Niels Koolen (; born 25 May 2001) is a Dutch racing driver who is currently competing in the Indy NXT for Chip Ganassi Racing. Koolen has previously competed in the European Le Mans Series driving for the Duqueine Team. He is the son of rally raid driver and businessman Kees Koolen.
Koolen is a member of A14 Management, overseen by two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso.
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. He contested the final two rounds of the 2022 Italian F4 Championship, also with Monlau Motorsport, competing under a Belgian license.
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. 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. He would ultimately sign with the Dutch-based team to participate in the 2023 championship alongside Joshua Dufek and Kas Haverkort. He struggled and was considerably behind his teammate throughout the whole campaign, and finished the standings 37th, with a best finish of nineteenth.
Eurocup-3 Koolen would participate in two rounds of Eurocup-3 in 2023 at Jerez and Estoril, failing to score points in either round.
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. He got nineteenth in both the Monza sprint and feature race. After the next weekend in Baku, AIX Racing confirmed that Koolen would not return for the final two weekends of the season.
Indy NXT 2024 In 2024, Koolen switched to Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports. In the first race of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he finished tenth. 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. 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.
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.
Racing record Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition 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 16thSources:
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 8th2025–26Porsche Carrera Cup Middle EastTeam GP Elite 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2026 Indy NXT Chip Ganassi Racing 17 0 0 0 0 268 15thEuroformula Open ChampionshipTeam Motopark 3 0 0 0 0 20* 15th* † 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) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points 2022 Monlau Motorsport ALG1 ALG2 ALG3JER1JER2JER3CRT1CRT2CRT3SPA1SPA2SPA3ARA1ARA2ARA3NAV1NAV2NAV3CAT1CAT2CAT3 NC† 0
Complete Italian F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeam12345678910111213141516171819202122DCPoints 2022 Monlau Motorsport IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3RBR3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 43rd 0
Complete Formula Regional Middle East 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 DC Points 2023 Pinnacle VAR DUB11 DUB12 DUB13 KUW11 KUW12 KUW13 KUW21 KUW22 KUW23 DUB21 DUB22 DUB23 ABU1 ABU2 ABU3 31st 0
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2023 Van Amersfoort Racing IMO1 IMO2 CAT1 CAT2 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 MUG1 MUG2 LEC1 LEC2 RBR1 RBR2 MNZ1 MNZ2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HOC1 HOC2 37th 0
Complete Eurocup-3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeam12345678910111213141516DCPoints2023GRS TeamSPA1SPA2ARA1ARA2MNZ1MNZ2ZAN1ZAN2JER1JER2EST1EST2CRT1CRT2CAT1CAT2 25th 0
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 AIX Racing BHRSPR BHRFEA JEDSPR JEDFEA MELSPR MELFEA IMOSPR IMOFEA MONSPR MONFEA CATSPR CATFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA SILSPR SILFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA SPASPR SPAFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA BAKSPR BAKFEA LSLSPR LSLFEA YMCSPR YMCFEA 32nd 0
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456RankPoints 2024 Duqueine Team LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA MUG ALG 17th 20
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 BAR IMS IMS DET RDA LAG LAG MOH IOW GMP POR MIL NSH 20th 140 2025 Chip Ganassi Racing STP BAR IMS IMS DET GMP RDA MOH IOW LAG LAG POR MIL NSH 8th 288 2026 Chip Ganassi Racing STP ARL BAR BAR IMS IMS DET GAT ROA ROA MOH MOH NSS POR MIL LAG LAG 15th 268
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