Valkyrie soars towards Le Mans glory

This comes after the FIA introduced a rule stating that any manufacturer competing in the top-level Hypercar class must field at least two cars. While most people might feel hard done by such a significant shifting of the goalposts, Aston Martin had no hesitation about committing to this new target, with the head of their works Heart of Racing team excited about the prospect.

 “With this new direction of the WEC ruleset we have had to bring forward our plans to run multiple cars in the WEC Hypercar class. This has obviously condensed our build-up process, but we are very excited about the prospect of having two cars in the field. We will be proud to be a part of this class, which has seen a meteoric rise in the past couple of years, and offers amazing racing and fan interaction. The challenge ahead is immense, and we are looking forward to the journey.” Said team principal Ian James.

As the road-going Valkyrie is already a thoroughbred racecar for the road, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH will no-doubt bear a strong resemblance to its production-car sibling. It will use a race-optimised version of the road-going car’s chassis and will go without any of the battery-hybrid systems featured on the road model.

It will, however, utilize the sensational 6.5-litre V12 engine found in the road-car, modified to endure a 24-hour race and fit within the WEC Balance of Performance requirements. In production guise, the Cosworth-produced engine puts out over 1,000bhp and revs to a dizzying 11,000rpm… the Cadillac V-Series.R will have some competition for best sounding car in the paddock.

Once the Valkyrie AMR-LMH hits the tarmac at its first race, Aston Martin will be the only manufacturer racing at every level of sportscar and GT racing (from Hypercar to Gt4), and in the Formula 1 World Championship.