Aston Martin Vantage GT3 wins Petit Le Mans GTD Pro as Car Blanche takes maiden IMSA victory
Car Blanche took a maiden IMSA GTD Pro victory with the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 at Petit Le Mans, giving the British marque its third class win in the 10-hour Road Atlanta classic.
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What Happened
Car Blanche, run by YRB Racing, won the GTD Pro class at the Motul Petit Le Mans, the finale of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (GA) on Saturday. The New Jersey-based team took its maiden victory in only its sixth IMSA start and its third GTD Pro race, with Aston Martin works drivers Mattia Drudi (ITA), Marco Sorensen (DEN) and Valentin Hasse Clot (FRA). It was Aston Martin's third class victory in the 10-hour blue riband event and came 20 years after its first Petit Le Mans win. The #68 Vantage GT3 spent most of the race inside the top six; Drudi qualified second, Car Blanche's best IMSA start, moved into third with 40 minutes to go, passed two rivals in one move 10 minutes later and then defended the lead to the finish. The Vantage GT3 shares its mechanical architecture with the Vantage road car, is built around Aston Martin's bonded aluminium chassis and is powered by a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8.
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First in 2006 with the V12-engined DBR9 in GT1, then in GTD with The Heart of Racing Team in 2021.
V12-powered DBR9 wins the GT1 class with Tomas Enge (CZE) and Darren Turner (GBR).
The Heart of Racing Team wins the GTD class with Roman De Angelis (CAN), Ross Gunn (GBR) and Ian James (GBR).
YRB Racing's Car Blanche debuts in IMSA at Watkins Glen; Valentin Hasse Clot has been with the team since it entered IMSA in June.
Aston Martin Racing partner team Circle H Racing takes a maiden IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge win in the season finale with Martin Sarukhanyan (ARM) and Thomas Merrill (USA), a little over 24 hours before Car Blanche's victory.
Car Blanche wins GTD Pro at Motul Petit Le Mans; the Valkyrie Hypercar finishes fifth overall in GTP.
“This is an amazing reward for all the hard work and amazing effort that has gone in behind the scenes to bring Car Blanche to the front in such a short space of time. We are still learning, but we have been fast since the start, and each race we have built more experience and learnings into the team. Having Mattia and Marco alongside me meant we had a strong line-up for Petit Le Mans, and this team just continues to excel. We are all so happy to have won here. It's crazy, but fantastic to have won such a big race so soon!”
The Valkyrie Hypercar finished fifth overall in the GTP class with Ross Gunn (GBR), Roman De Angelis (CAN) and FIA World Endurance Championship regular Alex Riberas (ESP), equalling its best result of 2026, set at Road America in the summer. The car led at several points in the final three hours, but inconveniently timed Full-Course Yellow periods for incidents elsewhere on track brought it back into line on strategy with its rivals as the final hour began. De Angelis, running as high as third, fell to fifth after a late-race drive-through penalty following an incident with another car, at the same circuit where Valkyrie earned its first global podium finish, a second place, last year. The LMH, Aston Martin's first, is the only car in IMSA's premier GTP category derived from a road-legal hypercar, the first LMH of any kind to compete in IMSA, and the only one contesting both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2026; developed from the production Valkyrie by Aston Martin and THOR, it blends a race-optimised carbon fibre chassis with a modified 6.5-litre V12 that revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1000bhp in standard form, but adheres to a strict 500kW (680bhp) power limit under hypercar regulations.
- Aston Martin finished the season as GTD Manufacturers' vice-champion with the Vantage.
- The Heart of Racing Team and Dudu Barrichello (BRA) finished third in the IMSA GTD drivers' standings, and THOR was also third in the teams' standings.
- THOR finished third in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, just two points behind the winners, and Aston Martin was runner-up in the IMEC GTD Manufacturers' standings thanks to THOR, Car Blanche and Magnus Racing.
- Magnus Racing, competing for the first time since the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen in June, finished fifth in GTD with John Potter (USA), Spencer Pumpelly (USA) and two-time series champion Mario Farnbacher (GER).
- The Petit Le Mans win was Vantage's first IMSA victory of 2026, the Vantage GT3's sixth GTD Pro class win and Aston Martin's 15th GT class win in IMSA.
- YRB Racing, which runs Car Blanche, moves up to the GTD Pro class full time in 2027.
“Car Blanche has made a big impression with us since its debut at Watkins Glen in June, and this maiden victory underlines just how quickly it has become a competitive force in the most important GT racing arena in North America. It also shows how versatile Vantage can be as a competitive package for race teams at all levels of GT racing. It has been competitive all weekend, in all classes, at Road Atlanta, but its success is driven by the strong relationships Aston Martin builds with the teams capable of competing at the top level, which allows us to make good on its immense potential.”
Previously from Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc
Aston Martin's Valkyrie Hypercar ran on Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit for the first time in August 2026, with the THOR team trialling new developments. That running was aimed at the FIA World Endurance Championship's 2027 British round.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc's official releases.
Why this matters
It matters as a milestone for Aston Martin racing: a third Petit Le Mans class win, 20 years after its first, and a maiden IMSA victory for the new Car Blanche team in only its sixth start before it steps up full-time to GTD Pro in 2027. The result also confirms Aston Martin as 2026 IMSA GTD Manufacturers' vice-champion, with the Valkyrie Hypercar equalling its best finish of the year in the top GTP class.
Terms in This Story
- GTD Pro
- A class in IMSA sports car racing that allows all-professional driver line-ups, unlike categories that require amateur drivers.
- IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
- North America's premier sports car racing series, whose top category is GTP.
- Le Mans Hypercar (LMH)
- The top class of endurance sports car racing, contested by purpose-built hypercar racers.
- Full-Course Yellow (FCY)
- A caution period covering the whole circuit after an incident, which bunches the field together and can undo a car's strategy advantage.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.