Danny van Dongen (born 1983) is a Dutch racing driver and entrepreneur currently competing in the MW-V6 Pickup Series.

Racing career

Van Dongen started his racing career in the Dutch

Citroën Saxo The Citroën Saxo is a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1996 to 2003. It was sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson, because Honda had registered the "Saxo" name. The Saxo was a development of the Citroën AX and Peu ...

Cup. He scored a third-place finish in the championship in 2000. The following year he graduated to the

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini (B-segment) car, produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consi ...

Cup finishing seventh. He also raced in the Dutch Formula Arcobaleno and the German

Formula König Formula König was an open wheel racing series based in Germany and sponsored by German automobile company König Komfort- und Rennsitze GmbH (König comfort and racing seats GmbH). It ran from 1988 to 2004 as a single-seater feeder series. Its m ...

. In 2002 he graduated into GT racing, racing a Marcos Mantis for semi-works team Eurotech. Van Dongen competed in the

Dutch Supercar Challenge The Supercar Challenge is a motor racing series centered on the Benelux. A special feature is that touring cars, GTs and Sportscars can all participate on an equal basis within the same class, enabled by very open regulations. The championship was ...

and the Euro GT Series. He also raced in the

Spanish GT Championship The Spanish GT Championship / Iber GT (''Campeonato de España de GT / Iber GT'') was a Spanish auto racing series founded in 1999 and organised by the GT Sport Organización. The series runs multiple classes of grand tourer cars in events aroun ...

for the

Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) * Marcos family Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Né ...

works team in a Marcos LM600. In 2006 the Dutch driver returned to his native country racing in the BRL V6 silhouette racing series. He achieved several podium finishes in 2006 and 2007. Van Dongen founded the Dutch Race Driver Academy a racing school for aspiring racing drivers. He also continued racing a

Chevrolet Corvette C6 The Chevrolet Corvette (C6) is the sixth generation of the Corvette sports car that was produced by Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 2005 to 2013 model years. It is the first Corvette with exposed headlamps (as opposed to hidden head ...

in the

. The following year he raced the same car in the

Dutch GT4 Championship The HDI-Gerling Dutch GT Championship was an auto racing championship based in the Netherlands. The series, founded in 2009 by the SRO Group as the Dutch GT4 Championship, uses grand tourer cars conforming to the Fédération Internationale de l' ...

. In 2009 and 2010 he scored a total of three wins in the championship driving a Corvette. The following year Van Dongen founded the Dutch Racing Driver Organisation. The organisation sanctions auto races in three different classes:

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

, Diesel and Specials. In 2011 he graduated from the Johan Cruijff Academy. In the same year he was also a full-time racedriver in the

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

and Dutch Supercar Challenge. Van Dongen won two races, racing an

Audi R8 The Audi R8 is a mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Production ended in the first quarter of 2024. The car is ...

LMS, in the Dutch Supercar Challenge GT class. In 2012 Danny van Dongen was contracted by

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at the e ...

as a factory driver for the new

Praga R1 The Praga R1 is a racing and sports car made by Czech car manufacturer Praga (company), Praga. The cars raced on the Supercar Challenge (series), Supercar Challenge and the Britcar, Britcar Endurance Championship. Development The first P ...

. He raced a limited schedule in the R1 predecessor the Praga R4S. At one of the few ovals in the Netherlands,

Raceway Venray Raceway Venray, formerly known as Circuit de Peel, is a motorsport racing circuit in Venray, Netherlands. The track consists of a banked half mile oval with a flat quarter mile oval inside and features a karting track using portions of both along ...

, he raced in the BRL V6 series scoring two wins and a second place in the championship. In 2013 he won the

Superlights championship in the Praga R1 class. In 2014 Van Dongen returned to international racing in the

Acceleration 2014 Acceleration 2014 was a multi-day festival combining top class Formula racing, car and Motorcycle racing, bike racing with live music and other entertainment. The festival was organised by the International Sport Racing Association (ISRA), based ...

MW-V6 Pickup Series.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dongen, Danny van 1983 births Living people Dutch racing drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Formula Ford drivers Formula Regional Americas Championship drivers Sportspeople from Zandvoort Racing drivers from North Holland 24H Series drivers