Tijmen van der Helm

Van der Helm was born on 26 January 2004 in Delft, and grew up in nearby Den Hoorn, South Holland.^[1][2] His career was influenced by his father Gerard, who raced in the Dutch Volkswagen Endurance Cup.^[3]

Having started karting in 2013, van der Helm's notable karting successes include third place in the 2013 Chrono Karting Winter Series - Micromax, second in the 2017 CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and a victory in the 2017 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the junior category.^{[citation needed]}

Van der Helm made his single seater debut in the 2019 Formula 4 UAE Championship with Xcel Motorsport. He finished the series tenth in the standings with a win and three podiums to his name. Later that year he raced in the 2019 Spanish F4 Championship with MP Motorsport.^[4] He took eight podiums on his way to fourth in the points. In 2020, van der Helm raced in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series. Participating in the championship with Kiwi Motorsport.^[5] He finished 14th in the Drivers Championship with a race victory.^[6]

In 2020, van der Helm would race in the Formula Renault Eurocup with FA Racing.^[7] He ended the season 12th in the points tally, with one podium finish and 45 points. Van der Helm also beat his experienced teammate Amaury Cordeel by two positions in the championship, and was the sixth-best rookie in the rookie standings. His season was hampered by a wrist injury, one which van der Helm suffered during round 3 at the Nürburgring.^[8]

On February 12, van der Helm was announced as an MP Motorsport driver for the 2021 season, partnering Alpine juniors and Formula Renault rivals Caio Collet and Victor Martins.^[9] During most of the season, he was considerably behind his teammates in the races, scoring no points and only rarely managing to beat Collet and Martins in races.^[10]

After he had made his endurance racing debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona at the start of 2022, it was announced that ARC Bratislava team had signed van der Helm for the FIA World Endurance Championship campaign, where he would partner Mathias Beche and Miro Konôpka.^[11] He competed for the team in three of the first four rounds, having finished fourth as part of the TDS Racing lineup at the 24 Hours of Le Mans,^[12] before ARC Bratislava withdrew from the series, citing logistical reasons.^[13][14]

During the same year, van der Helm also took part in the European Le Mans Series, driving for TDS Racing x Vaillante alongside Beche and Philippe Cimadomo.^[15] Having competed in the Pro-Am category given Cimadomo's status as a bronze driver, the team ended up fourth in the class standings, whilst two best race finishes of tenth in the opening pair of races took Van der Helm to 22nd in the overall drivers' championship.^[16]

Van der Helm started 2023 by stepping down to the LMP3 class, where he finished fifth in the 24 Hours of Daytona for JDC-Miller Motorsports, having experienced a number of technical issues.^[17][18] Shortly afterwards, it was announced that he would partner Job van Uitert and Manuel Maldonado in the European Le Mans Series, returning to the LMP2 class with Panis Racing.^[19] The trio finished third in the Pro class standings.^{[citation needed]}

Later in 2023, van der Helm was confirmed for JDC-Miller's GTP program, alongside Mike Rockenfeller.^[20] The team entered the championship in round 4; with a best race result of fourth, van der Helm and Rockenfeller finished ninth in the standings.^{[citation needed]}

For the 2024 season, van der Helm remained at JDC in IMSA, this time partnering Richard Westbrook for the full season and being joined by Phil Hanson in the endurance rounds.^[21] The team scored a lone podium at Indianapolis, inheriting third place after two cars were disqualified, and ended up tenth in the standings — last of the full-time competitors.^[22]

Ahead of the 2025 IMSA season, van der Helm penned a long-term contract at JDC.^[23] With Westbrook's retirement, van der Helm was joined full-time by Gianmaria Bruni.^[24][25] Though the team finished sixth in a tumultuous 24 Hours of Daytona, results were discrete: JDC never finished a race higher than eighth after Daytona, leading to van der Helm finishing 11th in the championship, once again last of the full-time competitors.^[26]