Aston Martin Valkyrie Makes Strides In Debut WEC Season With Key Points Finish

When a road-going British hypercar takes on the planet’s toughest endurance circuits, the aim is not simply to show up, it’s to make history. Enter the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a 6.5-litre V12 monster turned full-fledged endurance racer fielded by the THOR Team, which wrapped up its debut season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a noteworthy seventh-place finish at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain. That result, paired with a fifth-place nod in Japan, confirms that the Valkyrie is more than a showpiece, it’s a contender.

Aston Martin Valkyrie: First Time Leading The Pack

In a season defined by learning curves and fierce competition, the Valkyrie hit a major milestone in Bahrain. After both entries (#007 and #009) qualified inside the top-10 for the first time in WEC, the #009 car, and its driver lineup of Marco Sørensen, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis, went on a late-race surge that saw Riberas drive the car into the race lead. For the first time ever, the Valkyrie wore the WEC lead badge. This moment matters because it demonstrates the car’s latent pace and potential, a road-derived machine matching the purely purpose-built prototypes on track.

The qualifying performance was itself a breakthrough. The #007 entry of Tincknell/Gamble/Gunn locked in sixth on the grid and the #009 claimed ninth, marking the first time both Valkyries sat inside the top-10 in WEC Hypercar qualifying. Having one car inside the top-10 is one thing; having two is another. The improved pace reflects steady development through the season.

Back-to-back WEC Points: Early Success, Long Game

With the fifth at Fuji in Japan followed by the seventh in Bahrain, Aston Martin THOR Team concluded the season on consecutive points-scoring finishes. That run speaks to the program’s momentum and the adaptability of the Valkyrie platform. Given that the 2025 season represented its global debut, not just in WEC but also in North America via the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, this performance is significant. The car took its inaugural podium in IMSA in October at the Motul Petit Le Mans.

What it all means for the future

For a program that set out to “compete in endurance racing at the very highest level of competition, both globally in WEC and in North America in IMSA,” the results justify cautious optimism. As Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter, observed: “We have made satisfying progress in 2025 and will continue to build on this next season.”

Here are a couple of key take-aways:

• The Valkyrie is the only LMH-category hypercar derived from a road-legal production model. That gives it brand power and engineering intrigue.
• The V12 powerplant, developed with Cosworth and revving to 11,000 rpm in standard form, may be restricted to a 500 kW (~680 bhp) output for competition, but its roots carry performance DNA.
• The leap from showing pace to converting it into consistent podium finishes remains the next logical step.

“It was close. We led our first laps in WEC so that’s a good milestone. The VSC came at the wrong time in terms of our strategy, but the speed we’ve had has been very strong. In Qatar we were a couple of seconds off the pace and people were writing us off, so to come to a place here where we’re genuinely competing for pole position and the podium shows what a good job everyone’s done and I can’t wait for 2026 to come around so we can keep up that momentum, ” said Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team.

In the grand scheme of endurance racing, a seventh-place finish might not make the front page. But for the Valkyrie program, it’s a quiet statement of intent. This British hypercar has vaulted onto the global endurance stage, challenged seasoned manufacturers, and led a world championship race, all in its maiden season. As we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, the question is no longer if the Valkyrie can compete, it’s how high it can climb.