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The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie enters the final phase of its debut season of global competition as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) continues with the Motul Sportscar Grand Prix of Road America (WI) this weekend.
Just three races remain in 2025 for IMSA’s leading GTP category – in which Valkyrie achieved a ninth-place finish on its debut in March’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – with the target to maintain the British hypercar’s upwards progress and finish the year on a high. This cause has been boosted by an ever-increasing competitive gain through the IMSA campaign, highlighted emphatically by the #23 Valkyrie’s most recent run, at Watkins Glen in June, where it raced up to fifth position before a late-race caution mixed up the order.
Aston Martin THOR Team’s ninth position was nevertheless its fifth consecutive points finish, in a season where Valkyrie has finished every race it has embarked on during a
debut US campaign coloured by robust reliability. The British ultra-luxury high performance brand’s all-new Valkyrie has achieved encouraging top 10 results in each of the five races contested, including a pair of eighth place finishes on the street circuits at Long Beach (CA), and Detroit (MI).
Valkyrie drivers Roman De Angelis (CAN) and Ross Gunn (GBR), both have both performed well at Road America in the past; Gunn having won the GTD Pro class from pole position in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in 2023. For De Angelis, the two hours and 40 minutes-long race marks a return to his regular Valkyrie cockpit after the 2022 IMSA GTD champion stepped in to partner Casper Stevenson (GBR) in THOR’s Vantage at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park last month.
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.
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: “I’m really excited to get back on board Valkyrie after the small break since Watkins Glen. We did a test recently at Road America so we have managed to get a feel for what the car is capable of on one of the all-time great circuits in the US. The racing at Elkhart Lake, is usually won on strategy and being in the right place at the right time is key. That means we need to be ready, and on top of things as much as we can. I’m really proud of the progress we have made so far and now we are in to the business end of the season, the aim is to keep moving forward on the positive trajectory that we’re on.”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I look forward to going to Road America every year as it’s another one of these iconic tracks on the IMSA calendar. I’m even more excited this year as it’s a track that I feel suits the GTP class with its high-speed nature. We had a successful test a few weeks back and this has given us a lot of encouragement ahead of the weekend. After fighting in the top ten at Watkins Glen, I know I speak for the whole team when I say we are really motivated to finally get the results we feel we deserve.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “We say this every race, but it’s clear that Valkyrie is progressing forward incrementally with every start it undertakes, both in IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship. At Watkins Glen, we maximized the performance of the car, and collectively as a team we raced extremely well to bring Valkyrie into the top five on merit before the late-race cautions. We’ve subsequently had a successful test at Road America, where Valkyrie ran well, and so of course we’re interested to see how the knowledge we’ve gained translates in race conditions.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “With more than half the IMSA season complete, and top 10 finishes in every race, it’s clear how much progress Valkyrie and the Aston Martin THOR Team have made so far in 2025. Naturally we want to continue to build Valkyrie’s competitiveness across the final three events of the IMSA season. The data we’ve gathered and the lessons learned at Watkins Glen can be applied to all of the remaining events as the circuits are all of the ‘traditional North American road course’ type, and we look forward to seeing how Valkyrie and the Aston Martin THOR Team will use this to keep building momentum.”