In returning Aston Martin to the top class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 2012, Ian James, the team principal, said it invoked mixed feelings.
“It’s a little bit of trepidation, a little bit of angst, an immense amount of pride and being proud,” he said in an interview in May.
James runs the Heart of Racing team, or THOR, which will have two Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMHs in the Hypercar class at Le Mans.
Aston Martin has won the GT class five times since 2014 with its Vantage. It has not taken the overall victory since Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori did it in the DBR1 in 1959.
James views this year as a developmental season.
“My goals this year are just to have continual improvement,” he said. “As long as we continue to do that, and we’ve seen it in America in I.M.S.A. and W.E.C., we are inching closer and closer,” he said, referring to the International Motor Sports Association and the F.I.A. World Endurance Championship.
“I would say performance so far has exceeded my expectations,” he said. “As long as we keep going in the same direction, then I’ll be very happy at the end of the year as we move past the back of the grid, to tickling the middle of it, and I think that will happen.”
It is a debut-year project, compared with Toyota, Porsche, Peugeot and Ferrari, which have all been racing in the Hypercar class for several years.
James said “a lot of low-hanging fruit” developmentally had been picked early in the season. “We’ve probably knocked off the bottom 75 percent and now it’s the finer details we’re working on, that final 25 percent,” he said. “And now we’re talking about tenths rather than seconds.
“If everything comes to fruition and we develop as I think we can, then I think you’ll see, at the end of the W.E.C. season, we’ll be further towards the front of the field.”
The team’s best result this season is 13th in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May, with a car that has turned heads. If looks could win races, the Valkyrie would be dominant.
It is heavily modified from the Valkyrie road car, designed by Adrian Newey, a successful designer in Formula 1. His cars have won 12 constructors’ championships and 14 drivers’ titles.
“In years and decades gone by, there have always been a couple of standout cars you know are going to be iconic,” James said. “I think this car, as soon as people saw it for the first time, they got that feeling.
“Everywhere we go, the fans go crazy for it. The aesthetics, the design, but also the noise. It’s the whole package. The final element will be taking it to the front. For sure, this car will go down in history, as probably — and I know I’m biased — one of the most beautiful sports cars we’ve ever seen.”
Harry Tincknell, one of the six Aston Martin drivers competing at Le Mans in the Valkyrie, said the car “definitely has a chance of going down as one of the most iconic Le Mans cars ever — if we get results.”
Tincknell is a Le Mans veteran. He has had two class wins, including with Aston Martin in 2020, driving a Vantage in the GTE Pro class.
After four years with Porsche, Tincknell said he could not resist the opportunity to return to Aston Martin and drive the Valkyrie. He knew the project would take time to deliver results.
“This year is a learning year, so I’ve not been focused on the results of the first three races, which don’t paint an accurate picture of where we’re at and where we’ve come from,” he said in an interview in May.
“The steps we’ve taken in those races, which I’ve viewed almost as extended test sessions, have been enormous. We’re still pushing to achieve the maximum result, but ultimately, we aren’t going in hoping for a trophy. We know that’s probably an unrealistic expectation.”
Tincknell is part of an all-British lineup in the No. 007 car, alongside Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn. He said with the trajectory the team was on, he was confident it would be a successful year.
“Ultimately, the car looks incredible,” he said. “It has a fantastic V-12 engine that everyone loves the sound of. When you see it in the pit lane, you automatically think it’s going to be a front-runner straight away.”
“Of course, we’re all athletes and we want everything immediately, but now I’m a little bit more experienced in my career, I appreciate there is a process.”
Tincknell drove for Porsche in the Hypercar class last year, the second season of that manufacturer’s program. “I know the steps that everyone made from year one to year two and year two to year three,” he said.
“We’ve come in when everyone else has improved their cars massively. We’re starting the journey late.”
Marco Sorensen of Denmark, in the No. 009 car with Alex Riberas of Spain and Roman De Angelis of Canada, is in his ninth year driving for Aston Martin. He won the World Endurance Championship with the manufacturer in the GTE Pro class in 2016 and in the 2019-20 season and the GTE Am class in 2022.
Sorensen said the Hypercar category was “a breath of fresh air” and “a completely different new challenge,” after some “ups and downs” in the GT classes with Aston Martin.
“W.E.C. is a championship that really requires you to do everything perfectly,” he said in an interview in May. “As a team, we’re not doing it perfectly yet. From the car side of things, we have had a few too many issues.
“On the other hand, we also have a massive team working to fix everything. We’re at that crossing point where we are going to, at some point, make it over, and then we’re going to start being consistent, and we can start improving from there.”
Sorensen said to get to the checkered flag at Le Mans “would be a big tick in the box.” Tincknell agreed. “If we can get both cars to the finish with no problems, we’ll be very happy with that.”
James may yet be a winner. It is rare for a team principal to also drive at Le Mans, but the Englishman, along with Mattia Drudi of Italy and Zacharie Robichon of Canada, will be competing in the LMGT3 category in a Vantage.
“The bandwidth you need is quite high, taking it all into account,” James said. “As a driver, I have an extra element of knowledge other team principals don’t have as to what’s going on, on track, and more of an insight into what the drivers are feeling and needing.
“As I’m driving, I have a radio with all three cars on there, and I’m listening to what’s going on with the engineering, strategy and the drivers. Needless to say, I’ll be awake for 24 hours.”
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