Verschoor aiming for home points in front of Zandvoort crowd

24 August 2023

There’s no doubting which driver on the Formula 2 grid will be getting the most support around Zandvoort as Richard Verschoor and Van Amersfoort Racing gear up for their home event.

The Dutch driver is already a winner in 2023 but would desperately love to add another victory to his tally in front of what will be a raucous home crowd throughout the weekend. After a busy time during the weeks away from racing, Verschoor is eager to get back underway with a strong finish to kick off the final stretch of the 2023 campaign.

“I’m very excited. I like the track and I love the atmosphere here. Of course, the team is Dutch as well, so we are fully Dutch, orange livery and special halo. I’m very excited to get started.

“I didn’t get much time to rest during the break. I was busy with sponsor activities. I was spending quite a lot of time with them because I appreciate their support. It was a good time but no days off!”

Hoping to claw his way into the top five in the Standings during these final three Rounds, Verschoor says that the team is more than capable of doing so, if it can put together a clean weekend.

Disqualification from the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race cost the VAR driver a P2 finish and vital Championship points. P6 in Sunday’s Feature Race was a helpful points haul, but he’s hoping for more this weekend. Hitting the ground running quickly will be critical says Verschoor after the summer break.

“It’s always important to get a fast start but it’s not always easy, there are many setbacks through a season – this year especially. I feel like this season we could’ve done better. Spa-Francorchamps threw away nine points away which was a big shame. If I look at how many times that’s happened this year, it’s unbelievable that we’re still P8. I hope we can make up for it a bit this weekend, but in Monza and Abu Dhabi also.

“We had a lot of ups and downs this year, I hope we can put everything together now. I don’t feel like we got our maximum performance out of any round really. I’m pushing hard to get that together with the team. If we can manage to put the building blocks in place, then we can manage. I’m hoping we can score some strong points and get some trophies in these last few rounds.”

Weather is set to play a role this weekend with more rain expected to fall across the three days. Fortunately for the home favourite, he has even more of a home advantage having previously experienced Zandvoort in the wet going back to his early single seater racing days.

Either way, Verschoor says that the weekend will be a challenging one with so little room for error around what is such an old-school venue. One update could help him though, with a tweak to the main DRS zone along the main straight. For 2023, the F2 drivers will have full access to the Drag Reduction System in between the final two corners as opposed to last year’s activation point on the main straight after Turn 14. It should lead to more overtaking says the VAR driver.

“The track by itself is already challenging so if it gets wet it gets a bit worse. On the other side, I have experience here in the wet from my Dutch Formula 4 days, back in 2016. It’s not that fresh in my mind but still, I know the track is challenging and I’m excited to get going whatever the weather.

“The DRS zone has changed so overtaking will get a bit better now. If you’re six or seven-tenths back, you should be able to overtake. Still, it’s very difficult to follow. Before the DRS change, I would compare it to Monaco because if you start P1 without a mistake, you’ll finish P1. But with the DRS change, maybe it’ll get easier to pass.

“We’ve been to Monaco, Baku and Jeddah so they’re teaching us well to stay in the limits before we get here. I love those kinds of old-school tracks, it’s what racing’s about for me. Growing up I always liked those tracks which is why I’m excited to go to these places. This one isn’t a street circuit but there’s no run-off areas, so it’s kind of a street circuit without the streets.”

With the unique Zandvoort atmosphere pushing him on, dreams of a home win aren’t far away but even for Verschoor, a clean weekend is the main target to continue his top 10 charge in the Championship.

“I don’t want to stare myself blind on winning but I want a clean weekend and score some nice points. Of course, I want to go for a trophy, but I just want to work well with the team from my side and from their side too, no mistakes and hopefully we can do well.”