Aston Martin Valkyrie to beat Porsche's 'Ring record
Red Bull team principal claims Aston Martin's million-dollar hypercar will be quicker than Porsche racer at NurburgringRed Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner has announced he is confident that Aston Martin's forthcoming Valkyrie hypercar will set an even faster lap time at the Nurburgring than Porsche's Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid race car.
Speaking at last weekend's Austrian GP, Horner told Racefans he believes that, instead of an F1 car, Aston Martin's Valkyrie stands the best chance of beating the highly modified 919 Hybrid Evo that last week set a new outright lap record at the Nordschliefe.
"I'm not sure a Formula 1 car could actually do it, but I think that the Valkyrie – certainly the track version – could be a contender," he said.
If he's right, the Valkyrie will have to lap the unforgiving Green Hell at an average speed of more than 238km/h over the tortuous 21km road circuit to stand a chance of beating the 919 Evo's five minutes and 19.55 sec lap time.
Luckily, the British car-maker's first hypercar -- on paper at least -- stands up well alongside Porsche's fully-fledged WEC race car.
In AMR Pro trim, Aston Martin says the Valkyrie could qualify in the top 10 in any F1 race you choose to mention.
That's in part thanks to its huge aero and sub-1000kg kerb weight, which helps the Valkyrie AMR Pro pull an incredible 3g through corners on normal road tyres and generate an astonishing 1816kg of downforce at its top speed.
As well as ultra-lightweight race-spec suspension, under the rear boot lid is a naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12 that boasts an energy recovery system that, in total, sees the Aston produce more than 810kW.
The Valkyrie is priced from £2.5 million ($A4.5 million) for the road car, and both the standard version and the AMR Pro benefit from being designed under the guidance of F1 design supremo, Adrian Newey.
Horner wouldn't be drawn on when exactly Aston Martin might launch a bid at breaking the outright lap record but told the motorsport blog:
"It's a few years off because the car's still on the drawing board, but I'd be surprised if that car didn't have the potential to do that."
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