More to come says Gunn after the #23 Valkyrie secures its first ever podium finish at Petit Le Mans
Sunday, October 12, 2025
The result, accomplished by Aston Martin Heart of Racing Team, was the best result yet by Valkyrie – the pure racing expression of the world’s ultimate road-going hypercar – and was secured after 10 hours of white-knuckle competition at the iconic circuit near Braselton, GA. It was the first outright podium for an Aston Martin in IMSA, and the first for a hypercar derived from a road-going counterpart in the top tier GTP class.
Valkyrie had already made headlines on Thursday by topping the timesheets in an official IMSA session for the first time as Ross Gunn went fastest in night practice followed by Gunn taking the hypercar’s best qualifying result to date with fifth place on Friday.
De Angelis and Gunn, THOR’S regular IMSA season drivers, were joined at Petit Le Mans by Alex Riberas; part of Aston Martin THOR Team’s FIA World Endurance Championship line-up and a multiple race winner in IMSA’s GTD classes.
All three drove magnificently and backed up by some clever strategic calls from the pit crew, raced Valkyrie #23 into a podium spot with two hours to go. An inspired decision to make a final pitstop with 50 minutes left, rather than speculatively staying out in case of a Full-Course Yellow period which could have allowed the car’s energy reserves to be stretched without an additional stop, meant that De Angelis ran at full attack to the end of the race.
Despite dropping to seventh, 50 seconds behind the leader, he charged back into contention while gaining positions as the track remained ‘green’ and others made their final fuel stops. The Valkyrie slotted into second with less than 10 minutes remaining. De Angelis closed to within six seconds of the victory while securing the best result for Valkyrie in all competitions, completing an IMSA season in which the car finished every race and completed over 4,300 miles of hard racing around eight of the most iconic North American motorsport venues.
Despite dropping to seventh, 50 seconds behind the leader, he charged back into contention while gaining positions as the track remained ‘green’ and others made their final fuel stops. The Valkyrie slotted into second with less than 10 minutes remaining. De Angelis closed to within six seconds of the victory while securing the best result for Valkyrie in all competitions, completing an IMSA season in which the car finished every race and completed over 4,300 miles of hard racing around eight of the most iconic North American motorsport venues.
The only entry derived from a road-going hypercar competing in either IMSA or the WEC, Valkyrie is developed from its production version by Aston Martin and THOR. The competition example blends a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre V12 powerplant 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 has positioned Aston Martin in the top division of US sportscar racing for the first time since 2011; a season in which five outright victories and seven podiums were achieved in the American Le Mans Series.
“What a day! To score the first podium for Valkyrie and finish second at Petit Le Mans is a testament to the hard work everybody’s put in, not just this year, but across the whole project from the group in the UK and the Aston Martin THOR Team here on the ground. The execution was pretty much perfect, and the drivers excelled. It’s been a great year in IMSA for Valkyrie, and I can’t wait for the new season to start at Daytona in January” said Team Principle Ian James after the chequered flag.
Source material – Aston Martin
