# Dirk Schouten (racing driver)

Dirk Schouten (born 1 March 2001) is a Dutch racing driver who last competed in the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. Schouten claimed the championship title in the series. He competed as a guest driver in 2 rounds of the 2024 Porsche Supercup for two different teams.

## Career
### Touring Car Endurance Series

Schouten made his car racing debut in the 2021 Touring Car Endurance Series at Mugello Circuit driving the No. 202 JR Motorsport BMW M3 E46 GTR in the TCX class alongside his father Coos Schouten and Dirk's cousin Bas Schouten. The trio finished third in the TCX class and 31st overall.

### International GT Open
#### 2021

Alongside his select start in the Touring Car Endurance Series, Schouten also competed in the 2021 International GT Open. Schouten would drive the No. 53 Q1 by EMG Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 Cup alongside teammate Nicolas Vandierendonck in the Am Cup. Schouten and Vandierendonck made their first start in the second round held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Schouten and Vandierendonck won both races in their class.
Later in the season, the pair would return for rounds 6 and 7 at Monza and Barcelona respectively. However, they would move classes into the Pro-Am Cup. Schouten and Vandierendonck would win race one at Monza, and get podiums in all four races. They ended the season finishing third in the Pro-Am Cup.

### GT Cup Open Europe
#### 2022

For 2022, Schouten moved over to the GT Cup Open Europe driving the No. 53 Q1 Trackracing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup alongside Lukas Valkre. Schouten and Valkre would contest the full season in the Pro-Am Cup. The pair had four poles, four fastest laps, and nine podiums during the season.

### Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux
#### 2023

Following his season in the GT Cup Open Europe, Schouten announced that he would compete full-time in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux for the 2023 season driving for Q1 Trackracing. In round 10 at Circuit Zolder, he would achieve his first podium in the championship finishing second behind Bertrand Baguette. Schouten finished the season fourth in the championship.

#### 2024

Schouten returned to the championship for the 2024 season, once again driving for Q1 Trackracing. In race two at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Schouten would win his first race in the championship, finishing six seconds ahead of fellow Dutchman Paul Meijer despite Schouten being handed a five second time penalty. This result put Schouten in the lead of the championship following Benjamin Paque's retirement in race two. Going into the next race at Zandvoort, he qualified in second polesitter and teammate Niels Langeveld. Schouten got a better launch at the start and jumped ahead of Langeveld into the lead. However, an accident involving three cars meant the race had to be red flagged. As the field had not complete a full lap around the track prior to the red flag, the field would be reset and Schouten would start in second again behind Langeveld. On the second race start, Schouten once again got a better launch than Langeveld and overtook him for the lead. He and Langeveld would battle for the entirety of the race, but it was Schouten who prevailed, acheiving his second win in a row. For race two, Schouten qualified on pole ahead of Benjamin Paque. At the start of race two, Paque got a better start than Schouten, who was overtaken by the Belgian before turn one. Schouten would remain behind Paque the whole race and finished second.

## Racing record
### Racing career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2021 | 24H TCE Series - TCX | JR Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 9th |
| 2021 | Belcar Endurance Championship | Q1 Trackracing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | NC† |
| 2021 | International GT Open - Am | Q1 by EMG Motorsport | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7th |
| 2021 | International GT Open - Pro-Am | Q1 by EMG Motorsport | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 3rd |
| 2021 | Supercar Challenge - GT | JR Motorsport | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 12th |
| 2022 | GT Cup Open Europe | Q1 Trackracing | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 100 | 2nd |
| 2022 | Supercar Challenge - GT | JR Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 12th |
| 2023 | Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux | Q1 Trackracing | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 119 | 4th |
| 2024 | Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux | Q1 Trackracing | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 186.5 | 1st |
| 2024 | Porsche Supercup | Martinet / Forestier Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 2024 | Porsche Supercup | Ombra S.R.L. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
† As Schouten was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points.

### Complete GT Cup Open Europe results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
| 2022 | Q1 Trackracing | Pro-Am | Porsche 992 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | LEC 1 3 | LEC 2 2 | SPA 1 2 | SPA 2 3 | HUN 1 2 | HUN 2 2 | MON 1 3 | MON 2 2 | CAT 1 3 | CAT 2 4 | 2nd | 100 |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||

### Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux 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 | DC | Points | Ref |
| 2023 | Q1 Trackracing | SPA 1 10 | SPA 2 8 | HOC 1 5 | HOC 2 7 | ZAN 1 6 | ZAN 2 4 | ASS 1 8 | ASS 2 23 | ZOL 1 5 | ZOL 2 2 | RBR 1 6 | RBR 2 10 | 4th | 119 | |
| 2024 | Q1 Trackracing | SPA 1 10 | SPA 2 1 | ZAN 1 1 | ZAN 2 2 | IMO 1 18 | IMO 2 5 | ASS 1 4 | ASS 2 2 | RBR 1 4 | RBR 2 2 | ZOL 1 5 | ZOL 2 3 | 1st | 186.5 | |