Niels Koolen
Dutch racing driver (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Niels Koolen (Dutch pronunciation: [nils ˈkoːlə(n)]; born 25 May 2001) is a Dutch racing driver. He currently competes in the Indy NXT series, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.[1] Koolen most recently competed in the European Le Mans Series driving for the Duqueine Team.[2] He is the son of rally raid driver and businessman Kees Koolen.
| Niels Koolen | |
|---|---|
Koolen at the Circuit Paul Ricard in 2024 | |
| Nationality |  Dutch |
| Born | 25 May 2001 |
| Indy NXT career | |
| Debut season | 2024 |
| Current team | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Car number | 10 |
| Former teams | HMD Motorsports |
| Starts | 23 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 8th in 2025 |
| Previous series | |
| 2024 2024 2023 2023 2023 2022 2022 | European Le Mans Series Formula 2 Championship Formula Regional European Championship Formula Regional Middle East Championship Eurocup-3 Italian F4 Championship F4 Spanish Championship |
| Statistics up to date as of 10 May 2025. | |
Junior career
Formula 4
After competing in karting prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Koolen, a relatively latecomer to single-seater racing aged 21, made his car racing debut in Round 6 of the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship, driving for Monlau Motorsport.[3][4] He contested the final two rounds of the 2022 Italian F4 Championship, also with Monlau Motorsport, competing under a Belgian license.[5]
Formula Regional
Formula Regional Middle East Championship
On 5 January 2023, it was announced that Koolen would drive for VAR-Pinnacle Motorsport in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship.[6] He finished 31st in the final standings with no points finishes.
Formula Regional European Championship
Following the 2022 season, Koolen partook in several Formula Regional European Championship tests, driving for Van Amersfoort Racing.[7] He would ultimately sign with the Dutch-based team to participate in the 2023 championship alongside Joshua Dufek and Kas Haverkort.[8] He struggled and was considerably behind his teammate throughout the whole campaign, and finished the standings 37th, with a best finish of nineteenth.[9]
Eurocup-3
Koolen would participate in two rounds of Eurocup-3 in 2023 at Jerez and Estoril, failing to score points in either round.[10]
FIA Formula 2 Championship
In August 2024, after Taylor Barnard vacated his seat in the Formula 2 Championship, Koolen was drafted by AIX Racing to race for them in the category for the Monza and Baku rounds alongside Joshua Dürksen.[11] He got nineteenth in both the Monza sprint and feature race.[12] After the next weekend in Baku, AIX Racing confirmed that Koolen would not return for the final two weekends of the season.[13]
Indy NXT
2024
In 2024, Koolen switched to Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports.[14] In the first race of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he finished tenth.[15] This was his best result of the season.
2025
In 2025, Chip Ganassi Racing signed Koolen to run the full season, marking his second season in the category.[16] He finished eighth in the points standings with a best finish of fifth at Iowa Speedway.
2026
Koolen will continue with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2026 season.[17]
Sports car racing career
European Le Mans Series
Alongside his Indy NXT season, Koolen made his endurance racing debut and competed in the 2024 European Le Mans Series with the Duqueine Team.[2]
Racing record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | SKUSA SuperNationals XX — X30 Junior | 2Wild Karting | 54th |
| 2017 | SKUSA SuperNationals XXI — X30 Senior | 2Wild Karting | 54th |
| 2018 | IAME Euro Series — X30 Senior | Evolution/Super B Batteries | 17th |
| 2019 | IAME Series Benelux — X30 Senior | 33rd | |
| FIA Karting European Championship — OK | Team Evolution | ||
| IAME Euro Series — X30 Senior | 19th | ||
| IAME Winter Cup — X30 Senior | 16th | ||
| Sources:[18] | |||
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | F4 Spanish Championship | Monlau Motorsport | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| Italian F4 Championship | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43rd | ||
| 2023 | Formula Regional Middle East Championship | Pinnacle VAR | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31st |
| Formula Regional European Championship | Van Amersfoort Racing | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37th | |
| Eurocup-3 | GRS Team | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25th | |
| 2024 | Indy NXT | HMD Motorsports | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 20th |
| European Le Mans Series - LMP2 | Duqueine Team | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 17th | |
| Ultimate Cup Series - Proto P3 | Inter Europol Competition | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 25th | |
| FIA Formula 2 Championship | AIX Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32nd | |
| GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Comtoyou Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 2025 | Indy NXT | Chip Ganassi Racing | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 288 | 8th |
| 2025–26 | Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East | Team GP Elite | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 2026 | Indy NXT | Chip Ganassi Racing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | TBD |
† As Koolen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. * Season still in progress.
Complete F4 Spanish Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Eurocup-3 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | AIX Racing | BHR SPR |
BHR FEA |
JED SPR |
JED FEA |
MEL SPR |
MEL FEA |
IMO SPR |
IMO FEA |
MON SPR |
MON FEA |
CAT SPR |
CAT FEA |
RBR SPR |
RBR FEA |
SIL SPR |
SIL FEA |
HUN SPR |
HUN FEA |
SPA SPR |
SPA FEA |
MNZ SPR 19 |
MNZ FEA 19 |
BAK SPR 20 |
BAK FEA Ret |
LSL SPR |
LSL FEA |
YMC SPR |
YMC FEA |
32nd | 0 |
Complete European Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
American open–wheel racing results
Indy NXT
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | HMD Motorsports | STP 21 |
BAR 15 |
IMS 10 |
IMS 14 |
DET 13 |
RDA 13 |
LAG 19 |
LAG 12 |
MOH | IOW 13 |
GMP | POR | MIL | NSH | 20th | 140 | |||
| 2025 | Chip Ganassi Racing | STP 21 |
BAR 13 |
IMS 18 |
IMS 6 |
DET 9 |
GMP 10 |
RDA 15 |
MOH 14 |
IOW 5 |
LAG 11 |
LAG 6 |
POR 6 |
MIL 12 |
NSH 7 |
8th | 288 | |||
| 2026 | Chip Ganassi Racing | STP 22 |
ARL 13 |
BAR 17 |
BAR 20 |
IMS | IMS | DET | GAT | ROA | ROA | MOH | MOH | NSS | POR | MIL | LAG | LAG | 20th* | 48* |