Thiim: Comtoyou Did “Perfect Job” Despite Also Being ‘Lucky’

Photo: JEP/SRO

Nicki Thiim praised Aston Martin squad Comtoyou Racing for their race-winning performance in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, while co-driver Marco Sorensen admitting that “luck” also played on their side.

Thiim, Sorensen and Mattia Drudi claimed victory in the centenary edition of the Belgian endurance classic, marking the first major endurance win for the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo following a wild, mixed-condition contest.

It came after the then-race leading No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessandro Pier Guidi got blocked at pit-in by a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 during his final stop, ultimately costing the Italian a likely victory.

“We were actually in the truck watching something else,” Thiim said. “I feel so sorry for those guys. Obviously there’s no words that can help them.

“I can’t imagine to stand in that position, but here we are and finally made history… I just think we did a perfect job. The guys [did] everything.

“We didn’t have a pitstop that really cost us any time strategy-wise. We really gave it everything we had with this car and the team.”

Sorensen, meanwhile, conceded that they likely had the third-quickest car in the race, noting the strengths of the Ferrari and BMW M4 GT3, particularly in dry conditions.

“We couldn’t have done much more and it came down to pace and all this in the end,” he said. “We didn’t have the pace to keep up with them.”

When asked if he felt they had the second fastest car, Sorensen replied: “I wouldn’t even say that. BMW was up there, so I don’t agree with what they actually said. They were freaking quick.”

He added: “No one could be fully perfect, but we definitely had some really good calls in the beginning. Even though I had to stay out a little bit longer than I probably wanted to on the slick[s].

“But it paid out in the end because it fitted perfectly. When we then boxed and put Nicki in the car, he went to full wet and started pissing it down after. So we definitely had some really good calls regarding that.

“But also we had some during the night where we lost some time.

“We thought that it would stop raining, but then it kept on going. So we lost some valuable seconds there, but it wouldn’t have changed.

“I think everyone made some kind of small mistakes in the race, but in the end you have to just keep on going.”

The win marked longtime friends and teammates Thiim and Sorensen’s first 24-hour victory as co-drivers.

“We’ve been together in the same car almost every time since 2015 basically,” Sorensen said.

“We’ve done some pretty good things since 2015, I would say. Basically two championships together in GTE Pro and a lot of other stuff.

“This one definitely ranks up there. It’s one of the biggest GT races you can win nowadays. It has to sink in.”

While Sorensen said he expected to be fighting for wins this season in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, considering their lineup, he admitted that “luck” played into the outcome today.

“I’d say when I got the call that we were doing GT World Challenge, me and Nicki and we knew that we were getting Mattia Drudi with us, I definitely had the expectations that we would have a chance,” he said.

“Again, it’s not only that obviously the car needs to have pace when you’re here. It’s the same for everyone. But you also need to make it happen when the car didn’t have the pace. And we definitely made it happen today.

“Of course, there was some luck. But I would say that it’s always like that, you always need that a little bit.

“I’m just super proud. I think it’s a great achievement for Aston Martin. They’ve never won this race in the GT era. So we’re going in the history books again.”

Davey Euwema contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John