4
H
He dominated the whole
season and cruised to a
deserved win. At Mugello, with
three races still to go, Nyck de
Vries became the 2014 Formula
Renault 2.0 ALPS Champion.
And he did it in his own fashion
by staying in front of both heats
from start to finish, as
happened often so far. The
flying Dutchman lined-up at
Mugello after spending the
summer thinking about the two
races at Monza that didn't go
as planned. But there's more
than that. In the test held by the
series one week before the
Tuscan round, Charles Leclerc
who was his main rival, had
scored the fastest times
confirming his constant
professional growth and some
excellent shape. And he
reiterated the statement in
practice where he showed how
confident he could be at
Mugello. But that turned out to
be just the early story. When
things became for real, the
Koiranen Grand Prix racer
showcased his full potential.
He sat down in pit-lane
observing his rival, who ran in a
different group, sporting an
MP3 player plugged into the
ears to isolate himself from the
world. He though at every
single corner of the track, trying
to get the right vibe out of it.
From the outside, he seemed
incredibly focused as his face
kept assuming a determined
expression. So when it was
finally his moment,
he jumped on his car running
on one of the most difficult
circuits in the world and tamed
it, setting an unmatchable
laptime for everybody else. That
time became an issue for all his
rival while Nyck was each
moment more sure that
something great was going to
happen.
An impossible
pace
When things like that happen,
de Vries becomes unbeatable
and, during the first race, he
confirmed the feeling. In order to
win the title, he just had to win
so he could have forgotten
about what Leclerc was doing.
Mathematics working their way
up. After a good takeoff from
the pole, he held the inside line
on the straight before the first
braking zone and, at San
Donato, he defended himself to
retain the lead. In the first few
laps, the times seemed far from
the potential expected with
Leclerc pushing very hard
behind. The Monaco-based
driver even seemed close to an
attack. But the early pace set by
de Vries was only a tactic. On
lap 6, when his car reached
maximum efficiency, he
dropped his times abruptly,
leaving Leclerc half a second
behind and from that point on,
he started a long run of quick
laps that opened a wide margin
all the way to the checkered
flag. A flag that saluted him as
the new champion.
A tweet from
McLaren
The Finnish squad's party
started in the same exact
moment. And when the young
Dutchman came back to the
pits it all continued, without
exaggerating though. "I'm very
happy, that's obvious - this
season I knew I had to win.
There was some pressure but
everything went exactly the right
way so I'm here celebrating my
maiden car racing title". And
