Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen took victory in GTE Pro at last Sunday's 6 Hours of Fuji, scoring their first win since last year's race in Shanghai in dominant fashion
The Danish duo started the race from third place, but took the lead in the first hour when Sørensen used a tow from Mike Wainwright's Gulf Racing GTE Am Porsche to shoot past the leading #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gianmaria Bruni to take the lead of the race.
"Winning a race like the one we did today is why we all do it," said . "It was great to be involved in the fight for the lead in the first hour of the race, and because we were leading, after that the race seemed to fly by. This was an important win for Aston Martin and and I am very proud for the team. I'm delighted."
The Dane Train, as the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Thiim and Sørensen is nicknamed, then resisted an undercut challenge from team-mates Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn to take the win. It was the first Season 8 victory for Aston Martin. The British marque last won in last May's snow-affected 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, when Martin and Lynn took the top step.
"It is a great feeling to be standing here as a winner," added Nicki Thiim. "WEC GTE Pro has some of the best racing on the planet as you saw today. It was so close that we had to split strategies on the two cars to cover off the competition.
That worked well for us and I'm really proud of the team who have worked so hard for this. They kept their focus and had the right mentality today which was why we were able to capitalise on the car's pace. This is a fantastic result for Aston Martin."
Thanks to the win, Sørensen and Thiim now sits second in the GTE Pro standings, one point behind reigning champions Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen. The FIA World Endurance Championship continues next month in Shanghai, the site of the Dane Train's previous victory.
