Aston Martin Valkyrie Chases Top-ten at Interlagos
Aston Martin’s spectacular new Valkyrie hypercar returns to FIA World Endurance Championship action this weekend, tackling South American soil for the first time in the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo at Interlagos. After an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans, where both Valkyries completed their maiden twice-round-the-clock test trouble-free in 12th and 14th, the Aston Martin THOR Team converted that reliability into the brand’s first Hypercar-class World Championship points; now the squad aims to turn momentum into a breakthrough top-ten as the flyaway phase begins.
The Valkyrie—the first Aston Martin Le Mans Hypercar—stands alone in WEC’s premier category as a racer derived directly from a road-legal hypercar, and it doubles up in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, where it has logged top-ten finishes in every start. Since its global debut in February’s Qatar 1812 km, the British machine has shown ironclad dependability, finishing 11 of 12 races worldwide and scoring in all five IMSA rounds.
São Paulo sees the THOR Team field its regular pairings: Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell share the #007, while Alex Riberas partners Marco Sørensen in the #009. Developed from the production Valkyrie by Aston Martin and THOR, the competition model fuses a race-optimised carbon-fibre chassis with a 6.5-litre V12 that spins to 11,000 rpm and, although capable of more than 1,000 bhp, runs to the hypercar-class limit of 500 kW (680 bhp).
“I’m looking forward to the next round of WEC in Brazil… I can’t wait to get started,” enthuses Gamble. Tincknell adds, “All the information we gained in the first half of the season could push us in a positive direction at Interlagos.” Riberas says, “São Paulo is one of my favourite tracks… the Valkyrie is going to feel cool.” Sørensen concludes, “We’re coming fresh out of Le Mans… I am hoping that we can exploit that into an advantage.”
Team Principal Ian James believes that Le Mans has accelerated the squad’s learning curve and equipped it for another step forward. At the same time, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter highlights the flyaway races as prime opportunities to refine set-up, gather data and convert the Valkyrie’s growing pace into consistent points finishes.
