valkyrie le mans race car
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Feann Torr14 Jun 2019
NEWS

MOTORSPORT: Aston Martin Valkyrie for Le Mans

British marque outlines bold plan to take outright win at world-famous day-night endurance race

On the eve of the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hour, the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar's value has just shot up. Significantly.

The British sports car brand has announced plans to not only contest but win the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2021 with its ground-breaking V12 hybrid-powered Valkyrie hypercar.

Aston Martin has confirmed it will enter a minimum of two factory-backed cars based on the track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro version of the game-changing vehicle developed by Red Bull Racing F1 technical director Adrian Newey.

New ACO regulations governing the FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hour race, will allow road-based hypercars like the Valkyrie to compete at the highest levels.

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At the time of writing only Aston Martin, Toyota and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (SCG) have confirmed entrants that will fall in the new hypercar category.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie race car will also content the entire World Endurance Championship (WEC), which includes races at circuits such as Spa, Fuji and Silverstone -- Aston's chassis dynamics proving ground.

In road-going form the Aston Martin Valkyrie pumps out a combined 865kW (1160hp) and 900Nm from a powertrain comprising a 6.5-litre Cosworth V12 engine and electric motor, but it's possible Aston Martin will remove the hybrid module to aid reliability for the grueling 24 hour endurance race.

"The new car will feature a race-prepared version of its bespoke high-revving normally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine," reads the Aston Martin press statement.

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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.

Factoring in a weight of around 1100kg for the road-legal Valkyrie, which should drop further for the race car, the vehicle will be fast and should be competitive.

When the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro race car makes its Le Mans 24 Hours debut in 2021 it will mark 100 years since the UK brand first raced at Circuit de la Sarthe.

Aston Martin suggests it will be seeking outright victory, insisting that the brand is "…now set to carry that mantle into the next decade with a bold attempt to win Le Mans and the world championship."

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Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer was clearly excited about announcing the return of the brand to the top tier of sports car racing, declaring the brand is "primed" for the monumental challenge.

The Aston Martin boss said: "David Brown came here in 1959, with a car and a team of drivers capable of winning. We intend to do the same in 2021.

"The Aston Martin Valkyrie is primed for such a challenge and sits perfectly within the ACO's new 'hypercar' rule framework.

"Bringing to bear all of our previous experience and knowledge of competing at the top levels of motorsport, we embark on this most ambitious project with the necessary ingredients for success.

"What could be more evocative than the wail of an Aston Martin V12 leading the charge into the night on the Mulsanne straight?"

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