The new Aston Martin Valkyrie, which will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship, has already completed 6,000km of testing since taking to the track last month.
The hypercar developed by the British manufacturer from the road-going Valkyrie inspired by Adrian Newey accumulated this distance over the course of six days of testing in Great Britain and then in continental Europe.
Testing began with a full day at Donington Park, two days after the Valkyrie AMR-LMH was launched at Silverstone Circuit on 16 July.
Another day of testing followed at Donington and two more at Silverstone, before the programme moved to Aragon in Spain for a two-day test.
Aston Martin’s Head of Endurance Racing, Adam Carter, said he was satisfied with the testing so far with the Valkyrie, which will be run by American team Heart of Racing in both the WEC and IMSA next year.
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH
Photo by: Aston Martin
“We have set out a test programme with challenging and realistic targets and we are executing them,” Carter told Motorsport.com. “We have completed 6,000km so far and are very pleased with how it is going, but it is still early days in what will be a long programme.”
Carter declined to reveal who has driven the AMR-LMH so far, other than the drivers who took the wheel of the car in initial testing before the first photos were released.
Harry Tincknell, who is under contract to Valkyrie development partner Multimatic Motorsports, drove during the shakedown at Silverstone, before long-time Aston contract holder Darren Turner and HoR regular Mario Farnbacher took the wheel for the first proper test at Donington.
Former Aston driver Stephane Mucke took the car for the first time without its completed bodywork at the Silverstone school circuit in early July.
Carter revealed that Aston and the HoR team are looking beyond Aston Martin’s current GT driver line-up, which includes two WEC GTE PRO title winners Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen.
“In the initial phase of testing we will rely on the Aston Martin Racing roster and we have also started to evaluate some drivers from other countries.”
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH
Photo by: Aston Martin
HoR team principal Ian James insisted no decision had been made on who will race the three Valkyries next year – two in the WEC Hypercar class and one in IMSA GTP – but reiterated that “driver chemistry” would be key when finalising the line-ups.
“There are a lot of good drivers out there, but we want the ones who can leave their egos behind and do a good job,” James told Motorsport.com. “That’s what we’re looking for: team players.”
Carter revealed that initial testing for the Valkyrie will likely include a trip to the Middle East, where the WEC has two rounds in Bahrain and Qatar, adding that the development programme is set to extend to the United States when a second car enters action in the autumn as planned.
He declined to comment, however, on whether the Valkyrie will make its racing debut at the IMSA season-opener 24 Hours of Daytona next January, as part of the launch of Aston Martin’s return to the top-flight sportscar racing series in October 2023.
IMSA is slated to hold a test at Daytona in early December, which competitors next season are required to attend.
“It’s a point of contention,” Carter said, “as to whether the Valkyrie should have completed its homologation by that test or not.
Last December, the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh, a newcomer to the IMSA GTP class for 2024, entered the corresponding test in homologated form, even though it was not scheduled to enter the IMSA grid until the 12 Hours of Sebring in March.
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