Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH racer completes first shakedown before WEC campaign next year
The ambition to put an Aston Martin Valkyrie into competition is back on track as the first prototype hits Silverstone
Aston Martin's new Valkyrie AMR-LMH racer has been through its first shakedown test session ahead of its high-profile WEC campaign next year. It was always the ambition of Aston Martin to go racing with its extreme road-based Valkyrie hypercar, and after an initial cancellation of the racing program, Aston Martin Chairman Lawrence Stroll brought it back to life. Now we’ve been treated to the sight of a Valkyrie in full racing trim on track at Silverstone.
The new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH will be designed and engineered by the Aston Martin Performance Technologies in-house racing team, The Heart of Racing. The schedule will see development fast-tracked in time for the 2025 WEC season, where the team will compete with two cars against Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini and a plethora of other full-works manufacturers.
Under the skin will sit a lean-burn version of the road car’s Cosworth-built naturally aspirated V12 engine. In road-specification, the engine is actually far too powerful to comply with the rules, so has gone through a combination of de-tuning and Balance of Performance adjustments.
It will make this one of only two teams running a naturally aspirated combustion engine in the series, and the only LMH car not to utilise a hybrid drive element. The Valkyrie will also compete in the American IMSA series.
The Heart of Racing Team Principal Ian James said: “The first runs for the Valkyrie AMR-LMH have been an immensely proud moment in the programme. The birth of this project has been a couple of years in the making, so to get it to the track and to see it going around in the flesh, feels momentous for the team.”
As there’s no longer a production volume requirement to homologate a road-going version in order to enter the WEC LMH class, the Aston Martin will be the only LMH contender with a direct road-going relation; the car that’s since developed into the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro.
The Valkyrie will join Aston Martin’s latest Vantage GT3LM racer, to make the British brand one of an increasing number with cars in both major factory-supported classes of the WEC.
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