The Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar will make its Spanish competition debut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló this Sunday, October 18, when the FIA World Endurance Championship hosts Round 7 of 8 at the 2.9-mile venue. It is the first time in WEC history that the Barcelona track has appeared on the schedule, and for the works Aston Martin THOR Team it is the penultimate round of a season in which Valkyrie has finished in the points in every race.
That run continued at Fuji Speedway three weeks ago, when both Valkyries started in the top six for the first time. The #007 entry of British drivers Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell also led the race, while the sister #009 of Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen was in the podium hunt until the final Safety Car. The team hopes to carry that form on to Barcelona as Riberas heads to his first home WEC race.
Valkyrie is now on a run of eight consecutive points finishes, including fourth places in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas. That consistency has the British ultra-luxury performance brand sixth in the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship with 54 points, 42 behind fourth place, with a maximum of 88 points available from Barcelona and the final round, the 6 Hours of Monza on November 8.
The competition variant of Valkyrie, the pure racing expression of the world’s ultimate road-going hypercar, is developed from its production sibling by Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing. It blends a race-optimized carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre V12 powerplant that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1,000bhp in standard form, but adheres to a strict 500kW (671bhp) power limit under the WEC’s hypercar rulebook and IMSA’s GTP regulations. Valkyrie is the only road-derived hypercar contesting both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA.
Harry Tincknell, driver of the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “I’m looking forward to getting going in Barcelona. Fuji feels like a missed opportunity for us, so I think it’s great to be able to have another chance to score a great result. The car has been progressing well as the season has gone on and we’ve seen that in our results. Fourth place in COTA and then being in the top three for the first half of the race in Fuji was strong. Barcelona is a track that we haven’t been to before in WEC and we haven’t tested there either, but nevertheless the circuit’s general characteristics should play into the hands of Valkyrie. Especially now the last two corners have reverted to the original high-speed layout. This means we’re very encouraged going into the weekend to fight for a good result and we will try our best to do that.”
Alex Riberas, driver of the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: “Going to Barcelona was the most amazing surprise of my season. Racing on my home track, in the city where I grew up, is a dream come true, and especially to do so in a hypercar with the Aston Martin THOR Team and the Valkyrie is something that never in a million years did I think would become a reality. So, I am going to try and cherish every single moment from the weekend and embrace the joy and the love of everybody that will come to the racetrack and just enjoy it as much as possible. I also think we have a strong car there as we showed in Fuji in the last race. We just must keep our heads down; give everything we have and I’m sure we will have our shot on Sunday.”
Ian James, Team Principal of the Aston Martin THOR Team: “We have seen for ourselves, and we have shown in recent races that we have the potential to fight among the frontrunners when the conditions are in our favour. Our run of points finishes also shows that we can deliver on the performance potential available to us on a given weekend. As a team we always try to focus on execution, eliminating mistakes, and maximising opportunities when they occur. We will continue this process through the last two races of the year and push to see what else we can achieve with Valkyrie before the season ends. Barcelona, while familiar to all of us, is a new proposition for WEC, so it will be interesting to see how quickly everyone finds the performance window and what opportunities that offers us through the weekend.”
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: “Valkyrie proved to be competitive in Fuji and the car has performed as anticipated on circuits with similar characteristics to Barcelona, which has a high-speed first sector and low speed dominated final sector. This means we can look ahead to Barcelona with the aim to fight for more points this weekend, while recognising that we are racing against considerably more experienced and highly capable competitors. Barcelona is also a new proposition for everyone in the Hypercar class, and so it will be interesting to see how this shapes the competitive order.”
Vantage keeps the pressure on in the LMGT3 title chase
The Heart of Racing Team also makes its Barcelona world championship debut with the Vantage GT3, and it arrives riding the crest of a wave. Having set the last three LMGT3 class pole positions, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 6 Hours of São Paulo and the Lone Star Le Mans at COTA (qualifying at Fuji was rained off), the team claimed victory with the #27 THOR Vantage GT3 driven by team principal Ian James, Mattia Drudi and Zach Robichon.
The same crew finished second in Round 6 at Fuji after a magnificent final-hour fightback, a result that puts the THOR #27 second in the LMGT3 Teams’ standings with 62 points, 24 behind the leaders with a maximum of 26 available from each of the final rounds. Their team-mates Gray Newell, Jonny Adam and Dudu Barrichello, who race the sister #23 THOR Vantage, are also theoretical title contenders 37 points off the lead, but their main target is a maiden WEC victory for Newell and Barrichello after two podiums this season.
The Vantage GT3 shares the mechanical architecture of the ultra-luxury Vantage road car and is built around Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis, powered by its fearsome twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine.
The 6 Hours of Barcelona begins at 12:00 local time (11:00am BST, 6:00am ET) on Sunday, October 18. Final practice, qualifying and the race will be broadcast live on FIAWEC+ online with a choice of English or French-language commentary and via selected broadcasters at a national level.
Source: Aston Martin Racing via Newspress UK
Abby is Just British's site assistant. She was last seen idling at a hill climb, smelling faintly of hot oil and Earl Grey. Her sources are impeccable. Her origins are classified.
As an Amazon Associate I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Be the first to comment