Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH prototype officially pictured testing
Aston Martin has confirmed that on-track testing of the Valkyrie AMR-LMH Hypercar has begun. An outing at Silverstone was the first in a sprawling programme of performance and endurance tests to come, ahead of its WEC and IMSA campaigns next year.
Regulations dictated and indeed, the images confirm, that the car will change a great deal by comparison to the Valkyrie AMR Pro on which it’s based. Most obviously, the Pro’s very curvaceous wing that’s more reminiscent of current F1 cars has made way for a flat-sided, flat-topped item. No less than five fin support elements include the large central fin running the length of the rear up to the cabin.
We can also see the exhaust exits have been re-routed to leave out the top of the clamshell as opposed to directly out of the rear. Though difficult to see, the large curved venturis the Valkyrie is best-known for seem to remain, though regulation-dictated air outlets have been added above the wheels. We can also see that the nose has been extended and raised but still, the F1-esque splitter seems to be hung by centrally-mounted supports.
All told, it is still recognisably a Valkyrie, with all the changes very obviously grafts in the name of both competitiveness and regulatory compliance. The engine, of course, is undergoing huge changes, requiring a de-tune from its 1,000PS+ road and track toy output, down to no more than 680PS (500kW) at any time, per the rules.
It’s also being beefed up in order to have a hope of handling 24 hours of flat-out running at Le Mans and Daytona and indeed, being revised in order to deliver competitive fuel economy. Remember, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH will not be a hybrid.
The only hint we’ve got from Aston itself about revisions to the V12, is that it’ll be a ‘lean-burning version’ of the 6.5-litre V12, which should improve economy. Ordinarily, lean mixtures do however present challenges in terms of heat management, so developing the powertrain to avoid internal damage will be essential.
The Valkyrie AMR-LMH has the honour of being both the first Hypercar to be at least partly derived from a road-going equivalent. If it wins Le Mans, it’ll be the first of its kind to do so since the McLaren F1 in 1995.
It also has the honour of being the first Hypercar to enter the American IMSA endurance series, which up to this point has only featured LMDh cars, or GTP in IMSA parlance. The Heart of Racing team will run two cars in the World Endurance Championship, per the recently-announced rules, and one car in IMSA.
Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Motorsport, Adam Carter, has said the testing has been going well and that "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.”
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