Laura van den Hengel: Difference between revisions

Dutch racing driver (born 1991)

Laura van den Hengel
Nationality	Dutch
Born	(1991-02-27) 27 February 1991 (age 34)
Racing licence	FIA Bronze

Laura van den Hengel (born 27 February 1991 in Achterveld^[1]) is a Dutch racing driver.

van den Hengel started karting in 2010. Competing for TR Motorsport in 2011,^[2] van den Hengel won the Dutch Karting Championship in the O18 class and raced with them until 2013.^[3][4] Returning to karts in 2018 after a five-year hiatus,^[5] van den Hengel raced in karts until 2021, competing for CRG Holland in the KZ2 and KZ class of the German and Dutch Karting Championships, respectively.^[6][7]

After a move to the GT Cup Championship fell through in 2022,^[8] van den Hengel tested a Mazda MX-5 Cup car at Assen, ahead of the final round of the MX-5 Nederland championship.^[9] Half a year later, van den Hengel made her car racing debut in GT Cup Open Europe, joining Ghinzani Arco Motorsport alongside Maurizio Fondi in the Am class.^[10] Racing in the Paul Ricard and Monza rounds, van den Hengel finished ninth in class in race two at Paul Ricard,^[11] and eighth in class at Monza in both races.^[12]

In 2024 van den Hengel returned to GT Cup Open Europe, joining Mertel Motorsport alongside Alba Vázquez.^[13] After finishing in the top 10 in class in the opening round of the season at Algarve,^[14] van den Hengel scored her first top five of the season at Spa in race two with a fifth-place finish.^[15] At the penultimate round of the season at Barcelona, van den Hengel scored her best class result, finishing fourth in race two.^[16] van den Hengel was joined by Tommaso Lovati for the season finale at Monza. In the two season-ending races, van den Hengel suffered a puncture in race one and finished outside of the top 20, while in race two she retired due to a mechanical issue.^[17] During 2024, van den Hengel made a one-off appearance in the 2024 Italian GT Cup Sprint Championship for SP Racing at Mugello alongside Ian Rodríguez.^[18] Starting from class pole in race one, van den Hengel finished second in the Pro-Am class on her series debut.^[19]

In early 2025, van den Hengel became the one of three drivers to be part of Iron Dames‘ “Supported by Iron Dames” programme.^[20][21] One month later it was announced that van den Hengel would return to GT Cup Open Europe, driving for Burgers motorsport by HWM alongside Paul Meijer.^[22] Ahead of the GT Cup Open Europe season, van den Hengel competed in the 12 Hours of Mugello for Proton Huber Competition in GT3 Pro-Am.^[23] In her first race in GT3 machinery, van den Hengel finished 5th in class and 13th in GT3.^[24]