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Neil Verhagen
Nationality	American
Born	(2001-02-18) February 18, 2001 (age 23) Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States
GTWC Europe Endurance Cup career
Debut season	2022
Current team	BMW Junior Team - ROWE Racing
Racing licence	FIA Gold
Car number	26
Starts	5 (5 entries)
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	11th in 2022
Previous series
2020-2021 2019 2017-18 2015-2016 2015	Nürburgring Endurance Series BRDC British F3 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 F1600 Championship Series F2000 Championship Series
Championship titles
2016	F1600 Championship Series
Awards
2016	Team USA Scholarship

Neil Verhagen (born February 18, 2001) is a racing driver from the United States of America. Verhagen is the youngest to win the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, having accomplished this in the Formula F category.

Early career

Karting

Neil started indoor karting along with his brother Alex. The duo trained and raced at the Grand Prix New York facilities in Mount Kisco, New York, under the instruction of racing driver Stevan McAleer. McAleer raced many classes and won the 2015 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the ST class. After racing at the Oakland Valley Race Park club scene, Verhagen joined the WKA and various Rotax Max racing series. In 2012 the young driver finished second in the Florida Winter Tour Minimax series. Verhagen beat many hopefuls such as Logan Sargeant, Patricio O'Ward and Trenton Estep.

To increase their sons chances at a successful racing career, the Verhagen family moved form Ridgefield, Connecticut, to Mooresville, North Carolina, in 2014. The family exchanged the WKA scene for the United States Pro Kart Series.

Lower formulae

Verhagen made his auto racing debut at Road Atlanta in the Skip Barber Winter Series. The young driver won the first three races of the championship at Road Atlanta and Sebring International Raceway. Verhagen, racing a Mazda powered Reynard chassis, finished second in the championship. Later in 2015 Verhagen debuted in the F1600 Championship Series. At the Pittsburgh International Race Complex Verhagen competed in a Spectrum. At the F2000 Championship Series finale at Pittsburgh Verhagen finished tenth in a RFR F2000.

For 2016 Verhagen joined K-Hill Motorsports in the F1600 Championship Series. The young driver won the championship beating teammate Peter Portante both racing Mygale SJ11 chassis. Verhagen also competed in the SCCA club racing scene. Winning the SCCA Majors Tour Northeast Conference Verhagen qualified for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Verhagen went on to become the youngest driver to win the Runoffs at 15 years and 242 days. Winning the Runoffs, Verhagen qualified for the 2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout.

Formula Renault

In 2017, Verhagen was inducted into the Red Bull Junior Team and moved up to the Formula Renault Eurocup with MP Motorsport, alongside fellow Red Bull Junior Richard Verschoor. He had one podium at Hungaroring and finished the season eleventh, behind his Dutch teammate.

The following year, Verhagen returned to the Eurocup with Tech 1 Racing, where he finished the championship eleventh.

BRDC British F3

In 2019, Verhagen lost his backing from Red Bull and moved to the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with Double R Racing. He ended the season fifth overall, having taken seven podiums throughout the campaign.

Sportscar career

2020: Victorious GT debut

Verhagen moved to sportscar racing in 2020, driving for Walkenhorst Motorsport as part of the BMW Junior Team in two rounds of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. This included the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, which the American won in the SP8T category driving a BMW M4 GT4.

2021: Nürburgring Endurance success

For the 2021 season, Verhagen stepped up to the SP9 Pro class to partner Daniel Harper and Max Hesse in a full-time campaign of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, where the trio would compete in a BMW M6 GT3 car. Verhagen ended up second in the standings, having taken two victories.

2022: GT World Challenge

The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup would be Verhagen's destination in 2022, racing for the BMW Junior Team with ROWE Racing, once more alongside Harper and Hesse. After taking their first points in Imola with a fourth-placed finish, the trio ended up fifth in the 24 Hours of Spa, beating their teammates in the sister car. A further points finish at the Hockenheimring left the American eleventh in the championship, one place ahead of the more experienced line-up of the other Rowe Racing entry.

As a result of their accomplishments, Verhagen, Hesse and Harper were introduced as fully-fledged BMW works drivers before the 2023 season.

Racing record

Racing career summary

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

American Open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

F1600 Championship Series

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie results

As Verhagen was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Ovr. Pos.	Class Pos.
2020	Walkenhorst Motorsport	Dan Harper Max Hesse	BMW M4 GT4	SP8T	78	19th	1st
2021	BMW Junior Team Shell	Augusto Farfus Dan Harper Max Hesse	BMW M6 GT3	SP9	54	DNF	DNF
2022	BMW Junior Team Shell	Dan Harper Max Hesse	BMW M4 GT3	SP9	86	DNF	DNF
2023	BMW Junior Team	Dan Harper Max Hesse	BMW M4 GT3	SP9	96	DNF	DNF

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup results

Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

1. "Stevan McAleer". DriverDB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
2. "Neil Verhagen". DriverDB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
3. "Florida Winter Tour - Rotax Mini Max 2012 standings". DriverDB.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
4. "A day at the races: Skip Barber Summer Series hits soggy VIR". Fox Sports. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
5. "2015 Pittsburgh - Race 1". F1600 Championship Series. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
6. "Neil Verhagen Announced as Second K-Hill F1600 Driver". F1600 Championship Series. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
7. "Victory for Title-Winner Verhagen at VIR". F1600 Championship Series. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
8. "2016 SCCA Majors Championship Point Standings Northeast Conference". SCCA. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
9. "Verhagen Becomes the Youngest SCCA National Champion With Formula F Win". SCCA. 25 September 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
10. "Red Bull adds Ticktum, Verhagen to Junior Team for 2017". January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
11. Allen, Peter (July 1, 2017). "Dan Ticktum clinches first Formula Renault win in Hungaroring opener". formulascout.com. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
12. Hensby, Paul (January 15, 2018). "VERHAGEN SWITCHES TO TECH 1 RACING, KEEPS RED BULL BACKING". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
13. Wood, Elliot (March 4, 2019). "Former Red Bull junior Neil Verhagen joins Double R for BRDC British F3". FormulaScout. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
14. "BMW Junior Team 2020: Ein außergewöhnliches Jahr mit außergewöhnlichen Leistungen". bmw-motorsport.com. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
15. "GT News Notebook: ADAC GT Masters, N24 & NLS". Dailysportscar. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
16. "Race Results - 61. ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen" (PDF). www.vln.de. 10 July 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
17. Lloyd, Daniel (16 February 2022). "BMW Junior Team Enters Endurance Cup With ROWE – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
18. "ROWE Racing so close to podium after strong Spa debut for the BMW M4 GT3". www.press.bmwgroup.com. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
19. "ROWE Racing rounds off GTWC season with ninth and 13th places at Barcelona". www.press.bmwgroup.com. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
20. Plümer, Jonas (2023-01-11). "Nach drei Jahren als BMW Junior Team: Dan Harper, Max Hesse und Neil Verhagen sind BMW M Werksfahrer". gt-place.com (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2023-01-30.

External links

• Neil Verhagen career summary at DriverDB.com

v t e BMW M Factory Drivers

Works Drivers

Bill Auberlen (1996—) Augusto Farfus (2007—) Bruno Spengler (2012—) Marco Wittmann (2012—) Maxime Martin (2013—17, 2023—) Jens Klingmann (2014—) Jesse Krohn (2014—) Philipp Eng (2016—) Connor De Phillippi (2018—) Jake Dennis (2018—) Sheldon van der Linde (2019—) Nick Yelloly (2019—) Dan Harper (2020—) Max Hesse (2020—) Neil Verhagen (2020—) Erik Johansson (2020—) Robby Foley (2021—) Madison Snow (2022—) Robin Frijns (2023—) René Rast (2023—) Valentino Rossi (2023—) Dries Vanthoor (2023—) Charles Weerts (2023—) Raffaele Marciello (2024—)

• 2001 births
• Living people
• American people of Dutch descent
• Racing drivers from Connecticut
• World Karting Association drivers
• Formula Ford drivers
• SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners
• Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
• MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship drivers
• Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers
• BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers
• MP Motorsport drivers
• 24H Series drivers
• Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
• Tech 1 Racing drivers
• Double R Racing drivers
• BMW M drivers
• Rowe Racing drivers
• Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers
• Sportspeople from Ridgefield, Connecticut
• GT World Challenge America drivers
• 24 Hours of Spa drivers
• ADAC GT Masters drivers
• GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers