Aston Martin Valkyrie scores its first global podium finish at IMSA finale from Petit Le Mans

Joining the #23 car at this seasonal finale were of course the Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD of a drivers championship chasing Casper Stevenson alongside that of co-drivers Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon; the #19 Van Der Stuer AMR of returning (after injury) Rory Van Der Steur, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Anthony McIntosh as well as the part time endurance round entry from the Magnus Racing team with drivers John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Jan Heylin.

With the #23 GTP Valkyrie starting from P5 on the grid, there were also good starting positions for two of the three AMR GTD cars with the #19 car this time topping the AMR ranks to claim a P3 start in class, ahead of the #27 car in P6 but with the #44 towards the back after they had lap times deleted in qualifying. Having been the cause of earlier red flags at the event.

Their lowly starting position into the race also saw them one of the first cars to come across a lap one multiple car incident in class that saw at least five cars sustain extensive damage after the first car spun on the kerbs. Suffering severe front quarter damage, the #44 car of Potter was able to get back to pit lane, but the car was sadly retired with irreparable damage to put paid to their earlier efforts.

That left the three other cars and (for a change) the challenges of the next ten hours of racing would see all three fluctuate from the head of their class pack to the rear as the multiple pit stop cycles and several Safety Car interventions affected the running of the race.

At the halfway stage, the #23 car was running smoothly within the top six overall whilst the #19 and #27 crews had been exchanging positions regularly but the #19 still leading the other in (then) P3 and P6 positions in class respectively.

As the race progressed, the light would gently fade giving way to the final few hours of the ten being conducted in absolute darkness with little to no track lighting to help but going into the final hour, the #23 was now up to P3 overall and the #19 and #27 crews had exchanged positions to now run in third and P11 respectively.

At the end, the P4 finish in class for the #27 Heart of Racing crew was not enough for Stevenson to claim the GTD Drivers Championship with the young Brit eventually finishing third overall, second in the teams for the Heart of Racing and third within the Manufacturers for AMR. The #19 VDS entry would also finish the event in P11 in GTD and third within the Bronze Cup for the race as well as P19 overall within the overall Endurance Cup Championship at their first time of asking this season.

The real headlines came with the #23 Valkyrie exceeding all expectations in its first ever year of racing this season with its first global podium finish upon the second step of the podium – so congratulations to all involved.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media