A Strong-Willed Victory

Nyck De Vries achieved this new WSK success, in KF3, with the strength of will, the determination and the talent that are his best known features, but also with the help of his team, which blended the best ingredients and found the winning setup for this driver. The Dutch kartman took his chance and achieved a very good result with a view to the provisional ranking of the WSK (of which he is title holder).

Pursuit of perfection: this is exactly what Nyck and his team aim to every time they line up at a race, in order to find the best possible conditions to try to win. And in Italy, on 4 and 5 April 2009, on the track of Castelletto di Branduzzo, which hosted the third WSK (Winning Series Karting) round, Nyck never lost focus despite the very tough competition, at the wheel of the Zanardi-Parilla from the Chiesa Corse Team.

“During free practice, I immediately felt that this race would be very hard fought, but I was determined to do my best to the end to achieve a victory”, the determined Dutch driver declared. As expected, the battle started already during official qualifying, with very narrow time gaps between the fastest drivers. “The timed session was perfect. I set the third time and I ran just four 100th/sec. short of the pole. I was very satisfied with the equipment, which had already proved to be very reliable 15 days ago, at the Trofeo Andrea Margutti, where I finished 2nd”.

That day, Nyck and his team had already collected some excellent technical information about the equipment, but it was during the four qualifying heats that they managed to optimise their Zanardi-Parilla with a view to the final phase. “I finished the heats in 2nd, 1st, 7th and 3rd place respectively and I posted the best lap twice, which was really encouraging. Unfortunately I received a three-second penalty for moving from my line at a start, and it was for this reason that I ended 7th in one of the heats”.

Nyck was therefore 3rd on the pre-final start grid and had a fast and regular race. “There was a collision at the start, which I managed to avoid by a narrow margin, but it cost me two places. I got closer to the leading pack and I finally recovered my third place”. But in his heart, Nyck was not fully satisfied with this result. “Together with the team, we analysed the situation before the final. Dino Chiesa, my team manager, realised that I lost speed in certain parts of the track. So he decided to modify a kart parameter and that led to good results”.

Fourth after the first bend, the 2008 German Champion went to the offensive. Nyck passed the three race leaders Kvyat, Marciello and Sainz, with precision and confidence. The end of the race was intense, and Nyck was put under pressure by the son of the Rally World Champion. But the Dutch driver stood firm and gained one of his most beautiful victories at international level. “It was a very exciting race, with no room for mistakes; I had to pass differents drivers and go as fast as I could at each lap, but I also had to keep a regular pace. This victory was indeed a team victory and I would like to thank Dino Chiesa and Iame for their precious help”. After this second major victory in 2009, Nyck has consolidated his second place in the WSK provisional ranking and has reduced the gap that separates him from the leader.

Belgian Championship at Genk in order to get ready for the European Championship debut and German Championship: these are the rendezvous for young Nyck De Vries over the next few weeks.

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