“Faster and Faster and Faster” is the vocal line in Within Temptation’s latest single release and the same slogan raises adrenaline for Within Temptation’s guitar player Robert Westerholt who is making his debut in the GTC Renova M3 cup on the legendary race track in Zandvoort today.

Westerholt has prepared himself for this event since he got his racing license 2 years ago and regularly participated in the Aprisco cup. In the beginning it was just a new hobby as Westerholt always was interested in cars and racing sport but after a while he discovered a new talent in racing when he won one of the Aprisco races already in the his first season.

“Racing is a great experience” states Westerholt. “The feeling is similar to when you enter a stage in front of a big audience and your adrenaline and emotions kick in. But it’s important to keep both under control and use it in a constructive manner. Once you enter the track the only thing you want to think of is your car and that you want to be the first over the finish line – and there’s also a survival aspect to it. You have to take care but still race as fast as possible. To explore the borderline is a part of me, I enjoy the challenge”.

Now it’s time to take it to the next level with his first competition in a higher race class which according to Westerholt demands much more skills of a driver. However, the brand new race car of Robert Westerholt is already a winner, it’s designed in the visual style of “The Unforgiving”, the new album of Within Temptation which is currently in the top 10 of the international charts. The designer of the CD artwork and the comic book which delivered the story line for this concept album, Romano Molenaar, was also responsible for designing the BMW M3 in which Westerholt will compete today.

On Within Temptation’s web site the fans of the band are keep in the loop about Westerholt’s racing passion with special video reports, tweets and photo’s, in addition he has installed cameras in the new car.

Westerholt is also trying to see if it’s possible to have fans participating in his 2nd career by organizing a fan club event on the race track where fans could take a ride with him in “The Unforgiving” race car. “My first racing experience was a rather costly one”, admits Westerholt. “A friend of mine took me along to a race track in Belgium where you could use your own car. I preferred that instead of starting with a faster race car with the frustrating result that I crashed my own one on a slippery track with 160km/h into a wall. But it didn’t keep me of the track as I was still ambitious to find out if I could do better so I went further to get my racing license”.

When Westerholt’s better half, Within Temptation vocalist Sharon Den Adel saw the new design of “The Unforgiving” race car, she decided herself to get a racing license and according to Robert Wetsterholt she could become a serious competitor for him as he states: “Sharon is so talented in many disciplines and I recently found out that she started to test her racing skills on the motorway…”