Again a Good Result!

The Andrea Margutti Trophy, organised in memory of a young Italian kartman who disappeared too early, is always felt as a very special event by all the participants. The best European Juniors drivers in the KF3 category attended the meeting, all dreaming of writing their names in the list of winners of this prestigious event, by F1 driver Robert Kubica few years ago. Nyck De Vries almost made it, but the fast Dutchman achieved a good performance anyway, by conquering the second place.

Frustrated at the result of his latest race, Nyck De Vries was very keen to conquer another podium, and soon. “On the 20th anniversary of the Margutti Trophy, I felt very motivated to achieve a good result” Nyck declared. “In addition to that, this race was held on a new Italian circuit, the track of the 7 lakes at Castelletto di Branduzzo, which on this occasion held its first major international event. We all had few reference points and it was very exciting to try and do better than the others”.

During practice, Nyck De Vries had already shown his great adaptability; then he set the best times in official timed practice, with over two tenths of a second of advantage over the second. A significant gap considering the level of competition! “Conquering a pole position and being the fastest on the track always has a special flavour”.

Due to their high number (almost 60), drivers were divided into two groups for the qualifying phase. The team worked really well on Nyck’s Zanardi-Parilla so he managed to keep his leadership on Saturday night, after a second place followed by a victory in his two heats. “In the heats, we chose a different setup to have a better understanding of the equipment. Since the next WSK round will be held on this same track of Castelletto in early April, it was important to collect as many technical details as possible”.

Nyck confirmed his fighting spirit and determination in the semi-final, which he won with an advantage of over three seconds. “I could keep a very high pace and I was very fast on each lap. I had a great feeling with my kart, it was very exciting”. The weather was nice and the temperature grew in Northern Italy, changing slightly the grip conditions on the track, with more and more rubber deposits in the trajectories.

In these conditions, his Russian rival Daniil Kvyat became immediately a greater threat, from the beginning of the final. Then there was a formidable shoulder-to-shoulder fight between these two young and promising drivers, who were soon separated from the pack by a long distance. “I had the best start, but then Kvyat passed me. We were very close in terms of performances, I even drove a hundredth of a sec faster than him in the final. I tried several times to overtake him again, but he was good at closing all the passages when I was faster than him”.

Positions remained unchanged and Nyck finished his weekend in second place. “Overall, it was a great weekend, with a good result at the end of the effort. I would have liked to win, but I almost made it. I would like to thank Dino Chiesa, Iame and my team for this podium”. The Dutch driver will hold some new tests over the next few days: he will definitely approach the next WSK round with a lot more optimism…