Sorensen Commits to Aston With New Multi-Year Deal

Marco Sorensen has signed a new, multi-year contract with Aston Martin to remain part of the British manufacturer’s roster of factory drivers.

The 33-year-old Danish racer has been aligned with Aston Martin since 2015, when he joined its FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Pro program.

In the eight years that followed, Sorensen grew to become one of the marque’s most successful drivers, winning two GTE Pro drivers’ titles as part of a partnership with compatriot Nicki Thiim that became affectionally known as the ‘Dane Train.’

After Aston’s factory GTE program shut its doors at the end of 2020, Sorensen moved to GTE-Am and added a third WEC title alongside Ben Keating and Henrique Chaves with TF Sport.

Additional accolades include class victories in both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Rolex 24 at Daytona, the latter of which coming most recently when he joined The Heart of Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD class.

Sorensen told Sportscar365 that he held talks with other manufacturers about a switch before committing to Aston Martin long-term, with the introduction of the new-for-2024 updated GT3 challenger one of the deciding factors in his choice to renew.

He admitted that Aston’s relatively low-key presence in GT racing after the closure of its works WEC program gave him doubts about his future.

“It was more than just an extension this time, because I had other options that we were working on,” Sorensen said.

“But obviously Aston has always had a special place in my heart and I have to say with the last years where Aston has maybe not been in the bigger picture within GT racing, the testing of the new GT3 car kind of changed my mind fully about the program.

“In the end we made it work that we could make a better deal for the future as well.

“The last two years with Aston, we still got the Daytona [win], so things have been good, but program-wise you felt like it was missing a little bit.

“Until the first test in the new car, I was actually not fully sure if I was going to stay on.

“But Aston are still a big family to me, so when I then tried the new car and I kind of understood also with Adam Carter [Head of Endurance Motorsport], there’s suddenly a very strong team of people behind the whole program again, I just saw myself stay.

“It was a full-on gut feeling and it actually happened at the first test that I was down doing in Spain with the new car, basically.

“It came down to the last bit and as soon as I tried the car and knew what was going to happen for next year and the following years, I was like, ‘Okay, now I’m just going to commit to the brand that I’m with.”

The Dane also recognized the significant achievements shared between manufacturer and driver, while adding that Aston Martin was able to convince him to remain by laying out its strategy for the coming years.

Along with the introduction of an updated GT3 car and the revival of its Valkyrie LMH program together with Heart of Racing, Aston also welcomes two new partner teams in Walkenhorst Motorsport and Comtoyou Racing for next year.

“With all manufacturers, you have ups and downs,” Sorensen said.

“That’s just how it is and I would say obviously winning the world championship with Nicki in 2016 and 2021, those years were obviously some very big years for Aston Martin in GT racing.

“That’s where I would say GT racing for Aston Martin was at its highest. Then they had some years where I wouldn’t say Aston went quiet, we were still out there trying to win races but the program wasn’t really identifying as good as it should be against all the other manufacturers out there.

“But they’ve upped the game and Aston is definitely going to come back with its full force and that had me fully change my mind about my future, basically.”

Sorensen is set to return to the WEC grid next year after a one-year absence, having been confirmed as the first driver in D’station Racing’s LMGT3 effort.