passed her on lap 24 along the main straight, as the #7 Porsche still suffered a straight-line speed deficit.
Now fifth in ProAm, van den Hengel was still gaining on Peter Ferter and losing only marginally to title rivals Babini/Scannicchio. When the leading Ferrari of Bontempelli slowed dramatically with two laps to go, Laura reclaimed fourth in ProAm, setting the car’s best first sector of the race — faster even than her teammate — and brought the car home safely.
With points adjusted (as the second-placed guest entry did not score), the result secured van den Hengel the 2025 GT Cup Europe ProAm Championship with one race to spare: she therefore became the first woman to win a title in any GT Sport-promoted championship, making history.
It was a smart, controlled drive from the Dutchwoman, clearly focused on the bigger picture: she got the job done, claiming a major title in only her second full season in GT racing.
With the pressure now off, Sunday would host the season finale, with the goal of finishing on the podium once more and ending the year on a high.
The second qualifying session on Sunday morning was in van den Hengel’s hands, and it would mark her first push laps on a new set of tyres all weekend. Cold temperatures and a slightly humid track greeted the field as they took to the legendary 5.793 km circuit.
After warm-up laps, van den Hengel set a 1:50.734, then improved to 1:50.202 to break into the overall top ten. As times dropped quickly, she needed a sub-1:50 lap — which came in the form of a 1:49.846, placing her fifth in ProAm and 18th overall, in what was a challenging qualifying session for the newly crowned champion. Fabio Babini took pole position.
Nevertheless, the final race was a chance for redemption. As the lights went out for the final time in 2025, the start was cleaner at the front, with Babini losing the overall lead to Pietro Armanni. Van den Hengel was right in the mix of the busy mid-pack but handled the tricky first chicane well, gaining five positions on the opening lap to move up to P13 overall and fifth in ProAm.
Van den Hengel held her own, lapping consistently in the 1:50.2s and matching the pace of several front-runners battling in the Silver class. Her pace remained steady as she gained on Ferter behind while closing the gap to De Mello and Velasco ahead. By lap 4, Laura clocked a 1:49.874 — nearly matching her qualifying time — and continued to lap consistently close to that mark.
She stayed right behind a group of cars, within half a second of De Mello, while the fast Ferrari behind also applied pressure. Van den Hengel fought well without losing time, keeping the gap to the leaders stable at around 10 seconds throughout her driving time — crucial for Meijer’s second stint.
She continued running in the 1:49s, holding ground against the front of the pack. On lap 8, the Aggressive Team Italia Lamborghini of Ivan Velasco went off at Ascari and hit the inside barrier heavily before bouncing back onto the track. Laura reacted swiftly, avoiding the incident unscathed as the safety car was deployed.
As the pit window approached, the race resumed with 25 minutes to go. Van den Hengel had a clean restart, staying close to the overall top ten as Paul Meijer prepared to take over the #7 Burgers Motorsport Porsche. Having jumped ahead of De Mello, Laura pitted with 22 minutes to go and handed over to her teammate after a strong opening stint.
With no pit handicap this time, Meijer rejoined in P16 overall, with the leaders still to stop. He immediately set a 1:48.240 — the fastest lap of the race — and, as the pit window closed, climbed to P11, right behind a six-car battle. Meijer passed Zerbi and then Zaenen at the first chicane before continuing his charge on Mike Halder, who matched his pace. Both cleared Galli with a stunning move at Ascari and battled side by side, with Halder cutting the La Roggia chicane in defence before Meijer reclaimed the position at Ascari for fourth in ProAm.
Halder fought back on the straight, but Meijer made another successful move at the first chicane. Once ahead, he set his sights on Davide Scannicchio — whom he passed on lap 20 for third in class. Next up was Nunes, less than a second ahead, though the fight also brought Halder back into contention.
The trio went three-wide as the final lap of the race — and of the season — began. Meijer went around the outside at the first chicane, managing to get ahead of Nunes, but Halder switched back to take second.
The Easyrace Ferrari of Di Fabio/Bontempelli — aided by the safety car — won in ProAm, ahead of Mike Halder and Paul Meijer, who scored maximum class points behind the two guest entries, ending the season on a high. The Burgers Motorsport by HWM thus duo completed a stunning campaign with a podium at Monza — a deserved finish for the bronze-rated Dutchwoman, who scored class podiums at every round.
“It was really a tough [year], so I’m absolutely happy about getting the title", Laura said. "We worked so hard for it. It was ups and downs, and we finally collected the points and made it a safe one. I don’t feel overwhelmed because we’ve been working toward this all season.”
“The last two races were, for me personally, quite tough", she continued. "Paul’s always good, and I know I have a lot to learn so that’s something to take for next season. The title is the cherry on the cake. It shows that we’re capable of racing for wins, especially knowing where I come from, having built this totally myself. And I showed the world that whatever you want, it’s possible.”
Van den Hengel becomes the first Iron Dames-associated driver to seal a title this year, and only the fourth ever to claim a championship as part of the Iron Dames family — after Michelle Gatting, Doriane Pin, and Luna Fluxa.
“I’ve been racing for two full seasons now. If you told me four years ago that I would be car racing, I wouldn’t have believed it. I came from nothing and built this up to claim my first championship title. It means a lot.”
It was certainly a season of development and learning from a teammate who became the benchmark in the series and an invaluable coach. In a high-stakes campaign, van den Hengel delivered strong stints and consistent growth. What the future holds is yet to be decided, but Laura van den Hengel has undoubtedly written her name into history at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
