Aston Martin Valkyrie returns to scene of IMSA debut in 2025
Aston Martin THOR Team aims to build on top-10 finish at Daytona
Alex Riberas joins IMSA regulars Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring
Valkyrie the only road-derived hypercar to contest world’s two premier sportscar series, IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship

Aston Martin returns to action in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday, 21 March, as the British ultra-luxury, high-performance brand celebrates a year of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition with the stunning Valkyrie hypercar, ahead of Round 2 of the 2026 season.

The Aston Martin THOR Team-run Valkyrie’s participation in the 74th running of one of North America’s most prestigious endurance races, which takes place in Florida, marks precisely one year and six days since the competition variant of Valkyrie made its series debut at the same venue in 2025.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie – the pure racing expression of the world’s ultimate road-going hypercar – is in its second season of competition after an encouraging debut year. 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 regulations.

The solitary V12-powered car entered at Sebring, Valkyrie is also the only entry derived from a road-going hypercar competing in either North America’s premier sportscar series or the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC]. It will embark on its 10th IMSA race when it takes the green flag at 1010 EST on Saturday.

Full-season works IMSA drivers Roman De Angelis (CAN) and Ross Gunn (GBR), will once again be joined in the driver line-up by works WEC Valkyrie racer Alex Riberas (ESP). The trio, who were also partnered with works driver Marco Sørensen (DEN) for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, finished 10th in the GTP class of the opening race of 2026.

Valkyrie’s maiden IMSA campaign culminated in a brilliant second place overall in the finale; the 2025 Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. All told, Valkyrie passed the chequered flag inside the top 10 seven times from eight starts, having finished an admirable ninth on its Sebring debut this time last year.

Alex Riberas, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m very much looking forward to Sebring, coming off a challenging race at Daytona. I think we have found some solutions to the issues we faced there and there is a new wave of optimism in the team to go to Sebring and perform at the highest level. This will also be the first time we have returned to a track that we have already raced at with Valkyrie, so we already have data that we can work with. It will be fascinating to see how much the programme has evolved in the past 12 months.”

Ross Gunn, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “It’s awesome to be back to IMSA action after a short break, following Daytona. The team have worked extremely hard during this time to prepare for what is often the toughest and most enduring races of them all. Sebring is an all-time classic, and one that I enjoy a lot as a driver. I can’t wait to get to Florida and start driving!”

Roman De Angelis, driver #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I can’t wait for Sebring. While Daytona didn’t offer up what we were hoping for, I’m looking forward to the chance for the team to get some redemption. Daytona wasn’t an accurate representation of the winter’s hard work and how much we’ve all improved, so now it’s time to mentally re-set and focus on bringing a strong result, which I believe we can achieve in Sebring. I’m looking forward to being back with Alex and Ross as well. The last time we raced as a  trio, we had a pretty good outing at Road Atlanta (where we finished second)!”

Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: “Sebring offers a chance to really kickstart our season after Daytona didn’t bring us the result we’d hoped for. Going back to a circuit the team and the drivers already know with this car, allows us to hit the ground running and I’m pretty confident the Aston Martin Valkyrie will perform strongly if we do our homework and execute our objectives. It’s a tough circuit that challenges the car to the maximum, but Valkyrie ran smoothly for 12 hours this time last year so we know it can cope with the bumps. I’m excited to see what this week can offer us!” 

Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “When we look back over the progress Valkyrie has made over the past 12 months, since making its IMSA debut at Sebring last year, it’s quite impressive. As I’ve said previously, it takes time to allow a programme to develop culturally and to bring to bear the understanding and learnings from the data we’ve captured along the pathway. We move into a new and absorbing phase of the programme now as we begin to race at circuits we’ve previously visited with Valkyrie. This will allow us to accelerate and validate some of these learnings and help us as Valkyrie’s performance continues to develop. Fifty-three weeks ago, Valkyrie finished ninth on its debut at perhaps endurance racing’s toughest track, so it will be interesting to see how much progress we’ve made in that time, always taking into account the exceptional quality of the opposition we face in IMSA.”

Vantage targets glory in the 12 Hours of Sebring

The Heart of Racing Team aims for back-to-back IMSA GTD podiums with the #27 Aston Martin Vantage after finishing third at Daytona
IMSA GTD title winner Zacharie Robichon joins THOR IMSA regulars Tom Gamble and Dudu Barrichello for Sebring
Rory van der Steur returns alongside Valentin Hasse Clot in refreshed VDSR Vantage line-up that includes Sébastien Baud 
Two Aston Martin Vantage GT3s will fight for supremacy in North America’s toughest endurance race, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, as the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] continues at the famous Florida venue this weekend.

Vantage played a starring role in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 2026 IMSA opener, where partner teams Magnus Racing and The Heart of Racing [THOR] finished second and third in the GTD having fought over the class lead in the closing stages. Now ,THOR and Van der Steur Racing [VDSR] return to Sebring with strong driver line-ups as the British ultra-luxury performance brand looks to add success on the ferocious and bumpy former airfield track to the increasing accolades accrued by Aston Martin’s most successful ever racing car; Vantage.

Sebring is the scene of one of Aston Martin’s greatest successes in GT racing in North America as the DBR9 model claimed a stunning GT1 victory on the car’s race debut in 2005 driven by Darren Turner (GBR), David Brabham (AUS) and Stephane Ortelli (MCA). Nine further podium finishes since then in the race’s various GT classes – including five for Vantage since 2015 – have helped establish Aston Martin as one of Sebring’s outstanding GT racing marques.

THOR’s ultra-fast line-up of works FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] Valkyrie driver Tom Gamble (GBR), rising Brazilian GT star Dudu Barrichello (BRA) and Rolex 24 GTD class polesitter and 2021 IMSA GTD champion Zacharie Robichon (CAN) aim to carry the momentum of that strong run at Daytona. Their #27 Aston Martin also finished third in last year’s 12 Hours of Sebring and the team aims to be the first partner team to record a class victory for Vantage in the famous race.

VDSR, which contests the full IMSA season in 2026, returns to Sebring with a refreshed driver line-up. Promising young American Rory van der Steur is partnered by works driver Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA) and Sébastien Baud (FRA).

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 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring will begin at 1010 local time (-5 Hours GMT) on Saturday, 21 March 2026. It will be broadcast live globally on IMSA TV and on the IMSA YouTube channel and via selected broadcasters at a national level.