Indy Dontje: "It's all about GT now"

Last weekend the Blancpain GT Series finished the season with a thrilling battle through the Zandvoort dunes. While the field was small, it wasn’t devoid of talented racers. Amongst them was young gun Indy Dontje. The Dutchman turned his back to open-wheel racing last winter to become a regular in the Endurance Series, and got the opportunity to make a start in the Sprint Series with GT Russian Team’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 at his home track. Helping Aleksey Karachev win both races and the Pro-Am Cup, it was a successful weekend.

“I can look back on a good race,” Dontje says. “I started on new tyres and although it’s not a track for the Mercedes, it went pretty well on new tyres. I managed to set some good lap times. Near the end, when the tyres got some wear, it did become a bit harder for the car. Eventually we finished in ninth position and won in Pro-Am.

“Looking back on the weekend I’m very satisfied. I put in some good meters here at the track. But it’s hard for the Mercedes at Zandvoort: It’s a heavy car and there are many turns, that makes it tough. So I’ve gained a new experience for next season.”

Besides racing in the Blancpain Endurance Series, the 22-year-old also participated in the new Renault Sport Trophy.

“It’s been busy, I’ve raced everywhere. I started in Dubai, racing with a Porsche of HRT Performance, and then on to GT3. Then I went to the Renault [Sport Trophy].

“I think I did eighteen races in total this year, which is good for my experience.

“In the Blancpain Endurance Series I’ve shown I can be quick. Especially the 24 hours of Spa was a really good race, but unfortunately we had to retire. The Nürburgring was also super, we finished fourth in the Pro-Am Cup and were even leading. That was really great.

“Also in the Renault series I made it onto the podium a couple of times, which was really great, but also suffered a lot of problems during the season. [This weekend] is the last race, so we’ll see what we can do.”

2015 was the year in which the former Formula 3 pilot made the switch to the GT’s. It’s where Dontje wants to stay.

“Definitely [I want to keep racing GT’s]. There’s no path to formula cars any more, it’s all about GT’s. Next year I will race in GT3 again, it’s just a matter of where and with whom I will drive.”