Van de Kraats on the Saloon Stockcars: Lots of action and a beer after a race day
Jeremy van de Kraats competes in the 2l Saloon Stockcars out of conviction – The Dutchman likes the action in the full-contact class and a beer after a hard day of racing
“The class offers a lot of action on the track and after the races people like to drink a beer together,” Jeremy van der Kraats told ‘Leadlap.de’. The Dutchman competes in the 2l Saloon Stockcars and is one of the absolute title favorites. The 28-year-old has his roots in Autospeedway racing and has found his home in the full-contact class.
Van de Kraats has already tried out a number of classes on the ovals in the Netherlands. His career started in the Ministox championship for young talents. He then moved to the Stockrod class, which features production-based small cars. The Dutchman then switched to the full-contact class.
“I always got the black flag in the other classes, so in the end it became the Saloon Stockcars,” joked van de Kraats. “In 2017, we had the first SSCA races in the Netherlands. My colleagues and I got that going. Later, we organized with the DSCDA to be independent. I haven’t missed a single race since then!”
Another reason van de Kraats likes the championship so much is the variety: “It’s a great and fast-growing class that competes on different tracks in the Netherlands – three tarmac and three shale ovals.” The Saloon Stockcars compete at Venray, Posterholt and Ter Apel (all tarmac tracks) and Blauwhuis, Emmen and Sint Maarten (all shale tracks).
The race driver from Wijchen has quickly established himself at the top of the class in his career. “The biggest success is that I have now taken the silver roof for the third time in a row. I hope to win the silver roof again by besting the National Points Championship and the Shootout, which is why I’m racing the full season.”
His goals for the current season are accordingly ambitious: “I want to win as many races as possible in the Netherlands. The minimum goal is to keep the silver roof. Next year I’d also like to win races in the UK. That’s my ultimate goal, of course.” In Great Britain, Autospeedway is a popular sport that attracts many motorsport fans to the small ovals.
Van de Kraats has his sights set on both the island and the mainland: “Over there it’s Cowdenbeath and Skegness. Those are real stock car tracks with 40 cars. I had a great time there. In the Netherlands, on tarmac it’s Posterholt, because that’s the most beautiful stock car track. On shale it’s Blauwhuis in the Netherlands and Kings Lynn in the UK, but I prefer to race on tarmac.”
