Tijmen van der Helm

Tijmen van der Helm (born 26 January 2004) is a Dutch racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with JDC-Miller MotorSports in a Porsche 963.

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

Early career

Karting 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.

Lower formulae 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. 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. He finished 14th in the Drivers Championship with a race victory.

Formula Renault Eurocup In 2020, van der Helm would race in the Formula Renault Eurocup with FA Racing. 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.

FIA Formula 3

Heading into 2021, van der Helm moved up to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with MP Motorsport, partnering Alpine juniors and Formula Renault rivals Caio Collet and Victor Martins. During most of the season, he was considerably behind his teammates, scoring no points and only rarely managing to beat Collet and Martins in races.

Sportscar career

First steps into endurance racing (2021–22) Van der Helm made his endurance racing debut in 2021, competing in the Road to Le Mans event as part of Racing Spirit of Léman.

After he had started in the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 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. 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, before ARC Bratislava withdrew from the series, citing logistical reasons.

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. 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.

ELMS podiums and GTP career (2023–25) 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. 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. The trio finished third of seven teams in the Pro class standings.

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

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. 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.

Ahead of the 2025 IMSA season, van der Helm penned a long-term contract at JDC. With Westbrook's retirement, van der Helm was joined full-time by Gianmaria Bruni. 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.

First GTP victory (2026) Van der Helm returned to JDC in 2026. He, alongside Nico Pino and endurance rookie Kaylen Frederick, finished seventh at Daytona. Heading into round 3 at Long Beach, van der Helm was joined by Porsche factory driver Laurin Heinrich. At round 4 in Laguna Seca, a strong late charge from Heinrich saw the team take victory, JDC's first in the GTP class.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Complete Karting World Championship results

Racing record

Racing career summary † As van der Helm was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 2019 MP Motorsport NAV1 NAV2 NAV3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 JER1 JER2 JER3 ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 4th 158

Complete Toyota Racing Series 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 DC Points 2020 Kiwi Motorsport HIG1 HIG2 HIG3 TER1 TER2 TER3 HMP1 HMP2 HMP3 PUK1 PUK2 PUK3 MAN1 MAN2 MAN3 14th 84

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup 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 2020 FA Racing MNZ1 MNZ2 IMO1 IMO2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 SPA1 SPA2 IMO1 IMO2 HOC1 HOC2 LEC1 LEC2 12th 45

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points 2021 MP Motorsport CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 SOC1 SOC2 SOC3 26th 0 † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) † Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † Non World Endurance Championship entries are ineligible to score points.

Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results