The all-new Aston Martin Valkyrie reached another important milestone in its historic first season of competition when it became not only the first car built to ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) regulations to compete in an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) race, but also the first to score points.
In a strong North American race debut in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday – the second round of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) – the Aston Martin THOR Team #23 Valkyrie, driven by Ross Gunn (GBR), Roman De Angelis (CDN) and Alex Riberas (ESP), finished in a respectable ninth position on what is widely recognised as one of the most grueling race tracks on Earth.
Valkyrie, the first LMH car to be produced by Aston Martin, and the only car racing in IMSA’s premier GTP category derived from a road-legal hypercar, performed solidly throughout the 73rd running of one of the world’s most prestigious endurance events to secure its first points finish in only its second competitive outing.
The result comes just two weeks after the only car built to LMH regulations contesting both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), made the finish on its debut in the eight-hour Qatar 1812km with De Angelis, Riberas and Marco Sørensen (DEN).
Sebring is world-renowned for its car-breaking bumpy surface and is considered among the most demanding challenges in global endurance motorsport, but Valkyrie ran smoothly throughout after qualifying 12th for the Florida event. Having run as high as sixth, Valkyrie remained in the top ten from the first hour onwards and frequently competed with cars that already have years of development behind them.
“This was a satisfying performance from Valkyrie and wholly underlines the good progress the programme is making with every lap we complete,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance, Adam Carter. “Sebring is well renowned for being a tough test on any racecar, let alone a new hypercar. But we were confident in the car’s ability to go the distance, and the fact that it did it so well is a huge testament to everybody working on the programme and a good indicator of the inherent potential of the car. We are right at the beginning of this journey with Valkyrie, and of course there will be opportunities for improvement, but we have learned a huge amount and gathered an enormous amount of data that we can now take away and digest before the next race at Long Beach.”
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.
Valkyrie positions 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.
Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It was an absolutely awesome job by everyone in the team to get to the end of what is probably the toughest race in the world. We overcame a couple of obstacles during the race and dealt with those well. Alex and Roman drove solid stints, and it was a case of staying out of trouble, which we did, with no issues and the Valkyrie performed well throughout the entire race.”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It is a rollercoaster of emotions to say the least. It’s one of the hardest races I’ve had. It was super physical out there. I am super proud of The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin for getting Valkyrie across the line. We learned a lot in Qatar and that was a good launch point and we have clearly made good progress here so I’m looking forward to Long Beach.”
Alex Riberas, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s an amazing feeling. We came here with really no expectations because we knew that Sebring was going to be one of the toughest challenges we would face as a team with a new car. We really didn’t think we could come here and do what we just did – to finish the race, and not just that but in the top ten as well. It’s unbelievable. I’m very happy and very proud of the whole team and everybody at The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin. It’s a great start and this is only the beginning.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “If we could have wished for something going into this race, a top ten finish would have been the dream. We’ve beaten a couple of really good cars out there, and 12 hours around this place is momentous for us in terms of the programme. Every lap we do we learn something and we are going to come back stronger every time.”
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