Continuity is the name of the game for the defending Spa 24 Hours race winners Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim and Mattia Drudi in the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage on the cusp of the 2025 edition of race.
Sorensen and Thiim have raced together in various Astons for years, and with Drudi and the team, they already have a full season of GT World Challenge Europe competition under their belts. The 2024 campaign saw them come home fourth in the Endurance Cup standings, with the Spa 24 win the highlight of their season.
It’s Drudi’s second year as an Aston Martin Racing factory driver and he’s satisfied to have landed here after the demise of the Audi works programme that was his home for five seasons until the end of 2023.
“Yeah, I’m super happy,” he told DSC just ahead of Friday’s Superpole qualifying session, in which he put the car eighth on the grid for the race. “Last year was quite a big change for me, getting used to everything at AMR, but I couldn’t have better benchmarks to work to than Nicki and Marco, they are the reference for Aston Martin for many years now.”
“This year has been even better, having done only GT World Challenge in 2024, I’m racing in way more championships now. It’s busy, but I’m happy to keep growing and learning with the team. It’s their second year with this new Vantage too, and they’re doing a great job for us.”
Drudi (above) has already been on the podium at Daytona and in the Asian Le Mans Series – not to mention setting LMGT3 pole position on his Le Mans debut for the Heart of Racing team. “It’s been a positive start, I’m just missing a win so far!” he said. Le Mans was nonetheless highly memorable for Drudi, as his father Luca is a two-time class winner at the French classic, and his son’s debut marked Luca’s first visit to La Sarthe since his final race start there. “I really enjoyed it, to get pole was super special.”
Turning to this weekend’s proceedings, Thiim (Right) sounded a distinct note of confidence about Aston’s prospects, declaring: “We know how it’s done, we have the same team and one more year’s experience with the car, so we’re in an even better position than last year. Not to sound too confident, this race always asks a lot of you, but we all have a good feeling and are working super-well together.”
Sorensen added: “Everyone’s talking about the 75-car grid, but it’s going to feel basically the same as 65 or 70 on the grid; it’s always a bit of a crazy race in that sense. You just need to survive and see where you are, and with five or six hours to go, you know where you’re going to end up.
“The new Pirelli this season has changed the behaviour of the car a bit, so we need to balance the car for the tyres. It’s way more sensitive to lower temperatures, so after a long full-course yellow when temps drop, it’ll take longer to get back into a good window, especially at night.”
The Dane is thus far the only one of this trio to have been involved with AMR’s Hypercar programme and is enjoying the change and challenge after many years racing only GT3. “You’re learning a lot suddenly,” is how he describes it.
“It’s completely different to GT3, the amount of systems and sensors we have on the car, so there’s a lot more work when it comes to the data, looking to improve the car. Every round we’re edging closer to where we need to be, but WEC is definitely one of the harder championships to get to the top in.”
Drudi followed up his Le Mans debut with a run at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, making him one of seven drivers to be contesting Le Mans, the Nurburgring and Spa across three consecutive weekends. But he’s the only one dedicated (or demented?) enough to sign up for a fourth round-the-clock race in a row – the admittedly less demanding Fun Cup 25 Hours, also at Spa.
“Yeah, three just wasn’t enough!” he said. “The opportunity came up with Heart of Racing, they’ve entered a car in that series the last couple of years, and I was free, so why not. I am starting to feel it a bit, to be honest, but we retired quite early at the Nurburgring, so I had a bit more rest. I’ve been getting home between the races, resting, being with friends and family, and overall, I’m enjoying the experience. It’s definitely a unique challenge!”
