Aston Martin hoping to celebrate the FIA WECs 100th race in style at Fuji Speedway this weekend
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Aston Martin is one of three manufacturers to have been present at all WEC’s preceding 99 races, since the championship’s inception in 2012. In that time, some of the greatest glories of Aston Martin’s competitive history have been permanently etched into the honour roll of what has become the world’s most prestigious endurance series.
Having claimed an LMGTE Pro Class podium in the inaugural WEC event – the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring – with Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Adrian Fernandez, Aston Martin has subsequently achieved (or contributed to) 11 world championship titles, notched up 53 class victories (the third highest of any manufacturer) and won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in the WEC era.
“Aston Martin is honoured to be participating in the 100th WEC race,’ said Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport. “Since the beginning, Aston Martin understood the value and the power of a global endurance campaign and WEC has been an essential part our race programme since its introduction. When you look at what WEC has grown into, with its depth of manufacturers, diversity of technical regulations and the exceptional standard of organisation and promotion, it is a huge testament to all those who work tirelessly to bring the championship to bear. We congratulate everyone involved in the series for this outstanding milestone and we firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
“For Aston Martin, this is also an important race. 100 consecutive events over 13 years of competition is a clear demonstration of our commitment to endurance racing – a value that can be traced all the way back to the very beginnings of the brand. To have recorded more than 50 class victories in that time, and to have achieved such a consistently high level of success speaks to the rich sporting pedigree we have worked so hard to achieve and maintain. With Valkyrie we aim to take the next step on that journey and strive to race at the front of the field and contest for outright victories in this prestigious and exceptional championship.”
Valkyrie’s sporting momentum continues to grow after a highly promising Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas earlier in the month. In only the fifth race of its trail-blazing debut WEC season, the unique 6.5-litre, V12-powered British hypercar, ran as high as fourth position long into the rain-affected race in Austin, TX. Moreover, Alex Riberas (ESP) qualified the #009 Valkyrie into the prestigious Hyperpole session for the second time and placed it eighth on the grid for the six-hour event – its highest starting position so far in the world championship.
This follows an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans where both Valkyrie Hypercars completed their maiden twice-around-the-clock event without issue, finishing 12th and 14th, and the Aston Martin Heart of Racing Team registered the cars’, and Aston Martin’s first Manufacturer’s World Championship points in the Hypercar Class.
The Aston Martin THOR Team will keep to its two regular WEC Valkyrie line-ups for the the 6 Hours of Fuji, with the #007 driven by Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell and the #009 by Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen.
Aston Martin’s most successful sportscar of all time, the Vantage, celebrates 100 races in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well this weekend’s in the 6 Hours of Fuji.
Through five iterations, spanning 12 and a half seasons, the glorious Vantage has claimed 53 GT class victories – the second highest of any manufacturer. It has won races in every WEC class it has contested (LMGTE Pro, LMGTE Am and LMGT3), and with every version of Vantage that Aston Martin has introduced. Responsible for 11 world championship titles, and five 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins in the WEC era, Vantage has also claimed 68 class pole positions, and of all its drivers Pedro Lamy still holds the record as the most successful GT driver in WEC with 19 victories; all with Vantage.
The most successful GTE Am (2012-2022) car of all-time, Vantage recorded 33 wins and 29 pole positions before the class was retired to make way for the current LMGT3 category which embarks on its 15th race this weekend.
Vantage’s record at Fuji is no less impressive; with seven class victories derived from 16 podium appearances – two of which were double-class wins – as well as nine class pole positions. On only three occasions has the Fuji WEC podium not featured a Vantage driver crew.
This year, for the 100th WEC race, two partner teams, The Heart of Racing [THOR] and Racing Spirit of Léman uphold Vantage’s honour at Fuji. Team principal Ian James returns this year as a regular class frontrunner, alongside Zach Robichon and Mattia Drudi looking to break the team’s 2025 podium duck with the #27 Vantage.
RSL recalls Anthony MacIntosh who starred on his WEC debut in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo alongside Eduardo Barrichello and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse-Clot in the #10 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The trio achieved the team’s first WEC podium finish in LMGT3, after Barrichello raced to a dramatic third place in the closing stages; with MacIntosh and the Brazilian having worked together to claim the class pole on the previous day.
“Vantage has a proud and glorious history in WEC, which celebrates its 100th start this weekend at Fuji,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter. “I couldn’t think of a more fitting way to celebrate that than one or both of our partner teams achieving a podium finish this weekend. Both teams, crews and, of course, cars have certainly proven they have the potential.”
Source material - AMR
