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IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Countdown
Following Aston Martin's IMSA campaign through the Valkyrie Hypercar and Vantage GT3 programmes. Fuel the Passion is an independent media platform.
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IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
IMSA is North America’s premier sports-car championship, mixing endurance classics such as the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans with shorter, high-intensity races at circuits such as Long Beach and Laguna Seca. FTP follows IMSA because Aston Martin has a serious presence in both the top GTP class with the Valkyrie and in GTD with Vantage GT3 customer teams including Heart of Racing and Van der Steur Racing.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - Season So Far
Aston Martin’s 2026 IMSA campaign continues along two paths: the Vantage GT3 Evo in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) competition and the developing THOR Team Valkyrie in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP).
The #27 Heart of Racing Vantage established itself as an early GTD championship contender, with a Daytona podium, second place at Sebring and further strong results through Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Road America proved costly, however, with a post-race penalty reducing the #27 to 15th in class and significantly cutting Dudu Barrichello’s championship advantage.
At Virginia International Raceway, Tom Gamble and Barrichello fought their way from 11th on the grid into contention for victory. Gamble led GTD late in the race before contact with Philip Ellis’s Winward Mercedes resulted in a drive-through penalty. The Aston Martin recovered to fourth in class, but the result ended Barrichello’s run at the top of the GTD standings as Winward moved into the championship lead.
The #68 Car Blanche Aston Martin also produced a strong VIR result after moving back into GTD PRO, with Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marco Sørensen finishing fourth in class. It continued an impressive first IMSA campaign for the new operation, which had already achieved podium finishes at Watkins Glen and Road America.
The Valkyrie didn’t compete at the GT-only VIR round, but its IMSA development continues after achieving its first top-five finish at Road America. The full WeatherTech Championship returns at Indianapolis in September, where both Aston Martin programmes are scheduled to come back together.
FTP Summary
Aston Martin remains firmly involved at the sharp end of IMSA’s GT racing, although VIR changed the GTD championship picture. Heart of Racing fought for victory before a late penalty dropped the #27 to fourth and cost Dudu Barrichello the championship lead, while Car Blanche added another encouraging result with fourth in GTD PRO. The Valkyrie returns when the full championship reconvenes at Indianapolis.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Latest Result
Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
VIR was a GT-only IMSA WeatherTech Championship round, bringing together the GTD PRO and GTD classes without GTP or LMP2 machinery. Pfaff Motorsports controlled the race with the #9 Lamborghini, while Aston Martin placed cars fourth in both categories.
Marco Sørensen and Valentin Hasse-Clot brought the #68 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo home fourth overall and fourth in GTD PRO. In GTD, Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello and Tom Gamble recovered from 11th in class on the grid to challenge for victory with the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage.
Gamble led late in the race before Philip Ellis passed for Winward Racing. An attempt to regain the position resulted in contact and a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility, leaving Heart of Racing fourth in GTD at the finish.
| Class Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | Gap / Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GTD PRO | #9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 | Pfaff Motorsports | Andrea Caldarelli / Sandy Mitchell | 84 | Winner • 2:41:29.130 |
| 2 GTD PRO | #64 Ford Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing | Ben Barker / Dennis Olsen | 84 | +1.517s |
| 3 GTD PRO | #65 Ford Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing | Christopher Mies / Frederic Vervisch | 84 | +39.039s |
| 4 GTD PRO | #68 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Car Blanche | Marco Sørensen / Valentin Hasse-Clot | 84 | +42.437s |
| 5 GTD PRO | #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO | Paul Miller Racing | Neil Verhagen / Connor De Phillippi | 84 | +44.229s |
| Class Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | Gap / Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GTD | #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward / Philip Ellis | 84 | GTD Winner |
| 2 GTD | #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO | Turner Motorsport | Patrick Gallagher / Robby Foley | 84 | +6.413s |
| 3 GTD | #70 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO | Inception Racing | Brendan Iribe / Frederik Schandorff | 84 | +8.364s |
| 4 GTD | #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Heart of Racing Team | Dudu Barrichello / Tom Gamble | 84 | Led late • Drive-through penalty |
The Valkyrie returns at Indianapolis for the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks, 18th–20th September 2026, when the full WeatherTech Championship field comes back together.
FTP Summary: Aston Martin left VIR with fourth place in both GT categories. Car Blanche delivered another strong GTD PRO performance, while Heart of Racing came close to a GTD victory before the late penalty dropped the #27 to fourth. The result changes the championship picture, with Dudu Barrichello relinquishing the GTD points lead.
Championship Standings
The GTD championship has changed significantly at VIR. Three consecutive victories have carried Winward Racing into the lead, with Turner Motorsport now second and Heart of Racing third.
The #27 Aston Martin remains firmly in championship contention, however. Dudu Barrichello is provisionally 56 points behind the GTD lead with Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans still to come.
| Pos | Manufacturer | Pts | Gap | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes-AMG | 2634 | — | Winward's third consecutive GTD victory moves Mercedes-AMG to the top. |
| 2 | Ferrari | 2614 | −20 | Inception Racing finished third at VIR. |
| 3 | Aston Martin | 2577 | −57 | Heart of Racing's fourth place keeps Aston Martin firmly in the title contest. |
| 4 | BMW | 2390 | −244 | Turner Motorsport finished second in GTD. |
| 5 | Lexus | 2349 | −285 | Vasser Sullivan finished ninth in class. |
| Pos | No. | Team | Car | Pts | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #57 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 2373 | — |
| 2 | #96 | Turner Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 EVO | 2337 | −36 |
| 3 | #27 | Heart of Racing Team | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | 2317 | −56 |
| 4 | #12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Lexus RC F GT3 | 2217 | −156 |
| 5 | #34 | Conquest Racing | Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO | 1959 | −414 |
| Pos | Driver | Car / Team | Pts | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philip Ellis / Russell Ward | #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG | 2373 | — |
| 2 | Patrick Gallagher / Robby Foley | #96 Turner Motorsport BMW | 2337 | −36 |
| 3 | Dudu Barrichello | #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin | 2317 | −56 |
| 4 | Aaron Telitz / Benjamin Pedersen | #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus | 2217 | −156 |
| 5 | Albert Costa | #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari | 1959 | −414 |
| Category | Entry | Pts | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTD PRO Team | #68 Car Blanche | 542 | Fourth at VIR after also qualifying fifth in class. |
| GTD PRO Manufacturer | Aston Martin | 564 | VIR added another strong points haul for the Vantage. |
| Category | Pos | Entry | Pts | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTP Drivers | 13 | Ross Gunn / Roman De Angelis | 1708 | No GTP race at VIR — total unchanged from Road America. |
| GTP Team | 11 | #23 Aston Martin THOR Team | 1708 | Valkyrie returns at Indianapolis, 18th–20th September. |
| GTP Manufacturer | 5 | Aston Martin | 2024 | VIR was GT-only, so Aston Martin scored no GTP points. |
FTP Summary: VIR changed the GTD championship picture. Winward Racing now leads, Turner Motorsport is second and Heart of Racing has slipped to third, although only 56 points separate Dudu Barrichello from the top of the standings. Car Blanche's fourth-place GTD PRO finish added another strong Aston Martin result. The Valkyrie did not compete because VIR was a GT-only round and returns with the GTP field at Indianapolis in September.
The VIR race classification shown above reflects IMSA's published result. Post-VIR GTD and GTD PRO championship totals are shown provisionally, calculated from IMSA's official post-Road America standings together with the published VIR qualifying and race classifications pending publication of the updated official championship points document. GTP totals remain unchanged because the GTP class did not compete at VIR.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 09 – Michelin GT Challenge at VIR | 21st–23rd August 2026
Heart of Racing Comes Close as Aston Martin Takes Two Fourth Places at VIR
Aston Martin left VIRginia International Raceway with fourth place in both GTD PRO and GTD, but the final results disguise how close the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage came to a potentially significant victory. Starting from 11th in GTD, Dudu Barrichello and Tom Gamble fought all the way to the front of the class. Gamble eventually led deep into the closing stages before an intense championship battle with Winward Racing’s Philip Ellis ended with a drive-through penalty. In GTD PRO, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marco Sørensen brought the #68 Car Blanche Vantage GT3 Evo home fourth, completing another competitive IMSA weekend for the new team.
A Difficult Starting Point for Heart of Racing
The #27 had entered VIR leading the GTD championship, but qualifying created an immediate complication. Barrichello had produced the speed to continue Heart of Racing’s remarkable run near the front of the grid, but laps were removed after the car exceeded the permitted controlled powertrain parameters. It ended a sequence in which the Aston Martin had qualified inside the top three at each of the opening six GTD rounds and left the #27 starting only 11th in class.
Barrichello immediately began repairing the damage. Within the opening half-hour he had climbed to fourth in GTD and was already fighting directly with the other championship contenders.
Heart of Racing Charges to the Front
The first pit sequence brought Tom Gamble into the car and the Aston Martin continued its progress. Gamble immediately produced strong pace, at one stage setting the fastest lap in GTD, while Heart of Racing used its strategy to remain within striking distance of the leaders. During the final pit sequence, Gamble had been saving fuel in an effort to reduce the time required at the stop, almost allowing the #27 to jump the Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini as the cars returned to the circuit.
The Aston remained on the attack and soon completed the recovery. When Danny Formal had a moment in the Lamborghini, Gamble went through and took the GTD lead with around 50 minutes remaining. From 11th on the grid, Heart of Racing was suddenly in position to win.
Gamble Versus Ellis
The final phase became a direct fight between Gamble and Philip Ellis in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, not simply for the race victory, but effectively for the GTD championship lead. Ellis steadily reduced the gap and spent much of the final half-hour immediately behind the Aston Martin. Traffic from the GTD PRO field complicated the contest further as both cars fought through cars from the faster class.
With around seven minutes remaining, Ellis made an aggressive move down the inside at NASCAR Bend, Turn 3. The two cars remained alongside as the corner opened out, but the Mercedes was pushed beyond the edge of the circuit. Heart of Racing subsequently slowed and allowed Ellis ahead, apparently attempting to redress the position. Race Control nevertheless judged that Gamble had failed to leave sufficient racing room and issued the #27 with a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility. It was a costly decision. Instead of fighting for the victory, Gamble served the penalty in the closing minutes and fell down the overall order. He eventually finished 11th overall but fourth in GTD.
Car Blanche Again in the GTD PRO Fight
There was a second strong Aston Martin performance further up the overall classification. The #68 Car Blanche Vantage GT3 Evo of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marco Sørensen spent much of the race fighting inside the leading group in GTD PRO. Hasse-Clot ran as high as third during the middle phase before handing the car to Sørensen for the final stint.
Sørensen remained in the battle behind the leading Lamborghini and Fords and ultimately secured fourth overall and fourth in GTD PRO. For Car Blanche, it continued an impressive introduction to IMSA competition, with the Vantage again demonstrating genuine front-running pace.
Winward Takes the GTD Lead
At the front, Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell completed a controlled performance for Pfaff Motorsports, taking a second consecutive GTD PRO victory with the Lamborghini Temerario GT3. In GTD, Ellis successfully reached the finish despite appearing extremely tight on fuel during the final lap. Victory for Ellis and Russell Ward gave Winward Racing its third consecutive class win and, crucially, moved the Mercedes crew ahead in the championship.
For Heart of Racing, it was another frustrating conclusion to a race in which the #27 had demonstrated considerably more competitiveness than its finishing position suggests. Road America had already cost the team heavily through a late penalty. At VIR, another penalty again turned a potential headline result into damage limitation.
Valkyrie Returns at Indianapolis
The Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie did not compete at VIR, because the Michelin GT Challenge was the WeatherTech Championship’s GT-only round. Its GTP campaign therefore remains unchanged from Road America, where Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis achieved the Valkyrie’s first IMSA top-five finish. The complete WeatherTech field returns for the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks at Indianapolis on 18th–20th September, bringing the Valkyrie and Aston Martin’s GT programmes back together.
Heart of Racing will arrive there having lost the GTD championship lead, but VIR also demonstrated why the #27 remains firmly in the fight. From 11th on the grid to leading with less than ten minutes remaining was an impressive recovery. The result was fourth, but the performance suggested considerably more was possible.
FTP Summary Line
Aston Martin left VIR with fourth place in both GTD PRO and GTD, but Heart of Racing’s result only tells part of the story. From 11th on the grid, the #27 Vantage fought all the way to the GTD lead before a late drive-through penalty dropped Tom Gamble and Dudu Barrichello to fourth, while Car Blanche secured another strong fourth-place finish in GTD PRO. The Valkyrie didn’t compete at the GT-only VIR round and returns with the full IMSA field at Indianapolis.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Result Snapshot – Aston Martin Focus
The leading finishers from the 2026 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, together with the final positions of the Car Blanche and Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo entries.
GTD PRO / Overall – Top Five
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 | Pfaff Motorsports | Andrea Caldarelli / Sandy Mitchell | 84 | Overall & GTD PRO winner |
| 2 | #64 Ford Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing | Ben Barker / Dennis Olsen | 84 | +1.517s |
| 3 | #65 Ford Mustang GT3 | Ford Racing | Christopher Mies / Frederic Vervisch | 84 | +39.039s |
| 4 | #68 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Car Blanche | Valentin Hasse-Clot / Marco Sørensen | 84 | P4 Overall • P4 GTD PRO |
| 5 | #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO | Paul Miller Racing | Neil Verhagen / Connor De Phillippi | 84 | +44.229s |
GTD – Podium & Aston Martin Focus
| Class Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward / Philip Ellis | 84 | GTD Winner |
| 2 | #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO | Turner Motorsport | Patrick Gallagher / Robby Foley | 84 | Second in GTD |
| 3 | #70 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO | Inception Racing | Brendan Iribe / Frederik Schandorff | 84 | Completed the GTD podium |
| 4 | #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Heart of Racing Team | Dudu Barrichello / Tom Gamble | 84 | Led Late • Drive-Through Penalty |
Results shown for the 2026 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Round 09, held at VIRginia International Raceway on 23rd August 2026. VIR was a GT-only WeatherTech Championship round.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 08 - Valkyrie Takes First IMSA Top Five as Car Blanche Reaches GTD Podium at Road America
Aston Martin left Road America with its strongest Grand Touring Prototype result of the 2026 IMSA season and another Grand Touring Daytona podium, but penalties prevented the weekend from becoming an even greater success.
Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis were classified fifth overall in the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie. The car had crossed the line in second position after a dramatic closing sequence, but a 44-second post-race penalty for incident responsibility with the #93 Acura dropped it behind the final podium positions. Car Blanche delivered Aston Martin’s clearest result, with Marius Fossard, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Trenton Estep finishing third in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) with the #068 Vantage GT3 Evo.
Heart of Racing’s championship-leading #27 Vantage had led the class and collected maximum IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points at the halfway stage. However, a late penalty for an unsafe re-entry dropped the car to 15th in GTD and reduced Dudu Barrichello’s championship advantage to only 24 points.
The Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix was the first six-hour IMSA race held at Road America in the modern championship era. All four WeatherTech Championship categories were present: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GTD.
GTP: Cadillac Wins a Chaotic Six-Hour Race
Overall victory went to Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R. The race’s opening phase was led by the two Acura Meyer Shank Racing cars, before BMW, Porsche and Cadillac each moved into contention through different pit-stop and fuel strategies. Albuquerque took the lead during the second half of the race and gained a crucial advantage when he completed his final pit stop moments before another Full Course Yellow closed the pit lane. The timing allowed the #10 Cadillac to retain track position while several rivals were forced onto less favourable strategies.
The final hour produced repeated restarts, contact and changing podium positions. Albuquerque resisted pressure from Kevin Estre’s #6 Porsche and Jack Aitken’s #31 Cadillac before those two cars collided while fighting for second at Turn One. The race ended under its ninth Full Course Yellow, leaving Albuquerque and Taylor to secure Wayne Taylor Racing’s first GTP victory since Detroit in 2024. The #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche was eventually classified second, with the sister #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac third.
Valkyrie Starts from Eighth
Ross Gunn qualified the #23 Valkyrie eighth in GTP with a lap of 1 minute 50.804 seconds. The starting position placed Aston Martin in the lower half of an extremely competitive 11-car prototype field, but only around 1.5 seconds separated the Valkyrie from the pole-winning Acura. The early stages were relatively subdued for the Aston Martin. The car remained on the lead lap and demonstrated competitive fuel efficiency, but it was required to recover from an early drive-through following a mechanical black flag. The live broadcast did not confirm the precise technical cause of that intervention.
By the midpoint, the Valkyrie was again circulating within the GTP pack. The broadcast highlighted its fuel economy and the team’s ability to extend its stints to a similar length to several of the established hybrid prototypes.
A Race of Recovery
Gunn worked to recover the ground lost through the early penalty and was involved in several close battles as the prototype field repeatedly encountered slower GT traffic. The Valkyrie ran alongside Louis Delétraz’s #40 Cadillac during one restart and remained in contention as repeated caution periods compressed the field. With less than an hour remaining, De Angelis was running seventh in GTP and still on the lead lap.
A particularly significant moment came with approximately one hour remaining. De Angelis lost control of the Valkyrie on the entry to the Carousel. The car travelled sideways through the gravel at high speed, and the commentators expected it to become stranded and trigger another Full Course Yellow. Instead, De Angelis somehow gathered the car together and returned to the circuit without apparent damage. What might easily have ended the Aston Martin’s race became only a loss of time and track position. The recovery was important because the sequence of late caution periods brought the Valkyrie back into the contest.
From Seventh to an Apparent Second Place
The final laps produced one of the most dramatic endings of the IMSA season. Albuquerque remained in the lead, while Estre and Aitken fought aggressively for second. Their collision at Turn One eliminated both cars from podium contention and brought out the final Full Course Yellow. The incident promoted the Valkyrie through the order. De Angelis crossed the line behind the winning Cadillac and initially appeared to have secured second place overall, which would have been the car’s first IMSA podium.
However, the #23 had been involved in a separate incident with the #93 Acura. Race control assessed the Aston Martin a 44-second post-race penalty equivalent to an unserved drive-through for incident responsibility. The time addition dropped Gunn and De Angelis from second to fifth. The #5 JDC-Miller Porsche was promoted to second and the #40 Cadillac to third.
First Top Five, but a Lost Podium
Fifth still represented the Valkyrie’s best IMSA result of the 2026 season and its first top-five finish. The car completed all 151 laps and demonstrated several encouraging qualities: competitive fuel mileage, the ability to remain within the leading group during a long endurance race and sufficient pace to benefit when the leading order began to unravel. The result was nevertheless bittersweet.
Aston Martin had been only one post-race decision away from securing the Valkyrie’s first IMSA podium. The fifth-place classification demonstrated progress, but it also continued a wider pattern in which penalties and incidents have prevented promising performances from producing their full reward.
GTD: Heart of Racing Leads the Opening Half
Aston Martin began the GTD race from a strong position. Dudu Barrichello qualified the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage second in class, while Marius Fossard placed the #068 Car Blanche Aston Martin third. Only 0.002 seconds separated the two Vantages during qualifying. Barrichello shared the #27 with Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon, while Car Blanche’s line-up consisted of Fossard, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Trenton Estep.
Robichon moved into the GTD lead during the opening portion of the race, with Fossard running third for Car Blanche. Aston Martin therefore occupied two of the leading three class positions as the race moved through its first major strategic phase. Heart of Racing retained the lead through the three-hour point, earning the maximum available Michelin Endurance Cup points at the halfway stage. Those points were particularly valuable because the endurance competition runs within the wider WeatherTech Championship and rewards positions at designated intermediate stages as well as at the finish.
Car Blanche Remains in the Podium Fight
Car Blanche continued to demonstrate the speed it had shown since entering the WeatherTech Championship at Watkins Glen. Fossard maintained the #068 within the leading GTD group during the opening phase, while Hasse-Clot and Estep kept the car in contention through the later strategy cycles. Estep arrived at the WeatherTech race having already enjoyed a significant weekend. He and Allen Patten had won Saturday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race in Car Blanche’s #66 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo.
During the WeatherTech broadcast, Estep praised Fossard’s opening work and confirmed that the #068 had shown competitive pace despite the limited dry running available during practice. The closing caution periods allowed several GTD teams to stretch their fuel strategies to the finish. Winward Racing emerged in front with the #57 Mercedes-AMG, while the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari moved into second.
Car Blanche remained part of the podium fight but initially appeared to have finished fourth behind the #81 DragonSpeed Corvette.
Post-Race Review Promotes Car Blanche to Third
The final GTD classification changed after the chequered flag. Race control reviewed the DragonSpeed Corvette’s pass on the #068 Aston Martin and determined that the manoeuvre had not been completed before the final caution began. The order was therefore corrected, promoting Fossard, Hasse-Clot and Estep to third place.
It was Car Blanche’s second podium in as many GTD appearances, following its third-place finish on debut at Watkins Glen. The operation’s intervening appearance at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park had been made in GTD PRO rather than GTD. The result reinforced the impression created at Watkins Glen: Car Blanche has entered IMSA with a Vantage capable of immediately challenging established GTD operations.
Heart of Racing’s Race Unravels Late
Heart of Racing’s #27 remained in contention through much of the race, but its closing phase brought a major championship setback. The car was assessed a drive-through penalty for an unsafe re-entry. Because the race ended before the penalty could be served, officials converted it into a 44-second post-race time addition.
The penalty dropped the Aston Martin to 15th in GTD, despite completing the same 142 laps as the class winner. The result had significant championship consequences. Winward Racing secured its second consecutive victory and third win of the season with Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje. Barrichello’s advantage, which had been 92 points after Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, was reduced to only 24 over Ellis and Ward.
Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley are only another two points behind, meaning just 26 points now cover the leading three GTD championship contenders. Heart of Racing remains at the top of the standings, but the title contest has changed considerably. A comfortable advantage has become a three-way fight with the GT-only round at Virginia International Raceway next.
GTD PRO: First Victory for the Lamborghini Temerario
GTD PRO victory went to Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3. It was the first North American and IMSA victory for Lamborghini’s new GT3 model. Pfaff’s strategy repeatedly placed the car in favourable positions before Caldarelli controlled the closing phase.
Nick Tandy and Harry King finished second for AO Racing in the #77 Porsche, with Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg third in the #4 Corvette.
LMP2: Inter Europol Wins Again
Inter Europol Competition secured its second consecutive LMP2 victory with Jeremy Clarke, Bijoy Garg and Tom Dillmann in the #43 Oreca 07-Gibson. The team led 83 of the race’s 149 LMP2 laps and survived several late restarts while managing a tight fuel situation. CrowdStrike Racing by APR finished second, with TDS Racing taking third.
Progress, Podiums and Costly Penalties
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Road America was Aston Martin’s most encouraging IMSA weekend of the season, but also one of its most frustrating. The Valkyrie finally achieved the top-five result that its developing pace had suggested was possible. It remained competitive over six hours, survived a major off-track moment and crossed the line in what initially appeared to be second place.
The post-race penalty removed the podium, but it didn’t erase the underlying performance. Fifth remains a genuine step forward for a GTP programme that had arrived at Road America following an early retirement at Watkins Glen.
Car Blanche produced the cleanest Aston Martin performance of the race. The #068 qualified third, remained in the leading group and was ultimately awarded a deserved GTD podium. Two podiums from two appearances in the category represent an exceptional beginning for the new operation.
Heart of Racing’s result is more concerning. The #27 led the race, collected maximum halfway endurance points and appeared capable of another strong finish, but a late unsafe re-entry penalty reduced the result to 15th. That mistake has transformed the GTD championship. Barrichello remains in front, but the margin has been reduced from 92 points to 24 in a single weekend.
Road America therefore delivered clear evidence of Aston Martin’s strength across both of its principal IMSA programmes. The Valkyrie achieved its best result, Car Blanche reached the podium and Heart of Racing again demonstrated race-leading pace.
The challenge remains converting that performance without the penalties and incidents that have repeatedly limited the final result.
FTP Summary Line
Road America delivered the Valkyrie’s strongest IMSA result to date with fifth overall after a post-race penalty removed an apparent second-place finish; Car Blanche secured third in GTD, while a late penalty dropped the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage to 15th and reduced Dudu Barrichello’s championship lead to just 24 points.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Result Snapshot – Aston Martin Focus
The overall and class podium finishers, together with the final positions of the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, Car Blanche and Heart of Racing entries in the 2026 Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.
GTP / Overall
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #10 Cadillac V-Series.R | Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing | Ricky Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque | 151 | Overall winner |
| 2 | #5 Porsche 963 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | Tijmen van der Helm / Laurin Heinrich / Kaylen Frederick | 151 | Finished 1.960 seconds behind. |
| 3 | #40 Cadillac V-Series.R | Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor / Louis Delétraz | 151 | Completed the overall podium. |
| 5 | #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie | Aston Martin THOR Team | Ross Gunn / Roman De Angelis | 151 | First IMSA top five |
LMP2
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #43 Oreca 07-Gibson | Inter Europol Competition | Jeremy Clarke / Bijoy Garg / Tom Dillmann | 149 | LMP2 winner |
| 2 | #04 Oreca 07-Gibson | CrowdStrike Racing by APR | George Kurtz / Toby Sowery / Malthe Jakobsen | 149 | Second in class. |
| 3 | #11 Oreca 07-Gibson | TDS Racing | Steven Thomas / Mikkel Jensen / Hunter McElrea | 149 | Completed the LMP2 podium. |
GTD PRO
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 | Pfaff Motorsports | Andrea Caldarelli / Sandy Mitchell | 142 | GTD PRO winner |
| 2 | #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R | AO Racing | Nick Tandy / Harry King | 142 | Finished 0.354 seconds behind. |
| 3 | #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R | Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports | Tommy Milner / Nicky Catsburg | 142 | Completed the GTD PRO podium. |
GTD
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward / Philip Ellis / Indy Dontje | 142 | GTD winner |
| 2 | #023 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo | Triarsi Competizione | Onofrio Triarsi / Kenton Koch / Robert Megennis | 142 | Finished 0.533 seconds behind. |
| 3 | #068 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Car Blanche | Marius Fossard / Valentin Hasse-Clot / Trenton Estep | 142 | Second GTD podium |
| 15 | #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Heart of Racing Team | Dudu Barrichello / Tom Gamble / Zacharie Robichon | 142 | 44-second post-race penalty |
Results shown for the 2026 Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Round 08. The Road America classifications remained provisional when this snapshot was prepared.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 07 - Heart of Racing Recovers to Sixth and Retains GTD Lead at CTMP
Aston Martin left Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with its GTD championship lead intact, but the Chevrolet Grand Prix became a race of contrasting fortunes for the two Vantage GT3 Evo entries. Heart of Racing started from GTD pole before a difficult opening pit stop and subsequent drive-through penalty dropped the #27 almost two laps behind the class leaders. A well-managed recovery, combined with an impressive closing drive from Roman De Angelis, brought the car back to sixth and preserved Dudu Barrichello’s championship advantage.
For Car Blanche, an encouraging fifth-place start in GTD PRO was compromised by early contact that cost the #68 several positions. The team completed its first race in the professional category in tenth.
The 2-hour, 40-minute event featured LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD, with GTP absent from the Canadian round. The Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie therefore didn’t compete, leaving Heart of Racing and Car Blanche to carry Aston Martin’s IMSA challenge.
LMP2: Inter Europol Completes the Pole-to-Victory Double
With LMP2 serving as the headline class, overall victory went to the #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07-Gibson of Jeremy Clarke and Tom Dillmann.
Clarke started from pole and controlled the opening phase before handing the car to Dillmann. Two caution periods disrupted the opening hour, but the second half of the race ran largely under green, placing greater importance on pace, traffic management and the timing of the final fuel stops.
Dillmann passed the championship-leading #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca on track and rebuilt his advantage whenever traffic briefly brought the leading cars together.
The #43 led 93 of the race’s 127 laps and finished 9.796 seconds ahead of Alex Quinn and George Kurtz. PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron completed the overall podium for AO Racing in the #99 Oreca. It was a particularly significant victory for Dillmann, who had suffered a heavy accident at CTMP one year earlier after appearing on course for a strong result.
GTD: Pole Position Becomes a Major Recovery Drive
Heart of Racing arrived in Canada leading the GTD championship and immediately demonstrated the pace of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Despite being held in the pits for the opening five minutes of qualifying because the team hadn’t completed a required pre-session torque-sensor offset test, Dudu Barrichello produced a 1:15.130 lap to secure GTD pole. It was his second pole position of the season and another indication that the #27 possessed the speed required to challenge for victory.
Barrichello shared the Vantage with Canadian driver Roman De Angelis, who replaced Tom Gamble while Gamble competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship at São Paulo. Barrichello maintained the GTD lead during the opening phase, but the race began to unravel during the first pit stop.
A problem with one of the wheel guns delayed the tyre change, leaving the car stationary for approximately 20 seconds longer than intended. The difficulties were then compounded when too many crew members were deemed to have crossed the pit wall, resulting in a drive-through penalty. By the time the penalty had been served, the championship-leading Vantage had fallen to the back of the field and was close to two laps behind the GTD leaders.
Barrichello later received a warning following a tightly contested incident involving the #13 and #66 entries at Turn Eight, but no additional time or drive-through penalty was imposed. A subsequent caution gave Heart of Racing an opportunity to use the wave-around and regain the lead lap. That changed the complexion of the race, although the #27 remained disadvantaged on fuel and still had considerable ground to recover.
De Angelis took over for the final phase and steadily worked his way through a closely grouped pack of GTD cars. His progress carried the Aston Martin back to sixth, and late in the race he recorded the fastest lap in the class. The #27 completed all 118 laps and finished only 0.135 seconds behind the fifth-placed Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini. Considering the earlier pit-stop delay, drive-through penalty and loss of track position, sixth represented a substantial recovery.
The performance was recognised during the broadcast when Heart of Racing was selected for the race’s strategy award, with particular emphasis placed on the team’s recovery and its importance to Barrichello’s championship campaign.
Victory went to the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis. Ellis finished 1.886 seconds ahead of the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus shared by Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pedersen, with Turner Motorsport completing the podium through its #96 BMW.
Sixth reduced Barrichello’s championship advantage from 157 points to 92, but the result prevented what might otherwise have been a far more damaging afternoon.
GTD PRO: Early Contact Shapes Car Blanche’s Race
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park also marked Car Blanche’s first appearance in GTD PRO.
After finishing third in GTD on its IMSA debut at Watkins Glen, the YRB Racing-run operation moved the #68 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo into the professional class for Valentin Hasse Clot and Scott Andrews. Andrews qualified an encouraging fifth against an established field and initially held his position during the opening laps.
The race changed when Andrews came under pressure from Harry King in the #77 AO Racing Porsche. While defending the position, the two cars made contact, with the Aston Martin emerging from the sequence in the worse position. Andrews lost several places and fell towards the rear of the GTD PRO field. With its original track position gone, Car Blanche made an early pit stop and attempted to create a different strategic opportunity.
The timing briefly placed the team on an alternative sequence, but the subsequent caution effectively reset much of the GT field and reduced the potential benefit. The #68 completed the full 118 laps and finished tenth in GTD PRO. Race control also issued warnings concerning controlled powertrain parameters and track limits, although neither produced an additional drive-through or post-race time penalty.
The final position was less impressive than the team’s Watkins Glen podium, but qualifying fifth and completing its first professional-class race still provided useful evidence of the Vantage’s potential in GTD PRO.
Victory went to the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat. Excellent pit work and a short first fuel fill helped move the Lexus into contention, before Barnicoat passed the RLL McLaren and controlled the closing stages. AO Racing’s #77 Porsche finished second, with the championship-leading #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW third.
A Missed Opportunity - but an Important Recovery
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, CTMP wasn’t simply a frustrating race for Aston Martin. It was also an important demonstration of resilience.
The #27 had the pace to start from pole and ultimately set the fastest GTD lap, but a failed wheel-gun sequence and the resulting pit-lane difficulties transformed a potential victory challenge into a major recovery exercise. Heart of Racing then responded intelligently. The wave-around brought the car back onto the lead lap, the final stop was executed cleanly, and De Angelis delivered the overtaking required to recover sixth place.
The result didn’t prevent the championship margin from shrinking, but it may prove significant later in the season. A race that could easily have produced very few points instead ended with Barrichello still leading the championship by 92.
For Car Blanche, the qualifying result demonstrated credible GTD PRO pace. Its race was compromised by early contact rather than a simple inability to compete with the professional field, although tenth underlined the scale of the challenge presented by the category.
The Valkyrie was absent because GTP wasn’t included at CTMP. It’s scheduled to return when all four WeatherTech Championship classes reconvene at Road America from 30th July to 2nd August.
Aston Martin therefore leaves Canada still leading the GTD championship, with one Vantage having produced a notable recovery and the other gaining valuable experience during its first GTD PRO appearance.
Result Snapshot – Aston Martin Focus
The overall and class podium finishers, together with the final positions of the Heart of Racing and Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo entries at the 2026 Chevrolet Grand Prix.
Overall / LMP2
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #43 Oreca 07-Gibson | Inter Europol Competition | Tom Dillmann / Jeremy Clarke | 127 | Overall winner |
| 2 | #04 Oreca 07-Gibson | CrowdStrike Racing by APR | George Kurtz / Malthe Jakobsen | 127 | Finished 9.796 seconds behind. |
| 3 | #99 Oreca 07-Gibson | AO Racing | PJ Hyett / Dane Cameron | 127 | Completed the overall podium. |
GTD PRO
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #14 Lexus RC F GT3 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Jack Hawksworth / Ben Barnicoat | 118 | GTD PRO winner |
| 2 | #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R | AO Racing | Nick Tandy / Harry King | 118 | Second in GTD PRO. |
| 3 | #1 BMW M4 GT3 Evo | Paul Miller Racing | Neil Verhagen / Connor De Phillippi | 118 | Completed the class podium. |
| 10 | #68 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Car Blanche | Valentin Hasse Clot / Scott Andrews | 118 | First GTD PRO race |
GTD
| Pos | Car | Team | Drivers | Laps | FTP Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward / Philip Ellis | 118 | GTD winner |
| 2 | #12 Lexus RC F GT3 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Aaron Telitz / Benjamin Pedersen | 118 | Reduced the championship deficit. |
| 3 | #96 BMW M4 GT3 Evo | Turner Motorsport | Patrick Gallagher / Robby Foley | 118 | Completed the GTD podium. |
| 6 | #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo | Heart of Racing Team | Dudu Barrichello / Roman De Angelis | 118 | Pole; recovered after penalty |
Results shown for the 2026 Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Round 07. GTP did not compete at this event.
FTP Summary Line
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park brought another GTD pole for the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage, but a troubled pit stop and drive-through penalty dropped it nearly two laps behind before Roman De Angelis recovered to sixth; Barrichello retained the championship lead, while Car Blanche finished tenth on its GTD PRO debut.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 06 - Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (Watkins Glen International | 28th June 2026)
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen was another important race in Aston Martin’s 2026 IMSA story, but it delivered very different emotions across the marque’s two programmes.
In GTD, the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo continued to prove itself as a serious championship-level car. Car Blanche delivered the headline result with a GTD podium on its first appearance under the new team name, while Heart of Racing kept its championship push alive despite losing a likely bigger result through caution timing. In GTP, however, the Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie endured one of its more frustrating IMSA outings, retiring early after contact during a caution and traffic sequence.
At the front of the race, overall victory went to the #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti. The Cadillac squad had been strong throughout the Watkins Glen weekend and converted that speed into a commanding win over six hours. The #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 finished second, with the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 completing the overall and GTP podium.
For Aston Martin followers, though, the most significant result came further down the overall classification in GTD. The #068 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, driven by Valentin Hasse Clot, Trenton Estep and Marius Fossard, finished third in class. That made it the best Aston Martin finisher at Watkins Glen and a hugely encouraging debut result for the Car Blanche programme.
Heart of Racing has been the headline Vantage entry for much of the season, but Car Blanche immediately showed that another Aston Martin customer team can fight towards the front of the GTD field. A class podium at Watkins Glen is not a minor achievement. It came in one of IMSA’s major endurance rounds, against a deep GTD field, and on a weekend where strategy, traffic, cautions and execution all mattered.
Heart of Racing’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo had a race that was both impressive and frustrating. Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello, Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon finished fifth in GTD, but the final result does not fully tell the story. The car started from the front of the GTD field, led 62 laps and remained in podium contention through the opening half of the race. The problem came when Barrichello was caught by the timing of a full-course caution just before a scheduled stop, costing the #27 valuable track position.
From there, the #27 crew had to recover rather than control the class. Fifth place was still a useful championship result, and the team remains right in the GTD title fight, but Watkins Glen will feel like a race where more was possible. For FTP readers, that is the important distinction: this was not a quiet fifth place. It was a strong performance that slipped away through race timing rather than lack of pace.
Magnus Racing also returned to IMSA action with the #44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, driven by John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly and Mario Farnbacher. The team’s race ended early, with the car classified 48th overall and 19th in GTD after 94 laps. It was a disappointing return after Magnus Racing’s strong Daytona podium earlier in the season, but its presence still added another Aston Martin thread to a busy GTD field.
The toughest Aston Martin story came in GTP. The #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, driven by Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis, arrived at Watkins Glen with genuine optimism. Aston Martin had pointed to the circuit’s fast, flowing character as something that should better suit the Valkyrie, and after progress through the first half of the year there was reason to hope for another step forward.
Instead, the race was effectively over inside the first hour. Gunn started ninth in GTP and handed over to De Angelis during the second caution. After a fuel top-up, De Angelis rejoined into a difficult traffic situation involving slowed GTD cars and an Acura GTP. With limited visibility and little room to react, contact forced the #23 Valkyrie into retirement after 21 laps.
That was a frustrating outcome, particularly because Watkins Glen looked like one of the more promising North American tracks for the Valkyrie. The car’s IMSA campaign remains a development story: it has shown signs of progress, it has delivered top-ten finishes, and it continues to take on a highly experienced GTP field. But The Glen was a reminder that learning in public at this level is rarely straightforward.
The race also highlighted the contrast between Aston Martin’s two IMSA programmes. The Vantage GT3 Evo is already a proven, front-running and championship-relevant car. It can qualify at the sharp end, lead races, score podiums and keep Aston Martin at the centre of the GTD title battle. The Valkyrie, by contrast, is still being shaped into a consistent GTP contender. It has the drama, significance and ambition of a top-class hypercar programme, but it is still searching for the complete IMSA result that would turn promise into a headline breakthrough.
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Watkins Glen was therefore a mixed but important Aston Martin weekend. Car Blanche’s GTD podium was the standout result and a brilliant start for that programme. Heart of Racing’s fifth place kept the championship story alive, even if the team will know a podium or win was within reach. Magnus Racing had a difficult return, while the Valkyrie’s early retirement made this a missed opportunity in GTP.
The bigger picture remains encouraging in GTD. Aston Martin now has multiple Vantage entries capable of attracting attention, and the #27 Heart of Racing car remains one of the key championship contenders. The Vantage GT3 Evo continues to look like one of Aston Martin’s strongest racing assets in 2026.
For the Valkyrie, Watkins Glen goes into the logbook as a painful lesson rather than a step forward on paper. But the programme remains one of the most important Aston Martin motorsport projects to follow. The ambition is huge, the opposition is formidable, and the learning curve is steep. That is exactly why every finish, every setback and every flash of pace matters.
FTP Summary Line
Car Blanche gave Aston Martin the Watkins Glen highlight with a debut GTD podium, Heart of Racing preserved its title challenge, and the Valkyrie GTP programme endured a frustrating early retirement.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 05 - IMSA Detroit: Valkyrie reaches the finish in a bruising Motor City sprint
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returned to the streets of Detroit for the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, a 100-minute sprint around the tight 1.645-mile Detroit Street Circuit. It was a race won on home ground by General Motors, with the #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber taking overall victory ahead of the #25 BMW M Team WRT entry of Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann, with the #10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing car of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque completing the GTP podium.
For Aston Martin, the focus was the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis. Detroit was always likely to be one of the more awkward venues for the car. Aston Martin’s own preview described the downtown street circuit as narrow, unforgiving, tight, twisty and dominated by 90-degree corners, while Ross Gunn called it one of the hardest tracks to drive a hypercar around because of the short layout and twisty nature of the course.
The Valkyrie qualified ninth in GTP, with Gunn and De Angelis starting from behind the main Cadillac, Acura, BMW and Porsche factory contenders. In the race, the #23 car reached the finish and was provisionally classified 10th overall and 10th in GTP, completing the same 82-lap distance as the overall winner and finishing 12.558 seconds behind. On paper that looks close, but the Aston Martin’s race was far from straightforward.
The early part of the race placed the #23 Valkyrie in the traffic and strategy shuffle. The broadcast transcript notes that Heart of Racing brought the Valkyrie in early with Roman De Angelis taking over, but the car then had to return to pit lane after a pit-stop infringement for crew members being over the wall before the car had stopped. That drive-through dropped the Aston Martin deeper into a race that was already becoming a tactical street-circuit fight.
The most significant Aston Martin moment came later when Laurin Heinrich, in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963, was judged responsible for forcing the #23 Valkyrie into the wall. IMSA’s own race report says Heinrich received a stop-plus-60-seconds penalty for the incident, while Sportscar365 also described the penalty as a major blow to the former championship leader’s race.
From that point, the Valkyrie’s Detroit afternoon became more about survival, mileage and bringing the car home. The result wasn’t the breakthrough that Aston Martin THOR Team would’ve hoped for after encouraging signs at Long Beach, Laguna Seca and the wider Valkyrie programme’s recent Spa performance in WEC, but it was still another completed IMSA race on a very different type of circuit. For a young hypercar programme, that matters. Detroit offered more data, more street-course learning and another reminder that the Valkyrie is being developed in public, against highly experienced factory opposition.
In GTD Pro, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports completed the GM story, with Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims winning in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 finished second, scoring an important early podium for Lamborghini’s new GT3 car, while the #65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 of Christopher Mies and Frédéric Vervisch completed the class podium after a chaotic final phase.
There is also a small but important Aston Martin GT3 footnote to this Detroit round. While the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO has been a major part of Aston Martin’s 2026 IMSA story so far, Detroit’s WeatherTech race did not include a GTD entry for the Heart of Racing Vantage. The event was restricted to GTP and GTD Pro, with the Aston Martin presence therefore centred on the #23 Valkyrie rather than the #27 Vantage GT3 EVO. That matters because the Vantage has already been one of Aston Martin’s strongest IMSA storylines this season, with Aston Martin reporting after Laguna Seca that the Heart of Racing Vantage had taken a fourth IMSA podium of 2026 and extended its GTD championship lead. Detroit, then, was a Valkyrie-only weekend for Aston Martin in WeatherTech competition, but the Vantage GT3 story remains very much alive for the next GTD round.
For the FTP Motorsport Hub, the key Aston Martin takeaway is measured but positive. Detroit did not appear to play to the natural strengths of the Valkyrie, and the #23 car’s race was compromised by a pit-lane penalty and later contact. Even so, the Aston Martin THOR Team entry made the finish in a fiercely competitive GTP field, continuing the steady process of building experience with the only road-derived hypercar competing across IMSA and WEC.
FTP Summary Line
Detroit was a tough, uncompromising street-circuit weekend for Aston Martin’s Valkyrie, but the #23 THOR Team entry reached the finish, gained more valuable IMSA mileage, and kept the marque’s hypercar learning curve moving forward while the Vantage GT3 story waits for the GTD class to return.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 04 - StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship 2026
The fourth round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship took the series to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship. Overall victory went to the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 of Tijmen van der Helm and Laurin Heinrich, ahead of the #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber, with the #25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann completing the podium. The currently available IMSA timing document is marked as an unofficial result, so it remains sensible to treat it as the working classification until IMSA publishes its final confirmed result.
From an Aston Martin perspective, Laguna Seca felt like one of the more constructive IMSA weekends of the season so far. In GTP, the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, driven by Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis, finished eighth overall and eighth in class, completing 119 laps and ending the race 8.010 seconds behind the winning Porsche in the unofficial classification. That made it the Valkyrie’s best IMSA GTP finish of the campaign to date. On its own, eighth place in a ten-car GTP field does not transform the wider story, but it does continue the sense that the programme is inching forward. The car had also qualified sixth overall, which added to the impression that this was a steadier and more encouraging weekend than some of the earlier rounds.
The GTD side of Aston Martin’s IMSA effort was stronger still. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, shared by Dudu Barrichello and Aston Martin works driver Tom Gamble, finished second in class behind the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini. According to Aston Martin Racing’s own post-race brief, this was the fourth Vantage podium from four IMSA rounds in 2026, following the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona and the earlier GTD podiums already secured this year. It was also Barrichello’s third podium of his rookie IMSA season, which says a great deal about how quickly he’s settled into the championship. AMR also notes that the result increased Barrichello’s lead in the GTD drivers’ championship, while Heart of Racing extended its advantage at the top of the GTD teams’ standings. That gives the result a little more weight than a simple second place on the day might suggest: this wasn’t merely another good finish, but a result that strengthened Aston Martin’s most competitive IMSA title challenge.
Van der Steur Racing also deserves more than a brief mention. Rory van der Steur put the #19 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo sixth on the GTD grid, underlining the car’s pace over one lap. With Valentin Hasse-Clot away on European Le Mans Series duty, Scott Andrews joined van der Steur for the race. Their afternoon then became far more complicated than the final classification alone would suggest. After suffering first-lap damage, the car required an early unscheduled stop for repairs. From there, the team fought back strongly, regaining the lead lap and at one stage running as high as second in GTD thanks to an alternative fuel strategy. In the end, with no Full Course Yellow in the closing stages to help the fuel calculation, a late splash-and-dash was needed, and the #19 came home 10th in class. Even so, AMR was right to frame it as a recovery drive of some substance rather than a routine 10th place.
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Laguna Seca was not a breakthrough weekend in the dramatic sense, but it was a genuinely positive one. The Valkyrie programme continued to make steady progress in GTP, while the Vantage GT3 effort again looked far more mature and competitive, particularly through Heart of Racing’s second place and strengthened championship position. Van der Steur Racing’s recovery drive also added a useful reminder that there was more depth to Aston Martin’s GTD weekend than the podium alone. Taken together, Laguna Seca felt like a weekend of real forward movement for Aston Martin in IMSA: not a headline-grabbing transformation, but a solid and meaningful step in the right direction.
FTP Summary Line
Aston Martin’s IMSA weekend at Laguna Seca was a constructive one. The #23 Valkyrie recorded its best GTP finish of the season so far with eighth overall, while the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage delivered another strong GTD podium in second. The result did not transform the overall picture, but it did give both Aston Martin IMSA strands something tangible to build on.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 03 - Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach 2026
The third round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship took the series to the streets of Long Beach for a shorter, sharper 100-minute race featuring the GTP and GTD classes. Overall victory went to the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly, ahead of the #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. The top five was completed by the #7 Porsche and the #24 BMW M Team WRT entry.
For Aston Martin, Long Beach was a frustrating but not empty weekend. The #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis finished ninth overall and ninth in GTP, one lap down. On the result sheet, that looked like another modest top-class finish. But Aston Martin’s own later preview for Laguna Seca made clear that the Long Beach result did not fully reflect the car’s pace, stating that the Valkyrie had been running a competitive fourth before contact from a rival with less than an hour remaining.
The GTD story was mixed as well. The #19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, shared by Rory van der Steur and Valentin Hasse-Clot, finished 17th overall and eighth in GTD. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, driven by Dudu Barrichello and Spencer Pumpelly, finished 19th overall and 10th in GTD. Aston Martin later noted that van der Steur Racing had run as high as second in class before finishing eighth, while Heart of Racing left Long Beach still leading the GTD teams’ standings despite the compromised race result.
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Long Beach is a race that needs careful handling. The final classifications alone make it look like a flat weekend: ninth in GTP, eighth and tenth in GTD. But the underlying Aston Martin story is more nuanced. The Valkyrie again showed flashes of genuine performance before contact interrupted what might have been its strongest IMSA result of the season so far, while the Vantage GT3 Evo entries preserved useful championship positions even without a podium. It was not a result to celebrate, but it was also not a weekend without signs of progress.
FTP Summary Line
Aston Martin’s Long Beach weekend was better than the final result first suggested. The #23 Valkyrie finished ninth in GTP after losing ground from a stronger position, while van der Steur Racing took eighth in GTD and Heart of Racing retained the class teams’ championship lead despite a 10th-place finish.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 02 - 12 Hours of Sebring 2026
The second round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, one of the toughest endurance races in North America. Porsche Penske Motorsport took overall victory with the #7 Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, ahead of the sister #6 Porsche. The #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R completed the overall podium, followed by the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing Acura and the #24 BMW M Team WRT entry.
For Aston Martin, the strongest story again came in GTD. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, driven by Dudu Barrichello, Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon, finished second in GTD, less than a second behind the class-winning AF Corse USA Ferrari. The result continued Aston Martin’s strong GTD start to the IMSA season, following the double Vantage podium at Daytona. Aston Martin’s own report noted that Heart of Racing had taken GTD pole with Barrichello and remained in victory contention deep into the race.
The race was not straightforward. Heart of Racing’s own recap recorded that the #27 started from GTD pole, led 100 laps, and had to recover from setbacks including a drive-through penalty around the six-hour mark and an unplanned stop caused by debris build-up. Even so, the car came back to finish second, with the team leaving Sebring as provisional GTD championship leaders.
The #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie also continued its early GTP development programme. Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis and Alex Riberas brought the car home 19th overall and ninth in GTP, 12 laps behind the winning Porsche. Heart of Racing reported that Gunn had climbed as high as fifth before a combination of a penalty and a later restart issue cost the Valkyrie significant time. The car still reached the finish, which matters for a new top-class endurance programme, but the result again showed that the Valkyrie’s IMSA story remains one of learning and race-by-race development rather than headline competitiveness.
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Sebring was another split weekend for Aston Martin. The Vantage GT3 Evo was once again right at the sharp end in GTD, taking pole, leading laps and finishing second in class. The Valkyrie, meanwhile, completed another demanding endurance race and gathered more vital GTP mileage, but still lost ground through penalties and technical interruption. In simple terms, Aston Martin’s GTD campaign looked strong and mature; the Valkyrie programme remained promising, but still very much in its early proving phase.
FTP Summary Line
Aston Martin left Sebring with another strong GTD podium as the #27 Heart of Racing Vantage finished second after starting from pole and leading 100 laps. The #23 Valkyrie reached the finish in GTP, but penalties and a restart issue kept it from converting early promise into a stronger result.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Round 01 - Rolex at Daytona 2026
The 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opened with the Rolex 24 at Daytona, one of the great endurance races on the global calendar. Overall victory went to the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich, finishing just 1.569 seconds ahead of the #31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. The #24 BMW M Team WRT entry completed the overall podium, with the top nine cars all coming from the GTP class.
For Aston Martin, Daytona carried two very different stories. In GTD, the Vantage GT3 Evo produced an excellent result, with two Aston Martins finishing on the class podium. The #44 Magnus Racing Vantage, driven by John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly, Nicki Thiim and Madison Snow, finished second in GTD, while the #27 Heart of Racing Team Vantage of Tom Gamble, Dudu Barrichello, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi finished third. The official result also placed the #19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage 11th in GTD.
The #27 Heart of Racing car had started from GTD pole in the hands of Zacharie Robichon and remained a factor in the class fight. Heart of Racing’s own recap recorded that the car led 99 laps, reached a highest position of first in class, and finished third after completing all 661 GTD laps. That made it a strong points start for Dudu Barrichello’s first Rolex 24 and gave Mattia Drudi a second Daytona podium from two Rolex 24 starts.
The other major Aston Martin storyline was the Rolex 24 debut of the #23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie in GTP. The car, shared by Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis, Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen, was classified 31st overall and 10th in GTP, 44 laps behind the winning Porsche. The result itself was not the headline Aston Martin wanted, but it was still an important endurance debut for the Valkyrie in IMSA’s top class. Heart of Racing noted that the car reached as high as sixth but lost significant time with an electrical issue around the five-hour mark, followed by another mechanical problem in the final hour before returning to finish the race.
From a Fuel the Passion perspective, Daytona was therefore a split result. The Vantage GT3 Evo again proved its value in GTD, with Magnus Racing and Heart of Racing both on the class podium and Aston Martin genuinely in the victory fight. The Valkyrie’s GTP debut was more difficult, but the car reached the flag and gathered crucial race mileage in one of the hardest endurance races of the season. That makes Daytona a strong GTD result for Aston Martin, and a learning race for the new GTP programme.
FTP Summary Line
Aston Martin’s IMSA season began with a strong GTD showing at Daytona, as Magnus Racing and Heart of Racing put the Vantage GT3 Evo second and third in class. The Valkyrie’s GTP debut was more difficult, but the #23 car reached the finish and gave the programme valuable mileage at one of endurance racing’s toughest events.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.
Image © Aston Martin Lagonda. Used for editorial purposes.