The result marked the sixth consecutive top ten finish for the British hypercar in IMSA, extending its remarkable points run and maintaining its 100% finishing record on its debut season in North America’s premier endurance series. And the best IMSA finish ever recorded by a car built to 'Le Mans Hypercar' (LMH) regulations, Valkyrie being the only car in IMSA's premier GTP category derived from a road-legal hypercar.
The British contender is also the first LMH car of any kind to compete in IMSA, and the only one contesting both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) simultaneously, having made its competition debut in the Qatar 1812km in February.
The Aston Martin THOR Team (THOR) and works drivers Roman De Angelis (CAN) and Ross Gunn (GBR), delivered a solid and competitive performance in an incident-filled two hour and 40-minute race, consistently running close enough to the leaders to pounce on rivals when they hit trouble.
And in an event featuring no less than four Full Course Yellow (FCY) periods (where the race was neutralised and run behind the Safety Car), this happened on more than one occasion. Valkyrie showed promise all weekend, having set the second fastest time in free practice on Friday.
Gunn then qualified the #23 Valkyrie 10th for the race, less than 0.7s off the pole position time in a highly competitive 15-minutes GTP-only session on the long and challenging 4.05-mile circuit.
THOR opted to keep Gunn on track during the first FCY as others pitted early in the race, giving Valkyrie a competitive track position it then maintained for much of the race. In De Angelis’s hands Valkyrie then ran as high as fifth as the event moved through its various FCY phases and teams deployed diverse strategies.
But in the final uninterrupted 40-minute run to the flag, the British hypercar more than held its own and even extended its advantage over the chasing pack to finish a comfortable sixth, 16.5s behind the winner.
Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “This was a very strong weekend for the car and the team. I’m very proud of everybody that’s working hard to improve the performance. We were able to hold on to some very fast cars out there and even pass some of them. It was a fun afternoon. We’re obviously still not where we want to be, but clearly now it’s evident the progress that we’re making. We’ve got quite a big break now until Indy, so for sure there is more time to keep uncovering more pace, but this was a breakout race for us.”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It was a pretty good weekend for us. This was obviously our best result so far with this Aston Martin Valkyrie. Everyone did a great job in qualifying six tenths off the pole, I know we were tenth on the grid, but this is the longest track and that was the closest gap to the front so far. The race was great, I really enjoyed finally getting to race against some guys that have been at the front for years now in this class, and I can’t wait to build on this performance at Indianapolis.”
Valkyrie’s next race in IMSA takes place at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, in the six-hour ‘Battle on the Bricks’ from 19-21 September.
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