In the same week that it urged owners to drive their Valkyries rather than turn them into museum pieces, Aston announced that it will make an attempt to drive one as far as it is physically possible to go in a day in 2025. Indeed, the Valkyrie will compete at Le Mans.

Aston has finally given the go-ahead for its comeback to the highest echelon of endurance racing, committing to race at least one vehicle in both the World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship across the pond, some four years after it backed out of plans to enter the Hypercar class.

The team was founded in 2020 and has since amassed an IMSA championship and a class victory at Daytona with a Vantage GT3. As a result, it will contend for victory at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring with both WEC and IMSA programmes managed by its partner Heart of Racing.

The Valkyrie will compete against Ferrari's Le Mans-winning 499P and a number of other Hypercar rivals, including Cadillac, Toyota, Porsche, Peugeot, Glickenhaus, and Porsche, as well as Alpine and Lamborghini 2024 entries. The days of the lone horse race are passed.

The executive chairman of Aston Martin, Lawrence Stroll, declared that "performance is the lifeblood of everything we do, and motorsport is the ultimate expression of this pursuit of excellence." "Aston Martin's return to the pinnacle of endurance racing will enable us to develop a stronger relationship with our consumers and community, many of whom acquired their enthusiasm for the brand via our previous success at Le Mans, in addition to our participation in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Of course, Aston Martin Performance Technologies can use the extensive knowledge base we are accumulating via our F1 team to better the capabilities of the Valkyrie racecar in Le Mans, in WEC, and in IMSA. Similar to how the knowledge we receive from competing in endurance events will be immediately applied to our road car programs, further enhancing the overall performance of our cars.

I appreciate Heart of Racing and Gabe Newell collaborating with Aston Martin on this project, and I'm looking forward to working with him and the team to win the biggest endurance race of them all.

Naturally, Aston has experience at Le Mans; throughout a century of competition, it has managed 19 class triumphs, winning the overall championship with its DBR1 in 1959. the motorists in that year? Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori are two such people.

You probably don't need us to remind you that the Valkyrie AMR Pro has a 6.5-liter Cosworth V12 engine that produces 1,001 horsepower and can rev to 11,000 rpm. You don't need us to remind you that the Hypercar class is restricted to 670 horsepower, necessitating some downtuning.

According to Adam Carter, head of endurance motorsport at Aston, "Cosworth have been an integral partner to the program: we'll continue that and take forward all their knowledge of the engine." "They are definitely a business with a good track record, making them an excellent partner to embark on this project with.

"In terms of re-engineering, the key focus for the Hypercar series is around the torque enclosure management, so we'll be upgrading the engine format and the control system to satisfy that regulatory need and optimize the performance. That will cause the hardware standard to change in some way.

Whatever the case, it ought to sound fairly amazing along the Mulsanne Straight. Pack earplugs. Also, earplugs.

Aston is currently developing new GT3 and GT4 racing cars, with the former adhering to the new LMGT3 regulations that will take the place of the old GTE rules in 2019. Please be patient while we search the phrase "has anyone ever won every class at Le Mans"