V12 Valkyrie Will Catch Eyes, Ears at IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring

Yahoo

11-03-2025

The Valkyrie is the first car built to the LMH rules of Hypercar to race in GTP.
Entering just its second race following the opening round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar on Feb. 28.
The Aston Martin THOR Team's primary goal is to finish the 12 hours at Sebring.
The reputation for making a beautiful noise from its V12 engine precedes the sleek Aston Martin Valkyrie's entry at the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
'The engine sounds absolutely incredible,' said Ross Gunn, one of three former GT drivers stepping into the new prototype for Aston Martin. Driving the very loud and compact car in front of the throng at Sebring, he acknowledged, is likely to turn some heads.
The engine's potency has already caught the attention of IMSA officials, who docked the Valkyrie by nearly 15 horsepower in the new Balance of Performance released after testing at the central Florida track.
Just by cranking the 6.5-liter V12 and racing in the GTP category of IMSA's WeatherTech Championship, the Aston Martin will be scoring firsts. The Valkyrie is the first car built to the LMH rules of Hypercar to race in GTP and will be a lone normally aspirated wolf among the LMDh prototypes of IMSA.
Entering just its second race following the opening round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar, the Aston Martin THOR Team's primary goal is to finish the 12 hours around the uneven surfaces of Sebring's ancient concrete and asphalt, considered a tougher day-night challenge than most 24-hour events. The stated goal for drivers Gunn, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis is to be chasing victories by the end of the season.
The development curve will benefit from the car's distinction, said Gunn. 'Having a normally aspirated car racing with the hybrids, there are obviously a few differences in the way that they produce performance and the way that they provide performance. I think the key for us is that having normally aspirated car simplifies things quite a lot. There's less things to change. There's less variables. So, I think from that side, it's definitely easier."
Starting two years behind the other LMH cars and IMSA's LMDh entries is a challenge. But the officials at the WEC and in IMSA have indicated they will help keep new entrants competitive with BoP. The reduction of 15 horsepower for the Valkyrie at Sebring might be overkill by officials not familiar enough with the new car's performance. But it could also be seen as part of an across-the-board effort to keep speeds in check for all entrants on the treacherous, high-speed 3.74-mile circuit.
IMSA also announced power cuts to prototypes that included a 12-horsepower reduction for the Porsche 963 and eight horsepower for the BMW M Hybrid V8 and Cadillac V-Series.R.
'Obviously in the top class it's going to be a new thing (with the Valkyrie),' said Gunn.
Jordan Taylor, who has driven the Acura ARX-06 for Wayne Taylor Racing and currently drives one of the team's Cadillac V-Series.R entries, expects BOP to keep the Valkyrie competitive. 'If you're a half a second faster, you get BoP-ed,' he said. 'If you're a half a second slower, you get BoP-ed. That's just the way it is in sports car racing.'
Although the hybrids are expected to get better fuel mileage, Jordan said the Valkyrie may have an advantage under braking against the LMDh entries, which have regenerative systems at the rear wheels. 'Obviously there are advantages you can have with fuel efficiencies and there are advantages setting up the way the braking works for tire temps, the way traction control is intervening with different types of engines.'
The Valkyrie will not burst into full song when coming out of its pit stall. Similarly to the hybrids, it launches under power from an electric motor and battery before the clutch is dropped once the car hits 10 mph.
Long recognized as an extraordinary prototype, the Valkyrie began life as a road going hybrid that doubled as a track day car. It survived after a divorce between parents Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, where the latter's Adrian Newey designed a hybrid carrying more than 1,100 horsepower. With its eye on Le Mans, Aston Martin initially committed to the Hypercar class and its LMH rules. But when convergence was announced in 2021, the company, under new chairman Lawrence Stroll, decided not to enter the hybrid against the LMDh cars that were incorporated into the entry at Le Mans and the WEC.
With its eye still on returning to the high-water mark of the Aston Martin DBR1's victory at Le Mans in 1959, Aston Martin now believes its new, less complicated approach will pay dividends. The AMR-LMH fans will see at Sebring follows the Valkyrie Pro, a normally aspirated track day only version of Newey's original compact aerodynamic layout.
The THOR team includes a mixture of experienced personnel from Aston Martin's UK operations, Canadian builder Multimatic and The Heart of Racing, based in Seattle.
Jonathan Diuguid, who directs the Porsche Penske Motorsport team, said he was impressed by the THOR team's execution at its first race in Qatar, where one of the two Valkyries finished the race's 10 hours. 'It's tough for me to say where they are in the development program,' said Diuguid. 'It's a testament to the regulations because it's a V12 naturally aspirated car that sounds great and looks quite different. And to have another manufacturer on track competing at the level they're going to compete at is only a benefit for everyone.
'We're looking for a competitive weekend for any engine architecture,' continued Diuguid, 'Whether it's our turbo v8 hybrid or a naturally aspirated V12. I think that's the beauty of sports car racing right now. The regulations permit any kind of powertrain architecture to compete.'