- Aston Martin Valkyrie’s IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship programme arrives at North America’s most famous racing venue
- Valkyrie is the only road-derived hypercar to contest the world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship, in 2025
- After six straight top-10 finishes, Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis target more progress at latest round of continent’s top sportscar racing series
17 September, 2025, Indianapolis, USA: Fresh from its best result to date, the spectacular Aston Martin Valkyrie roars towards the climax of its debut season of global competition this weekend as the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship (IMSA) continues with the Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IN).
Valkyrie’s debut US campaign, masterminded by the works Aston Martin THOR team, reached its highest point so far, last time out at Road America. The British ultra-luxury high-performance brand’s all-new Valkyrie achieved its first top six finish after a strong weekend.
With just two races of the 2025 IMSA season – North America’s premier sportscar championship – remaining, the target is to continue the car’s increasingly competitive form and finish the year on a high.
Indianapolis represents the fourth event of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup – a series comprising the five races of more than the standard two-hour, forty-minute duration. Valkyrie made its IMSA debut at the second of these; the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, in March, and also performed well at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen in July.
Drivers Roman De Angelis (CAN) and Ross Gunn (GBR), have contested each IMSA event at ‘The Brickyard’ since its 2.4-mile road course was re-introduced to the series in 2023. On each occasion both drivers were behind the wheel of The Heart of Racing (THOR) Team’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3s. Gunn secured a runner-up finish in IMSA’s GTD Pro class in 2023 and a fifth-place result last year while De Angelis was fourth in the GTD class (for GT3 cars) in 2023 and sixth the following season after moving into GTD Pro.
The only entry derived from a road-going hypercar competing in either IMSA or the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), Valkyrie is developed from its production version by Aston Martin and THOR. The competition example 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 #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m very much looking forward to getting back in the car at Indianapolis. While there has been a big break in the IMSA calendar, The Heart of Racing Team and Aston Martin have worked incredibly hard to push through improvements to the Valkyrie package. It seems it blossoms more with very race it enters. Arriving at the gates of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a pinch yourself moment, and now we’re coming into the final phase of the season, we’re just focused on improving on our best result at Road America last time out. The aim is to go one better, continue our learnings, and most importantly have some fun!”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m looking forward to getting back to racing after what feels like a long break since Road America. I feel good coming to Indy following our first top-six finish with Valkyrie last time out, a result that did a lot to boost team morale and confidence to fight for an even better result this weekend. It’s been nice to have some time off to prepare as much as I can for the six hours of racing we have ahead of us and I’m very much looking forward to getting back to work with Aston Martin Team THOR.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “The progress we’re making with Valkyrie in both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship is clear to see. At Road America we had our most competitive race to date and finished in the top six for the first time thanks to some very good strategy calls and the consistency of performance we’re achieving with the car. This weekend we have the honour of bringing Valkyrie to one of the most famous racing venues in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and we’re aiming to continue the constant improvements we’ve been experiencing in what’s sure to be the first of two hugely challenging races at the end of the car’s debut IMSA season.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “With just two IMSA races to go of Valkyrie’s debut season, the progress both the car and the Aston Martin THOR team have made in 2025 has been consistent and encouraging. This was illustrated well by the programme’s first top-six finish last time out at Road America; Valkyrie’s sixth top-10 result in a row. Despite it being the newest GTP car, Valkyrie has been extremely reliable and performed well in the long ‘endurance’ races on circuits as challenging as Sebring and Watkins Glen. We aim to continue that progress through the final races as we push for constant improvement.”
Vantage bids for glory at legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- The Heart of Racing Team resumes IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship GTD title fight at Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks at IMS
- Zacharie Robichon re-joins THOR Team regulars Tom Gamble and Casper Stevenson as trio bid to increase Michelin Endurance Cup points lead
- Brazilian Eduardo Barrichello makes IMSA debut alongside Valentin Hasse Clot and Anthony McIntosh in Van der Steur Racing Vantage
- Barrichello arrival completes line-up that has already finished on FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) podium in 2025
While Valkyrie contests the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship’s GTP division at the Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks, Aston Martin is also set to fight for victory in the GTD category as the latest iteration of Aston Martin’s most successful racing car – the Vantage GT3 – is fielded by The Heart of Racing (THOR).
Sharing the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury Vantage road car, the Vantage GT3, which triumphed at last year’s 24 Hours of Spa – the world’s most prestigious GT3-only event, is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.4-mile road course, on which Sunday’s six-hour race will be held, and the season-ending Michelin Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, will not only be crucial in deciding the identity of the 2025 IMSA GTD champions, but also the winners of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC).
THOR currently lead the Teams’ title race in the IMEC while Casper Stevenson (GBR), Aston Martin works racer Tom Gamble (GBR) and Zacharie Robichon (CAN) are on top in the Drivers’ championship battle following an excellent victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen (NY) in July.
Former IMSA GTD champion Robichon, who is only contesting the IMEC races this year, returns to the line-up alongside full-season regulars Stevenson and Gamble, at Indianapolis. Stevenson, meanwhile, is second in the overall IMSA GTD Drivers’ points table following a third-place finish alongside Gamble at Virginia International Raceway last time out.
Van der Steur Racing, which is contesting only the five IMEC races in 2025, returns for the first time since Watkins Glen with its Vantage GT3 and an exciting addition to its driver line-up. Eduardo Barrichello (BRA) joins the team for Indianapolis, substituting for Rory van der Steur (USA), who is recovering from an injury sustained in a mountain-biking accident last week. The 19-year-old Brazilian wowed his home crowd in last month’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of Sao Paulo at Interlagos as he took a maiden LMGT3 pole position and then finished on the series podium for the first time alongside team-mates Anthony McIntosh (USA) and Aston Martin works driver Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA). His arrival means that this successful partnership is revived with McIntosh and Hasse Clot both part of Van der Steur’s IMEC programme this year as well.
How to follow
The Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks will begin at 1140 local time (+5 Hours BST) on Sunday, 21 September 2025. It will be broadcast live globally on IMSA TV and on the IMSA YouTube channel and via selected broadcasters at a national level.
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