{"id":24840,"date":"2025-07-26T10:03:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T10:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/24840\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T10:03:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T10:03:39","slug":"we-found-the-guy-whose-record-ollie-bearman-stole-he-already-got-it-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/24840\/","title":{"rendered":"We found the guy whose record Ollie Bearman stole. He already got it back!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ollie Bearman may need to reconsider his summer break plans again \u2013 to come back to the small Swedish town of Varberg, where he already spent a few days ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Back then, his family vacation derailed after Bearman discovered a local karting track \u2013\u00a0a typical rental go-kart place you\u2019d expect to find on the outskirts of a little town \u2013 next to the place he was staying at.<\/p>\n

The joking suggestion from his family members that he\u2019d need to beat the lap record turned into a three-day mission, which involved \u2013 according to the F1 driver himself \u2013 taking fuel off the go-kart, cooling the engine with a leaf blower, taking some bodywork off to save weight, and even someone slipstreaming him on the straight \u2013 until he finally broke the previous record.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should be in F1!\u201d Bearman laughed, talking to journalists in Spa, about the then-anonymous-to-him driver who held the record for Varbergs Gokart before Ollie turned up.<\/p>\n

\"Oliver <\/p>\n

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team<\/p>\n

Photo by: Simon Galloway \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

That guy, Elton Zevenwacht, a 23-year-old local, wasn\u2019t in town when the F1 driver let his obsession ruin a family holiday. But the news reached him quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea \u2013 until Christian Andersen, the owner of the track, sent me a photo of Oliver and the lap record board,\u201d he laughed, as Motorsport.com reached out to him while he was on his way back to Varbergs Gokart. \u201cI was away that week, so I couldn\u2019t come and try to beat it right away. But I\u2019m going to try to beat it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

And beat it he did. While Bearman was busy taking P7 in the Belgian GP\u2019s sprint qualifying, Zevenwacht was heading back to his local karting track.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, Bearman managed to become the first driver to break the 29-second mark, setting a time of 28.97s during his vacation \u2013 shaving a tenth off the previous lap record \u2013 and Zevenwacht responded on Friday night with 28.95s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a competitive person, too,\u201d laughed the Swede. \u201cBut it was just really fun for me to hear that Ollie came to the track and had to work hard for the record. And with all these tactics \u2013 like cooling the engine and changing tires and stuff. But I respect that! I have no bad feelings or anything. It\u2019s just really, really cool that Ollie had to work for the lap record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also took his chance to respond to some of Bearman\u2019s light-hearted claims. While speaking to the media on Thursday, the Brit suggested that the previous lap record holder must weigh \u201c20 kilos\u201d or that the time was set in more favorable conditions in the spring \u2013 \u201cwhen it\u2019s like minus 20 there\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s how he did it, I think. That\u2019s my excuse!\u201d Bearman quipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristian called me when he saw your article,\u201d Zevenwacht told Motorsport.com. \u201cSo, it was really fun to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, really. I follow Formula 1 every weekend \u2013 from like 2017 \u2013 and I haven\u2019t missed a race on TV since. And I was also following Ollie from when he first jumped in for Carlos Sainz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just a Formula 1 fan. So it was really, really cool to find out that I had the chance to kind of compete with him on the same track. And also that he had to work for the lap time! It\u2019s a very cool feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when I set the lap record last time, it was in a so-called \u2018Le Mans race\u2019, where we raced two hours. And I think I was like one and a half hour in, and then I got the record. I wasn\u2019t going for it. It was a 29.07, I think, and it was with eight other karts on track. And I just got the lap time. It was in August, in similar conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I can add to that \u2013 I read that he also said like, \u2018he should be in F1 or he\u2019s 20 kilograms\u2019 \u2013 my weight is like 60 to 65 kilos. So I\u2019m not 20 kilograms!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oliver <\/p>\n

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team<\/p>\n

Photo by: Simon Galloway \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Zevenwacht\u2019s undeniable advantage is that he, of course, knows every inch of his local track \u2013 yet, he\u2019s never raced competitively in his life. Having his own business, which offers local homeowners exterior and roof cleaning, he occasionally shows up at the local kart track.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I have the time, I try to visit Christian and do some laps. I haven\u2019t raced in any competitive category. The only thing I\u2019ve raced in is rental cars. But I\u2019ve always had a car interest and always wanted to race competitively in karting. But I never had the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such a chance may never occur for Zevenwacht, but there aren\u2019t many amateur go-kart drivers who can claim to have beaten an F1 driver\u2019s record at any given track. Zevenwacht now can.<\/p>\n

Until, of course, Bearman \u2013 now inevitably \u2013 shows up in Varberg again\u2026<\/p>\n

Photos from Belgian GP – Saturday<\/p>\n

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\"Esteban<\/p>\n


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In this article<\/p>\n

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