Before we went on track in Suzuka, we checked up on Mike Van der Burgt, who let us know how the team is doing:

“How do you feel about burgt racing at the moment? What is going well so far and what can be improved?”

“I feel very good about Burgt Racing Team at the moment. From the beggining starting the team up with my brother it was clear the key part that makes our team different is we can easily talk to eachother in person. If we need something done we can just ask eachother, if we are doing setups for a race we can sit with eachother and talk about what we need to change or what we prefer. I like it very much, racing with my brother. We push eachother to our limits and have rules about what we do and don’t do on track. What I like to be improved is less school and more time for racing, haha. Yes if I could I would want to study a little more about car setup and how to get the most out of the car. Sometimes in the weekend I do this, watch videos or look articles and learn little things.”

“Can you maybe explain those rules, that you and your brother have a bit? what are the do’s and dont’s on track?”

We have rules like:

• the fastest driver goes in front. We don’t fight, we just give each other the place.
• If it matters for the standings we just back down and give the place to the one who needs the points.
• If your teammate is fighting someone closely behind you, you give him slipstream and try to block the other car.
• Share information on setup, strategy, track and racingline each time you find new information.

Do’s:

• Motivate each other in the race
• Race pace is more important than qualy pace (being consistant)

Don’t:

• Crashing
• Going of track
• Losing time
• Driving too fast into the pitlane
• Not wanting to finish on the podium
• Don’t report your teammate for a penalty
• Not giving it the full 110%

“Not giving the full 110%? Does that mean you don’t over-race yourself on-track? can you elaborate on that? Is practice usually the place, where you set the goal-posts and after that, everyone knows his pace and you don’t overtake the faster car?”

“Giving it the 110% means we drive to our known limits and don’t overpush, we stay concentrated and focused. Practice is the place we set our goals and look at what will be possible in the race, we know who is faster between the two of us and know who gets priority. We do indeed race hard to get past people in front of us and want to finish as high as possible.”

“Can you already estimate, where you might come out this season? So far the competition seems fierce, but you manage quite well every race. Is a team-championship win in the cards still?”

“So early into the season I can’t really tell where I will end up in the championship. The goal and main focus for me (and my brother) is the team championship. Working together and both getting good points is very valuable. The competition is indeed very fierce and we need to race hard to earn this. We do our best every race, but the smallest mistake will cost a lot of positions in the race.”