Ready to turn the page of a new era as the FIA WEC kicks off in Qatar this weekend
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
The first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ to be produced by Aston Martin, Valkyrie is the only car in the WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar. Its global debut, masterminded by the works Aston Martin The Heart Of Racing team in Qatar, begins an historic season for the British challenger, which will be the only LMH to compete in both the FIA WEC and in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Valkyrie competition version blends a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre, Cosworth-developed, V12 naturally aspirated engine that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1000bhp in standard form, but adheres to a strict 500kw (680bhp) power limit as per hypercar regulations.
Valkyrie positions Aston Martin – present in the FIA WEC every year since the series’ inception in 2012, and one of its most successful manufacturers with 11 championship titles – in the top class of world championship sportscar racing for the first time since the AMR1 Group C challenger of 1989. It also provides the opportunity to challenge for a first outright victory at the world’s greatest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, since Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori triumphed in the Aston Martin DBR1 in 1959.
The driver roster for the two-car programme features a fascinating blend of experience and youth within the Aston Martin works driver ranks. The #007 Valkyrie comprises an all-British line-up as Harry Tincknell, the 2016 European Le Mans Series overall champion and 2020 Le Mans LMGT3 winner, is joined by rising star Tom Gamble, ELMS LMP3 title-winner in 2020, for the full, eight-race, season. Ross Gunn, a race-winner in IMSA’s GTD and GTD Pro categories in each of the past four seasons, joins the duo for the longer-distance races, including the Qatar 1812km and Le Mans.
Marco Sørensen, three times an FIA WEC title-winner in GT classes, is joined in the sister #009 Valkyrie by long-time THOR racer Alex Riberas; a GTD Pro winner in IMSA in each of the past three seasons as well as part of the team’s FIA WEC LMGT3-winning line-up at the Circuit of the Americas last year. Roman De Angelis, the 2022 IMSA GTD Champion, strengthens the line-up for the longer-distance races, including the Qatar 1812km next weekend and Le Mans.
“To be running at world championship-level with a manufacturer like Aston Martin, with the car acknowledged as the ultimate hypercar – and the only one that has gone from road to track – is a ‘pinch me’ moment. It’s Year One and we have to be realistic about what we can achieve so our goal initially is just to go out there and get better every time, but if I didn’t think we could reach the summit of the mountain, we wouldn’t be doing it. I’m confident in the abilities of all involved and our ambitions are incredibly high” said Ian James HORT Team Principle.
While Valkyrie contests the Hypercar division, Aston Martin will also battle for victory in the LMGT3 category as the latest version of the Vantage GT3 will be fielded by 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship race winner The Heart of Racing Team and by series newcomer Racing Spirit of Leman.
Sharing the mechanical architecture of the Vantage road car, the Vantage GT3 triumphed at last year’s 24 Hours of Spa.
Fresh from a GTD-class podium finish at January’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, the US-based THOR team prepares for a second full season of WEC competition with a highly-accomplished driver line-up.
Team Principal Ian James – a multiple sportscar champion in North America and an LMGT3 winner at the Circuit of the Americas last year – will be partnered by 2021 IMSA GTD title winner and 2023 European Le Mans Series GTE champion Zacharie Robichon and by Aston Martin works driver Mattia Drudi, the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint champion and a member of last year’s 24 Hours of Spa-winning line-up.
Joining THOR for a first FIA WEC season is Racing Spirit of Léman. The Swiss team won the 2023 Le Mans Cup GT3 crown with Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot, who remains as part of the line-up for his first full season in the series.
Hasse Clot is the third winner of the Aston Martin Racing Academy to race an Aston Martin in the 2025 FIA WEC, joining Valkyrie drivers Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis. He will share with Derek DeBoer, continuing a partnership that brought the pair podium finishes in last year’s ELMS, and Brazilian Eduardo Barrichello - son of 13-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Rubens Barrichello. Eduardo was a title contender in Brazil’s Stock Car V8 Series in 2024 before switching to GT racing this year.
Source material and photo credits – Aston Martin / Michelin
