Young Driver AMR finishes fourth at Le Mans
Monday, June 15, 2015
Young Driver AMR briefly missed out on a podium finish in their fifth participation in the 24h of Le Mans. Marco Sørensen, Nicki Thiim and Christoffer Nygaard finished fourth in the highly competitive GTE Pro class in the Aston Martin Racing entered Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin Vantage GTE. Young Driver AMR made a strong start at Le Mans and led all but four laps in the first three hours of the race before a technical issue cost 30 minutes in the pits. After 24 hours of racing, Young Driver AMR missed a podium finish by 78 seconds.
Thiim made a strong start at Le Mans and took the class lead in lap four. The rapid Dane led then until lap 40, when he had to pit due to technical issue with the steering. The repair cost 32:39 mins. Sørensen then re-entered the race in last position in class. The Danish Driver-trio fought and battled back with a clean and trouble free race until a loose bolt had to be fixed Sunday morning, which cost another 20 minutes in the pits. After that, the #95 Vantage GTE ran trouble free. Nygaard took the chequered flag at Sunday, 15:00 hours as best placed Aston Martin in fourth position.
"The car and our drivers were really great, the lap times proved that, we just had bad luck with some penny goods on the car“, said Jan Struve after the race. “A brand new hose from the steering had a leak and then a bolt broke, otherwise we would have been on the podium. Judged by our pace, there is not much to discuss. Even after we lost so much time in the pits, we came pretty close to a podium. Marco, Nicki and Christoffer didn’t put a foot wrong, were very quick and what Nicki showed in the first three hours was just great.“
Nicki Thiim: "The result was obviously not what we were looking for. The car and driver trio deserved so much more, we were clearly among the quickest. My first triple stint was not easy, as I had no power steering and that was really hard. My teammates also did a mega job, it’s shame that we missed a podium. When you are in the lead for the first three hours and have the quickest car, it a bit frustrating to have a set back so early in the race.“
Marco Sørensen: "We deserved a lot more then a podium here, as we had the quickest car in our class. But it was not meant to be today. We only had two technical issues and both of them were took long to fix. We have to be lucky to finish the race, but of course we would like to go home with some silverware. We had an unusual technical issue, so we were really unlucky. But that aside, my first 24 hour race was great and exciting, that was for sure one of my best experiences.”
Christoffer Nygaard: “A big thank you to the team for their effortless and great work and to my teammates. We showed a good performance and it’s a shame that we missed out on a podium finish by just a bit. The GTE Pro class is the most competitive class on the grid and if not everything is perfect, there is no chance to race for the win. As a team, we were strong and proofed that we will also be very competitive in the rest of the season. At least we got some championship points in the end.”
Result GTE Pro class
1. Gavin/Milner/Taylor (Corvette C7.R)
2. Rigon/Calado/Beretta (Ferrari 458 Italia)
3. Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella (Ferrari 458 Italia)
4. Sørensen/Thiim/Nygaard (Aston Martin Vantage GTE)
5. Lietz/Christensen/Bergmeister (Porsche 911 RSR)
Source material - Young Driver AMR
