Monaco Kart-Cup - Great Nyck De Vries 21.10.2009: In karting, just like in Formula 1, only the greatest drivers have the privilege of being the fastest in the streets of Monaco. In the bends of Rascasse, the Bureau de Tabac and the "S's" of the Swimming Pool, Nyck De Vries

In karting, just like in Formula 1, only the greatest drivers have the privilege of being the fastest in the streets of Monaco. In the bends of Rascasse, the Bureau de Tabac and the "S's" of the Swimming Pool, Nyck De Vries made sparks fly in the KF3 category. When he dropped as low as 30th place after an accident in the pre-final, the Dutch karter knew the podium was almost impossible to reach, but he did not spare energies to climb to 4th place in the 13th edition of the Monaco Kart Cup, with the best lap in his pocket.

Racing at the Monaco Kart Cup is a bit like gambling at the Casino built near the famous circuit. Sometimes the roulette wheel stops at the right number, sometimes it doesn't! Nyck De Vries had that bitter experience in person, after going to Monaco as the conqueror, ready to fight for victory. It all started in timed qualifying. "I set the third best time in the first qualifying session. I hoped I could do even better in the second, but several drivers went out of track and the yellow flag kept waving. So I had to content myself with 9th time overall", Nyck commented.

In the two qualifying heats, the driver from Chiesa Corse Team tried to regain ground, but he could not avoid the collisions inside the pack. "I even received a penalty for driving out of the start corridor. I still think it was not my fault, because another driver pushed me from behind". However the final phase was still long, with a 15 km pre-final, and then a 25 km final.

"I made a clean start in the pre-final and went up from 8th to 5th place. However, before I reached the Rascasse turn, two drivers collided just in front of me. I braked and I could have avoided them, but the karter just behind me did not slow down enough and hit me". Then, everything got complicated, he dropped back to 30th place on the final grid, with a track where passes are not easy. At the wheel of his Zanardi-Parilla, the Dutch junior driver made one of his exploits.

From the start of the race, he mastered his braking and gained several places, lap after lap. "It was a very exciting final race. And not only that... my kart was fantastic from the beginning, but its performances got even better during the race. At the arrival, when I crossed the finishing line in fourth place, I was a bit disappointed I had not made the podium. A few more laps and I could have fought for the top three. Indeed, the most disappoint thing was that I stopped in pre-final. Because I felt I had found the right pace at the Monaco harbour to take my chance for the final victory. Then I set the best lap, building a 3 tenths gap over the karter that had preceded me". In Monaco, you can never know for sure how it's going to end up...
  
 
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