The beginning of this season’s revelation

Nyck De Vries celebrated his 13th birthday last month (6th of February), but despite his young age he has already become known at an international level. After having an impressive performance at Winter Cup and at Andrea Margutti Trophy, the dutch boy confirmed his remarkable progression by winning the opening heat at prestigious WSK. A star was born…

Nyck De Vries entered the world of karting when he was a small child. He started participating in Mini-Kart Club races at the age of 5. Since he loves victory just as much as competition, it didn’t take long before he won his first trophies. Vice Champion of Belgium Cadet in 2006, Vice Champion of Holland and Belgium KF3 in 2007, in winter this Dutch pilot and his team prepared with great care for season 2008, which promises to be very intense and exciting.
From a technical viewpoint, De Vries Competition Team has chosen once again Zanardi chassis and will rely again on the professional expertise of Chiesa Corse and Keijzer Racing teams. Moreover, Nyck will use XTR engines.

His 2008 season (focused in particular on international KF3 races) has started under the best auspices, since he was the fastest during collective tests performed at the end of January in Muro Leccese (Southern Italy). A few days later, Nyck was already working hard for Winter Cup, where all the best European pilots meet for a first official competition. On the Italian circuit of Lonato he showed all his ability by moving up from 18th to 7th position at the finals (participants were 101). “I ended up second in one heat, but I was forced to withdraw in another” said Nyck. “Pity, because I think I could have fought for a podium”. This Dutch boy was again very close to a podium at Andrea Margutti Trophy, held in Parma on 9 March. Nyck was 4th after official time qualifying, won his semi-final and was finally 6th after a bit of trouble in the group.

Anyway, the experience he acquired in Lonato and Parma was beneficial, because Nyck De Vries proved to be stronger than ever at the first WSK race, in Muro Leccese. “During free practice, we worked well on tuning up my equipment and I felt I had a chance to win”, he commented. Official time qualifying confirmed his feelings and Nyck won the pole position with an advantage of 0.2 seconds over his immediate pursuer. After that, nobody could stop him. He won his four heats and then had a textbook performance in the pre-final: victory with a margin of over five seconds and best lap during the race !

In the finals, his opponents tried hard to put him under pressure, but Nyck showed that he is definitely the strongest. He didn’t commit any mistake, he improved his times lap after lap and smoothly but decidedly continued to increase his advantage over the other pilots. Finally, after 16 laps, the relief ! Thanks to this double victory, he is now at the top of WSK ranking with 37 points, whereas French pilot Maïsano has 28. “My team did a wonderful job and I would like to thank all my partners for this extraordinary result. The season has now begun and I will do everything I can to obtain more successes…”, promising Nyck De Vries concluded.