Van der Steur Racing (VDSR) was an American sports car racing team that competed in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge.

The team had an ownership stake in New Jersey Motorsports Park, after it purchased assets and ownership interest from Forty7 Motorsports in 2025. In June 2026, van der Steur Racing was sold to YRB Racing, which established the Car Blanche operation in IMSA.

History

American Le Mans Series

2004–2005 Van der Steur Racing began racing in 2004 with its debut event the 12 Hours of Sebring. Team founder Gunnar van der Steur, his brother Eric and Spencer Pumpelly competed in the LMP2 class with a Lola B2K/40-Nissan. They retired after two laps with a CV joint failure. The rest of the season went similarly, a further three retirements and a switch to Advanced Engine Research (AER) engines not helping improve the reliability of the Lola.

After missing the opening round of the 2005 American Le Mans Series season, van der Steur Racing made its first start at the Grand Prix of Atlanta with the Lola B2K/40 now re-engineered to accommodate the AER P07 engine. The team secured two second-place finishes at Lime Rock and Road America, finishing fourth in the standings.

2006 The team continued to campaign the now ancient Lola B2K/40 into the 2006 ALMS season with Ben Devlin and Gunnar van der Steur. They finished their first race at Houston in fourth in LMP2. Following the race, Gunnar reported that Reliant Park street circuit damaged the Lola chassis. He stated that "[i]t tore this little car to pieces" and said the team replaced some engine components and chassis bolts. They finished the race at Mid-Ohio in fifth of the five class runners. At Lime Rock, the team retired with early on with gearbox issues. After missing the next five rounds, VDSR received the Radical SR9 and completed a shakedown at Summit Point Raceway. They became the development team for the Radical on Kumho Tire, running the AER P07D engine. VDSR entered the Petit Le Mans with drivers with Devlin, Tim Greaves and van der Steur. Qualifying was extremely promising for the debutante Radical, Devlin set a time of 1:13.557 in spite of a brake cooling duct not working properly. However, the race ended shortly after the green flag fell when the AER engine dropped a valve. At the final race of the season at Laguna Seca, the team entered Devlin, Adam Pecorari and van der Steur. In the second hour, the car spun in avoidance of a cone that was kicked onto the racing surface by another competitor, collecting the No. 44 GT2 class Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche. They retired from the race after completing 100 laps.

2007 2007 was to be the first full season running the Radical SR9 but a preseason crash at Summit Point and a overheating engine at Mid-Ohio delayed their first race to the sixth round at Lime Rock Park. With Pecorari and van der Steur again at the wheel they finished a trouble-free race seventh in class The duo classified eighth in class, 15 laps down at the Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio. The next race they entered was at Mosport where the race ended quickly after six laps when Pecorari had a mechanical issue to the left rear of the Radical and careened into the barriers. The team entered into the season finale at Laguna Seca but withdrew before the weekend began.

2008–2009

The team only entered one round in 2008, with Robbie Pecorari joining van der Steur at St.Petersburg, where they finished eighth in class. VDSR started the 2009 season at Lime Rock, with Adam Pecorari and van der Steur finishing third in LMP2. Van der Steur reportedly drove back to their shop in Maryland to machine a new suspension component after it broke the previous day, allowing them to take part in the race. At Mid-Ohio, they finished as non-classified after contact with an ALMS Challenge class Porsche. Their next race at Mosport was an unremarkable one, finishing second on the road, before they were disqualified for failing the stall test. The final race of their season at the Petit Le Mans had van der Steur joined by Pecorari brothers (Adam and Robbie). However, they would not appear in any session that weekend and it would be their last entry until 2020.

According to Dailysportscar,

Michelin Pilot Challenge

2020–2022 The team made its return to IMSA competition at the final race of the 2020 Michelin Pilot Challenge season at Sebring in the TCR class. VDSR entered into the full 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign with the Hyundai Veloster N TCR. Drivers for the season were Denis Dupont and Rory van der Steur, Gunnar's son. They scored a best finish of second at Road America, placing 12th in the standings. For 2022, Tyler Gonzalez joined van der Steur in the Hyundai TCR, finishing as high as third at Laguna Seca.

2023–present For the 2023 Michelin Pilot Challenge season, VDSR stepped up to the GS class with an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 for drivers Austin McCusker and Rory van der Steur. They were involved in a bizarre incident at the Detroit Street Circuit where Robert Megennis attempted to lap van der Steur into the hairpin. However, Megennis's BMW ran into the side of the Aston Martin and went up and over the top of the No. 19 VDSR entry, causing substantial damage to the roof and driver's side of the chassis. A podium finish at Mosport was the highest finish of the season.

In 2024, Rory van der Steur was joined by an assortment of drivers in the No. 19 Aston Martin with three podium finishes, including two runner-ups at Sebring and Mosport. They also teamed up with fellow Aston Martin competitor, Ruckus Racing, for three races. The following year, VDSR again employed a rotation of drivers across the season, yielding mediocre results, with a best finish of 13th at Road America.

IMSA SportsCar Championship

2025 Van der Steur Racing made its return to the highest level of US endurance racing in 2025 with two ex-Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo chassis for the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). Drivers for the 24 Hours of Daytona were Valentin Hasse-Clot, Anthony McIntosh, Rory van der Steur and Maxime Robin. On their debut race in the GTD class, VDSR managed a sixth place finish. The team continued in the Endurance Cup unable to match their first result, with three retirements in the next four races. They ended the season 16th in the MEC standings.

2026 Midway through the season, the team announced their discontinuation of the racing program, with their car and entry taken over by YRB Racing.https://racer.com/2026/06/24/yrb-racing-acquires-van-der-steur-racing-entry-ahead-of-six-hours-of-the-glen

Racing record

Complete American Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassNoChassisEngineTyreDrivers123456789101112Pts2004 Van der Steur RacingLMP219 Lola B2K/40 Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0 L V6 Erik van der Steur Gunnar van der Steur Spencer Pumpelly (Round 1) Ben Devlin (Round 8) SEB MDO LIM SON POR MOS ELK PET LAG 7th 102005 Van der Steur RacingLMP219 Lola B2K/40 Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0 L V6 Erik van der Steur (Rounds 2–3, 8–9) Gunnar van der Steur Ben Devlin SEB ATL MDO LIM SON POR ELK MOS PET LAG 4th 582006 Van der Steur RacingLMP219 Lola B2K/40 (Rounds 2–4)Radical SR9 (Rounds 9–10) Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0 L V6 (Rounds 2–4)AER P07D 2.0 L Turbo I4 (Rounds 9–10) Gunnar van der Steur Ben Devlin Tim Greaves (Round 9) Adam Pecorari (Round 10) SEB HOU MDO LIM UTA POR ELK MOS PET LAG 5th 182007 Van der Steur RacingLMP219 Radical SR9 AER P07D 2.0 L Turbo I4 Gunnar van der Steur Adam Pecorari SEB STP LBH HOU UTA LIM MDO ELK MOS DET PET LAG 9th 72008 Van der Steur RacingLMP219 Radical SR9 AER P07D 2.0 L Turbo I4 Gunnar van der Steur Robbie Pecorari SEB STP LBH UTA LIM MDO ELK MOS DET PET LAG 10th 32009 Van der Steur RacingLMP219 Radical SR9 AER P07D 2.0 L Turbo I4 Gunnar van der Steur Adam Pecorari Robbie Pecorari (Round 9) SEB STP LBH UTA LIM MDO ELK MOS PET LAG 5th 13

Michelin Pilot Challenge results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassNoChassisEngineDrivers1234567891011Pts2020 van der Steur RacingTCR91 Hyundai Veloster N TCR Hyundai Theta II 2.0 L Turbo I4 Rory van der Steur Danny Formal DAY SEB1 ELK VIR ATL1 MOH ATL2 LGA SEB2 20th 192021 van der Steur RacingTCR19 Hyundai Veloster N TCR Hyundai Theta II 2.0 L Turbo I4 Rory van der Steur Denis Dupont DAY SEB MOH WGI1 WGI2 LIM ELK LGA VIR ATL 12th 20302022 van der Steur RacingTCR19 Hyundai Veloster N TCR Hyundai Theta II 2.0 L Turbo I4 Rory van der Steur Tyler Gonzalez DAY SEB LGA MOH WGI MOS LIM ELK VIR ATL 9th 2320 2023 van der Steur Racing GS 19 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 Rory van der Steur Austin McCuskerr Wyatt Brichacek Valentin Hasse-Clot DAY SEB LGA DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR IMS ATL 12th 1810 TCR 90 Hyundai Veloster N TCR Hyundai Theta II 2.0 L Turbo I4 Rory van der Steur Luca Mars DAY SEB LGA DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR IMS ATL 16th 260 TCR 91 Hyundai Elantra N TCR Hyundai Theta II 2.0 L Turbo I4 Tyler Maxson Bryan Ortiz DAY SEB LAG DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR IND ATL 6th 2350 2024 van der Steur Racing GS 19 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 Rory van der Steur Valentin Hasse-Clot Scott Andrews Dominic Starkweather Alexandre Prémat Danny Formal DAY SEB LAG MDO WGL MOS ELK VIR IND ATL 3rd 2360 2025 van der Steur Racing GS 15 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 Christine Sloss Ben Sloss MHP Peters Clément Mateu Glenn McGee Rory van der Steur DAY SEB LAG MDO WGL MOS ELK VIR IND ATL 16th 1270 82 Brady Behrman Sammy Smith DAY SEB LAG MDO WGL MOS ELK VIR IND ATL 31st 1402026 van der Steur Racing RaceWife Racing GS 10Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EvoAston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 Glenn McGee Ben Sloss Christine Sloss DAY SEB LAG MDO WGL MOS ELK VIR IND ATL 36th 210 Thunder Bunny Racing van der Steur Racing Car Blanche OORE 66 Trenton Estep Allen Patten DAY SEB LAG MDO WGL MOS ELK VIR IND ATL 10th 1830

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassNoChassisEngineDrivers12345678910Pts2025 van der Steur RacingGTD19 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 Valentin Hasse-Clot Anthony McIntosh Rory van der Steur Maxime Robin Eduardo Barrichello DAY SEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK VIR IMS ATL 18th 9912026 van der Steur Racing Car Blanche GTD 19 68 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 Trenton Estep Rory van der Steur Marius Fossard Valentin Hasse-Clot Sébastien Baud Carl Bennett Scott Andrews DAY SEB LBH LGA WGLMOS ELKVIRIMSPET14th1543

References

External links