Sam Dejonghe
Sam Dejonghe is a Belgian racing driver who last raced for Comtoyou Racing in GT [World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup].
Career
Born in Kalmthout, Dejonghe made his single-seater debut in 2010 by joining Team Astromega for the 2010 [Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup]. After finishing fifth in points, Dejonghe joined Team West-Tec fo step up to the European F3 Open Championship in 2011. Racing in the Copa F306/300 class, Dejonghe took four class wins, which included overall podiums at Algarve and Monza, on his way to runner-up in points to Fabio Gamberini at season's end.Returning to Team West-Tec for the 2012 season, Dejonghe switched to Class A for his sophomore season in the European F3 Open Championship. Despite his car being delivered three days before the season opener and missing pre-season tests, he finished third in the season-opening race at Algarve. The Belgian then went on to take his only win of the season at the Nürburgring, which helped him to finish fifth in points at season's end despite missing the season-ending round at Barcelona due to budgetary reasons. At the end of the year, Dejonghe competed in the final two rounds of the 2012–13 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, where he scored two podiums en route to sixth in points at season's end.
After not racing for most of 2013, Dejonghe returned to the 2013–14 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship, where he took his only two wins of the season at the final round at Madras International Circuit as he finished third in points. Dejonghe then joined Virtuosi UK for the 2014 [Auto GP Series], where he competed in the first three rounds, scoring his only podium at the Hungaroring before leaving the series.
The following season, Dejonghe made his debut in Supercar Challenge, racing for Deldiche Racing in the Superlights 1 class. Alongside Luc de Cock, the duo won four races on their way to the title at season's end. The following year, Dejonghe transitioned over to the newly-created TCR BeNeLux after being selected as one of two drivers to represent the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium. Dejonghe took won both qualifying races at Zandvoort and Assen as they ended the year third in points. In 2016, Dejonghe also won the overall Belcar Endurance Championship title with Deldiche Racing-
Dejonghe was retained by the RACB for the 2017 TCR BeNeLux season alongside Denis Dupont. After taking his maiden win of the season at Zolder, before winning the back-to-back races at Assen on his way to fifth in points. During 2017, Dejonghe also made a one-off appearance in International GT Open for Aston Martin Brussels Racing and also joined Mahindra Racing as their development driver for the 2017–18 Formula E Championship.
Starting off the 2018 season in with a part-time schedule in the GT4 European Series for Selleslagh Racing Team, Dejonghe then raced in the 24 Hours of Spa for Brussels Racing, before returning to Mahindra Racing as their development driver for the 2018–19 Formula E Championship.
In 2019, Dejonghe joined Inter Europol Competition to race in the LMP3 class of the 2019 European [Le Mans Series|European Le Mans Series] from Monza to Silverstone, before switching to the team's LMP2 program ahead of Spa. At the end of the year, Dejonghe was retained as a test and reserve driver for Mahindra Racing ahead of the 2019–20 Formula E Championship.
After returning to the Supercar Challenge during 2019, Dejonghe remained in the series for the next three seasons, which culminated in him winning the CN title in 2022 alongside Thomas Piessens. Dejonghe also joined RedAnt Racing in 2022 to make his debut in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. In his rookie season in the series, Dejonghe took three podiums and finished fourth in points.
Following his Prototype Challenge title, Dejonghe returned to GT3 competition by joining Audi-affiliated Comtoyou Racing for the 2023 [GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup] alongside Loris Hezemans and Finlay Hutchison. Having taken a class win at Monza, the trio scored three more class podiums as they finished runner-up in the Silver Cup at season's end. During 2023, Dejonghe also returned to RedAnt Racing for a second season in Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux. In his sophomore season in the series, Dejonghe took a lone podium at the Hockenheimring and ended the year sixth in points.
Dejonghe returned to Comtoyou Racing for 2024, joining Matisse Lismont and Charles Clark in the team's second Silver Cup lineup as the team switched to Aston Martin. Following a best result of 32nd at the 24 Hours of Spa, Dejonghe was replaced by Job van Uitert as the team shuffled its non-pro lineups after the 3 Hours of Nürburgring.
Racing record
Racing career summary
‡ Team standingsComplete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
| 2010 | Team Astromega | HOC 1 16 | HOC 2 Ret | BRN 1 10 | BRN 2 13 | ZAN 1 5 | ZAN 2 12 | OSC 1 7 | OSC 2 5 | OSC 3 7 | ASS 1 9 | ASS 2 11 | MST 1 6 | MST 2 7 | MST 3 10 | SPA 1 6 | SPA 2 10 | SPA 3 Ret | NÜR 1 13 | NÜR 2 10 | NÜR 3 C | 5th | 223 |
Complete Auto GP results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos | Points |
| 2014 | Virtuosi UK | MAR 1 5 | MAR 2 8† | LEC 1 Ret | LEC 2 6 | HUN 1 5 | HUN 2 3 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | 10th | 41 |