Gamble: Valkyrie Call-Up ‘Real Chance to Prove Myself’

Tom Gamble says he views his call-up to the Aston Martin Valkyrie driver roster as ‘a real chance to prove myself,’ crediting his continuing relationship with Heart of Racing Team boss Ian James as a key factor in getting the Hypercar seat.

The 23-year-old has been paired up with Harry Tincknell as the full season duo for the No. 007 car and will be joined by Ross Gunn for this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship season opener in Qatar.

Gamble joins Aston Martin’s Hypercar roster after ending a two-year stint as a McLaren factory driver and also has previous experience racing prototype machinery from three seasons with United Autosports in the European Le Mans Series.

A three-race run in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2022 served as the starting point for the relationship between Gamble and the James-led Heart of Racing operation.

Speaking with Sportscar365 ahead of his top-class debut in Qatar, Gamble credited his relationship with James as a key reason his Hypercar break, which he recognized as a “huge opportunity.”

“He gave me an amazing opportunity back in 2022 and then always kept in touch with him,” Gamble said.

“When I see him at the track we’d always have conversations and then I could say luckily an opportunity came for me in the Valkyrie.

“He has always believed in me and offered me opportunities. I’m very grateful for that.

“This is a huge one for me and it’s a real chance for me to sort of prove myself. I’m looking forward to seeing how the season goes.”

By his own admission, Gamble “decided to go down a different path” when he signed on as a McLaren factory driver, going on to compete in the WeatherTech Championship, GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the Asian Le Mans Series.

“It was my first factory contract with a manufacturer and I learnt a great deal with them and I’m really grateful for them for that opportunity,” said Gamble.

“Then at the end of last year, Ian called me and said, ‘There’s a test in the Valkyrie if you’re free for it.’

“I was like, ‘Yeah, definitely free for that.’ It went really well. Amazing group of people, really enjoyed it and as soon as I drove out the pits I thought, ‘Okay I want to be racing this thing next year.’

“It just went from there. Like I said, luckily the test went really well. Eventually the call came and Ian said ‘I would like to sort of offer you the drive.’ I couldn’t really say yes fast enough.

“It’s been really cool. I’m almost a bit of an unknown but the plan is hopefully to change that this year.”

Gamble enters the Valkyrie program with a mixture of GT and prototype experience, dabbling in both since his transition away from open-wheel racing after a single season of British Formula 3 in 2018.

“I think certainly the LMP2 stuff probably helped,” said Gamble.

“Obviously had some really fun seasons with United. First year in LMP3 obviously winning the ELMS [title], then second in LMP2 and then I think we finished fourth in the last year.

“I think that definitely helped, having that experience in that. And then also the GTs, you know, obviously a Hypercar is a very different thing, but the characteristics are somewhat similar in some [ways].

“It’s a car at the end of the day. It’s got four wheels. If you’re fast in one of them, then you’re most likely going to be fast in the other.

“I think you’ve seen already a lot of the guys in Hypercar have a lot more of a GT background, if you like. I don’t really think it has too much of an effect. I think if a driver’s capable, then he can sort of do it in anything.

“Even this year, I was doing IMSA full season in GTD and then coming across and doing these as well.

“I actually really enjoy jumping from one to the other and just adapting. That’s one of the fun things about a driver, just sort of changing the styles and trying to maximize each form.”