WEC: Aston Martin to enter Hypercar class from 2025

Aston Martin is set to enter the top class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2025 with its Valkyrie model built to Le Mans Hypercar technical regulations

The British marque’s challenger will be based on a track-only variant of the car known as Valkyrie AMR Pro, which was originally designed and developed to meet LMH technical regulations.

Unlike all the LMH cars that are currently in FIA WEC competition, Valkyrie, powered by a Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, will be based on a road-going version of the car.

Aston Martin Performance Technologies, situated in the newly-built AMR Technology Campus and co-located with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One team’s Silverstone headquarters, has been tasked with developing the car, while Aston Martin’s current GT customer team, Heart of Racing, is set to run the programme.

At least one works Valkyrie will be entered by Aston Martin in the top class of both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships, allowing the brand to compete, and fight for overall victories, in the trio of the world’s most prestigious endurance races including 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex 24 at Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.

“In addition to our presence in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Aston Martin’s return to the pinnacle of endurance racing will allow us to build a deeper connection with our customers and community, many of whom found their passion for the brand through our past success at Le Mans,” said Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda.

“We have been present at Le Mans since the earliest days, and through those glorious endeavours we succeeded in winning Le Mans in 1959 and our class 19 times over the past 95 years. Now we return to the scene of those first triumphs aiming to write new history with a racing prototype inspired by the fastest production car Aston Martin has ever built,” he summarised.

FURTHER COMMITMENT TO GT RACING
In addition to the announcement of its Hypercar entry, Aston Martin has also committed to prolonging its presence in GT racing, having outlined a plan for all-new GT3 and GT4 cars based on the Vantage platform.