Gamble describes Aston Martin WEC Hypercar move as a “pinch yourself moment”

New Aston Martin driver Tom Gamble has described signing for the British marque to race the new Valkyrie in the World Endurance Championship as a “pinch yourself moment”. 

The 2018 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year revealed racing for a manufacturer in the top class of the WEC had become his aspiration after switching to sportscar racing in 2019 with a campaign in the GT World Challenge Europe. 

“As soon as I went into sportscars I was thinking about WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours,” Gamble, 23, told Autosport.

“When I went into LMP3 with United Autosports and won the European Le Mans Series title, that really focussed my mind on what I wanted to do. 

“That was around about the time that the manufacturers were really starting to show interest in Hypercar, so I think every sportscar driver’s ambition was to get there.

“To get the chance to do that with Aston Martin and race at Le Mans is a pinch yourself moment.”

Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH

Photo by: Aston Martin Racing

Gamble, whose full-season partner in the #007 Valkyrie AMR-LMH will be Harry Tincknell, was selected for The Heart of Racing factory Aston squad after being given a test at Jerez late last year. 

He had previously driven for THOR in three IMSA SportsCar Championship races in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in 2022, moving up from the regular GT Daytona class entry at the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours to its GTD Pro entry for the Petit Le Mans finale at Road Atlanta.

“That was quite important in my career because it was kind of my first role as a gold-rated driver after getting upgraded,” said Gamble. 

“It went well, I got on well with the team and I always stayed in touch, and then I got the call to do the test in Spain. It seemed like all the hard work I’ve put in over the years has paid off.”

Gamble moves into his new role after two years as a McLaren factory driver, a stint that culminated in his appearance with the Optimum Motorsport team at the opening weekend of the 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang in December.

He explained that in two seasons with McLaren he “learnt a lot about being a factory driver and what the role beholds”. 

#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Tom Gamble, Casper Stevenson, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi

Photo by: IMSA

Gamble was announced as an Aston factory driver for the Valkyrie programme on Wednesday, when the liveries of THOR’s WEC and IMSA entries were also revealed. 

He and Tincknell will be joined by Ross Gunn for selected WEC rounds, including the season-opening 10-hour fixture in Qatar on 28 February and Le Mans in June. 

THOR’s second AMR-LMH in the WEC will be raced by Marco Sorensen and Alex Riberas, with Roman De Angelis doing the longer races. 

Gunn and De Angelis form the line-up for the team’s solo IMSA entry, which will race for the first time at next month’s Sebring 12 Hours.