Rasmus Højengaard

Rasmus Højengaard in 2000.

Copenhagen, Denmark

**Rasmus Aage Jonas Højengaard** (born 29th February 1976) is a Danish racing driver who formerly competed in Formula One for British American Racing.

## Early Years

Rasmus Aage Jonas Højengaard was born to wealthy parents in Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. He was interested in motorsports from a very young age, but his parents' fears about the dangers of motorsports meant that he started racing professionally a fair bit later than he wanted to, first entering a karting championship at the age of 10.

## Racing Career

### Early Career

#### 1986-1993

Rasmus raced in various karting series in Denmark and across Europe from 1986 to 1991 before stepping up into the Danish Formula Ford Championship in 1992 at the age of 16. After an extremely mediocre season filled with inconsistency and crashes, his performance improved drastically and he won the title the very next year in 1993, gaining the attention of many teams in higher series.

#### 1994

Despite his dominant championship win in 1993, Rasmus did not manage to get a seat in a higher series for the following year. He moved to the British Formula Ford Championship in 1994, his results being somewhat lacklustre compared to his last season. Thanks to a good recovery in the second half of the season, however, he still managed to finish 5th in the championship. Fortunately, he finally managed to negotiate himself a drive in the German Formula Three championship for 1995, with his signing for Marko RSM being announced only a few weeks before the start of the season.

### German Formula Three Championship

#### 1995

Rasmus's signing by RSM Marko for the 1995 season caused severe controversy, as the team accidentally leaked some of his contract details right before the start of the season, revealing his Danske Bank sponsorship to be a notable factor in his signing. Rasmus's reputation took a hit due to this scandal, with his reputation as a pay driver persisting, in some ways, to this day.

Despite being vilified by the fans and being touted as a failure even before the start of the season, Rasmus's performance was not affected in the slightest by the criticism. After leading the championship for a brief period during the start of the year, his performances faltered severely during mid-season. Despite his championship hopes being pretty much dead in the water, Rasmus made a strong comeback towards the end of the year, with his efforts pushing him up to 3rd in the championship with 151 points.

### International Formula 3000 Championship

#### 1996

Rasmus made his debut in the International Formula 3000 Championship in 1996, driving for Nordic Racing. At the start of the season it seemed like he had managed to carry over his momentum from the last part of his German F3 season in 1996, getting points in his debut race at the Nürburgring. However, he only managed to score points in four of the remaining nine races in the season, though he finished off the year strongly by achieving his only podium of the season at the Hockenheimring. Despite the podium, he only finished a distant 8th in the standings with 12 points, capping off a year to forget for the young Dane.

#### 1997

Rasmus returned to RSM Marko in 1997, hoping for the same success that he had with the team in German Formula 3. His fortunes would turn immediately from the previous year, scoring three podiums in the first half of the season, including his first win at the Nürburgring. His performances nosedived once again near the mid-point of the season, with the absolute low point coming when he barely escaped injury after a massive crash at the A1-Ring. His performances picked up again shortly thereafter, with a second win at the final round of the season proving barely good enough for him to clinch the championship. He finished the season on 39 points, two points ahead of second placed Thom Sætern.

### Post-Formula One

Højengaard competed in the 2008 Škoda Octavia charity races at Oschersleben and Norisring, driving alongside other well known racing drivers such as Jan Krejci, Stefan Wolff and James May (the latter's status as a "racing driver" is under dispute). Despite running fairly well at some points over the four races, Højengaard would voice his displeasure at the cars and Škoda in general in a live interview for Danish broadcaster TV2, comparing the Octavia's handling to "his dead grandmother's mobility scooter" before calling for a nationwide boycott of all Škoda vehicles. His efforts have so far yielded little success.

## Personal Life

Not much is known about Højengaard's private life, owing to his reluctance to talk about anything related to it. He currently resides in Brackley in the United Kingdom, a short drive away from the team headquarters of BAR. His father, Aage, is a member of the board of directors of Danske Bank, with the connections resulting in Danske Bank sponsorship throughout his career. He is likely a football fan, with his fans having reported seeing him in public with merchandise of Danish football club FC København.

He has mentioned that one of his idols is two-time Formula One champion and fellow Dane, Thomas Jørgensen, though he has denied it since by saying that he doesn't think he will ever compare to the success enjoyed by Thomas.

He was banned for life from the Kingdom of Bahrain in late 2003 after criticising King Arouf bin Salman Al Hamad and the poor state of human rights in the country.