WEC: GTE-Pro switch for all-Dane Aston team

Young Driver AMR dominated the LM GTE Am class in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship with the crew of the #95 Aston Martin V8 Vantage taking the team and drivers class championship in a season that saw the team finish no lower than second in the eight races in the WEC, taking the class win at Le Mans into the bargain, a clean sweep of the important silverware in the class.

2015, though, will see a new look team take on an entirely new challenge as the team, complete with a new and important backer, moves to the GTE-Pro class of the World Championship, the premier class in worldwide GT racing, with it's Aston Martin Vantage GTE (pending confirmation of entry by the FIA & ACO).

For the GTE-Pro assault, Young Driver AMR strengthens its all-Danish driver lineup with of the addition of Lotus F1 Team test driver and GP2 race winner, 24-year-old Marco Sorensen. The rising Danish star teams up with Christoffer Nygaard and Nicki Thiim.

Nygaard is the longest-serving driver in the Young Driver AMR program, while Thiim is with the team for the third season and will race in selected events as in 2014 alongside his other racing commitments.

Young Driver AMR will continue it's close cooperation with Aston Martin Racing in 2015 FIA WEC. For the third consecutive season the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin Vantage GTE will be entered by Aston Martin Racing.

Along with Sorensen, Copenhagen based online multi-asset trading and investment specialists Saxo Bank will join the team's 2015 FIA WEC campaign, supporting Sorensen for the second season.

"After winning the GTE-Am class in 2014, we felt it's the right time to raise the game," Jan Struve of Young Driver AMR says. "It's a challenge to compete against the world's leading teams, but already in 2014 we proved that we can race them. I'm really happy that Marco Sorensen joins Young Driver AMR and would like to welcome Marco as well as Saxo Bank to the team. Together with Christoffer and Nicki, who both showed an outstanding performance in the previous season, we are looking to forward to the 2015 FIA WEC."

"I'm happy to start with Young Driver AMR and Aston Martin Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and I'm very thankful to Jan Struve of Young Driver AMR and Saxo Bank, who made this possible," said Sorenson. "My goal is still to race in Formula 1, but it will not harm my ambitions if I gain experience in other classes. Racing single-seaters and GT cars with Aston Martin will only help me to become a complete driver. I followed sportscar racing and especially the 24 hours of Le Mans in the past years and I'm really looking forward to my first start at Le Mans."

Added Thiim: "I'm excited to start in the GTE Pro class this season. The competition in the Pro class is thrilling and challenging. For a driver, this will be big fun and I'm looking forward to this season. It's great that Marco will join the team. I know him very well from the days when we both went karting and I'm very confident we will form a strong team."

Said Nygaard: "Moving up to the Pro class is a big challenge. I'm happy and proud that I will a part of the team, as it's the dream and the goal of every GT driver to race in the GTE Pro class. Nicki already proved several times in the previous season, that the Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin can race at the front of the GT car in the WEC, so I'm really looking forward to the start of the season."

Originally on DailySportsCar.com