Nyck De Vries went to Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) with the firm intention of maintaining his leadership in the WSK World Series, Super KF category. Six weeks after conquering the crown of World Champion, the young Dutch karter drove a fantastic race, always on the attack but without forgetting fair play. His second place, conquered after a hard-fought final, should have been sufficient for another world title, but a decision by the sport commissioners decided otherwise...
Sharm El Sheikh: the Red Sea, its ideal setting for scuba diving and... its kart track, built on the edge of the desert, with its many curves! This circuit, which was new to almost all drivers, had already been perfectly assimilated by Nyck De Vries during free practice, so much so that he conquered the pole position in the timed session. " It was an excellent debut, and I also felt we could still improve the kart from the technical viewpoint". The driver from Chiesa Corse repeated his excellent performances by winning the first heat with the best lap time in the race. "It was not easy, because there was a lot of sand on the track. During the second heat, I had a collision with another driver and I had to settle for 9th. I was not that fast on the curve where overtaking is easier, so it was difficult to stay in the lead. And after some ignition problems in the third heat, I was only 8th at the end of the qualifying phase".
At the start of the final, Nyck De Vries found himself under threat by Armand Convers because his carburettor was running a bit too rich. " He passed me, but then we went back together to the lead places. Towards the end of the race, I was the fastest on track. Catt, who was 2nd, tried to brake to let Convers pass, but they did not understand each other and we almost had a collision. In the end, I was stuck in 4th place behind Kozlinski, Catt and Convers. Then, I knew that the best thing I could do was to try and finish ahead of Convers to conquer the title".
The final witnessed an exciting battle between the race leaders, but after a rather complicated start procedure. " I had a problem with the petals. Drivers like Catt and Groman also had some mechanical problems and the race director decided to stop the race with the red flag. Everybody could check things out, and then go back to their original place. I did the same, a few seconds after the race director had given drivers the order to restart".
Nyck started an exciting duel in the lead pack and once again his Zanardi-Parilla proved to be increasingly fast lap after lap. "It was a heated battle with some great passes and a lot of fair play. Finally I made the difference against Armand Convers and I passed under the chequered flag in second place. It was sufficient to win the WSK World Series. When it was time to climb on the podium, I was informed that I had been excluded from the race. Apparently for not going back to my place before the start, although I had done so before the red line, as the regulations provide. Honestly I find it hard to understand this decision, especially because I was happy about the fair play attitude that dominated the race ". So Nyck De Vries left Egypt with the title of vice champion ... and a lot of bitterness. |
