Valkyrie returns to Brazil on a roll after strong start to 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship
• British hypercar pursuing sixth consecutive WEC points finish, in Brazil
• British duo Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble aim to continue points-finishing streak with the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie
• Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen return to #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie target first points of the season in Brazil
• Valkyrie the only road-derived hypercar to contest world’s two premier sportscar series, the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA
The FIA World Endurance Championship WEC resumes this weekend with the 6 Hours of São Paulo, as Aston Martin’s stunning Valkyrie Hypercar seeks to build on an impressive start to the 2026 season with more points finishes, on its second visit to Brazil.
The British hypercar, prepared and operated by the works Aston Martin THOR Team, is amidst its second WEC season in 2026. And after achieving its best 24 Hours of Le Mans finish when Tom Gamble (GBR) and Harry Tincknell (GBR) placed eighth in the famous French race last month, Valkyrie is riding high on a consistent run of points finishes which stretches back five races to last year’s 6 Hours of Fuji, in September.
Indeed, British duo Tincknell, a double 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, and former European Le Mans Series champion Gamble, have finished in the points at every race in 2026. Meanwhile their team-mates, multiple WEC and IMSA GT class race-winner Alex Riberas (ESP), and triple WEC GT champion Marco Sørensen (DEN), who achieved points finishes (Drivers’ or Manufacturers’) on three occasions in 2025, are seeking to kickstart their WEC campaign after a series of misfortunes in the first three races of the year.
The postponement of March’s scheduled WEC first round in Qatar – now planned for 22-24 October – meant the season started later than usual in mid-April, in Italy, and means that the Interlagos race constitutes Round 4 of the championship. The circuit proved to be the trigger for a positive swing in performance during Valkyrie’s debut season, and with a year’s understanding under its belt, the Aston Martin THOR team heads into the event with renewed confidence.
The competition variant of Valkyrie – the pure racing expression of the world’s ultimate road-going hypercar – 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 the WEC’s hypercar rulebook and IMSA’s GTP regulations.
Harry Tincknell, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie (WEC): ‘It was good to have another points-scoring finish at Le Mans, and we head into São Paulo with a lot of confidence. Looking back to last year, this was the race that our season turned on and we were starting to show points-scoring potential. Going back this year we’re a completely different proposition and I’m looking forward to fighting for more points. Brazil has a huge racing heritage and it’s an iconic track. It doesn’t play to all of our strengths because there are a lot of low and medium speed corners, rather than high-speed sections, and it’s relatively bumpy, but the car seems to run well there. We’ve taken big steps since 2025 and learned a lot on set-up, so I’m hopeful for another good race.’
Tom Gamble, driver #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie (WEC): ‘I’m looking forward to heading back to Brazil for the next round of WEC. We’ve had a solid start to the season with points finishes in each race, so the plan is to keep that up. The team have been working hard and progressing a lot so it would be amazing to clinch the Valkyrie’s first podium this weekend.’
Alex Riberas, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie (WEC): ‘Very much looking forward to Brazil as always. It’s one of my favourite events of the year. I love Interlagos and I love São Paulo. I think it’s a track that suits the Valkyrie. We realised that last year when we arrived and I think everyone in the team was surprised by the step forward that we had made after Le Mans. I cannot see a reason why we would not be able to do that this year. Obviously, Le Mans took a huge effort for everybody and the bittersweet feeling that we got on the #009 car makes us hungrier for more, so there is no better place than Brazil to come back with vengeance and deliver a strong performance.’
Marco Sørensen, driver #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie (WEC): ‘Racing in Sao Paulo is always special. The passion of the fans and the character of the circuit make it one of the most exciting events on the calendar. I’m excited to be going back, especially since it was the circuit where we started to show some of the pace the car has, and it will be interesting to see how much further we have come since then.’
Ian James, Team Principal, Aston Martin THOR Team: ‘Brazil is an interesting race, because it throws up lots of opportunities, being quite a short track and with so many cars on it. This means that we must be in front of any potential situation and be able to take advantage as much as possible, and that will be down to calm efficiency and sharp execution by everyone in the team. Valkyrie has come a long way in 12 months in terms of how we extract the performance from it, and this time last year was when we started to make strides forward in terms of our position in the pack. The target for Sao Paulo has to be two cars in the points and fight hard for whatever else might be achievable.’
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport: ‘Valkyrie is now a consistent points finisher and achieved its best 24 Hours of Le Mans finish last month with the #007 finishing eighth. We believe there is more to come from the car and the team as we move into the middle part of the season, and on to tracks that are likely to suit the strengths of Valkyrie. There are a lot of low and medium speed corners in Brazil but we found that the car reacted reasonably well to Sao Paulo last season, and with the better understanding of the car and team, and a data set to work with, it will be interesting to see where we stand this weekend, 12 months on.’
Photo credit: Aston Martin Racing
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