The seventh-place result for Aston Martin THOR Team’s #009 entry, driven by three-time WEC GT champion Marco Sørensen (DEN), Alex Riberas (ESP) and Roman De Angelis (CDN), 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.
A magnificent performance in Hypercar qualifying was the highlight of Saturday’s on-track action as the #007 entry of British trio Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn led the #009 in an all-Valkyrie one-two; ensuring that both Aston Martin THOR Team cars would progress to the Hyperpole session and challenge for pole position for the first time. Sixth and ninth positions on the grid marked the first time two Valkyries had qualified inside the top 10 in the WEC.
Aston Martin’s first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) showed more potential during the eight-hour race as, following a mid-race safety car period that bunched the field, Riberas charged from fifth place into the lead – the first time Valkyrie has headed a WEC race. It was a fitting end to a trail-blazing debut season that featured the car’s maiden podium finish in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in October’s gruelling Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Valkyrie is the first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin. Raced by the works Aston Martin THOR Team, it is the only car in WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar and made its global debut in the Qatar 1812km in February. This unique, ambitious and trail-blazing programme has grown in competitiveness at every turn through a grueling season that has covered more than 22,000 racing miles, and eight rounds of WEC (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans) for the two stunning, green Aston Martins.
“The aim for Aston Martin in Hypercar in 2025 was to compete in endurance racing at the very highest level of competition, both globally in WEC and in North America in IMSA,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport. “Both are magnificent series with manufacturers, teams and drivers that have been at the pinnacle of the sport for, in some cases, decades. To have brought such a unique car as Valkyrie to the stage, to start where we did, and to consistently improve our performances to the point where we’ve come to the WEC finale in Bahrain and perform the way we have, shows the ability and desire of everybody that is a part of this programme. We have made satisfying progress in 2025 and will continue to build on this next season.”
Developed from the Valkyrie production car, 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.
TEAM QUOTES
Tom Gamble, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s been a bittersweet ending to the championship as we thought we were going to get a strong result, but the luck wasn’t with us with the Virtual Safety Car coming out a lap sooner than would have been ideal. That took us from a strong points position to out of contention, which was disappointing as we had a great package. It’s been a positive debut season for Valkyrie and to go from where we were in Qatar to now being disappointed not to have scored double-points shows how far we’ve come. Hopefully we can start 2026 as we’ve finished 2025 and keep moving forwards.”
Ross Gunn, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. We got very unlucky with the last VSC. At certain points during the race the car really came into its own. I’ve really enjoyed coming back to WEC and obviously being fastest in qualifying was a highlight of the weekend. But also seeing the progress of the car all season long and knowing we are going in the right direction is really satisfying.”
Harry Tincknell, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It was really nice to dicing with cars and competing at the front. At times we had some really strong pace and we were flying. Unfortunately the second Virtual Safety Car came out just a lap after we’d pitted and that put us a lap down which really hurt our race. That’s endurance racing and sometimes those things happen. This year was all about learning and we’ve made tremendous progress in terms of performance and understanding that we can take into next year.
Roman De Angelis, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s been good to have Valkyrie up at the front in most sessions, qualifying well and finishing in the top 10. I’m actually a little disappointed with the result because we led the race at one point with Alex and we were in podium contention most of the way, but coming from where we were in Qatar, we probably didn’t think those would be our expectations by the end of the season, so it’s been a really good improvement.”
Alex Riberas, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “Definitely a lot of positives came out of today. Leading a WEC race for the first time in the history of the car, and while we didn’t have a lot of luck, at times we were the fastest car out there. Today was one of those days where you could clearly see the progress we are making and the potential that is growing in the car. We are getting better in the small details and when we learn how to race against the competition more, we will be even better. Whether the car will be ready to fight for victories at the beginning of next year is not for me to say, but I know that it is more and matter of when than if.”
Marco Sørensen, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “We should be proud of what we have achieved this year for sure. If you look at the last three races we have had a car that had the pace to finish on the podium. Now we have to take these learnings into next year and build on the progress. Now we go into the winter with a lot of motivation, and we just want to push everyone so that we are ready to fight from the start of next season.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “It was close. We led our first laps in WEC so that’s a good milestone. The VSC came at the wrong time in terms of our strategy, but the speed we’ve had has been very strong. In Qatar we were a couple of seconds off the pace and people were writing us off, so to come to a place here where we’re genuinely competing for pole position and the podium shows what a good job everyone’s done and I can’t wait for 2026 to come around so we can keep up that momentum.”
Vantage and THOR finish WEC season with podium finish
Aston Martin Vantage ends FIA WEC season with second LMGT3 podium finish of 2025 at Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain
Ian James, Zach Robichon and Aston Martin works driver Mattia Drudi finish third in Bahrain for The Heart of Racing Team
Result is Vantage’s second rostrum of year following Racing Spirit of Léman’s third-place result in Brazil
Aston Martin’s most successful sportscar of all time, Vantage, finished the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with a podium finish in the LMGT3 class at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain.
The Heart of Racing (THOR) Team drivers Ian James (GBR), Zacharie Robichon (CDN) and Mattia Drudi (ITA) finished third in an action-packed race to claim the team’s first top-three finish of the season for the ultimate racing version of Aston Martin’s most focused sportscar.
The trio ran inside the top six throughout the race with Aston Martin works driver Drudi closing down a 30-second gap to the leaders with two hours to go to put himself in the hunt for victory in the closing stages.
THOR’s result was the second WEC podium finish of the season for Vantage, after Racing Spirit of Léman (RSL) finished third in Brazil during the summer. It was also a 14th WEC rostrum finish for Vantage in Bahrain; those results scored across the LMGT3 class and its predecessors, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am. RSL’s Anthony McIntosh (USA), Eduardo Barrichello (BRA) and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse-Clot (FRA) finished 14th in LMGT3 aboard the #10 Vantage.
Sharing the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury performance brand’s most focused sportscar, the Vantage GT3, is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. As well as scoring a spectacular back-to-back LMGT3 pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with THOR, and in Brazil with RSL, the car has scored an IMSA GTD win at the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen, two class wins at the 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and a class podium in the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring, in June.
“The ultra-close nature of the competition in WEC means that to fight at the front, you must have first-rate machinery and partner teams capable of delivering when it counts,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport. “In The Heart of Racing Team and Racing Spirit of Léman we have two outstanding partners, who have both scored pole positions and podium finishes this year. This is a testament to the strength of both organisations, to the accessibility and robustness of Vantage to drivers of all levels of experience, and to a set of regulations that keeps the competing machines close. We are already looking ahead to a 2026 season.”
