Van Amersfoort Racing looking forward to home race at Zandvoort

• Niklas Krütten: "The track layout promises to be a lot of fun"
• Van Amersfoort: "At Zandvoort, you're always guaranteed a great atmosphere"
• Dennis Hauger aiming to build on a successful weekend at Hockenheim

Munich: Van Amersfoort Racing have a home race coming up. The long-established and highly successful team from the Netherlands is eagerly anticipating the fourth race weekend of the 2019 ADAC Formula 4 which is due to be hosted by Zandvoort. The distance from the team headquarters in Zeewolde to the circuit set amid the dunes of the North Sea coast is no more than 80 kilometres, which gives the team's two championship contenders Dennis Hauger (16, Norway) and Niklas Krütten (16, Germany) the added motivation of a home race. SPORT1 will be showing the three ADAC Formula 4 races on TV. They can also be watched online via the livestreaming services of SPORT1.de, youtube.com/adac, adac.de/motorsport and on the Facebook page of ADAC Formula 4.

"The track has a long history," says team boss Frits van Amersfoort. "Every time we race at Zandvoort, we are guaranteed a great atmosphere. We're really looking forward to the weekend. I competed there myself in the 1970s, and it's a very special feeling to be returning your roots. We will have a strong team for the occasion and obviously intend to finish on the podium. We will have some specially invited guests, and there will also be the Dutch fans to impress. That's yet another reason to be extra-motivated for the race weekend."

Van Amersfoort have a five-strong driver squad this year. Lining up alongside Hauger and Krütten are Ido Cohen (17, Israel), Lucas Alecco Roy (22, Germany/Monaco) and Sebastian Estner (17, Germany). After the first three race weekends of the 2019 ADAC Formula 4, Van Amersfoort Racing are second in the team championship behind US Racing CHRS. The defending title-holders managed by Ralf Schumacher and Gerhard Ungar are on 217 points, while Van Amersfoort Racing trail on 199.

"I feel very much at home in this team," says Dennis Hauger, who is currently third in the drivers' championship. "We are all on the same wavelength and we obviously want to win the title as a team." The Red Bull Junior is the only contestant to have won two races this season and has every reason to feel confident ahead of the Zandvoort weekend. When the series was contested as part of the support programme to Formula 1 at Hockenheim, he won one of the two races and finished second in the other: "It was a great weekend, and let's hope it continues that way at Zandvoort."

Niklas Krütten will meanwhile be looking to get his title challenge back on track. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé had to retire from the Saturday race at the Hockenheimring, and on Sunday could finish no higher than seventh: "I still have to analyse why I was unable to fulfil my potential. I'm relieved that I at least managed to score some points." Currently placed fourth, his only experience of the track at Zandvoort comes from practice runs on the simulator. He cannot wait to drive on the real thing: "The track layout promises to be a lot of fun to race on. When the gravel beds and walls are so close, it makes things a lot more interesting for us drivers. It gets the adrenaline coursing around your body. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm feeling highly motivated."

The only previous staging of an ADAC Formula 4 weekend at Zandvoort was in 2016, and it turned out to be a great occasion for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Joey Mawson (Australia) and Kami Laliberte (Canada) notching up victories for the Dutch outfit. Three years on, Van Amersfoort now intend to build on these successes. "Because home wins are always very special wins," adds team boss Frits van Amersfoort.