On July 4th 2023, Rijnmond.nl published an article about Dilano’s mechanic on their website.

Mechanic Willem-Jan traveled the world with the late Dilano: ‘It’s like I’ve lost a son’

He was regarded as a great talent in motorsport: Dilano van ‘t Hoff from Dordrecht. Last weekend, the 18-year-old driver passed away after a severe crash at the Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. Willem-Jan Schoots (42), founder of WJS Racing, was Dilano’s mentor and mechanic for six years when he was just a young boy racing in a kart. “He was still so young and had his whole life ahead of him.”

Door Derk Radstake

Dilano began his karting career at WJS Racing as a little boy. Rotterdam-based Willem-Jan closely followed Dilano’s journey, even after his karting days. He didn’t see Saturday’s fatal race, but that was coincidental.

“I was training the next generation of talent for a race next week. Suddenly, the father of one of my drivers called me and told me he had seen everything happen on television. Neither of us could speak anymore; two grown men crying on the phone.”

“I walked away from that training session and sat alone for two hours, crying as I called my parents. It’s incomprehensible—in a split second, he was gone. Memories keep flooding back, and you see him in your mind again and again. He was still so young and had his entire life ahead of him.”

Racing may be a dangerous sport, but the news still came as a bolt from the blue for Willem-Jan: “It’s so surreal when it happens to someone ‘close to you.’ Drivers don’t think about the dangers, nor should they. They should enjoy life and do what they love most, and that’s exactly what Dilano did.”

Read the full article on Rijnmond.nl.