Despite coming away disappointed from the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain last month, Aston Martin THOR Team is heading into the winter with ‘a lot of motivation’ as it sets its sights on the top step of the podium with the trailblazing Valkyrie Hypercar next year.
Buoyed by the Valkyrie’s finest finish to-date in FIA WEC with fifth place at Fuji, the legendary British manufacturer travelled to Bahrain bidding to conclude the campaign in style. Ross Gunn and stablemate Marco Sørensen subsequently wasted no time at all in showcasing the striking green prototype’s palpable potential by scorching to the top two positions in the first part of qualifying, ensuring both cars advanced to the Hyperpole shootout for the first time.
While the squad was frustrated not to secure better grid positions than sixth (#009) and ninth (#007) in the high-calibre, 18-strong Hypercar field, 24 hours later, Aston Martin works driver Alex Riberas went on a crowd-pleasing charge.
Exploiting a mid-race safety car period that bunched up the pack, the Spaniard took full advantage of fresh tyres to scythe his way from fifth to first, making short work of Jean-Éric Vergne (Peugeot) and world champion-elect Alessandro Pier Guidi (Ferrari) prior to displacing Toyota pairing Nyck de Vries and Sébastien Buemi, posting a new fastest lap in the process.
Riberas’ gutsy Turn Seven pass on the Swiss star marked the first time the V12-engined, road car-derived Valkyrie had led in FIA WEC, and he had pulled away to the tune of ten seconds when news filtered down that the #009 had been handed a drive-through penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement.
The delay dashed any hopes of a maiden rostrum finish, restricting Riberas, Sørensen and Roman De Angelis to seventh place at the chequered flag – but the former was unquestionably encouraged by the breakthrough performance as he turns his focus to 2026.
“Definitely a lot of positives came out of Bahrain,” Riberas reflected. “While we didn’t have a lot of luck, at times we were the fastest car out there. It was one of those days where you could clearly see the progress we are making and the potential that is growing in the car.
“We are getting better on the small details and when we learn how to race against the competition more, we will be even better still. Whether the Valkyrie will be ready to fight for victories at the beginning of next year is not for me to say, but I know it is more a matter of when than if.”
“We should be proud of what we have achieved this year for sure,” agreed multiple GT class world champion, Sørensen. “If you look at the last three races, we have had a car that had the pace to finish on the podium. Now, we have to take these learnings into next year and build on that progress. We go into the winter with a lot of motivation, and we just want to push everyone so that we are ready to fight from the start of next season.”
In the sister Valkyrie, Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Gunn wound up 15th after losing out during a late neutralisation, when a Virtual Safety Car intervention shortly after the #007’s final pit-stop left the trio a lap down, having hitherto run well inside the points.
“Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t,” mused Gunn, who was back in the cockpit for the first time since June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. “At certain points during the race, the car really came into its own, but we got very unlucky with the last VSC.
“I really enjoyed coming back to FIA WEC and obviously being fastest in qualifying was a highlight of the weekend, but also seeing the progress season-long and knowing we are going in the right direction is really satisfying.”
“Leading our first laps in FIA WEC was a good milestone,” echoed Team Principal, Ian James. “The VSC came at the wrong time in terms of our strategy, but the speed we had was very strong. In Qatar, we were a couple of seconds off the pace and people were writing us off, so to get to a place where we were genuinely competing for pole position and the podium shows what a good job everyone has done. I can’t wait for 2026 to come around so we can keep up this momentum.”
“FIA WEC is a magnificent series with manufacturers, teams and drivers that have been at the pinnacle of the sport for, in some cases, decades,” noted Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter. “To have brought such a unique car as Valkyrie to the stage, to start where we did and to consistently improve our performance shows the ability and desire of everybody that is part of this programme. We have made satisfying progress in 2025 and will continue to build upon that next season.”
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