After a GTD only event last time out about a month ago from the picturesque Virginia International Raceway, it’s all back to happy IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship families next weekend as the full suite of classes visits Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Round ten of another eleven round season, we have all seen just how these championship battles have been heating up upon track recently where both the GTD Pro and GTD class battles have remained spirited by competitive, the battles within the headlining GTP class has almost become personal to a point of almost being dangerous.

 

That was reflected upon track the last time all the classes raced at Road America but there were still traces of some of that overzealous driver going on within the GTD ranks last time out at VIR where the then GTD class leading #27 Heart of Racing was penalised for contact which dropped them down both the race order and within the championship standing itself. Hopefully, Race Control has now made its mark, and the race next weekend from IMS will remain competitive but thoroughly respectful.

Forty-four cars are being listed across GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and the GTD classes with one Aston Martin/Aston Martin Racing powered crew being listed within each class other than the LMP2 class (obviously). The #23 Heart of Racing AM Valkyrie of both Roman de Angelis and Ross Gunn will be back after their very encouraging P5 finish at Road America at the start of August as well as the #68 Car Blanche entry within GTD Pro (for the remainder of the season) and the #27 HoRT car in GTD.

 

Valentin Hasse-Clot again pairs with fellow AMR factory driver Marco Sorensen as he did at VIR where the new combination finished fourth in class after their P5 start whilst the #27 is again being piloted by Eduardo Barrichello and Tom Gamble for this two hours forty-minute race on Sunday.

Photo credits – Teams / social media

The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship’s visit to the Virginia International Raceway this weekend provided perhaps one of the best GTD only races so far although things certainly didn’t go the way of one of the two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTD entries as late contact on one came with a significant cost.

Racing as the nineth round of the season, this weekend’s programme was just for the GTD Pro and GTD classes but that still provided twenty-three cars onto Sunday’s grid for the two hours and forty-minute race.

 

Like the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series before it, some of the earlier practice sessions were affected by torrential rain and passing storms but the race was able to run under full sunshine and a dry track. Yesterday’s qualifying had seen the #68 Car Blanche AMR Vantage GTD Pro car of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marco Sorensen secure a fifth place start whilst the #27 Heart of Racing AMR Vantage GTD of Eduardo Barrichello and Tom Gamble had seen their two best laps deleted for exceeding their permitted power output during that session (as measured instantaneously via the car’s torque sensors) to find themselves demoted to P12 in class as a consequence.

Having built up an early class lead during the longer opening rounds of the season, recent results for the Barrichello lead car had seen that lead gradually reduce after they got repeatedly outscored by those chasing, so a decent result at VIR was vital for their championship efforts. The Car Blanche team, meanwhile, were running within only their second Pro class race since their buyout from Van Der Steur Racing earlier in the year but their hopes were raised this time with this full factory driver line up.

 

Unfortunately, the race got underway to all familiar incidents and accidents that saw three cars effectively eliminated from the race halfway around the opening laps but that certainly appeared to be more out of circumstance than anything else as Race Control was expected to take a firm hand to anything else after incidents at recent races.

Getting back to green after the twenty-minute clean up, the race certainly settled within both classes as everyone was looking to ‘steady their ships’ around the tight and twisting 3.27-mile VIR circuit as that lap one incident had again proven, that the outfield grass was extremely wet and any retardation attempt once upon it, was slight to nil.

 

For the #68 car of Hasse-Clot, it was steady as she goes as the Frenchman held his P5 starting position into what would become a near two-hour stint. The #27 GTD of Barrichello was however make quick progress through the ranks from P12, through to P8 and incredibly up to third in class by the forty-five-minute mark of the race (minimum drive time).

Whilst Barrichello would pit for service and a driver change to Gamble just after that race milestone, the #68 would only pit for fuel and tyres before being sent upon their way again as at the halfway point of the race, both Aston Martins held a podium winning position within their classes as the racing action around the circuit began to pick up in intensity but thankfully remained clean.

 

At the top of the final hour, Hasse-Clot would eventually stop from third in class to allow Sorensen his first racing laps whilst Gamble would follow him in next time around for what would be his final service and the dash to the flag having just overtaken the then class leading Lamborghini after they ran wide.

As the race clock went down to the final thirty minutes, the #27 car would have a race upon their hands as the #57 Mercedes AMG car had now caught them in what would become very significant within the championship stakes as it was the #57 crew immediately behind Barrichello in class. A lead of just 0.621 seconds was never going to boke well at this level of motorsport!

 

As the time counted down, the racing intensified between the two cars as neither driver would give ground to the other until a mistake from Gamble with only six minutes remaining allowed the #57 passed only for the British driver to force his way through (and push the Mercedes off track) at the next corner. Fearing a penalty, the #27 would soon allow the #57 back past but that wasn’t enough for the new world Race Control after weeks of criticism going their way for driver standards.

That Drive through penalty for incident responsibility was quickly given to the #27 and that would have a disastrous consequence of dropping them down to P5 in the order with only minutes remaining. At the chequered flag, the #68 crew would cross the line a very worthy fourth in class and whilst the #27 would recover to finish P4, that effectively meant that the points lost to the #57 crew within the championship had now doubled as the series moves onto Indianapolis in a month’s time.

 

A few races ago, the move by Gamble would have been tolerated and they may have still won the class – just sadly not today!

Photo credits – Teams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday’s opening six-hour round to the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship from Imola in Italy could perhaps be explained as something of a character-building experience for one half of the Heart of Racing garage but a job well done (but still leaving room for improvement) for the other after another characteristically gruelling race.

Starting under the Italian sunshine, there was eagerness to continue along the impressive development and performance curve that the team has displayed with last years all new Aston Martin Valyrie Hypercar and with a well-rounded Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 package for what was now a two-car entry.

 

Qualifying on Saturday had not reflected the quicker pace of the Vantage LMGT3 and whilst the #007 Valkyrie had done well with their P9 starting position, the sister #009 car was still struggling for pace after having a new car built up after their Prologue Test accident earlier in the week.

Despite thirty-five Hypercar and LMGT3 cars taking to the start around the tighter and undulating historical circuit, all ran surprisingly smoothly with all four Heart of Racing cars running within their respective mid-field at the end of the opening hour.

 

Into the second hour and #27 Vantage LMGT3 of Ian James had already had five seconds added to his first pit stop time for his apparent starting procedure error whilst the #23 rookie Gray Newell was also learning things the hard way after getting firstly pinged for speeding within the pit lane before later getting a reprimand for not quite stopping within his designated pitstop box. Despite these, the young American was being otherwise impressive considering his short racing background.

By the end of the second hour of racing, both Valkyries had elevated themselves into the top ten in class whilst the two Vantages were still struggling for pace compared to most of the other OEM’s. Despite an earlier Safety Car intervention for a stranded car on track had not shortened the gap to their opponents up ahead.

 

Hour three into hour four and with the imminent threat of rain fast approaching, the status quo within both class sets was looking insecure for all as the #007 remained within the top 10 and the #27 Vantage was doing likewise in P8.

Unfortunately, with little over ninety minutes remaining, Mattia Drudi was forced to box the #27 car and for (presumably) technical reasons unknown, they would take no further part in the proceedings making for a second consecutive DNF at the circuit. The #009 Valkyrie would also drop off the chasing group to eventually finish P14 overall and one lap down to the winning Toyota.

 

 

Blink and you would have missed it as the FIA World Endurance Championship completed its mandatory Prologue test at Imola today having been forced to do so from global events.

Whilst we would have been pleased to say that all passed off without incident for the Heart of Racing team, that would sadly not be the case after Marco Sorensen suffered a heavy off in his #008 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar during the wet morning session.

 

Without knowing too much about causation, the green V12 powered monster was seen spinning through the gravel before connecting heavily with the tyre protected circuit barrier causing significant damage to the car.

Whilst the Dane was able to extricate himself from the car and after mandatory medical assistance, was fortunately deemed fit to continue with the upcoming race weekend but the same couldn’t be said for the #009 car with the team now working hard to build up a new car utilising their spare monocoque in time for Fridays first Free Practice session.

 

Meanwhile, their sister #007 Hypercar of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble got in the laps and hence valuable data during the eight hours of track availability finishing the day just outside of the top ten within an extended class of seventeen cars.

It was better news however, across the team garage to where both Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3’s are prepared as Mattia Drudi powered the #27 car that he shares with Zacharie Robichon and Ian James to the top of the overall class leaderboard.

 

Their sister #23 car of Jonny Adam and a series debuting Kobe Pauwels and Gray Newell also fared well within the wet conditions finishing mid table in the results but with both debutant drivers getting in a decent number of laps between them.

That was of course just testing and the real business will begin on Friday ahead of Qualifying on Saturday and the start of this six-hour race opener at 13:00hrs local.

Photo credits – Teams / AMR / social media

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

The Asian Le Mans Series today confirmed a massive forty-eight multi-classed car entry for their opening round to their 2025-26 winter season that kicks off at the Sepang International Circuit in just a couple of weeks’ time with further news of the expected two car Aston Martin Racing powered entry.

With the sixteen strong LMP2 class again taking the spotlight alongside the ten new LMP3 runners, it’s from within the twenty-two strong GT3 entry that obviously grabs our attention as both the Ecurie Ecosse bannered Blackthorn AMR, and the Earl Bamber Motorsport AMR’s also confirmed at least most of their drivers.

 

The chequered flag may have fallen upon the FIA World Endurance Championship season on Saturday evening but that wasn’t quite the end of it for both the Heart of Racing and Racing Spirit of Lemans teams as there was still that of the Rookie Test and Awards night on Sunday to round things off in style.

Having finished the year with another podium finish for the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 – it was a step up to the Hypercar class for driver Mattia Drudi as he and car regular Marco Sorensen put in some additional laps around the Bahrain International Circuit as part of the rookie test for the Italian.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar concluded its debut season of global competition with a second-straight points finish, at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, on Saturday, after leading a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship for the first time.

The seventh-place result for Aston Martin THOR Team’s #009 entry, driven by three-time WEC GT champion Marco Sørensen, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis, added to the fifth-place finish the team had taken last-time out in Japan on a weekend of notable landmarks for the unique 6.5-litre, V12-powered British hypercar.

 

Since the opening round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar way back at the end of February this year, it has been a long hard-fought path of progress and development for the Heart of Racing team and Aston Martin as they took their new Valkyrie Hypercar into global racing for the first time.

Since those early days of first just wanting to finish and to literally keep the doors on the car, many things have changed and so going into tomorrow’s seasonal finale in Bahrain, the fruits of that progress and development has been very apparent.

 

Aston Martin’s new Valkyrie hypercar celebrated the British performance brand’s 100th race in the FIA World Endurance Championship, by achieving its best finish yet in its debut season, as well as delivering Aston Martin’s best overall finish in the world’s premier sportscar series.

The works Aston Martin The Heart Of Racing Team, and drivers Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas finished sixth in the 6 Hours of Fuji, marking a new high in the programme, having delivered front-running pace throughout the weekend in Japan.

Aston Martin is one of three manufacturers to have competed in every WEC race since the series’ inception in 2012. Having claimed 53 class victories and 11 world championship titles in that time, it was fitting that the brand should achieve its best result so far for the Hypercar programme at the series’ centennial event.

 

The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar makes its debut at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend, as the brand also celebrates its 75th anniversary in the Americas in 2025.

The FIA World Endurance Championship arrives in Texas, for the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans, as momentum continues to build through the trail-blazing debut season of the unique 6.5-litre, V12-powered British hypercar. Valkyrie is the first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ to be produced by Aston Martin. Raced by the works Aston Martin The heart of Racing Team, Valkyrie is also the only car in WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar.