Latest news with #ValkyrieAMR-LMH
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Aston Martin Valkyrie Took A Month Off Of Racing To Get Faster And It's Still Way Off The Pace
Aston Martin Racing and The Heart of Racing decided to sit on the sidelines during the 2025 Rolex 24 At Daytona race, because the pre-season November IMSA test proved the new Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercar simply didn't have enough speed to contest the event. Instead of racing at Daytona, the team decided to take that time and run a few dozen hours more testing with the new car at Sebring in Florida to better prepare for its first race outing. Last weekend the team flew to Qatar for its final pre-season test session in the FIA WEC's full-grid scheduled "Prologue" test, and could see if all that time spent testing had paid off. Back in November the Valkyrie was only slightly quicker than the LMP2 field at Daytona, running about a second and a half off the GTP class pace. Has the Valkyrie become more competitive with millions spent on private testing, setup changes, and upgrades? In a word, nah. For the first time in a sanctioned test session, Aston Martin had two Valkyries on track at the same time. Across the two-day Lusail International Circuit test the 007 and 009 Aston paired up for 549 laps of running, around 1835 miles in total. That falls short of the 792 laps of testing that Toyota completed, or the 722 laps that BMW put down. Aston indicated that the car was running great and never had any faults during the test, so the lack of mileage must be up to the team making lots of changes. Even with all of the changes the Valkyrie is still seriously struggling to compete on lap times. Read more: F1's Mario Kart-Inspired Saudi Track Proves It Has More Money Than Sense The #007 car of Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn logged the 15th fastest time (1:41.089) of the test, while the sister car #009 of Alex Riberas, Marco Sørensen and Roman De Angelis came in 17th (1:41.353) split by the Proton Competition privateer effort Porsche 963. Being 15th and 17th in a 17-car class is already pretty not good, but when you compare the lap times that Aston ran, it gets even less good. The pace-leading BMW ran a fastest lap of 1:38.971 across the four test sessions late on Saturday evening, tripping the timing lights a full 2.118 seconds quicker than the faster of the two Valkyries. "We were really pleased. It's taken a lot of effort and the team," Adam Carter, Aston Martin team boss told Racer Magazine. "To see the momentum from testing continue here with a lot of laps, the car running faultlessly and the team gelling. We look forward to competing next weekend. It's a very visceral experience to watch a Valkyrie on track, like on the road. It's very special." The Aston Martins may look, and sound, the part of a fully fledged race car, but this entire concept is proving half-baked. The Valkyrie is the only car in the Hypercar class to be based on a road-going chassis, the only car in the class to run without a hybrid component, and one of just two cars alongside the Cadillac V-Series.R GTP to run without a turbocharged drivetrain. The 6.5-liter V12 engine sure sounds world-shattering, but that makes for a difficult recipe in the current rulebook. Based on the fact that Aston was actually closer to its competition from a time perspective around the longer Daytona course indicates to me that the lightweight naturally-aspirated Valkyrie doesn't have a power or speed deficit to the competition, as the Daytona course has a lot more full-throttle V-max driving than the Qatar track allows. It seems to me that all of the other cars are finding a lot of their speed from the electric acceleration provided by the hybrid electric motors. In FIA WEC competition, the hybrid Hypercars of Ferrari, Toyota, and Peugeot all adopted a system that allows electric KERS all-wheel drive under certain circumstances. All of the IMSA-style GTP cars in the class, Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, etc., are running a less-powerful KERS system which can deploy at lower speeds and only powers the rear wheels. For Aston to have neither system could prove costly in race fuel economy, off-peak power deployment, and lap time pace. I hope the team can find a way to make the car faster across the 2025 season, but it looks like the Aston squad will be starting the season on the back foot. Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH Is The Best Sounding Race Car In At Least A Decade
Aston Martin's new Valkyrie AMR-LMH hypercar racer is finally hitting the track for the first time in competition next weekend at in Qatar for the 1812KM race at Lusail circuit. The naturally-aspirated V12 machine is the only car in its class to run without any hybrid systems, it is the only car in the Hypercar class to actually be based on a road-legal chassis, and matches the Cadillac effort as the only other car without turbochargers. Aston is banking on the car's lower weight and simplicity to help it with tire longevity, fuel economy, and longevity, even if it hasn't yet proved it can turn the fastest lap times. Paired with The Heart of Racing team, Aston Martin will field cars in both IMSA and WEC this season, though the Valkyrie proved it wasn't yet ready for the rigors of the 24 Hours of Daytona in January and sat out IMSA's opening round. We have yet to see whether the Valkyrie can prove itself in the crucible of competition, but it has already won the hearts and minds of many sports car racing fanatics, because the car's high-RPM V12 shriek sounds like heaven on earth. Read more: Cale Yarborough Won The Daytona 500 In A Show Car Borrowed From A Local Hardee's Restaurant Adrian Hallmark, Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin Lagonda said: "This is a proud moment for Aston Martin. To be returning to the fight for overall honours at the 24 Hours of Le Mans exists at the very core of our values and marks a key milestone in our motor racing heritage. As the only hypercar born from the road to challenge at the top of sports car racing in both the WEC and IMSA, the Valkyrie is an embodiment of our enduring sporting ethos, one that has defined the brand for more than century." In early testing the car sounded a bit muted, as Aston's tracks of choice required a relatively low 90dB sound limit. Both WEC and IMSA allow for a bit louder 110dB from its hypercar and GTP competitors, though there is talk of IMSA allowing the Aston to run a little louder for the sake of fan enjoyment and engagement. According to Aston the car runs at about 140dB without mufflers, so running unmuffled wouldn't be an option without a rules change. Valkyrie testing at Sebring seems to be an unmuffled version that sounds truly incredible. I haven't been so aurally stimulated by a racing car since the death of the 20B rotary-powered Grand Am RX-8s over a decade ago. The World Endurance Championship recently posted the above video of the Valkyrie in race trim, and it's slightly quieter than it was in Florida, but not quite as quiet as the pre-season tests. Thankfully it still sounds incredible. Aston Martin hasn't won overall in a major international endurance race really since it took the Le Mans 24 laurels home in 1959. Its 2025 contender is a bit on the back foot in terms of power and acceleration without a hybrid system, but perhaps with some serious work, it can be a contender. But even if the car never finds so much as a podium or a fastest lap, it's already working its way into motorsport history simply by dint of how good it sounds. Racing hasn't sounded this good in ages, as every series on the planet rushes to embrace overmuffled turbocharged engines and fancy hybrid tech. Can an old-school speed machine like the Aston find its place in the modern racing landscape, or is it destined to be an also-ran that fans remember for years to come as sounding great but failing to turn in results. We'll have to see how the cookie crumbles, but we're getting our first indication in Qatar shortly. I'll be watching intently. Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Aston Martin THOR reveals 2025 Valkyrie liveries, line-ups
Aston Martin THOR Team has revealed the liveries and driver line-ups for its forthcoming 2025 FIA WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP campaigns with the brand new, non-hybrid, V12-powered Valkyrie AMR-LMH prototype. Starting with its drivers, in the FIA WEC, Harry Tincknell, Aston Martin's most recent British 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, will be joined by fellow countryman Tom Gamble, who announced his departure from McLaren last week, in the No. 007 for the full season. 'Harry Tincknell was heavily involved in the development of the Valkyrie, so we wanted to incorporate him early on into the test program, he has other GTP experience (with Proton Competition). He very quickly identified himself as a good team player, and his track record speaks for itself,' team principal Ian James said. 'And I rate Tom (Gamble) very highly as a natural talent and he deserves a chance in the spotlight at the highest level of sports car racing.' The sister No. 009 Valkyrie for the globe-trotting will see longtime Aston Martin factory driver Marco Sorensen and Heart of Racing regular Alex Riberas team up. 'Marco (Sorensen) is among the most experienced and successful drivers to ever race for Aston Martin and he's waited a long time for his chance at the top class,' added James. 'Having worked with him, having seen his ability and how cool he is under pressure, I think he's a perfect fit for this program. 'Alex Riberas has been proving himself in GTD Pro in IMSA the past couple of years, is an established race winner in IMSA and WEC, and excelled throughout the whole of WEC with us last year. He's definitely part of the fabric of The Heart of Racing and deserves his seat.' Over in North America, for Aston Martin THOR's single-car effort in GTP run out of the team's new base in Phoenix Arizona, the driver pairing has been finalized, too. 28-year-old British racer Ross Gunn and 2022 GTD class champion Roman De Angelis will drive the No. 23 entry. The pair will make their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP debuts next month at Sebring. There, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH will also become the first LMH-spec prototype to compete in the championship alongside LMDh entries from Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini and Porsche. 'Ross has been with us for the past four years and has become, without doubt, one of the best GT drivers in the world,' James expressed. 'He proved it last year in the GTD Pro title race, just narrowly missing out. He's a team player, is naturally gifted and has a feel for a race car that not many drivers have. 'As for Roman, I first drove with him in 2018 and he's gone from strength to strength. He's won the AMR Academy and the GTD championship, which is a unique achievement, and he's become an out-and-out performer. He's also a key ingredient in our sim program in Phoenix.' For the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, both Gunn and De Angelis will join the FIA WEC team to complete the driver trios in both cars. Gunn will make it it an all-British line-up in the No. 007 while De Angelis will add to the No. 009's crew. Third drivers will be utilized for some of the other longer races too. Speaking with reporters ahead of today's reveal, Aston Martin's endurance racing boss Adam Carter confirmed that Gunn and De Angelis will compete in the WEC opener in Qatar and Bahrain. The IMSA team will also be bolstered by a member of the WEC line-up for some of the Endurance Cup rounds, though there is no confirmation yet of which driver has been given the nod. The livery designs for the trio of Valkyrie AMR-LMHs that will compete around the world were also revealed. The WEC cars will compete in British Racing Green, while the IMSA Valkyrie will sport Heart of Racing's familiar navy blue and yellow color scheme. Story originally appeared on Racer
