Tom Gamble admitted he is gutted by the error that triggered a penalty, which denied the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie a straightforward route to the squad’s maiden FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar podium at Fuji’s 6 Hours on Sunday.
The British driver remained deeply involved in the battle for near the front for most of the event, as the No. 007 Heart of Racing Team machine he shares with Harry Tincknell held a solid third place behind the two Alpine leaders at the halfway mark.
Nevertheless, in the early phase of hour four, Gamble crossed the line while entering the pits, earning a drive-through penalty that removed the duo from contention for the podium and marked the first of three transgressions by the No. 007 crew.
Gamble collected a five-second penalty for overtaking off track, while Tincknell received the same sanction for a Turn 1 clash with Brendon Hartley’s No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid, which would go on to triumph early in hour five.
“I reckon this was the most competitive we’ve looked across the whole programme, with both cars up there fighting for it,” Gamble told Sportscar365. “We had a slight tyre offset, but there was a moment when we were leading and it felt fairly comfortable.”
“It was a small misstep from me with big repercussions, so I’m fairly gutted for the squad. I basically let them down today.”
Following Gamble’s initial penalty, the No. 007 crew slipped out of the points entirely due to a green-flag pit stop just before a virtual safety car, which gave much of the Hypercar field a chance to stop under caution.
He and Tincknell were ultimately classified 14th, a lap adrift.
“We were short on fuel by a lap, so we had to come in a touch earlier, then the VSC hit and we basically went from leading to 14th within about ten minutes,” Gamble added.
“Things slipped away from us today. It’s racing; there are far more downs than ups.”
“On the upside, the car was exceptionally quick and the podium should have been within reach. The big takeaway is that the team is delivering strong performance and we boasted pace throughout the weekend. I’m gutted now, but I’ll take this as a lesson.”
With Aston Martin still chasing its first Valkyrie podium, Gamble said he expects Barcelona’s 6 Hours next month to present another opportunity.
“We’ve never raced at Barcelona before, but the track characteristics could play into our hands,” he noted. “We lack data there, so we’ll see how we fare.”
“We’ve been fast at almost every circuit; Imola was the only weak link, and we’ve improved since. Today marked the first time this season that we didn’t score points. Barcelona could very well yield that first podium.”
Sorensen Explains No. 009 Valkyrie’s Late Tumble Down Order
Following the issues with the No. 007 Aston, the sister No. 009 Valkyrie of Marco Sorensen and Alex Riberas looked well-placed to seize the opportunity, until the final safety car period and the resulting pit-line shuffle in the race’s last hour.
But when the action resumed with around 20 minutes remaining, Sorensen slipped from fourth to ninth at the flag.
The bulk of the positions slipped away after Sorensen, already defending against a charging Peugeot driven by compatriot Malthe Jakobsen, clashed with Alessio Rovera’s AF Corse Ferrari LMGT3 at Turn 1 with five minutes left.
“If that safety car hadn’t come out and we hadn’t made a small mistake at the last stop, we would have been on the podium,” Sorensen said.
“It isn’t good enough that we didn’t deliver what we deserved today, because I believe both cars had the pace to be up there and actually contest the win.”
“We were out of the running for the podium and I was more worried about cars behind than about moving forward. I’m not sure whether Peugeot took fresh tires or what they did, but they were very quick in the final stint.”
“So the last couple of laps would have been hard to defend anyway. That final safety car put us in a poor position.”
Rovera’s collision with Sorensen was deemed a racing incident, with the Dane escaping a penalty.
