Steeman Succumbs To Injuries
T
wenty-year old Dutch
WorldSSP300 rider Vic-
tor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki)
passed away as a result of inju-
ries sustained after crashing in
the middle of the leading pack
during the opening FIM Super-
sport 300 World Championship
race at the series finale in Porti-
mao, October 8.
He suffered polytrauma and
serious head injuries, and
despite the quick first response
from the medial team onsite and
then being flown to Faro Hospital
by helicopter, Steeman suc-
cumbed to his injuries on Tues-
day, October 11.
Steeman had been, arithmeti-
cally, still in contention for the
2022 WorldSSP300 Champion-
ship, having won four races in
2022. He had set a record for
pole positions in this class at
Portimao, with six in all.
After starting his career in
his native Netherlands, Stee-
man joined the Rookies Cup in
2016, remained there in 2017,
before competing strongly in the
IDMSSP300, WorldSSP300 and
Dutch SSP300 classes in 2018
and 2019.
A year of racing in the IDM
WorldSSP Championship in
2020 gained him a KTM ride in
the 2021 WorldSSP300 series,
taking his first race win and pole
position that season. This year,
as part of the MTM Kawasaki
WorldSSP300 team, Victor was
one of the few riders in this
category of racing who could
break clear of the field in some
races. He came through from
16th on the grid at Most to win
the second race by almost three
seconds. In Barcelona-Catalu-
nya, starting from pole, he was
over five seconds ahead of his
nearest challenger in winning
race two.
Tragically, the family suffered
another blow when Steeman's
mother, Flora van Limbeek suf-
fered a suspected heart attack
and passed away on Thursday,
October 13, two days after
Steeman died. Van Limbeek
was 59.
CN
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 18, 2022 P57
Dutch rider Victor
Steeman, a top
contender in the
WorldSSP300 class,
sadly passed on
October 11. He was 20
years old.
PHOTO: FIM
