Riberas and Tincknell to join Aston Martin THOR team

Aston Martin has named the first two drivers in its The Heart of Racing (THOR) team in a bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 1959.

Spaniard Alex Riberas and Englishman Harry Tincknell will join the brand's lineup for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), with the latter returning to Aston Martin after four years, previously winning the 2016 European Le Mans Series champion, 2020 12 Hours of Sebring, and 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Aston Martin will revive the famous #007 and #009 race numbers for 2025, and Harry Tincknell will have the honour of driving the #007 Valkyrie.

Both drivers have extensive experience of racing Aston Martins and have played key roles in the development and preparation of the new Aston Martin Valkyrie, the only race car built to FIA's Hypercar regulations to simultaneously contest both the WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025.

Two 6.5-litre V12-powered Valkyries with race-optimised carbon fibre chassis will be entered in WEC's top Hypercar class. The car will make its world championship debut in the Qatar 1,812km on 28 February 2025 and its IMSA debut in the GTP category at the world famous 12 Hours of Sebring which will run from 12 March 2025 to 14 March 2025.

The car is nearing the end of its test and development programme, having covered more than 12,500km including a recent Michelin test and IMSA Sanction test at Daytona, and with the focus shifting to honing the Valkyrie's performance window ahead of homologation for the 2025 season.