Aston Martin will run two Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercars at next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The British manufacturer has been working on a Le Mans hypercar for many years but originally shelved the project. It was revived last year and two specially-built Valkyrie-based hypercars will be raced by works partner Heart of Racing. In addition to racing in the World Endurance Championship, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH will also compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Like the road-going Valkyrie, as well as
the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro, the Le Mans hypercar will use a 6.5-liter
naturally-aspirated Cosworth V12, although Aston says it will be modified to
comply with Balance of Performance requirements and withstand the challenges of
endurance racing. The race car will also ditch the road car’s hybrid system.
Development of the car is well underway,
and the car has already been tested at Silverstone and the Portimao circuit in
Portugal. The Valkyrie will be the only car competing in the Hypercar series
with a V12. Entrants from companies including Ferrari, Peugeot, and Toyota have
twin-turbocharged V6s while the likes of LMH cars from Lamborghini, BMW,
Porsche, and Cadillac have V8s. In the sound department, Aston Martin should
have an easy win.
