From Sim Racing to the OKJ World Championship in La Conca: Mik on his journey in racing
Fresh from a decent result at the OK-N Junior World Championship in Viterbo, Mik is preparing for two more major events in November: the OKJ World Championship at La Conca in Italy, followed by a flight straight to Portugal to race in Mini at the Rotax Max Grand Finals.
The past few months have been packed with racing. In the Benelux, Mik competed in the BNL championship, while also making appearances at internanonal Rotax events. With MP Kartracing Team, he raced in Champions of the Future at Sarno, the WSK Final Cup and the OK-N Junior World Cup. To prepare for the OK-N Junior World Cup, Mik in between also entered an OK-N Junior race in the DKM at Wackersdorf in Germany.
We caught up with him there to talk about his season so far. Having moved from Mini to OKJ in less than a year, he had plenty to reflect on.
Picture: MP Kartracing Team
Mik, your career has taken off very quickly. Take us back to the first time you got into a kart. When was that?
“I think it was about two and a half years ago now, possibly even less. Before that, I’d already been involved in sim racing for quite a while. I mostly raced on rFactor 2 in SRVN, (Simracing Vereniging Nederland) and I’d also played a bit of iRacing. I was only seven when I started doing that, and I really liked it! Pretty soon I started winning races as well, which was really nice. Then I went to an expo, where Rudy van Buren (Red Bull sim-race engineer) suggested I should give karting a try. But we went to São Paulo for my father’s work for a few months first.
At that time there also was the Formula E race and we met with Nick Cassidy (two times vice world champion Formula E), who saw me on the sim and also said I should get into a go-kart. So I did. People soon noticed that I had potential and that’s really how it all started.”
What happened once you started karting? Talk us through your journey from those first races to where you are now.
“I started with Pierre Redeker, my first team and things moved really quickly from there. It went very well. I’d been training for only 3-4 months when I entered my first race. I think that was in late August 2024. It was Kart4Fun at Landsard. That weekend I was racing in Rotax Mini. I took pole straight away, so that was a great start.”
“After that, everything happened very quickly. I went straight into the Chrono Dutch Championship and, while only participating in the last two races of that season, still managed to do top 10. The following year, I became Dutch and Belgian champion in Mini Max. Then I started doing my first WSK races in Mini 60 with Energy. We began with the Final Cup, that went really well. I was very quick. I set an event lap record at Lonato and the pace was good everywhere. Race craft was something I obviously needed to work on, I had no experience, no milage at all. It was my first season in that environment, so there was a lot to get used to.”
“In the middle of 2026 we decided to test Junior and based on immediate good speed we took the decision to move up to Junior and I joined MP.”
Picture: MP Kartracing Team
What have you learned so far at MP?
“I wouldn’t say there’s one specific thing I’ve learned. Especially when you’re in a new class, you just keep improving from one weekend to the next. That includes your race craft, getting to know the circuits and understanding the corners. It’s about your overall development as a driver. That’s why we did so many different classes and races this year: gain milage, experience, race craft, be ready as much as possible to compete at the front in Junior during a very focused year 2027.”
How are you going on with the other drivers? They seem like quite a close group and many of them have known each other for years. You’re still fairly new to the team.
“It’s been really nice. I already knew some of them from other events and I’d met a few at the Dutch Championship. So it’s nice to see them again here.”
Do your teammates give you tips? There are drivers in both the KZ and OK teams who have been competing at this level for quite a while.
“It’s not necessarily about getting tips from one particular teammate. You can look at the data from drivers who are quicker and they can sometimes help with the setup or with your driving. You can also learn a lot just by watching how the other drivers approach things on- and off the track. It’s the whole environment you learn from, rather than one specific person. But I want to say my first impression at MP is very positive, really a nice team, very professional set-up and so many people giving it their all to have the best possible performance, I am very thankful for having the chance to be part of it.”
How big has the step been from Rotax Junior to OKJ?
“OKJ is a bit faster, of course, and the tyres are different. That’s probably the biggest difference. But I really enjoy both, it is both very high level but we will focus on OKJ as a priority in 2027. When possible, I will however also do the highest level races in Rotax as well, but only if it does not conflict with the rest of our full racing agenda.”
One final question: do you ever get a chance to pause and reflect on everything that’s happened over the past year? Or are you always moving from one event to the next?
“My dad does that for me. He also reminds me of what I’ve achieved. But the past is the past. I’m always looking ahead and trying to keep learning so I can become a better driver, I just feel I can be faster, the fastest.”