UPDATE: Toyota has sent DSC a non-committal response to this news, a spokesperson saying:
“We are aware of Aston Martin’s announcement and we regret their decision. Aston Martin’s circumstances are very different from our own, so we will consider the situation and confirm our position in due course.”
As trailed on RACER and DSC yesterday, Aston Martin Lagonda has announced that it has postponed development of its FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar race entry with the Valkyrie. The British marque will now focus on its GTE programme and its forthcoming Formula One entry.
The reason for this decision is that the brand feels that the landscape in the top level of sportscars has changed since it announced it would enter the FIA WEC’s hypercar ranks in June last year. The announcement by the ACO and IMSA to harmonise the Hypercar class with the LMDh prototype category in the WEC from 2021 and the US-based WeatherTech Sportscar Championship from 2022 has prompted Aston Martin to step away.
Because of this, Aston Martin has said it will “pause as it considers whether to continue in any future prototype class”.
“Aston Martin’s ambition to compete for the overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans remains undiminished, but it is only right that we reassess our position in light of a significant change in the landscape that was not anticipated when we committed last year,” said Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda CEO.
“We entered Aston Martin Valkyrie in WEC and at Le Mans with the understanding that we would be competing with similar machinery and like-minded manufacturers. The situation has changed and it makes sense for us to pause and reconsider our options.”
Aston Martin says it will continue to race in the FIA WEC going forward with its Vantage GTE, and focus on its upcoming F1 entry which will see Racing Point become the Aston Martin works team following the investment into Aston Martin from Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll.
“We’re extremely proud of Vantage and what it is achieving against our most direct competitors. GT racing has always been positioned at the core of what we do, for it bears the closest link to the cars that we build for the road. Both the Vantage road car and the Vantage GTE are borne from the same aluminium body structures that originate in Gaydon. When we win in WEC, it is a victory for Vantage, for our customers, and everyone at Aston Martin Lagonda.”
President of Aston Martin Racing, David King, added: “With such momentous change taking place in sportscar racing, the decision to pause our entry into the WEC Hypercar class gives us the time and breathing space to calmly assess the status of the top level of the sport, and our place within it.
“Competing against our closest rivals on the road in GT racing makes perfect sense. Vantage is winning in some of the most fiercely contested sportscar classes in global motorsport, and long may this continue.”
Customer deliveries of the Aston Martin Valkyrie road car are still on track and will commence in H2 2020 and Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro deliveries will commence in 2021.
This announcement means that just Glickenhaus and Toyota are committed to the FIA WEC Hypercar formula for Year 1, with Peugeot Sport set to join the WEC in 2022. The new LMDh formula is due to debut in the 2021/22 WEC season and 2022 IMSA season.
In reaction to this news, Pierre Fillon, the President of the ACO has said he believes that the Le Mans Hypercar formula has not been, and will not be, impacted by convergence. He also hopes that Aston Martin will still consider racing in the WEC’s top class in the future once the technical details surrounding convergence have been outlined next month in Sebring.
“Aston Martin recently informed us of this new development in its Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar project. We can only take note of this and await a favourable outcome,” he said in a statement.
“For a few months now, we have all been aware of the economic difficulties of Aston Martin, and the subsequent questions raised about its future motorsport programmes, namely endurance racing and F1, as well as its strategic path forward. Contextual developments linked to economic and industrial parameters can always occur for a manufacturer during the implementation of projects.
“As far as the next top category of competition, Le Mans Hypercar, is concerned, we continue to believe and remain utterly convinced that a manufacturer has its rightful place there, in all its best interests.
“To run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the FIA World Endurance Championship, at this level of technology and budget, is an undeniable opportunity for a manufacturer to demonstrate its competitiveness. This covers a whole range of fields: technical, efficiency, improved fuel consumption, sustainable mobility.
“The ACO/IMSA convergence does not impact this category, and the next elements on the technical details of that common platform, to be given at Sebring in mid-March, will confirm that.
“We hope that this transitory pause in Aston Martin’s Valkyrie development with Multimatic will come to a quick and positive conclusion.”
FIA WEC CEO Gerard Neveu has also commented on this news, stating that it doesn’t affect the WEC’s plans.
“This is not good news for the WEC in the short term, but it doesn’t change our mid and long-term plans,” he said.
“We still have Toyota and Peugeot plus other entrants who have expressed an interest for Le Mans Hypercar and, with the arrival of LMDh, we will welcome many new manufacturers.
“Of course, it would be better if Aston Martin was present as well, but it’s important that we have as wide a range of manufacturers as possible and that is the strategic plan we are working on for the future.”
