Preseason IMSA Test: Aston Martin Valkyrie Makes First Daytona Appearance

Although it was far from quickest, the new Aston Martin Valkyrie garnered the most attention at IMSA’s three-day preseason test for WeatherTech Championship competitors at Daytona International Speedway, Nov. 15-17.

The Heart of Racing team focused on continued reliability testing of the V12-powered prototype, the first non-hybrid in the second generation of LMH and the first outside of the LMDh class to be homologated by IMSA.

It remains to be seen where the Valkyrie will first enter competition. The two-car mandate in the World Endurance Championship may push back the new Aston Martin’s debut in IMSA GTP until after the WEC’s opener in Qatar in late February, one month after the Rolex 24 on Jan. 25-26. The Heart of Racing’s regular GTD drivers shared the driving duties during the test—Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis. They were 12th and last in each of the five prototype sessions, at least 1.5 seconds off the fastest laps.

The sanctioning body advanced the preseason testing to mid-November from December, which gives the existing GTP teams a chance to test evolutions and technical upgrades allowed under the evo joker provision for the LMDh and LMH hybrid prototypes introduced in 2023.

What's New in GTP

Porsche Penske Motorsport tested a new front suspension on the Porsche 963 designed to make the car more competitive on different types of circuits.

Cadillac introduced a new electronic control unit to increase data quality for its V-Series.R. Both first-time joker updates will be used by the manufacturers’ teams in IMSA and the WEC.

The BMW M Hybrid V8, which consistently ran in the top three over five sessions, tested updated braking. But it remains to be seen if the changes will qualify as an evo joker.

Happy Reunions

The test was a reunion on many fronts.

Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian returned to GTP following a one-year hiatus after a scandal in the 2023 season over illegal tire pressures and this time will be joined by a Honda Racing Company crew running a second Acura ARX-06.

Tom Blomqvist, who set the fastest time during Friday’s prototypes only session, has been reunited with Colin Braun in the No. 60 entry for 2025. Ex-Cadillac driver Renger van der Zande and ex-BMW shoe Nick Yelloly are teamed in the No. 93 MSR Acura.

Lamborghini a Question Mark

A question mark continues to hover over the Lamborghini SC63 that last year contested four Michelin Endurance Cup events. Because the WEC will have a two-car minimum for 2025, the VW Group-owned brand may not have enough budget to also compete in IMSA. Andrea Calderelli set the fastest time in Friday morning’s practice in the Iron Lynx Lambo before Romain Grosjean set the test weekend’s overall fastest lap in the SC63 of 1:35.611 (134.043 mph) on Saturday.

Wayne Taylor Back at Cadillac

The reunion of team owner Wayne Taylor with Cadillac officially began at Daytona, where driver pairings in the V-Series.R of Ricky Taylor/Felipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor/Louis Deletraz are unchanged from last year’s Acura effort. Earl Bamber, meanwhile, will drive the Cadillacs at Action Express Racing with Jack Aitken in place of the departed Pipo Derani, who was listed for the test at DXDT, which joins the GTD grid next year with its Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Bourdais Finds a Home

Sebastien Bourdais, a refugee from the departed Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac team, has landed in the Jota team’s V-Series.R for its WEC campaign. Bourdais was listed on Tower Motorsports’ LMP2 entry for the test. Dane Cameron, who co-drove to the WeatherTech GTP driving title with Felipe Nasr before departing Porsche Penske, set some of AO Racing’s quickest laps in its LMP2 entry.

CrowdStrike Returns to LMP2

CrowdStrike Racing by APR returned to LMP2 for the first time since July. Driver Malthe Jakobsen led each of the five sessions in the class. In July, the CrowdStrike company issued Microsoft security updates that created a meltdown in U.S. computer systems. George Kurtz, the team’s bronze driver, is the founder and CEO of CrowdStrike and has led the company’s effort to cope with the crisis.

Ford Lineup Changes

Shortly before the test, Ford Performance announced major changes in the driving lineup for its brace of Mustang GT3s campaigned by Multimatic Motorsports. After a bumpy first season, veterans Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, and Harry Tincknell have been replaced, leaving only Mike Rockenfeller to continue in the GTD Pro class.

Multimatic contract driver Sebastian Priaulx, who won two races last year in AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, will partner “Rocky” in the No. 64 Mustang. Christopher Mies, who co-drove a Mustang in IMSA endurance events last year, and Frédéric Vervisch will pilot the No. 65 entry.

The Mustangs were first and second in all three sessions on Saturday among the GTD Pro and GTD entries. Newly added rear wheel torque sensors for these two classes will help determine the Balance of Performance decisions to be made with data from the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 17-19.