Interview
‘Finally we’ve shown what she is capable of’ - Blokhuis hails MP Motorsport’s Zandvoort breakthrough
MP Motorsport Team Manager Wouter Blokhuis was full of praise for his trio after they enjoyed their most complete weekend yet at Zandvoort, with Alba Larsen and Nina Gademan sharing the podium in both races and Esmee Kosterman breaking into the points for the first time this year.
The Dutch squad delivered strongly on home soil, with Larsen twice finishing second and Gademan taking a pair of third-place finishes across the Reverse Grid and Feature Races.
Kosterman also enjoyed a breakthrough of her own, climbing from 10th to fourth on Saturday before adding another point with a P10 finish on Sunday.
For Blokhuis, the weekend offered reward not only in results, but in seeing all three drivers capitalise on the pace the team believes has been present throughout the season.
“I’m really, really happy,” he said. “I think all three girls did a really good job. Yesterday with Esmee was also really good and she deserved it.
“Also, Nina was quite on top of it. Nina had some bad luck on the last lap of Qualifying, so she lost a couple of tenths, but she recovered quite well and got some really good points from both races.”
For Larsen, Zandvoort provided the clearest evidence yet that the potential MP had seen internally could translate into more promising results.
The Ferrari-backed driver arrived with 24 points from the opening three rounds but added a staggering 26 across one weekend after qualifying on the front row. After gaining five places in the Reverse Grid Race, she then converted her Feature Race front row start into her second consecutive P2 finish.
READ MORE: Larsen delighted with double podium in Zandvoort but rues missed Feature Race victory
Having endured a first half of the season in which her strong pace was not always matched by the final result, Blokhuis believes Round 4 offered a more representative picture of Larsen’s level.
“Alba starts every weekend quite confident because her preparation is more than good,” he explained. “We had some bad luck in the beginning of the season with her.
“But to be honest, I think this is more or less the place she deserves to be with all the effort she’s been putting in. We’ve always seen that the potential is there, and finally we’ve shown what she is capable of.”
Gademan also put together a stellar weekend and crucially, strengthened her position in the fight for the top three. After setting the pace in Practice, the Alpine driver qualified fifth before recovering to third in both races, collecting 21 points across her home weekend.
She now sits third in the Standings on 71 points, closing the gap to Emma Felbermayr to 17 points, while Larsen’s Zandvoort haul has elevated her to fourth on 50.
With Austin and Las Vegas remaining, Blokhuis believes the possibility of placing both drivers inside the series’ top three is now firmly within reach.
“It was a good boost for the team and for the drivers,” he noted. “The next challenge is for Nina to get P2 in the Standings and to also get Alba up there. If the next two weekends are good, then it will be possible for Alba and Nina to finish P2 and P3 in the Standings.”
Meanwhile, Kosterman arrived at Zandvoort without a point to her name, but her drive from 10th to fourth in the Reverse Grid Race offered the strongest indication yet of her competitiveness.
A further point on Sunday ensured the LEGO Racing driver left her home round with six in total, but Blokhuis believes unlocking more one-lap performance will be central to making those results more frequent.
“Esmee is a little bit of a slow starter and she always needs a couple of extra laps in Qualifying which are simply not there” he explained.
“She needs to work on her Qualifying and when she gets that under control, then she should be top eight all the time. The race pace is there, now she needs to show it out in Qualifying.”