Feeling the highs & tragic lows of motorsport: 'There's no manual for this'

With a little imagination, motorsport is synonymous with life: there are the highs, the immense joy, the friendship, the passion. Then there is the dark side, with setbacks, sadness and loss - in the worst sense of the word. Dutch MP Motorsport and their team boss, Sander Dorsman, saw the highest highs and deepest lows in barely 12 months: from winning the F2 championship with Felipe Drugovich to the horrific, fatal accident of Dilano van 't Hoff. "There are no manuals for this."

"We appreciate being successful, it's important to never take that for granted. Always keep both feet on the ground and work hard. In sport, if you take something for granted - maybe that applies to everything in life - then you face the abyss. That's why it's important to have a team of people who always keep looking for the challenge, keep looking for new elements that help you improve."

Anyone who does not know better will simply drive past it. On a through road in a tiny village named Westmaas (south of Rotterdam), is home to the most successful and most prominent motorsport team in the Netherlands. From a distance, it looks like a shed. Sander Dorsman has his office right next to the entrance. His view is great: a jam-packed trophy cabinet, the most prominent objects being the trophies for both the drivers' and constructors' championship in Formula 2, which Felipe Drugovich achieved in 2022.

Blind faith in each other

In motorsport land and among connoisseurs, there has always been great respect for MP Motorsport, which competes in Formula 2, Formula 3, (Spanish) Formula 4, Eurocup-3, FRECA and F1 Academy. With the titles in F2 came the final breakthrough to a wider audience. "Actually, nothing has changed at all for us," says Dorsman.

"I am not overwhelmed by our own performance, I was always confident in our qualities. If you win a championship at F2 level, it is also a combination of factors. You saw that we had a very good connection with Felipe [Drugovich], that he trusted us blind, that we trusted him blind. Then you get into a kind of flow. You are unbeatable. That's what we were in last year. When you are in a bubble like that, you are very much concerned with yourself and not how others look at you."

Not surprising for a team that - as Dorsman says - once started with 'one or two little cars' and has now grown into a true powerhouse of stature. The key to its success? "We attach great importance to the fact that no matter which team of ours you walk into, the atmosphere is the same. We all have that winner's mentality. We've all smelled winning. That's addictive. We always want to win and be better. But one thing is important: the family feeling."

Dorsman smiles as he gives an example of how close his group of people is. "I am proud that we ...," the team boss says before briefly pausing. "We had the F1 Academy race in the United States. Our crew came and asked if they could stay three more days because they wanted to visit a few more places in the US. And they all have a lot of fun together. That they can have a lot of fun around their work with that same group of people, that's very important to me."

Cultural guardian of MP Motorsport

At first, Dorsman downplays his own role. "Every team has its own team manager. That is the main glue. I don't want to take too much credit for that," he says of MP Motorsport's success. After some urging, "It is important that I act as a culture guard in the company. Very much ensuring that we strive for the same level and atmosphere in every section of the team. If that goes off track, you do have to make adjustments. The strength of our organisation is that it is very flat. People take a lot of responsibility, which we also encourage. Of course, things don't always go well. But in a sport like this, it's very important."

Don't misunderstand Dorsman: MP Motorsport is not occupational therapy. On the contrary. You have to perform, the pressure is high: "Yes, there is always pressure. You have to strive for that as well. When we are on the track, we also want the highest quality and the best result. Apart from that, we have a lot of fun off the track. Then, it's okay to take that tension off for a while. But what you say, when you are working, there is pressure. That's very simple."

"Definitely, the same goes for the team boss. It's about how much pressure you put on yourself. You also have to be able to put things in perspective. You have to be less guided by pressure but more by where we want to go. And not tomorrow, but in a year's time. Those are things where I see the broader perspective. Whether I can switch off? This game is always floating around in your head somewhere. Not a day goes by that I don't think about this. In any sport, you have pressure. If you win, you have pressure to keep winning. If you are in a difficult situation, there is huge pressure. But you have to keep that helicopter view. That you can oversee very difficult situations."

Trainer of racing talent

As a trainer of talent, MP Motorsport has an important role in the motorsport ladder, from a team with which a young teenager takes his first steps in the sport to the final push towards Formula 1. "No, I'm not a father figure, mind you," Dorsman immediately shakes off the suggestion. In general, he says: "An engineer at F4 level works with very young drivers of 14, 15; who have zero experience in motorsport. They are professional karters, but the conversion to single-seaters is quite different. Then you're talking about braking technique, and you have less time on the track. It's suddenly a very big car around you. The engineers are much more about coaching. They tell you the technique and how to be fast in a car. Then you are coaching much more on the person."

"A driver in F2 already has a lot of experience. Then, you are more concerned with strategy. You are much more equal to each other. If a driver has a lot of experience, like Felipe, then you do the pit stop strategy together, for example. You usually see them go from a child to a young adult at 15 or 16. That development is quite fast. They are young then and don't have a very strong opinion yet. They are a sponge that soaks up all the information. In F2, you probably spend six years in single-seaters. Then you have seen everything once, and you become an equal interlocutor for an engineer."

Dilano's death was more than a sledgehammer blow

FRECA-bred Dilano van 't Hoff was one of the emerging talents at MP Motorsport. Earlier this season, the 18-year-old Dutchman tragically died in a horrific accident at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Immediately, a discussion arose about whether young - sometimes still - children should be involved in motorsport. "I find that a tricky discussion," says Dorsman. "Only recently, a young cyclist died. To my mind, there are, unfortunately, quite a few young people who died in cycling recently. This is not something specific to motorsport. When it happens in our sport, it's a sledgehammer blow for everyone because, fortunately, we are not used to it. It unfortunately happened to us within the team. Then, it is not a sledgehammer blow, but everyone is shaking on the ground. For us, that's a bit more extreme. It is very difficult, but fortunately not standard in motorsport."

The accident was five months ago. "Terrible," Dorsman calls the first days afterwards. "I think we went through those in a daze. It's just wiping out your schedule, and all supporting each other. It's very tragic. We want to be there for the family as best we can. And still, his mother and his sister were here recently. That shows that we have become very close, have a very powerful bond, and are all in the process of coping. That will also take some time."

"There are no manuals for this. Then many tears flow, and many people are in shock. People are angry, and emotions go everywhere and nowhere. Certainly, I have that too. The first weeks were very difficult in that. In our FRECA team's tent, we have big pictures of Dilano. On the circuit, a lot of people take pictures of that. On the other hand, it gives us support, and it is nice that he is still with us this way. During the farewell ceremony, there was very much the vibe of: everyone is very sad, and there were a lot of tears, but - how shall I put it - there was a celebration of Dilano's life. It was a beautiful and dignified farewell."

In any case, MP Motorsport and Sander Dorsman will never forget their Dilano. Next to the F2 trophies - prominently displayed on the team's reception desk - is a scale model of Dilano's car. That too is Dorsman's view from his study.