Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
For those approaching the age of 50 or beyond, retirement plans are on the horizon for most. Instead, two corporate executives from Abu Dhabi have decide to live life in the fast lane and make their debut in the GulfPro series, the oldest motorsport programme for touring cars in the region.
Friends Jon De Jager, 49, and Alan VanderMolen, 61, have gone from novice enthusiasts to licensed racing drivers in a matter of months, founding an Abu Dhabi-based team called the Dutch Brothers (DB).
The Class 5 category in which the DB duo will race may not be exactly pioneering, but it is the manner in which the pair have gotten up to speed that has turned heads. The first of the seven-round series starts this weekend on October 23 and 24.
It was a day in late March when Dutch Brothers Racing was born, although the name has little to do with the Netherlands. De Jager's surname is Dutch, as is VanderMolen's, but neither has any connection to the country. They are friends who met in Abu Dhabi, with one working in finance and the other in communications.
The unspoken chemistry between the two is immediately evident. Both men are clear-eyed about their inexperience. De Jager has attended track days and is more familiar with driving on circuits, while VanderMolen has spent years just enjoying a casual sports car rental. “When we say novice, we're as novice as it gets,” VanderMolen said.
Transition from road sports cars to competitive motorsport has demanded a far more structured approach. Simulator work, coaching, fitness, budgeting and technical preparation have all become part of their routine under the guidance of team manager and coach Andy Boux.
The preparation has not been without its setbacks. De Jager said he blew the engine of his GT4 on only his second track session. “We did one or two track days in our own cars at Yas and in Dubai,” he said. “We are literally starting from scratch.”
With the summer break limiting their opportunities to drive, the pair have faced a race against time to prepare for their debut. Yet neither appears willing to curb their ambition. Learnings from their lifelong careers have been put to use.
“We've got a lot of preparation still to do. I'm pretty scared about where else we're going to go. A little nervous,” De Jager admitted. The team's guiding phrase is simple: “Every lap has meaning.”
“If we don't do this, both of us will just have regrets,” he said. “That's not in either of our nature.”
That determination has shaped the project from the outset. Dutch Brothers Racing is not simply a team entering a championship; it is also a content platform intended to document the highs, lows and realities of learning a demanding sport later in life.
“Very early on, we kind of realised that the journey would be capturing the story,” VanderMolen said. “We're a racing team with a content platform because we want to share what we're going through. We're doing this a little bit later in life, me a little bit later than him, but we're starting something brand new.
“We're going to have some failures, we're going to have some successes, and we want to share that,” he said.
The financial commitment can be still big for the salaried pair, yet it is a factor that needs handling as nimbly as the unavoidable speedbreaker.
“The financial piece focuses the mind absolutely, because it's not cheap at all,” De Jager said. “It's a sacrifice, of course. Neither of us is doing this because it's a flippant decision. It's a very conscious decision.”
Despite the risks, he believes a properly prepared race car on a circuit offers a more controlled environment for driving at speed than public roads.
He drew on his own experience of a motorcycle accident on the road, contrasting it with his track experience, where he had fallen off without suffering injury. “I'm much happier, as is my wife, us being properly strapped into a race car with a roll cage,” he said.
For the first season, the immediate objective is to learn, develop and become competitive. But neither driver is short of ambition, and the longer-term plan includes progressing through the GT categories, with endurance racing firmly on their radar.
VanderMolen has a more audacious target. “My ultimate dream is this: I want to be the oldest driver to finish Le Mans,” he said.
At 61, he has given himself time to pursue that goal, pointing to Paul Newman's endurance racing achievements at the age of 80 as inspiration. “Aim high,” he said.
Their story is also intended to demonstrate that Abu Dhabi can be more than a destination for motorsport spectators, with the pair seeking to contribute to the local racing ecosystem through their off-track decisions.
The team has appointed Werks Motorsport as its race car provider, with the pair set to compete in a Volkswagen Golf Mk7 GTI.
For the pair, however, the story is about much more than a car, a championship or a pair of racing licences. Their drive goes beyond the age column in every form they fill. Age is just a number, just like the kilometres being racked up on the odometer of the cars they are now racing. It is never too late to find another gear.
