De Vries is European Champion

Nyck De Vries has reached a very important point in his career. The young Dutch driver has become European KF3 Champion (13-15 years). In Spain, on the Zuera track, he dominated the meeting at the wheel of his Zanardi-Parilla and imposed himself on two strong rivals, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat. But what was even more impressive was the way very promising De Vries managed the meeting, with a lot of confidence, great driving mastery, perfect management of his equipment and his usual racing intelligence.

“A dream has come true!” These are the words that Nyck De Vries said when he came out of the kart, and then he thanked all those who contributed to this victory. Starting from his team manager, Dino Chiesa, who worked with drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and then created his own chassis brand, Zanardi, after the name of the famous Italian driver to whom he has provided support in karting. “Cooperation with Dino has been perfect”, Nyck stressed. “Together, we always advance in the right direction. A great thank you also to IAME that provided the Parilla engines, to Tom, my mechanic, who has done a great job, and to all my family, for their unconditional support”.
During the race, the Dutch junior driver (only 14) knew how to take into account all the many technical and human parameters and did the difference when necessary. “With 80 entered drivers, it was important to join the leading pack during the qualifiers. I set the second best time during practice, just two hundredths of a second from the pole position, which was an excellent beginning indeed. In the four qualifying heats, I always tried to drive as fast as I could, taking care to avoid collisions and bad surprises at the start, which is always a delicate phase in KF3. So I found myself in pole position in the pre-final, which I won”.
Together with his team, Nyck added the finishing touches to his equipment. “We prepared this European Championship perfectly and I knew I had the means to win the final”. Very focussed on his objective, Nyck De Vries made a perfect start. Sainz tried to pass on the inside, but Nyck imposed himself authoritatively thanks to his ability during braking. Then, Nyck set a series of fast laps with impressive regularity. He rapidly deepened the gap, set the best lap in race and crossed the finish line alone, with over four seconds of advantage over his rivals. “What a feeling! It is never easy to win, especially when you feel the pressure of being one of the candidates to victory in an event that gathers the best drivers aged 13 to 15 as well as the best teams”.
Like Alonso in 1996, Vettel in 2001, and Buemi in 2002, Nyck De Vries conquered the top Junior event after a faultless race. And now the Dutch driver has the future in front of him…