The British luxury car manufacturer will enter a racing prototype version of its hypercar, the Valkyrie, into the top Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships.
The move is made possible through a partnership with Heart of Racing (HoR), Aston Martin's endurance racing partner.
This collaboration will see at least one Valkyrie racecar participating in the Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the 12 Hours of Sebring, three of the most prestigious events in sportscar racing.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is billed as the definitive hypercar, unrestrained by sporting regulations and engineered for high performance.
The racing prototype Valkyrie, known as the Valkyrie AMR Pro, will be developed to meet the LMH hypercar regulations and will undergo modifications to achieve parity with its competition in terms of aerodynamics and power performance.
The car will feature a modified Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, tailored to meet the Hypercar class's Balance of Performance requirements. The engine in standard form revs to 11,000rpm and develops over 1000bhp.
Notably, the race car will not incorporate the battery-electric hybrid system found in the road-specification Valkyrie, maintaining a focus on pure performance.
Aston Martin's return to the Hypercar class solidifies its presence across all levels of endurance racing, from Hypercar to GT4.
The company also announced plans to build and prepare all-new GT3 and GT4 cars based on the Vantage platform, conforming to existing and new GT rule-sets. These new GT cars will be available for purchase by existing Aston Martin Racing partners and potential customers starting in the 2024 racing season.
This development also marks the end of an era for the current generation of Vantage. Since making its debut in 2018, the Vantage GTE has recorded four world championship titles, including two drivers’, one manufacturers’ and one teams’ crown, as well as three 24 Hours of Le Mans class victories.
