In a field where everything is very close, Nick van den Berg secured an impressive podium finish on Sunday. The 18-year-old kart driver from Deurne finished third in the Tillotson Senior class during the third round of the Dutch Four-Stroke Championship. It is his second top result of the season, following a race win earlier this year in Eindhoven.
“That is still a good points total,” says a satisfied Van den Berg after the final. “It is incredibly close this season; we are constantly driving in a train.” The podium finish also helped him in the championship. “I am currently seventh, so still in the top.”
Wrong spot
On the circuit in Strijen, Van den Berg did need a bit of luck. Qualifying went reasonably well, but as far as he was concerned, it didn’t yield enough. “Maybe I chose the wrong spot on the track, but we took P3,” said the driver from Deurne. After a number of corrections to the results, he even moved up to the second starting position.
So, Van den Berg had to start the first race from the outside: “It was a matter of seeing how I would handle that. I just kept the kart on the outside and tried to find a gap on the inside as quickly as possible.” He dropped back to sixth place, only to climb back up to second. Race two followed the same pattern, and in that race, he also finished in P2.
Overtaking
In the final, Van den Berg had a good start, but overtaking proved difficult. “At a certain point, the person in front of me figured out where I could overtake,” he said regarding his opponent’s defensive actions. “It is a difficult track to overtake on anyway. So it ended up being P3.” And with that, he secured a well-deserved third place in the day’s standings.
An impressive performance by Van den Berg, especially considering he started his sport relatively late. At the age of fifteen, he was introduced to a unique school project at the Hub van Doorne College in Deurne. “They started a kart team there: they converted superkarts to electric. That is where I acquired my first skills,” explains Van den Berg.
The Grid Racing
The school team became champions twice, and after leaving school, the Deurne native wanted to continue racing together with a few teammates. Among them was his former teacher, Geert Aben. The group switched to the Electric Kart Series, the Benelux championship for electric karts. They competed for three seasons, and the team became champions there as well.
At a certain point, according to Van den Berg, the challenge in this class was no longer sufficient. Through Martijn Bos of The Grid Racing in Oss, the step to real karting came into view. “He wanted to rebuild his kart team, and we were very eager to help with that.” Consequently, Van den Berg has been racing under the banner of The Grid Racing in the Tillotson Senior class since the beginning of this year.
Pole position
Earlier this season, he already showed that he can compete at the front. In the opening round of the Dutch National Championship at De Landsard, he took pole position in his first National Championship qualifying session and won the first race. Unfortunately, things went less well at Berghem, with two retirements due to technical problems.
Besides racing, Van den Berg is busy with his studies. He is studying Automotive Engineering in Helmond and works at a garage in Deurne. “I can often be found there, and that naturally ties in nicely with my studies,” says Van den Berg. Nevertheless, racing is his top priority. Depending on budget and time, he also tries to participate in NXT GP races: “But for the rest of this year, the main goal is to perform as well as possible in the National Championships.” Van den Berg is already supported in his racing activities by The Grid Racing and Autoverhuur Harrie van der Putten. He is still looking for companies willing to support him on his way to the top. You can send him a message via the Instagram accounts: @project74racing and @nickvandenberg21.
Photo: Bas Kaligis/RaceXpress.nl
This article was written by Ivo Boudewijns [Editor/General Coordinator DMG]