In a strong North American race debut in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday – the second round of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) – the Aston Martin THOR Team number 23 Valkyrie, driven by Ross Gunn (GBR), Roman De Angelis (CDN) and Alex Riberas (ESP), finished in a respectable ninth position on what is widely recognised as one of the most grueling race tracks on Earth.

Valkyrie, the first LMH car to be produced by Aston Martin, and the only car racing in IMSA’s premier GTP category derived from a road-legal hypercar, performed solidly throughout the 73rd running of one of the world’s most prestigious endurance events to secure its first points finish in only its second competitive outing.

The result comes just two weeks after the only car built to LMH regulations contesting both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), made the finish on its debut in the eight-hour Qatar 1812km with De Angelis, Riberas and Marco Sørensen (DEN).

Sebring is world-renowned for its car-breaking bumpy surface and is considered among the most demanding challenges in global endurance motorsport, but Valkyrie ran smoothly throughout after qualifying 12th for the Florida event. Having run as high as sixth, Valkyrie remained in the top ten from the first hour onwards and frequently competed with cars that already have years of development behind them.

“This was a satisfying performance from Valkyrie and wholly underlines the good progress the programme is making with every lap we complete,” said Aston Martin Head of Endurance, Adam Carter. “Sebring is well renowned for being a tough test on any racecar, let alone a new hypercar. But we were confident in the car’s ability to go the distance, and the fact that it did it so well is a huge testament to everybody working on the programme and a good indicator of the inherent potential of the car. We are right at the beginning of this journey with Valkyrie, and of course there will be opportunities for improvement, but we have learned a huge amount and gathered an enormous amount of data that we can now take away and digest before the next race at Long Beach.”

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. Valkyrie positions Aston Martin in the top division of US sportscar racing for the first time since 2011; a season in which five outright victories and seven podiums were achieved in the American Le Mans Series.

Ross Gunn, driver number 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It was an absolutely awesome job by everyone in the team to get to the end of what is probably the toughest race in the world. We overcame a couple of obstacles during the race and dealt with those well. Alex and Roman drove solid stints, and it was a case of staying out of trouble, which we did, with no issues and the Valkyrie performed well throughout the entire race.”

Roman De Angelis, driver number 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It is a rollercoaster of emotions to say the least. It’s one of the hardest races I’ve had. It was super physical out there. I am super proud of The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin for getting Valkyrie across the line. We learned a lot in Qatar and that was a good launch point and we have clearly made good progress here so I’m looking forward to Long Beach.”

Alex Riberas, driver number 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s an amazing feeling. We came here with really no expectations because we knew that Sebring was going to be one of the toughest challenges we would face as a team with a new car. We really didn’t think we could come here and do what we just did – to finish the race, and not just that but in the top ten as well. It’s unbelievable. I’m very happy and very proud of the whole team and everybody at The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin. It’s a great start and this is only the beginning.”

Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “If we could have wished for something going into this race, a top ten finish would have been the dream. We’ve beaten a couple of really good cars out there, and 12 hours around this place is momentous for us in terms of the programme. Every lap we do we learn something and we are going to come back stronger every time.”

The Aston Martin Vantage recorded its fourth GT podium finish in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring following a brilliant fightback by The Heart of Racing (THOR) in the final hours of one of global motorsport’s most gruelling events.

Third place in the GTD class for 2021 IMSA GTD title winner and 2023 European Le Mans Series GTE champion Zacharie Robichon (CDN), Aston Martin THOR team WEC Valkyrie driver Tom Gamble (GBR) and FIA WEC LMGT3 podium finisher Casper Stevenson (GBR) – marked the second podium finish in a row for the team. The trio also finished third in the season opening Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, sharing the car on that occasion with Aston Martin works driver Mattia Drudi (ITA).

Robichon, who qualified sixth in class, quickly put the car among the leaders and established THOR firmly in second place in the early hours of the race. A problem with a sensor meant Gamble was then forced to make an extra stop during his first stint, dropping the trio out of sequence with the field.

But THOR worked its way back into contention, running either in the lead of the class or 10th depending on which side of the fuel strategy they were on. A full-course yellow in the eighth hour brought the trio back on sequence and into contention, but then Stevenson had an unfortunate spin just before sundown at Turn 17. With no damage to the Vantage, the Englishman recovered well, handing the car over to Gamble in the lead of the class.

Gamble then returned to the race for the final stints in seventh and began a stellar drive back to the front. Assisted by a late full course yellow in the last 30 minutes of the race, the Briton was embroiled in a massive eight-car scrap for the class victory. With less than 10 minutes remaining, two rivals in front ran into issues, allowing Gamble to take the chequered flag in third place.

“The guys in the number 27 Vantage did an awesome job,” said THOR team principal Ian James, “The crew executed marvellously throughout the whole race. We had some challenges to overcome, but the sign of a good team is when you are down, you keep bouncing back and we did. We’ve secured our second podium in a row and we’re right there in the championship hunt.”

The result marked the third time THOR had recorded a podium finish at Sebring. James, De Angelis and Darren Turner (GBR) finished second in GTD in 2020, while in 2021 James and De Angelis shared second place with Gunn.

The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship takes place at Long Beach (CA) on 11-12 April.