Niels is already a familiar face for Van Amersfoort Racing as he competed in VAR’s alliances with Monlau and Pinnacle Motorsport. For VAR-Monlau, Koolen raced the penultimate round of the 2022 Spanish Championship, as well as the two last rounds of the Italian F4 Championship. Under the flag of VAR-Pinnacle, the Dutchman from Vorden, Netherlands also made his grid appearance earlier this year in all but one round of the Formula Regional Middle East Championship.

Before making the move to single-seater racing last year, Niels successfully worked his way up the ranks in the international karting scene. As son of Dakar veteran Kees Koolen, who competed in the notorious rally on motorbikes, quads, cars and trucks, Niels was brought up in a racing environment. From a young age it was however clear that the Dutch racing talent, despite his interest in motocross and trial, preferred asphalt over sand and started competitively racing karts at the age of fourteen.

Now, the 21-year-old is ready to take on his first full season of Formula racing and does so by attacking the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, together with Van Amersfoort Racing.