Young Driver AMR leads the GTE Pro teams championship of the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) after five of nine rounds. Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim took the championship lead for Young Driver AMR with a third place finish the inaugural 6 hours of Mexico in the Aston Martin Racing entered #95 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin Vantage V8. The Danish Duo of Sørensen/Thiim started from Pole Position, lead 125 of 202 laps and took the fastest lap of the race before they eventually finished third in a rain-affected end of the race. Thanks to the third podium finish this season, Young Driver AMR took the lead in the GTE Pro Endurance Trophy for teams, while Sørensen/Thiim are now second in the GT drivers world championship.
Thiim started from Pole Position and immediately took the class lead after the start. Sørensen took over the Vantage V8 in the second hour and further extended the lead. The #95 Aston Martin led for almost four hours. When it started to rain just at the four-hour mark, the lead changed to Darren Turner in a sister entry of Aston Martin Racing. While chasing Turner in tricky wet conditions, Thiim slid off track and touched the barrier. A pit stop for necessary repairs to the rear end then cost 180 seconds and Sørensen rejoined the race in fifth position. In a strong chase during the final two hours, the #95 Aston Martin was once again the fasted GT car on track and Sørensen/Thiim eventually finished third, only 18 seconds behind the class wining Aston Martin.
„This podium finish was a testament to great team work“, said Young Driver AMR´s Jan Struve. „We had the pace to win this race and are of course a little bit disappointed, but this is racing. The mechanics did an unbelievable job to fix the rear end, hats off to them. Marco and Nicki drove then as impressive as in the first part. We took the GTE Pro team championship lead now and we are really looking forward to the next round at Texas. Big congratulations to Darren Turner and Richie Stanaway for taking the GTE Pro class win today for Aston Martin.“
“It was good to get the podium but I had to drive with a little bit of anger for my final stints to get the best result possible“, Sørensen said. „It was great to finish P3 again but I’m also a bit disappointed because we’ve been searching for our first win in GTE Pro. I haven’t got this yet but this gives me even more determination to perform next time out at Austin”.
The sixth round of the FIA WEC takes place in two weeks at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
6 Hours of Mexico GTE Pro class
| 1 | Turner/Stanaway (Aston Martin Vantage V8) |
| 2 | Bruni/Calado (Ferrari 488 GTE) |
| 3 | Sørensen/Thiim (Aston Martin Vantage V8) |
| 4 | Rigon/Bird (Ferrari 488 GTE) |
| 5 | Tincknell/Priaulx/Franchitti (Ford GT) |
article : www.youngdriver-amr.com
