Neil Verhagen

Neil Verhagen (born February 18, 2001) is a racing driver from the United States of America. Verhagen is the youngest to win the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Verhagen did so in 2016 in the Formula F class.

Neil Verhagen
Nationality American
Born (2001-02-18) February 18, 2001
Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States
BRDC British Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season2019
Current teamDouble R Racing
Car number26
Best finishTBA in 2019
Previous series
2017-18
2015-16
2015
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
F1600 Championship Series
F2000 Championship Series
Championship titles
2016F1600 Championship Series
Awards
2016Team USA Scholarship

Career

Karting

Neil started indoor karting along with his brother Alex. The duo trained and raced at the Grand Prix New York facilities in Mount Kisco, New York under the instruction of racing driver Stevan McAleer. McAleer raced many classes and won the 2015 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the ST class.[1] After racing at the Oakland Valley Race Park club scene, Verhagen joined the WKA and various Rotax Max racing series.[2] In 2012 the young driver finished second in the Florida Winter Tour Minimax series. Verhagen beat many hopefuls such as Logan Sargeant, Patricio O'Ward and Trenton Estep.[3]

To increase their sons chances at a successful racing career, the Verhagen family moved form Ridgefield, Connecticut to Mooresville, North Carolina in 2014. The family exchanged the WKA scene for the United States Pro Kart Series.

Formula racing

The Tatuus Formula Renault 2.0 car as raced by Neil Verhagen in the 2017 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Spa-Francorchamps round.

Verhagen made his auto racing debut at Road Atlanta in the Skip Barber Winter Series. The young driver won the first three races of the championship at Road Atlanta and Sebring International Raceway. Verhagen, racing a Mazda powered Reynard chassis, finished second in the championship.[4] Later in 2015 Verhagen debuted in the F1600 Championship Series. At the Pittsburgh International Race Complex Verhagen competed in a Spectrum.[5] At the F2000 Championship Series finale at Pittsburgh Verhagen finished tenth in a RFR F2000.

For 2016 Verhagen joined K-Hill Motorsports in the F1600 Championship Series.[6] The young driver won the championship beating teammate Peter Portante both racing Mygale SJ11 chassis.[7] Verhagen also competed in the SCCA club racing scene. Winning the SCCA Majors Tour Northeast Conference Verhagen qualified for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.[8] Verhagen went on to become the youngest driver to win the Runoffs at 15 years and 242 days.[9] Winning the Runoffs, Verhagen qualified for the 2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout.

In 2017, Verhagen was inducted into the Red Bull Junior Team and moved up to Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with MP Motorsport, alongside fellow Red Bull Junior Richard Verschoor.[10] He had one podium at Hungaroring and finished the season eleventh, behind his teammate Verschoor.[11]

The following year, Verhagen returned to the championship with Tech 1 Racing, where he finished the championship eleventh.[12]

In 2019, Verhagen lost his backing from Red Bull and moved to the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with Double R Racing.[13]

Motorsport result

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
2016Mid-OhioMygale SJ11Honda FitFormula F11Running

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

F1600 Championship Series

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points
2016 K-Hill Motorsports ATL
4
ATL
1
ATL
5
WGL
3
WGL
2
WGL
2
VIR
1
VIR
4
VIR
7
MDO
2
MDO
14
MDO
1
PIT
1
PIT
1
PIT
4
NJMP
3
NJMP
1
NJMP
1
VIR
1
VIR
2
VIR
1
1st 832

References

  1. "Stevan McAleer". DriverDB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  2. "Neil Verhagen". DriverDB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  3. "Florida Winter Tour - Rotax Mini Max 2012 standings". DriverDB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  4. "A day at the races: Skip Barber Summer Series hits soggy VIR". Fox Sports. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  5. "2015 Pittsburgh - Race 1". F1600 Championship Series. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  6. "Neil Verhagen Announced as Second K-Hill F1600 Driver". F1600 Championship Series. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  7. "Victory for Title-Winner Verhagen at VIR". F1600 Championship Series. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  8. "2016 SCCA Majors Championship Point Standings Northeast Conference". SCCA. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  9. "Verhagen Becomes the Youngest SCCA National Champion With Formula F Win". SCCA. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  10. "Red Bull adds Ticktum, Verhagen to Junior Team for 2017". January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  11. Allen, Peter (July 1, 2017). "Dan Ticktum clinches first Formula Renault win in Hungaroring opener". formulascout.com. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  12. Hensby, Paul (January 15, 2018). "VERHAGEN SWITCHES TO TECH 1 RACING, KEEPS RED BULL BACKING". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  13. Wood, Elliot (March 4, 2019). "Former Red Bull junior Neil Verhagen joins Double R for BRDC British F3". FormulaScout. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
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