Aston Martin Valkyrie hits the road for the first time

The wild Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar has begun testing on public roads ahead of its launch later in 2020.

To prove it, Aston Martin has released pictures of a road-registered Valkyrie mule in menacing metallic black paint, marking the first time we've seen a completely undisguised version of the mid-engine Aston flagship being tested away from the track.

Until now, the Valkyrie's handling has been honed at Aston Martin's home circuit of Silverstone, but now chief test driver Chris Goodwin will put the McLaren Senna rival through its paces around town and on country roads and highways.

Developed by a team of engineers from Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, an offshoot of the F1 team, the Valkyrie will also undergo a number of 'real world' tests that could see the most advanced Aston ever subjected to the mundane scenarios most road users face every day.

These could include staying cool in heavy traffic and reverse parking – a task that will involve careful calibration of the 6.5-litre V12's electric motor, which backs up the state-of-the-art hypercar.

The Valkyrie's electric motor has been developed by Integral Powertrain and Rimac, which supplied the batteries, and is said to produce a punchy 119kW/280Nm alone.

The biggest challenge for engineers will be managing the massive (865kW/900Nm) outputs of the Cosworth V12 hybrid powertrain, which will give the ultra-lightweight hypercar a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio and could make it quite the handful on the road.

Requiring a full rebuild every 100,000km -- double that of the F1-based powertrain in the Mercedes-AMG ONE, which has been delayed until 2021 -- the big V12 is said to be capable of spinning to an incredible 11,100rpm and meets all current emission regulations.

The fact the Valkyrie is road-legal at all is made more remarkable when you consider its spaceship design, which includes advanced aero tricks and huge openings to channel air to the V12.

However, none of the 150 road cars to be produced will be street-legal in Australia due to local homologation issues.

A further 25 track-only AMR Pro versions of the Valkyrie will also be produced but, sadly, the Valkyrie will no longer go racing at Le Mans, following the shaky financial predicament the British car-maker now find itself in.

No performance figures have been released but using an advanced launch control system a sub-2.5-second sprint to 100km/h is rumoured – although overshadowing its acceleration figures will no doubt be the Valkyrie’s performance on track.

Around its home Silverstone circuit, thanks to advanced aero generating up to 1816kg of downforce, Aston says it latest hypercar will lap as fast as an F1 car.