Nyck de Vries Reveals What’s Next After Le Mans Triumph

Nyck de Vries had just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he was so nervous during the final 75 minutes that he locked himself in his driver room, folded his clothes six times, and stared at the ceiling. He did not want to see or hear anything. That detail, which he shared on SPEED with Harvick and Buxton, captures the unique stress of endurance racing better than any description of speed or strategy. For a driver whose career has included Formula One, Formula E, and now a top-tier endurance program with Toyota, the feeling of not being in control of the car at the checkered flag was unbearable.

The Le Mans Experience: Stress, Strategy, and a Sprint Finish

De Vries won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with teammates Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway, driving for Toyota. He describes the victory as the most incredible feeling of his career, surpassing everything else he has done. The buildup alone is grueling: preparations start early in the year with endurance tests at circuits like Paul Ricard and Motorland Aragon, where drivers run laps in pitch darkness to simulate the race. The event itself takes ten days, and the race is a roller coaster. De Vries says there were many moments when they thought they were out of contention, but they stayed on the lead lap and kept fighting. The final hours turned into a proper sprint, with Toyota, BMW, and Cadillac all in contention. Each car had