Aston Martin Valkyrie Targets Indy Glory in IMSA Push
Fresh from its best result to date, the spectacular Aston Martin Valkyrie charges towards the climax of its debut season in global competition this weekend as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship continues with the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana. The British ultra-luxury, high-performance brand’s all-new hypercar enters Indy with momentum and heightened interest from IMSA fans.
The Valkyrie’s debut US campaign, masterminded by the works Aston Martin THOR outfit, hit a new high last time out at Road America. After a strong weekend, the car secured its first top-six finish. With only two races left in the 2025 IMSA season, North America’s premier sports car championship, the team targets another step forward to end the year on a high and reinforce Valkyrie’s GTP credentials.
Indianapolis hosts the fourth round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, a series of longer-format races. Valkyrie made its IMSA debut at the second of these, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, and also performed well at Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen in July. This weekend’s six-hour contest presents another prime opportunity to showcase reliability, pace, and strategy.
Drivers Roman De Angelis (CAN) and Ross Gunn (GBR) have raced at The Brickyard in every IMSA event since organisers re-introduced the 2.4-mile road course in 2023. On each occasion, they drove The Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3s. Gunn finished runner-up in GTD Pro in 2023 and fifth last year, while De Angelis placed fourth in GTD in 2023 and sixth the following season after moving into GTD Pro. Their circuit knowledge now feeds directly into the Valkyrie programme and race setup for Indianapolis.
The Valkyrie is the only entry derived from a road-going hypercar that competes in either the IMSA or the FIA World Endurance Championship. Aston Martin and THOR develop the racer from the production model, blending a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre V12 that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1,000 bhp in standard form, while conforming to a strict 500kW, 680 bhp power cap under hypercar regulations. This platform returns Aston Martin to the top division of US sports car racing for the first time since 2011. This season brought five outright victories and seven podiums in the American Le Mans Series.
Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m very much looking forward to getting back in the car at Indianapolis. While there has been a significant break in the IMSA calendar, The Heart of Racing Team and Aston Martin have worked incredibly hard to implement improvements to the Valkyrie package. It seems it blossoms more with every race it enters. Arriving at the gates of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a pinch yourself moment, and now we’re coming into the final phase of the season, we’re just focused on improving on our best result at Road America last time out. The aim is to go one better, continue our learning, and most importantly, have some fun!”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m looking forward to getting back to racing after what feels like a long break since Road America. I feel good coming to Indy following our first top-six finish with Valkyrie last time out, a result that did a lot to boost team morale and confidence to fight for an even better result this weekend. It’s been nice to have some time off to prepare as much as I can for the six hours of racing we have ahead of us, and I’m very much looking forward to getting back to work with Aston Martin Team THOR.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “The progress we’re making with Valkyrie in both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship is clear to see. At Road America, we had our most competitive race to date, finishing in the top six for the first time, thanks to excellent strategy calls and the consistency of performance we’re achieving with the car. This weekend, we have the honour of bringing Valkyrie to one of the most famous racing venues in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and we’re aiming to continue the constant improvements we’ve been experiencing in what’s sure to be the first of two hugely challenging races at the end of the car’s debut IMSA season.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “With just two IMSA races to go of Valkyrie’s debut season, the progress both the car and the Aston Martin THOR team have made in 2025 has been consistent and encouraging. This was illustrated well by the programme’s first top-six finish last time out at Road America; Valkyrie’s sixth top-10 result in a row. Despite it being the newest GTP car, Valkyrie has been extremely reliable and performed well in the long ‘endurance’ races on circuits as challenging as Sebring and Watkins Glen. We aim to continue that progress through the final races as we push for constant improvement.”
With the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks, Aston Martin Valkyrie enters as a unique hypercar built for endurance racing and fine-tuned by The Heart of Racing and the Aston Martin THOR team. The crew seeks another landmark finish, stronger race pace and flawless execution to cap a breakthrough debut season.
