Liesette Braams

Liesette with the GT4 BMW

Motorsport has long been a big part of Liesette’s life, being married to racer Luc Braams and mother to racer Max Braams. The Las Moras team is run by the Braams family, with Liesette in a senior role. It is therefore not surprising that she took the wheel herself - more of a surprise that she waited so long (she was 36 when she began racing). Her first car was a BMW 120d, in which she did her first races in 2007. Luc started competing at the same time, with Max coming in a little later.

She joined up with the Verschuur team in 2008, who were working with Las Moras. They were competing in the Dutch Toerwagen Diesel Cup, still in a 120d. Her team-mate was Sacha Broer. She was 59th overall in what was effectively her debut year, but still ahead of her team-mate. In the off-season, she joined up with Sheila Verschuur and Luc Braams for the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship. She was 15th overall after five races, behind Sheila but ahead of Luc.

Liesette joined the satellite Mad and Darring team for 2009, still driving a 120d in the Diesel Cup. Her new partner was Gaby Uljee, another Diesel Cup returnee. This season, she was much faster, and closer to the pace of the leaders. The pair scored two podium finishes at Assen, two fastest laps, and were seventeenth and eighteenth overall (Liesette was 18th).

Another run in the Winter Endurance Championship gave her tenth overall, just behind team-mate Duncan Huisman. They were driving one of the Verschuur 120ds. For a change, she also drove a Volkswagen Golf in the VW Endurance Cup in the Netherlands, for three races. For the first time, Liesette, Luc and Max drove as “Team Braams”. They were 32nd overall.

Liesette returned to the Diesel Cup in 2010, a much improved driver. Driving a Verschuur BMW 123d, she achieved her first win, as well as an additional podium place, two pole positions and two fastest laps. She was sixth in the final standings. Her team-mate was Gaby Uljee once more.

After a couple of races in the Winter Endurance series, she started her fourth Diesel Cup season in 2011. Her car was still a BMW 123d, one of the Verschuur cars, but running as the “Techno Marine” team. She gained a new team-mate in Paulien Zwart, an experienced saloon racer who was returning from a year out due to pregnancy. Liesette was not at her 2010 race-winning pace, and she was thirteenth overall, with Paulien fourteenth.

During the 2011 season, Liesette took part in her first 24 hour race, the Toyo Tyres Series event at Barcelona. She shared a Verschuur 123d with Paulien, plus British drivers Paul Follet and Terry Flatt. They did not finish.

Early in 2012, she teamed up with Paulien, Gaby, Sandra van der Sloot and Sheila Verschuur as the "Dutch Racing Divas", for the Dubai 24 Hours. They were 39th and fourth in class, driving a Renault Clio. The team was the project of Sandra van der Sloot, and was supported by Las Moras.

For most of the year, Liesette drove a BMW 123d for Las Moras in the Burando Production Open championship. She and Sheila Verschuur were back to championship-challenging pace and were fourth overall, after winning three times. This year, Liesette tried out a few different cars: the 123d, the Clio, the 120d she was used to, and a Suzuki Swift. She used the 120d in a couple of rounds of the Dutch Supercar Challenge, and was seventh in class. In the Swift, she made two guest appearances in the Formido Swift Cup.

The Racing Divas reformed for the Dubai 24 Hours in 2013. They drove a BMW 320D supported by Team Schubert, with Liesette as the named lead driver. They were 26th overall, and won the A3T class. Despite this small success, they seriously struggled for sponsorship, and consequently track time, in 2013. Liesette left the team and pursued her own racing interests.

After the Dubai 24 Hours, Liesette drove for Las Moras in the Burando Production Open again, in the BMW. She was eighth overall. She did not manage to win this year, but put in two fastest laps, and ran quite close to the front. As a consolation, she won the Ladies’ award in the BMW Sports Trophy, which takes into account various racing series. She was seventh overall in the Trophy. This followed her most successful run in the Winter Endurance Championship, in which she was third. In a different BMW, she and her team-mates, Cor Euser, Hal Prewitt and Dirk Schulz, won their class at the Hungaroring 12 Hours. They were tenth overall.

Sticking with Eastern Europe, she also took part in the Lotus Ladies' Cup, finishing fourth behind her team-mate, Sheila Verschuur. Her best result was second, at the Hungaroring. The duo were running in Las Moras Elises, and led a small Dutch invasion of the hitherto Eastern European-dominated championship. Mid-season, she did a guest race in a Lotus for a Dutch GT4 championship, too.

For 2014, Liesette teamed up with Bonk Motorsport for the Dubai 24 Hours, driving a BMW M3. She and her team-mates were 40th overall, fourth in class. In the same series, Liesette was part of a team with Michael Bonk and Axel Burghardt for the 12 Hours of Italy, at Mugello. They were tenth overall in the BMW.

She also registered for the European GT4 Championship, in a Las Moras BMW M3 GT4. She and her team-mate, Rob Severs, were front-runners from the start in the "Am" class, finishing their first race, at Misano, in second, and winning the next one, the following day. They secured three more wins, at Zandvoort and the Nürburgring, and were championship runners-up. 
She took part in the Burando Production Open again, driving a BMW 123d. She won Class III at least twice, and was one of the front-runners for the class championship. 

For the first part of 2015, Liesette's year looked promising. She won her class in the Dubai 24 Hours, driving a Las Moras BMW M235. She was part of a Racingdivas team with Sandra van der Sloot, Gaby Uljee and Max Partl, a male driver. They were 23rd overall. Driving for the Bonk Motorsport team, Liesette then won her class again in the Mugello 12 Hours, in the same car. She was 29th overall, as part of a four-driver team.

Unfortunately, she had to sit out the rest of the season, after being diagnosed with cancer, and undergoing treatment. 

In 2016, she managed to return to the racetrack, as her treatment had concluded. She started the year with the Dubai 24 Hours, and was third in the Cup 1 class in a BMW 235, run by Bonk Motorsport. Later in the season, she raced in the GT4 European Series, in a Las Moras BMW M3. Her best finish was fifth in the Am class, at Zandvoort. She was eleventh in the championship. 

She was due to race again in the 2018 Dubai 24 Hours, but she caught 'flu and had to pull out. Her GT4 appearances were limited to the Bahrain rounds, driving the Las Moras McLaren 570S.

2019 started better with another run in the Dubai 24 Hours, in a Hofor Racing BMW M4, although she and her three team-mates did not finish. She went on to compete in the GT4 European Series in a McLaren 570S and was one of the leading drivers in the Am class. Her results included seconds at Monza and Brands Hatch and four third places, on her way to third in class. 

The shortened 2020 season included four races for Liesette. She paired up with Luc and Gaby Uljee in an Equipe Verschuur Mclaren 540C for two rounds of the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship at the start of the year, then raced in the Enna-Pergusa 24H Series double six-hour event in a Verschuur-run 570S. She was 17th in the first race, third in the GT4 class, but did not finish the second part. 

Liesette was signed up by Team Driverse as part of a rotating squad for the ADAC GT4 championship. She raced their BMW M4 at the Red Bull Ring and Zandvoort, earning a best finish of fourteenth in her last outing.

(Image from www.autosport.nl)

Women in One-Make Series, Part II

Citroen AX GTi Cup drivers in 1991: Gwen Caviet, Natasja Mets, Françoise Loogman, Liesbeth Budel, Linda Molenaar, Lilian Andela (in front)

The one-make scene is so popular with women drivers in the Netherlands that it deserves its own page. In the 1990s, the Citroen AX GTI Cup had a considerable number of female participants, and its own Ladies' Trophy. Drivers who began their careers in these series after 2000 can now be found here. Chantal van der Sluis now has her own post.

Pauline Borrius Broek - got her break in racing in Citroen one-make championships, in the 1990s. She had raced since 1986, in cars including a Toyota Starlet, and had even done a round or two of the Dutch Touring Car Championship in 1989, but the AX GTI Cup, in 1990, seems to have been her first regular race seat. She was one of the leaders of the ladies’ standings for much of the year. For the GTI Cup’s lifetime, she seems to have remained involved, and when it was replaced by the Citroen Saxo Cup, she entered that as well. In 1997, she was tenth in the championship, and third in the Ladies’ standings. She did return in 1998, but only for one or two races. In 1999, she moved over to the Alfa Romeo 156 Challenge, for a part-season, meaning she was only 25th. An expanded programme in the series in 2000 gave her 20th overall. 

Natasha Davelaar - raced in the Citroen Saxo Cup in the Netherlands, between 1998 and 2000. Her best season was her first, in 1998, when she was tenth, and second in the Ladies’ standings.  In 1999, she only did a part-season, and was 23rd in the championship. In 2000, she was back to a full season, or almost one, but was only 20th overall. She got into motorsport through the “Veronica Challenge”, after gaining her license in 1992. She is no longer directly involved in motorsport, having retired after becoming a mother, and now runs a wine business.

Sandra Douma - Dutch one-make saloon specialist. She started competing in 1993, in the Dutch Clio Cup. After a couple of seasons, she switched to the Citroen Saxo Cup and gradually improved her rankings over several seasons. Her best result was sixth in 2000, and her best race performances were a pole position and a third place. Between 2001 and 2004, she returned to Clios, with an additional run in the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship in 2002 and 2003, using the same car. She was third in her class. In 2005 and 2006 she tried her hand at the Toyota Yaris Cup, and in 2007 she joined the new Suzuki Swift series. In her first season, she was third overall after a couple of third places. She was runner-up in 2008 and hoped to win the championship in 2009, but had to settle for sixth. She was eleventh in 2010 after only managing a part-season. In 2011, she stepped down to driver coaching for her family team, although she did make a brief comeback in 2013, in the last round of the Swift Cup.

Vanessa Huisman - raced in Citroen one-make series for at least three seasons. She was part of the Citroen AX GTI Cup in 1994 and 1995, although her race results from this time are not forthcoming. In 1999, she returned to the Citroen Saxo Cup, its successor, for a few races. Again, her results have been  hard to find, apart from one 22nd place in the Trophy of the Dunes, at Zandvoort. She is part of the Huisman racing family.

Esmee Kosterman - began her senior racing career in 2021 in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup. She reached the final stages of the FIA Girls on Track driver search programme in 2020 and learnt to drive as part of that, aged 15. Racing in the Division 1 class of the Sprint Cup, her best overall finish has been a twelfth place at Zandvoort in April, fourth in class. She did some rounds of the Supercar Challenge in 2022, driving a Radical with Bastiaan van Loenen. They won their class once. She returned to the Sprint Cup in 2023, as well as making a couple of guest appearances in the BMW M2 Cup. In 2024, she moved to single-seater racing, taking part in four rounds of the Indian F4 series. Her best finish was ninth, at Madras. She won one Fiesta race at Assen. Previously, she was active in karting, both standard junior and gearbox.

Debbie Loogman - raced in one-make series in the 1990s and early 2000s. She took part in the Citroen Saxo Cup between 1997 and 2000. Her best Saxo Cup championship finish was eleventh, in 1997. She was fourth in the Ladies’ standings. In 2001, she switched to the Renault Clio Cup, but did not run in all of the races. She was competing against her sister, Françoise Loogman. Debbie seems to have got into motorsport through her sister, and by winning a talent competition referred to as the “Veronica Challenge”.  

Françoise Loogman - one-make specialist who competed for ten years in the Netherlands. After swapping rhythmic gymnastics for karting in her teens, she got her start in circuit racing in 1990, when she won a funded drive in the Renault 5 Championship. Unfortunately, she wrote her car off early on. In 1991, she moved to the Citroen AX GTI Cup, alongside several other female drivers. By 1992, she was among the fastest of them, and won the first of her three Ladies’ Cups, as well as finishing sixth overall. During this time, she won pole position for a European AX race. After the 1994 season, when she was joined on the track by her sister, Debbie. She moved to the Renault Clio Cup, which was now the bigger championship. In 1998, she tried bigger cars, driving in the Renault Megane Trophy. She was eleventh overall, improving to seventh in 1999. Her last Megane season in 2000 saw her in twelfth place. In 2001, she joined the Renault Sport Trophy, back in a Clio. Debbie also took part. This proved to be her last season in motorsport, as a lot of her backers fell into financial difficulty.

Linda Molenaar - raced in the Citroen AX GTI Cup between 1991 and 1993 (and possibly 1994). As is true for most of the competitors in this popular series, her actual race results have proved very hard to track down. It does not appear that she was one of the front-runners, but even this is difficult to confirm. She is from a Dutch motorsport family, and her brother is touring car racer, Donald Molenaar.

Amber Peeters - veteran of Citroen one-make racing in the Netherlands. Between 1997 and 2000, she competed in four different versions of the Citroen Saxo Cup, usually doing a part-season. This championship always attracted a healthy female element, and Amber was fifth in the Ladies standings in her first year, and 19th overall. In 1998, she was eleventh overall, her best season, although her best actual race results came in 1999, when she scored her first podium finish. She was twelfth in the championship and second lady, behind outright winner Sandra van der Sloot. In 2000, she was 21st, after only entering five races. After this, she disappears from the start lists. She works as a make-up artist.

Natasja Smit Sø - Denmark-based Dutch driver, active since 1993. Her early activities were based around one-make series, usually the Citroen Saxo Cup. In 1997, she was 20th in the championship, and the following year, she was twelfth. She continued to do part-season until 2000, although she did not improve on her 1998 result. She seems to have become less active after that, with only guest appearances in the Renault Clio Cup in 2003. It was then ten years until she raced again. At the end of 2013, she became one of the new Dutch Racingdivas, driving for the new team line-up. Her first event was the 2014 Dubai 24 Hours, in a Schubert BMW 320D. Alongside her team-mates, she won her class, and was 31st overall. Unfortunately, the Racingdivas only made one appearance on the circuits that year. She does not appear to have raced in 2015.

Yvonne Vlogtman - started racing in the Citroen Saxo Cup in 2000. She was 22nd overall in her first season. In 2001, she did some rounds of the Renault Sport Cup in a Clio, and was 32nd overall. After that, she disappears from the entry lists for a while, but in 2004, she reappears, driving a Citroen Saxo in some mixed saloon races at Circuitpark. After that, she disappears once more. She was linked to a Dakar drive in 2005, but it is unclear whether she actually took part. 

(Image from http://autosport.nl/)

Gaby Uljee

Gaby as a Racing Diva

Born in the Netherlands in 1976, Gaby started racing at eighteen. The first championship she entered was the Dutch Citroen AX GTI Cup in 1994. She raced Citroen hot hatches for four years, working through the make's driver development scheme and winning races on the way. Her best finish was second overall in the Saxo Cup in 1998.

It was time to move on to bigger things in 1999, so Gaby raised some funds and competed in the Alfa Romeo 156 Challenge one-make series. After a learning year in the popular championship, she became a real contender in 2000, ending the season in fourth place overall.

People had started taking notice of the Dutchwoman now, and 2001 saw her taking another step up the racing ladder. Returning to French power, she drove in the Dutch Touring Car Championship in a Renault Clio. She usually managed to finish the races but was unable to make much of a mark on the top ten until the last meeting of the season, when she finished fifth and eighth. The second race was an excellent recovery drive after being involved in an incident with her boyfriend Tim Coronel's car.

She returned to the DTCC a much improved driver the following year. Still in the Clio, she was fifth in the points at the end of the year, after some excellent finishes. She was third twice at Zandvoort, and generally finished in the top five throughout the season, apart from the Nürburgring race, where she could only manage tenth. The opposition was of a high calibre: Tim Coronel, his F1 tester brother Tom and sportscar star Jeroen Bleekmoelen, to name a few.

Sponsorship for the DTCC was not forthcoming for Gaby in 2003, so she stuck with Clios and raced in the Clio Cup instead. She gained a few reasonable results, but the lower horsepower and crowded grids were obviously not to her liking.

She did not return to the DTCC the following season. However, there was no shortage of guest drives available in 2004. Gaby drove a new Mini at the Nürburgring round of the German Mini Challenge, but again the Ring was not kind to her and she failed to finish the second race, having come ninth in the first. Her other outings included a return to Alfas in the Alfa Romeo 147 Challenge race at the Marlboro Masters F3 meeting at Zandvoort. She also tried her hand in some rounds of the Benelux Racing League, a championship for Ford Mondeo touring cars and Benelux-based racers.

2005 saw a return to a full racing programme for Gaby. She registered for the Light division of the Benelux Racing League again and showed herself to be one of the best, coming second in the final standings after a string of impressive wins, including both legs of a double-header at Zandvoort.

Sticking with the Benelux countries, she also crossed the border to Belgium, to join the Daikin team for two major Belcar races. At the popular Zolder 24 Hour race, she helped bring the Daikin Mini home 22nd overall, third in class TB, assisted by a crack all-female squad of Vanina Ickx, Alexandra van de Velde and Caroline Grifnée. For the Belcar Masters later in the year, Gaby and Alexandra started from pole in class TB and were third again, 25th overall. A guest drive in the SEAT Cupra Endurance championship netted her a win at Assen.

In the 2006 season, Gaby returned to the BRL, hoping to repeat her 2005 triumphs. However, she only competed in four races in her Ford Focus, and was a lowly 18th overall. Later in the season, she drove in the Belcar 24 Hours again for Daikin. The team’s BMW 120d, driven by Gaby, Alexandra van de Velde, Caroline Grifnée and Stephanie Halm, went out of the race during the twelfth hour.

At the beginning of 2007, she took on a totally different challenge, in the form of the Paris-Dakar Rally. Her first attempt at the desert classic gave her 46th place, and second rookie team. The car was a Bowler Wildcat and she was navigating for Tim Coronel.

The main season was once again focused on the BRL. Gaby took part in fourteen races, winning two of them and placing in the top three on five occasions. She was runner-up again at the end of the year. In addition to this, she returned to the SEAT Cupra Cup for two guest races, teaming up with the TV presenter Rob Kamphues.

For 2008, it was time for a slight change of scenery. Gaby left the BRL behind and took up a place in the well-subscribed Toerwagen Diesel Cup. She drove alongside Paulien Zwart in the Coronel Girlz Racing team, run by their partners’ family. The car was a BMW 120d, similar to the one Gaby had raced previously in Belgium. The pair were third in the final standings after finishing in the top three on four occasions.

Gaby had intended to enter the Dakar again after its cancellation in 2008, and she managed to secure a drive as navigator to Michel de Groot, a former motorcycle competitor. Their car was a McRae enduro special and they ran as the Dutch Vicking team. They were 39th and winners of the T3 class.

Gaby and Michel also competed together in the Netherlands shortly afterwards, sharing a car for an early round of the VW Endurance Cup.

Gaby and Paulien continued with diesel power in 2009, but drove for separate teams this time. Gaby moved to the Orbit team with Liesette Braams. Despite some technical hitches, they were regulars in the top ten, with one podium finish to their name. They were seventeenth overall.

She continued in the Diesel Cup in 2010, driving for Equipe Verschuur this time. Her team-mates were Liesette and Luc Braams and their car was an updated BMW 123d. They were much more competitive than in 2009, winning one race and finishing in the top three in two others. Gaby was seventh in the drivers' standings.

As well as circuit racing, she tried out a bioethanol-fuelled Nissan 350Z for the Exotic Green Rally, a rallysprint. This was her first attempt at a stage rally, although by now, she had entered two Dakar Rallies.

After a year on the sidelines in 2011, Gaby returned to the circuits in 2012. She was part of the Dutch Racingdivas team for the early-season Dubai 24 Hours, and finished 39th in a Renault Clio Cup. Her co-drivers were regular cohorts Liesette Braams and Sheila Verschuur, plus Paulien Zwart and a returning Sandra van der Sloot. Going by her Twitter feed, it looked as if Gaby was preparing to compete in touring cars in the Netherlands also, and she obliged with three races in the Burando Production Open, in a BMW 123d. Her three Easter appearances, sharing a car with Liesette Braams, gave her a fifth, a fourth and a win.

The Divas planned to race together again in 2013, beginning with the Dubai 24 Hours. Driving a Schubert BMW 320D, they were 26th overall, with a class win. The Divas also appeared at the Rotterdam City Races, a sprint event on a street circuit. Unfortunately, these seem to be the only appearances the Divas did make.

Gaby was still involved with Racing Divas in 2014, who had secured some innovative sponsors, partly through "selling" the pink hearts which will form part of their livery. They planned to race again, but once more, their participation was restricted to the Dubai 24 Hours. Driving a BMW 320D prepared by Schubert Motorsport, Gaby was part of a Diva team that won Class A3T. The other drivers were Paulien Zwart, Sandra van der Sloot, Shirley van der Lof and Natasja Smit Sø. They were 31st overall.

In 2015, Gaby, as part of Racingdivas, contested the Dubai 24 Hours, in a BMW prepared by Bonk Motorsport. She was 23rd overall, with a class win. 

The Divas did not enter the Dubai 24 Hours in 2016, partly due to key team member, Liesette's ongoing battle with cancer. Gaby drove for the Allied Racing Team in the Competition102 GT4 European series, in a BMW M3. She did a part-season, and had a best finish of fifth at Zandvoort.

Gaby returned to the European GT4 championship in 2019, driving a McLaren 570 for Equipe Verschuur. She scored three podium places in the Am class, at Brands Hatch, Misano and Zandvoort, which was enough for fifth in the class championship. 

She raced two different cars in 2020: an Equipe Verschuur McLaren 540C for a round of the Dutch Winter Endurance Series, then a BMW 240i for Day V Tec 240. She and her team-mates Tim Coronel and Jan Jaap van Roon did the Hockenheim 16 Hours, a double eight-hour race. They won the TCX class in both parts, finishing ninth and eighth overall.

The Equipe Verschuur McLaren was upgraded to a 570S in 2021 and Gaby did two rounds of the ADAC GT4 Championship in it, as part of a joint Verschuur/Las Moras team. She was 16th and fourteenth at Zandvoort.

(Image from www.racingdivas.nl)