Aston Martin completes line-up for Hypercar project in WEC and IMSA

Aston Martin will run an all-British line-up in one of its Valkyrie AMR-LMHs at the Le Mans 24 Hours and across the full World Endurance Championship this season.

The double Le Mans class winner Harry Tincknell, who was announced as part of The Heart of Racing Hypercar class line-up last November, will be joined by 2018 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Tom Gamble for the full campaign. 

Long-time Aston factory driver Ross Gunn will join them in the #007 entry for Le Mans in June and other selected races. 

Gamble and Gunn were revealed on Wednesday along with the full line-up for Aston’s return to the pinnacle of sportscar racing for the first time since 2011 in both the WEC and North America’s IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The announcement was accompanied by the first images of the Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar in its WEC and IMSA liveries.

The full-season partner in #009 for Alex Riberas, who was revealed along with Tincknell last year, will be Marco Sorensen, a two-time WEC GTE Pro title winner with Aston. 

They will be joined by Roman De Angelis for Le Mans. De Angelis will be partnered by Gunn for THOR’s single-car IMSA campaign, which kicks off with the Sebring 12 Hours on 15 March. 

“While we are dictated by performance, the chance to field an all-British car at Le Mans was a fantastic opportunity,” said Adam Carter, head of endurance motorsport at Aston. 

“When the names went down on paper and we started to arrange them, the opportunity arose.”

Carter acknowledged that all the drivers in addition to Gunn and Sorensen have existing links with Aston and THOR. 

Tincknell won the 2020 GTE Pro class at Le Mans in a Vantage GTE and has long been contracted to Multimatic Motorsports, a key partner in the Valkyrie programme. 

Gamble contested three IMSA long-distance races with THOR in a GT Daytona class Vantage in 2022, while Riberas and De Angelis have driven for the team since its first season of competition in 2020. 

Carter confirmed that Gunn and De Angelis will join the two WEC crews for the season-opening Qatar round on 28 February. 

He outlined an intent for THOR to contest the regular six-hour races, starting with Imola in April, with two drivers per car. 

Carter stressed, however, that the plan could evolve through the season – there is only one clash between WEC and IMSA. 

The V12-powered non-hybrid Valkyrie has so far completed upwards of 15,000km (9,000 miles) of testing since it hit the track in July. 

Testing began in Europe before a second car came on stream in North America in October.  Carter expressed satisfaction with the mileage undertaken. 

“We have completed sufficient endurance relative to this stage in the programme and we will continue to ascertain the need for further development mileage as the programme evolves,” he said.

Asked about Aston’s plans for endurance simulations ahead of Le Mans on 14/15 June, he stated: “We are approaching the demands of doing Le Mans with the necessary preparation.”

It is known that Aston and THOR will remain at the Sebring International Raceway after round two of the IMSA series to put further mileage on the Valkyrie.