Aston Martin’s most successful racing car added to its legend on Saturday. The Vantage GT3 claimed a dramatic GTD Pro class victory in the Motul Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour finale of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and it did so in the hands of one of the newest teams in the paddock.
The YRB Racing-run Car Blanche squad, based in New Jersey, took a maiden victory in only its sixth IMSA start and its third race in the fiercely competitive GTD Pro class. Works drivers Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Valentin Hasse Clot shared the #68 Vantage GT3, capping an outstanding first IMSA chapter for an organisation that steps up to GTD Pro full time in 2027.
A fast and consistent force throughout, Car Blanche set up a dramatic late victory. Excellent strategy and a quick car kept the #68 inside the top six for most of the race, but when the sun set it was Drudi who pulled the trigger. The Italian, who had also qualified second in GTD Pro for the team’s best IMSA start, moved into third place with 40 minutes to go, then passed two rivals in one move ten minutes later to take the class lead. From there he delivered a defensive masterclass to the chequered flag.
“This is an amazing reward for all the hard work and amazing effort that has gone in behind the scenes to bring Car Blanche to the front in such a short space of time,” said Hasse Clot, who has been with the team since it entered IMSA in June. “We are still learning, but we have been fast since the start, and each race we have built more experience and learnings into the team. It’s crazy, but fantastic to have won such a big race so soon!”
The win was Vantage’s first IMSA victory of 2026, but the sixth time the Vantage GT3 has won in GTD Pro and the 15th GT class win for Aston Martin in IMSA. It was also Aston Martin’s third class victory at Petit Le Mans, twenty years on from the first: the V12-powered DBR9 of Tomas Enge and Darren Turner took GT1 honours in 2006, and The Heart of Racing Team won in GTD in 2021 with Roman De Angelis, Ross Gunn and Ian James.
For The Heart of Racing Team the day was bittersweet. The #27 Vantage of Dudu Barrichello, Tom Gamble and Zach Robichon suffered an electrical issue before the start that ended its GTD title bid, but the team recovered to complete enough laps to secure third place in the drivers’ standings for the Brazilian, third in the teams’ standings, and third in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, just two points behind the winners. Aston Martin ended the season as GTD manufacturers’ vice-champions and runner-up in the Endurance Cup manufacturers’ table, while Magnus Racing finished in the top five on its GTD return with John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Mario Farnbacher.
Sørensen, who adds a Petit Le Mans victory to a career that already includes three FIA World Endurance GT titles, victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a Rolex 24 at Daytona class win and an overall triumph at the 24 Hours of Spa, is already looking ahead: “In the short time I have been with Car Blanche you can see that it is making progress all the time and that the potential is really high. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in 2027.”
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