| Hannes van Asseldonk | |
|---|---|
 Van Asseldonk in 2011. | |
| Nationality |  Dutch |
| Born | (1992-01-10)10 January 1992 (age 34) |
| British Formula 3 Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | Fortec Motorsports |
| Car number | 23 |
| Former teams | Van Amersfoort Racing |
| Starts | 8 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 9th in2012 |
| Previous series | |
| 2012 2011 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 | Toyota Racing Series FIA Formula 3 International Trophy German Formula Three Championship Austria Formel 3 Cup Formula Abarth Formula BMW Europe Formula BMW Pacific |
Hannes van Asseldonk (born 10 January 1992) is a retired Dutch racing driver, who most recently competed in theFormula 3 Euro Series forFortec Motorsport.[1]
Born inBoekel,Netherlands as the only son of five children to Peter and Dianne van Asseldonk,[2][3] Hannes van Asseldonk tested a kart for the first time towards the end of the 2006 season, before electing to compete in Junior Rotax Max in 2007. Van Asseldonk finished in fourth place in the Dutch KNAF Championship, while also placing tenth in the Chrono Dutch Rotax Max Challenge. He also finished 38th in the pan-European Rotax Max Challenge. Van Asseldonk remained in Rotax Max karts for 2008, moving up to the senior level of competition, and finished the season as champion of the Benelux Karting Series, finishing seven points clear of closest rival Bastian Hummel.[4] As well as this, van Asseldonk finished third in the Dutch Kart-2-Car Challenge and fourth in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. Van Asseldonk moved into KZ2 karts with AVG Racing in 2009, with his best result in competition being a fifth place in the Chrono Winter Cup; he also finished inside the final top ten placings of the German Kart Championship, utilising shifter karts.[5] He also contested the CIK-FIA World Cup for KZ1 karts with AVG Racing,[6] but could only finish in 55th position.
Van Asseldonk graduated into single-seaters at the start of the 2010 season, moving intoFormula BMW. He made his début at the level in thePacific series with Motaworld Racing, taking part in the season-opening round atSepang as a guest driver.[7] This was a precursor to his main campaign in thepan-European championship later in the year, competing for the Josef Kaufmann Racing team alongsideRobin Frijns andPetri Suvanto.[8] Van Asseldonk had a tough first half of the season, taking only one top-five finish in four meetings; a fifth-place finish atZandvoort during theMasters of Formula 3-support event.[9] The first of two late-season podiums came atHockenheim for van Asseldonk, as he finished in third place behind Frijns andJack Harvey; the first time that two Dutch drivers had featured on the podium, while it was van Asseldonk's first victory in the Rookie Cup for first-season drivers.[10] He took another third place at the final meeting of the year – and, ultimately the series – atMonza,[11] with Frijns winning the race again ahead of Côme Ledogar. He ultimately finished seventh in the Drivers' Championship, and second toCarlos Sainz Jr. in the Rookie Cup.
Upon the conclusion of the Formula BMW season, van Asseldonk moved into another series; he joined thePrema Junior team in the newly renamedFormula Abarth championship, for the final three races of the2010 season.[12] He joined the series atVallelunga, and qualified fourth for his opening race. Van Asseldonk hit form in the series straight away, and ultimately took the first victory of his career,[13][14] ahead of drivers who had taken part in the full season up to that point; he followed this up with a fifth place in the reverse-grid second race, having failed to advance up the order, after starting in the same position. Van Asseldonk continued his form to the next event atMugello; he claimed pole position for the weekend's first race by almost 0.3 seconds ahead of closest rivalPatric Niederhauser.[15] He repeated his Vallelunga results at the event; he won the opening race after leading from start to finish,[16] and backed that up with a fifth-place finish in the reverse-grid race. He closed the season out with another win, at Monza, en route to finishing sixth in the championship despite only contesting three rounds.
Van Asseldonk had been scheduled to make his Formula Three race début withPrema Powerteam at the non-championship 2010 Korea Super Prix,[17] but due to a legal technicality with theKorea International Circuit, the circuit hosting the race weekend, the event was cancelled.[18] He moved into theGerman Formula Three Championship for the2011 season, signing for three-time series championsVan Amersfoort Racing.[19] He was joined as part of a three-car team by fellow Dutch driver Jeroen Mul and New Zealand'sRichie Stanaway.
At the first meeting of the season atOschersleben, van Asseldonk qualified on pole position for the weekend's second race, but could only finish in the final points-paying position of eighth after a poor getaway.[20] Indeed, it was not until the fifth meeting of the year that van Asseldonk finished on the podium in a race; he finished third in the second race atZolder,[21] commencing a run of five third places in six races. He achieved another pole position later in the season atAssen,[22] as well as achieving the fastest lap of that particular race. He ultimately finished the season in fifth place in the Drivers' Championship, losing out to fourth-placedAlon Day,[23] by just one point in the standings. Van Asseldonk also contested theSpa round of theBritish Formula 3 Championship – counting towards theFIA Formula 3 International Trophy standings – with Van Amersfoort,[24] taking a best result of fourth place in the second race, as well as recording the fastest lap.[25] He claimed a win and a second place during a one-off appearance in the Austria Formel 3 Cup atHockenheim – sharing the victories withSandro Zeller[26] – and also finished fifth forHitech Racing[27] on his début at theMacau Grand Prix, finishing as the top rookie driver in the race.[28][29]
Following on from his Macau performance, van Asseldonk signed to compete in theToyota Racing Series with Giles Motorsport,[30] for the2012 championship held in January and February. Van Asseldonk made an immediate impact on the series, taking two victories at the opening meeting atTeretonga.[31] After failing to take a podium at the second meeting atTimaru, van Asseldonk finished in third place in the opening race of the third weekend atTaupo, before winning the final race of the weekend.[32] Although he failed to win another race during the season, he finished four of the remaining six races of the season – atHampton Downs andManfeild – on the podium, including three second places, to secure himself second place in the Drivers' Championship, although 176 points in arrears of the champion, team-mateNick Cassidy.[33] Upon his return from New Zealand, van Asseldonk signed a contract withFortec Motorsports to contest theBritish Formula 3 Championship in2012.[34] He currently lies ninth in the Drivers' Championship after the first two meetings of the season; his best race result so far is a fourth-place finish atMonza.[35]
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Formula BMW Europe | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 174 | 7th |
| Formula BMW Pacific | Motaworld Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| Formula Abarth | Prema Junior | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 76 | 6th | |
| 2011 | FIA Formula 3 International Trophy | Van Amersfoort Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| Hitech Racing | |||||||||
| German Formula 3 Championship | Van Amersfoort Racing | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 61 | 5th | |
| British Formula 3 International Series | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | NC† | ||
| Austria Formel 3 Cup | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 10th | ||
| Macau Grand Prix | Hitech Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5th | |
| 2012 | Toyota Racing Series | Giles Motorsport | 15 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 738 | 2nd |
| British Formula 3 International Series | Fortec Motorsports | 28 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 132 | 9th |
† As van Asseldonk was a guest driver he was ineligible to score points.
Vader Peter van Asseldonk legt uit hoe de beslissing tot stand is gekomen. [Father Peter van Asseldonk explains how the decision has been reached.]
The only battle that was taken down to the final race weekend was the one between Alon Day and Hannes van Asseldonk for fourth position. In the end, the Israeli got the upper hand.