Sorensen to Prioritize WEC Amid SUPER GT Clashes

D’station Racing has revealed that Marco Sorensen will prioritize competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship over his commitments with the team in SUPER GT when the two championships clash later in the season.

The factory Aston Martin racer will therefore miss both the fifth round of the SUPER GT season at Suzuka and the season finale at Motegi, which conflict with the WEC’s visits to the Circuit of The Americas and Bahrain respectively.

While there had been no official word regarding D’station’s plans for the two clashes, Sorensen suggested to Sportscar365 during the WEC season-opening weekend in Qatar that it was more likely he would focus on SUPER GT.

However, a better-than-expected start to the WEC campaign for the No. 777 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo that Sorensen shares with Erwan Bastard and Clement Mateu has prompted a change of focus for the Danish driver.

D’station managing director Tomonobu Fujii, who partners Sorensen in D’station’s SUPER GT car, told Sportscar365: “Finally we had a change of plan, as the WEC is very important to Aston Martin and the start of the season has been better than we expected.

“We finished on the podium in Qatar and we are P5 in the championship after two races, so the situation is different compared to the beginning of the season.”

With Sorensen now unavailable for at least two SUPER GT races, D’station has taken the decision to register Charlie Fagg as its official third driver in the Japanese series.

Fagg will make his debut in the championship in this week’s second round of the season at Fuji Speedway, having passed his rookie test at Okayama International Circuit in a special test held last Wednesday.

The British driver will then accompany D’station to an in-season test for GT300 teams at Suzuka on May 8 to get further running under his belt.

D’station is only participating in the first day of the two-day Suzuka test with its Vantage GT3 Evo before heading to Buriram in Thailand for the second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS season.

“It’s better for us to have an extra driver who can focus fully on SUPER GT, including testing, and Charlie’s schedule is more flexible,” said Fujii.

“He already has experience of Fuji from the WEC two years ago, and then he will get experience of Suzuka in the test. If he is competitive, then we will use him for more races, as it’s hard for a driver to just step in for one or two races.

“With Marco’s experience in the WEC and my experience in SUPER GT, I think this is a good choice for both championships.”