Aston Martin Valkyrie returns to Sebring IMSA debut

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.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 12 Hours of Sebring 2025. The Heart of Racing [THOR] Aston Martin Valkyrie #23.

Aston Martin Valkyrie returns to scene of IMSA debut in 2025

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.

Alex Riberas joins IMSA regulars Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

📷 © Luc Warnotte at ROLEX 24 at Daytona 2026. The Heart of Racing [THOR] Aston Martin Valkyrie #23.

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!”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at ROLEX 24 at Daytona 2026. The Heart of Racing [THOR] Aston Martin Valkyrie #23.

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)!” Source:Aston Martin

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