Aston Martin THOR Team to build on exciting debut year with Valkyrie
Aston Martin will run unchanged Hypercar Class driver line-up for 2026
Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell to race #007, with Ross Gunn supporting all-British crew in the ‘endurance’ rounds.
Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen team up again in #009 with Roman De Angelis joining for long distance events
Valkyrie to remain the only ‘Hypercar’ to contest the world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship
8 December, 2025, Gaydon, UK: The spectacular Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar will contest the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] with an unchanged driver line-up, following an encouraging debut season at the highest level of sportscar racing.
The Aston Martin THOR Team will once again be represented by British duo Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell in the #007 Valkyrie, and supported by Ross Gunn at selected WEC races, next year. Meanwhile Alex Riberas (ESP) and Marco Sørensen (DEN) will return to the #009 with Roman De Angelis (CDN) stepping in when required.
“Throughout 2025, as the programme grew and developed, we achieved a great deal as a team, but we also learned a considerable amount” said Aston Martin THOR Team Principal Ian James. “The drivers as a group delivered over and above what we asked from them. That included a lot of work at the very beginning that required them to dig deep. But it also means that we have generated a hugely valuable hub of understanding and knowledge about Valkyrie that will be valuable as we move into season two. As we continue to understand more about how to exploit the competitive nature of Valkyrie, it’s a great opportunity for all our drivers to use what they have learned and push on to achieve more in 2026, and we have every faith that they will.”
Valkyrie is the first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin. Raced by the works Aston Martin THOR Team, it remains the only car in WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar and made its global debut in the Qatar 1812km in February. The trail-blazing programme grew consistently in competitiveness and experience through 2025, covering more than 22,000 racing miles (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans) with the two stunning green Aston Martins in WEC.
Valkyrie’s inaugural season ended with a flurry of points finishes, including a best WEC finish of fifth overall in the 6 Hours of Fuji, while Riberas led a WEC race for the first time when charging to the front on merit in the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain before ending the season with more points for seventh place. Meanwhile in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finale – the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta – in mid-October, Valkyrie clinched its first podium in global competition, coming within five seconds of a famous maiden victory with De Angelis, Gunn and Riberas.
This all followed an encouraging 24 Hours of Le Mans (in June) where both Valkyrie hypercars completed their maiden twice-around-the-clock event without issue, finishing 12th and 14th, and the Aston Martin THOR Team registered the cars’, and Aston Martin’s first Manufacturer’s World Championship points in the Hypercar Class.
The Heart of Racing to lead Vantage WEC challenge
Aston Martin partner The Heart of Racing to run two Vantages in 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship
THOR Team principal Ian James returns for third full world championship season driving the #27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3
Gray Newell steps up to WEC level for 2026 after successful first season with Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in GT World Challenge America
Vantage set to embark on 14th consecutive season in world championship
Aston Martin seeking 12th GT world championship title in 2026
8 December, 2025, Gaydon, UK: Aston Martin partner team The Heart of Racing [THOR] will spearhead the challenge from the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand’s most successful racing car of all time – Vantage – in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC]. The US-based team will expand its GT programme to include two Vantage LMGT3s following two successful single-car campaigns in the world’s most prestigious endurance series.
Team principal Ian James (GBR), a consistent front-runner since entering WEC, will return for his third consecutive season in the LMGT3 class in the #27 THOR Vantage GT3. James, a podium finisher in the final round of the 2025 WEC season in Bahrain, ended the campaign fourth overall in the class standings.
James will be joined in the sister #23 car by American driver Gray Newell who impressed the team in the post-season Rookie Test in Bahrain. The 28-year-old steps up to WEC after a strong debut season at GT3 level, finishing on the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am podium three times alongside works driver Darren Turner in 2025.
“I was very surprised but honoured to be asked to race for The Heart of Racing team in WEC in 2026,” said Newell. “When I was given the chance to drive in the Rookie Test, I had a sense that this might be the long-term goal, but I was not anticipating being moved up to WEC so fast. I feel a mix of excitement and nervous anticipation. For the team to be placing this level of trust in me is an immense honour and I’m ready to meet the moment. There is a lot to learn, but Ian and the team have always known exactly how far to push me, and I trust their judgement completely. Time for a new chapter!”
James added: “Gray was impressive during the Rookie Test, where he set times that would likely have given him the chance to fight in Hyperpole for the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain. That said, it’s a big step up for a rookie to race in WEC and there will be a lot for him to learn. We will do all we can to make that transition successful and to continue to help Gray to build on the potential he has shown so far in his racing career. As for me, WEC represents some unfinished business; we will focus hard on improving on this year’s fourth position in the LMGT3 championship and to have another crack at standing on the 24 Hours of Le Mans podium.”
Next season will mark Vantage’s 15th consecutive year in WEC. Through five iterations, spanning 13 seasons, Aston Martin’s pre-eminent GT challenger has clinched 53 class victories at world level – the second highest number of any manufacturer.
It has won races in every WEC class it has contested (LMGTE Pro, LMGTE AM and LMGT3), and with every version of Vantage that Aston Martin has introduced. Responsible for 11 world titles, and five 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins in the WEC era, Vantage has also claimed 69 class pole positions.
The latest Vantage GT3, which shares the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury performance brand’s most focused sportscar, is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and is powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine. It recorded three pole positions in 2025, including at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June and finished on the podium twice, having been victorious at the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans during its debut season.
“The Heart of Racing is an outstanding partner and the right one to spearhead Aston Martin Vantage’s world championship attack in 2026,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport. “We are fully aware of the team’s quality, the depth of engineering expertise and the intensity of the team’s approach to achieving success; and, of course, its track record supports its ambition. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for THOR to expand to a two-car operation in WEC next season. Aston Martin is proud to have THOR represent it in GT racing at the highest level, and we hope and expect exciting results from this expanding partnership.”
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