2026 FIA World Endurance Championship Spa Francorchamps, Belgium 6th - 9th May 2026 Photo: Drew Gibson

Drew Gibson

Aston Martin’s Valkyrie Hypercar delivered its strongest statement yet ahead of next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing fourth at Spa-Francorchamps in a dramatic FIA World Endurance Championship race that underlined the car’s growing competitiveness at the top level of endurance racing.

In only its 10th WEC appearance since debuting in Qatar last season, the British-built Valkyrie came within five seconds of victory at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa, emerging as one of the standout performers in a chaotic race that featured multiple Safety Cars, late-race battles and relentless wheel-to-wheel action.

Sharing the #007 Aston Martin THOR Team entry, British drivers Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble combined sharp racecraft with clever strategy to put the Valkyrie firmly into contention during the closing stages. Tincknell charged through the field with a pair of decisive overtakes that lifted the car from 10th to eighth in a single lap, while a well-timed Safety Car period allowed the team to synchronize its fuel strategy with its Hypercar rivals.

As the race entered its final hour, Gamble found himself locked in a tense five-car scrap for second place. The closing minutes produced a frantic sprint to the flag, with the Briton narrowly avoiding a spinning Alpine through Eau Rouge before passing a Toyota to secure fourth place with less than five minutes remaining.

The result marked not only Valkyrie’s best finish in the WEC, but also the strongest race yet for the #007 crew, who claimed their second consecutive points finish. Aston Martin now sits fourth in the Hypercar Manufacturers’ standings, while Gamble and Tincknell move up to ninth in the drivers’ championship.

There was, however, frustration for sister #009 Valkyrie, driven by Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas. Both drivers had spent much of the race inside the top 10 and looked poised to capitalize on their strong pace on soft tires after the penultimate restart.

But the race unraveled dramatically when Riberas was forced onto the grass along the high-speed Kemmel Straight while attempting an overtake for fifth place. The resulting spin triggered the final Safety Car period and ultimately forced the car into retirement, ending what had been one of the team’s most promising performances of the season.

Despite the disappointment, the weekend represented another significant milestone for Aston Martin’s Hypercar program. Valkyrie has now scored points in four consecutive WEC races stretching back to Fuji and Bahrain last year, while both cars reached Hyperpole for the first time at Spa, qualifying sixth and seventh on the grid.

Attention now turns to the centerpiece of the endurance racing calendar: the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13-14. Aston Martin will arrive at Circuit de la Sarthe with growing momentum—and hopes of adding a new chapter to a legacy that includes the marque’s famous overall Le Mans victory in 1959 with Roy Salvadori, Carroll Shelby and the legendary DBR1.