Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen, who captured the FIA World Endurance Championship’s GTE Pro title with Aston Martin last November, will team up for an entry into the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Thiim and Sorensen haven’t raced together since the 2020 8 Hours of Bahrain, where they won the world title together in the last race for Aston Martin Racing’s factory GTE Pro programme.
The Dane Train, as the pair has come to be known, will team up in the Belgian classic as part of a factory supported, all-Pro line-up with Garage 59.
They are joined behind the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 by fellow works driver Ross Gunn.
“After an amazing season in 2020, winning both FIA World Endurance Championship titles with the team, and the Vantage GTE winning Le Mans, I am really happy to be returning to contest one of the biggest GT3 races on the planet,” said Thiim.
“As always it’s an honour to represent the Aston Martin brand and to be able to show what this car is capable of. There are new goals within the Aston Martin family, but the target remains the same – to win.
“Spa represents the perfect scenario for this, to race against the best of the best. It’s great to keep the ‘Dane Train’ alive and to be able to drive alongside the ‘Gunn’ is great too, and Garage 59 is a very impressive team. I can’t wait to get started.”
Thiim has remained active in sportscar racing since Aston Martin’s closure, notably joining Phoenix Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series and also racing for the German outfit in the upcoming Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Sorensen, meanwhile, has been less active since his world title win, but was recently confirmed to be joining TF Sport in the Silverstone 500 as part of the British GT Championship.
“I am really looking forward to going racing again at Spa,” Sorensen said. “To have the shot at an overall win in one of the great GT endurance races is a great opportunity, so I have to say thanks to Garage 59 and Aston Martin.
“I think with Ross joining the ‘Dane Train’ we make a pretty strong line-up and the Vantage definitely has the potential to fight at the front.
“The team has won championships at this level and always produces a competitive car so I am looking forward to learning more about them.”
Garage 59 will now be running three cars at Spa. In addition to the all-pro entry for Thiim, Sorensen and Gunn, the team is also entering the #188 Vantage in the Pro-Am class for Alexander West, Chris Goodwin and Jonny Adam, with a fourth driver yet to be confirmed.
A fourth driver is also yet to be named in the Silver class entry, with Valentin Hasse-Clot, Alex MacDowall and Nicolai Kjærgaard confirmed thus far.
“Garage 59 has been one of Aston Martin Racing’s most valued partners ever since it switched to the new Vantage GT3 at the beginning of the 2019 season,” said AMR Managing Director John Gaw.
“Running a Pro car with works drivers at Spa is more evidence of AMR’s evolution from a works programme to a fully-integrated customer operation that has the ability to support its customers not just with drivers, but also personnel, technical back-up and world championship-winning experience.
“We hope Spa showcases what is possible when teams work closely with us to achieve their goals, and we expect to make further announcements through the summer.”
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