MP Motorsport wrote Dutch motorsport history in 2022 by winning both the driver and team title in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. As a result of this, the team opened its doors last weekend for a sponsor and media event at their workshop in Westmaas to show the progress the team has made in recent years. Trackside Legends was invited at the workshop to have a closer look at the team’s operations, which has been active since 2005 under the MP Motorsport name. Owner Henk de Jong was keen to show the staff of his (soon to be sold) company “De Jong Verpakking” what things are like at his other company which is a real racing family.
“MP Motorsport is a racing family. Winning is in our blood.”
About MP Motorsport
The MP Motorsport workshop in Westmaas
MP Motorsport is a Dutch race team that competes in various motorsport categories around the world. Founded in 1995 by Marcel Peters, at that time, the team competed in the Benelux and Dutch Formula Ford. The team has steadily made a name for itself over the years in the motorsport scene, with a strong focus on growth and performance.
In 2003, the team switched to Formula Renault 2.0, competing in both the Eurocup and Dutch Formula Renault. MP Motorsport impressed during its debut in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2008, taking an immediate victory with Dutch driver Paul Meijer at Spa Francorchamps. The team subsequently grew into one of the top teams in the Formula Renault 2.0 category, achieving successes with drivers such as Daniël de Jong, Oliver Rowland, Jordan King, Andrea Pizzitola, Nigel Melker and Will Stevens.
In 2011, the team also entered Auto GP. In 2012, the team competed with Manor Motorsport in Auto GP, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC.
Overall of F2 race winner Sérgio Sette Câmara
In December 2012 it was announced that MP Motorsport would also participate in the GP2 Series in 2013 by taking over the starting license from Scuderia Coloni. In its first season in the GP2 Series, MP Motorsport scored two podium positions, a second place in Monaco and also a second position in Abu Dhabi. In 2014, Dane Marco Sorensen scored the first GP2 win for the Dutch team at the Sochi circuit in Russia.
One of the team’s main and recent achievements is their fantastic success in Formula 2, where they have won both the drivers championship with Felipe Drugovich as the overall team championship in 2022. At this moment MP Motorsport competes in multiple championships, such as the FIA Formula 3 Championship, the F4 Spanish Championship, the 24H GT Series, Formula Regional European Championship and the Formula 4 UAE Championship.
They have had quite an impressive list of drivers along the way, with a few well known Dutch drivers in their line-up such as Daniël de Jong, Richard Verschoor, Bent Viscaal and Tijmen van der Helm who have made a name for themselves in motorsports. Several drivers that competed for MP Motorsport have gone on to drive in higher-level motorsport categories such as Indycar, WEC and Formula 1.
“MP Motorsport: Accelerating talent.”
The future of motorsports
Preparations are well underway for 2023.
MP Motorsport’s success on the track is a result of their commitment to development and performance. The team has a state-of-the-art workshop and employs a highly skilled and experienced team of engineers and mechanics. They also have a strong emphasis on data analysis, which helps them to constantly improve their cars and drivers. Seeing the list of championships they are actively competing in, they are not afraid to take risks, grow and add series to the MP talent ladder. And they won’t stop growing as of yet, since this year MP is going to add two new championships, the Eurocup-3 and the F1 Academy.
For a reason their slogan is “Accelerating talent”, with the ultimate goal of helping talent to climb the motorsports ladder towards Formula 1. We are confident that team principal Sander Dorsman, who has been active for the team since 2005, can bring the Westmaas based outfit to greater heights in the years to come.
It makes us proud to see that together with Van Amersfoort Racing we have 2 major teams from the Netherlands competing in the top of open wheel motorsports. It will be interesting to follow MP Motorsport and see what success they can achieve in the coming seasons.
Thanks to Loïs de Bruin, MP’s public relations and social media manager since late 2020 for showing the media around the workshop to see with their own eyes how much there is ‘behind’ a Formula 2 team before they can race on the tracks.
