Aston Martin will return to 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2025 with the Valkyrie AMR Pro.
Aston Martin announced its return to Le Mans with the prototype version of the $3M Valkyrie road car. Valkyrie is set to become the first hypercar, inspired by a road car, to simultaneously compete in both endurance racing’s most prestigious series.
The prototype Valkyrie is set to take part in three of the most esteemed events in sportscar racing; 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in 2025, fighting for the overall victory in the Hypercar class.
Aston Martin signals to compete for victory. Ian James, Team Principal of Heart of Racing gushed: “Our team has grown exponentially since we began racing with those famous wings at Daytona in 2020. We understand and are aligned with the ethos of the brand and we have developed our own systems and technologies to extract the maximum performance of the cars we compete with. Our understanding of Valkyrie is strong and we have worked closely with it through our customer activation programmes for two years now.”
Aston Martin’s entry into the Hypercar class solidifies that the luxury sports manufacturer has a presence across all tiers of endurance racing, from the gentleman racer through to the very pinnacle of the sport. Remarkably, starting in 2025, Aston Martin will be the only manufacturer competing at all levels of sportscar and GT racing (from Hypercar to GT4) and the FIA Formula 1® World Championship.
More from Aston Martin: Aston Martin DB12 Volante
The current Aston Martin Valkyrie exists as a limit-breaking road car and as a track beast in the form of the AMR Pro.
The Valkyrie is the most extreme car to legally wear license plates. This hypercar blends Formula 1 technology with next-level day-to-day performance in terms of aerodynamics and engine technology. Tolerance of 3.5g. Speeds of 200mph.
Ahead of the 2025 Le Mans season, Aston Martin emphasizes: “The race-optimised carbon-fibre chassis Valkyrie will use a modified version of the sensational Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, which in standard form revs to 11,000rpm and develops over 1000bhp.”
The AMR Pro takes the ultimate hypercar genre to new extremes. Aston Martin explains: “Valkyrie AMR Pro was originally designed and developed to meet the LMH hypercar regulations and now Aston Martin Performance Technologies…has begun the task of developing a competition prototype version of Valkyrie for racing within a pre-defined aerodynamic and power performance window that gives it parity with its direct competition in WEC. It will then be homologated for the WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP classes ahead of the 2025 season.”
In preparation for its return to Le Mans, the power unit of the Valkyrie will undergo further enhancements to meet the essential Balance of Performance criteria for the Hypercar class. Additionally, it will be designed to endure the challenges of high-level long-distance racing. As with the Valkyrie AMR Pro track-car, it will not feature the battery-electric hybrid system found in the road-specification Valkyrie.
You may also like: Aston Martin Valour
Most notable, Aston Martin announced its return to Le Mans in the year the luxury marque celebrates its 110th anniversary.
Over the course of the last 95 years, more than 240 drivers have taken Aston Martins to the track at Le Mans. Drivers have used 27 distinct chassis and engine combinations, spanning virtually every racing era.
Sports car racing is an integral part of Aston Martin’s heritage. The luxury marque has won 19 class victories over the past 95 years and is most remembered for its iconic triumph in 1959. The grand success at Le Mans in 1959 followed the legendary DBR1 driven by Roy Salvadori (GBR) and Carroll Shelby (USA) to victory.
The Valkyrie takes Aston Martin back into the top tier of sportscar racing. Stay tuned as the luxury marque prepares for its grand return to Le Mans 2025.
Performance. Luxury. Craftsmanship. This is the driving force behind everything Aston Martin. Shop the latest models below.
