The new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH has turned its first laps on track, ahead of a full multi-circuit test programme before the car’s debut campaign in IMSA GTP and WEC Hypercar next year.
The new LMH-spec prototype, developed by Aston Martin Performance Technologies and works team The Heart of Racing, has completed shakedown runs and initial evaluation testing in the UK at Silverstone and Donington Park.
For this early stage, the car was driven by Aston Martin development driver Darren Turner, Heart of Racing regular Mario Farnbacher and Multimatic driver Harry Tincknell, who won the LMGTE class of the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin. (No drivers have yet been named for Heart of Racing’s IMSA or WEC efforts.)
Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing will now commence a full development programme to prepare the car ahead of its FIA homologation in the autumn and competitive debut next year, which is expected to come at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in January. There it will become the first LMH-spec prototype to compete in IMSA GTP.
“The Valkyrie AMR-LMH sets its own standard as a thoroughbred endurance competition car. It is a pure, leading-edge racing machine, and while it is very early in the testing cycle, from what we have witnessed so far, we are satisfied that it is achieving the targets and criteria we have set out for it to accomplish,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s head of endurance motorsport.
The Valkyrie AMR-LMH, which is powered by a modified, lean-burning version of the Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, which in standard form revs to 11,000rpm and produces over 1000bhp, is benefitting from the expertise of Heart of Racing, Aston Martin Performance Technologies and, as previously revealed by DSC, Multimatic.
For its WEC programme, Heart of Racing recently established a UK team headquarters in Brackley, close to where the racing cars are being constructed in cooperation with AMPT. (Over in the US, the IMSA GTP effort will be run out of a base in Phoenix, Arizona.)
The US-flagged team is overseeing the development and test programme which will feature track time at a combination of UK and European circuits over the summer.
“The first runs for the Valkyrie AMR-LMH have been an immensely proud moment in the programme,” said Heart of Racing team principal Ian James.
“The birth of this project has been a couple of years in the making, so to get it to the track and to see it going around in the flesh, feels momentous for The Heart of Racing. We’re looking forward to the journey ahead – it’s a steep hill to climb for everyone involved in this project.
“We are at the pinnacle of sportscar racing, the competitors are formidable, and they have been doing it a long time. Some of them have endless resources. We know we are going up against the best, so we intend to represent Aston Martin at the same level.
“I believe, from what we have seen so far, and with the DNA of where this car came from, I think we have the right tools to be able to do this successfully.”
Images courtesy of Drew Gibson
