- Aston Martin Valkyrie delivers encouraging performance in the Detroit Sports Car Classic, in fourth IMSA start
- Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn finish eighth to make it four consecutive top 10 finishes for the British hypercar in IMSA
- 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 equals Long Beach result to underline Valkyrie’s street racing credentials
2 June, 2025, Detroit, USA: The spectacular new Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar equalled its best race finish and continued its unbroken points finishing streak with a strong performance in the Detroit Sports Car Classic, Round 5 of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship (IMSA), on Saturday.
Having finished in the top ten in each of the IMSA events in which it has started in 2025 – amassing the first points finishes for any car built to hypercar regulations in the history of North America’s premier endurance competition – the British ultra-luxury high performance brand’s all-new Valkyrie stayed on trend, finishing eighth after a competitive showing on the tight confines of the 1.7-mile downtown Detroit street circuit.
Aston Martin THOR Team and its drivers Ross Gunn (GBR) and 2022 IMSA GTD champion Roman De Angelis (CDN) – who were GTD class winners in 2021 on the event’s old Belle Isle course – also equalled Valkyrie’s best qualifying performance with 11th.
The duo were just two tenths of a second shy of the top 10, on what was only Valkyrie’s tenth start in all competitions, and its fourth in IMSA’s GTP division. But a faultless and strategically sound run through the 100-minute race – the shortest format on the IMSA calendar – was rewarded with an eighth-place finish on the second of the series’ two visits to street circuits in 2025. The result equalled De Angelis and Gunn’s run at Long Beach (the other street track) in April.
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.
Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “Finishing eighth on another tricky circuit like Detroit is another big tick in the box for us and Valkyrie. The team worked very hard to unlock the car’s potential through the weekend and I felt like eighth place was a good reward for us, and a solid result to build on at Watkins Glen later in the month. This was a good way to keep the confidence high as Roman and I travel back to Europe to join the WEC team for Valkyrie’s 24 Hours of Le Mans debut.”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “This was a difficult track for us in some ways. It’s nothing like anything we’ve ever driven on with Valkyrie and so we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy weekend. That said, we made the most of it. Another eighth-place finish, having started 11th, is good progress. We stayed clean, on this track that’s not easy to do, and the team just executed to the maximum all weekend long. Really looking forward to Watkins Glen and Road America, which are next on the schedule.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “This was another strong performance by the team and the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Ross and Roman drove with deft precision and the car ran faultlessly. We tried to play a few strategies to take advantage of any Full Course Yellows, and Ross raced hard in the end, and the combination of these two factors gave us another real positive to bring with us into the 24 Hours of Le Mans; the next big focus for Aston Martin THOR Team in June.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “Detroit’s downtown circuit is very different to anything else we compete on with Valkyrie, and therefore it provided interesting challenges in terms of gathering and harnessing data. It also gave the team an opportunity to fine-tune and improve systems and processes in another temporary racing environment. Aston Martin THOR Team managed this well and achieved an equal best result for the programme so far. We are satisfied with the progress we are making with each new race.”
Vantage GT3 achieves podiums at Monza 24 Hours of Spa looms
- Aston Martin takes Pro Class podium with Comtoyou Racing at Monza
- Drudi, Sørensen and Thiim third in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup points standings
- Verstappen.com Racing second in Gold Cup class again in Italy
The latest iteration of Aston Martin’s most successful racing car – the Vantage GT3 – continued its strong start to the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup season with a double-class podium in Round 2 at Monza, Italy.
The best overall Vantage finisher (five Aston Martins started the race) was the Pro-class entry from Comtoyou Racing, featuring Aston Martin works drivers Marco Sørensen (DEN), Nicki Thiim (DEN) and Mattia Drudi (ITA). The #007 finished third in the three-hour race having been in the hunt for victory throughout an eventful encounter peppered with no less than eight periods behind the safety car.
The podium, the crew’s first since last year’s victory in the 24 Hours of Spa, builds on a competitive run to fifth place in the Paul Ricard opener in April, and means they are third in the Pro Class points standings as they head into the famous Belgian race later in the month.
“A good start was a foundation to a good race, with good strategy calls from the team on Full Course Yellows which helped us jump some cars as well,” said Thiim. “On-track we were definitely not the ones that had the ultimate pace, but we maximised really well across the board and that earned us some very good points for the championship. It’s nice to stand on the podium at Monza, and it’s been a good start to the season. Now we head for the highlight of the year, which is the Spa 24 Hours, and we go back to try and repeat the victory from last year.”
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s line-up of works drivers, David Pittard (GBR), Henrique Chaves (POR) and Norwegian Christian Krognes enjoyed an outstanding race having charged up the field from 27th on the grid to finish seventh on the road. Unfortunately, the trio incurred a penalty which dropped them to 12th in the overall standings.
The 2Seas Motorsport-run Verstappen.com Racing Vantage enjoyed another impressive weekend in the Gold Cup category. Drivers Harry King (GBR), Thierry Vermeulen (NED) and Chris Lulham (GBR) have yet to finish lower than second in class, after their spectacular debut at Paul Ricard, and their run to 15th overall a Gold Cup runners-up now puts them second in the standings, two points off the lead.
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter said: “With the Spa 24 Hours being only weeks away now, these results are very encouraging for Vantage and show that our partners Comtoyou Racing, Walkenhorst Motorsport and Verstappen.com Racing are all in a highly competitive place ahead of the upcoming twice round the clock GT-led races on the international calendar. Last year’s victory in Spa was incredibly important for Aston Martin, and it’s encouraging to see that Vantage has been a contender in multiple classes in both rounds of the GT World Europe Endurance Cup so far this season.”
The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa takes place between the 25-29 June and forms the final part of a massive triple-header for Aston Martin Racing that includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nürburgring 24 Hours.