Van Amersfoort Racing’s 2024 campaign ended on a positive note and while for Team Manager Klaudija Jakaj it was a “good” season, she admits it had its “ups and downs”.
After a strong finish to 2023 where they won the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race through Caio Collet, this year got off to a difficult start, with VAR scoreless after the opening two rounds in Sakhir and Melbourne.
But once they returned to Europe they immediately hit the ground running with Noel León finishing third in the Imola Sprint Race – only after a post-race penalty did he lose the win.
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After that, they were able to consistently challenge for points and achieved three more podiums, helping VAR to finish seventh in the standings with 91 points.
So, what changed when they came back to Europe? For Jakaj, it wasn’t as simple as switching continents, but returning to familiar surroundings definitely helped.
“I mean, it’s not like teams all of a sudden have the golden answer to everything,” she explained. “But obviously there is a lot of historical data and experience from European tracks, and the relationships with drivers are getting closer and better, which helps.
“We had some changes in the team at the end of last year so we also had to get used to that, but it worked really well. I trust having an environment where everyone feels safe and comfortable to bring out the best in each individual.”
A big benefit to this was the rookie León who made all four VAR podiums this year. The Mexican driver scored a team record 79 points and achieved his goal of finishing in the top ten in the championship.
From Jakaj’s point of view, after monitoring his development from the 2023 post-season trials until now, she put his progress over the year to his hard work within the team.
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“When I first met Noel, I realized how independent he was for his age,” Jakaj revealed. “This and the way he learns from mistakes and quickly overcomes them gives a lot of room to improve.
“So I’ve been very impressed with Noel’s development over the last year and how quickly he understood all the factors that needed to be in place to perform well. He was a rookie, so it took a while to get there, but it happened.
“He simply improved a lot and realized that he does not have the same track time as in other championships. There is no room for error here and he worked hard and did a great job with everyone involved. I think that’s where the improvement started.”
Jakaj also spoke highly of Sophia Floersch and Tommy Smith, believing that both unfortunately did not have the luck in the races that their performances deserved. The former finished the season without taking any points, but Jakaj doesn’t think that tells the whole story.
“Sophia has a history with VAR and starting the season with Macau was a very special experience for both sides,” continued Jakaj. “She has a lot of experience and showed very good competition performances.
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“Unfortunately, she was often unlucky and got involved in incidents caused by others and she suffered from them. I wish we had managed to be in the points with her, she would have deserved it.”
Smith was in his second season with the team in FIA Formula 3 and scored his first championship points at Silverstone earlier this year, taking P4.
Of the Australian, Jakaj said: “Having Tommy for a second year was great. He’s a great kid and we love working with him. It was definitely an improvement on last season but the field is so tight that sometimes the results unfortunately didn’t show that. Silverstone was his highlight where he finished the race in P4 which was a great experience.”
As Jakaj reflected on the year, she spoke with pride of seeing the work each member of VAR has done this year.
“I can’t really name a highlight,” she added. “For me personally, it was great to see the development of each individual and to get the experience of the podiums with the team and the driver.
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“The good thing is that every time you finish the race on a podium, you forget about the workload or how tired you are – especially in a triple nod. So basically every podium is a highlight.
“I loved working with everyone involved, from drivers to coaches, families and every single team member. There are so many emotions involved and so many little things have to be in place to make it all happen. Very proud of the teamwork that made it happen.”
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