Aston Martin is one of three manufacturers to have been present at all WEC’s preceding 99 races, since the championship’s inception in 2012. In that time, some of the greatest glories of Aston Martin’s competitive history have been permanently etched into the honour roll of what has become the world’s most prestigious endurance series.

Having claimed an LMGTE Pro Class podium in the inaugural WEC event – the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring – with Darren Turner (GBR), Stefan Mücke (DEU) and Adrian Fernandez (MEX), Aston Martin has subsequently achieved (or contributed to) 11 world championship titles, notched up 53 class victories (the third highest of any manufacturer) and won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in the WEC era.

“Aston Martin is honoured to be participating in the 100th WEC race,’ said Adam Carter, Head of Endurance Motorsport. “Since the beginning, Aston Martin understood the value and the power of a global endurance campaign and WEC has been an essential part our race programme since its introduction. When you look at what WEC has grown into, with its depth of manufacturers, diversity of technical regulations and the exceptional standard of organisation and promotion, it is a huge testament to all those who work tirelessly to bring the championship to bear. We congratulate everyone involved in the series for this outstanding milestone and we firmly believe that the best is yet to come.

“For Aston Martin, this is also an important race. 100 consecutive events over 13 years of competition is a clear demonstration of our commitment to endurance racing – a value that can be traced all the way back to the very beginnings of the brand. To have recorded more than 50 class victories in that time, and to have achieved such a consistently high level of success speaks to the rich sporting pedigree we have worked so hard to achieve and maintain. With Valkyrie we aim to take the next step on that journey and strive to race at the front of the field and contest for outright victories in this prestigious and exceptional championship.”

Valkyrie’s sporting momentum continues to grow after a highly promising Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas [COTA] earlier in the month. In only the fifth race of its trail-blazing debut WEC season, the unique 6.5-litre, V12-powered British hypercar, ran as high as fourth position long into the rain-affected race in Austin, TX. Moreover, Alex Riberas (ESP) qualified the #009 Valkyrie into the prestigious Hyperpole session for the second time and placed it eighth on the grid for the six-hour event – its highest starting position so far in the world championship.

This follows 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. Valkyrie is the first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin. Raced by the works Aston Martin THOR Team, Valkyrie is 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 Aston Martin THOR Team will keep to its two regular WEC Valkyrie line-ups for the the 6 Hours of Fuji, with the #007 driven by Tom Gamble (GBR) and Harry Tincknell (GBR) and the #009 by Alex Riberas (ESP) and Marco Sørensen (DEN). Developed from the Valkyrie production car by Aston Martin and THOR, the competition version blends a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre V12 powerplant that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1000bhp in standard form, but adheres to a strict 500kw (680bhp) power limit as per hypercar regulations.

Tom Gamble, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m very excited to be racing at Fuji for the first time. We’ve been improving every time we roll out the car and last time out in COTA we came close to a double-points finish with both cars. I’m confident we can keep improving and push for a good result next weekend!”

Harry Tincknell, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m super-excited to be heading to Fuji. It’s obviously a very cool part of the world to be racing in. We’re coming off the back of a very positive race in Austin where the car was quick from the beginning of the race and where we showed strong pace in both the dry and the wet. The big thing for this learning year with Valkyrie is that we improve every race and we can do that again in Japan. Hopefully the circuit can play to our strengths like it did in Austin. It demands a lot from the drivers and the weather has been very changeable there over the years, but it’s a good track to race on and we go there more buoyant than ever.”

Alex Riberas, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I am really looking forward to Fuji, especially after the strong performance that we showed in Austin, even though we weren’t really able to capitalise with a result. The team showed really good performance in the wet a and the dry throughout the weekend. I think everybody is extremely motivated. We gained a lot of momentum from last weekend and I think we can carry that on in Fuji, keep progressing and keep improving as we have been doing all year long. It’s a very different track to Austin, with a surface that has much lower grip, so it’s going to be challenging out there for everybody, but I think we have a package that can be competitive once again.”

Marco Sørensen, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “Going back to Fuji feels a little bit like going home for me – since I have raced in Japan quite a bit over the past couple of years. I’m really looking forward to it. We have been at Fuji nearly every year since I began endurance racing in 2015. I really hope we can maintain the positive momentum we have had with Valkyrie since Le Mans I would say. We’ve seen big improvements, and it seems like we are getting closer and closer so I really hope that Fuji provides that breakthrough result.”

Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “Obviously the whole team was encouraged by the step forward in performance that Valkyrie took in Austin. The performances we saw at the Circuit of the Americas were a result of the continuous and methodical approach everyone in the team, from the drivers through to the mechanics, is taking in our first year with the car. The focus remains the same, to take incremental steps building performance through flawless execution. The competition we are racing against is the toughest in global endurance motorsport, so we keep need to keep doing this to keep moving forwards, because our rivals are not standing still.”

Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “The Lone Star Le Mans event provided a clear indication of the growing potential of Valkyrie. To be running in the top six and to have set front-running pace throughout the weekend’s sessions was very encouraging to witness. The objective is continue this positive momentum curve for the rest of this season and we believe that as we gain more experience with every race we are on course to do just that.”