The time has already come to draw the first conclusions: the hard winter training underwent by Nyck De Vries is bearing its fruits, the Zanardi-Parilla equipment is proving once again to a valuable resource and the Dutch driver has showed again excellent performances,
especially when “the going has got tough”. But of course, the 2009 season has just begun and Nyck knows he will have to repeat those good results soon, because his competitors are ready to battle him.
“This year, the WSK series has again gathered the best international drivers, so it was fantastic to prevail in the first race of the season”, Nyck commented. However, the Dutch driver had a really difficult time during the race, because he was forced to begin on the outer side of the track, at each of the six starts! “On the La Conca track, more than elsewhere, it is really a handicap when you cannot start from the good position” said his team manager, “because it is hard to get the right trajectory when the first bend comes. Nyck often lost ground at the start, so he was forced to do his best to catch up while avoiding collisions”.
Despite this handicap, Nyck won a heat, was second in another one and set the best time in lap twice, thereby providing even more evidence of this burst of speed. Indeed, he climbed from 15th to 8th place at the end of the qualifying phase. “In the pre-final, my new tyres took a little while to warm up and I had to wait a few laps before the equipment could show its full potential”. Russian Daniel Kvyat literally flew away in front of him, but Nyck did not give up and finally reached the second place. At the start of the final, he was forced again to drive on the outer line and found himself on the
dirty side of the track. Although he lost a few places, Nyck was determined to begin his battle. He nearly doubled a driver at each lap, so he soon reached Kvyat (who appears to be his major rival for 2009), before gaining an advantage of almost two seconds!
Now, more than ever, Nyck De Vries is the candidate to his own succession in the WSK, and will logically be part of the group of favourites on 22 February, at the 14th edition of the Winter Cup in Lonato, which remains the great international classic of season debut. Nyck will race near home, since this young Dutch driver has recently moved to Brescia, in Northern Italy. He is now closer to the Zanardi factory and will be able to hold many more private tests. Very promising... |
