Dutch Fans Treat Champ Car with Passionate Interest

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, U.S.A. — If the packed grandstands on Sunday in Assen weren’t enough evidence, recent traffic figures from the Champ Car World Series official website attest to the popularity of Champ Car in Holland.

The Netherlands snagged the No. 2 spot in the country listings of web traffic going to Champ Car’s site, www.champcarworldseries.com, during July and August. The surge can be credited to the growing popularity of Dutch driver Robert Doornbos along with anticipation for the Sept. 2 Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix Powered By Audi, Gant and Hertz, which was won by Justin Wilson.

For the months of July and August, Holland ranked second only to the United States in visits to the Champ Car site. More than 43 percent of the visitors to the site during those two months were from the U.S. while 13.32 percent hail from Holland. Canada, which hosts three Champ Car World Series events, normally holds down the No. 2 spot, but during the months leading up to Holland’s first ever Champ Car event, they slipped to third with 11.48 percent.

In terms of web visits among cities, Dutch cities also ranked high. Amsterdam was the leading city for July and August, while The Hague was third in August and fifth in July. Rotterdam, which hosted a demonstration by Doornbos earlier in the month, ranked 11th in July and 15th in August.

“We’re extremely gratified to bring our Series to a new country for the first time and to have their fans embrace us as they have," said Champ Car President and CEO Steve Johnson. “There is no doubt now after the weekend in Assen and reviewing these figures that the Dutch are very passionate about Champ Car. We see this as a good beginning to what we hope will be a long relationship between Champ Car, Holland and all of Europe.."

Doornbos, who currently leads the Roshfrans Rookie of the Year standings, is not surprised by the numbers.

"As we saw in Europe these last two weeks, I have a lot of fans following my Champ Car career," Doornbos said. “While there is great coverage of the series in Holland on television, my fans are always looking for every bit of information. It is no surprise to me the Dutch audience is growing on Champ Car’s website, because we are very passionate about our motorsports." Champ Car PR