Aston Martin has begun testing its Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercar for it to compete in World Endurance Championship and International Motor Sports Association events next year.
The car is set to enter the 24 hours of Le Mans 2025 too and will mark the firm’s return to the famous endurance race having debuted back in 1959.
This new hypercar has been developed with the help of Aston Martin Performance Technologies and The Heart of Racing. Both divisions will now commence a development schedule to prepare the car ahead of FIA homologation in the autumn and its debut as of early next year.
The Valkyrie AMR-LMH is the first racing car to be built to hypercar regulations to compete in both World Endurance Championships and the WeatherTech Sports Car Championships.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin head of endurance Motorsport said: “The Valkyrie AMR-LMH sets its own standard as a thoroughbred endurance competition car. It is a pure, leading edge racing machine, and while it is very early in the testing cycle, from what we have witnessed so far, we are satisfied that it is achieving targets and criteria we have set out for it to accomplish.”
Under its carbon-fibre chassis, there is a modified 6.5-litre Cosworth-built naturally aspirated V12. It develops 1000bhp and revs to 11,000rpm. Further details will be revealed in due course.
The team principal of The Heart of Racing, 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 Heart of Racing. We’re looking forward to the journey ahead – it’s a steep hill to climb for everyone involved in this project.”
