Scoring two victories at the season finale of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Abu Dhabi, Nicki Thiim secured the title in the world’s highest class brand trophy series. After his success at Saturday’s race, the 24-year-old Dane competing for Attempto Racing followed up with victory at Sunday’s event at the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which is based on the seventh generation of the 911. At the Yas Marina Circuit, he relegated his teammate Kévin Estre (France) to the second podium spot. The Attempto Racing squad had already clinched the team classification after Saturday’s race.
On the Formula 1 track in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Nicki Thiim crowned a fantastic season with his double victory and celebrated another highlight in his career after winning the 24 hour race on the Nürburgring. The son of the DTM legend Kurt Thiim notched up his first accolades at the age of twelve in a kart. In 2006 he became the Danish Formula Ford champion, in 2008 he secured the title of the Seat Leon Supercopa. In the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland the Dane was the best newcomer of 2009. And he concluded his debut season in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup in 2012 as the winner of the rookie classification. This year the blonde racer from the north laid the foundations for the overall Supercup win with his victories on the storied circuits of Silverstone and Monza.
The Porsche Mobil1 Supercup was not the only series on Nicki Thiim’s calendar this season. The Dane, who likes to spend his rare leisure time keeping fit, catching up with good friends and is incidentally an outstanding football player, is also a sought-after GT endurance pilot. This year he contested the 12 Hours of Sebring in the Porsche of NGT Racing as well as various races in the sports car World Endurance Championship.
At the final Supercup race on the Yas Marina Circuit, Nicki Thiim took off from pole and underlined his commanding form with an unthreatened flag-to-flag victory. In third place behind his teammate Kévin Estre, the newly-crowned winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, came Jeroen Bleekemolen from the Netherlands, the double Supercup champion and Abu Dhabi winner of 2009. FACH AUTO TECH driver Earl Bamber from New Zealand again put in an inspired drive: After starting his first ever Supercup race from pole position on Saturday and finishing in second, the winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia achieved fifth today behind his compatriot Richie Stanaway (DAMS).
Luck was not on the side of Spa-Francorchamps winner Klaus Bachler in the sweltering race: The Porsche junior from Austria managed to match the pace of the front runners for quite some time, but had to park his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup trackside with only two laps to go to the flag. His Danish junior colleague Michael Christensen (DAMS), who had celebrated his first Supercup victory on the Nürburgring, crossed the finish line in seventh, earning him the rookie classification title as the best Supercup newcomer.
In memory of their colleague Sean Edwards, all the drivers gathered around his car with the starting number 14 on Friday prior to free practice. The Briton was killed in an accident on 15 October during a private coaching session in Australia. In Abu Dhabi, all competitors compete with a black ribbon on the front of their cars.
Nicki Thiim (winner): “It was a very emotional weekend for us all. I did everything I could to show that I deserved the overall win. I dedicate this title to my friend Sean and would like to give the championship trophy to his family. I want to show that Sean is the champion of our hearts.”
Kévin Estre (second): “That was a great race to wind up the season. I’m happy with second place. Nicki was simply quicker and I couldn’t catch him. We gave the fans a great weekend with fair racing and I think that’s what Sean would have wanted. Our thoughts were with him.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen (third): “It’s a great feeling to stand on the podium again. It took long enough. The year for us was difficult, we suffered some setbacks but we never gave up and always bounced back. Now I’m looking ahead to next season.”
Michael Christensen (Porsche junior, seventh): “Luckily we did better today than yesterday. The car was quick over the entire distance. Although my start wasn’t perfect, I managed to make up a couple of places. I couldn’t get past Kuba Giermaziak, but it was still a somewhat conciliatory conclusion to the season, not least because I’ve won the rookie title.”
Klaus Bachler (Porsche junior, 22nd place): “It was a perfect race for us right up until shortly before the finish. I got away well at the start, managed to overtake Richie Stanaway after the safety car phase and was catching Jeroen Bleekemolen. Our car was running superbly. A huge thank you to my team. We all worked well together to improve, especially in the second half of the season. Unfortunately there was no happy end for us today. Two laps to the flag the NO FUEL PRESSURE lamp came on and that was that.”
Race result
1. Nicki Thiim (DK), Attempto Racing, 31:19.003 minutes
2. Kévin Estre (F), Attempto Racing, + 6.282 seconds
3. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Lechner Racing, + 8.045
4. Richie Stanaway (NZ), DAMS, + 10.114
5. Earl Bamber (NZ), FACH AUTO TECH, + 10.574
6. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), VERVA Racing Team, + 11,945
7. Michael Christensen (DK), DAMS, + 12,830
