Pieter Kickert

Pieter Kickert (born 12th February 1971) is a Dutch racing car driver famous for his F1RGP2C career and his strong racing ability in touring cars.

Early Career
Kickert started out racing at 14 when he entered races at his local track, Zandvoort, and as he showed his talent he earned enough money to relocate to Britain and compete in the British F3 in 1989, at age 18. He was fairly competitive that year, and won a few races in 1990.

LGPS
In 1991, Kickert entered the new Life GP Series, buying his own car to compete. However, he overestimated the reliability of the car, and bought too few spare parts. After several mechanical failures left him with no money, he announced that he was going to leave the series until a more professional team, Foster's Good Call Racing, offered him a drive in one of their cars. Kickert gave them what little money he had left, and in just his second race for the team, the Belgian GP, he finished second. Two races later, he won his first race, the Luxembourg GP, after it was red-flagged because of a track invasion. Afterwards, he gained a reputation for being stubborn, as he completed the majority of the European GP without a front wing, still scoring points, and the Portuguese GP stuck in first gear, but was not classified.

F1RGP2C
In 1994, he was picked up by Tyrrell to race in the inaugural season of the F1RGP2C. Partnered with Poppy Whitechapel, the Tyrrel was very unreliable, and Kickert's best result was a 5th place at the first race of the year at Interlagos. He would only score two more points finishes, with 6th places in Canada and Belgium. At the end of the year, he jumped ship and went to Sauber for 1995, where he did slightly better. He matched his best finish of fifth in Argentina, then took a career best fourth at Belgium, the closest place he had to a home race. However, he wouldn't score any more points until almost a year later, at the 1996 British Grand Prix, matching his best. At Japan, he would score his first podium, finishing second in a chaotic race. This fantastic result, as well as a series of strong drives throughout the year, earnt him the second Williams seat for 1997 in the place of retiring Pippa Mann. He knew that partnering champion Daniel Moreno would be tough, but with a competitive car and a supportive environment, he knew he could do well. His season started strong, taking pole at Australia and scoring podiums in Brazil and San Marino. It wasn't until Britain that he won a race however, in what was his 6th podium from 10 races. However, his relationship with the team fell apart after Hungary. Despite finishing third in the race, Williams announced he would be replaced by Andrew Spokes in 1998. Kickert was completely unaware that he was about to be snubbed, and the team did not give him a reason as to why. Things came to a head at the Italian GP at Monza. Kickert was leading the race from Moreno, when the team told him to let the Canadian through to help him beat Tom Douglas in the championship. Kickert refused, and on lap 30 Moreno launched a move at the Rettifilo chicane. He outbraked himself however, and collided with Kickert. Moreno didn't finish, while Kickert lost the lead to Damon Cannon as a result, and would finish second. The team announced shortly after the race that Kickert was fired with immediate effect, and he couldn't find a drive for the last two races.