It’s been a long time coming, but the Aston Martin Valkyrie has finally morphed into an endurance racer and hit the track for the first time, ahead of its racing debut at the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year. Aston Martin originally intended to compete with the Valkyrie in endurance racing for the 2020/2021 WEC season but in February 2020, canceled the project. In 2023, the company changed its mind, partnering with works team The Heart of Racing to revive the Valkyrie race car project.
The Valkyrie AMR-LMH recently completed a
shakedown and evaluation testing in the UK, driven by Aston Martin development
driver Darren Turner, Mario Farnbacher from The Heart of Racing, and LMGTE
driver Harry Tincknell. The Valkyrie AMR-LMH is unique as it’s the first
hypercar to be built to compete in both the WEC and IMSA championships
simultaneously. The Heart of Racing team will field two Valkyries in WEC and a
single car in IMSA.
Significant changes have been made to the
Le Mans hypercar compared to the road-legal Valkyrie and the track-only AMR
Pro. The same basic shape has been retained, but Aston Martin has fitted it
with a gargantuan rear wing and an aerodynamic shark fin. It also has a unique
front fascia and footage from a recent test at Donington Park gives us a hint
of how incredibly fast it is.
Differentiating the Valkyrie AMR-LMH from
all other racers in the hypercar class is its 6.5-liter naturally-aspirated
V12. It sounds more like a classic Formula 1 car than a modern endurance racer
and will no doubt prove to be a fan favorite. It will ditch the hybrid system
of the road car. Rival racers from Ferrari, Peugeot, Toyota, Lamborghini, BMW,
Porsche, and Cadillac have V6s and V8s, none of which sound as intoxicating as
the Valkyrie’s V12.
