Trying to win in motorsport is just like being an entrepreneur – no wonder why the sport attracts so many businesses that identify with the passion and fighting spirit with which teams and drivers strive for victory. That was the conclusion following an informative and entertaining show hosted by MP Motorsport at Kinepolis in Dordrecht on 12 May. The Dutch single-seater racing team active from karting right up to Formula 2 had brought together entrepreneurs and racing talents for a themed afternoon of kindred souls in which marketing, product development and talent development went hand in hand.
Led by master of ceremonies Allard Kalff, the theme of ‘motorsport and entrepreneurship’ was explored from many angles. As it went on, the show made it crystal clear that the theme could just as easily have been called ‘why top-level sport requires an entrepreneurial mentality’, with the reverse also holding true: ‘entrepreneurship requires a top-level sport mentality’. After all, in motorsport in particular, talented individuals must now more than ever utilise their business skills to acquire the necessary budget to go racing. At the same time, the elite sporting environment of international single-seater racing offers sponsors the chance to raise their profile as well as find new markets and partners. In fact, when partners of the same team also find each other, as is the case with MP Motorsport, new products and services are on the horizon, inspired by the speed and attention to detail that make all the difference in motor racing every day. The success of this synergy became clear after two hours at the Dordrecht branch of Kinepolis.
The story of Henk de Jong, who has owned MP Motorsport for over 20 years and achieved soaring success as an entrepreneur with his multinational packaging giant De Jong Verpakking, illustrates this perfectly. “I karted until I did my military service, after which I didn’t set foot on a circuit for 25 years. Nothing but work, work, work – from crane operator to horticulture, from horticulture to packaging. I started with nothing, because I’d spent all my money on go-karts! It took a lot of energy, time and money. That’s part of being an entrepreneur. MP actually grew alongside the business. In fact, as MP grew, so did my business. It was really one and the same story. Because doing business is about giving each other a chance. That’s why motorsport can be meaningful for any business. I invited customers to the circuit and had the MP Motorsport anniversary book on my table, a new edition of which is due out soon. Then I’d go and get some coffee, and nine times out of ten people were leafing through it when I came back. By then, the ice had already been broken.”
One of the best-known MP drivers of recent years, Richard Verschoor, has developed into a true racing entrepreneur. It was the result of losing his place in the Red Bull junior programme, as he explained in a previously recorded interview with Kalff. “After that, I made the switch to wanting to give my all for the sport myself. Instead of having to perform for Red Bull, I did it for myself, because I wanted it so much.” In the end, he stayed in Formula 2 for five years, but to do so he had to fight to raise his own budget. He became a champion at it. “I had my sights set firmly on Formula 1; I only had a plan A. Entrepreneurs recognised that in me. They also want to grow and achieve results, just in a different sport. I really enjoy bringing those worlds together.”
Sander Dorsman, team principal at MP Motorsport, refers to it as the triangle between driver, team and partners. “Good drivers deserve a chance. We as a team need those good drivers, because without them we won’t perform. Thanks to our partner network, we’re better placed to attract those good drivers. Conversely, the partners around us also wanted to see us win that Formula 2 feature race in Miami.”
For Rick Scholte, CEO of acoustic technology specialist Sorama, the penny dropped after an initial visit from Verschoor. “Our products are good at detecting noise pollution, so motorsport isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. Then Richard turned up on the doorstep with a great story. We can also use our sound cameras to detect exhaust leaks or bearing damage. Then you suddenly realise: racing cars are like little mobile factories, that’s our client racing on the circuit!” Johan van Amersfoort, Chief Evangelist at IT firm ITQ, has also spotted opportunities for his technology to thrive in a top-level sporting environment: “As Performance Partner of MP Motorsport, we contribute to human performance, not only as the namesake of the physical and mental athlete programme, but also by adding value to the work of the elite sports physios at Pro-F through analytics and AI. In addition, our engineering teams are working to improve technical performance at MP using the latest technology. We’re really looking forward to that.” The MP partners also connect with one another, allowing the synergy of the partnership to spread like wildfire. Ingmar Baars: “We are in close contact with one another. Take Sorama’s noise reduction, for example. That is very interesting for our customers, given the noisy industrial halls where our machines operate.”
Three young MP talents then spoke about how they are developing their talent and just how important sponsorship is in that process. René Lammers: “Starting out as a Dutch driver with a Dutch team was a good starting point in single-seater racing. I’ve learnt a lot already and we’re going to learn a lot more together. That’s when you realise just how important the financial side is, every driver knows that all too well. So you have to deliver the results every season. If you manage that, the next step comes naturally. Companies naturally prefer the number 1 rather than sponsoring the number 20. That’s why I’m in motorsport: I’m happy to take on that challenge.” His Eurocup-3 teammate Ean Eyckmans added: “It started as a fun father-and-son outing, but winning the Richard Mille Shootout got me this far – and it’s very special to be doing so well with one of the best teams in the world.” Esmee Kosterman will make her MP debut in 2026, in the F1 Academy series for young female racing talent: “I was in contact with MP back in 2020 through FIA Girls on Track. At the time, they were my dream team. To now be able to drive in F1 Academy with that team is a dream come true. Not as an end goal, but as the start of a great career. I too had to start looking for partners at an early age. At 14, I set up my own company for that purpose, initially in my mother’s name, and from the age of 18 in my own.”
That career is only looking upwards initially – it’s what MP Motorsport has structured its talent ladder around. And that’s why René Lammers, just like Richard Verschoor, has no plan B, explained his father Jan, a former F1 driver, a Le Mans 24 Hours winner and a living motorsport legend in the Netherlands. Jan Lammers: “We’re going all-in with René. I see that same drive at MP. Then again, we’re mainly known in our little country of the Netherlands, whereas you have to raise budgets for an international sport. A surfer can wait on his board for the wave, because it will come of its own accord, but we have to create that wave ourselves. I realise much more now than I did back then that it’s a team sport, just as a company delivers a team performance. In that respect, we as drivers have the best job, but you also know: you win as a team, but as a driver you can lose the race on your own.”
Motorsport and entrepreneurship have many similarities, and dealing with disappointment is certainly one of them. The driver who finishes second is the first of the losers. Fortunately, motorsport extends beyond Formula 1. The great career that Esmee Kosterman has in mind could well span for many more years, for example in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) or the GT World Challenge. Ho-Pin Tung concluded the afternoon by presenting a realistic balance between ‘no plan B’ and consistently reinventing yourself – also a hallmark of a great entrepreneur. At the start of this century, he was selected as the first member of KNAF Talent First, the talent scheme run by the Dutch motorsport federation. “I’m still on the board of that programme, because I feel that it’s important to share my story with today’s talents. There comes a moment when, as a young talent – no matter how confident you are in yourself – you look in the mirror and realise you’re not a Max Verstappen or a Kimi Antonelli. But what do you excel at? What makes you unique? That’s what we try to instil in young talents early on. For me, it was my Chinese background. That’s what allowed me to become the best in Asia. Eventually, I became a Formula 1 reserve driver by winning the Asian Formula BMW Championship. After that, I’ve had to keep reinventing myself: a Chinese WEC team under the banner of movie star Jackie Chan, securing the Chinese broadcasting rights for the WEC. Daring to take those side steps and finding creative solutions for them is, I believe, very important in talent development.”
A fine example of this was young Lukas Stiefelhagen, one of the talents in today’s KNAF Talent First programme. Stiefelhagen looked to the future with his story: “My unique story is that I want to race carbon-neutral. I first did this in the electric NXT Gen Cup as a support series to the DTM, becoming champion last year, and now in German ADAC GT4. My story opens doors with sponsors, as it lowers the barrier for companies to enter motorsport. If we want to preserve the sport, we have to keep thinking about the future.”
