Aston Martin’s stunning Valkyrie Hypercar achieved its best finish yet at the Circuit de la Sarthe, with British trio Tom Gamble, Ross Gunn and Harry Tincknell bringing the Aston Martin THOR Team #007 Valkyrie home eighth in the 94thedition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on Sunday.

The result marked the fifth consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship points finish for the British-built hypercar, following the #007 crew’s strong start to the 2026 season where they finished ninth in Imola, and followed that up with Valkyrie’s best WEC finish yet; fourth at Spa-Francorchamps, last month.

“To get a car home in P8 is a big step forward for the programme,” said Ian James., Team Principal of Aston Martin Racing THOR Team. “It just shows how much progress we are making with the car, every race. We knew it would be a difficult for us to race against such strong opposition here at Le Mans but we worked hard and executed on all levels. It was great to see the #007 rewarded for the team’s hard work.”

Developed by Aston Martin and THOR from the Valkyrie production model, the Le Mans Hypercar version, eighth place was also the best finish at Le Mans for a car derived from a road-legal hypercar. Valkyrie is unique as the only car built to Hypercar homologation competing simultaneously in WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.

The Valkyries impressed through the build-up to the race, setting the fastest time of all in the official test and then proved a force in Hypercar qualifying. The #009 Valkyrie, driven by Marco Sørensen, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis, placed seventh and the #007 11th.

The 62-strong field, waved away from the start line by Aston Martin High Performance Ambassador Sir Mark Cavendish (the former professional cyclist who holds the record for the most stage wins of the Tour de France), in front of 350,000-strong crowd, set a blazing pace in the early running. But by nightfall both Valkyries, emblazoned in special liveries featuring Union Jack, were into their stride and racing inside the top ten.

Ultimately it was the #007 which achieved the best result of the two; the #009 had been heading for its first points finish of the season until a technical issue in the final hour caused the team to pit, dropping the car from 10th in the WEC Hypercar class to 14th in the final order.

“This year’s Le Mans provided another encouraging step in Valkyrie’s WEC journey,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance, Adam Carter. “Valkyrie’s pace on low fuel during the early part of the week was nice to see but also a little unrealistic when it came to the race, as a straightline speed deficit hampered us more once we switched to race trim. That said the team executed without fault as always, and this played a significant factor in us achieving a well-earned points finish in one of the toughest endurance races in the world.”

Source Material - HoRT

Thirty-eight cars are being listed as attending this test – not to be confused of course with the mandatory Roar before the 24 test in early January, with the Heart of Racing team keen to make an early mark upon the proceedings next season having elected to skip the Roar and Rolex 24 this season in order to forward their pre-season testing with their new Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Fresh from the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship only last weekend in Bahrain, IMSA regulars Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis will again be testing aboard their #23 car whilst it will be the #44 Magnus Racing entry of John Potter and Spencer Pumpelly who will be representing the Aston Martin Racing marque as they are due to attend with their Vantage GTD entry.

That of course, may strongly suggest that the #44 car will be seen out again this season coming after racing at the Rolex 24 last season before taking something of a sabbatical before re-emerging for later, selective endurance rounds this year.

The #44 car will be one of eight GTD entries whilst the #23 car will be one of eleven GTP entries alongside those from the LMP2 and GTD Pro classes.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

A magnificent performance in Hypercar qualifying was the highlight of Saturday’s on-track action as the #007 entry of British trio Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn led the #009 in an all-Valkyrie one-two; ensuring that both Aston Martin THOR Team cars would progress to the Hyperpole session and challenge for pole position for the first time. Sixth and ninth positions on the grid marked the first time two Valkyries had qualified inside the top 10 in the WEC.

Aston Martin’s first ‘Le Mans Hypercar showed more potential during the eight-hour race as, following a mid-race safety car period that bunched the field, Riberas charged from fifth place into the lead – the first time Valkyrie has headed a WEC race. It was a fitting end to a trail-blazing debut season that featured the car’s maiden podium finish in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in October’s gruelling Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Raced by the works Aston Martin THOR Team, it is the only car in WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar and made its global debut in the Qatar 1812km in February over a grueling season that has covered more than 22,000 racing miles, and eight rounds of WEC (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans) for the two stunning, green Aston Martins.

“The aim for Aston Martin in Hypercar in 2025 was to compete in endurance racing at the very highest level of competition, both globally in WEC and in North America in IMSA,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport. “Both are magnificent series with manufacturers, teams and drivers that have been at the pinnacle of the sport for, in some cases, decades. To have brought such a unique car as Valkyrie to the stage, to start where we did, and to consistently improve our performances to the point where we’ve come to the WEC finale in Bahrain and perform the way we have, shows the ability and desire of everybody that is a part of this programme. We have made satisfying progress in 2025 and will continue to build on this next season.”

Aston Martin’s most successful sportscar of all time, the Vantage meanwhile finished the FIA World Endurance Championship season with a podium finish in the LMGT3 class in Bahrain.

The Heart of Racing Team drivers Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi finished third in an action-packed race to claim the team’s first top-three finish of the season for the ultimate racing version of Aston Martin’s most focused sportscar.

The trio ran inside the top six throughout the race with Aston Martin works driver Drudi closing down a 30-second gap to the leaders with two hours to go to put himself in the hunt for victory in the closing stages.

THOR’s result was the second WEC podium finish of the season for Vantage, after Racing Spirit of Léman finished third in Brazil during the summer. It was also a 14th WEC rostrum finish for Vantage in Bahrain; those results scored across the LMGT3 class and its predecessors, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am. RSL’s Anthony McIntosh, Eduardo Barrichello and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse-Clot finished 14th in LMGT3 aboard their #10 Vantage.

“The ultra-close nature of the competition in WEC means that to fight at the front, you must have first-rate machinery and partner teams capable of delivering when it counts,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport. “In The Heart of Racing Team and Racing Spirit of Léman we have two outstanding partners, who have both scored pole positions and podium finishes this year. This is a testament to the strength of both organisations, to the accessibility and robustness of Vantage to drivers of all levels of experience, and to a set of regulations that keeps the competing machines close. We are already looking ahead to a 2026 season.” 

Source material – Aston Martin

Running of course parallel race programs with their IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship sister car, recent results have seen at least one of these Valkyries first break into Hyperpole qualifying within the WEC before securing their first ever podium finish at the season finale of the IMSA Championship.

Having had many of the team and crew get in some last minute R&R on the Galapagos Islands before this week’s finale, that investment have proved worthwhile for the team as the #007 Valkyrie of Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn topped the qualifying timing screen for the first time, narrowly beating the sister #009 car of Marco Sorenson, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis for a well-deserved 1-2 in class.

Moving into the later Hyperpole session, the fairytale season ending wasn’t quite there unfortunately as the #009 eventually finished sixth fastest with the #007 nineth ahead of tomorrow’s eight-hour race. Compare and contrast that to the distant P18 and P16 positions at the opening round in Qatar!!

It was harder work for the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 crews however, as both the #27 Heart of Racing AMR of Ian James, Mattia Drudi and Zacharie Robichon and the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR of Anthony McIntosh, Eduardo Barrichello and Valentin Hasse-Clot struggled within the mid table of their class during the three earlier Free Practice sessions after another swathe of Balance of Performance adjustments across the class.

As always, one hot lap is never enough for any endurance race as (like all), both crews will have another eight hours to improve upon their P4 and P15 qualifying positions (for the #27 and #10 cars respectively) after their own Qualifying and Hyperpole sessions.

The final race of the FIA WEC season will be waved off at 14:00hrs local before finishing under the veil of darkness (although the circuit is mostly floodlit) where all four crews could seriously improve upon their final championship positions in class with thirty eight points being again on offer to each class winner.

Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media

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.

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

That previous round from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park saw the improvised (but still highly able driver pairing) convert their fourth placed qualifying position into a P5 in class finish – not what that had hoped for but still valuable championship points as both Stevenson and Gamble reconvene togther at Road America.

Having not raced at CTMSP simply because the GTP class wasn’t involved that time around, but we also welcome back the teams #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP car of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis for this two hours and forty-minute race.

Results from Canada sees Stevenson slip down to fourth within the GTD Drivers Championship (but still within range for the Mercedes and Lexus powered crews above with the Valkyrie crew in P12 having skipped the opening round of the season of course.

Photo credits – Team / Series / Michelin / social media

Two, three-hour sessions were again available to all the Hypercar/LMP2 and LMGT3 crews – split either side of an hour lunch break but as usual, there was little to no time to do anything other than prepare both the car and the crews for the start of the officially timed sessions which begin on Wednesday.

For the rookie drivers, that included attaining their minimum ten laps to advance into night qualifying and from what we can make out from the timing results is that both Derek DeBoer and Eduardo Barrichello aboard their #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Vantage LMGT3 as well as Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi did as well aboard their #23 Heart of Racing Vantage LMGT3 across the two sessions.

Track activity didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts, however, as the #007 Valkyrie of Tom Gamble was pinged for speeding within the pit lane at the start of the session 1 which saw him and the team get a fine as well as the loss of all his lap times up until that point. Fortunately, that was the only transgression (other than track limits) that any of the four crews suffered within the test although the #009 car of Marco Sorensen did have an off at Indianapolis which did reduce its overall lap count in session 2.

Between the four cars, we calculated that they covered just over two thousand miles between them with two hundred and forty-two laps of the 8.467-mile circuit being ticked off with their early setups and systems checks and preparatory works.

Like usual to any FIA World Endurance Championship round, pushing the envelope of performance is never on the agenda for Aston Martin powered teams but all cars sat comfortably within the time spread between all cars in each class – 4.8 seconds in hypercar and 4.3 seconds for LMGT3 in session one and 3.1 seconds and 4.9 seconds respectively in session 2.

Whilst this was the first time that anyone could see the new Valkyrie perform at Le Mans within its LM24 specific Balance of Performance, the old tradition with all classes with ‘sandbagging’ is a usual point of caution. Only with the start of Free Practice 1 will we start to see and understand the true situation with performance across all classes.

Tomorrow sees no track or paddock activity before rolling into the autograph/pit walk and pit stop challenge sessions on Tuesday before the cars get back on the track later on Wednesday.

Photo credits – Kelvin Pope (Red Firecracker)

For the only GTP entry within the field being non-Hybrid, this circuit in theory should have been the worst of all situations for the V12 normally aspirated Aston Martin powered car but in fact, it was the reverse with the car being more than capable of maintaining position with their hybrid-based peers in race form.

Roman De Angelis qualified the #23 car earlier on Friday where at the halfway stage he was running as high as midway within the eleven-car entry before inevitably being pushed back to the bottom by the end of session.

Also starting the hundred-minute sprint race, De Angelis made up early ground before the first of what was only to be two FCY periods during the race (both for debris on track) slowed the proceedings.

Like any street circuit, catching is one thing whilst passing is something completely different and whilst a few others in both GTP and GTD Pro elected to risk significant damage with a last-minute muscle their way through approach, De Angelis ran his short stint before pitting for full service and driver change to Ross Gunn after just thirty minutes on the clock.

Getting up to P9 in class, the race was then interrupted with its second but surprisingly quick FCY despite the class split leaving just under half an hour top the end. Pushing the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing GTP hard, Gunn’s reward finally came after they missed their braking point and had to take to the escape road allowing the #23 car to move up to eighth in class.

Then circulating thirteen seconds behind P7 but over thirty seconds in front of P9, Gunn comfortably brought the #23 car home for its best finish of the IMSA season to date as he and the team now move across to Watkins Glen for some more testing before flying back to France for the Le Mans 24hour Test Day this Sunday.

Photo credits – Team / AMR / social media / Michelin Tyre