• Aston Martin Valkyrie takes best finish to date at the world-famous Grand Prix of Long Beach on third-ever start
• Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn finish eighth to make it back-to-back top 10 finishes for the British hypercar in IMSA
• Valkyrie is the only hypercar to contest the world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship, in 2025
• The Aston Martin THOR Team build on encouraging Sebring debut as Valkyrie continues preparations for Le Mans 24 Hours debut in June

14 April, 2025, Long Beach, USA: The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar scored both its best race finish (and qualifying result) with a strong weekend-long performance at the world-renowned Grand Prix of Long Beach, the latest round of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship (IMSA), last weekend.

Hot on the heels of a highly-respectable ninth-place result at the 12 Hours of Sebring last month – the first points finish of any car built to hypercar regulations in the history of IMSA competition – the British ultra-luxury high performance brand’s all-new Valkyrie went one better by finishing eighth after a competitive showing across the event.

Aston Martin THOR Team and its drivers Ross Gunn (GBR) – an IMSA GTD Pro class winner at Long Beach – and Roman De Angelis (CDN), the 2022 IMSA GTD champion, made gains in Friday practice and then achieved a best-ever 11th place in qualifying, just a tenth of a second shy of the top 10, on what was only Valkyrie’s third start and its second in IMSA’s GTP division. But a faultless and reliable run through the 100-minute race – the shortest on the IMSA calendar – was rewarded with an eighth-place finish.

The first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin, Valkyrie is the only car in IMSA’s premier GTP category derived from a road-legal hypercar. The British contender is also the first LMH car of any kind to compete in IMSA, and the only one contesting both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) simultaneously, having made its debut in the Qatar 1812km in February.

Valkyrie’s US debut season, masterminded by the works Aston Martin THOR team at Sebring, has already produced an encouraging pair of top-10 finishes on circuits recognised as some of the world’s most demanding.

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.

Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m super-happy with our eighth-place finish at Long Beach. It was a difficult Friday with a couple of issues that we had to overcome, but at this stage of the programme, that’s completely normal. Everybody did a great job figuring out and fixing what had arisen. The main positive is that we improved throughout the weekend. We improved on our last race result at Sebring, kept it clean and completed another race. We’ve ticked a lot more boxes with Valkyrie and I’m very happy.”

Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It was a tough race, but we kept the car clean. We had a tricky start to the weekend with some issues in practice and I only had about 10 laps before the race, so all in all I’m happy that the car is in one piece and that the race was clean. I’m excited to see what Laguna Seca brings next time out.”

Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “It was a very positive weekend for Valkyrie. The team had a great strategy. We were right with some of the other cars at the end so to be mixing with any of the other manufacturers at this point makes us proud. There is still lots to learn from each weekend, but it was a step forward for our performance and for the Valkyrie programme as a whole, and it will be even better come Laguna Seca.”

Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “Long Beach posed a complex test for Valkyrie; a street track with very different technical challenges to those experienced at Sebring on its first appearance in IMSA or in Qatar for its global race debut in the FIA WEC. Despite this, it came through with flying colours as Aston Martin Team THOR scored the car’s best results to date. We continue to make enormous progress every time Valkyrie goes on track and this latest achievement will give us all added determination to keep moving forwards and striving for more.”

Vantage GT3 on podium as 2025 GT World Challenge Europe begins at Paul Ricard

• Verstappen.com Racing second in class in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Paul Ricard on debut with Vantage GT3
• Aston Martin works drivers charge through to finish in top five for Comtoyou Racing in six-hour ‘into the night’ race in France
• The Heart of Racing qualify third on streets of Long Beach in IMSA GTD
• D’station Racing begin Super GT GT300 championship challenge with front-row start at Okayama

The latest iteration of Aston Martin’s most successful racing car – the Vantage GT3 – scored another podium finish last weekend as the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS began at Circuit Paul Ricard, France.

The 2Seas Motorsport-run Verstappenracing.com Vantage was a contender for honours in the Gold Cup category across the weekend; setting the fastest time overall in opening practice and running strongly throughout the six-hour race.

Having gradually moved up from fourth place in the Gold Cup order, driver Harry King (GBR) chased down the #31 car’s race-long rival with 20 minutes left to snatch second place for himself and co-drivers Thierry Vermeulen (NED) and Chris Lulham (GBR).

The best overall Vantage finisher was the Pro-class entry from Comtoyou Racing featuring Aston Martin works drivers Marco Sørensen (DEN), Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Mattia Drudi (ITA), who started 19th but fought back throughout the six-hour race to highlight the Vantage GT3’s long-stint pace. Last year’s 24 Hours of Spa-winning crew came home fifth.

Walkenhorst Motorsport’s line-up of works drivers, David Pittard (GBR), Henrique Chaves (POR) and Norwegian Christian Krognes – who was having his first race with factory status – was eighth while the Comtoyou entry featuring Aston Martin Aramco Formula One^® Team Driver Ambassador Jessica Hawkins (GBR) Jessica Hawkins was 11th in the Bronze Cup.

The IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship moved from its most demanding event; the 12 Hours of Sebring, to one of its shortest; a 100-minute ‘Sprint’ event on the streets of Long Beach.

Tom Gamble (GBR) qualified his Vantage GT3 a season’s-best third for Seattle-based The Heart of Racing (THOR), coming within seven hundredths of a second of pole position and putting him in a prime place to take second place on the opening lap. He and Casper Stevenson (GBR) finished ninth following contact from a GTP machine during the second half of the race but remain third in the Drivers’ title race with three rounds completed.

In Japan, D’station Racing pair Tomonobu Fujii (JPN) and Charlie Fagg (GBR) began their AUTOBACS Super GT Series title challenge with a front-row start in the GT300 class at Okayama with its Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Fujii was leading when a rival car spun him off a wet track at a quarter distance dropping the #777 Vantage out of serious contention.

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About Aston Martin Lagonda:
Aston Martin’s vision is to be the world’s most desirable, ultra-luxury British brand, creating the most exquisitely addictive performance cars.

Founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, Aston Martin is acknowledged as an iconic global brand synonymous with style, luxury, performance, and exclusivity. Aston Martin fuses the latest technology, time honoured craftsmanship and beautiful styling to produce a range of critically acclaimed luxury models including the Vantage, DB12, Vanquish, DBX707 and its first hypercar, the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Aligned with its Racing. Green. sustainability strategy, Aston Martin is developing alternatives to the Internal Combustion Engine with a blended drivetrain approach between 2025 and 2030, including PHEV and BEV, with a clear plan to have a line-up of electric sports cars and SUVs.

Based in Gaydon, England, Aston Martin Lagonda designs, creates, and exports cars which are sold in more than 50 countries around the world. Its sports cars are manufactured in Gaydon with its luxury DBX SUV range proudly manufactured in St Athan, Wales. The company is on track to deliver net-zero manufacturing facilities by 2030.

Lagonda was founded in 1899 and came together with Aston Martin in 1947 when both were purchased by the late Sir David Brown, and the company is now listed on the London Stock Exchange as Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc.

2020 saw Lawrence Stroll become the company’s Executive Chairman, alongside significant new investment. This coincided with Aston Martin’s return to the pinnacle of motorsport with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team and commenced a new era for the iconic British marque.