| Heylen Balancing Racing with RS1 Porsche, Business, New Twins and New Home May 9, 2025By David PhillipsIMSA Wire Service |
| MONTEREY, Calif. – It’s been a busy stretch for Jan Heylen. To say the least. In addition to his “day” job piloting RS1’s No. 28 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class (and a separate RS1 GT3-specification Porsche in another series), he and wife Margaret run their own line of cycling and lifestyle apparel (MuMu). On the one hand, they have more time to spend on their clothing business since selling their Clearwater, Florida bicycle shop (Kafe Racer). On the other hand, they are rebounding from a devastating encounter with Mother Nature that saw Hurricane Milton destroy their home last fall. Oh and did we mention the Heylens welcomed twin boys into their life in December and, along with their two-year-old daughter, are now a family of five? And moved into their new home this spring? Given all that’s happened lately, as much or even more than ever, Heylen appreciates his time at the wheel of a race car. So far this year, that’s been in an RS1 Porsche or in Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3, a Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class entry in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, during an IMSA-sanctioned test at Sebring International Raceway in February where he topped the timesheets filling in behind the wheel of the No. 34 Ferrari following a late call from longtime friend Eric Bachelart of Conquest Racing. “It’s what I absolutely love doing,” Heylen said. “With everything that has happened to us in the last six months, it’s nice to be at the track doing what you love doing. It’s something that takes 100 percent of your focus when you’re at the track doing your job and there’s not the time to think of other things. And that’s nice.” |
| Suffice to say Heylen is good at his job. Heylen, co-driver Luca Mars, RS1 and Porsche stand atop the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS respective driver, team and manufacturer standings thanks to podium finishes in both the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway and the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway. “We need to focus on extracting the most out of every weekend, and I think so far this season we’ve done exactly that,” said the 2021 GS champion, who drove that year with Wright Motorsports. “At Daytona and Sebring, but especially at Daytona, there were cars at the specific track that were just faster than us. But that just shows that we did do a good job because there were cars out there that were, let’s say, a little better than us (Balance of Performance)-wise. But we did what we could with the package we have and that’s put us in the lead in the championship so far. “I would say that’s our primary goal: to get in the lead and build a nice gap so we can drive a different race at the end of the season . . . it’s absolutely right now about scoring points and being consistent. We’re really not worried about winning a race. We’re here to win the championship and all the decisions we make are geared towards that. “But the competition is really strong. There’s a lot of good drivers and cars out there. But we like our chances. We have a good team. We have a good driver pairing.” Indeed, Heylen’s “job” at RS1 goes far beyond “just” maximizing the Porsche’s speed when he’s at the wheel. When he’s not driving, of course he’s pouring over data with his teammates and Michelin tire technicians in search of the optimum chassis set-up. |
| But he’s also mentoring Mars, the 2024 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Grand Sport X (GSX) champion who was born a year before Heylen scored a runner-up finish for Bachelart and Conquest Racing in the Champ Car World Series race at TT Circuit Assen in 2007. “That’s very much why I’m there,” Heylen says. “I think everybody’s relying on me to take (Luca) under my wing and share some of my experiences with him and teach him everything there is to teach. That’s absolutely my responsibility and I love doing it. And all of that comes more naturally and easy when you’re surrounded by good people. “He’s fast. He’s also just a really good guy; a nice person. I think for Luca, given his age, there’s a lot of learning to do. Especially I would say being at the sharp end of the field and constantly being up there with us. I would say he’s done a really, really good job. I can’t say enough about his attitude and how easy he is to be around, and it’s nice to start to get to know his family a bit. They all seem to be really nice people.” Heylen is cautiously optimistic that he, Mars and RS1 will again find themselves at the sharp end of the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS field during the TireRack.com Monterey SportsCar Championship event weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, if not during qualifying on Friday then during Saturday afternoon’s WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 (3:40 p.m. ET, Peacock and globally, ad-free courtesy of Michelin on IMSA’s Official YouTube channel). “I would say it’s a good Porsche track as far as what the car likes,” Heylen says. “The way we’re going to Laguna BoP-wise, how to say it nicely, we’ve got the least amount of power going to Laguna that we’ve ever had. And coming out of Turn 5-6 going uphill at Laguna that’s always tough for us. And it’s going to be tougher this year, so we’ll see. But I still like our chances to do well. I think if you look at sheer lap time I don’t think we’re going to be that strong. But that doesn’t mean that we still can’t race strong.” As is so often the case these days, Heylen will be a busy man at WeatherTech Raceway, temporarily exchanging his husband, father and clothing entrepreneur hats for his driver helmet and mentoring hat. And reveling in every moment of it. For as the saying goes, “If you want a job done right, ask a busy person to do it.” |
