Aston Martin Eyes Victory at 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona with Vantage GT3
Aston Martin's new Vantage GT3 is set to compete for victory at North America's most renowned endurance race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, marking the start of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this weekend at the celebrated Florida circuit.
The Heart of Racing (THOR) and Aston Martin are gearing up the revolutionary Valkyrie hypercar to debut in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class at the Sebring 12 Hours on 15 March. This follows its global racing debut at the FIA World Endurance Championship's Qatar 1812km, the season opener in Lusail three weeks earlier. Meanwhile, the 2024 Spa 24 Hour champion, the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, leads the charge in both the GTD Pro and GTD categories at Daytona International Speedway, heralding a pivotal year for the British luxury sports car maker in global endurance motorsport.
THOR fields a stellar lineup of drivers in both classes, all determined to build on the team's 2022 championship triumph and 2023 Rolex 24 victory. Magnus Racing, multiple IMSA championship winners, and van der Steur Racing, a newcomer to the IMSA GTD class, support them.
The Vantage GT3, a victor in its most recent major international 24-hour event, last year's Spa 24 Hours, and a winner in all significant global endurance series in its first season in 2024, shares the mechanical design of the luxurious Vantage road car. Constructed with Aston Martin’s proven bonded aluminium chassis and equipped with a powerful twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine, the Vantage GT3 is designed for peak performance.
Seattle-based THOR, which clinched the IMSA GTD title with Vantage in 2022, returns with one car in each GTD Pro and GTD class as they pursue victory in both categories. The 2022 IMSA GTD Drivers’ champion Roman De Angelis and three-time FIA World Endurance champion Marco Sørensen, who were part of the 2023 Daytona GTD-winning team, will this year drive the GTD Pro class #007 Vantage, accompanied by IMSA race winners Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas.
Zacharie Robichon, a champion in both IMSA and the European Le Mans Series, drives THOR’s #27 GTD entry alongside British duo Tom Gamble and Casper Stevenson, and AMR works driver Mattia Drudi, the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint title holder, all making their IMSA debuts this weekend.
In 2025, the Rolex 24 GTD class will also feature Magnus Racing, Aston Martin's partner team. The two-time Rolex 24 class-winning team achieved a commendable second-place finish with the Vantage at Daytona in 2023 and added a podium finish at the Six Hours of the Glen last year. The team includes regulars John Potter, Andy Lally, and Spencer Pumpelly, joined by AMR works star and double FIA WEC GT world champion Nicki Thiim.
Van der Steur Racing, also fielding the fourth Vantage at this year’s Rolex 24, embarks on its first race with the Vantage GT3 after a successful 2024 season in the GT4 category in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, finishing third in the Teams’ Championship. Aston Martin will pilot the #19 Vantage works driver Valentin Hasse Clot, Maxime Robin, reigning Lamborghini Super Trofeo Pro-Am world champion Andrew McIntosh, and Rory van der Steur.
On Friday, four new Aston Martin Vantage GT4s will also appear in the four-hour IMPC opener at Daytona. The British luxury sports car brand, celebrating title successes in Drivers’, Teams’, and Manufacturers’ categories in 2024, is represented by three teams. Last year’s title-winning Team TGM returns with Drivers’ champion Matt Plumb sharing the #46 entry with Paul Holton, while team owner Ted Giovanis is joined in #64 by Hugh Plumb and Kris Hilton. They are joined by van der Steur Racing’s Christine and Ben Sloss and by Rebel Rock Racing, with drivers Frank DePew and Robin Liddell, who secured the first global victory for the newest version of the Vantage GT4 at Sebring last March and former series champion Andrew Davis.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin's Head of Endurance Motorsport, emphasised the importance of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, renowned as North America's most prestigious endurance race and globally significant. He highlighted the formidable strength of their driver lineups and the extensive engineering support provided to their North American partner teams, projecting confidence in achieving further successes on this continent. The 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona is set to commence at 1340 ET on Saturday, 25 January 2025, promising an exhilarating competition.
