Laura van den Hengel sweeps Le Castellet weekend with sensational charges
- RACERS
- Jul 21
- 9 min read
Laura van den Hengel and her Burgers Motorsport teammate Paul Meijer were on top form at Circuit Paul Ricard, where they claimed two ProAm class victories in dominant fashion, also securing two overall podiums to significantly extend their championship lead at the end of sensational charging drives to overcome pit handicaps.
Laura van den Hengel and her Burgers Motorsport by HWM teammate Paul Meijer were on top form at Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France, where the fourth round of the 2025 GT Cup Europe season saw them step twice onto the top step of the ProAm class, also securing two overall podiums. The strong weekend significantly extended their championship lead.
The team capitalized on pole position with a dominant performance in Saturday's Race 1, thanks to Meijer's outstanding opening stint and van den Hengel’s clean and composed final phase of the race. The duo secured their fourth win of the season with an almost 20-second margin over the closest ProAm competitor.
On Sunday, they remarkably overcame a 20-second pit handicap in Race 2, as Van den Hengel delivered a superb opening stint, matching the pace of the Silver class frontrunners and gaining positions. Meijer then executed a stunning charge, culminating in a last-lap pass for the class victory and another overall podium.
Van den Hengel, who is part of the Supported by Iron Dames development programme, continues to make rapid progress in her young sports car racing career, having made her GT debut directly from karting less than two years ago. After contending for Am class podiums in 2024, the Dutch driver is now a consistent front-runner among the bronze drivers and a five-time race winner, leading the ProAm championship standings.
A win at the season opener in Portimão kicked off the campaign on a high, though a major crash at the start of Race 2—when she was pushed into the wall by another car—was a setback. Van den Hengel and Meijer bounced back at Spa, dominating with two ProAm wins and narrowly missing out on overall victory. At Hockenheim, a major accident in Race 1 was another obstacle, but the duo stormed from last to the podium in an incredible recovery a day later.
Arriving at Le Castellet for Round 4, Burgers Motorsport—run by Dutch squad Hans Weijs Motorsport—was determined to make up for lost points and once again showcase their pace at a track where van den Hengel had shown great promise in 2024, with her best qualifying result of the season.
Burgers Motorsport started strong in FP1, with Paul Meijer immediately going fastest on the first flying lap. The #13 Greystone GT McLaren emerged as their closest rival, with Gold-rated Oliver Webb briefly topping the timesheets. Meijer had a few laps deleted for track limits but ultimately reclaimed P1 with a 2:07.401, just 0.02s ahead of Webb. Van den Hengel took over for the second half of the session and steadily improved, setting a 2:10.672 on worn tyres in her final runs. Meijer was scheduled to return for the final minutes, but a red flag ended the session prematurely.
Due to scheduling delays, FP2 was moved to the evening. Van den Hengel started the session and, again on old tyres, put in a series of solid laps in the 2:09s, clocking a best of 2:09.757 before handing over to Meijer. On fresher tyres, Meijer dipped into the 2:06s, setting a 2:06.134—the fastest overall by nearly four tenths over Ian Rodriguez’s Porsche.
In FP3, the session reserved for bronze drivers, van den Hengel spent some laps to bed in the brakes. Once up to speed, she adapted well to setup changes and, still on old tyres, dipped into the 2:08s with a final time of 2:08.5. It was a remarkable effort given the tyre wear—and was fastest in ProAm by 0.7s and just 0.1s off the overall best, completing an unbeaten Friday for the team.
"For the two practice session I was on really old tyres", she explained. "Paul did the setup on fresh, and we both struggled a bit with the setup, finding our way, because he does have a different driving style than I, and we now know exactly where to manage the setup. But in the bronze test, for example, I was really good on really old tyres, so we were positive."
Saturday morning brought slightly different conditions with overcast skies. Paul Meijer took the wheel and immediately went to the top of the timesheets. He progressively improved from a 2:05.8—already over two seconds clear of everyone—to a dominant 2:04.967, securing pole position with several minutes to go, when he pulled into the pit lane with a safe enough time. No one could match it, with Ian Rodriguez the closest at 2:06.3, sealing Burgers Motorsport's pole position for the first race of the weekend in dominant fashion.
Sparse drops of rain appeared as cars headed to the grid in the afternoon for the start of Race 1, but with high temperatures, the track stayed dry. There was no drama at the start, as Paul Meijer led the way into Turn 1 with a perfect getaway, followed by Silver class leaders Rodriguez and Longoni, in a clean start throughout the pack.
Nunes and Longin, closest ProAm rivals, slotted into seventh and eighth overall, and crucially, the two began battling — losing some precious tenths to the overall front runners.
Meijer, out front, tried to stretch his legs, running consistently in the 2:08s. Ian Rodriguez, however, didn’t give up and stayed close — within one second — as the leading pair pulled away from the rest of the pack.
Still locked in a battle for second in ProAm, Diego Nunes and Stienes Longin’s gap to Meijer continued to grow. Meijer then set his first time in the 2:07s. With Nunes, Longin, and Bugliotti trading positions, Meijer had already built an almost 20-second margin — but he would still need to serve a 15-second pit handicap. Meijer clocked a 2:07.603 to set the new fastest lap of the race, shrugged off Rodriguez, and continued extending his lead over the class rivals.
Meijer was on a mission, consistently lapping in the 2:07 range — unmatched — pushing as hard as he could as the pit window opened. His stint went two laps longer, almost putting the #13 McLaren one lap down, before he pitted with an incredible 25-second margin in ProAm. He handed over to Laura van den Hengel on lap 13.
Despite a few more raindrops just as Van den Hengel took over the wheel, the race stayed dry. The #7 Porsche rejoined just behind the #91 of Luca Franca, who had taken over from Ian Rodriguez, due to the pit handicaps.
Crucially, Van den Hengel had however retained the ProAm lead from Saelens and slotted into second overall. Luckily, a spin for Todd Souza avoided the barriers and no safety car was necessary. The race stayed green — which helped van den Hengel, who now needed to extend her ProAm gap, initially standing at six seconds.
Laura remained very focused on her own pace — running in the 2:11.3 range, then improving to a 2:11.0 — and held on well, as Silver-class driver Armanni was only gaining marginally for second overall. Laura’s pace was in fact enough to continue gaining ground on Saelens, who was over 15 seconds behind.
Van den Hengel then had to deal with traffic from the lapped #19 Porsche of Souza; Armanni closed in and launched an attack into the final corner. Laura smartly didn’t overdefend, keeping the bigger picture in mind — the class position — with 12 minutes of racing still to go.
However, the team was handed a five-second time penalty for a short pit stop — just over one second short of the required handicap — which could have cost them the overall podium, although their growing 21-second gap to Saelens was safe enough for the class win.
Fabio Babini, now third in ProAm and the Pro driver at the wheel of the #78 Porsche, began closing in on Saelens for second — but was also handed a five-second penalty.
van den Hengel pushed hard to retain the overall podium and set a 2:10.449, her best lap of the race, holding off the chasing Zaenen. She crossed the line overcoming the penalty, and took home a ProAm win and third overall — in a hugely positive first race for Burgers Motorsport. The duo, in fact, extended their championship lead over Babini/Scannicchio to six points.
High temperatures greeted drivers on Sunday morning. Van den Hengel took part in her qualifying session driving on new tyres for the first time of the weekend; her first flying lap, a 2:08.7, was however halted by a Full Course Yellow caused by debris on the main straight.
On her next push lap, she set a 2:08.264—good enough for second in ProAm—but couldn’t improve further as others found time late in the session. She ended up fourth in ProAm and 13th overall, narrowly missing out on the overall top ten in a tightly packed field where the top three ProAm starters lined up their Pro drivers due to several teams opting for the reverse strategy.
On Sunday afternoon, Laura van den Hengel and Paul Meijer were looking to keep their momentum and continue the positive streak with another big result in ProAm, despite now having to serve a hefty 20-second pit handicap following their victory in Race 1.
Instead of managing the lead, however, van den Hengel would now have to go on the charge and make up positions while keeping up with the pro drivers ahead before the pit window. And she did that brilliantly.
McLaren factory driver Oliver Webb perfectly retained the lead at lights out in the #13 McLaren, with Fabio Babini jumping into second place with a bold move down the inside. Further back, van den Hengel took the inside line and had a strong start — immediately gaining two positions to move up into P11 overall. Importantly, she also jumped ahead of Saelens, securing third in ProAm with a perfect first lap.
She avoided trouble in the hectic early stages but remained focused and determined in her attack on Lars Zaenen ahead. The field stayed tightly bunched in the opening laps; van den Hengel soon cleared the #77 Lamborghini of Falvey and broke into the top ten, keeping pace with the silver-class Porsche of Zaenen.
Ahead, there was a fierce battle for the overall lead between Webb and Babini, with Svepes also joining the scrap. This fighting allowed the rest of the pack to stay close — including van den Hengel, who was soon running 2:09s and then a 2:08.9. She began to lap at outstanding pace, matching the front runners and holding the gap stable to the top three overall.
Six laps in, van den Hengel continued her impressive run with a 2:08.778 — the second-fastest time overall on that lap — and maintained extremely consistent times. She gained another position overall to take P9 and sat comfortably third in ProAm, having opened a 5-second margin over Saelens, running about a second per lap quicker than her class rival.
The gap to Webb and Babini remained stable, with Laura running right on pace with the Pro drivers. When the pit window opened, van den Hengel completed arguably the best stint of her career to date and handed over to Paul Meijer, who served the full 20-second handicap in the pits and rejoined in P15 overall, fifth in class.
"Sunday qualifying was difficult", she recalled, "it was also a setup thing which didn't give me the confidence, but later on in the race we tried the same thing as in the bronze test, and that was it" Laura explained. "I was in the top three of the field in lap times, I was fighting my way up, and I was on a really good pace and good place as well to give the car to Paul. And from there, the rest is history."
Immediately, Meijer set the new fastest lap — a 2:07.429 — and began his unbelievable charge through the field in what would be a truly epic drive. He cleared Viel Bugliotti and Giubergia and began closing in on class rival Stienes Longin, with the gap dropping rapidly.
By lap 13, Meijer was already up to P11 overall and fourth in class, his pace never dipping below the 2:07s — completely unchallenged. After the pit cycle, Scannicchio led both overall and in ProAm with a big margin, having had no handicap to serve. The McLaren, now with Ryan James at the wheel, began to lose ground to the silver-rated drivers, with Rodriguez, Fernandes, and Longoni making up positions.
Meijer continued to lower the benchmark with a 2:07.327 and, with 13 minutes to go, had caught both Longin and James. The Dutch driver overtook James' McLaren at the fast Signes corner, then dove into the final corner to take second in ProAm from Longin. Wasting no time, he pressed on — passing Fortuna and de Mello on the following lap, still clocking laps in the 2:07 range. With the overall podium just five seconds up the road and seven minutes remaining, Meijer was now on a mission. He was nine seconds off the ProAm lead and needed to lap three seconds per lap faster to have a shot at victory.
With two laps to go, Meijer had caught the cars ahead and passed Longoni for fourth overall. Then, with a magnificent move under braking at Turn 1 of the final lap, he snatched the ProAm lead from Scannicchio. In a sensational final lap, Meijer outbraked Fernandes at the Mistral chicane and took second overall — winning back-to-back in class at the end of one of Burgers Motorsport’s finest races to date.
It was a near-perfect run from both drivers, overcoming a 20-second handicap to win again — their fifth victory of the season — and wrapping up a dominant weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard.
"This wins were really needed", van den Hengel commented after the podium. "After the crashes, we really needed to have a really clean weekend, and show what I can do, and show my pace. This was so much needed for the team, because they work really hard, and they give always the perfect car."
The result extends the team’s advantage in the ProAm championship standings to 8 points, as they also reclaim third in the overall classification. Next up will be the penultimate round at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, on 20–21 September.
