Aston Martin is on the verge of reviving its Le Mans hypercar Valkyrie – 2025 could see the British LMH bolide compete in WEC and IMSA
Aston Martin’s LMH programme around the Valkyrie is to be reactivated after more than three years on the test bench. Reason: Aston Martin and the US team Heart of Racing want to expand their cooperation, which already exists in the GT classes of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in the future.
As Motorsport.com has learned, Aston Martin and Heart of Racing are close to a deal to bring a race car to the track that should have made its debut in 2020. The deal is not yet signed and sealed, but it is believed that it could be as soon as a few weeks.
What is known is that Aston Martin is talking to suppliers about the potential programme and has already hired key staff to oversee it. These include Adam Carter, an engineer who worked for Formula One team Williams before moving to the new Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT) division earlier this year.
Aston Martin has not yet confirmed that it is working on a revival of the Valkyrie LMH. However, the British carmaker emphasises the long-distance DNA in-house and that it is continuously evaluating options.
“We are encouraged by the growth of the hypercar class. The hugely successful 24 Hours of Le Mans was a shining example of that”, “Motorsport is an ever-changing landscape. So of course, as a global hypercar brand, we will continue to keep a close eye on it.”
The comments from Heart of Racing team principal Ian James suggest that Aston Martin will be looking to repeat its 1959 Le Mans victory (then with the DBR1). The Heart of Racing team was once formed by James in preparation for the 2020 racing season to plan Aston Martin’s return to the GT classes in IMSA. The next step could be the hypercar class.
“We’re always looking for new things,” says James and continues, “We’ve never made a secret of the fact that we want to move into the premier class of international endurance racing. But at the moment nothing has been agreed and certainly nothing has been signed.”
Heart of Racing is based in the US state of Florida, but has expanded beyond IMSA into the WEC this year in partnership with Aston Martin. Ahead of the Spa 6h in April, the team took over the car and with it the grid from NorthWest AMR. They had previously enjoyed success in IMSA. In 2022, Heart of Racing won the GTD class title in the US sports car series. At the Daytona 24 Hours in 2023, they celebrated class victory.
The exact extent of the racing plans for the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH is currently unknown. However, it is becoming apparent that the vehicle will be used in both the WEC and IMSA. It is understood that Multimatic Motorsport will continue to lead the technical development, but under the direction of Aston Martin Performance Technologies. AMPT sits alongside Aston Martin’s Formula One team at Silverstone. The new site was occupied this year.
As for the Valkyrie LMH, the technical concept is likely to remain largely identical to the one that should have debuted on the track back in 2020. The car is still to be powered by a 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine. The engine was developed in collaboration with Cosworth for the road version of the Valkyrie. However, the rear-axle hybrid system is not used for racing purposes.
