Niels Langeveld says that he ‘respects, but does not fear’ his rivals in the FIA World Touring Car Cup, as the TCR Germany graduate gets ready to embark on his maiden season at the world level in Marrakech.
Langeveld is moving up to WTCR after spending the past two years in TCR Germany, where last year the Dutchman finished third overall in the drivers’ standings after narrowly missing out on the overall title.
The 31-year-old made a relatively late move into car racing just over ten years ago, making his way up through the junior tin-top ranks rather than the oft-attempted single-seater pathway.
“I started in 2008, 11 years ago, and I was 20 years old when I started racing, which is a different story to what we’re used to in motorsport,” explained Langeveld of his start in motor racing. “Normally you have the guys who start in karting and try to make a Formula career and eventually they go into GT racing or touring car racing, but I never did anything other than touring car.
“I started in the Suzuki Swift Cup; The first two years were a big learning process because I did not kart, so I had to learn everything from the start. In 2010, in the third year, we became champion.
“Then we went to the Dutch Clio Cup, which was a very high level of competition in The Netherlands, and I competed for a couple of years against guys like Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, and in the second year we became champion.
“Then suddenly in 2013 I did not race. Why? I had become champion. But we all know it does not work that in motorsport if you become champion you are guaranteed a spot in a touring car series for free. I did not have any money anymore, so I did not race in 2013 – no seat, nothing.
“That was another learning process – you have to be more complete than only a racing driver on track. It’s all about marketing, press, media and sponsorships. It’s just a business and that’s what I learned.
“In 2014 I went into the Clio Cup Benelux and just at the last moment the car just came out of France. We had to put the bolts together on the car, and we started racing in Clio Cup Benelux and became champion in 2015.
“Then I could finally make the move with sponsorship. It worked really well in the SEAT León Eurocup in 2016 and it was 11 November 2016 here in Barcelona where we became champions. That was a big achievement in my career.
“In 2017 I went to TCR Germany – that was the moment when TCR Germany became a hot TCR series. TCR Germany became one of the hardest series in 2017 and we had over 40 cars. That was a different level of competition.
“Together with my engineer Herman [de Jager], who helped me in the last eight years before that, we always managed to get in front. Maybe it took a little time because we had no budget for testing and other things, but in the end we were always there on top.
“It took a while in 2017, but then the results came as well – and there were 17 Audis in TCR Germany in 2017. It was really difficult, but we did a really good job. We made ourselves proud and we made Audi proud.
“2018 was the year where I had to go for the championship in TCR Germany. We did everything we could, but just in the end we were just a little bit away from making it.”
Langeveld is not planning to drastically change his approach to the coming season, even though he is now competing in real life against the names he looked up to when he was younger and racing in video games.
“How do we approach the season? It’s just about doing what we always do. We’ve already proven in the last ten years that we always get results, so for me we’re just doing the same as we always do.
“I have a lot of respect for these drivers, but in the end, we have the same rights on track. They are drivers, but I am also one of the drivers, and none have more rights than the others. I respect them, but I do not fear them.
“Fifteen years ago, I was playing games [against] Yvan Muller, Andy Priaulx and Gabriele Tarquini and I wanted to be them, and I wanted to compete against them.
“Now, fifteen years later, they are still here, and I can do it! This is a big dream and it’s unbelievable that we can do it. In the end, you just have to change your mindset a little bit. “