Blokhuis vows MP Motorsport ‘will come back stronger’ after enduring contrasting fortunes in Shanghai

Although MP Motorsport left the Shanghai International Circuit with mixed feelings, Team Manager ⁠Wouter Blokhuis believes that the potential is there to challenge at the front of the field after all three drivers exhibited glimpses of promise.

Nina Gademan undoubtedly enjoyed the best weekend of the trio despite a frustrating Qualifying session. The Alpine driver had to settle for P8 before recovering to convert pole into victory in the Reverse Grid Race.

While she followed that up with a confident top-four finish on Sunday, her teammate Alba Larsen’s round went the opposite way. After executing her best-ever Qualifying with P2, the Ferrari junior’s two races were respectively marred by a tangle with Audi’s Emma Felbermayr and an error on the Safety Car restart, which cost her a win in the Feature Race.

“Mixed feelings,” Blokhuis summarised. “I think we really showed the pace with Nina and Alba. Nina got a bit of bad luck in Qualifying – she should have been easily P3 or P4. Nina showed strong pace winning the race on Saturday and starting P8, finishing P4 – I think that’s a really good achievement.

“With Alba in P2, I think we showed the pace we have as a team. Unfortunately it didn’t go the way we were hoping today with Alba. Small mistakes, these things can happen. It was the first time for her leading a race with a Safety Car restart, so I understand it from that point of view. We should learn from it so it never happens again.”

Larsen, who suffered a snap of oversteer whilst leading and eventually climbed her way back up to P8, wasn’t the only MP driver to lose out in the Feature Race. After starting 15th, rookie Esmee Kosterman’s day came to an early end as Jade Jacquet locked up and drove into the rear of her car, forcing her to retire from the race.

Despite the unlucky incident, Blokhuis stated that the team were “quite happy” with the first weekend of her rookie season in the series as the LEGO Racing driver was able to show progress throughout each session.

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He said: “She struggled a bit in the Free Practice and made a really good step in Qualifying. She also had a bit of bad luck on the last laps, so I think that could have been closer to the top 10 or top 12, to be honest. I think she deserves to be.

“Yesterday was a difficult race for her. It’s all new experiences and it was a little bit difficult for her to process it all at the same time, but we had a good debrief. She understands everything and she made a really good step today.

“Unfortunately, she got taken out, so mixed feelings. We showed the pace with two cars driving at the front. I think everybody leaves the weekend with a good feeling and hopefully we will come back stronger.”

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The Team Manager added that, once the mistakes are stripped back, their underlying pace seems encouraging, especially at the hands of MP’s more experienced drivers in Gademan and Larsen.

“I have the feeling with Nina and Alba that they are competitive enough and the cars have the speed to always be fighting on the podium,” he explained. “I think the potential is there.”