Aston Martin Valkyrie begins second season of racing with historic Rolex 24 at Daytona quest
Aston Martin returns to the top class of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona for the first time in more than 40 years
Aston Martin Valkyrie makes debut in world famous US endurance classic
Aston Martin THOR Team aims to carry momentum after brilliant climax to 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas join IMSA regulars Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn for Rolex 24 at Daytona
Valkyrie the only road-derived hypercar to contest world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship
Aston Martin’s stunning Valkyrie Hypercar embarks on an exciting new chapter in its groundbreaking motorsport story this weekend, when it makes it debut in the world-famous Rolex 24 at Daytona; the opening round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA].
The Aston Martin THOR Team-run Valkyrie’s participation in the 64th running of the event, which takes place in Florida, USA, marks the first occasion in more than 40 years that the British ultra-luxury performance brand will have challenged for overall honours with a works car in the top GTP class.
The competition variant of Valkyrie – the pure racing expression of the world’s ultimate road-going hypercar – begins its second season of competition this weekend after an encouraging debut year in 2025. The racecar is developed from its production sibling by Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing [THOR] and 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 and GTP regulations.
The solitary V12-powered car entered in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Valkyrie is also the only entry derived from a road-going hypercar competing in either North America’s premier endurance series or the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] – and when it takes the green flag at 1340 EST on Saturday, it will become the first car of its kind to do so at Daytona.
Full-season works IMSA drivers and IMSA GT champions Roman De Angelis (CAN) and Ross Gunn (GBR), will be joined in the driver line-up by works FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] Valkyrie racers Alex Riberas (ESP) and Marco Sørensen (DEN). All four drivers will make their Rolex 24 at Daytona GTP class debut.
Valkyrie embarks on its second season of international motorsport after a maiden campaign that culminated in a brilliant second place overall in the IMSA finale, the 2025 Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. This added to strong points finishes in WEC, including fifth place at Fuji and a race-leading performance at the Bahrain finale that ultimately netted seventh position.
The Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie exceeded expectations in IMSA, completing more than 4,600 miles of hard racing around eight of the most iconic motorsport venues in North America. Having made its debut in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, Valkyrie’s and Aston Martin’s best IMSA result was second in that Road Atlanta finale, but all told, Valkyrie passed the chequered flag inside the top 10 seven times from eight starts.
Alex Riberas, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s a privilege to be back at Daytona. This time I’m racing in the top class for the first time. This will be the debut for Valkyrie in the Rolex 24, and while Daytona might not be the most demanding race track, it is an extremely tough event for teams, drivers and machinery – especially for the first event of the year. It is always a challenge to begin the season with a 24-hour race and it is easy to get tripped up. We are going in with no real expectations but with lots of things to look forward to. There is a lot to learn, and getting back together with Marco, Roman and Ross it feels like the first day back at school.”
Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s awesome to be back starting the year at Daytona; the first Rolex 24 for Valkyrie. Of course, we have our eyes on a finish and on trying to understand a bit more how the race flows in GTP on this track. I can’t wait to work with the Aston Martin THOR Team again, it’s been a short winter but there has been a lot of work going on in the background. I’m eager to see how all the learnings we’ve made over the winter come to fruition in practice. Daytona is always a great start to the year and has a brilliant atmosphere. It sets the tone for the rest of the season.”
Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m looking forward to starting the second year of the Valkyrie programme in IMSA, as well as the debut of the car in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It is always such a great event and one of the highlights of the season. There’s no way better to begin the 2026 campaign, with all my friends at the Aston Martin THOR Team, and we look forward to keeping the progress rolling on from last year.”
Marco Sørensen, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “The Rolex 24 at Daytona is one of the toughest and most prestigious races in motorsport. We know how demanding it is, but we’re ready for the challenge and fully focused on delivering the best possible result. For me, 2026 is off to a great start with my debut in the top class of the Rolex 24, and I’m really looking forward to racing with the whole Aston Martin Team THOR again.”
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “While this will be the Rolex 24 at Daytona debut for the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, we are not coming in unprepared. We’ve tested the car comprehensively around Daytona, and The Heart of Racing has an excellent track record in the event. It’s difficult to know where we will be in the competitive order, but we will focus as always on the aspects of the event that we can control. That means error-free execution, good pitwork, focused driver performance, precise and agile strategy and of course extracting the maximum performance from the car. In a 24-hour race, these are often the key components to success. In IMSA, the name of the game is staying in the fight to the end, so let’s see where achieving these goals puts us on Sunday afternoon.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “We’re a year into the Valkyrie programme and we’ve seen a great deal of progress in this time, not just technically, but also with how the drivers, personnel and the programme as a whole has developed culturally. A successful international programme obviously takes time to grow so that it can be shaped into one that breeds consistent success, and we are still in the early stages of this process. There is more ground to cover before we achieve our objectives, but we also can see that we are clearly travelling in the right direction. The Rolex 24 at Daytona is the most famous and important endurance event in North America, and as such presents another key milestone for Valkyire, and one that will provide us with more valuable data that we can use to feed that understanding and growth of Valkyrie’s performance.”
Vantage lines up powerful three-car assault on Rolex 24
The Heart of Racing Team begins new IMSA GTD title challenge with all-star line-up in #27 Aston Martin Vantage at Daytona
Works driver Mattia Drudi and IMSA GTD champion Zacharie Robichon join THOR IMSA regulars Tom Gamble and Dudu Barrichello for Rolex 24
Rory van der Steur returns alongside Valentin Hasse Clot in refreshed VDSR Vantage line-up that includes Sébastien Baud and Carl Bennett
Magnus Racing back for Rolex 24 as works driver Nicki Thiim joins team owner John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and new signing Madison Snow
Three Aston Martin Vantage GT3s will fight for victory in North America’s most famous endurance race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship begins in earnest at the world-famous Florida venue this weekend.
Partner teams The Heart of Racing [THOR], Magnus Racing and Van der Steur Racing [VDSR] all bring strong driver line-ups to Aston Martin’s three-car GTD Class assault, as the British ultra-luxury performance brand looks to add the Rolex 24 at Daytona victory trophy to the mounting accolades accrued by the latest version of Aston Martin’s most successful ever racing car.
Having fought hard for the IMSA GTD class title throughout 2025, former champion The Heart of Racing [THOR] returns to North America’s most prestigious endurance series with an ultra-fast line-up of works FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] Valkyrie driver Tom Gamble (GBR) and rising Brazilian GT star Dudu Barrichello (BRA). For the Rolex 24 at Daytona they will be joined by 2021 IMSA GTD champion Zacharie Robichon (CDN) and works driver and CrowdStrike Spa 24 Hours winner Mattia Drudi (ITA).
VDSR, which will contest the full IMSA season in 2026, returns to the fray with a refreshed driver line-up. Promising young American Rory van der Steur will again be partnered by works driver Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA) in the regular season, while both will be joined by new signings Sébastien Baud (FRA) and Carl Bennett (USA) in their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Returning again for the Rolex 24 is Aston Martin partner team Magnus Racing with a new signing in its driver line-up. Joining the squad that has twice finished on the Rolex 24 podium during its Aston Martin era and which comprises team owner John Potter (USA), Spencer Pumpelly (USA) and works driver Nicki Thiim (DEN), will be twice IMSA GTD class champion Madison Snow (USA).
Sharing the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury Vantage road car, the Vantage GT3, which triumphed at the 24 Hours of Spa in 2024 – 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.
How to follow
The Rolex 24 at Daytona will begin at 1340 local time (-5 Hours GMT) on Saturday, 24 January 2026. It will be broadcast live globally on IMSA TV and on the IMSA YouTube channel and via selected broadcasters at a national level.
Image: Aston Martin THOR Team
