Niels Koolen
Niels Koolen is a Dutch racing driver. He currently competes in the Indy NXT series, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Koolen most recently competed in the European Le Mans Series driving for the Duqueine Team. He is the son of rally raid driver and businessman Kees Koolen.
Junior career
Formula 4
After competing in karting prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Koolen, a relatively latecomer to single-seater racing aged 21, made his car racing debut in Round 6 of the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship, driving for Monlau Motorsport. He contested the final two rounds of the 2022 Italian F4 Championship, also with Monlau Motorsport, competing under a Belgian license.Formula Regional
Formula Regional Middle East Championship
On 5 January 2023, it was announced that Koolen would be driving for VAR-Pinnacle Motorsport in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship.Formula Regional European Championship
Following the 2022 season, Koolen partook in several Formula Regional European Championship tests, driving for Van Amersfoort Racing. He would ultimately sign with the Dutch-based team to participate in the 2023 championship alongside Joshua Dufek and Kas Haverkort. He struggled and was considerably behind his teammate throughout the whole campaign, and finished the standings 37th, with a best finish of nineteenth.Eurocup-3
Koolen would participate in two rounds of Eurocup-3 in 2023 at Jerez and Estoril, failing to score points in either round.FIA Formula 2 Championship
In August 2024, after Taylor Barnard vacated his seat in the Formula 2 Championship, Koolen was drafted by AIX Racing to race for them in the category for the Monza and Baku rounds alongside Joshua Dürksen. He got nineteenth in both the Monza sprint and feature race. After the next weekend in Baku, AIX Racing confirmed that Koolen would not return for the final two weekends of the season.Indy NXT
2024
In 2024, Koolen switched to Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports. In the first race of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he finished tenth. This was his best result of the season.2025
In 2025, Chip Ganassi Racing signed Koolen to run the full season, marking his second season in the category. He finished eighth in the points standings with a best finish of fifth at Iowa Speedway.2026
Koolen continued with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2026 season.Sports car racing career
European Le Mans Series
Alongside his Indy NXT season, Koolen made his endurance racing debut and competed in the 2024 European Le Mans Series with the Duqueine Team.Racing record
Karting career summary
Racing career summary
† As Koolen was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.Complete F4 Spanish Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Pos | Points |
| 2022 | Monlau Motorsport | ALG 1 | ALG 2 | ALG 3 | JER 1 | JER 2 | JER 3 | CRT 1 | CRT 2 | CRT 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | ARA 1 | ARA 2 | ARA 3 | NAV 1 26 | NAV 2 21 | NAV 3 20 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | NC† | 0 |
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
| 2022 | Monlau Motorsport | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | IMO 3 | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | MIS 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | VLL 1 | VLL 2 | VLL 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | RBR 3 | MNZ 1 17 | MNZ 2 30 | MNZ 3 C | MUG 1 Ret | MUG 2 Ret | MUG 3 28 | 43rd | 0 |
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | DC | Points |
| 2023 | Pinnacle VAR | DUB1 1 22 | DUB1 2 22 | DUB1 3 21 | KUW1 1 12 | KUW1 2 21 | KUW1 3 21 | KUW2 1 20 | KUW2 2 21 | KUW2 3 22 | DUB2 1 22 | DUB2 2 Ret | DUB2 3 18 | ABU 1 20 | ABU 2 21 | ABU 3 14 | 31st | 0 |
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
| 2023 | Van Amersfoort Racing | IMO 1 29 | IMO 2 19 | CAT 1 26 | CAT 2 29 | HUN 1 28 | HUN 2 Ret | SPA 1 29 | SPA 2 30 | MUG 1 24 | MUG 2 Ret | LEC 1 Ret | LEC 2 26 | RBR 1 27 | RBR 2 25 | MNZ 1 19 | MNZ 2 24 | ZAN 1 25 | ZAN 2 23 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | 37th | 0 |
Complete Eurocup-3 results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
| 2023 | GRS Team | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | ARA 1 | ARA 2 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | JER 1 12 | JER 2 Ret | EST 1 WD | EST 2 WD | CRT 1 | CRT 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | 25th | 0 |
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | DC | Points |
| AIX Racing | BHR SPR | BHR FEA | JED SPR | JED FEA | MEL SPR | MEL FEA | IMO SPR | IMO FEA | MON SPR | MON FEA | CAT SPR | CAT FEA | RBR SPR | RBR FEA | SIL SPR | SIL FEA | HUN SPR | HUN FEA | SPA SPR | SPA FEA | MNZ SPR 19 | MNZ FEA 19 | BAK SPR 20 | BAK FEA Ret | LSL SPR | LSL FEA | YMC SPR | YMC FEA | 32nd | 0 |
Complete European Le Mans Series results
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
| 2024 | Duqueine Team | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | CAT 11 | LEC 6 | IMO 9 | SPA | MUG 8 | ALG 7 | 17th | 20 |
American open–wheel racing results
Indy NXT
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
| 2024 | HMD Motorsports | STP 21 | BAR 15 | IMS 10 | IMS 14 | DET 13 | RDA 13 | LAG 19 | LAG 12 | MOH | IOW 13 | GMP | POR | MIL | NSH | 20th | 140 |
| 2025 | Chip Ganassi Racing | STP 21 | BAR 13 | IMS 18 | IMS 6 | DET 9 | GMP 10 | RDA 15 | MOH 14 | IOW 5 | LAG 11 | LAG 6 | POR 6 | MIL 12 | NSH 7 | 8th | 288 |