Bleekemolen in DTM

[Raceboy]

Young Dutch driver Jeroen Bleekemolen has signed to race for the Opel team in this year's DTM championship, the manufacturer announced today (Friday).

The 21-year-old Dutchman is the fourth driver Opel has signed for its 2003 DTM campaign. He will partner returning drivers Manuel Reuter, Alain Menu and Timo Scheider in the marque's line-up.

"I'm overjoyed," said Bleekemolen. "Being able to enter the DTM makes a dream come true for me. Of course, there's a lot for me to learn, but I'm confident that I'll be able to hold my ground against the seasoned DTM pros.

"The DTM is highly popular in the Netherlands. I can hardly wait to compete in the race at my home track in Zandvoort, with 50,000 fans in attendance. I'm sure this will be my personal highlight of the season."

I'm confident that I'll be able to hold my own

Jeroen Bleekemolen



Opel motorsport director Volker Strycek said: "Jeroen Bleekemolen convincingly demonstrated his talent during our drivers' evaluation. At the age of 21, he has an impressive basic speed and is highly capable of providing feedback to the engineers. Jeroen perfectly fits our concept of promoting young drivers by entering them in the DTM series."

Bleekemolen started his career in karting in 1995. He moved up to cars in 1998, and has competed in the German Formula 3 championship. He won the FIA GT championship in 2001, driving a Chrysler Viper alongside Mike Hezemans. Last year, he competed in the Dutch Touring Car Championship, clinching second place in the final standings.

bron autosport.com

[schumivill]

Euhh,als ik eerlijk mag zijn,ik heb Jeroen Bleekemolen altijd beter gehad dan Albers,niet dat ik iets tegen Albers heb,nee,maar het beste dat ik nu zou zien is,Albers testrijder bij Minardi,en Jeroen in de plaats van Albers in DTM! Met andere woorden,ik verwacht mooie dingen van bleekemolen,heb hem aan het werk gezien in de FIA-GT,en in DTM zal hij ook wel iets van zijn talent laten zien!

[Guido]

Neemt Bleekemolen dan de plaats in van Yves Olivier?

[Mark]

Of je dat zo mag stellen weet ik niet, maar olivier ligt definitief buiten bij Opel.................was nou niet bepaald fraai te noemen van volker Strycek.
Geloof dat Opel Belgie ook niet echt gelukkig was met de gang van zaken als ik mij de de autosport.be artikelen herinner uit die periode.