Dutch driver Freek Schothorst will make his debut in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup this coming weekend at the Hungaroring near Budapest, having signed a deal with MP Motorsport.
The 21-year-old sim racer, who was runner-up in the McLaren World’s Fastest Gamer competition in 2017, raced for MP Motorsport in the SMP Formula 4 Northern European Zone championship earlier this year, taking a couple of podiums in the Smolensk round.
Schothorst now steps up one level to Formula Renault 2.0 to join Christian Lundgaard and Alex Peroni in MP’s Eurocup squad.
“The Smolensk weekend with MP was very positive”, says Schothorst, “But we’ve always had our eye on Formula Renault – again with MP. We have had some good days testing and believe that this is the right moment to step up. I will jumping in at the deep end though.
“I have ambitions to finish in the top 15 straight away but I’m aware it’s tough to join a series midway into the season. My main aim is to show good progress during the weekend and learn from Christian and Alex, both of whom are excellent drivers. The circuit won’t be the problem. I’ve sim-raced the Hungaroring many times and it really suits me.”
Sander Dorsman, team manager at MP Motorsport, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Freek back into our team. He has walked a different path to single-seater racing than the majority of young drivers these days. He has only raced Formula 4 for us, but through his years as a gamer he has accumulated simulator experience in many more powerful cars. So I’m confident he will shine in our Formula Renault car.”
Schothorst has limited experience in karting and instead quickly rose to prominence in sim racing in which he has been an active competitor since 2014. Schothorst won the iRacing section of the 2017 McLaren World’s Fastest Gamer contest to become the competition’s runner-up.
He is part of the renowned Team Redline sim racing team that also includes Max Verstappen and simulator guru Atze Kerkhof.
