Rinus van Kalmthout is a Dutch racing driver, professionally known as Rinus VeeKay. He is the 2018 Champion of the Pro Mazda series, winning 7 of 16 races in his debut season. VeeKay is signed to drive the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Career
Karting
Van Kalmthout started karting in 2009. The eight year old won races in the 4-stroke cadet championship with a DR chassis. He finished second in the championship. During the 2009-2010 winter season Van Kalmthout won the 4-stroke cadet series. The following season the young driver graduated into the Briggs & Stratton World Formula 4-stroke class winning the Dutch and Benelux championships. He also focused on the Rotax MaxMinimax class winning the Dutch championship in 2012 and Junior championship in 2013. Throughout 2014 and 2015 Van Kalmthout raced in various Rotax Max racing series. He finished second in the Rotax Max Euro Challenge Senior class, behind Australian driver Pierce Lehane.
Introduced as Rinus VeeKay, Van Kalmthout signed with CarlinBenik to race in the American based USF2000. Van Kalmthout tested the Tatuus USF-17 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The young Dutch driver ran constant top-ten times for the new driver, new team entry. To further prepare for the 2017 season Van Kalmthout raced in the final two rounds of the French V de V Challenge Monoplace. In an MP Motorsport entered 2013 TatuusFormula Renault 2.0 car Van Kalmthout scored five podium finishes in six races. After winning the Pro Mazda Championship with Juncos Racing, Van Kalmthout stepped up to the Indy Lights championship for 2019 again with Juncos Racing. In July 2019, it was announced Van Kalmthout would join the IndyCar test at Portland with Ed Carpenter Racing. On November 20, the team officially signed him as the replacement for Spencer Pigot. In his first IndyCar race in the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway he crashed in practice. He missed qualifying as the team couldn’t fix the car in time. In the race he crashed out on lap 38 and collected Alex Palou. Van Kalmthout achieved his first top 5 finish in IndyCar at the IndyGP.
Racing record
Career summary
† As van Kalmthout was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
