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Patrick Blennerhassett

Beitske Visser has racing in her blood.
Her father raced touring cars in the Netherlands and her parents also owned a car dealership. She first got into racing at the age of five, however has been acclimatised to the world of engines and speed since birth.
“They were running (the car dealership) together, so pretty much the day after I was born, I was heading there every day.”
The 23-year-old is the first woman to make it onto the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme, having spent the previous three seasons in the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series. She serves as the test and back-up driver to Antonio Felix da Costa and Alexander Sims with the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team who have one win and seven podiums in the current FIA Formula E Championship season.
Da Costa and Sims will be racing on Sunday in this weekend’s 2019 Formula E Hong Kong E-Prix, and Visser would step in if one of them can’t race.

Another picture from the training camp Now time to fly to Hong Kong️ pic.twitter.com/CR5Xd066ap
— Beitske Visser (@beitskevisser) March 6, 2019

The course runs around the Hong Kong Central Harbourfront and Visser said her job is to support and soak up as much knowledge as she can while spending time with the drivers and overall team.
“My job is to learn from them and be ready in case I have to jump into the car.”
She said she is aware of her gender in what is still a male-dominated sport (all 22 drivers in Formula E are men), but said it doesn’t necessarily impact her much these days. She has noted in interviews when she was younger racing in karts that some drivers would try to run her off the road. But now, she said, in the high-ranking professional leagues, it is business as usual.


“Of course it’s there, but I’ve been in the racing world pretty much my whole life, so I don’t really know anything else. Pretty much everywhere I have raced since I was five I have usually always been one of the only girls racing. So to me, it’s normal.”
If all goes well, Visser’s next step is to become a full-time Formula E driver, but she said right now she’s focused on supporting da Costa and Simms in any way she can in terms of preparing for Sunday’s race.
“That would be my goal, but you can’t really plan that far ahead. I just need to focus on my job for this year, and then at the end of the year, there will be a progression of performance for next year and we will see.”
Hong Kong E-Prix: Formula E makes an electrifying return to the city for third instalment
And of course, she would love to see some more female drivers like herself come up through the ranks.
“It would be cool to see more girls and women in the racing world in the future for sure.”


International motor racing to return to Hong Kong with 2023 World RX series finale confirmed for November

Hong Kong to miss out on another Formula E season, organisers hopeful for 2024 return

Hong Kong Formula E race left off 2020-21 calendar amid political turmoil and Covid-19 pandemic

Formula E still needs to make a few changes for success in Hong Kong

Hong Kong E-Prix

2019 FIA Formula E Hong Kong E-Prix

Hong Kong E-Prix: BMW junior racer talks about being a female driver on International Women’s Day

Beitske Visser is the first woman to have made it onto the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme. Photo: BMW

Formula E bumps Hong Kong as  star attraction with Saudi Arabia awarded season five opening race

Founder and CEO of Formula E Alejandro Agag, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdullah AlFaisal and deputy CEO of Formula E Alberto Longo pose alongside the next generation Formula E car. Photo: LAT

CEO of Formula E Alejandro Agag, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdullah AlFaisal and deputy CEO of Formula E Alberto Longo

Felix Rosenqvist (#19) of Mahindra Racing going around turn 4 during the first race of the FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong E-Prix in Central Harbourfront. 02DEC17 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Felix Rosenqvist of Mahindra Racing going around turn one during the first race of the FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong E-Prix in Central Harbourfont. 02DEC17 SCMP / Edward Wong

The Gen2 Formula E car for season five

Formula E: Hong Kong could be dropped from 2020 calendar if organisers fail to extend circuit

Organisers must extend the Central Harbourfront circuit or risk being dropped from the Formula E series calendar. Photo: KY Cheng

Pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist (#19) of Mahindra Racing had a spin going into turn one after the race started during the second race of the FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong E-Prix in Central Harbourfront. 03DEC17 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Accompanied by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah (1st left), Peter Lam Kin-ngok (2nd RIGHT), chairman of Hong Kong Tourism Board, and Lawrence Yu Kam-kee (1st RIGHT), senior of official of HKT HK E-prix, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of E-Formula, Alejandro Agag (centre) and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (left 2) during the opening of the HKT Hong Kong E-Prix 2017 in Central. 02DEC17 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

(Top row left to right): First runner-up Felix Rosenqvist of Mahindra Racing; winner Daniel Abt of Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler; and second runner-up Edoardo Mortara of Venturi Formula E on the podium after the second race of the FIA Formula E HKT Hong Kong E-Prix in Central Harbourfront. Abt was later disqualified from the race for a technical infringement. 03DEC17 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Sport

Hong Kong

Beitske Visser, the junior racer who is a test driver for BMW’s i Andretti Motorsport, talks about being a women in pro racing
The Dutch driver’s father was a racer and her parents also owned a car dealership


Formula E

Hong Kong E-Prix: BMW junior racer talks about being a female driver on International Women’s Day

Beitske Visser, the junior racer who is a test driver for BMW’s i Andretti Motorsport, talks about being a women in pro racing The Dutch driver’s father was a racer and her parents also owned a car dealership

Beitske Visser, the junior racer who is a test driver for BMW’s i Andretti Motorsport, talks about being a women in pro racing

The Dutch driver’s father was a racer and her parents also owned a car dealership