Aston Martin Goes WEC And IMSA Racing With Valkyrie Hypercar

This is the only hypercar racer installed with a high-revving, naturally-aspirated V12

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This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is shaping up to be a rather special one as the Aston Martin Valkyrie is finally going racing, and this is the special model that’ll hit the track. Referred to as simply the Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar, it will compete in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this year.

Aston Martin first started developing an endurance racing version of the Valkyrie long before the road car reached production. However, it scrapped the project in early 2020. It’s since been revived and more than 15,000 km of testing has been completed at race circuits around the world. It is the only racing hypercar derived from a road-legal model and will make its debut at the Qatar 1812KM on February 28.

Read: Aston Martin Valkyrie Smashes Silverstone Lap Record By 10 Seconds

The racer shares a lot in common with the production Valkyrie and the limited-run, track-only AMR Pro, but has an even more outlandish design. It includes front and rear panels that can be quickly removed and replaced, a high-speed pneumatic jack system, and plenty of bespoke aerodynamic elements. These include a thoroughly revised rear with a new wing and shark fin.

Perhaps of more importance than the crazy design is the powertrain. The Valkyrie Hypercar is the only car compete in the top class of WEC and IMSA to feature a V12 engine. It rocks the same basic 6.5-liter naturally-aspirated mill as the road car. However, whereas the customer-spec Valkyrie delivers over 1,000 hp, this engine will be capped at 680 hp to comply with hypercar regulations. Aston Martin has tuned the engine to run lean and will alter the torque curve to make it perfect for endurance racing.

Three Valkyries To Go Racing

Two Valkyries will enter this year’s WEC season thanks to a partnership with The Heart of Racing. Both WEC cars will have a gorgeous green livery and be driven by Marco Sorensen, Tom Gamble, Alex Riberas, and Harry Tincknell. A single Valkyrie Hypercar will be used in IMSA, sporting a THOR blue livery and making its competitive debut at the Sebring 12 Hours in March. It will be piloted by Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis.

“It’s a great time to be joining the pinnacle of sports car racing,” Aston Martin’s head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter said. “The ACO, IMSA and the FIA have collectively created championships of growing popularity through working collaboratively. We are fully supportive of this process. They have done a great job of establishing the format and promoting the series to make this a golden era of sports car racing. It’s an opportunity compete on the global stage in a fair and competitive environment.”