The Dane will form an all-star team at SSR, partnering works Lamborghini ace and this year’s championship runner-up Mirko Bortolotti.
Thiim has received the blessing from Aston Martin to drive a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO in the 2024 DTM following valiant efforts to get the British manufacturer on the grid for the first time in the series’ GT3 era.
Both the Allied and Comtoyou teams were understood to be working on securing an entry next year, but plans to field the updated Evo version of Vantage have so far failed to come to fruition.
This is likely to have prompted Thiim and his manager Dennis Rostek to change their strategy, with Lamborghini and SSR Performance offering a great opportunity to succeed after they challenged for the title in 2023 with Bortolotti in its first year since switching from Porsche.
“That’s a nice Christmas surprise for DTM fans! With Bortolotti and Thiim we can be at the forefront of the DTM,” said team boss Stefan Schlund, whose squad won the ADAC GT Masters title in 2020.
“I am very happy about this strong driver combination. We want to fight for the title in the new season and win the team championship.”
Schlund added that he is confident that “the chemistry is right” after holding discussions with both drivers.
“We have already worked well together with Mirko this year and have been successful together,” he added.
“Nicki brings a lot of individuality and we believe that he will enrich our team with his skills and experience.”
Photo by: SSR Performance
SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo
Thiim has long harboured ambitions of racing in the DTM and emulating his father Kurt, who won the 1986 title in a Rover Vitesse.
He appeared to have realised his dream in 2022 when he joined another Lamborghini team, T3 Motorsport, but parted ways with the squad just two rounds into the season. T3 Motorsport subsequently withdrew from the championship.
He subsequently raced a Lamborghini for ABT at this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing ninth.
SSR has retained Bortolotti after he mounted an impressive title assault against Manthey EMA Porsche driver Thomas Preining, losing out on the final day of the championship at Hockenheim.
Fellow factory driver Franck Perera, who started the season with a victory at Oschersleben, has been dropped by SSR to make way for Thiim.
Thiim’s DTM campaign comes ahead of Aston Martin’s highly-anticipated LMH programme with the Valkyrie in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2025.
