WEC
Aston Martin begins test programme for Valkyrie LMH racer
Aston Martin has started testing ahead of its return to the pinnacle of sportscar racing in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship with the Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar.
Gary Watkins
Edited: Jan 30, 2024, 7:43 AM
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The British manufacturer’s test programme commenced earlier this month with the Valkyrie AMR Pro track day car, out of which the new LMH to be raced by the Heart of Racing team from next year is being developed.
Aston Martin head of endurance racing Adam Carter described the run at Silverstone as an “early systems test” before the definitive LMH begins testing later in the year.
He explained that there is “some fundamental software work we can do” with the AMR Pro.
The test took place, Carter stated, on “an extremely cold day at Silverstone” and that driving duties were handled by “a well-trusted member of the Aston Martin Racing family”.
More testing is planned with the AMR Pro before the LMH is up and running.
“It will be very intensive testing because the platform already exists so we can crack on and push hard with some very focused objectives,” he said.
“We have very clear objectives around what that testing is about.”
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro
Carter said that the 2025 Valkyrie LMH announced last October remains “on programme”.
The LMH will hit the track on schedule towards the end of the second quarter of this year, he said.
The AMR Pro was developed out of the original Valkyrie LMH project unveiled on the eve of the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours and then put on ice early the following year.
It is a long-wheelbase, non-hybrid version of the Valkyrie road car inspired by Formula 1 design legend Adrian Newey.
The original car that was due to begin racing in the WEC in 2021 was built to rules formulated to allow manufacturers to enter the Hypercar class with road-based machinery.
But the new iteration of the Valkyrie racing car is being developed to the prototype sub-set of the regulations.
“The AMR Pro is essentially a Le Mans prototype that someone can go and buy and use as a track car — it is a 1000bhp, 1000kg car with LMP1 performance,” Carter said on the launch of the 2025 LMH programme.
“Basing the LMH off the AMR Pro gives you a number of opportunities and means fewer compromises,” he explained.
The 2025 Valkyrie LMH will also be non-hybrid, so is solely powered by the normally-aspirated V12 developed by Cosworth for the road car.
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