The Aston Martin THOR Team, which will take the British ultra-luxury performance brand back into the fight to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright for the first time since 1959, has named the first two drivers in its line-up for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC]: Alex Riberas (ESP) and Harry Tincknell (GBR).
Both drivers have extensive experience racing Aston Martins during their glittering careers and have played key roles in the development and preparation of the stunning new Valkyrie hypercar challenger through this summer’s testing programme.
The breathtaking Aston Martin Valkyrie, set to make its world championship debut in Qatar at 1812km on 28 February 2025, will be the only race car built to the FIA’s Hypercar regulations to simultaneously contest both the WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] in 2025.
Reviving the famous #007 and #009 Aston Martin race numbers for 2025, two of these 6.5-litre, naturally aspirated V12 powered Valkyries, featuring race-optimised carbon fibre chassis, will be entered in WEC’s top Hypercar class. Valkyrie will make its IMSA debut in the GTP category at the world famous 12 Hours of Sebring (12-14 March).
Tincknell returns to the Aston Martin fold after four years. Indeed, the last time the Englishman raced for the brand was when he won the LMGTE Pro class of the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside Alex Lynn (GBR) and Maxime Martin (BEL), in an Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE. The 2016 European Le Mans Series champion and 2020 12 Hours of Sebring overall winner will carry the honour of driving the #007 Valkyrie.
Riberas, an established pillar of The Heart of Racing team, steps from the GT category to form part of the line-up in the #009 Valkyrie. The Spaniard has earned his place in the top class after a stellar season in The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage, where he recorded victories in both WEC in LMGT3 and IMSA’s GTD Pro category.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is nearing the end of its test and development programme. It has covered over 12,500 km, including the recent Michelin test after the WEC Bahrain finale at the beginning of November and last weekend’s IMSA Sanction test at Daytona. The focus for the Aston Martin THOR Team is now very much on honing the Valkyrie’s performance window ahead of homologation for the 2025 season.
The #009 was the race number emblazoned on the Aston Martin DBR9 that scored back-to-back GT1 class victories for the brand in the 2007 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans.