Circuit Zolder, November 13. The 23-year-old Dutchman Dirk Schouten is crowned the 2024 champion in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. In the colors of Q1 Trackracing, he becomes the successor of Harry King and Robert De Haan, among others, and in the meantime Dirk Schouten is also part of the selection of nine young drivers who want to obtain the coveted status of Porsche Junior. The Porsche Junior 2025 will be announced during the Porsche Night of Champions on December 7. It is therefore the ideal opportunity to sit down with Dirk Schouten now.
The Porsche Junior program is one of the central components of the motorsport pyramid of the sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart. Since 1997, Porsche Motorsport has supported exceptional young drivers and guided them to the top with a support package that can amount to up to 225,000 euros per driver. The program consists of extensive coaching and training in the areas of vehicle dynamics, mental coaching, nutrition, fitness and media relations. The selection consists of nine drivers from all over the world this season and the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux sends its champion to the final elimination round. The 23-year-old Dutchman achieved three victories and four podium places with Q1 Trackracing in the 2024 season and preceded Paul Meijer (Hans Weijs Motorsport) and Benjamin Paque (D'Ieteren Luxury Performance) in the overall final standings.
"It was a fantastic season," beams the 23-year-old Dutchman who was born on March 2, 2001 in Blokker, thirty kilometers north of Amsterdam, in a true motorsport family. “My grandfather, my father, my uncle and my cousin were all into motorsports and it was my cousin Bas who actually convinced me to start racing as well,” Dirk Schouten continues the story.
“Initially I was a sim racer, from the age of ten, and I actually did quite well with modest resources. Bas then convinced me to do karting, and I did that for about four or five years, mostly at national level, until I was allowed to test with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 991 – at Circuit Zolder at Q1 Trackracing, because Bas had raced there and therefore knew the people in the team. That test was good, and I immediately clicked with Nicolas Vandierendonck and Edgard Terium, the people behind the team. I was able to race with them in an international championship and the results were great, which led to a first season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux, in 2023.”
A learning year, but you did get your first podium and finished fourth in the final standings…
“That's right, my first season was good and mainly laid the foundation for this wonderful year. I got to know the circuits and master the car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Type 992 -, and scored my first podium place at Circuit Zolder, a great relief, I still remember that. I then worked all winter to get all the budgets for 2024 together and again at Circuit Zolder the title followed a few weeks ago.”
You are really working full-time on getting those budgets together and that in a special way?
“A few years ago, I discovered the power of social media and because I have to get my budgets together myself, that seemed like a very interesting path to me. In the meantime, I work daily on my content for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok and have really mastered everything myself. That means managing the creative direction, recording images, editing and processing the content. I am self-taught in that area. In the meantime, the number of followers grew steadily and now I have almost 900,000 followers, which of course helps me in the search for sponsors. Together with my physical training, in which I am also very passionate, and the testing and racing itself, you can safely call it a full-time job, but one in which I invest my time and energy with great pleasure. In addition, I also do a number of assignments every month for my partners, who make everything possible.”
And last winter you added something else…
“Yes, that’s right! In order to put my partners in the spotlight during the off-season and of course also to get the budget together, I started training to run 100 kilometers. Moreover, it was a real physical challenge for myself. I filmed everything live and also got sponsored, whereby everyone who donated a certain amount could later also ride along on the car in the form of a name sticker. In the meantime, I am thinking about a second edition of such a challenge and that could well be a kind of 50 kilometer long snow run in Austria this winter.”
Linked to that, what does the next season bring?
“There are quite a few options, but it is certainly an option to defend my title in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. Other or additional options are also possible, but of course everything depends on the budgets. It is of course still too early to say how it will all go, but I am already working very hard on it.”
You have worked with Q1Trackracing from the start of your motorsport career, does that create a bond?
“Q1Trackracing feels like a second home to me, and I have a very good relationship with everyone, from the mechanics to the engineers and the team management. I really appreciate everyone. We started together and have achieved a great result this season, with both the drivers’ and the teams’ titles. They also helped me in the first phase of my career, and I am very grateful to them for that. The titles we have achieved this year are the results of a great collaboration.”
Finally, does Dirk Schouten have a motorsport dream?
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans, but I don’t think that is a big surprise (laughs). But let’s first tackle 2025!”