Paul Meijer
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Paul Ronald Johan Meijer (born 27 March 1985) is a Dutch
racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
. He is a former Benelux Formula Renault champion. He currently competes in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux for Hans Weijs Motorsport.


Early life

Meijer was born 27 March 1985 in
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
.


Career

Meijer began his career in karting at the age of 10. He participated in national and international competitions. In 2001 Meijer participated in a Challenge organized by
Avaya Avaya LLC(), formerly Avaya Inc., is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, that provides cloud communications and workstream collaboration services. The company's platform includes unified commun ...
Communications, with 7 candidates. He won the Challenge and earned a season driving in the first Dutch Toyota Yaris Cup for free. The ex Formula One racing driver Jan Lammers took Meijer into the
Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...
in 2002. With Racing for Holland Meijer learned the essentials about driving a formula racing car and participated in the Benelux Formula Ford Championship. During this education Meijer also tested the DOME S101 sports car at Magny Cours. In 2003, he won the Formula Renault 2000 Netherlands series with AR Motorsport. He also debuted in the European Championship of this series. As Dutch Champion a test is offered him in the Formula Renault V6. Later that year he also tested with Fortec in a Formula 3 car at Silverstone. The Italian team Vergani Racing invited Meijer into the World Series light by Nissan. In November that year he tested at the circuits of Albecete and Jarama and on both occasions he drove the fastest laps of the day. The team invited Meijer for the final race weekend, where he finished third. In 2004 Meijer entered the strong competition of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. With his team AR Motorsport he became 6th in the Championship and finished 3 times second, 3 times fourth and 2 times fifth. At the side he participated also in the Benelux Formula Renault 2.0 Championship and could only compete in 7 out of 12 races. He won 6 races, and scored a second place finish in the other race. In 2005 and 2006 Meijer failed to acquire a seat due to lack of sponsors For 2007, AR Motorsport invited Paul to test their cars. After being absent on the tracks for almost 2.5 years Paul was still quick, and within ten minutes he gained pole-position in practice. This was enough for team principal Ronald Heiligers to interest Marius Ritskes (Antonov Transmissions) to invite Paul for the last three race weekends in the North European Championship of Formula Renault 2.0. (NEC) He won 2 out of six races and finished second in the other 4 races. Ritskes also arranged a test in the
Lamborghini Gallardo The Lamborghini Gallardo (; ) is a sports car built by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini from 2003 to 2013. It is Lamborghini's second car released under parent company Audi, and the List of best-selling automobiles, best-selling m ...
in Spain with the team of Hans Reiter. After 40 laps the teams calls him in with applause. In 2008 Meijer has been asked to drive for several teams as a guest driver. The Dutch team MP Motorsport has been offered a wildcard in the Eurocup Formule Renault 2.0. They invited Paul to be their driver. Paul had no experience with the team but accepted the offer. Within a very competitive field of 48 young race drivers he won the race on Sunday, 4 May.


Superleague Formula

When Peter Zakowsky's driver of the
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
car suddenly did not show up during the Superleague Formula races in Zolder, Paul was asked to do the job through mediation of
Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim Coronel, Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Masters of Formula 3, Marlboro Mast ...
. This was his chance to show what he was capable of in the top league of autosport (750 hp). The question was popped on Thursday, on Friday the seat was made and on Saturday he got 2 30 minute sessions to train in the car. After that he started qualifying, which includes 2 semi finals shoot-outs and a final. Paul amazed the team and the organization to gain pole-position. At a rainy track he finished third. As a rookie driver he made quite a debut in this field.
Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...
selected Paul and offered him a seat for the last three weekends in Estoril, Vallelunga and Jerez. In Estoril he won the second race. Unfortunately the season ended early, caused by crash during the first practise in Vallelunga, where Paul broke his hand.


Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup Results


Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


Superleague Formula results

( key) † - Team standings.


References


External links


Website of Paul Meijer

Paul Meijer at PRL Vastgoed
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meijer, Paul 1985 births Living people Dutch racing drivers Dutch Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Sportspeople from Utrecht (city) Racing drivers from Utrecht (province) Superleague Formula drivers MP Motorsport drivers Alan Docking Racing drivers Van Amersfoort Racing drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers GT4 European Series drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers 24H Series drivers