- Aston Martin Valkyrie
set to embark on its first IMSA ‘sprint race’ in the
world famous Grand Prix of Long Beach - Former IMSA GTD champion Roman
De Angelis and 2023 Long Beach GTD Pro winner Ross Gunn to race Valkyrie at Long
Beach - 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 continues to build Valkyrie
performance with testing and simulator programmes after encouraging Sebring
debut
8 April, 2025, Long Beach,
USA: The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar is
set to take another important step on its historic journey when it makes its
sprint-race debut in the world famous 100-minute-long Grand Prix of Long Beach (CA),
round three of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA), this
weekend.
Hot on the heels of a highly-respectable top-ten finish in the Mobil 1 12
Hours of Sebring last month – the first points finish of any car built to hypercar
regulations in the history of IMSA – the British ultra-luxury high performance
brand’s all-new Valkyrie now takes on the challenge of one of the world’s most
legendary street circuits.
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, masterminded by the works Aston Martin THOR team at
Sebring, produced an encouraging result (9th overall) running
solidly on a circuit recognised as one of the world’s most grueling racetracks.
Canadian Roman De Angelis, the 2022 IMSA GTD champion, and Ross Gunn (GBR), a
regular race winner in the GTD and The Heart of Racing’s first GTD Pro winner at
Long Beach in 2022, who were both part of the driving strength, will race the #23
Valkyrie this weekend and for the rest of the season. They shared the Valkyrie with
Alex Riberas (ESP) who now moves back to the WEC line-up before returning to IMSA in
the season finale at Road Atlanta in October.
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 (including
one at Long Beach) and seven podiums were achieved in the American Le Mans
Series.
Ross Gunn, driver
#23 Aston Martin
Valkyrie: “Long Beach is always a special race. It’s going to be the
first for Valkyrie on a street course. Hearing the V12 echo against some of the
buildings is going to be insane. I always enjoy the race. It’s obviously the
shortest race of the season so it is likely to be action-packed. For Roman and I in
The Heart of Racing it’s important to keep building on the last two events and keep
trying to get closer to the ultimate pace and by continuing to learn and
understanding the car.”
Roman De Angelis, driver
#23 Aston Martin
Valkyrie: “I always look forward to Long Beach not only being a
massive fan of the event and the track, but it also marks the first sprint race of
the year. That’s even more exciting in the GTP class. I’m looking forward to sharing
the car with my teammate Ross, whom I’ve had some great success with in the past,
and hopefully we can continue our constant forward progression with
Valkyrie.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR
Team: “We are making incremental improvements to Valkyrie every day.
We stayed on at Sebring for an extended test after the race and this proved hugely
valuable. It feels like we have learned so much since we began the Sebring race
weekend! Of course we’re still very much on that learning journey, and Long Beach
presents a completely different challenge again, but we are working flat-out in the
simulator, and the team and the programme is moving forward all the time.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance
Motorsport: “Long Beach is another fascinating test for Valkyrie. A
completely different technical challenge for the car, and the drivers, this street
circuit makes new demands on Valkyrie’s driveability and dynamic range in a much
more constrictive racing environment. We are under no illusion that this phase of
the programme is about gathering data, but that’s why races like Long Beach are
vital to the process. We are making enormous progress with every competitive outing
the car makes.
Partner team news – Vantage GT3 chasing glory all over the
globe
- The Heart of Racing aims for another podium at Long Beach in
the GTD class - No less than six Aston Martin Vantage GT3s to begin the GT
World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Paul Ricard - D’station Racing, the first team to win with the new Vantage
GT3, returns to the prestigious AUTOBACS SUPER GT series aiming to fight for the
title
It’s not just Valkyrie in action in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship at Long Beach (CA), as the latest iteration of Aston Martin’s most
successful racing car – the Vantage GT3 – begins a massive weekend that will also
include a battle for supremacy in the GTD category on the streets of
California.
The latest version of the Vantage GT3, fielded by former series champions
The Heart of Racing (THOR), has finished on the podium in both of the opening IMSA
rounds; finishing third in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of
Sebring. These outstanding results mean that regular British drivers Tom Gamble and
Casper Stevenson are second in the standings, just 41 points off the GTD class
championship lead.
This weekend also marks the beginning of the GT World Challenge Europe
Powered by AWS at Paul Ricard (FRA), where six Aston Martin Vantage GT3s, run by
three teams with entries that span all four of the series’ classes, participate in
the world’s most fiercely contested GT-only endurance series.
The three-hour race, which also marks the beginning of the five-round GT
World Europe Endurance Cup, features an impressive 59 entries from 10 of the world’s
leading manufacturers, including Aston Martin. The 2024 Spa 24 Hours-winning team
Comtoyou Racing returns to the PRO class with Aston Martin works drivers Mattia
Drudi (ITA), Marco Sørensen (DEN) and Nicki Thiim (DEN) in the #7 Vantage GT3. The
Belgian squad also fields a Silver Class #21 Vantage for Nicolas Baert (BEL), Kobe
Pauwels (BEL) and Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy winner Jamie Day (GBR).
Completing the team’s line-up is the Bronze Class #270 car which will feature Aston
Martin Aramco Formula One® Team Driver Ambassador Jessica
Hawkins (GBR) in her series debut alongside Belgian duo Alexandre Leroy and Antoine
Potty.
Walkenhorst Motorsport also returns to the championship with two Aston
Martins. The German squad has an all-works driver line-up in its #34 Pro car,
consisting of David Pittard (GBR), Henrique Chaves (POR) and Christain Krognes
(NOR). The team’s #35 Silver entry includes Romain Leroux (FRA), Mateo Villagomez
(ECU) and Oliver Söderström (SWE).
Finally, the Aston Martin Vantage fleet includes a new team name –
Verstappen.com – run by 2 Seas Motorsports, which will run a Gold class #33 car for
Thierry Vermeulen (NED), Chris Lulham (GBR) and Harry King (GBR) this
season.
Meanwhile in Japan, D’station Racing returns to the AUTOBACS Super GT
Series for 2025, in the GT300 class with its Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The
Fuji-based team became the first to record a class victory in the prestigious
Japanese GT championship for Aston Martin, when it gave the new Vantage its maiden
international victory at Suzuka last June. Driver and team principal Tomonobu Fujii
(JPN) returns with 2024 teammate Charlie Fagg (GBR) as the duo aim to become the
first crew to win a Super GT class title with Aston Martin. The first round takes
place at Okayama, on Sunday.
“In its second season of competition, Vantage GT3 is a highly competitive
platform, both in terms of performance and driveability as is evidenced by the depth
and quality of our partner teams across the world,” said Aston Martin Head of
Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter. “Comtoyou Racing came close to clinching the new
Vantage GT3’s first international title on its debut season. Now that we have a full
season’s worth of understanding across a broad range of international championships,
that will help us extract even more performance from an already outstanding car in
its second year.”
Sharing the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury performance brand’s
most focused sportscar, the Vantage GT3, which triumphed at last year’s 24 Hours of
Spa, is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by
its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.
How to follow
The Grand Prix of Long
Beach will begin at 1400 local time (+8 Hours GMT) on Saturday, 12 April, 2025. It
will be broadcast live globally on IMSA TV and on the IMSA
YouTube channel and and via selected broadcasters at a national level. The
opening round of the GT World Challenge Powered by AWS begins at 1800 local time (-1
Hours GMT) on Saturday, and can be accessed by the official website and YouTube
channel. The AUTOBACS SUPER GT series round 1 race from Okayama begins at 1310 local
time (-8 Hours GMT) on Saturday 13th April.
– ENDS –
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.
| Global Headquarters Gaydon Paul Garbett Grace Barnie Jessica Jay Raphaele Loheac-Derboulle Emily Parker Jay Gill Scott Fisher Simon Strang Andrew Stobart | The Americas Continental Europe Tina Brenner Manuel China Asia Pacific Yuri Matsunaga Marketing and Communications Manager, Japan +81 80 7975 6787 yuri.matsunaga@astonmartin.com Sarah McDonald |
