Valkyrie is "a car that we believe can be competitive" says Harry Tincknell ahead of 6 Hours of Spa

Credit: Pete Phillips

After a points scoring ninth place finish in Imola for the No.007 and 14th for the No.009, the The Heart Of Racing (THOR) and Aston Martin head into the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with high hopes.

Just two points from the No.007 leaves the British marque in sixth place out of eight in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Manufacturers' Championship. While it may not be a barn storming result, the entire team is still confident heading into Spa this weekend, and the big one in Le Mans next month.

Harry Tincknell admitted the car may not have been at it's best in Imola though, and thinks more points are on the cards. "Imola was a good start for the 007, and scoring points straightaway on a track we know didn't suit the car is a positive sign. It's a testament to the hard work from all the boys and girls in the team over the winter.

"Now we go to the fast and flowing Spa, which is one of the most iconic tracks in the world, and it's a lot smoother which is good for the Valkyrie. We go back this year with a car that we believe can be competitive and we are certainly aiming for points. We'll also be keeping one eye on our Le Mans preparations, as Spa is one of the tracks most similar in nature, at least in terms of speed."

No.009 driver Marco Sørensen echoed Tincknell's sentiment. “I'm really looking forward to Spa. I think we got through Imola in a decent way, even though it was probably one of our worst tracks. Heading into Spa, I'm positive and motivated to achieve a good result and I don't see why we shouldn't be able to challenge for a really strong result for the car in WEC.

"And that is for sure what we are going to aim to do. I believe we have the pace. The whole team did a great job in Imola in general and I am looking forward to Spa and reaching the same level but with a better result to reward it.”

The postponement of this years Qatar 1812km puts the team under quite a bit of pressure heading into Spa, with one less round of preparation ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Sørensen's teammate, Alex Riberas sees this, and is looking to focus more on gathering data, to give it everything in Le Mans.

“I'm very much looking forward to Spa – especially after seeing what we could do in Imola. I think we made a significant step forward and now it's very exciting to see what the car is capable of on a track like Spa-Francorchamps, which is completely different than what we saw last time out." he said.

"This is a very important race for us because it is the last race before Le Mans, and usually we get three events to prepare, but this time only two. That puts extra pressure on the team and on us drivers, so we must really focus on getting a good clean race with a lot of data gathering so we can be ready for the big challenge.”

All roads from within the team seem to point towards Le Mans, but they seem quietly confident of a stop in the top 10 at Spa on the way.

The pair of Aston Martin Valkyrie's will hit the track along with the rest of the WEC grid this Thursday for FP1 and FP2, before qualifying and the race on Friday and Saturday.