Interview
MP Team Manager Cotterill hails Verschoor’s Jeddah weekend as his best performance for the team
MP Motorsport Team Manager Jeremy Cotterill was full of praise for Richard Verschoor’s performance over the Jeddah weekend, believing it is the best he has seen from the Dutchman.
After losing out on a Sprint Race victory due to a five-second penalty that dropped him from first to fourth in the final classification, he returned to win the Feature on Sunday.
A last lap overtake on Jak Crawford meant the 24-year-old came out on top in Jeddah, putting Verschoor on 53 points and at top of the Drivers' Championship.
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Speaking in the MP garage at the end of the weekend, Cotterill heaped praise on what he called Verschoor’s “redemption” drive.
“Yesterday was disappointing to say the least, but today, I think Richard drove extremely well,” Cotterill said. “I think he drove extremely well yesterday as well, and for me it was a great weekend, a bit of redemption for yesterday and we need to use it as an impetus to kick on from here.
“Richard has been with us on and off for a few years. He’s not actually that old, but he’s been with us for quite a few years. He fits well.
“He is easy in terms that he is constructive, if he’s not done what we think he should do, he will take it on the chin and doesn’t carry it on. He is quite mature about things like that and accepts if he is right or if he is wrong.
“We all have to put our hands up, when we haven’t done what we were supposed to do or what we thought we should have been doing.
“But Richard will take it on the chin and just soldier on and away he goes. But I have to say this weekend, it’s probably the best I’ve ever known him to drive, even better than when he won Macau.”
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Verschoor’s Feature Race victory came off the back of his ability to make the alternative tyre strategy work having started in ninth. He spent 23 laps on the Medium tyre before switching to the Supersofts for the closing stages.
Cotterill acknowledged that it was a strategy call that came with risks, and it caused a huge debate within the MP ranks.
“It was a long and hard debate,” said Verschoor. “To be fair the drivers were pro-it, which is okay, nobody was against it, but everyone had to be aware of the risks involved in doing that.
“So, the decision was brave but, in the end, it paid out for us, and obviously I’m super happy. We were risking a Safety Car at the beginning of the race, it would have not been ideal, fortunately that didn’t come.
“The race was clean all the way through, nobody gained an advantage from a Safety Car intervention later on in the race, so we raced on pure pace in the end.”
FEATURE RACE: Verschoor secures redemption victory in Jeddah
Speaking further about the pace of the car, Cotterill says it speaks highly of the Dutch team, and how everyone within it is performing at a high level.
MP are currently second in the Teams’ Standings on 59 points, trailing leaders Campos Racing by six heading into Round 4 in Imola.
“We are always trying to give them a fast car,” said Cotterill. “Of course, we are happy that our performances have been good. Richard has managed to score in every race I think so far, so that means the car and the team (have been competitive).
“The drivers are competitive, and Richard is experienced, Ollie Goethe is relatively new, and he is learning but he is going to be there. So, we just keep putting points in the bag, as and when we can.
“Of course, trying to win the races that we can win and when we can’t win, put as many points in the bag as we can, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint.”
Looking ahead to the rounds to come, Cotterill says his team will be taking a couple of days to rest after a busy month on the road, before picking up where they left off in Jeddah.
“We need a little bit of time to have a reset,” he said. “It’s been a busy month, I think everybody is extremely happy, but let’s give them a couple of days.
“Let’s get home, everybody takes a rest for a couple of days and then we will get stuck back in. We are certainly not going to be resting on our laurels that’s for sure.”