The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) was never more exciting for Young Driver AMR then now: After finishing first or second in the GTE Am class in all six rounds of the global championship so far, the Aston Martin Racing entered Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin Vantage GTE has a solid lead in the GTE Am team championship. With only two rounds to go, Kristian Poulsen and David Heinemeier Hansson are also leading the driver’s championship. Back for the seventh round at this Saturday’s race at Bahrain is Nicki Thiim along Poulsen and Heinemeier Hansson. With Thiim onboard the #95 Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin, Poulsen und Heinemeier Hansson won at Silverstone/GB, Le Mans/France and Fuji/Japan. Thiim and Poulsen were also part of the Bahrain winning Young Driver AMR crew last year. The race in the desert of Bahrain has a special atmosphere: The start will take place in the afternoon and after racing two hours in the daylight, the final four hours will be raced under floodlights in the darkness.
One thing is already certain with two round to go in the World Championship: Aston Martin will win the World Cup in the GTE-Am class and an Aston Martin driver will win the drivers championship. What is not decided yet, is which team and which driver will claim the title. Before the penultimate round, Young Driver AMR has a 31-point lead. If the trio of Poulsen/Heinemeier Hansson/Thiim will finish the race at Bahrain ahead of the #98 sister car of Aston Martin Racing, Young Driver AMR, Poulsen and Heinemeier will be crowned World Cup winners at Bahrain.
„We are in a very good position in the championship, but we have to stay calm as anything can still happen“, Jan Struve of Young Diver AMR says. „Our clear goal is to win our class at Bahrain, this would decide the World Cup in our favour. But this is still a long way and we just saw at the last round, where the GT Pro-championship leaders didn’t score points, how quick things can change. Nicki Thiim is back this weekend with us and this is certainly a good sign, as so far in this season we won every round when he raced with us.”
„I really hope that we can win that race, otherwise there will be some very nervous two weeks until the final round at Brazil ahead of us“, championship leader Poulsen says. „We will do everything we can to repeat our victory at Bahrain. We saw last season, that the track suits our car. The race is mostly a night race, which brings new challenges to the drivers.”
„Last season, we were quick at Bahrain, but this year, the competition is also very strong“, Nicki Thiim says. „We will of course try to win the race, but it will be hard. Bahrain is a modern racetrack and has a kind of stop-and-go Character. There are a few long straights followed by tight corners, which requires hard braking. As the track is in the middle of a desert, it’s always slippery, as there is a lot of sand on the track.”