Nick De Vries - A Victory Worth Double

After conquering the German KF3 Championship, Dutch Nyck De Vries added a new victory to his 2008 list of successes by winning the WSK, an international series that gathers all the best drivers in the category.

At only 13, in his first Junior year, he achieved an incredible result…

Nyck De Vries finished the WSK (Winning Series Karting) exactly the same way he had started it: with a victory! His first victory, conquered in Italy in March, had a special taste, because Nyck was considered a beginner in KF3 and he had just celebrated his 13th birthday. But on 5th of October, at Zuera, near Saragossa (Spain), his second victory added an even more important dimension. In fact, he was able to conquer the title of champion at this important international round for KF3 (13-15 years).

Both happy and touched when he came down the podium, the Dutch driver was literally surrounded by photographers and journalists present at the event; the first thing he did was to thank all the people who contributed to his constant progression throughout the season.

"A big thank to my family, to Tom Stevens, my mechanic, as well as to Dino Chiesa for his technical support and to Iame factory for its excellent engines". Indeed, Nyck’s Zanardi-Parilla combination proved to be just as infallible as its driver.

Although Nyck won the pre-final and the final apparently effortlessly, it was not all that easy. On the exciting and modern circuit of Zuera that will host the 2010 World Championship, many drivers wanted to end the WSK with a success, just like 2008 European Champion Aaro Vainio. But nobody was able to defeat Nyck.

"For this race, we had chosen a Parilla engine, after using a XTR engine during the whole season, to our full satisfaction. Maybe it was a daring bet, but after timed practice I felt quite confident. I set the third time and then I found myself at the lead in the qualifying heats, after one victory and one best lap. In the pre-final, I was a bit nervous, because I both wanted to win and to conquer the WSK title.

I could make no mistakes. Luckily, everything went just fine. I won the pre-final with an advantage of almost two seconds. Then I made a fantastic start and I progressively increased my advantage, so much so that I finished with a 3-second advantage over the second".

With four victories, a second place and two third places in 10 races, this driver from Chiesa Corse fully deserved the WSK title, even though his main rival in 2008, Brandon Maisano, did not race in Zuera.

"I even had a spotless result at Angerville, in France", the new champion recalled. As icing on the cake, the De Vries Compétition team (Zanardi-Iame) was second at the Eurocup, in the team ranking.

WSK (KF3) FINAL ROUND ZUERA (SPAIN)

TIME TRIALS : 3rd PLACE – QUALIFICATION : LEADER

PRE-FINAL : WINNER – FINAL : WINNER – 2008’ CHAMPION

- Kartcomm -  also photos