It marked a maiden victory for the New Jersey-based team, in only its sixth IMSA start and its third race in the fiercely competitive GTD Pro class, which allows for all-Pro level driver line-ups. The team’s all-star Aston Martin works driver crew of Mattia Drudi (ITA), Marco Sørensen (DEN) and Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA) thus claimed Aston Martin’s third class victory in the history of the blue riband event and concluded an outstanding first IMSA chapter for the new YRB Racing organisation, which steps up to the GTD Pro class full time in 2027.
“This is an amazing reward for all the hard work and amazing effort that has gone in behind the scenes to bring Car Blanche to the front in such a short space of time,” said Hasse Clot, who has been with the team since it entered IMSA in June. “We are still learning, but we have been fast since the start, and each race we have built more experience and learnings into the team. Having Mattia and Marco alongside me meant we had a strong line-up for Petit Le Mans, and this team just continues to excel. We are all so happy to have won here. It’s crazy, but fantastic to have won such a big race so soon!”
A fast and consistent force throughout, Car Blanche set up a dramatic late victory in the 10-hour classic. Excellent strategic decisions, coupled with a fast car, ensured that the #68 Vantage GT3 spent most of the race inside the top six, but when the sun set, it was Drudi who pulled the trigger and brought Vantage to the fore.
Drudi, who had also qualified second in GTD Pro – Car Blanche’s best start in IMSA – moved into third place with 40 minutes to go and then passed two rivals in one move 10 minutes later to take the class lead. He then delivered a defensive masterclass to maintain the lead to the race’s conclusion.
“The car was really good in that last stint, and we were able to push really hard, which meant I was able to fight for the win,” said Drudi, who adds the Petit Le Mans trophy to the 24 Hours of Spa victory honours he claimed in 2024 with Aston Martin Racing partner Comtoyou Racing. “The Car Blanche team have been super easy to work with this weekend and made it easy for me to step into the car and be competitive straight away. There is a lot of potential there.”
Sørensen, who can now add a Petit Le Mans victory to a career legacy that includes three FIA World Endurance GT titles, victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona GTD class win, and an overall triumph in the 24 Hours of Spa, said: “In the short time I have been with Car Blanche you can see that it is making progress all the time and that the potential is really high. We were in a good position all weekend and it feels good to be part of such an emotional win for the team. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in 2027.”
It was Vantage’s first IMSA win of 2026, but it was the sixth time Vantage GT3 had won in the GTD Pro class, and the 15th GT class win for Aston Martin in IMSA. The win was also the third Petit Le Mans class win for Aston Martin, following the GT1 class victory with the V12-powered DBR9 with Tomas Enge (CZE) and Darren Turner (GBR) in 2006 and the Heart of Racing Team’s [THOR] 2021 GTD class win with Roman De Angelis (CAN), Ross Gunn (GBR) and Ian James (GBR).
For THOR the race was bittersweet. The #27 Vantage of Dudu Barrichello (BRA), Tom Gamble (GBR) and Zach Robichon (CAN) suffered an electrical issue before the start which took it out of GTD title contention, but the team recovered to complete enough laps to secure third place in the drivers’ standings for the Brazilian. THOR also finished third in the teams’ standings, while Aston Martin ended the season as GTD Manufacturers’ vice-champions. It was a mark of THOR’s outstanding competitiveness through the season that it also finished third in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup [IMEC] (which comprises all the series’ long-distance races and awards points for positions at certain points during each race), just two points behind the winners. Aston Martin also finished runner-up in the IMEC GTD Manufacturers’ standings thanks to the efforts of its three teams THOR, Car Blanche and Magnus Racing.
Magnus Racing ensured that it finished the season strongly in the GTD class too, appearing for the first time since the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in June. It finished fifth with its line-up of John Potter (USA), Spencer Pumpelly (USA) and two-time series champion Mario Farnbacher (GER).
The result also concluded a magnificent weekend for Vantage, which shares its mechanical architecture with the British ultra-luxury performance brand’s Vantage road car, and is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. Prior to Car Blanche’s success, Aston Martin Racing partner team Circle H Racing had, a little over 24 hours earlier, claimed a maiden win in the supporting IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season finale with Martin Sarukhanyan (ARM) and Thomas Merrill (USA).
“Car Blanche has made a big impression with us since its debut at Watkins Glen in June, and this maiden victory underlines just how quickly it has become a competitive force in the most important GT racing arena in North America,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport. “It also shows how versatile Vantage can be as a competitive package for race teams at all levels of GT racing. It has been competitive all weekend, in all classes, at Road Atlanta, but its success is driven by the strong relationships Aston Martin builds with the teams capable of competing at the top level, which allows us to make good on its immense potential. To have scored a podium finish on its race debut and now a first win on only its sixth start – and at one of the biggest races on the IMSA calendar – is exceptional, and we look forward to seeing what can be achieved with a full GTD Pro season in 2027. Congratulations must also go to THOR, which delivered another outstanding IMSA campaign and was a key reason why Aston Martin completed the season as the GTD Manufacturers’ vice-champion.”
Aston Martin Valkyrie finishes gruelling IMSA season by equalling best result of 2026 at Motul Petit Le Mans
Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar equals best IMSA finish of 2026 in thrilling season climax at Motul Petit Le Mans
Aston Martin THOR Team’s Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis and Alex Riberas finish fifth at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, battling for the podium throughout
Valkyrie is the only hypercar to contest the world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship, in 2026
Aston Martin’s breathtaking Valkyrie Hypercar completed the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) season with a strong run to fifth place overall in a gruelling Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (GA) on Saturday, equalling its best result of 2026 in the series.
Works drivers Ross Gunn (GBR) and Roman De Angelis (CAN), who were joined by FIA World Endurance Championship regular Alex Riberas (ESP) for the event, ran strongly throughout the 10-hour race and led at several key points in the final three hours, but were prevented from exploiting their advantage by a number of inconveniently-timed Full-Course Yellow (FCY) periods for incidents elsewhere on track, and instead were brought back into line on strategy with their rivals as the final hour began.
Running as high as third, former GTD series champion De Angelis fell back to finish fifth for the Aston Martin THOR Team, after receiving a late-race drive-through penalty following an incident with another car. Fifth place nonetheless equalled the car’s best result of 2026 (achieved at Road America in the summer) and came at the same circuit where Valkyrie earned its first global podium finish, with a second place, last year.
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.
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.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “Valkyrie and the Aston Martin THOR Team performed superbly at Petit Le Mans, just as they did last year. The work done on understanding Valkyrie over the past two seasons has produced a more consistent platform for us to exploit through 2026, but there is still work for us to do before we are able to compete regularly against our more experienced rivals. That said, Roman, Ross and Alex led the race several times and put themselves in the position to fight for the podium at Road Atlanta. The potential was there to emulate last year’s result, but the cards didn’t fall our way. That’s a huge testament to the progress made as well as the team’s competitive and strategic capabilities. While this brings the curtain down on an encouraging IMSA campaign, we now focus on the remaining FIA WEC races as we continue to strive for more and look ahead to what’s possible in 2027.”
