Peter van Merksteijn, Jr.

Peter van Merksteijn, Jr.

Van Merksteijn jr. in 2008
Personal information
Nationality Dutch
Born September 1, 1982 (1982-09-01) (age 29)
World Rally Championship record
Active years 2007–present
Teams Van Merksteijn Motorsport
Rallies 18 (as of 12th October 2011)
Championships 0
Rally wins 0
Podiums 0
Stage wins 0
Total points 2
First rally 2007 Rallye Deutschland

Peter van Merksteijn, Jr. (born 1 September 1982) is a Dutch racing driver and rally driver who will be driving for the Van Merksteijn Motorsport team in the 2011 World Rally Championship season. He won the Dutch Rally Championship in 2007 in the Group N class with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. He made his WRC début in 2007 at the Rallye Deutschland. He is the son of Peter van Merksteijn, Sr., who raced in the WRC before and won the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class, using a Porsche RS Spyder.

Contents

Career

Early Career-2007

Van Merksteijn was born in Hengelo, Netherlands. He started his rallying career in 2006 with a Renault Mégane and entered in national events. With the help of his fathers team, Van Merksteijn Motorsport with team principal Gerard Grouve, he entered the 2007 Dutch Rally Championship with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. His co-driver was Francis Strikker for the start of the season but Eddy Chevaillier took Strikker's place and has been van Merksteijn's co-driver since. He won the 2007 season in the group N class.

In the same year, he made his WRC début at the 2007 Rallye Deutschland. He competed the rally with the Evo IX used in the Dutch Rally Championship. He finished the rally 70th overall. He also competed two other WRC events in the 2007 season, rallying in the 2007 Rally Catalunya, and used a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII for the 2007 Rally GB. He finished 29th overall in the Welsh-based round.

2008-onwards

2008 saw Van Merksteijn alter between a number of cars, the Evo VIII and IX's and a Ford Focus RS WRC 06. He also used an 07-spec Focus WRC for the final Dutch Rally Championship round. He only contested in two Dutch Rally rounds, finishing second in both rounds. He contested five WRC rounds in which he only finished one round, the 2008 Rallye Deutschland, finishing 17th overall which is currently his best finish in a WRC event.

2009 was a quiet season from Van Merksteijn. He entered in two Dutch events and two WRC events, finishing 18th at the 2009 Rally Norway and retired at the 2009 Rally de Portugal. In 2010 he equalled his best WRC of 17th at the 2010 Swedish Rally. It was the only rally he competed in 2010.

He is set to compete in the 2011 World Rally Championship season with Van Merksteijn Motorsport after oroginally been confirmed to rally for the Citroën Junior Team. He will be competing in all but three rounds in the next-generation Citroën DS3 WRC. He will be rallying alongside father and team owner Van Merksteijn, Sr.[1]

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
2007 Peter van Merksteijn, Jr. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MON SWE NOR MEX POR ARG ITA GRE FIN GER
70		 NZL ESP
60		 FRA JPN IRE NC 0
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII GBR
29
2008 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MON SWE
Ret		 MEX ARG JOR ITA
Ret		 NC 0
Mitubishi Lancer Evo VIII GRE TUR FIN
DNS
Ford Focus RS WRC 06 GER
17		 NZL ESP
Ret		 FRA JPN GBR
2009 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Ford Focus RS WRC 06 IRE NOR
18		 CYP POR
Ret		 ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR NC 0
2010 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Ford Focus RS WRC 08 SWE
17		 MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN DEU JPN FRA ESP GBR NC 0
2011 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Citroën DS3 WRC SWE MEX POR
22		 JOR
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 ARG
Ret		 GRE
Ret		 FIN DEU
9		 AUS
13		 FRA
Ret		 ESP
17		 GBR
Ret		 25th 2

References

  1. ^ "Van Merksteijn Jr makes Citroen switch". World Rally Championship (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile). 2010-12-10. http://wrc.com/news/van-merksteijn-jr-makes-citroen-switch/?fid=13989. Retrieved 2010-12-12. 

External links