During the second round of the WSK (Winning Series Karting) held at Sarno, near Naples, Nyck De Vries reached again the leadership in the KF3. Both in timed practice and in the qualifying phase, the Dutch driver seemed capable of fighting for a podium as well as remaining at the head of the championship. Unfortunately, Sunday’s events spoiled a weekend that had started under the best auspices.
The WSK, a real world championship, held during several days, which attracts the best international drivers, came back to Southern Italy, on the difficult Sarno track, which is 1700 meters long! Despite poor weather conditions at the beginning of the meeting, Nyck De Vries reached immediately the 4th place during timed practice. “The track was wet and tricky, so the most important thing was to avoid making mistakes in these bad grip conditions. Therefore, I was very satisfied with my qualification results”, Nyck declared.
On Saturday, the day went on smoothly for the driver from Chiesa Corse Team. Nyck won a heat, was second in another one and then 10th. “I had a collision at the start and the kart, then, began to pull to the left. At that point, I did my best not to lose too much ground”. But it was the following day that turned out really hard for De Vries. A mechanical problem forced him to leave the race during his last qualifying heat, a mishap that deprived him of a top 6 on the pre-final start grid, from where the young Dutch driver had to start his catch up from the 20th place! “At the centre of the pack, drivers are often too excited and this can cause troubles. Maybe it
would be better to inflict more sanctions for unsporting manoeuvres. At the start I lost several places and I had to fight hard to come back in 18th position”.
But for Nyck, everything was still possible in the final, so much so that he made an excellent start at the wheel of his Zanardi-Parilla. “I quickly found my self in 8th place, with the leaders in my line of sight. However, just like two weeks earlier, at the Winter Cup in Lonato, I had to stop in the first part of the race because of the valves. It is annoying, because a thing like that almost never happens in KF3. I lost several points for the Championship, but I hope I will be more successful in the next race”.
While waiting for the WSK round at Castelletto, in early April, Nyck will try to show his extraordinary talent at the 20th Andrea Margutti Trophy, on 22 March. |
