●     Team RaceArt back in action at legendary Imola circuit for the first time since 2024

●     Jaap van Lagen bounces back from Saturday misfortune and fights to second win of season

●     Rookies Arthur Peters en Joep Breedveld share the podium in second race

Maastricht, 7 July 2026 – Team RaceArt marked its return to Imola with a victory: reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux champion Jaap van Lagen (NED) battled his way to his second win of the season in impressive fashion. Meanwhile, rookies Arthur Peters (BEL) and Joep Breedveld (NED) stood on the podium together for the first time at the legendary Italian circuit.

After a break that lasted more than a month, the highly competitive single-make championship returned to action with a trip to Italy. Round three took place at the legendary Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola. Similarly to 2024, when RaceArt last visited the Italian circuit, Carrera Cup Benelux formed part of the support bill for the prestigious European Le Mans Series.

Coming off a successful weekend at Zandvoort in late May, spirits were high in the RaceArt camp as van Lagen arrived at Imola as the leader in the overall standings. RaceArt, meanwhile, sat in a contending position in both the teams championship as well as the Rookie standings.

Following two free practice sessions on Friday, qualifying took place on Saturday morning. Van Lagen qualified third for the first race and secured fourth on the grid for the second race. Rookies Arthur Peters and Joep Breedveld also picked up strong starting positions, with second and third places for both races respectively.

The first race of the weekend got underway later that afternoon under searing temperatures. Van Lagen immediately took possession of second place on the opening lap. As the race progressed, he increased pressure on the lead and appeared on course for another podium finish at least, until a left-rear puncture brought his race to a sudden end.

In the Rookie class, Peters secured another podium finish by coming home in third. Breedveld, who had dropped back to thirteenth place in the early stages, managed to fight his way back up the field in impressive fashion. He finished the race eighth overall and fourth in the Rookie category.

After a disappointing Saturday, Van Lagen was keen to bounce back on Sunday morning – and did so in fine fashion. Starting from fourth on the grid, the reigning champion stormed up the order. On the opening lap, he immediately moved up to third place, before taking second place a few minutes later. He then set his sights on first place, which he claimed at Rivazza with a well-executed switchback manoeuvre with nineteen minutes to go. Once at the front of the field, there was no stopping the Porsche veteran: Van Lagen crossed the line with a lead of almost five seconds to claim his second victory of the season.

In the Rookie class, there was also cause for celebration at the end of the second race: Peters and Breedveld finished second and third, respectively. This marked the first time the two drivers had shared a podium together. Breedveld initially finished tenth overall, but was given a five-second time penalty for an incident and was therefore classified eleventh overall.

With half of the rounds in the season completed, the battle for the championship in each of the three classifications remains as exciting as ever. In the fight for the overall crown, Van Lagen holds the joint lead with 111 points scored. Meanwhile, Joep Breedveld has taken the lead in the Rookie classification with a four-point advantage. Thanks to his strong performance at Imola, Arthur Peters has climbed to third place, ten points behind Breedveld. In the team standings, RaceArt sits just one point behind the leaders with six races remaining.

For round four, Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux returns to home soil. From 31 July to 2 August, racing continues at the TT Circuit Assen for Jack’s Racing Day, Europe’s largest combined car, motorbike and karting event.

Drivers’ comments:

Jaap van Lagen: “We’ve got the pace this season, but we haven’t quite had the luck yet. In qualifying, for example, we were three tenths clear after the first run. But when we were about to head out for the second run, it turned out there was a problem with the front left wheel, so we decided not to go out. As a result, I dropped back to third and fourth place. Things were looking good in the race on Saturday, running in second. And then, ten minutes before the end, I had a puncture and that was the end of the race. That is a real shame. On Sunday, I fortunately had a spare set of tyres left for the second race, as I hadn’t done a second run in qualifying. That allowed me to move right up the field and win the race with a lead of almost five seconds. That’s brilliant, of course, for the team as well. Everyone fought really hard, and luckily we were rewarded. I’ve regained the lead in the championship. Points are equal, but I’ve got more second-place finishes. Joep also tops the Rookies standings, and we’re right in the battle in the team standings too. That’s great. We just need to have a bit less bad luck.”

Joep Breedveld: “It was a tough weekend in the Italian heat. The pace was superb all week. The RaceArt package was fantastic and the car felt really good. The whole team worked hard on that. In qualifying, I just didn’t quite manage to pull it all off. A few mistakes on my part and unfortunate positioning on the track meant I was a bit stuck in traffic, which cost me positions in what was a very tight qualifying session. In both races, I then lost a lot of places in the chaos at the start, but I showed great pace, especially in Race 2. The speed was great, but it just didn’t quite come together this weekend. That was a shame, but I’m looking forward to Assen to make sure it all comes together there.

Arthur Peters: “All in all, it was actually a very good weekend. Right from the test day, we were right up there. That also gave us a chance to get used to the heat. That was definitely needed. From Friday’s free practice sessions onwards, I had to adapt a bit as we were given a different exhaust, which required some adjustments. The sectors were good, but I found it difficult to string them together. I knew the

pace was there, so I spent a long time with Ward, my engineer, on Friday evening. That helped, and as a result I was able to string it all together during qualifying. I put together a really good lap, and it’s actually a shame we were only a few tenths off an even better position. The races were fantastic. It did take a bit of getting used to in that heat, but I’m good at managing the tyres at those temperatures. I had a few good battles. On Saturday, I finished third among the Rookies and fifth overall. On Sunday, I started second and had a few great battles with the Pros. It was actually a brilliant weekend: P3 and P2 in the Rookies, P5 and P6 overall. I’m really pleased. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to go so well. We managed to extract the best out of the weekend.”