Van der Zande to make race debut in Mexico

21-year old Dutch driver Renger van der Zande is set to make his competitive debut in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport series, in this weekend's race meeting in Mexico, Team Netherlands' boss and seat holder Jan Lammers announced. "We want to present the opportunity to talented drivers to show themselves on this level in front of a large international racing audience and simultaneously give their commercial support team an extra tool to get the business community involved," said former Grand Prix driver Lammers.

Van der Zande drove for Team Netherlands on rookie practice sessions in 7 of the 8 rounds in the 2006-07 season. On the "Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez" race track in Mexico City, the youngster will share the car with Team Netherlands' regular driver Jeroen Bleekemolen. While Van der Zande will qualify the distinctive orange car and compete in the sprint race, Bleekemolen will take over for the one hour feature race.

Thanks to Bleekemolen's results in this season's races, Team Netherlands lies in a creditable sixth place in the points standings with three race meeting to go. The highlight of the season was a win from pole in the Beijing sprint race.

Nijmegen resident Renger van der Zande had a successful season last year in the German Formula 3 championship, ranking 4th overall, just ahead of Team Germany's teenage sensation Nico Hülkenberg, who won 8 consecutive races in the current A1GP season. Along with his A1GP commitments, the Dutchman joined Italian outfit Prema Powerteam for the 2007 Formula 3 Euroseries championship.