The Aston Martin Valkyrie is back in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action this weekend at Laguna Seca, where the Aston Martin THOR Team will look to turn its growing pace into a major GTP-class result.
Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn arrive in Monterey after another top-ten finish at Long Beach, though the final classification did not tell the full story of a race in which the Valkyrie had been running fourth before contact from a rival car.
Laguna Seca should suit the Valkyrie’s strengths
Round 4 takes place on the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca circuit, a fast, flowing and dusty venue best known for the Corkscrew, the dramatic left-right downhill sequence with a 55-metre elevation change.
The smoother asphalt and rhythmic layout should be a better match for the Valkyrie than the bumpy streets of Long Beach, where the car still showed a meaningful step forward by qualifying 1.4 seconds faster than it had in 2025 and only 0.371 seconds from pole.
A V12 outlier in the GTP field
The race car is developed by Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing from the Valkyrie road car, using a race-optimised carbon-fibre chassis and a modified 6.5-litre V12 that can rev to 11,000rpm.
In IMSA GTP trim, the car is limited to 500kW, or around 680bhp, under class regulations, even though the road-going Valkyrie powertrain is known for producing more than 1000bhp in standard form.
It remains the only V12-powered entry in IMSA’s top class and the only car with road-going hypercar origins competing at the top level of either IMSA or the World Endurance Championship.
De Angelis and Gunn chase the result that has been coming
De Angelis and Gunn have finished inside the top ten in every 2026 IMSA outing so far, and the Valkyrie has now recorded ten top-ten finishes from 11 starts.
That consistency has been encouraging, but the team has also had to absorb a run of missed opportunities stretching back to the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
Gunn knows Laguna Seca well after five seasons of IMSA racing at the circuit, while De Angelis has pointed to the car’s strong response there last season as a reason for optimism.
More data, more confidence and a clearer target
This will be the Valkyrie’s second appearance in the GTP class at the two-hour-and-forty-minute Laguna Seca race, giving Aston Martin THOR a full season of development knowledge to apply.
Team principal Ian James has emphasised execution, strategy and controlling the variables, while Aston Martin’s endurance motorsport leadership sees Laguna Seca as a circuit where the car’s potential should be easier to unlock.
The ingredients are there for the Valkyrie to move from consistent top-ten finisher to genuine front-running threat, provided Aston Martin THOR can finally enjoy a clean race weekend.
