Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Returns for COTA WEC Victory
Few circuits on Earth showcase the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 better than the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), host of Round 6 of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the stage of unprecedented success for the British marque’s most accomplished racing car.
Across its iterations, Vantage has taken 10 class victories from 13 podiums, including four double-class wins, and secured seven class pole positions. In 2024, the latest Vantage GT3 strengthened that record, powering The Heart of Racing (THOR) and team principal Ian James (GBR) to a maiden LMGT3 class victory with co-drivers Alex Riberas (ESP), who now forms part of the Valkyrie works lineup, and Daniel Mancinelli (ITA).
James returns this year as a regular class frontrunner alongside Zach Robichon (CDN) and Mattia Drudi (ITA), aiming to repeat the team’s 2024 home race heroics with the #27 Vantage.
Racing Spirit of Léman (RSL) returns to its original 2025 driver lineup of Derek DeBoer (USA), Eduardo Barrichello (BRA), and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse-Clot (FRA) in the #10 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The team arrives in Austin on a high after its first WEC LMGT3 podium, earned when Barrichello raced to a dramatic third place in the closing stages of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in July. RSL aims to carry that momentum into Texas at Lone Star Le Mans.
“It seems as though we have been competitive all season long in WEC,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter. “And yet for one reason or another, it’s taken until the second half of the season for Vantage to achieve its podium potential. A winner last year in COTA, we see no reason why both cars cannot compete for similar results this year in the Lone Star Le Mans. We wish both our partner teams (The Heart of Racing and Racing Spirit of Léman) well in pursuit of this goal.”
Aston Martin builds the Vantage GT3, the brand’s most focused sports car, on its proven bonded aluminium chassis and powers it with a fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. Beyond IMSA success at Watkins Glen, the vehicle also claimed LMGT3 class victory at the 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and added a class podium at the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring in June.
