Aston Martin’s iconic Valkyrie hypercar is set to make history at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race starting in 2025. Partnering with Heart of Racing (HoR), Aston Martin will field at least one Valkyrie racecar in the top Hypercar class of both the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships (IMSA). This bold move not only marks Aston Martin’s return to the pinnacle of endurance racing but also highlights their commitment to pushing the boundaries of performance and innovation.
Performance is the lifeblood of everything that we do at Aston Martin, and motorsport is the ultimate expression of this pursuit of excellence.
We have been present at Le Mans since the earliest days, and through those glorious endeavours we succeeded in winning Le Mans in 1959 and our class 19 times over the past 95 years. Now we return to the scene of those first triumphs aiming to write new history with a racing prototype inspired by the fastest production car Aston Martin has ever built.
In addition to our presence in the FIA Formula 1® World Championship, Aston Martin’s return to the pinnacle of endurance racing will allow us to build a deeper connection with our customers and community, many of whom found their passion for the brand through our past success at Le Mans. And of course, the complex knowledge-base we are building through our F1® team is data that Aston Martin Performance Technologies can harness to further enhance the capabilities of the Valkyrie racecar at Le Mans, in WEC and IMSA. Just as the learnings we gain through endurance competition will feed directly into our road car programmes, further improving the ultimate performance of our products. I would like to thank Gabe Newell and Heart of Racing for partnering with Aston Martin on this programme, and I look forward to working with him and the team as we aim for success in the greatest endurance race of them all.
The collaboration between Aston Martin and HoR, a championship-winning endurance racing partner, promises an exciting chapter in motorsport history. The Valkyrie, with its cutting-edge technology and performance capabilities, is a testament to Aston Martin’s dedication to excellence. Drawing inspiration from their Formula 1® expertise, the Valkyrie racecar is being meticulously crafted to achieve unparalleled speed, agility, and endurance.
Under the hood, a modified version of the Cosworth-built 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine powers the Valkyrie racecar, generating over 1000bhp and revving to an impressive 11,000rpm. This powerhouse will be fine-tuned to meet the stringent Balance of Performance requirements of the Hypercar class, ensuring it can endure the rigors of long-distance racing at the highest level.
Aston Martin’s commitment to Le Mans signifies a deep-rooted connection with endurance racing. Having made its Le Mans debut just five years after the race’s inception in 1923, Aston Martin has a rich history at this iconic event. The Valkyrie, with its race-optimized carbon-fiber chassis and advanced aerodynamics, aims to build on the brand’s legacy by conquering the grueling challenges of Le Mans and other prestigious races like the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
It’s a privilege to be able to bring Aston Martin back to the top of endurance racing with the Heart of Racing.
Our team has grown exponentially since we began racing with those famous wings at Daytona in 2020. We understand and are aligned with the ethos of the brand and we have developed our own systems and technologies to extract the maximum performance of the cars we compete with. Our understanding of Valkyrie is strong and we have worked closely with it through our customer activation programmes for two years now.
This HoR team has big ambitions in endurance racing and this is absolutely the right time for us to step into the top classes of WEC and IMSA and challenge for overall honours. This is not an easy target, but between our partners and the support of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, it is one we have all the tools and capabilities in place to hit the bullseye with.
But Aston Martin’s ambitions don’t stop there. In addition to the hypercar venture, the renowned British marque is poised to enter a new era in GT racing. Aston Martin is gearing up to introduce all-new GT3 and GT4 cars based on the Vantage platform, adhering to both existing and new GT rule-sets, including the innovative LMGT3 regulations set to replace the outgoing GTE class in WEC. This strategic move ensures Aston Martin’s presence in various racing championships, reaffirming their commitment to performance and competitiveness.
As the current generation of Vantage bows out, having achieved remarkable successes in endurance racing, the new GT race car signifies a fresh beginning. This new chapter in Aston Martin Racing’s history heralds a promising future, combining innovation, heritage, and a relentless pursuit of victory. Aston Martin’s presence at all levels of sportscar and GT racing, from hypercar to GT4, and even in the esteemed FIA Formula 1® World Championship, cements their status as a powerhouse in the world of motorsport. The legacy continues, promising thrilling races and unforgettable moments for motorsport enthusiasts around the globe.
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Aston Martin in endurance racing. As a manufacturer, Aston Martin has a consistent record of success at world championship level and, through the efforts of the Heart of Racing, also now in IMSA.
Valkyrie takes us back into the top tier of sportscar racing and, together with our partners we are absolutely confident that we can deliver a race car with the potential and the performance capabilities to fight alongside the benchmark machinery in the class. To be able to do this in cooperation with a proven championship-winning operation such as Heart of Racing ensures we have all we need to race from a competitive platform. It’s a fascinating programme, given that this is the only hypercar in the class with direct synergies to its road car counterpart, but the Valkyrie concept was always intended to break through boundaries, and now we have the opportunity to show what it can do on a track.
By also confirming Aston Martin’s commitment to a new GT3 and GT4 challenger, we signal our intent to compete for victory at all levels of sportscar racing now and well into the future.
