With the announcement earlier today that the team behind the ‘Dane Train’ Aston Martin will be stepping back from a role with the AMR team in 2017 it feels appropriate to track the progress of Jan Struve and his Danish racing powerhouse.
Starting in 2010 the Young Driver name has been inextricably linked with Aston Martin from the GT1 DBR9, through the V8 engined Vantage GTE and V12 powered Vantage GT3.
2010
FIA GT1 World Championship
2 x Aston Martin DBR9, 3 race Wins, 4th Place in Championship for Darren Turner and Tomas Enge.
Stefan Mucke, Pedro Lamy and Jose Maria Lopez (yes that one!) also drove.
Le Mans 24 Hours
1 x Aston Martin DBR9, 3rd place in GT1 and 22nd overall for Peter Kox, Tomas Enge and Christoffer Nygaard.
2011
FIA GT1 World Championship
2 x Aston Martin DBR9, 3 race wins, second place in the Championship for Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke, 4th in Championship for Tomas Enge and Alex Muller.
Le Mans Series
Paul Ricard Test, 1 x Aston Martin Vantage GTE, driven at the test by Tomas Enge, Alex Mueller, Christoffer Nygaard and Johnathan Kennard.
Paul Ricard Race, 1 x Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE Tomas Enge, Alex Mueller, Christoffer Nygaard, DNF after qualifying 2nd in class (Spa race clashed with FIA GT1 event).
Le Mans 24 Hours
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, Test Day Only (team was second reserve), Tomas Enge, Alex Muller.
2012
VLN
1-2 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, part season, Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck , Dennis Rostek, Fredy Barth.
Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke, Tomas Enge, Oliver Mathai
Nurburgring 24 Hours
2 x Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck , Dennis Rostek and Darren Turner.
Fredy Barth, Stefan Mucke, Tomas Enge, Oliver Mathai, 15th and 16th in class
ADAC GT Masters
2 x Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck, Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen, 1 Race Win (Nygaard and Poulsen).
Aston Martin Festival (Support to Le Mans 24 Hours).
Team Not So Young Driver!
1 x Aston Martin DBR9, Jan Struve, Jac Nellemann, DNS (Fuel Cell failed scrutineering).
Le Mans 24 Hours
1 x Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE in GTE Am, Christoffer Nygaard, Kristian Poulsen, Allan Simonsen, DNF, Qualified third.
2013
FIA WEC
1 x GTE Am Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE.
A season overshadowed by the death at Le Mans of Allan Simonsen, the Great Dane having played a full part in a win in the opening race of the season, then setting pole at Le Mans.
The car was shared for the full season by Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen. After Le mans Nicki Thiim made his debut with the Young Driver AMR squad, Bruno Senna drove at CoTA with Thiim busy elsewhere. Nygaard and Poulsen finished the season fourth in class, the #95 taking three wins.
2014
FIA WEC
1 x GTE Am Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, David Heinemeier Hansson, Kristian Poulsen, Nicki Thiim (5 races) Richie Stanaway (3 races).
After the despair of Le Mans the previous year the Dane Train hit back. Hard! Never finishing lower than second in class and with four wins, including a hugely emotional victory at Le Mans. Poulsen and DHH took the Drivers title, the #95 crew the Teams title.
2015
FIA WEC
1 x GTE Pro Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim, Christoffer Nygaard.
A move up to GTE Pro co-incided with a poor year across the board for AMR, Balance of Performance and reliability issues through the season blighted some encouraging pace. The team missed the Shanghai round as a result of disappointment with their BoP.
2016
FIA WEC
1 x GTE Pro Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner (3 races)
Two race wins and four other podium finishes saw a hugely unexpected double title winning performance from the newly Dunlop shod effort, Thiim and Sorensen taking the Drivers title, the #95 the teams Championship.
Moving into 2017 the drivers, and the pit crew will be unchanged. The Young Driver AMR name steps back, for now at least.
Thanks for everything Jan Struve!
