The first runs of the Aston Martin Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar have been described as a “great foundation” for the testing programme ahead of the automotive’s competition debut next season.
Adam Carter, Aston’s Head of Endurance, made the announcement following the primary two days of testing of the Valkyrie AMR-LMH at Silverstone and Donington Park last week, because the British manufacturer prepares to compete within the Hypercar and GTP classes of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
“We set ourselves an ambitious but achievable goal and we achieved it,” he told Motorsport.com.
“It’s been a long journey with a lot of commitment from many parties to reach this milestone, but it’s just the beginning of the next stage of the journey. It’s been a great foundation to get the car into a full test programme.”
That will begin soon, Carter explained. “We have a very extensive testing program planned between now and the start of next year’s competition, and we’ll be active every few weeks,” he said.
“We have a very specific goal and our first test run has given us cautious optimism that we can achieve it.”
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH
Photo: Aston Martin
Behind the wheel of the automotive for the 2 days was a combination of staff from the American team Heart of Racing, which is able to field the Valkyrie in WEC and IMSA, and the Aston Martin Performance Technologies group, which oversaw the programme.
The automotive covered greater than 300 miles during last week’s testing at Silverstone (Tuesday) and Donington (Thursday).
The Silverstone test was conducted by Harry Tincknell, who’s contracted to Multimatic Motorsport, a key partner in the event and running of the Valkyrie, before long-time Aston driver Darren Turner and HoR regular Mario Farnbacher took over the driving duties at Donington.
Carter declined to say whether Aston and HoR would make the AMR-LMH’s race debut on the IMSA season-opening Daytona 24 Hours in January.
This was undermined by Aston's press release regarding the discharge of photos of the Valkyrie running at Donington in camouflage. It spoke of a “competitive debut in early 2025”, without mentioning Daytona, suggesting the primary race might be delayed until the WEC 10 Hours season opener in Qatar in late February.
“The first milestone was getting the car up and running, the next one for me is the homologation date,” Carter told Motorsport.com. “There’s a lot to learn between now and homologation – that’s my main goal. Let’s get to the homologation point and see where we are.”
HoR will field a single Valkyrie in IMSA, while it is going to enter two cars within the WEC according to the brand new rule requiring factory teams in Hypercar to field two cars.
