Race driver Jos Veldboer uses his Suzuki to promote the fight against malaria

During a successful comeback, Jos Veldboer not only floored the accelerator, he also showed at Circuit Park Zandvoort that he is keen on helping eradicate malaria. 'Did you know that a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds? Stopping this diseases is a real race against the clock.'

Jos Veldboer was out of the running for a while: he fractured his clavicle and back in an unfortunate accident during the Masters of F3 weekend. Veldboer didn't think he'd be able to come back until the Wijzonol Trophy in September, but he recovered quicker than expected and decided to show up at the Hammerite Ultimate Races.

During the open training on Friday, the 13th of August, he ran a successful test and decided to sign up for the races. 'Climbing into the car was a bit strange, and driving past the place I crashed at during the Masters was really weird. It was all kind of peculiar,' explains the racing entrepreneur.

Race against the clock

And so Jos was on the track on Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th of August. Under the flag of Douma Autosport, Jos competed both on and off the asphalt. Besides racing, Jos is actively involved in his charities NCFS and Opkikker. 'This weekend, Sandra Douma and I will be drawing people's attention to "Malaria No More: The Race Against the Clock Challenge". Malaria is a huge global problem. Between 350 and 500 million people contract the disease every year. And every year, between 1 and 3 million people die of malaria around the world. That's incredible,' explains Jos. Jos put the logo of the Race Against the Clock campaign on his Suzuki so he could draw attention to malaria while racing against the clock.

Save lives

Malaria No More supports programmes in countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Cameroon. The programme is showing results in Kenya: the number of malaria deaths has fallen sharply. During the Hammerite Ultimate Races, Veldboer's initiative was picked up on by track announcer Arthur Dekker. 'One of the things he told the spectators at Circuit Park Zandvoort was that they could protect a child from the disease for only €3.50. This is a very small sum with an incredibly huge value. Anyone who texts MALARIA AAN to 5757 can become a donor for just €1.50 a month. You could be saving five children a year.' And if you want to stop, simply text MALARIA UIT to 5757. That's how easy it is.

Thanks millions, Jos

Malaria No More is really happy with Jos's initiative to use his Suzuki to draw attention to malaria and the Race Against the Clock campaign. Thanks millions, Jos.