Herman Roosdorp was a Dutch racing driver who lived a long period of his life in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was born on 19 April 1895. He started as a

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before becoming a

car dealer A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

. He was the first Dutch man to buy a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

. In

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

(

Borgerhout Borgerhout () is the smallest districts of Antwerp, district of Antwerp, Belgium. , the district housed 45,769 inhabitants on 3.93 km². It was an independent municipality until January 1983. The postal area code for Borgerhout is 2140. Geography ...

) he owned a garage and was dealer for Vanguard. His daughter Anni Roosdorp did also pursue a racing career.

Racing Driver

Herman was a racing driver who raced mainly between 1949 and 1954, mostly in

s. During these years, recording a number of good results, including a wins and numerous podiums finishes, with the majority of these at national events. His greatest racing achievement, when partnered by

Toni Ulmen Anton "Toni" Ulmen (25 January 1906 – 4 November 1976) was a German motorcycle and racing driver from Düsseldorf, Germany. His racing career started in 1925 on a 250 cc Velocette. In 1927 he won the opening race of the Nürburgring on a 350 ...

, he finished third in the 24 Heures de Spa Francorchamps. He introduced the Coupe Roosdorp or Roosdorp Cup, that was awarded to the driver of the day during the National races at Zandvoort. A group of journalists chose this driver.

Racing record

Career highlights

Complete 24 Hours of Spa results

Complete 12 Hours of Paris results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roosdorp, Herman 1895 births Dutch racing drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 1965 deaths Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Sportspeople from Haarlem Racing drivers from North Holland