Jan Lammers

This article is about the Dutch racing driver. For the Dutch sprinter, see Jan Lammers (athlete). For the Dutch footballer, see Jan Lammers (footballer).

Jan Lammers

Lammers at the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans
Born	(1956-06-02) 2 June 1956 Zandvoort, Netherlands
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Dutch
Active years	1979–1982, 1992
Teams	Shadow, ATS, Ensign, Theodore and March
Entries	41 (23 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1979 Argentine Grand Prix
Last entry	1992 Australian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1983–1984, 1987–1990, 1992–1993, 1998–2008, 2011, 2017, 2018
Teams	Richard Lloyd Racing, GTi Engineering, Tom Walkinshaw Racing, Toyota Team Tom's, Racing for Holland, Hope Racing, Racing Team Nederland
Best finish	1st (1988)
Class wins	1 (1988)

Johannes Antonius "Jan" Lammers (born 2 June 1956) is a Netherlands racecar driver, most notable for winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans world endurance race, for Silk Cut Jaguar/TWR; after four seasons in Formula One racing, from 1979 through 1982, for the F1 teams of Shadow, ATS, Ensign and Theodore, respectively. After a world-record setting ten-year hiatus, Lammers made a brief Formula One comeback, for two races, with team March in 1992. Aside from racing in these two of the highest leagues of global auto-sports, Lammers has raced in an exceptionally wide number of racing series and competitions, domestic and abroad, over four decades.

Later in life, Lammers became a team owner as well, first setting up his own Formula Opel Lotus team, Vitaal Racing, winning the EFDA Opel Lotus Euroseries with Peter Kox in 1989, then creating the Racing for Holland outfit that raced in sportscars class in 2001-2007. Between 2005 and 2009, he was the seatholder of the Dutch A1 Grand Prix team. During his Racing for Holland days, Lammers combined racing and management duties to win the 2002 and 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship.

One of the most versatile drivers in modern motor racing history, Lammers started in touring cars, to become the youngest Dutch champion in history in 1973 while repeating the act in 1976. He also raced in the European Renault 5 Turbo Cup, taking the 1983 and 1984 European titles. As a single-seater driver, his steps towards Formula One include securing the title in the 1978 European Formula 3 Championship. He remains the only Dutch driver to have done so. At the zenith of his career in Group C sports-prototypes, Lammers lifted the crown in the 1992 Japanese Sportscar Championship.

Lammers has further raced in Formula Ford, Formula 2, IndyCar racing, International F3000, Japanese F3000, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), BPR Global GT, FIA GT, the European Le Mans Series, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, the American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am, and the Dakar Rally.

Guest appearances include the Grand Prix Masters for retired F1 drivers, the BMW M1 Procar Series, the Dutch Supercar Challenge, the Dubai 24 Hours and Gulf 12 Hours endurance races, the VW Scirocco R-Cup and the Dutch domestic Tulpenrallye.

In recent years, Lammers was an important figurehead / ambassador for reviving the Dutch Formula One GP on the coastal dunes situated Zandvoort circuit, achieved since 2021.

Early career

Touring cars

Lammers racing the Simca Rallye 2 at Zandvoort.

Born in Zandvoort, Lammers grew up washing cars at the nearby school for advanced and anti-skid driving skills training, run by Dutch touring-car legend Rob Slotemaker. Encouraged by Slotemaker, and while still under-age for a regular Dutch driving licence, the teenager nicknamed ‘Jantje’ (‘Little John’) was also hired to teach drivers on a private, closed track, how to safely recover a car from a skid situation. Having recognised Lammers' talent, Slotemaker set him up in a Simca Rallye 2 for the 7,500-9,000 guilder Group 1 production car class in the 1973 Dutch Touring Car Championship. At 16 years of age, Lammers won his first-ever car race and continued to take the season title in his rookie year, becoming the youngest Dutch national auto racing champion in history.

Two more years in the Simca followed in a revised 8,000-10,000 guilder class, Lammers taking four more wins in 1974 but narrowly missing out on a title repeat. Wins elude him in 1975 but his name has already been made. In 1976, he switched to an Opel Dealer Team Holland-run Opel Kadett GT/E to take his second Dutch title.

Road to Formula One

Formula Ford

Dovetailing his 1976 touring-car campaign with a first season in Formula Ford, Lammers quickly realises his future is in single-seaters. Driving a Crosslé in the Benelux, German and European Championship, the touring-car boy wonder surprises everyone by grabbing pole position at his first race, winning at the Jyllandring and Mengen and shining in the soaking wet finale of the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.

Formula 3

Lammers showing the way around at a wet Zandvoort in Formula 3.

Stepping up with Hawke to Formula 3 in 1977 proves to be a false dawn, as the Hawke proves no match for the Marches and the Ralts. For 1978, he switches to the Racing Team Holland outfit run by Alan Docking, with fellow future Formula 1 driver Huub Rothengatter and later Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendijk as his team mates. This is an inspired move as it leads to Lammers winning the 1978 European Formula 3 Championship after a close battle with Swede Anders Olofsson, while beating highly touted rivals such as Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. Lammers takes wins at Zandvoort, Magny-Cours, Karlskoga and in the famous Lotteria race at Monza to lift the crown. At the time, leading British magazine Autosport predicts: "He just has to be a World Champion of the eighties."

Formula 2

Having received an offer from the works March Formula 2 team, Lammers decides to jump the category to go straight into Formula One with Shadow in 1979. He will make his single Formula 2 appearance in 1980, driving a March-BMW in his home race at Zandvoort, where he retires from third place.

Formula One

Lammers spends four seasons in Formula One, racing largely uncompetitive machinery and failing to score a World Championship point in any of his 41 appearances. His talent is universally recognised, though, and the Dutchman only narrowly misses out on the chance to join Ferrari in 1982 as a replacement of Gilles Villeneuve who was killed at Zolder earlier in the year. The drive goes to Patrick Tambay instead.

Lammers presenting the Samson-liveried Shadow DN9B at Zandvoort.

In 1979, Lammers and fellow rookie Elio de Angelis join Shadow, but the team led by American Don Nichols is in its death throes, and the pair fail to make an impact with a poor car, with de Angelis scoring the team's only points that year, being an excellent fourth place, at Watkins Glen. Lammers’ best result is a ninth place in the Canadian GP. Both are invited by Colin Chapman to test for Lotus, with De Angelis getting the job for 1980, as Lammers is unwilling to wait for Chapman’s decision. Instead, he decides to sign for the German-owned ATS team.

Multiple 500cc champion Kenny Roberts chats with Lammers at the 1980 Dutch GP.

The underfunded outfit hands Lammers the old D3 car while team leader Marc Surer debuts with the new D4, but when Surer breaks his legs in an accident, Lammers gets his hands on the new D4. He immediately qualifies fourth on the grid at Long Beach but the car breaks on the opening lap of the race. This would remain the highpoint of his F1 career. Other notable ATS performances include battling Jody Scheckter’s Ferrari at Zolder, and retiring from a points-scoring position at Jarama. When Surer makes a return to ATS, Lammers is forced to jump ship to Ensign. In contrasting fortunes, his former teammate De Angelis has a fine season at Lotus while Lammers fails to qualify the cumbersome Ensign on several occasions.

For 1981, Lammers is invited for a test to become Nelson Piquet’s teammate at Brabham, but team principal Bernie Ecclestone chooses to go with Mexican pay driver Hector Rebaque. Instead, Lammers rejoins ATS and shines in the controversial non-championship South African GP at Kyalami where he fights De Angelis for second place until he is hit by brake problems. When Swede Slim Borgudd arrives with healthy funding from pop band ABBA, Lammers has to move over.

Jan Lammers driving the Theodore TY02 at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1982

Lammers in talks at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix.

In 1982, Lammers switches to Theodore but the underfunded team fails to hand him the opportunity to shine. At Monaco, Lammers’ TY02 has to stay on nude rims for a day because the team doesn't get any tyres. Still seen as a natural talent, he is asked by Renault to replace the injured Prost at Detroit, only for the championship leader to recover in time. Lammers steps back into the Theodore but before the start of the first session he is approached by Ferrari to replace Gilles Villeneuve from Zandvoort on. In a twist of fate, the Theodore’s throttle sticks during the session and Lammers hits the wall to break his thumb. As a result, Patrick Tambay signs the Ferrari contract. At Zandvoort, instead of driving the Ferrari, Lammers takes part in his last Grand Prix before Tommy Byrne takes over the seat.

Late 1985, Lammers is given a test by Toleman at Estoril but with the team unable to get a tyre contract for 1986, plans for a Formula One return fall through. In 1989, another Formula One opportunity comes to nothing when Lammers is asked by Ken Tyrrell to replace Michele Alboreto, but the Dutchman decides to stick with TWR Jaguar, and Tyrrell signs up Jean Alesi instead.

Then in 1992, Lammers makes a surprise Formula One comeback when he steps in at March for the final two races of the season – a full ten years after his initial final Grand Prix, a record career gap in Formula One. Replacing Karl Wendlinger, Lammers laps sixth fastest in wet free practice at Suzuka, before retiring from the race with a broken gearbox. At Adelaide, he finishes 12th. Looking set to continue with March in 1993, his Formula One ambitions receive a blow when the team is denied an engine deal by Ilmor unless bills are paid. This leaves Lammers a spectator at Kyalami, after which the team folds.

Another Formula One option hits the rocks when Lammers is signed by the DAMS F3000 team for its debut season in 1996, having already tested their GD-01 car all through 1995. The project remains stillborn when DAMS fails to gather sufficient funding.

Sportscars

Fed up with driving inferior machines at the back of the Formula One grid, Lammers decides to switch to sportscar racing where he becomes a mainstay for the next three decades, both as a driver and a team owner. His time in Group C includes seasons with Richard Lloyd Racing’s private Porsche 956, the works Jaguar team and the works Toyota team, while in the days of LMP900 and LMP1, Lammers runs his own Racing for Holland team with the Japanese Dome S101 chassis. His final call at Le Mans comes in 2017 and 2018 when he races the Racing Team Nederland Dallara in LMP2, sharing with Rubens Barrichello and Jumbo Supermarkets CEO and team owner Frits van Eerd.

Prototypes

Having turned his back on Formula One, Lammers starts his World Sportscar Championship career in 1983 by joining top Porsche privateer Richard Lloyd Racing, taking several podium finishes with Thierry Boutsen, Keke Rosberg and Jonathan Palmer, while finishing sixth on his Le Mans debut. In 1984, he is paired with Palmer, and the Canon-liveried 956 takes victory over the works cars at Brands Hatch. The two add podiums at Monza, the Nürburgring, Sandown Park and Imola, and retire from Le Mans in a winning position.

Teaming up with John Watson at Silk Cut Jaguar in 1987.

A mid-season switch sees Lammers snapped up by Tom Walkinshaw at TWR Jaguar, and on his debut for the team at a very hot Shah Alam in Malaysia he brings home the Jag in second place. Meanwhile, he makes his IMSA GTP debut racing a March-Buick at Miami with Roberto Guerrero. In the 1986 Daytona 24 Hours, driving the BF Goodrich Porsche 962, he is heading for victory when his brakes fail, leading to a sizeable crash that he is lucky to escape from. Later in the season, when his promising IndyCar adventure collapses with the disappointing Eagle, Walkinshaw is quick to lure Lammers back to TWR. The Dutchman is immediately competitive with second at Spa and third at Jerez, before racing for Nissan at Watkins Glen in IMSA GTP.

In 1987, Lammers joins TWR Jaguar – now sponsored by Silk Cut – as a proper works driver, and is teamed with Grand Prix veteran John Watson. They win at Jarama, Monza and Fuji and take podiums at Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Spa. At Le Mans, third driver Win Percy crashes their car out of the race. Team orders mean that they finish second in the championship.

1988 would become Lammers’ most successful season in Group C racing. Now paired with ex-Lotus Formula One driver Johnny Dumfries, the two finish second at Spa and third at Brno, before being joined by Andy Wallace at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Lammers drives for 13 hours to be the anchor in a popular win for TWR Jaguar, the first for the marque since 1957. For this, he is congratulated by Queen Elizabeth II and rewarded with the title of Honorary Member of the BRDC. In IMSA, Lammers is part of the crew that wins the Daytona 24 Hours, after he is moved over from his retired car to join Martin Brundle, Raul Boesel and John Nielsen in the lead Jaguar entry, winning the race. With regular teammate Davy Jones, Lammers wins at Del Mar and ends up on the podium at West Palm Beach, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio and Sears Point.

The Jan Lammers/Andy Wallace Toyota TS010 leads the example of Geoff Lees/Hitoshi Ogawa at the 1992 FIA WSC round at Silverstone.

In 1989, the Jaguars were outclassed by the resurgent Mercedes effort, with Lammers only managing to score a second place at Jarama with Patrick Tambay. In the US, Lammers is more successful, winning in Portland and Del Mar, taking second in the Daytona 24 Hours, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio and Road America and third at Sears Point and Topeka. The following year, Lammers wins the Daytona 24 Hours again, this time paired with Andy Wallace and Davy Jones, before taking third in the Sebring 12 Hours. In the WSC, however, Jaguar’s new turbo engine proves fast but unreliable, and together with Wallace, Lammers only picks up a pair of second places. Switching to the proven atmospheric V12 for Le Mans, Jaguar takes the double, but Lammers is in the second Jaguar across the line, having to recover from an earlier crash by teammate Franz Konrad.

Having opted for a switch to Toyota, Lammers decides to wait in the wings for the new programme to come alive in 1992. In the World Championship, mated with Geoff Lees, Lammers takes two podium finishes, second at Suzuka and third at Magny-Cours. In the Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship, however, two wins at Fuji and Mine add up to another title for the Dutchman. One more Toyota appearance follows in 1993, finishing sixth for the Japanese constructor in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

With Mario Andretti and Derek Warwick in the Courage-Porsche C36 at the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours.

In 1995, Lammers returns to IMSA to compete at Daytona and Sebring in the Auto Toy Store Spice-Chevrolet SE90. With Andy Wallace, he wins the Sebring 12 Hours on the road but a timekeeping error declares the Fermín Velez/Andy Evans/Eric van de Poele Ferrari 333SP as the winner, while as a guest driver, Lammers joins Derek Warwick and Mario Andretti in a Courage-Porsche C36 to finish sixth in the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours.

In 1999 and 2000, Lammers returns to prototype racing, as Konrad Motorsport moves up to the LMP class with a Ford-engined Lola B98/10, followed by a B2K/10, while in the US he joins J&P Motorsports to race a Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S. In the meantime, he progresses with setting up his own team for 2001. At Konrad, teaming up with countrymen Tom Coronel and Peter Kox serves as a prequel to that.

Lammers in the Dome S101 in the Ford chicane at the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Lammers embarks on a new era of sportscar success in 2001 when he rekindles his ties with Japanese manufacturer Dome to race their Judd-engined S101, entering it in the new FIA Sportscar Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours with young Dutch-born but Belgian-licensed Val Hillebrand as his teammate. For Le Mans, the Dutchman offers small segments of bodywork to small, private sponsors, giving the car the look of a driving chequered flag. A contribution of 2200 euros is enough to become a Racing for Holland sponsor. Lammers and Hillebrand dominate the final round of the championship before going into the new season as clear favourites, while placing themselves amongst the Audis at Le Mans. With three wins and five podiums Lammers and Hillebrand indeed take the 2002 title in the leading SR1 class, before doubling up in 2003, again with three wins and five podiums. Meanwhile in 2002, Lammers races the Crawford SSC2K at Daytona and joins Champion for Sebring to take third in their Audi R8.

When the FIA Sportscar Championship collapses after 2003, the Dome continues at Le Mans, where Lammers takes seventh in 2004 along with Elton Julian and countryman John Bosch, the trio copying the result in 2005. In the meantime, the Dutchman guests at Doran-Lista to take fourth in the 2004 Daytona 24 Hours and with Dyson Racing at Sebring and the Petit Le Mans, finishing third in the latter. In the 2005 Daytona 24 Hours, Lammers steps into the Howard-Boss Motorsports Crawford DP03 to claim another US podium with third. Rejoining them for 2006, their second cooperation gains no results.

With the start of the Le Mans Series in 2005, Racing for Holland signs up for assorted rounds in 2005, 2006 and 2007, but by now the Dome is outclassed by the more recent LMP1 designs. After he shuts down the team while continuing to pay off its debts well into the next decade, Lammers returns as a gun for hire in 2008. In an LMP2 season dominated by Jos Verstappen and the Van Merksteijn Porsche RS Spyder, Lammers teams up with the Swiss Horag-Lista team’s RS Spyder to finish the year fourth in class, along with teammate Didier Theys. At Le Mans in 2008, he joins Greg Pickett and Klaus Graf in the Charouz Racing System Lola-Judd B07/17, but the car fails to finish.

Jan Lammers shared the Racing Team Nederland Dallara P217 with Rubens Barrichello and Frits van Eerd.

Having gone into semi-retirement from 2010, Lammers hooks up with Hope Racing to race the experimental SwissHyTech Hybrid-engined ORECA 01, and does one 2016 Le Mans Cup round in the Racing Team Holland Ligier-Nissan JSP3, but waits until 2017 for his final foray in top-level prototype racing, signing up for a three-year spell with Racing Team Nederland, the team funded by Dutch supermarket mogul Frits van Eerd. Racing their Dallara-Gibson P217 in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series, Lammers and Van Eerd claim a seventh and eighth as their best results in a full 2017 ELMS season. In 2018 and 2019, Lammers acts as third driver to Van Eerd and Giedo van der Garde at Le Mans before closing the curtain on his active career.

GTs

On the back of the failed DAMS Formula One project, Lammers joins the Lotus Racing outfit for BPR Global GT in 1996. The GTI team is headed by countryman Toine Hezemans along with Ian Foley and George Howard-Chappell and runs a pair of Lotus Esprit V8s in the GT1 category. Teamed with Alex Portman, Perry McCarthy, Chris Goodwin, Andy Wallace, Fabien Giroix and Mike Hezemans, he claims pole at the Nürburgring and takes second at Silverstone, but apart from that the car proves very unreliable. In 1997, its Lotus Elise GT1 successor is outclassed by McLaren-BMW and Mercedes in the inaugural FIA GT Championship. After the Lotus takeover by Proton, the GT1 programme is quickly canned.

With Mike Hezemans and Alexander Grau at the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours.

In 1998, Lammers races the Bitter GT1 for Team Hezemans before switching to GT2 with Roock Racing and Konrad Motorsport, while helping to develop Nissan’s new R390 GT1 car. At Le Mans, he joins Erik Comas and Andrea Montermini to finish sixth, as the Nissans get beaten by Porsche’s 911 GT1. Late in the season, Lammers returns to Konrad to share a 911 GT2 with Franz Konrad in the Petit Le Mans, followed by a win at Laguna Seca.

Following a five-year GT break, the Dutchman teams up with Prodrive to drive their Ferrari 550 Maranello in the 2003 Petit Le Mans, finishing fourth in the GTS class, and then in 2008, having closed down his own team, Lammers makes a few guest appearances in GT racing, driving the Spa 24 Hours in the Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT for the IPB-Spartak team. Meanwhile, he does a full season of ADAC GT sharing Reiter Engineering’s Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 with countryman Marius Ritskes, with three second places as his best results. Continuing in 2009 under the Racing Team Holland banner (not to be confused with Racing for Holland), the duo fails to score any more points. A one-off at Spa in the team’s GT4 Ford Mustang FR500C fails to materialise.

Another single GT4 appearance takes place in 2016 with a Ginetta G55 GT4 drive in the Paul Ricard 24 Hours for Team Africa Le Mans. His final two GT races come at his farewell weekend at Le Mans in 2019, sharing a Bentley Continental GT3 with Greg Mills for the same Team Africa Le Mans.

Other championships

IndyCar

In 1985, Lammers grabs the opportunity to make his IndyCar debut, taking a drive with the small AMI Racing team. His strong performance in their March-Cosworth 85C allows him to be snapped up by the Forsythe-Green team, racing their Lola-Cosworth T800 and T900 in the final three races of the season, The Dutchman immediately scores points for them with fifth at Laguna Seca. At Miami, Lammers challenges Danny Sullivan for victory before making a mistake towards the end. This leads to Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers signing Lammers as their lead driver for the 1986 season, but that year’s Eagle GC86 proves uncompetitive and Gurney withdraws the team ahead of the Indianapolis 500. Taking over the Machinists Union GC86 for three races later in the season leads to an eighth at Laguna Seca and ninth at Miami.

F3000

1986 is a season that proves Lammers’ ultimate versatility, as he races in IndyCars, the WSC and Formula 3 while also taking up on an offer from Eddie Jordan Racing to replace Russell Spence in the team’s March-Cosworth 86B. His single appearance at the Le Mans-Bugatti circuit results in an 11th-place finish.

In 1991, while waiting for Toyota’s new sportscar programme to come on song, Lammers is in Japan to help Dome with the development of the Mugen-engined F102, their new F3000 car. Rewarded with a one-off race outing at Suzuka, he takes third in his single appearance in the All-Nippon F3000 Championship.

More F3000 follows in 1993 after his Formula One deal with March fails to materialise. Accepting an offer to join the Italian Il Barone Rampante team to follow in the footsteps of Rubens Barrichello, Lammers takes fourth at Enna as his best result before the team is forced to close shop before the end of the season.

Two years later, Lammers is back in F3000 as he joins the Vortex team owned by Dutch transport magnate Henny Vollenberg. He wins the F3000 South African GP at Kyalami, beating Kenny Bräck and teammate Tarso Marques, and does three more European rounds before quitting the team when key staff decide to leave.

Macau GP

Making a surprise return to Formula 3, Lammers joins the Macau GP grid in 1985, racing a Ralt-Volkswagen RT30 for Intersport Racing. He embarrasses many of the regulars by qualifying and finishing third. In 1986, he repeats the trick with Murray Taylor Racing’s similar Ralt, again finishing third. Returning to Intersport in 1987, Lammers goes one better to take second place in their Ralt-Toyota RT31, storming up from 11th on the grid, while his final Macau appearance comes in 1988, again with Intersport. This time, he hauls his Ralt-Toyota RT32 up to sixth from 17th on the grid.

Lammers turning the Volvo 850 Estate into Clark Curve at Brands Hatch.

BTCC

After his less successful 1993 season, Lammers makes a surprise move to join the touring car trail during the BTCC’s burgeoning Super Touring era. Teaming with his old friends from TWR, he becomes teammate to Rickard Rydell in a pair of Volvo 850 SE cars. With its estate shape, the 850 SE is a crowd puller but it lacks ultimate pace and Lammers finishes no higher than fifth.

One-make series

BMW Procar

In 1980, during his time at ATS and Ensign, Lammers takes part in the second season of the BMW M1 Procar Series that is run on Grand Prix weekends, with several Grand Prix drivers such as Jones, Lauda, Pironi and Piquet being part of the show. Lammers wins the opening race at Donington Park, finishes second at Avus and the Norisring, starts from pole position at Monaco and is the title favourite until Hans-Joachim Stuck drives him off the track at Imola.

Renault 5 Turbo Cup

In his final Formula One season, Lammers becomes a regular in the European Renault 5 Turbo Cup, representing Renault Netherlands and taking home one win. He continues in the series in 1983 to take four wins and the championship, and repeats the trick in even more dominant fashion in 1984, lifting eight victories on his way to the title.

Grand Prix Masters

In 2005 and 2006, the Grand Prix Masters are set up as a one-make motor racing series featuring retired Formula One drivers. Lammers takes part in the sole event of 2005, finishing ninth at Kyalami, and also races in both 2006 events, taking seventh at Losail and retiring from the race at Silverstone.

VW Scirocco R-Cup

Having already retired as a full-time professional driver, Lammers guests in four races across three seasons (2010, 2011 and 2013) of the VW Scirocco R-Cup, with ninth in the 2013 Hockenheim round as his best result.

Other appearances

Rallies

Racing for Holland's familiar chequered-flag livery returned for Lammers' Dakar adventure.

As further proof of his versatility, Lammers adds the Dutch Tulpenrallye to his portfolio in 1979, driving for the Opel Dealer Team. Over two decades later, he is invited to join Frits van Eerd’s new Dakar Rally enterprise in 2010. In the first of five Dakar outings in the Ginaf X2222 4x4 truck, Lammers fails to finish, before returning in the Ginaf works team in 2011, finishing 19th, and three more years with his own Ginaf-supported team, with 25th place in 2013 as his best result. In 2012, Lammers revives the chequered Racing for Holland livery for a sponsorship concept similar to the one he explored in the previous decade.

Team principal

Next to his career as a professional racing driver, Lammers has acted as the team principal of his own team on three very different occasions.

Vitaal Racing

Between 1989 and 1991, Lammers runs his Opel Dealerteam Holland-supported Vitaal Racing outfit in Formula Opel Lotus. In his first year, he joins forces with Marlboro Challenge winner Peter Kox, and together they win the EFDA Opel Lotus Euroseries as well as the Benelux series. In 1990, Lammers takes on another Marlboro Challenge winner, as Marcel Albers is promoted from Formula Ford, resulting in sixth in the final European standings.

Racing for Holland

Setting up Racing for Holland at the start of the 21st century proves to be the birth of Lammers’ final period of sportscar success at the highest level. With their Dome-Judd S101, Racing for Holland takes two consecutive titles in the FIA Sportscar Championship in 2002 and 2003 and continues with the Dome until 2007. Lammers later revives the Racing for Holland moniker – and a similar sponsorship scheme – for three of his Dakar outings in the following decade.

A1GP

Not known as Racing for Holland as such, the team is the seatholder for the Netherlands in the A1 Grand Prix series that runs between 2005 and 2009. Lammers starts off with Jos Verstappen as his driver, who takes victory at Durban in the opening 2005-’06 season, while Jeroen Bleekemolen acts as the team’s reserve driver. Bleekemolen steps up into the leading role for in 2006-’07, winning the Beijing street race, as Renger van der Zande takes his place as a backup driver, himself taking part in three races. Bleekemolen continues in 2007-’08, now supported by Arie Luyendyk Jr. Ditching its cheap Avon-shod Lola-Zytek chassis for pukka Michelin-tyred Ferrari cars, the A1GP organisation hurry into bankruptcy in a final 2008-‘09 season in which Robert Doornbos and Jeroen Bleekemolen take turns at the wheel, each winning a sprint race on their way to fourth for the Netherlands in the final standings.

New responsibilities

Dutch GP

After his decision to go into full retirement after the 2019 season, Lammers quickly assumes another duty, as he steps in to become sporting director of the organisation founded to revive the Dutch GP at Zandvoort. Starting in 2020, Lammers is more than just an ambassador for the event, and after a Covid-induced postponement in 2020, the Dutch dream is finally realised in 2021, when the first Dutch GP since 1985 is staged.

Personal life

Lammers has two children from his marriage with Fardous Hashem. His daughter Sumaya is 27 years old, his son Rayan is 25.

Currently, Lammers is in a relationship since 2001 with Mariska Hoyinck. Together they have a son, René.

Lammers’ youngest son René Lammers is currently competing in karts. The 15-year-old is a frontrunner in the FIA European Karting Championship, having won both the WSK Super Masters Series and WSK Champions Cup in 2021 as well as the WSK Euro Series in 2020 in the 60 Mini category. Young Lammers is also a two-time winner of the Trofeo Andrea Margutti and also competed in the shootout for a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Pts
1979	Shadow Racing Team	Shadow DN9	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG Ret	BRA 14	RSA Ret	USW Ret	ESP 12	BEL 10	MON DNQ	FRA 18	GBR 11	GER 10	AUT Ret	NED Ret	ITA DNQ	CAN 9	USA DNQ		NC	0
1980	Team ATS	ATS D3	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	ARG DNQ	BRA DNQ	RSA DNQ														NC	0
		ATS D4					USW Ret	BEL 12	MON NC
	Unipart Racing Team	Ensign N180	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8							FRA DNQ	GBR DNQ	GER 14	AUT DNQ	NED DNQ	ITA DNQ	CAN 12	USA Ret
1981	Team ATS	ATS D4	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	USW Ret	BRA DNQ	ARG 12	SMR DNQ	BEL	MON	ESP	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	CPL		NC	0
1982	Theodore Racing Team	Theodore TY02	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	RSA	BRA	USW	SMR	BEL DNQ	MON DNQ	DET DNQ	CAN	NED Ret	GBR DNQ	FRA DNQ	GER	AUT	SUI	ITA	CPL	NC	0
1992	March F1	March CG911	Ilmor 2175A 3.5 V10	RSA	MEX	BRA	ESP	SMR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN Ret	AUS 12	NC	0
Sources:

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
1979	Zakspeed Racing	Gr.5	Ford Capri Turbo	Ford 1.4 L4t	DAY	MUG	DIJ	SIL	NÜR Ret	PER	GLN	BRH	VAL
1983	GTi Engineering	C	Porsche 956	Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6t	MNZ 6	SIL 3	NÜR 3	LMS 8	SPA 9	FUJ	KYA 5					7th	43
1984	GTi Engineering	C1	Porsche 956	Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6t	MNZ 5	SIL 5	LMS Ret	NÜR 4	BRH 1	MOS						6th	75
			Porsche 956 GTi								SPA Ret	IMO 2	FUJ 9	KYA	SAN 3
1985	GTi Engineering	C1	Porsche 956 GTi	Porsche Type-935 2.6 F6t	MUG	MNZ 5	SIL 5	LMS	HOC	MOS	SPA					26th	16
	TWR Jaguar		Jaguar XJR-6	Jaguar 6.2 V12								BRH Ret	FUJ	SHA 2
1986	Silk Cut Jaguar	C1	Jaguar XJR-6	Jaguar 6.5 V12	MNZ	SIL	LMS	NOR	BRH	JER 3	NÜR Ret	SPA 2	FUJ 17			19th	27
1987	Silk Cut Jaguar	C1	Jaguar XJR-8	Jaguar 7.0 V12	JAR 1	JER Ret	MNZ 1	SIL 2		NOR Ret	BRH 3	NÜR Ret	SPA 2	FUJ 1		2nd	102
				Jaguar 6.9 V12					LMS Ret
1988	Silk Cut Jaguar	C1	Jaguar XJR-9	Jaguar 7.0 V12	JER Ret	JAR Ret	MNZ Ret	SIL Ret	LMS 1	BRN 3	BRH Ret	NÜR 8	SPA 2	FUJ Ret	SAN 4	10th	118
1989	Silk Cut Jaguar	C1	Jaguar XJR-9	Jaguar 7.0 V12	SUZ Ret	DIJ Ret	JAR 2					MEX 6				8th	30
			Jaguar XJR-11	Jaguar JV6 3.5 V6t				BRH 5	NÜR 10	DON Ret	SPA Ret
1990	Silk Cut Jaguar	C1	Jaguar XJR-11	Jaguar JV6 3.5 V6t	SUZ Ret	MNZ 4	SIL 2	SPA 2	DIJ 4	NÜR 4	DON DSQ	CGV 15	MEX Ret			7th	21
1992	Toyota Team Tom's	C1	Toyota TS010	Toyota RV10 3.5 V10	MNZ Ret	SIL Ret	LMS 5	DON Ret	SUZ 2	MAG 3						6th	35
Sources:

Footnotes

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1983	Canon Racing GTi Engineering	Jonathan Palmer Richard Lloyd	Porsche 956	C	339	8th	8th
1984	GTi Engineering	Jonathan Palmer	Porsche 956	C1	239	DNF	DNF
1987	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Eddie Cheever Raul Boesel	Jaguar XJR-8LM	C1	325	5th	5th
1988	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Johnny Dumfries Andy Wallace	Jaguar XJR-9LM	C1	394	1st	1st
1989	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Patrick Tambay Andrew Gilbert-Scott	Jaguar XJR-9LM	C1	380	4th	4th
1990	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Andy Wallace Franz Konrad	Jaguar XJR-12	C1	355	2nd	2nd
1992	Toyota Team Tom's	Andy Wallace Teo Fabi	Toyota TS010	C1	331	8th	5th
1993	Toyota Team Tom's	Geoff Lees Juan Manuel Fangio II	Toyota TS010	C1	353	8th	5th
1996	Courage Compétition	Mario Andretti Derek Warwick	Courage C36-Porsche	LMP1	315	13th	3rd
1997	GT1 Lotus Racing	Mike Hezemans Alexander Grau	Lotus Elise GT1	GT1	121	DNF	DNF
1998	Nissan Motorsports TWR	Érik Comas Andrea Montermini	Nissan R390 GT1	GT1	342	6th	6th
1999	Konrad Motorsport Talkline Racing for Holland	Peter Kox Tom Coronel	Lola B98/10-Ford	LMP	213	DNF	DNF
2000	Konrad Motorsport Racing for Holland	Tom Coronel Peter Kox	Lola B2K/10-Ford	LMP900	38	DNF	DNF
2001	Racing for Holland	Donny Crevels Val Hillebrand	Dome S101-Judd	LMP900	156	DNF	DNF
2002	Racing for Holland	Tom Coronel Val Hillebrand	Dome S101-Judd	LMP900	351	9th	8th
2003	Racing for Holland	John Bosch Andy Wallace	Dome S101-Judd	LMP900	360	6th	4th
2004	Racing for Holland	Chris Dyson Katsutomo Kaneishi	Dome S101-Judd	LMP1	341	7th	6th
2005	Racing for Holland	Elton Julian John Bosch	Dome S101-Judd	LMP1	346	7th	5th
2006	Racing for Holland	Alex Yoong Stefan Johansson	Dome S101Hb-Judd	LMP1	182	DNF	DNF
2007	Racing for Holland	Jeroen Bleekemolen David Hart	Dome S101.5-Judd	LMP1	305	25th	8th
2008	Charouz Racing System Team Cytosport	Greg Pickett Klaus Graf	Lola B07/17-Judd	LMP1	146	DNF	DNF
2011	Hope Racing	Steve Zacchia Casper Elgaard	Oreca 01-Swiss HyTech	LMP1	115	DNF	DNF
2017	Racing Team Nederland	Rubens Barrichello Frits van Eerd	Dallara P217-Gibson	LMP2	344	13th	11th
2018	Racing Team Nederland	Giedo van der Garde Frits van Eerd	Dallara P217-Gibson	LMP2	356	11th	7th
Sources:

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
1986	GTP	68	B.F. Goodrich	Porsche 962	Derek Warwick John Morton	512	12 DNF	5 DNF
1988	GTP	61	Castrol Jaguar Racing	Jaguar XJR-9D	Danny Sullivan Davy Jones	512	26 DNF	10 DNF
	GTP	60	Castrol Jaguar Racing	Jaguar XJR-9D	Martin Brundle Raul Boesel John Nielsen	728	1	1
1989	GTP	60	Castrol Jaguar Racing	Jaguar XJR-9	Davy Jones Raul Boesel	288	43 DNF	15 DNF
1990	GTP	61	Castrol Jaguar Racing	Jaguar XJR-12D	Davy Jones Andy Wallace	761	1	1
1995	WSC	9	Auto Toy Store Inc.	Spice SE90-Chevrolet	Derek Bell Andy Wallace	100	64 DNF	15 DNF
1999	CA	32	Konrad Motorsport	Lola B98/10-Lotus	Franz Konrad Vincenzo Sospiri	43	71 DNF	21 DNF
2000	SR	31	Konrad Motorsport	Lola B98/10-Ford	Franz Konrad Sascha Maassen	209	63 DNF	12 DNF
2002	SRP	2	Crawford Racing	Crawford SSC2K-Judd	Johnny Mowlem Tony Stewart	346	46 DNF	11 DNF
2004	DP	27	Doran Lista Racing	Doran JE4-Lexus	Didier Theys Marc Goossens Fredy Lienhard	521	4	2
2005	DP	20	CITGO - Howard - Boss Motorsports	Crawford DP03-Pontiac	Andy Wallace Tony Stewart	699	3	3
2006	DP	2	Howard-Boss Motorsports	Crawford DP03-Pontiac	Danica Patrick Allan McNish Rusty Wallace	273	50 DNF	24 DNF
Source:

PPG Indycar Series

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos.	Pts	Ref
1985	AMI Racing	March 85C	Ford Cosworth DFX	LBH	INDY	MIL	POR 16	MEA 12	CLE DNS	MCH	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH						26th	11
	Forsythe Racing	Lola T900														LAG 5	PHX 20	MIA 13
1986	Curb-Agajanian Racing	Eagle 86GC	Ford Cosworth DFX	PHX 9	LBH 14	INDY DNQ	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	ROA				22nd	13
	Machinists Union Racing																	LAG 8	PHX 23	MIA 9

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1986	Eagle	Ford-Cosworth	DNQ		Curb-Agajanian Racing
Source:

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Pts
1980	March Racing Ltd	March 802	BMW	THR	HOC	NÜR	VAL	PAU	SIL	ZOL	MUG	ZAN Ret	PER	MIS	HOC	NC	0
Source:

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
1986	Jordan Racing	March 86B	Cosworth	SIL	VAL	PAU	SPA	IMO	MUG	PER	ÖST	BIR	BUG 11	JAR	NC	0
1993	Il Barone Rampante	Reynard 93D	Cosworth	DON 9	SIL 9	PAU 10	PER 4	HOC 7	NÜR Ret	SPA	MAG	NOG			15th	3
1995	Vortex Motorsport	Reynard 95D	Cosworth	SIL 11	CAT 10	PAU 10	PER	HOC	SPA	EST	MAG				NC	0
Sources:

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Pts
1987	Dome	March 87B	Cosworth	SUZ 4	FUJ 12	MIN	SUZ 11	SUZ 7	SUG						8th	34
			Cosworth-Yamaha							FUJ 1	SUZ	SUZ Ret
1991	Team LeMans	Dome F102	Mugen	SUZ 3	AUT 9	FUJ 5	MIN Ret	SUZ 10	SUG Ret	FUJ 6	SUZ Ret	FUJ C	SUZ 7	FUJ Ret	11th	7
Source:

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	DC	Pts
1994	Volvo 850 Racing	Volvo 850 SE/GLT	THR 1 Ret	BRH 1 12	BRH 2 16	SNE 1 11	SIL 1 Ret	SIL 2 16	OUL 1 13	DON 1 14	DON 2 15	BRH 1 7	BRH 2 16	SIL 1 12	KNO 1 NC	KNO 2 12	OUL 1 7	BRH 1 9	BRH 2 5	SIL 1 16	SIL 2 17	DON 1 13	DON 2 16	15th	18
Sources:

Complete FIA GT Championship results

(key)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pos.	Pts
1997	GT1 Lotus Racing	Lotus Elise GT1	GT1	HOC Ret	SIL Ret	HEL	NÜR 11	SPA Ret	A1R Ret	SUZ	DON 17	MUG 11	SEB 11	LAG 9	NC	0
1998	Team Hezemans	Bitter GT1	GT1	OSC	SIL Ret	HOC DNS	DIJ	HUN							NC	0
	Roock Racing	Porsche 911 GT2	GT2						SUZ 7	DON	A1R				NC	0
	Konrad Motorsport											HOM Ret	LAG Ret
2008	IPB Spartak Racing	Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT	GT1	SIL	MNZ	ADR	OSC	SPA 8	BUC	BUC	BRN	NOG	ZOL	SAN	31st	8
Sources:

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pos.	Pts
2005	Racing for Holland	LMP1	Dome S101	Judd GV4 4.0 V10	SPA	MNZ 7	SIL Ret	NÜR 8	IST		30th	3
2006	Racing for Holland	LMP1	Dome S101Hb	Mugen MF408S 4.0 V8	IST Ret	SPA					23rd	6
				Judd GV5 5.0 V10			NÜR 3	DON	JAR
2007	Racing for Holland	LMP1	Dome S101.5	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 V10	MNZ 8	VAL Ret	NÜR 7	SPA	SIL	INT	33rd	3
2008	Horag Racing	LMP2	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 V8	CAT 6	MNZ 3	SPA 2	NÜR 12	SIL 2		5th	25
2017	Racing Team Nederland	LMP2	Dallara P217	Gibson GK428 4.2 V8	SIL 11	MNZ 10	RBR 7	LEC 12	SPA 11	ALG 8	17th	12.5
Sources:

Complete Grand Prix Masters results

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

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5
2005	Team LG	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8	RSA 9
2006	Team LG	Delta Motorsport GPM	Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8	QAT 7	ITA C	GBR Ret	MAL C	RSA C
Source:

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2018–19	Racing Team Nederland	LMP2	Dallara P217	Gibson GK428 4.2 V8	SPA 7	LMS 5	SIL	FUJ	SHA	SEB	SPA	LMS	14th	21
Sources:

Books

• Klis, Hans van der (2007, 3rd ed.), Dwars door de Tarzanbocht: de dertien Nederlandse Formule 1-coureurs. Amsterdam, pp. 98–115, ISBN 9789046700495.
• Koense, Mark (2020). Jan Lammers, De biografie van een leven met 300 km/h. Amgini Autosport Store, 2020, no ISBN.

External links

• Media related to Jan Lammers at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Jan Lammers on Twitter
• Jan Lammers as a speaker