Nyck De Vries - A Title Within Reach

Nyck De Vries has added a new victory to his extraordinary 2008 tally. By triumphing on the difficult Liedolsheim circuit at the fourth round of the German KF3 Championship on 27 July, he gained even more ground and took another step towards the title. 

Nyck De Vries continued along the brilliant path he has been following during the German Championship 2008. The Dutch driver had barely come down the podium of the WSK meeting at Sarno when he had to get ready for the competition on the Liedolsheim circuit in Germany.

"The circuit is old and narrow, but I quickly assimilated its subtleties" Nyck confessed. "I was not the fastest during free practice because we had worked with a view to the race, by testing different set-ups and two different chassis models. We made our choice on Saturday morning and I set the third time, so I secured a place in the first row for my two heats".

Nyck was serene and ranked second at first, before winning the second heat with the best lap as well. But the start of the pre-final was not ideal for him. He explained. "The participants behind me pushed a lot the drivers at the front during the first bends and I lost a few positions. I suddenly was sixth or seventh !" Nyck did not lose his concentration, doubled several drivers and finally reached second position with a high pace.

With a view to the final, the De Vries Compétition Team decided to make a few adjustments to render the Zanardi-XTR kart even more competitive. From the very beginning, the final was animated and several pilots seemed capable of winning. Nyck De Vries was in the good group and defended his chances with great determination.

Then, lap after lap, the ranking took shape. "During practice, I had noticed a very difficult corner, where it was easy to make a driving mistake. While I was following the leader, I actually saw someone make a mistake on the deteriorated part of this old circuit".

The intuition of the young Dutch promise proved right, since other pilots had the same difficulty. Nyck remained focussed on his objective and finished in the leadership position. He took good care to close the doors to his opponents in the last bends in order to preserve his advantage and imposed himself on the difficult Liedolsheim circuit.

"After my success at Wackersdorf and Ampfing, I am very happy of this third victory in a row, especially because it was probably one of the hardest. Thanks to Zanardi and XTR, we have a very competitive kart and this makes me optimistic about the end of the season".

With 112 points, against 69 of his immediate pursuer, Nyck De Vries has the title of German Champion almost in his pocket. But he will have to wait until 17 August and the first race at Hahn-Hunsrück to wear his much deserved crown of champion…

LIEDOLSHEIM (GERMANY)

TIME TRIALS : 3rd PLACE

PRE-FINAL : 2nd PLACE

FINAL : WINNER

CHAMPIONSHIP : 1st

- KARTcom - CARPY.NL / PHOTO EVENTS