PR stunt has consequences: Aston Martin registered too late for Goodwood, causing trouble with the FIA – participation was nevertheless permitted
A guest appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed has had repercussions for the Aston Martin Thor Team: The sports commissioners of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) fined the US team €500 at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, which took place at the same time, because the deployment of the hypercar with IMSA driver Ross Gunn at the wheel had not been registered in time as a “special test.”
According to the official penalty document, the start at the festival in southern England is to be considered a test run within the meaning of the WEC regulations. Timely registration would have been required under Article 7.3 of Appendix 9 of the Sporting Regulations.
It states: “Special test runs require approval by ACO/FIA and/or IMSA. The request must be submitted no later than five (5) days before the start of the special test or activity by 2:00 p.m. CET. The decision of the ACO/FIA and/or IMSA regarding the approval of such a test is final, and no reasons need to be given for rejection.”
Is the AstonMartin Valkyrie the prettiest Hypercar on the current WEC grid? This mean, green V12-powered machine looked simply epic as it romped up the FOS Hill and it even threw in some burnouts for good measure. We can’t wait to see it in action again soon! pic.twitter.com/os92wLYY9U
— Goodwood FOS (@fosgoodwood) July 11, 2025
A representative of the Aston Martin Thor team admitted the omission. He apologized in writing to the WEC Commission on July 12. The vehicle’s participation was purely for promotional purposes, according to the hearing.
The commissioners accepted this explanation and allowed the car to continue participating in the festival, but punished the formal rule violation with a relatively mild fine.
Button and ASP must also pay
With reference to purely formal violations, moderate sanctions were also imposed in other cases. Another fine of €500 was imposed on Jenson Button. The former Formula 1 driver missed the mandatory drivers’ briefing on Thursday before the 6-hour race in Interlagos – according to the team, because he missed his flight.
This was not enough for the stewards. They did not consider the absence to be a case of force majeure and imposed the standard penalty. Button was only allowed to get back in the car after a one-to-one briefing with race director Eduardo Freitas.
The ASP team was fined €500 twice: in the second free practice session, the Lexus team, which went on to win the race, made changes to the transponder declaration after the session had started.
This may just be the prettiest parade we’ve ever seen. The latest and greatest models from AstonMartin headed up the Goodwood Hill in stunning formation on the second day of FOS 2025, with the Valhalla leading out the road and race versions of the epic Valkyrie. Can you pick a… pic.twitter.com/1axzSqAzEa
— Goodwood FOS (@fosgoodwood) July 11, 2025
According to the regulations (Article 6.3.1 Sporting Regulations), this is not permitted. Any changes must be made 15 minutes before the start of the session. In this case, the deadline was therefore 3:30 p.m. local time. The change was only noticed when the car first left the pit lane and was not reported by the team until 3:54 p.m., nine minutes after the start of the session.
An incident in the third free practice session involving inadequate protective clothing for people in the pit lane at Proton Competition went without penalty. As the team explained, security personnel who were supposed to guard a guest entrance briefly left their posts.
This allowed unauthorized persons without protective clothing to gain access to the pit. The stewards accepted the explanation and waived a penalty.
