- The Heart of Racing claims fourth IMSA GT class win at Watkins Glen and first win of 2025 season
- Top 10 finish for Vantage GT3 in the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring
- Class podiums achieved for PROsport Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport in famous German twice-around-the-clock classic
- Aston Martin Vantage GT4 records first class victory in world famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
- Jonny Adam becomes most successful British GT driver of all time with 20th victory, as Blackthorn takes maiden series win at Spa-Francorchamps
23 June, 2025, Gaydon, UK: The Heart of Racing (THOR) claimed a dramatic last-gasp victory in the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen, Round 6 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as Tom Gamble (GBR), Zach Robichon (CAN) and Casper Stevenson (GBR) recorded their first win of the IMSA GTD class season.
The world famous former grand prix circuit, in New York, has proved a happy hunting ground for the US-based team and the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 over recent years; this was their fourth IMSA GT win since 2022 across the GT Pro and GTD classes.
“What a day! The GTD car, the crew, the drivers, everybody just executed,” said THOR team principal Ian James. “I’m so happy for us to get back to Victory Lane. Watkins Glen is our happy place, and it continues to be that way.”
Robichon started the race from pole but had to stay focussed to avoid drama in a chaotic race that witnessed no less than nine full course yellow interruptions and a torrential rain shower at the start. Despite these hazards the Canadian maintained control of the lead from the second hour before handing over to Stevenson for the middle stint.
The Briton had to fight back from contact with a rival while fighting over third place in the hotly contested division and was unlucky to find himself out of track position a couple of times as the FCYs rained down.
Gamble took over the car during yet another caution with two hours to go and began his stirring charge back from eighth place. Assisted by attrition, and the ever-present FCYs, the FIA World Endurance Championship Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie driver found himself battling for second place in the closing stages. The matter was settled when his rival spun. Then one final caution in the last 10 minutes of the race brought THOR’s clever fuel-saving strategy into play and this ultimately proved the deciding factor when the leading Lexus ran out of fuel on the last lap, handing the victory to Gamble.
“I’d actually settled for second at that point,” said Gamble. “I can barely believe we’ve won the race. I was feeling a little disappointed because I knew how fast the Vantage was this weekend, it’s been strong all weekend. It was quite hard to hold it all together on the last lap once I saw the Lexus slowing, but it feels great to have finally won in IMSA”.
For Gamble and Stevenson this marked their first victories for THOR and in IMSA, having secured podium finishes at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the Sebring 12 Hours.
RECORD BREAKER
Aston Martin works driver Jonny Adam (GBR) became the most successful British GT Championship driver of all time on Sunday when he shared victory with Blackthorn team-mate Giacamo Petrobelli in the 3 Hours of Spa, Round 5 of the largely UK-based series.
The achievement marked a record 20th victory for the Scottish driver who is contending to become the only person to have won the British GT Championship title five times. All his previous titles, in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 were won driving Aston Martins, and Adam has now won a British GT race in every iteration Vantage GT3 since its introduction in 2012.
The victory, which was emphatic and founded upon a similarly impressive first pole position for the team, also marked the first overall triumph for the latest Vantage GT3 in the SRO-run series, as well as providing maiden wins for Petrobelli and the Blackthorn team at this level. The win, worth 37.5 points, marked the fourth consecutive points finish for the crew and moves them up to second in the championship, just two behind the series leaders.
Beachdean Motorsport, with whom Adam clinched his first British GT title, also won the GT3 Silver Am Class at Spa, thanks to an excellent run from team owner Andrew Howard and his team-mate Tom Wood.
PODIUM REWARD IN NÜRBURGRING 24 HOURS
Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3 achieved its first top 10 finish in the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring in eight years as partner teams PROsport Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport took a class podium apiece in the twice-around-the-clock German classic last weekend.
PROsport Racing, running a previous generation Vantage for Steven Palette (FRA), Marek Böckmann (GER) and Nico Bastian (GER), avoided the chaos around them and ran as high as fifth overall, before finally finishing seventh, which was good enough for second in the SP9 Pro-Am class. It was the best overall finish for the team, and the first time an Aston Martin powered by the fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine finished in the top ten since it was introduced to the Vantage GT3 lineage in 2019.
The British ultra-luxury performance car brand seemed on course to achieve its own best result in the event with Walkenhorst Motorsport’s latest generation SP9 Pro class #34 Vantage GT3, whose all works line-up of Mattia Drudi (ITA), Christian Krogne (NOR), David Pittard (GBR) and Nicki Thiim (DEN), demonstrated podium contending pace in the 2025 edition. The car was running in third position overall when it ran into technical issues just before dawn on Sunday.
The German team’s sister #30 SP9 Am Vantage did finish second in class however thanks to a faultless run for the all-German crew of Henry Walkenhorst, Jörg Breuer, Stefan Aust and Christian Bollrath.
NEW PEAKS
A specially developed Aston Martin Vantage GT4 triumphed on the marque’s first proper attempt at the world-famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb over the weekend, breaking new ground for the competition vehicle that shares its mechanical architecture with the ultra-luxury Vantage road car built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis.
Having received guidance and support from Aston Martin Racing personnel, event rookie Stephen Wetterau (USA) dominated the Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama division with his BBI Autosport Team entered latest generation Vantage; having set the pace and clinched pole position in the build-up to the event.
Pole earned Wetterau a prime spot in the running order and he ultimately set a time some 10s faster than his nearest class rival and completing the event 27th overall, surrounded by competitors with access to more horsepower and downforce, and establishing Aston Martin among the class winners of the 2025 event.
Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter said: “This has been a stellar weekend for Vantage all around. The Nürburgring 24 Hours is always a tough event so it’s impressive that the brand came away with two class podiums and we were encouraged by the performance of the Pro car in the first half of the race. I’d like to congratulate Jonny Adam for his British GT record. He has been a fantastic ambassador for Aston Martin and remains an outstanding works driver. Jonny deserves this accolade. The Heart of Racing has become a dependable source of results in IMSA and the team always seems to shine at Watkins Glen – and this year’s race was another case in point. Finally, I’d like to note Steven Wetterau’s class victory in Pikes Peak. Winning on such an event with Vantage demonstrates both its versatility and usability and we’re delighted to see it succeed in such an endeavour.”