The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) arrives in Texas, for the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans, as momentum continues to build through the trail-blazing debut season of the unique 6.5-litre, V12-powered British hypercar. Valkyrie is the first ‘Le Mans Hypercar’ (LMH) to be produced by Aston Martin. Raced by the works Aston Martin THOR Team, Valkyrie is also the only car in WEC’s premier category derived from a road-legal hypercar.

Many US-based motorsport fans are familiar with Valkyrie, which is the only LMH to compete in both the FIA WEC and in North America’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) and has scored top-10 finishes in every race it has contested in the USA – including Road America most recently, where the US-based version of the Aston Martin THOR Team finished in an encouraging sixth place.

In WEC, where Aston Martin competes against seven of the world’s most prominent endurance sportscar manufacturers, Valkyrie is also growing in competitiveness. This was evidenced by its combined best qualifying performance (11th and 12th) in the most recent Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, in July. The car also raced deep into the top ten in the early hours of the event. 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 UK-based ‘WEC’ arm of the Aston Martin THOR Team registered the cars’, and Aston Martin’s first Manufacturer’s World Championship points in the Hypercar Class.

Valkyrie made its global debut in the Qatar 1812km in February. The British machine has subsequently demonstrated outstanding reliability, having finished 14 times from 15 starts in all competitions.

The Aston Martin THOR Team will keep to its two regular WEC Valkyrie line-ups for the Lone Star Le Mans, 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.

There are few circuits on Earth more suited to showcasing the breathtaking prowess of Aston Martin’s Vantage GT3 than the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) – the venue for Round 6 of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the scene of unprecedented glory for the British brand’s most successful racing car.

In its various iterations, Vantage has claimed no less than 10 class victories derived from 13 podium appearances – four of which were double-class wins – as well as seven class pole positions. Its credentials were cemented further in 2024, when the latest iteration – Vantage GT3 – underpinned The Heart of Racing’s (THOR) and team principal Ian James (GBR) maiden victory in the LMGT3 Class, along with his co-drivers Alex Riberas (ESP) who now forms part of the Valkyrie works line-up, and Daniel Mancinelli (ITA).

The Lone Star Le Mans will begin at 1300 local time (-6 Hours BST) on Sunday, 7 September. Final practice, qualifying and the race will be broadcast live on FIA WEC TV online with a choice of English or French-language commentary and via selected broadcasters at a national level.