MOTORSPORT: Aston Martin Valkyrie Le Mans tilt revived

Aston Martin has announced it will race two Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercars at next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of its entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Originally, the Aston Martin Valkyrie was supposed to have competed in the hypercar class back in 2021 before the program was shelved due to a cost blowout.

The project was then reportedly revived last year and now the British car-maker says it will team up with works partner Heart of Racing to field a pair of Valkyries in not only the world’s most famous endurance race in France but also the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship.

Full details of the Valkyrie LMH have yet to be revealed but the racer is believed to be closely related to the most extreme track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro.

The V12 powerplant is not expected to produce as much power as the road car as it’s likely to ditch its hybrid components to comply with ‘Balance of Performance’ regulations.

In road-going form the Aston Martin Valkyrie pumps out a combined 865kW and 900Nm from a powertrain comprising a 6.5-litre Cosworth V12 and electric motor.

Without the electric motor and Rimac-supplied battery pack, the incredibly potent V12 still cranks out 746kW (1000hp) at 10,500rpm and 740Nm of torque at 7000rpm. The engine has a rev limit of 11,100rpm.

Testing of the Valkyrie LMH has already begun at both the UK’s Silverstone circuit and Portimao in Portugal.

When the Valkyrie lines up on next year’s LMH grid it will compete with the likes of Lamborghini, BMW, Porsche and even Cadillac, as well as Peugeot and Toyota and this year’s winning Ferraris.

“In 2025, with our works team the Heart of Racing, we intend to put two Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercars on the grid, to compete alongside a fantastic array of the world’s best sports car manufacturers, and we are doing all we can to ensure that we can fight at the front of that space,” said Aston Martin’s head of Endurance Motorsport Adam Carter.

“The Valkyrie AMR-LMH program is on schedule with a significant amount of development taking place behind the scenes and ahead of the car’s track debut later this summer.

“We then anticipate an intensive period of testing to put miles on the car and learn all we can ahead of its planned homologation in the autumn.”

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