Laura van den Hengel sweeps Spa weekend with double class victory in GT Cup Europe
- RACERS
- 6 hours ago
- 10 min read
"Hard work is paying off, but we still have a lot of work to do" - Three class victories in four races: results speak for themselves to describe Laura van den Hengel's start to the 2025 GT Cup Europe season, as the Burgers Motorsport driver completed a clean sweep at the second round in Spa-Francorchamps, securing the championship lead.
Three class victories in four races: results speak for themselves to describe Laura van den Hengel's start to the 2025 GT Cup Europe season, as the Burgers Motorsport driver completed a clean sweep at the second round in Spa-Francorchamps, securing the championship lead.
"It's one of the first times I came out really happy from a race weekend," Laura commented after the successful weekend. "It's a massive progress. Finally, I'm a bit aware of the progress, because I really feel it."
While the season opener at Portimão brought a historic result—as van den Hengel became the first woman to ever win a race in the series—the second round at the iconic Belgian circuit established the Burgers Motorsport by HWM duo as ProAm benchmarks, in one of the highest-level grids that the championship has seen in recent years.
Sharing the #7 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car with experienced racer Paul Meijer, van den Hengel is entering only her second full-time season in car racing—and she starred in a remarkable start to the championship that saw the Dutchwoman claiming class victory in Race 1, coming one corner short of overall victory at Portimão after leading every session of the weekend. However, her weekend ended with a harsh reminder of racing’s ups and downs when she was hit at the start of Race 2 and sent into the pit wall in a heavy crash—thankfully escaping uninjured.
With the car severely damaged, Dutch team Hans Weijs Motorsport—who runs the new Burgers Motorsport operation—were protagonists of a spectacular effort that saw the complete rebuild of the car with a new chassis ahead of the second round in Spa-Francorchamps.
Van den Hengel—now part of the prestigious "Supported by Iron Dames" programme—and Meijer had proven to be the team to beat in ProAm and were determined not to let the unfortunate accident affect their campaign, bouncing back with an even stronger performance at one of the most legendary racetracks in Europe—and almost a home round for the all-Dutch team.
And as testament to the crew's flawless work, the drivers of the #7 Porsche picked up where they had left off: on top of the timing sheets straight from the opening practice session.
Paul Meijer went out first and immediately topped the overall times, despite several laps being deleted for track limits. He eventually posted a 2:21.862 to reclaim the top spot in FP1.
Van den Hengel got on board for the second part of the session; she immediately began lowering her times and making progress, but a red flag interrupted the session, which could not be restarted.
In the second session in the early afternoon, Meijer ran a superb 2:19.985, going half a second faster than the #80 Mertel Ferrari. The time, however, was disallowed—but they stayed P1 in ProAm.
Van den Hengel also made further improvements—setting a 2:23.6 in a strong run from both drivers that ended the session as ProAm leaders and second overall.
Following was the third practice session, reserved for bronze-rated drivers, where van den Hengel had the chance to collect more valuable track time. She ran in the top two in ProAm for most of the session, then put in a great 2:23.2 to go on top overall. Unfortunately, the lap was deleted for track limits—but nevertheless, it showcased her potential as the top bronze driver, and how crucial it would be in qualifying to pay attention to track limits.
"Going into FP1, I was attacking the track with a lot of confidence," said van den Hengel. "Paul [Meijer] is super quick, so our data was from the top driver. We only needed to do quick fixes and build some confidence with the car", she continued. "I did everything on old tyres, and I knew it would be fine."
On Saturday morning, on a colder day, it was time to qualify — when it really counted. Paul Meijer was behind the wheel of the #7 Burgers Motorsport by HWM Porsche, and put in a banker lap before starting to push, setting a 2:19.966 to go on top — but the lap was deleted for track limits. Undeterred, Meijer went even faster with a 2:19.686 to reclaim the overall top spot.
He went for a new fastest lap, setting purple sectors in Sectors 1 and 2, but hit traffic in the final part of the lap and couldn't improve, so he pitted with 5 minutes to go. With nobody able to get closer, he secured overall pole position by a staggering 7 tenths. It was the second pole of the year for the team.
For the third race of the season, Paul Meijer led the pack overall as the lights went out in the afternoon. Meijer got a great start and turned into La Source as the overall leader, with Dieter Svepes close behind. Everyone made it cleanly through the first corners, as Meijer and Svepes already started to pull away — opening a 2.5-second gap to third-placed Tommy Pintos in the McLaren Artura after the first lap.
Meijer was setting quick sectors, but his getaway attempt was halted by the #83 Mertel Motorsport Ferrari of Davide Larini, who crashed at Turn 15. After a restart at the end of lap 5, Meijer had to push again to open as much of a gap as possible: it was a solid restart for the Dutch team, with Svepes still close behind, staying within half a second.
The leading duo were the only ones lapping under the 2:22 mark, with the #69 McLaren also setting strong sector times. Meijer couldn’t quite shake off Svepes — who was fighting for the overall lead but not in the ProAm class. Behind them, Babini passed Pintos for second in ProAm, as the pit window approached.
Midway through the race, the first cars started to pit. Simone Patrinicola was involved in contact at La Source, but managed to bring the car back to the pits, and the race stayed green.
Meijer set the fastest lap overall with a 2:21.275 on lap 9, then stayed out until lap 10 before bringing the car into the pits for Laura van den Hengel to take over — with Dieter Svepes still right behind.
Laura rejoined in the overall lead, 8.7 seconds ahead of Leandro Martins — the AM class leader — and ahead of two Silver class entries. Davide Scannicchio ran second in ProAm, fifth overall, 17 seconds behind van den Hengel. Laura had a great outlap and began extending her margin to her direct competitors — now over 20 seconds with 17 minutes left on the clock.
Her first laps were in the 2:24s, gaining over 2 seconds per lap on Scannicchio. Van den Hengel kept her pace extremely consistent, running a 2:24.4 on old tyres to improve her personal best, and opened up a large gap to her ProAm rival.
Gonçalo Fernandes, now second overall, started gaining some ground — but with 12 minutes to go, the gap was still over 5 seconds. Van den Hengel responded with another personal best in 2:24.158 — the fastest AM driver across the field — and lost only minimal time to the Silver entries of Fernandes and Reimann. By lap 16, Laura had Fernandes right behind and switched to defensive driving, yet still managed to extend her ProAm lead to over 28 seconds.
With 5 minutes to go, while she had to relinquish the overall lead, she was now able to focus on the class victory, as Navarrete and Romagnoli moved up to second after Scannicchio dropped down and ended up beached in the gravel.
The safety car was deployed, and the race ended under yellow flag conditions, as Laura van den Hengel secured her second ProAm class victory after another stunning stint — just one lap away again from an overall win.
“In Race 1 we showed that we are a very powerful couple,” Laura summarized. “I think there is a bit more progress to be done to fight for the overall lead, which is very close. But it’s within reach. It will take just a small amount of time to fight for it with the Silvers as well.”
On Sunday morning, it was time for Q2, with Laura van den Hengel behind the wheel of the Burgers Motorsport Porsche, aiming once again to capitalize on her pace. Teams, however, found very different conditions compared to the previous day, as cold and damp weather followed early morning rain.
Laura’s first representative lap was a 2:25.252, which initially put her third in class and sixth overall before more cars improved. Van den Hengel then pushed again with five minutes to go, improving in all sectors and setting the fastest third sector overall. This lap put her back in the top ten overall and third in class. Her third run, a 2:23.484 with a stronger second sector, moved her up to eighth overall and second in the ProAm class.
“Qualifying, to be honest, was not really sharp,” Laura admitted. “In the peak lap I made a mistake, and there was no time due to traffic to have another peak lap. I think we could’ve qualified within the top five overall. So qualifying was not the strongest, but it was a good position, let’s say. The team was happy, Paul was happy.”
The temperature remained chilly, but the track was again dry for the second race of the weekend. Van den Hengel took the opening stint, lining up on the fourth row overall and second in the ProAm class.
At the rolling start, lights went out and she took the outside line at La Source, then made a stunning pass at Raidillon on Tincescu for seventh overall with a bold move at the top of the hill. It was an incredible start, with action unfolding at the front of the pack.
Unfortunately, a spin at Les Fagnes chicane resulted in a trip to the gravel, dropping to the back of the field—but she managed to rejoin and begin what would be a stunning recovery drive.
ProAm leader Stienes Longin also ran into trouble one lap later when he made contact and fell back, allowing Laura to get ahead. By lap 2, van den Hengel was already catching Klaus Halsig in the #69 McLaren and overtook him for seventh in ProAm. She was now lapping in the 2:25s—pace worthy of a top-five overall.
More drama unfolded on the next lap as Riccardo Romagnoli’s Porsche spun at La Source and triggered a safety car—bringing van den Hengel back into contention. She had already passed Ferdinando Navarrete and was now up to fifth in class in a remarkable charge through the field.
At the restart with 35 minutes to go, van den Hengel went on a mission to clear the AM-class cars of Privitelio and Piccioli. She passed the #8 Lamborghini and then the #12 Ebimotors Porsche soon after, allowing her to focus on chasing the direct ProAm rivals as the pit window approached.
She set a new personal best lap, gaining almost two seconds on the two cars ahead. When the driver change window opened, Laura pitted from fifth in class and handed the #7 Burgers Motorsport Porsche to Paul Meijer.
Meijer had a quick outlap and rejoined in P4 in ProAm, immediately setting purple sector times.
ProAm leader Eugenio Pisani in the #55 SP Racing Porsche stayed out longer, opting for a different strategy, and eventually pitted from second overall. Meijer set a 2:20.837 and moved up to fourth in class, launching into a charge as the pit window closed. With that lap, Meijer set the new fastest overall time and was now just four seconds away from the podium, with Stefano Zerbi ahead in the #55 Porsche.
The Dutch driver continued setting purple sectors and passed Zerbi on lap 11 to take third in ProAm.
Next on his radar was Diego Nunes, who was also making progress by passing AM-class cars. Meijer followed him through, overtaking Cosimo Papi after another 2:20s lap. On lap 14, he gained another two seconds on Nunes and, after overtaking Bugliotti, was right on the hunt—setting yet another record first sector. One lap later, the #7 Porsche grabbed second place in ProAm with another great move by Meijer, now also back in the overall top ten.
After passing the AM-class GDL Porsche of De Mello, Meijer was consistently the fastest car on track, and was now hunting down Dieter Svepes—who was also lapping quickly. Both were gaining over two seconds per lap on the ProAm-leading Tsunami RT Porsche of Fabio Babini.
Babini, stuck in traffic, had contact with Alex Reimann at the Bus Stop chicane, with Reimann spinning around. Meijer made a move on Svepes at Les Combes and joined the leading train of cars that included Babini and Zaenen. He then made a stunning pass into La Source to overtake Zaenen, leaving just under three minutes to challenge Babini for the ProAm win.
On the final lap, Meijer and Babini went side-by-side down the hill into Eau Rouge. Meijer pulled off an epic move at the most iconic corner on the calendar to take the class lead—securing a breathtaking victory on the final lap.
After a dramatic and thrilling race, Laura van den Hengel and Paul Meijer claimed their third ProAm victory in four races, taking the championship lead. The Burgers Motorsport’s drivers had charged from last to fifth overall to win their third ProAm race of the season in GT Cup Europe.
With a dominant weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, the Dutch duo now lead the ProAm standings with 24 points—six ahead of Scannicchio/Babini—and sit third in the overall classification with 30 points, just three behind the Silver-class crew of Longoni/Armanni.
“It’s getting there finally", Laura commented. "Hard work is paying off, but we still have a lot of work to do. I’m really aware of that. The team is aware, Paul is aware. The pressure is high. So I’m just trying not to be super excited because there’s really a lot of work to do,” Laura reflected.
While always looking ahead to her next challenge, the first two rounds have been a major confidence boost for van den Hengel, whose performance are definitely proving worthy of the Iron Dames support.
Next up will be the third round at Hockenheimring, Germany, on 6–8 June. The Dutch racer has previous experience at the circuit from last year—but this time, she will also face the success handicap.
“We are now in fight mode for the overall win,” she concluded.