IMSA announced on Sunday that Car Blanche is the first confirmed entry for the 2027 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and will be running a full-season Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) campaign with an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO.
Aston Martin Racing factory drivers Valentin Hasse Clot and Marco Sorensen will pair up behind the wheel of the striking, all-white #68 entry.
The full-season commitment follows a mid-2026 expansion where the team split its time between classes to to build experience ahead of a full-season programme. YRB Racing acquired the assets of former entrant Van der Steur Racing in June, rebranding as Car Blanche under Team Principal Christopher Deely and instantly making its presence felt in IMSA.
#68 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Valentin Hasse Clot, Marco Sorensen
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images
In its first two Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) starts, the squad claimed back-to-back podium finishes at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Road America with Hasse Clot sharing driving duties alongside Marius Fossard and Trenton Estep. The team then pivoted to GTD Pro at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, pairing Hasse Clot first with Scott Andrews before bringing on Sorensen at VIRginia International Raceway, where the duo notched a best class finish of fourth.
“A fast car is a nice car, and we still have scored two podiums on Car Blanche’s debut,” Hasse Clot said ahead of the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “If we’d have been on the back of the grid, nobody would have noticed Car Blanche. But the fact we’ve been competitive has made it stand out as well.”
#68 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Valentin Hasse Clot, Scott Andrews
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
Hasse Clot noted that stepping up to the top GT category full-time had been the primary target for himself and Deely for years.
“For two or three years, our goal was to one day reach GTD Pro,” Hasse Clot explained. “After the switch and the change, we decided to go as soon as possible to learn. We could have waited for the end of the year, but it’s good testing. At some point you need to go, so why not now?”
The partnership reunites two drivers with deep familiarity. Sorensen—a class winner at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans who also drives in Aston Martin’s Valkyrie GTP/Hypercar program—has known Hasse Clot for nearly a decade.
While Hasse Clot’s 2026 driver championship points were impacted by a missed round at Laguna Seca due to European Le Mans Series commitments and the mid-season class shift, the team is already targeting the 2027 championship.
“We’ll be chasing the GTD Pro championship next,” said Deely. “We want to have the strongest effort possible, whatever that means.”
Car Blanche is the first of several teams expected to confirm 2027 plans for the 2027 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season ahead of the official entry deadline on December 9 for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
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