Jaap Betsema

Jaap Betsema is Fireant Rally Team’s main pick for the driver’s position. Betsema competes in Ultra4 in his Fire Ant Buggy, the easily recognizable rally car after which he named his team. Fireant Rally Team joined the Ultra4 Europe competition in 2013 and has taken part in every year since. Betsema’s ultimate goal is to participate in the King of the Hammers, although he admits that’s more of a dream goal at the moment. Jaap Betsema enjoys the camaraderie among the Ultra4 drivers above all. They expand his horizon and share a mutual passion in the off-road racing sport. “We are not the kind of men who go for a walk through the forest and come back home well rested, that’s what racing does for us.” The races provide Jaap Betsema with a welcome distraction from his busy professional life as director and owner of Betsema Groep, a construction company operating in the Netherlands. “You have to keep your attention focused on the race at all times, or your car will end up on its back next to the track in no time”, he explains. In between the Ultra4 races, Fireant Rally Team competes in rally raids, racing over long distances over several days. Jaap Betsema bought a Bowler Nemesis 4x4 for this purpose. He took the car to Morocco in 2018 for the Carta Rallye, and again in 2019 for the Morocco Desert Challenge. The expanding car park is proof of Jaap Betsema’s more professional approach to his intensifying race efforts, while at the same time maintaining his passion for off-road racing. http://jaapbetsema.nl/