Aston Martin has confirmed its plans to fight for outright victory in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
The British marque will enter its Valkyrie hypercar in both the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the US-based IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IMSA).
Adrian Hallmark, CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda, said: “This is a proud moment for Aston Martin. To be returning to the fight for overall honours at the 24 Hours of Le Mans exists at the very core of our values and marks a key milestone in our motor racing heritage.
“As the only hypercar born from the road to challenge at the top of sports car racing in both the WEC and IMSA, the Valkyrie is an embodiment of our enduring sporting ethos, one that has defined the brand for more than a century.”
The only road-legal hypercar racer
When the Valkyrie enters competition, starting with the Qatar 1,812km round of the WEC on 28 February, it will be the only road-derived hypercar in the competition.
Aston Martin’s major rivals, ranging from BMW to Cadillac and Ferrari, have all constructed bespoke racing machines to meet the FIA’s new ‘Hypercar’ regulations.
Adrian Hallmark notes: “By adhering to the Hypercar rules, the race car shares many strands of DNA with the road car, with the same V12 power unit at its heart.”
The Valkyrie matches a carbon fibre chassis with a Cosworth-engineered 6.5-litre V12, capable of revving to 11,000rpm. Although the road-legal Valkyrie generates more than 1,000hp, the race version is capped at 500kW (680hp) by FIA rules.
Motorsport with a heart
The Heart of Racing (THOR) team will be responsible for running both the Valkyrie’s WEC and IMSA competitions. Based in the United States, THOR races in support of the Seattle Children’s Hospital, and has raised more than $10 million (£8 million) since 2014.
Competing extensively in motorsport competitions throughout the world, THOR claimed a class win at last weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour race. The team were also runners up in the GTD Pro class of the 2024 IMSA series.
Testing for the Valkyrie began in earnest last July, with the car racking up more than 15,000 km (9,320 miles) since then. Preparation has included time at famous tracks such as Road Atlanta, Sebring and Daytona.
Two Valkyries painted in a classic green livery will be entered in the 2025 WEC series. A sole blue-liveried car will be used for IMSA duties.
Channelling the spirit of 1959
The Valkyrie’s crowning glory will be competing at Le Mans, however, with Aston Martin aiming for its first outright victory at the French race since 1959.
That year saw the Aston Martin DBR1 win both Le Mans and the World Sportscar Championship, a feat the team would love to emulate. Although Aston has returned to Le Mans since, success has only come in class victories with the DBR9 and Vantage GTE.
Harry Tincknell, Aston Martin’s most recent British 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, will be joined by Tom Gamble in the #007 WEC Valkyrie, making for an all-British lead car.
The #009 car will be driven by triple FIA GT World Champion Marco Sørensen and WEC LMGT3 class race winner, Alex Riberas. In IMSA, Ross Gunn and 2022 GTD class champion Roman De Angelis will be on driving duties.
A winning combination?
At present, there is no mention of Fernando Alonso, who drives for the Aston Martin Formula One Team, making the switch back to sports car racing.
Alonso has been a two-time winner of Le Mans with the Toyota team, and took glory in the 2018-19 World Endurance Championship. He also owns a road-going Valkyrie.
Notably, the Valkyrie began as a project between Aston Martin and the Red Bull Racing F1 team, to build the closest interpretation of a Formula One car for the road. Superstar designer Adrian Newey, who starts a new job at Aston Martin next month, was involved in the Valkyrie’s design while at Red Bull.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s head of endurance motorsport, said: “It would be almost unimaginable for Adrian, one of the greatest racing car designers in history, to design a car and not think about it going racing at some point”.
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