Latest news with #enduranceRacing
The Drive
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
$6.5 Million Aston Martin Valkyrie LM Costs Way More for Way Less Horsepower
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Aston Martin transformed its Valkyrie hypercar into a competition prototype to go endurance racing. It also offered an extreme, track-only version to 40 lucky and deep-pocketed customers, called the AMR Pro, without a hybrid system, just like the race car. But in a surprise twist, Aston has chosen to sell yet another track-focused Valkyrie—and this one is about as close to the machine that will fight for the overall win this weekend at Le Mans as anyone will ever be able to buy. For $6.5 million before taxes, to be exact. It's called the Valkyrie LM. Not unlike Ferrari's 499P Modificata, or the 963 RSP that Porsche built for Roger Penske, this car is mechanically identical to its motorsport counterpart, right down to its 6.5-liter, naturally aspirated Cosworth V12 that revs to 8,400 rpm and makes 697 horsepower. Enthusiasts will note that those figures are considerably less than the 11,000 rpm redline and 1,140 ponies of the street Valkyrie, but remember: This is the same car Aston races, and the Le Mans Hypercar formula carries certain constraints. Concessions have at least been made so the Valkyrie LM can run on a wider range of fuels, while ballast and electronics mandated by racing officials have been removed. About 700 hp might not seem like much in this era of uniting internal combustion and electricity for explosive, four-figure power. However, ditching the batteries and motors has made this Valkyrie exceptionally light at 2,270 pounds, compared to the roughly 3,000 pounds of the road car. All that thrust naturally goes to the rear wheels through a seven-speed sequential gearbox. In all likelihood, the AMR Pro will probably still be quicker; it also doesn't have a hybrid system to lug around, and makes roughly 40% more power. But, as Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark says, the LM is built to achieve 'the purest and most comparable endurance-driving experience' possible. Track-only machines have been pushing beyond regulated race cars for decades, going back to the Ferrari FXX. Anyone looking for value for money on a spec sheet won't find it here, certainly not for $6.5 million. What they will find is an exact replica of a Le Mans prototype that they can keep in their garages, which Ferrari notably doesn't let 499P Modificata owners do. The race-spec similarities extend to the Valkyrie LM's chassis, which carries over the competition car's front and rear dual wishbones and pushrod-actuated torsion bar springs with adjustable side and central dampers. There's an FIA-grade fuel system, along with an FIA-compliant harness and fire suppression setup inside, too. Typically, by the time cars like the Valkyrie LM have been announced to the public, each one has already been spoken for. But an Aston Martin spokesperson told The Drive that's not the case for this car, and the 10 examples the company is slated to build don't yet have names attached. Pricing is expected to land around $6.5 million—over $2 million more than the AMR Pro which, again, is quicker on paper. That's a steep price for the full racing experience, though it also includes VIP treatment for its 10 owners. Aston will arrange for each one to earn their racing license at Silverstone (assuming they don't already have one), before a year-long program where instructors and engineers will follow them around to various tracks to help develop their driving skills and tune their cars to their liking. All the joy and personal growth of motorsport, without needing to win to keep your job. Being rich sounds nice. Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@
Times of Oman
a day ago
- Automotive
- Times of Oman
Biggest event in global endurance racing awaits Oman's Al Harthy: The 24hrs of Le Mans
Global motorsport's greatest and most challenging race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe in France, is mere days away for Oman's Ahmad Al Harthy who intends to mount a major bid for silverware with team-mates Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde. Marking the halfway stage of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, round four of the 2025 campaign, this year's visit to Le Mans – the race begins on Saturday, 14th June – will be Al Harthy's third attempt at the endurance racing classic where he is a past podium finisher. Memorably, of course, he made history on his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut back in 2023 when racing to a sensational second place result in the then GTE Am class – success which he happily dedicated to his Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. Now competing in LMGT3, the successor to GTE, the Omani's second season with Team WRT in the No.46 BMW M4 LMGT3 has been impacted by some misfortune but there has been celebration as well thanks to a fantastic second place – a mere 0.3 seconds shy of victory – at Imola in Italy in April. Climbing to sixth in the LMGT3 standings at that point, having had to settle for 11th place during the season-opening event at Lusail in Qatar, a podium bid last time out at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium ultimately became ninth due to a pit-lane speed limiter glitch which resulted in a luckless penalty. While there have been frustrations with some of the misfortune, the overall pace and performance across qualifying and race conditions from the Team WRT entry has been outstanding and Al Harthy himself has been extremely satisfied with the level of his own personal performance thus far. Supported as always by OQ Group, Sohar International, Omantel, Oman LNG, BMW Oman, Oman Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and Experience Oman, Al Harthy is very much looking forward to welcoming plenty of key partners to the 93rd staging of the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this week. This year's race entry features a combined total of 62 cars across the Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 classes, with 24 in LMGT3 alone – the biggest class of the three. The No.46 BMW LMGT3 will be battling competition from the likes of Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. Ahmad Al Harthy said, 'Le Mans is always the biggest event of the year, not just in WEC but in motorsport as a whole, and it truly is an incredible honour to again represent Oman at such a prestigious, famous and historic race. It was the proudest moment of my career to climb the podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a couple of years ago on my debut in the race, truly an amazing moment to see the Omani flag fly. 'We're working as hard as we can to be back on the podium this weekend, and with Vale and Kelvin we're pushing as hard as ever to prepare as strongly as possible for the race. It's going to be an amazing week building-up to the race, I can't wait to get started.' Free practice begins at Le Mans this Wednesday, 11th June, with qualifying then getting underway at 18.45 local time – the fastest 12 cars progressing to Hyperpole at 20.00 on Thursday, 12th June. In between these sessions there will have been two further practice runs. Hyperpole for this year sees the top eight progress to a second Hyperpole session to determine the first four rows of the grid. More night-time practice follows before a day away from track action on Friday, 13th June. Warm-up for the big race takes place at midday local time on Saturday, 14th June, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning at 16.00 local time. Follow everything at or com
The Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Porsche unveils road-legal hypercar 50 years after original won world titles – but there's a catch
CARN'T BELIEVE IT The new motor features significant changes from the original race-winner Published: 0:19, Updated: 0:20, PORSCHE has shocked the motoring world by unveiling a new road legal hypercar. What's more is that it's spun off the a motor that's won multiple endurance racing world titles - but there's a catch. 2 2 The Porsche 963 RSP is unlike anything you can currently purchase - because only one has been made. It's a version of the manufacturers WEC and ISMA championship winning machine. And it's been built to mark 50 years since Count Rossi drove the trailblazing Porsche 917 from Zuffenhausen to Paris. Like that all-conquering motor, this one's been made road legal. Porsche's North American boss Timo Resch said: "How could we reimagine the 917's story in today's time? "The 917 from the story was every inch a race car – albeit one driven on the road – and we took the same approach with the 963 RSP. "It uses beautiful materials of the best quality available, but is still every bit a race car underneath." The 963 features significant changes over the car on which its based. In terms of the engine, the carmaker had to allow the 4.5-litre, twin-turbo V8 hybrid to run on regular unleaded rather than race fuel. While not an easy undertaking, the 918 Spyder-derived V8, e-motor and battery combo delivers a whopping 671bhp. Inside Taycan Turbo GT Porsche that can hit 200mph as SunSport's Isabelle Barker is taken for a spin by Formula E safety car driver The road height was also adjusted to make it suitable for general roads and the dampers softened. The control unit was reprogrammed too to allow for the headlights and taillights to operate closer to those of a motor on the road. But its the interior that departs most from the original race car. In the entirely bespoke cabin, you'll find soft tan leather with a single piece driver's seat clad with additional cushioning and a fixed headrest. You'll find a special panel next to the driver that stores the steering wheel as well as a helmet and car aficionados will spot the nods to the 917. The biggest tribute comes in the form of the exterior colour that's the same 'Martini Silver' as Count Rossi's 917. This one's been painted too, a unique challenge because of the carbon fibre and Kevlar bodywork. The bodywork also had to be modified to cover the wheel arches, headlights and tail lights added as well as closed-off banking plates on the rear wing and mounting points for the license plates. An enamel Porsche badge can be found on the nose and proper wet road tyres wrapped around 18 inch racing wheels. ONE-OF-A-KIND 'SPECIAL' MOTOR The 963 RSP gets its name from the involvement of American auto racing team owner Roger Searle Penske on the project. Resch explained he called on Penske for "support" in the car's construction, with the racing expert ensuring the classic race car's character was not changed for the new model. The Porsche boss said that as Penske's involvement increased, the company realised he would be the perfect, and only, customer for the car. So while it was never intended to be a fully road-legal 963, Porsche received an exemption from the EPA in the US as it understood "how special" the car is. Despite this, it is not a fully road-registered car - and it needed special dispensation to run in France at the Le Mans 24hr weekend. For now, the car is expected to remain one-of-a-kind, with a Porsche spokesperson telling Top Gear that wide-scale selling would "change the character" of the iconic motor.
Motor Trend
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Only One? The Porsche 963 RSP Is a Modern Le Mans Race Car for the Road
It's difficult to say there's another contemporary automaker that has better mastered the art of paying homage to its own considerable and historical road and racetrack bona fides than Porsche. At least, not when it comes to doing so by way of big-money, low-production special editions barely anyone will ever see in real life. Cynics will say cars like the track-only new 935 that was limited to 77 examples and priced at $800,000-plus and the 911 GT3 R Rennsport—also limited to 77 copies and priced at $1,046,000—are irrelevant to anyone but the handful of owner-collectors who get their hands on them. But that's beside the point for car fans and dreamers who appreciate the mere existence of such near-vaporware creations. Whichever camp you fall into, Porsche's latest and even more limited, more expensive salvo will have tongues wagging this summer. Say hello to the Porsche 963 RSP, a one-off road-oriented build of the company's top-level endurance race car that competes in the Hypercar class at Le Mans and in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and in the GTP class in America's IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. If you are unfamiliar with its bond fides, here's the car's resume in a nutshell since its 2023 debut in international racing competition: 10 wins and five championship titles (spread between drivers' and constructors' crowns), including wins at the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Only One? Yes, this is the one and only 963 RSP Porsche will build, and those three letters tailing the car's name identify its owner as Roger Searle Penske, the automotive-industry stalwart and eponymous owner of multiple championship-winning racing teams, the NTT IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and most relevant in this context, the co-namesake of the Porsche Penske Motorsport operation that fields 963s in international sports-car competition. Revealed in full today in France a week before this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 963 RSP drew some inspiration from a similar project 50 years ago, 917 chassis No. 30 that's seen here as well. The latter car, following its racing career, was commissioned into roadgoing-spec byTeofilo Guiscardo Rossi di Montelera, aka Count Rossi. According to the manufacturer, the new 963 RSP was dreamed up by Porsche Cars North America President and CEO Timo Resch. Resch then met with Thomas Laudenbach, vice president of Porsche Motorsport, and Urs Kuratle, head of Porsche's factory 963 program, with the trio eventually taking the idea to Penske. Almost the Same as the Race Car Obvious differences to the full-on racing version include Martini Silver paint over the carbon-fiber and Kevlar bodywork, and the interior trimmed in tan leather and Alcantara (the same colors as Rossi's 917). Look a bit closer at some of the bodywork and you'll see differences to the racing version, such as new fender-top vents where the standard 963 features wide-open cutouts. Carbon-fiber rear-wing blanking plates, required for racing, are deleted, and the RSP boasts an enamel Porsche badge on its nose in place of the racing version's weight-saving and airflow-improving 'sticker' badge. Peer into the cockpit and it's amusing to spot a 3D-printed cupholder alongside the leather-trimmed racing-spec steering wheel, and likewise the vintage 1970s-style Michelin logos adorning the tire sidewalls in a nod to the 917 project. Porsche, no surprise, says the car features places to install front and rear license plates, headlights and taillights programmed for road use, turn signals, a horn, lifted ride height, and the softest suspension setting available from the Multimatic DSSV racing dampers, and that it rolls on Michelin's treaded wet-weather racing rubber rather than dry-weather slicks that aren't allowed on open roads. Look inside a bit more and there are several other notable details, including a place to store the provided driver's headset and the steering wheel when removed from its column, as well as one for resting the laptop computer needed to start the car. Porsche points out little touches like HVAC system end plates 'which mimic the styling of the fan on top of the 917's flat-12 engine.' However, it's not accurate to call this a street-legal 963, as the car hasn't been truly homologated for road use like a series-production car, skipping costly and time-consuming endeavors like crash testing. This means Penske likely won't be able to drive it on public streets whenever he wants, instead requiring special dispensation from local authorities to demonstrate it at specific times and places. If the Captain, as he is well known, takes the car to his metro-Detroit home, for instance, showing it off during an event like the annual Woodward Dream Cruise might be on the cards—but don't expect to spot it in a Kroger parking lot. That doesn't mean enthusiasts won't be able to cast their eyes on the 963 RSP before Penske takes delivery of it during August's Monterey Car Week. Porsche plans to display it throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe and will subsequently move it to the company's official museum in Stuttgart, Germany, before sending if off to July's Goodwood Festival of Speed. As for performance, the Porsche 963 RSP retains the racer's hybrid twin-turbo 4.6-liter V-8 power unit (itself derived from the engine used first in the RS Spyder race car of the mid-2000s before being adapted for road use in the 918 Spyder street car), and while the company says it is not detuned or modified from the modern race car's, it did revise the hybrid system's motor generator unit (MGU) mapping to deliver smoother operation on the street than is needed for racing. Oh, and the whole thing is now able to run on fuel from the nearest gas station rather than strictly racing-grade petrol. Porsche cites a peak output of about 680 horsepower, funneled to the wheels through seven-speed Xtrac sequential might not sound like much relative to the output of many of today's hypercars and EVs, but keep in mind this car weighs approximately just 2,300–2,400 pounds. For comparison, the new 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid we tested recently weighs 3,598 pounds and accelerated from 0–60 mph in 2.6 seconds and covered the quarter mile in 10.7 seconds at 129.7 mph. Its peak horsepower? 532. In terms of the overall 800-volt hybrid tech, Porsche says the 1.35-KWh battery can provide between 30–50 kilowatts in short blasts at the push of a button that 'does not change the overall output of the powertrain. When the thrust of the MGU kicks in, the power of the combustion engine, which can reach over 8,000 rpm ... automatically decreases.' This is a function of the 'balance of performance rules' governing sports car racing. How Much? As a one-off creation, Porsche hasn't supplied a price or value for the 963 RSP, but since the raw racing version starts at about $2.9 million, it's not a stretch to imagine all the work that went into this car easily puts it at the $3.5 million mark, or more. That's certainly beside the point, though, at least to the dreamers among us. But if you're listening, Porsche, and speaking of the least you could do: How about putting the 963 RSP into a racing video game/simulation so the rest of us can have a chance to experience it in some capacity beyond staring at it in a museum or on a car show lawn?
Auto Blog
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
New Porsche Hypercar Teased as Modern 911 GT1 Successor
Teaser Confirms Road-Legal Version of LMDh Car In a black-and-white YouTube video hashtagged #RACEBORN, Porsche has teased its upcoming 963 RSP, a one-off road-going version of the LMDh racecar that won races in WEC and IMSA. Back in April, Porsche hinted at an upcoming street-legal hypercar by highlighting its 1975 917 race car, which was also converted for street use. Now we know that the imminent reveal will be of the road-legal version of the 2023 963 endurance racer that won twice at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Porsche 963 at Long Beach — Source: Porsche A Racer For The Road, Named For A Legend The 963 RSP is presumed to be built for Roger Seale Penske – hence the 'RSP' moniker that's never been used on a Porsche before. Penske owns the team that runs Porsche's factory endurance-racing program, and is the most successful team owner in motor-racing history, winning four out of five championships in 2024 alone in the FIA WEC and IMSA seasons. The car is expected to stay true to the racer, with the same twin-turbocharged 4.6-liter V8, hybrid system, and seven-speed sequential transmission. Porsche has done this before when it handcrafted a single road-legal example of the 1996 911 GT1 Le Mans racer that competed in the GT1 class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – which it called the 911 GT1 Strassenversion. The 963 RSP is similarly handcrafted, and in Porsche's teaser video, Porsche workers sand down carbon-fiber panels, mix paint, do interior stitchwork, and generally apply their specialist trades to finish the one-of-one masterpiece. With the teasers now starting, it won't be long before one of the most covetable Porsches of the modern era is revealed to the world.
