Laura van den Hengel

Van den Hengel started karting in 2010. Competing for TR Motorsport in 2011,^[3] van den Hengel won the Dutch Karting Championship in the O18 class and raced with them until 2013.^[4][5] Returning to karts in 2018 after a five-year hiatus,^[6] van den Hengel raced in karts until 2021, competing for CRG Holland in the KZ2 and KZ class of the German and Dutch Karting Championships, respectively.^[7][8]

After a move to the GT Cup Championship fell through in 2022,^[9] van den Hengel tested a Mazda MX-5 Cup car at Assen, ahead of the final round of the MX-5 Nederland championship.^[10] Half a year later, van den Hengel made her car racing debut in GT Cup Open Europe, joining Ghinzani Arco Motorsport alongside Maurizio Fondi in the Am class.^[11] Racing in the Paul Ricard and Monza rounds, van den Hengel finished ninth in class in race two at Paul Ricard,^[12] and eighth in class at Monza in both races.^[13]

In 2024, van den Hengel returned to GT Cup Open Europe, joining Mertel Motorsport alongside Alba Vázquez.^[14] After finishing in the top 10 in class in the opening round of the season at Algarve,^[15] van den Hengel scored her first top five of the season at Spa in race two with a fifth-place finish.^[16] At the penultimate round of the season at Barcelona, van den Hengel scored her best class result, finishing fourth in race two.^[17] van den Hengel was joined by Tommaso Lovati for the season finale at Monza. In the two season-ending races, van den Hengel suffered a puncture in race one and finished outside of the top 20, while in race two she retired due to a mechanical issue.^[18] During 2024, van den Hengel made a one-off appearance in the 2024 Italian GT Cup Sprint Championship for SP Racing at Mugello alongside Ian Rodríguez.^[19] Starting from class pole in race one, van den Hengel finished second in the Pro-Am class on her series debut.^[20]

In early 2025, van den Hengel became the one of three drivers to be part of Iron Dames' "Supported by Iron Dames" programme.^[21][22] One month later it was announced that van den Hengel would return to GT Cup Open Europe, driving for Burgers motorsport by HWM alongside Paul Meijer.^[23] In her second full-time season in GT Cup Europe, Van den Hengel began the year with a win at Algarve,^[24] before taking a double win at Spa and Le Castellet,^[25] and taking further wins at Barcelona and Monza to seal the Pro-Am title.^[26] Ahead of the GT Cup Open Europe season, van den Hengel competed in the 12 Hours of Mugello for Proton Huber Competition in GT3 Pro-Am.^[27] In her first race in GT3 machinery, van den Hengel finished fifth in class and 13th in GT3.^[28]

The following year, van den Hengel teamed up with Sarah Bovy to compete in the GT Cup class of the GT2 European Series for Iron Dames, in a collaboration with SP Racing.^[29]