Interview
Van Amersfoort Racing 2024 Review: A season of ups and downs but plenty of positives
Van Amersfoort Racing’s 2024 campaign ended on a positive note and while for Team Manager Klaudija Jakaj it was a “great” season, she admits that it had it’s “ups and downs”.
After a strong end to 2023 where they won the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race through Caio Collet, this year got off to a difficult start, with VAR point-less after the opening two rounds in Sakhir and Melbourne.
However, once they returned to Europe, they immediately hit the ground running with Noel León finishing third in the Imola Sprint Race – only after a post-race penalty saw him lose the win.
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From there on they were able to consistently challenge for points and achieved a further three podiums, helping VAR finish seventh in the Standings with 91 points.
So, what changed when they got back to Europe? For Jakaj it was not as simple as a change of continent, but returning to familiar surroundings definitely helped.
“I mean, it's not like all of a sudden teams have the golden answer to everything,” she explained. “But obviously there is a lot of historic data and experience from European tracks, and the relationships with drivers gets closer and better, which helps.
“We had some changes in the team at the end of last year so we also had to get used to that, but it worked really well. I trust in having an environment where everyone feels safe and comfortable to get the best out of every individual.”
A big beneficiary of this was rookie León who scored all four of VAR’s podiums this year. The Mexican driver scored a team-record 79 points and achieved his goal of finishing in the top 10 of the Championship.
From Jakaj’s point of view, having overseen his development from the 2023 post-season tests up to now, she put his progress through the year down to his hard work within the team.
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“When I met Noel the first time, I realized how independent he was for his age,” revealed Jakaj. “This and the way he learns from mistakes and gets over them quickly gives a lot of room to get better.
“So, I have been very impressed by Noel's development over the past year and how quickly he understood all the factors that had to be in place to perform well. He was a rookie, so it took a bit to get there, but it happened.
“He simply improved a lot and realised that he doesn't have the same track time as in other Championships. There is no room for mistakes here and he worked hard and did a good job with everyone involved. I believe that's where the improvement started.”
Jakaj also spoke glowingly of Sophia Floersch and Tommy Smith, believing that both unfortunately did not have the luck in the races that their performances deserved. The former ended the season without scoring any points, but Jakaj does not believe that tells the full story.
“Sophia has history with VAR and to start the season with Macau was a very special experience for both sides,” Jakaj continued. “She has quite some experience and showed very good race performances.
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“She was unfortunately often unlucky and got involved in incidents caused by others and she had to suffer from them. I wish we would have managed to be in the points with her, she would have deserved it.”
Smith was in his second season with the team in FIA Formula 3 and scored his maiden points in the Championship at Silverstone earlier this year, taking P4.
On the Australian, Jakaj said: “Having Tommy for a second year was great. He is a wonderful kid and we love working with him. There was definitely improvement in comparison to the past season but the field is so tight that sometimes the results unfortunately didn't show it. Silverstone was his highlight where he finished the race on P4 which was a great experience.”
As Jakaj reflected on the year, she spoke with pride at watching the work each member of VAR has done this year.
“I can't really mention a highlight,” she added. “For me personally it was great to see the development of every individual and to have the experience of the podiums with the team and driver.
“The good thing is that every time you end the race on a podium, you forget about the workload or about how tired you are – especially in a triple header. So basically, every podium is a highlight.
“I loved working with every individual involved, from driver to coaches, families, and every single team member. There are so many emotions involved and so many little things have to be in place to make this all happen. Very proud of the teamwork that made that happen.”