- Aston Martin THOR Team looks to build on momentum after scoring Valkyrie’s first world championship points in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Valkyrie targets first top ten finish in FIA World Endurance Championship
- All-British line-up, Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble make Sao Paulo debut in Valkyrie #007
- Three-time FIA WEC GT champion Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas will return to Valkyrie #009 for Brazilian race
- Valkyrie is the only ‘Hypercar’ to contest the world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship, in 2025
The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar enters the second half of its trailblazing maiden season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) when it races on South American soil for the first time at Interlagos, for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, this weekend.
Following an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans last month where both Valkyrie hypercars completed their maiden twice-around-the-clock event without issue, finishing 12th and 14th, the works Aston Martin THOR Team registered the cars’, and Aston Martin’s first Manufacturer’s World Championship points in the Hypercar Class. The British luxury high performance brand now seeks to build on this positive momentum with a breakthrough top ten finish on WEC’s return to the six-hour race format, as the championship moves into the ‘flyaway’ event phase of the calendar that shapes the second half of the season.
The first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin, and raced by the Aston Martin THOR Team, Valkyrie is the only car in the WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar. Valkyrie is also the only LMH to compete in both the FIA WEC and in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) and has scored top-10 finishes in every race it has contested in the USA.
Valkyrie made its global debut in the Qatar 1812km in February. The British machine has subsequently demonstrated outstanding reliability, having finished 11 times from 12 starts in all competitions and has solid progression in terms of competitiveness. It has been a consistent points-scorer in all five IMSA races.
The Aston Martin THOR Team will return to its two regular WEC Valkyrie line-ups for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, with the #007 driven by Tom Gamble (GBR) and Harry Tincknell (GBR) and the #009 fby Alex Riberas (ESP) and Marco Sørensen (DEN).
Developed from the Valkyrie production car by Aston Martin and THOR, the competition
version 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.
Tom Gamble, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m really looking forward to the next round of WEC in Brazil. It’s my first time racing at this track, so it will be a new challenge, but I can’t wait to get started. The Aston Martin THOR Team has put in a huge amount of work behind the scenes, so I’m excited to see what we can achieve together this weekend!”
Harry Tincknell, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m really looking forward to Brazil after our strong showing at Le Mans. I’m hoping that all the information we gained and the steps we have taken in the first half of the season could push us in a positive direction in the pack at Interlagos. Hopefully we can challenge for points and perhaps get into the Hyperpole session, as Marco did at Le Mans. Le Mans was a big step forward for us. Reliability was strong, our mid-corner pace was good, and the car got better as the weekend went on. Interlagos is a track that I have always wanted to drive since I was a little kid watching Formula 1, so it is going to be great to be out there. I have never been to Brazil so it’s a lot of first moments for me this weekend.”
Alex Riberas, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m very excited and very much looking forward to racing back in Brazil. São Paulo is one of my favourite tracks in the world and I think that the Valkyrie is going to feel really cool to drive around such a magical place like Interlagos. After Le Mans I believe the team has got momentum, we are all very excited and working very hard and I am sure Brazil is going to be the next step in the development of this season.”
Marco Sørensen, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “We’re coming fresh out of Le Mans and now we are in a position to try and deploy all of the knowledge that we gained in the month of June to see if we can be quick in Brazil. Overall, we are quite ready for this. Le Mans was positive for us. It’s good also that they have resurfaced the track since last time. Basically, that means that everyone is starting a little bit from zero so I am hoping that we can exploit that into an advantage. Hoping that we can get some points for the #009 car.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “Just as we have done at every race this year, the team made strong progress at Le Mans. The nature and the length of that event means that you learn so much more about your car than you do perhaps anywhere else. We gathered more momentum through that weekend and scored Aston Martin’s first points in the Hypercar Class. Now we’re excited to go into the Brazil weekend and pick up where we left off and perhaps take another step forward in performance as well.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “The first half of the WEC season has marked a period of establishment for the Valkyrie Hypercar programme. One where we have begun to understand the nature of the car’s performance in a competitive environment and created a baseline in terms of setup, reliability and data gathering. This will continue into the flyaway races, as we seek to build more performance into the car and go after some points finishes with both entries.”
